Nonprofit nutso

My last post was written just before deciding to start a nonprofit. I have thought about posting a few times over the last two weeks but literally haven't had a spare half an hour to sit down and write. I'm a little upset that I didn't make time, because the last two months have been an insane ride with lots of ups and downs. It would have been nice to have a journal account of it to remind myself of the craziness, joy and heartbreak.

Since I only have a few minutes and I'm not sure when I will have time to write again, I'm resorting to bullet points...again. Here's my last two months, or what I can remember of it, in no particular order:

received an email about a nonprofit in Washington DC about a group that provides companion animals for veterans

contacted group to see if they had a Charlotte chapter. they do not

emailed my friend Hilary: "We should do this here!"

started a nonprofit

filled out a 37 page IRS form for nonprofit status

got an EIN from the IRS and formed a NC corporation

started a very long to-do list

got a web site

got a logo

wrote stuff

called a bunch of people

begged a bunch of people for money and in-kind donations

had a lot of meetings

found a veteran who wants a dog

adopted a dog from animal control that spewed diarrhea all over Hil's house for a week

took dog back to animal control

got reamed out by a rescue group woman for returning the dog, in front of people, in the lobby of animal control

got another, healthy dog from another rescue group

took dog to veteran

got recruited to work for the census

worked my ass off

thought i had found two good volunteers but they're not reliable. damnit

attended the most fun wedding ever. jason looked so good in his suit. he's a handsome man and i'm very lucky.

battled insomnia

took care of a stray dog jason brought home. found her at Tryon and Clanton streets.

did i mention the stray dog was unsocialized, afraid of everyone but me and jason?

she lived with us for 10 days.

and did i mention she was in heat? do you know what that means? the carpet was disgusting.

named her Girl Dog. found a great home for her. now she is Gracie.

i miss her.

so does jason.

our dogs do not.

worked for two weeks for the census, was supposed to be paid, but wasn't.

had to call my other 6 team members to tell them we weren't being paid for another week.

finally got paid and it looks like they took out 28% tax. why?? i'm in the lowest bracket.

got 501c3 approval from the IRS. jumped for joy.

sat in a census training class for 40 hours. considered suicide daily.

stood up in front of a lot of people while Hilary gave a speech. i was so proud of her.

decided not to apply to vet tech school. 99% sure not going to apply to vet school.

created a traffic report for H4H. funny, because while working at the ad agency a few years back, i made fun of this seemingly archaic document. and the agency where i used to work was HMH. interesting.

heard we might be getting a grant. holding breath for mail. not counting chickens.

Although I'm working about 80 hours weeks, I'm loving it. Hopefully Census will be done this week so I can knock back to a leisurely 50 hours. Seriously, 50 hours is not bad when you're doing what you love.

Dog drama

First, pictures:

If I had a PhD, I would be offended by this.
The squirrels at the campground are heavily imprinted, meaning, they look to humans for food. I can't condone it, but it makes for good photo opportunities.
Diesel loves to lay in the water, preferably in water that is only a couple of inches deep.
Hilary and I made a natural centerpiece for the table, in the spirit of Jen W. And Erin W.
Hilary's face is so funny in this picture. I love it!

Friday afternoon, Jason returned early from work so we could leave for the campground in time to set up before dark. I had lined up a dog sitter to come by to walk the dogs three times a day, at 8am, noon and 6pm. He was surprisingly inexpensive, but came with great references, and Diesel even warmed up to him after only a ten minute visit. So we left, footloose and fancy free, around 4 o'clock Friday. Unfortunately I neglected to check the campground lock up time (6pm) so when we arrived at 7, we couldn't get in. So we drove another hour to find (thank God) a hotel.

We slept like babies in the super comfy bed with a down comforter, until my cell rang at 8am the next day. On the other end of the line, the man I had trusted with our dogs was out of breath and freaking out. He was scared to tell me what was going on a three hour drive away. Finally he told me that Diesel had gotten out of the house, without his leash, and was running at a high rate of speed away from him. Diesel was on the lam.

I knew we had to go home. I looked at Jason and he could tell from my face that we had to go home. We threw off the covers, threw on our shoes, shoved our stuff in our bags, and bugged out, to home. I frantically called the sitter on the phone every few minutes, hoping he had gotten Diesel back into the house. But I knew it wouldn't happen, since Diesel is male-wary and the sitter (male) probably spooked him somehow, which is what made him run in the first place. I felt helpless. Jason was quiet.

I wished and prayed for a helicopter to meet us at the next highway. There was no helicopter, and no way to shorten the three hour trip. I racked (wracked?) my brain for alternatives. What to do...who to call...what to do...damn it who can help?

HILARY! Diesel likes Hilary! She could maybe go over and get him to go inside! I would do it for her dogs and she would do it for mine! HILLLLLLLARRRRY!!! I frantically dialed her number, then remembered speaking to her the night before, a little late, after she had just discovered a new Apple Cider drink. Hmmm, she might still be sleeping. But wouldn't you know it, she called me right back, and she said she would be at our house in ten minutes. Have I mentioned that I love HIlary?

It took nearly two hours, but Diesel was finally back in the house.

We decided that, in order to continue our vacation, that the dogs would need to come with us. This put a bit of a damper on the "romantic" aspect of the weekend, but we still had a lot of fun at the lake. Hilary even came out for a night of shenanigans and we all fell asleep before ten, after roasting weiners on the fire and watching a movie. At what point did we get old?

Monday was the best day, waking around eight, making breakfast burritos and coffee, then spending the entire day lounging on a grassy knoll overlooking the lake. The weather couldn't have been more perfect: sunny and about 73 degrees. We all now wear badges of sun on our cheeks, noses and arms. It was glorious.

Camping!

Heading out to the lake for our first trip of 2010. We're going for 6 days, sans dogs. My good friend Hilary is coming out to stay with us for one night. Bon voyage!

Vultures

I love them. They're social. And they're funny despite looking a little gross, according to many people. I think they're beautiful. And I love that they are the perfect candidates for funny names, like Igor or Gargamel. I swung a U-turn and parked on the side of the highway this morning because I saw this crew and happened to have my camera with me. I'm calling them the Highway 160 Cleaning Crew.

Job Description

My dream job description:


Responsibility: help animals directly, in some way. For example: caring for them, finding homes for them, rehabilitating them, training them, teaching them, babysitting them or something else positive and good.
Salary: $70,000 (remember, I'm dreaming. will accept $30,000)
Hours: up to a 70 hour week
Dress code: casual, with occasional instances where I would need to get dressed up real purdy with heels and everything
Get dirty on a daily basis. Meaning, work with the animals directly, and get one of the following: muddy paw prints on pants, dirt on shirt from..somewhere, blood, wet dog food or other yucky stuff from preparing food for said animals, smelling stinky like fish from preparing food, crap on shoes from the ground or crap on self from being in an area where animals crap.
Coworkers: other people who love and respect animals (and people too!)
Duties: anything from administrative stuff and paperwork to cleaning up pee on the floor and taking out stinky garbage. Also, marketing, writing, researching ways to gain funding or other sources of income, talking to the public, educating the public and teaching children, feeding and caring for the animals, training volunteers, managing projects, brainstorming, proofreading, creating and maintaining a web site and sticking to a budget.

CRC

A cold, damp day spent outside at CRC is better than any day stuck inside a cubicle with no windows in sight. Even when, at the end of that cold, damp day, your hands smell like fish guts because you prepared a bunch of food for the eagles. No amount of lemon nor soap has helped.

Long time no see

I haven't posted in about six weeks, mostly because I don't have anything exciting to write about. Not that anything exciting hasn't happened, it's just that I haven't felt like writing.

Since my last post December 27th, the following has happened:

Went to a fun New Year's Eve party at my friend Sarah's

Tried in vain to register for a BIO or CHEM class at school. Classes were booked up in a matter of minutes despite logging in at 2am to try to get a seat. Have I mentioned I'm not a night person? Central Piedmont has ticked me off. You have to be a Sophomore to get into a good class, but you can't be a Sophomore until you have 24 credits towards your degree. If you can't get into classes towards your degree, how do you get 24 credits???? It's infuriating.

Settled for a Computer class that was cancelled, a Construction class that is bogus and an Office Technology class that's being taught by someone a decade younger than me, with about ten years less experience than me, who is a total hardass about coming to the hour long class every day. And then she doesn't even teach in the class: she posts an assignment online, such as: make a Powerpoint presentation. Then if you have questions you raise your hand. Stupid. Waste. Of. Time.

Got laid off. Then was asked to resign. Had to see an attorney. He gave good advice.

Turned 35. Had to cancel my party because roads were too icy for people to drive safely to get to our house.

Thought about attending the Wildlife Rehabilitators National Symposium in Seattle but I can't afford it.

Starting volunteering at The Raptor Center again, on Fridays. I love that place. Last Friday it was pouring rain and had been raining for about 48 hours. People were joking about building arcs. I prepared the food for about 30 birds, then donned a yellow rain poncho and walked the 1.5 mile trail to feed the birds in my running shoes. My feet were soaking wet and freezing for about four hours but it was still better than working in a windowless office at Merrill Lynch. Rubber boots are on my wish list.

Filled out my FAFSA for 2010-2011. I'm praying for aid. And unemployment.

Did my taxes, and Jason's. Not getting back as much as I had estimated.

Looked at engagement rings, on a few occasions, with Jason. I love all of them.

A bunch of people from work gave me going away cards. I was a little surprised by this. I would think that people who usually treat you like crap wouldn't care enough to send a Hallmark. Maybe I'm wrong?

Moved into a new townhome. We both love it. It's smaller, just the right size, easier to clean, close to the interstate and we can afford it. Our old house was nice but too big and too expensive; we were going into debt each month just to keep up with the payments.

Found a dog on a busy road and found a good home for him. This was by far the highlight of the last six months of my life. By a lot. Jason found him, took him to a vet, I picked him up, got him groomed and Rabies vaccinated, then networked like crazy to find a home for him. He's living the good life in an extremely nice house in Dilworth. It's the best! AND the people gave me money to cover his expenses without me even having to ask. Wow, wow, wow.

Gained about 5 pounds. Haven't been working out. Just been eating and not caring. And sleeping a lot, but I went to the gym today to walk. The weather has been so cold it's impossible to walk outside. I'm ready for Spring.

I'm looking forward to camping. Researching a trip to Washington DC to see some of the Smithsonian museums, The National Zoo and some monuments. Thinking about going during Spring Break, the first or second week of March.




Applied to Gaston College for the Vet Tech program, which starts in the Fall. Only 40 students are accepted.