Summer-themed SWAPs

My troop made very simple summer-themed SWAPs.  It was an unusually hot summer here, so I chose the sun for our SWAPs.  The girls each got to keep one and we've been using them to welcome new girls to our troop.  I bought poster board at the dollar store and used markers and safety pins that we already had, so this project was only about $1.50.

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa

Animal Habitats Junior Badge

In June, my troop voted on what badges that they would like to work on over the summer.  One of the badges was the Animal Habitats Badge.  One of the Daisies said that she wants to work on a badge at the beach, so I combined it and we worked on this badge at the beach.  We met at a local park and took a trail to the beach.  They watched for signs of wildlife along the trail (insects, birds, other creatures that may live in a forest, etc.).

In the water, we saw lots of jellyfish and a few ducks.  They lifted up a couple of rocks to find crabs hiding from the sun.  In the trees above the beach, we saw crows.  The beach was along the Puget Sound, so I was hoping to see more wildlife.  Someday, I think it would be fun to take a trip to go whale watching.

Where has your troop gone to work on this badge?

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa

Back to School Teacher and Bus Driver Gifts

This year, the kids and I decided to get their teachers and bus drivers a small gift to start off the new school year.  The teachers each received:  a coffee mug, hand sanitizer, and candy.  Since it was the beginning of the school year and school supplies were on sale, my daughter also picked out markers for her teacher for their classroom supplies.  The bus driver received the same thing as the teachers, except for a water bottle instead of the coffee mug, as I wanted to get something unbreakable for driving.

I really liked the mug pictured on the left, that I picked out for my daughter's teacher.  It was the most "masculine" one, but I was tempted to get it for myself.  My son said that his teacher likes patterns.  I didn't know if he was referring to math or rhyming for school or art choices.  Either way, I chose this.  Plus, he said that she has a similar looking one on her desk, so it was a safe choice.

What do you get for your kids' teachers at the beginning of the year?

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa

Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony

My troop had their second Bridging Ceremony this summer and it was very successful!  We had a great turn out.  All of the girls that bridged were in attendance, along with their families.  Nearly all of the non-bridging Girl Scouts also attended and received their final awards of the year and their membership star for the year.

We met at a local park and bridged over a wooden bridge by a scenic waterfall at a local park.  For the Daisy that bridged to Brownies, I found a poem online and attached it to a box of brownie mix.  For the two bridging Brownies, I found a cute cover for Junior Mints.  The bridging girls also received a certificate.

My husband made and decorated the Bridging cupcakes.  I think that they turned out great!  He made the design himself.

My daughter even did her first good deed after the Bridging Ceremony!  We had way too many cupcakes leftover.  My two kids went home with upset tummies after being in the hot sun and having junk food and sugar during the ceremony.  So, we donated the rest of the cupcakes to the local fire station.

It was a great first Bridging Ceremony for most of the girls!  I can't wait to see what they choose for the end of the year ceremony this year.  It will be interesting, as we currently have no girls that are due to bridge.

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa

State-Themed SWAPs/Brownies Bugs Badge

A leader that I know that lives in another state came up with a great project for her girls.  They want to collect state-themed SWAPs from every state.  After researching Washington state, I came up with a great SWAP idea.  I didn't want to do something too obvious (tree, apple, rain, etc.), so I found out that the state insect here is the Common Green Darner dragonfly.  I wanted to allow for creativity, so I just asked them to do dragonflies.  I thought they'd get too bored making the exact same thing over and over.  We made nearly 100 of these.  Well, my troop made about 20 and my kids and I finished them over spring break.  We also were able to use this as the craft portion of the Brownies Bugs Badge.  I love doing crafts with them, but love it even more when it can tie in with a badge.

I mailed these out a couple of weeks ago.  We are expecting SWAPs from 4 different states.  So far, we have received SWAPs from Maine.  Once we receive them all, I will post pictures of them.

We will see if the other troops send SWAPs in exchange for ours.  We haven't had the best of luck with these type of things so far.  For part of our World of Girls Journey, we sent Flat Juliettes to about 10 different troops throughout the country.  One troop sent ours back with pictures of what they did.  One troop has become our sister troop this year and we have written pen pal letters and sent little gifts back and forth.  We never heard back from the other 8 or so troops.

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa

First Gray Hairs

I'm 32 and officially have about 10 gray hairs.  I know that's not a lot, but they're all clumped together on the top of my head.  Really, they couldn't be more spread out?  lol, most people that are my age or younger have more than that, so I don't really care.  It looks like I'm taking after my dad.

Right now, I'm a SAHM/online college student, so I'm not too worried about dying my hair.  I dyed my hair occasionally as a teenager.  I also dyed my hair when I had a well-paying job just to treat myself.  I haven't dyed my hair in about 5 years.  Last summer, my neighbor, who is studying to be a beautician, asked if she could cut my hair.  A few months before that, I had changed up my hair just a little bit and given myself bangs.  Other than that, my hair had been pretty much unchanged for that 5 years, other than a few trims.  My neighbor layered my hair and it looked really cute.  I confess that I haven't maintained the style and just let it grow since then.

I am considering donating my hair again in the next couple of years, so I'll probably wait until after that to decide.  I have always admired older women who do not dye their hair.  I had a coworker years ago that had really dark gray hair.  I had hoped I'd have a cool color of gray like that.  My mom's hair is a snowy white when she doesn't dye her hair and it looks like I'll take after her.

Thanks for reading,

  ~ Vanessa

Delivered Fundraiser Product to Former Landlord/Friend

I did something today I've been putting off for a couple of months.  I delivered the popcorn that they ordered from my son for his Cub Scout fundraiser.

I've been putting it off for several reasons:

1) the most valid reason:  I've been ill lately.  For the last 2 months, I've had strep, an ear infection, a throat infection, and then a sinus infection.  I didn't want to go anywhere and get them ill.

2) the passive-aggressive reason:  I was waiting on them to contact me.  That was my hubby's reasoning why he didn't try harder to get a hold of them while I was ill.

3) I regained a little weight.  Over the summer, I lost 30 pounds.  From all the stress/depression from moving, I put most of it back on.  I have taken some of that back off lately.  I want to give them one less thing to gossip about.

4) it's so damn awkward!  These people went from almost-like-family to slumlords/thieves/liars within a couple of months.  I have nothing to say to them, other than:  Here's your popcorn.  At least, nothing else that's nice to say.

My Girl Scout troop did a service project today for MLK Jr. Day and did a tree planting.  Since we were relatively in the area, I decided to drop off their popcorn on the way back.  With carpooling and being dirty from the service project, I had a solid excuse to drop the popcorn and run.  I asked the other mom if it was ok to make the quick stop on the way home.  It was nice to have some moral support, as this mom has known me throughout this whole mess.

My former landlord/friend's house was filled with cars.  I was hoping they'd be at work, so I was especially nervous about a confrontation and them showing off to whoever was there.  So, I parked next door at his parent's house.  I was hoping to leave it on the porch and run.  I was halfway through the yard when his mom opened the door and came out.

Seeing his mom was happy, sad, and awkward at the same time.  I have known this family since my hubby and I started dating.  He knew them since high school.  His mom was the first person that we told when we were pregnant with our first child.  My daughter is named in part after her, as that is her middle name.  She was close to tears and tried to hug me.  I took a step back and told her I've been sick and was dirty from the service project, both of which were true.  I'm also still so pissed off at them.

Every time they have been able to help Greasy (the former friend's other best friend) or my hubby, they choose Greasy.  They have pretty well paying jobs at the same company.  Years ago, my hubby and Greasy were both looking for work.  My hubby had worked part-time jobs for years, but wanted a better job to support our family.  Greasy had never worked, but they helped him get a job there, instead.  This type of stuff has happened over and over again for the last 15 years or so that I've known them.

Same thing with the rental house.  Unbeknownst to us, they had stopped paying the mortgage and the garbage bill months before they asked us to live there.  Within a month, the garbage cans were repossessed and we had no garbage service.  3 months after that, the house went into foreclosure.  The 4 months of rent had been their vacation fund for the summer and they all had a good laugh about it.  Slumlord gave us an incentive to move and offered us some of our rent back if we moved by the end of September, yet another lie.

The very next day, Greasy and his wife moved in!  Our neighbors there texted me and told me about it.  Greasy paid the back mortgage to keep Slum from losing the house.  Of course, they probably lied and said that we never paid the rent, just like they told us about the previous tenants.  This shit is why I don't believe in karma.  I get screwed over and that person ends up better off than they were before.  Greasy and Slum have a "handshake rent-to-own" deal.  ha!  Slum will never sign over the title to that house and he'll screw Greasy over just like he did to us!

Anyway, Slum's mom told me how much she'd missed us and loves us and how she was hoping we'd show up at their house someday.  I let her say her piece, as I know she'd been holding it in for months.  It's just tough, because, as sincere as she sounded, I feel like they were all in on it.  If any of them were really our friends, they would have said they were behind and there was the chance of losing the house instead of letting us move in, transfer the kids to another school, and then have to move again in 4 months.  Or, at least give us our rent money back, as it was never used for the mortgage and bills for that rental.  They've all said they were sorry, but like I tell my kids, don't tell me you're sorry, show me you're sorry.

I'm emotional, as goodbyes/confrontations suck.  But, I'm glad that I got that over with.  I had been fearing that they'd report my son to the Boy Scout Council or something for not delivering the popcorn.  I wouldn't put anything past Mrs. Slum.  I was really hoping to avoid all of them and drop the popcorn on the porch and text them when I got home.  If I had to talk to any of them, I'm glad it was one of the parents, though.

Thanks for reading,

~ Vanessa