Catching Up!

This post could also be called "Catching a Breath" as it has been a busy couple months. About the same amount of work but with the Holidays and a vacation in there, didn't leave a lot of time for goofing off.

First, let me just catch up on some calendar points and I will add detail in some additional posts.

November 29th was the District Mid-Year Meeting for two areas, hosted at our house. My wife is an AG for one of the areas so I ran for the food - we had it catered to relieve stress - and served as chief cook and bottle washer. It was still an important night for me as DGN as I watched the meetings of the current leadership and incoming leadership with a critical eye. I had attended several in the past but this time I looked for things that went well and things that could be improved on. By the end of the night I learned that I need to develop an orderly agenda. Not to limit dialog, but to keep it from wandering all over the place.

December 5th found us at one of our club's fundraisers. The club understands how busy I am and even tries to protect me by not asking me to take part in projects but I feel it is important to me not to lose that connection. Sometimes it takes a conscious effort to just stop what you're doing and go to your club meeting or function.

December 6th had meeting of our District Training Team and the Governance Committee of Rotary's Camp Florida, both of which ended up with homework. I have to prepare two training presentations, one for Pre Pets and one for Area Leadership Training for the district. For RCF I have a sections of the policies and procedures manual to review and update for the camp.

December 9th we made what turned out to be our final pre-contract visit to the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. It was a good visit but my convention chair still has some pretty heavy negotiations to complete with regards to food and lodging pricing before we can move forward.

December 19th we sailed away from Port Canaveral on a week long cruise. I have never enjoyed time away from my computer and cell phone more. Even as a lowly DGN I am learning that absolute downtime is needed, and not just a day here and there, but enough to actually unwind.

January 9th I picked up our visitors from Kenya at the airport. I reported on the DGE Homestay program a year ago, I think, when we had guests from India, and this was another wonderful example of international fellowship. Each day the following week we had a daytime activity, such as a tour and either a banquet or fellowship dinner somewhere as our district hosted more than twenty DGEs and their spouses in route to the International Assembly in San Diego. Absolutely a wonderful experience but there is no free time that week. A couple times my wife took them to tours and allowed me to catch up on work, but it was pretty much go go go all week. I will miss this program the next two years when I am one of the DGEs and then DG, but we will pick it back up again after that.

I am intentionally not mentioning club meetings, board meetings and etc. in January - but they are all there, trust me. But other odd life things did take place. I had to work, what a concept, and flew up to my manufacturing facility in Wisconsin for a week. As outgoing president of our condominium association I presided over my final meeting. I am still on the board, but just as a director.

As a die hard Packer fan I would be remiss if I didn't mention the game against our rival Chicago Bears on January for the right to play in the Super Bowl. We won!!!!!

Into February. Again I would be remiss as a die hard Packer fan if I didn't mention our little to trip to my wife's sister's house in North Carolina for a five day weekend. One highlight was, of course, the Super Bowl. Friends of theirs hosted a Super Bowl party and we attended, I in my inflatable cheese head and Packer shirt, where we ate and drank too much as we watched our team become World Champions again. What a fun evening.

February 12th was our Pre PETS training and our Area Training Seminar, morning and afternoon respectively. I will report on this under a separate heading.

February 15th I made a very quick three day trip to my company, returning home on an early flight on the 18th so I could attend a Charter Night Banquet for a brand new Rotary Club. It isn't often these days to have a new club come into the district. We have had a couple that have been rejuvenated but still under an existing charter. Unfortunately, I brought back a bug from my trip so while everyone was celebrating the creation of this new club I saw a doctor and got started on a regimen of antibiotics and anti viral medications. It took about a week to get my old self back, and the first thing I did was visit that club!!!

February 26th, yesterday, I facilitated three sessions of the Rotary Leadership Institute. It was enjoyable as always but, as we were up until 1:00 AM the night before printing PETS handouts, it was a long day.

Okay, that is a quick look at the past two months. PETS is next week and I arrive at the facility on Wednesday. Immediately following this post I will add one each for my Convention, the Pre PETS Training, the Area Leadership Training and the preparations for PETS, along with the agenda.

Today was a very sad day, however, as our District Trainer, how would have been my District Trainer next year, had to resign for health reasons. I am trying hard not to use names in this blog, to keep it generic, but she was a truly intrical part of the training team and will be missed. However, it also shows the need for continuity in training. If the incoming Governor had not had the foresight to create a training team, it would have just been her and the trainer - and now, with PETS, District Assembly, TRF and Membership Seminars still to go, it would have been just her. Instead, she still has a team of six, herself included, to move forward. That makes finding a new trainer a priority but not an emergency and will allow for considered decision making instead of a knee jerk reaction.