Wiiiiiiiiil.... what a great day!

Today my work was one of the organizations where you could participate in "Call in Gay" organized by "Impact for Change." One of our colleagues go us signed up right away so that we were the first organization listed on the website. We had 15+ volunteers about 70% who were new the my organization . (The stress in getting ready for the day was rather intense as I was having data problems and my associate was out very sick.) We spent 7 hours handing writing notes to about 2,000 donors and supporters in holiday cards. People were laughing, joking, telling stories, getting out rage. Komo Television came to shoot the event and the Gay City News. It was so much fun - and exhausting. It was great to be a part of such a fun day and a great community event.

I went home wiped out only to head off to Bombers tryouts - yes - I'm trying out for the travel team again for next year. I thought long and hard about it but in the end, I thought I would give it another year and work hard to manage and juggle all of the other expectations I have for myself. Mona Agony picked me up and it was one of those nights I was just "on". Jammers were getting t-ed up and I took them down. I couldn't take out the bigger blockers but I had them completely distracted. My "team" (we called our selves the "environmentalists" because we had the green pennies) was playing great together - we had surprisingly good offense when we needed it and held the jammers most of the the rest of the time with tons of "second efforts". It was one of those nights where you give each other high-fives when you roll off the floor. "Hell yeah" and super fun. What a great way to end a very long and stressful week - thus far!

After practice I checked my phone and Lara texted to say "I got you a wii!" I was like "what?!" Here's the back story: my work "adopted a family" from the YWCA for the holidays. Our chosen family is a single woman who has tween girls. We voluntarily ask staff to donate money to the project. We read the list of things they wanted "pajamas, puzzles, a jacket however we would give up all of our individual gifts if we could get a Wii to play together as a family." Well, I was a huge advocate of the wii seeing it is one of the few things that all the Johnsons can organize around from younger in-laws to a mother in a wheelchair (who often handily beats me at wii bowling.) So Laurie, the volunteer coordinator, and I lobbied for the Wii. Everyone signed on to the idea and then we became the type people who trample people to death. Laurie would spent a couple of hours on the phone trying to find a store with it - Best Buy and Target being the most popular options. (Lara had said she had seen evidence of a Wii at the Fred so we added it to our short list.) We signed up to drive the car various days so that we could make lunch time trips to find one. We called and plotted for the last week. You would have thought it was a Tickle-me-Elmo in the 1990's.

Tonight Lara went to The Fred for some light bulbs and looked in the electronics and said loud enough to her dad's whose in town visiting "oh I guess they don't have them." A store clerk over heard her and said, "Are you looking for the wii? Go to the electronics checkout. I think there is one up there." She went to up there and they had just gotten a shipment! VICTORY! She bought one for me take to work! And I can't even WAIT to take it to work tomorrow and surprise everyone! Especially Laurie - who worked hard all day today to make "Call in Gay" so successful.

Yeah!