Childhood Girl Scout Memories

This past week, on March 12, Girl Scouts celebrated their 100^th birthday.  In honor of this special day, I posted some old Girl Scout photos on my Facebook page which elicited plenty of comments from old friends.  Such wonderful memories we all have!  I became a Brownie Girl Scout in 2^nd grade, at that time the youngest age that a girl could join.  I continued in Girl Scouting through my senior year in high school.  In fact, I rejoined Girl Scouts as an adult to be a leader for my own girls, and then later I also took on the role of Service Unit Director.  However, the childhood memories are the ones that returned this week. 

In those days our troops were big; my photo of our Junior troop shows 32 girls in 4^th-6^th grade and I’m sure some girls were missing (and I thought I had a big troop as a leader with 22 girls).  Nearly everybody wore a Girl Scout uniform, complete with accessories, to school for our after school meetings.  We were proud to wear them.  Girl Scout cookies could not be preordered.  We would go out in pairs, ringing doorbells in our neighborhoods.  We carried cookie boxes in a cardboard box with handles.  I remember that I could never get enough thin mints to sell.  I have wonderful memories of taking a bus to day camp and doing fun activities like making crafts out of eucalyptus bark and pods.  I attended week-long Girl Scout camps and had wonderful adventures.  We learned to canoe and I acquired an appreciation for backpacking which carried into my adult life.  One year as a young teenager, a friend and I went on a burro pack trip into a wilderness area.  We learned how to pack and handle our burros, very stubborn animals.  This turned out to be more of an adventure than we expected—an unusual summer snowstorm forced us to hike out a week early. 

My biggest Girl Scout adventure was our trip to Europe.  When my friends and I were in 8^th grade we were talking about how some of their older sisters had gone to Our Cabana, the Girl Scout/Girl Guide house in Mexico.  We decided that we could do better than that—we should visit Our Chalet, the Girl Guide house in Adelboden, Switzerland.  This discussion led to the formation of a travel group from girls in our Cadette troop, in grades 7-9.  We worked hard for 3 years to earn money by doing newspaper collections, a spaghetti feed, a fashion show, and many other fundraisers.  There was plenty of time to decide where we would go—the final itinerary included not only Switzerland, but the Netherlands, England, France, Italy, and Austria plus a split with us going in different directions (my group went to Ireland).  The big day came after my junior year in high school.  Our families all went to see us off at the airport—it was the first airplane flight for many of us.  There were 17 of us plus four mother chaperones.  We were so excited.  If I remember correctly, our trip was only 21 days, so we never spent more than 2-3 days in one place, with the exception of Switzerland.  Oh the Alps, how beautiful they were.  I felt like Heidi, walking through the wildflowers with the snow covered peaks always in view.  We met girls from different countries at Our Chalet, but we were surprised at how many were from our own country.  I could go on and on with stories about our travels (and my friends could add more), but I would have to say that my favorite country was Italy because the people were so friendly.  Now 17 girls did attract a lot of attention, especially from men (and Italian men are notorious).  I especially remember a group of Italian nurses who tried to communicate with us—they didn’t know English and we didn’t know Italian.  However, they managed to tell us they were nurses by pantomiming a hypodermic needle.  And when we indicated we were from San Francisco (the closest large city to us), they broke into a chorus of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”  Such delightful memories. 

As I look back on these memories as an adult, I realize how much Girl Scouting influenced my life.  At the time, I was just having fun with my friends.  I learned valuable leadership skills and how to make plans and organize.  I learned how to live, work, and play with others.  I developed a love for the outdoors which sustains me today.  My appreciation for other cultures was nurtured through folk dances, music, programs celebrating the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and of course, my trip to Europe.  I am not afraid to try new things, to be adventurous, and to be curious about the world around me.  Through Girl Scouting I gained confidence in myself.  I thank Juliette Gordon Low for that first troop she started in Savannah, Georgia, 100 years ago.

Writing Exercises

Today I attended a writers’ workshop, my very first one.  We tried a variety of exercises and prompts, learning how to summon ideas to write about from the deep recesses of our minds and hearts.  I truly found this helpful and will be using these suggestions to assist me in writing this blog.  I would like to share one below, not because I think it is particularly good, but because it is a stretch for me.  I am not a poet, probably having been damaged in my early years with requirements of rhyming and meter.  This exercise is a run-on poem asking “what if?” and was completed in just a few minutes.

What If?

What if all people

lived as if in a musical

when something made them happy

they would burst into song

and sing at the top of their lungs

and people nearby would join in

singing and dancing with joy

all the people in love

would express their feelings

without playing games

without keeping them inside

but shared honestly with their love

all the people in anguish

would cry out with songs of melancholy

letting tears flow unchecked

and people nearby would join in

or run to comfort with tissues and hugs

all the people’s stories

would have happy endings

just like my favorite musicals

and people would move on with their lives

with smiles on their faces

Well, I have a long way to go, but it’s a start.

What Happened to Dreaming?

A couple of days ago I attended a leadership conference where the speaker suggested that people have stopped dreaming.  That caused me to think.  What happened to dreaming?  When was the last time I dreamed about my future?  The sad thing is that I can’t remember.  Oh, like most little girls of my generation, I dreamed of finding my Prince Charming, getting married, and having a family.  I also dreamed of going off to college and having a career.  I had some interesting jobs after college, but it wasn’t easy.  However, there were possibilities.  That all ended when we moved to Idaho.  I went from career options to jobs—or no job.  Other dreams?  I seem to have forgotten those along the way, too.  I realize that I have lived in the present for a long time.  I look at our young adults, my two daughters included.  In these current economic times, do they still dream?  So many people simply concentrate on getting by, day by day.  Dreaming is a luxury.  Somehow I want to be like a child and be able to dream again.

Celebrating Motherhood

Twenty-seven years ago yesterday, I became a mother for the first time.  In some ways it feels like a very long time ago—so much has happened since then.  On the other hand, it seems like only yesterday.  Where did the years go?  I remember arriving at the hospital, the realization that this baby was in a hurry to be born—they tossed the scrubs to my husband and told him to meet us in the delivery room.  I remember holding my brand new baby.  There is nothing so precious.  Suddenly my life changed.  With the first baby, everything is new and you really aren’t sure if you’re doing it right.  Time teaches that the details don’t matter.  Love, and lots of it, gets you through.  There were so many new experiences along the way: first tooth, solid food, first step, preschool, friends, dance lessons and performances, getting on that school bus for kindergarten, learning to ride a bike, dancing in the Nutcracker, Brownie meeting (with mom as leader) then Junior and Cadette Girl Scouts, braces, camp, surgeries, crushes, high school, dates, dance team, dance trophies, stress fracture, college far away from home, marriage, a job.  I watched my cute little blonde girl blossom into a lovely young woman.  Along with the joys there have been plenty of bumps along the way; it has been an adventure.  Today I give thanks for my beautiful daughter who has been a blessing in my life.

Bipolar Weather

March most definitely came in like a lion this year.  On Thursday, March 1, it snowed all morning.  Not what you want to see at the beginning of March.  By the afternoon it was sunny.  This Sunday morning when we woke up it was sunny, but it was a chilly 30 degrees.  However, by afternoon the thermometer hit 63 degrees.  People were out bicycling; we took our dogs for a pleasant walk along the river.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be even warmer, a balmy 65 degrees.  Just so we don’t get too used to spring weather, Mother Nature decided to mix things up—weather forecasters are predicting snow on Tuesday.  Again.  This is so confusing.  I don’t know what to wear when I get up in the morning.  Do I take a variety of clothes with me if I go somewhere?  Like a T-shirt and snow boots?  Definitely bipolar weather.  How many more weeks until spring?

The Interview

On Thursday night I went to a second interview for a job that interests me; the first interview was the previous night.  While I still get nervous for interviews, I think I’m getting to be a bit of a pro at them.  In fact, I think I could give the interviewers some advice.  Nearly all job interviews that I’ve had in the past year have been conducted by a team of at least three people.  This is what they call the stress interview.  While I understand why employers want to bring a number of interested parties in to meet the applicants, I am not convinced that this is the best way to assess a person.  It requires the applicant to constantly look around the room, not maintaining eye contact with any one person.  It is more stressful and some people handle it better than others.  Depending on the job, the employer may not be catching what they want to know about the person.  

And the questions.  Many of the places I’ve applied to do not have HR departments; I’m convinced that they Google “good questions to ask job applicants.”  It does seem important that the questions match the job and tell the employer something about the applicant’s ability to do the job.  Twice now, in an interview for an administrative assistant, I’ve been asked to tell them about a project where I was successful, and one where the project failed and how I handled it.  Since I couldn’t use work experience, I had to pull up a volunteer project which really has little relation to the duties of the job for which I was applying.  I have been asked about my career goals.  Now I know that I look a bit younger than my actual age, but they must be able to figure out that I am over 50.  I talked about a job.  What do they want me to say?  My goal is to be retired in less than 10 years?  Sometimes you have to adjust the questions to the applicant.  Last night I did get some good specific skill-related questions, but you’d be amazed at the number times I’ve been asked the “name a time when. . .” sort of questions.  

Right now I am waiting to hear from my references, wondering if they have been contacted.  If I were doing the interviewing, I would check references for the top three candidates.  References could change the equation.  I have great references, but I am not a salesperson.  I have learned to get through an interview fairly well, but I know that there are others who can talk up a storm and sell themselves better than I can.  However, that does not mean that they can do the job better than me.  I would be a great employee; just give me a chance.