I Spy Little Eyes

A gift for you the week before Thanksgiving: a game.

Below is a picture of part of my desk. Let’s play a game of “I-Spy.” See if you can find something that doesn’t belong.

(I didn’t know I was doing this, otherwise I would’ve cleaned my desk. So there might be multiple things that don’t belong  ;] )

We’ll zoom in a bit and look closer. How about now?

Give up? I have officially been a VISTA in Spartanburg 92 days. I thought I had met most everyone at my worksite by now. However, today I met Ferdinand.

Yes he is a small green gecko. Part of me hopes he has a British accent like in the Geico commercials. The other part hopes he just doesn’t scurry into my mouth like in the new Parent Trap.

As if working at a boys’ home isn’t exciting enough, now I have another distraction. While I’m writing this, he is slinking carefully around the cups. Looks like I’m going to have to share my desk… J

It's November already?

No, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about you. At least not yet.

Things have been super-crazy busy at work with all of the kids on sugar highs from Halloween candy. Wait—you don’t actually know exactly what I do at work yet. Maybe I should start from the beginning.

What do I do at work? My VISTA assignment description has me involved in 4 facets at the boys’ home. First is Accreditation. They would like to be on the road to accreditation. So I attended a workshop on Measuring Outcomes and I researched similar programs in SC and NC. However, through political decisions beyond our control (*cough* Gov. Haley), the path to accreditation has been temporarily put on hold to focus on more pressing issues.

The second thing I have been involved in is marketing. I have been creating and updating our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube pages, and United Way’s “Get Connected”. I attended Wofford’s College Fair (very weird to be on the other side), made three videos for our YouTube page, and updated a brochure. Along with Marketing, I’ve been involved in Fundraising. We applied and were accepting into the “Google for Non-Profits” program, we’ve been working on our annual mass marketing letter, and I’m currently planning our Holiday Open House featuring our brand-new vocational center on campus.

Lastly, I’m involved in recruiting and training volunteers and mentors. We have some very supportive churches and groups in the area that come out and help us with maintenance and hang out with our boys. Two groups brought Halloween goodies for the boys (hence the sugar highs). I’ve created and been tracking volunteer involvement via a database. And I finally finished the craziness that was the boys’ Christmas Lists. Yes, groups are already asking for them. I know it must have been difficult for my parents to keep up with what my sister and I wanted and delegating the lists to grandparents. Try multiplying that by multiple churches and 30 kids. At least now I know more about video games J

By the way, here is the link to a nifty article on the VISTA blog. It is an interview with yours truly J

http://vistasinthepiedmont.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/vista-interviews-nicole-williams/