Flutterby..

So, there are still about half a million bits flying around in my skull, but some of the older ones are getting handled. Like the CDS forms - they got distributed today with a due date of 10/25 so I have time to get them back before the first of the big annual surveys is due. Of course, there's still a chunk of them that I need to complete, but about half of my part is prepared and just needs to be entered, which is such a far cry ahead of where anything was last year that it's sort of a relief.

I've had more knitting time, too. I'm something like six repeats into Birch and I *love* it. It's beautiful and soft and snuggly and I love the color and I have two 8-hour car trips this weekend so I will pr'bly get lots more of it finished. Well, assuming that it doesn't take all of that time to work up the outline of the grant proposal. So we'll see. Birch is so terribly portable, too, that I've found myself bringing it to things like lectures and other large group meetings that I just have to be an audience member for, which has been very nice. I got a full repeat finished last night while listening to Jane Elliott speak on campus. She was, by the by, very funny and made some great points about the racism built into much of modern education. She does a very revealing exercise with the Mercator map that really points out how an underlying and seemingly innocuous classroom aid perpetuates ideals of cultural dominance.

In other news, it's United Way annual giving campaign time, which is sort of neat for me, given my background in social services. I've been feeling more and more lately like I need to get re-connected to the domestic violence prevention initiatives in the area and through the materials distributed through the United Way campaign, I've discovered Houston County Women's Resources. So, in addition to my annual giving contribution, I've also emailed them to inquire about potential volunteer opportunities. I'd love to be able to get involved again with something like the Seattle Police Department DV Victim Support Team, but I'm not sure if there are programs like that out here. It's more likely that they'll need folks to staff their 24-hour crisis line, which I am qualified to do, but tend to prefer face-to-face crisis intervention. *shrug*

Ack! 2 p.m. meeting starting.. now!