GSUSA Product Reviews 1 Comment 
cookies, gsusa
Today’s installment of GSUSA licensed products highlights Skippy’s PB Bites featuring Tagalongs and Adventurefuls cookie flavors! I realize these are very, very, very low budget, but hopefully they’re slightly entertaining nonetheless.
Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 2 Comments
Thanks to everyone for your input and comments after my post the other day. I also had people reach out to me via phone calls and texts and even had lunch with friends today which helped. I am very blessed to have such a supportive community of friends and colleagues that I can lean on when things are overwhelming. A friend pointed out that within the past year, I have lost the communities that were grounding me, so it’s no wonder I feel disconnected and disengaged. This was very obvious once she pointed it out, but when you’re mired in the muck, the mud gets in your eyes and it’s hard to see. Once I realized this, a lot of things made sense, and it helped me reorient my way of thinking. I just need to readjust some priorities and be more patient. Thanks again for your support and comments. You are all very special to me.
Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 8 Comments delegate, democratic process, national council, national delegate, service unit, trailblazers, troop 2562
So, dear reader, I wanted to share some of my recent thoughts with you and get your input. The reality is that I’ve been struggling with this for quite some time now, and it’s reached a point where it’s completely maddening to me. So instead of me continuing to wrestle with this alone, I’m going to share my innermost thoughts with you. If blogs could go through a mid-life crisis, this would be it.
Perhaps it would be helpful for me to share what I’m doing in GS now. Last year, my co-leader and I made the decision to “reboot” my troop with my co-leader taking over as the primary leader, and I would serve in a secondary role. Frankly, I’m burned out when it comes to troop business and badge programming. My youngest daughter is a 10th grader, so assuming she continues, I’ve still got two more years to go. I’m in my 15th year as a GS volunteer. I realize compared to a lot of folks, that’s young when it comes to GS years, but I feel like I’ve been through a lifetime in my GS career that I won’t rehash here. Continue reading
Opinions 2 Comments councils, gsusa, service unit, troop 2562, troop stuff, volunteers, world thinking day
In case you’re new to Girl Scouting, let’s revisit February 22 – one of the most important Girl Scout holidays – and known to everyone as World Thinking Day. To summarize from GSUSA:
World Thinking Day was first created in 1926 at the fourth Girl Guide/Girl Scout International Conference, held at Girl Scouts of the USA’s Camp Edith Macy (now called Edith Macy Conference Center). Conference attendees decided that there should be a special day when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all around the world think of each other and give thanks and appreciation to their “sister” Girl Scouts. The delegates chose February 22 as the date for Thinking Day because it was the mutual birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, and his wife Olave, who served as World Chief Guide.
In 1932, at the seventh World Conference, held in Poland, a Belgian delegate suggested that since birthdays usually involve presents, girls could show their appreciation and friendship on Thinking Day not only by extending warm wishes but by offering a voluntary contribution to the World Association. This is how the World Association’s Thinking Day Fund began. The fund helps offer Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting to more girls and young women worldwide. Girl Scouts of the USA, through its Juliette Low World Friendship Fund, gives to the Thinking Day Fund.
GSUSA Product Reviews No Comments gsusa, licensing, money
Welcome to the second installment of my GSUSA licensed products reviews! Here’s one about Thin Mints Muddy Bites Waffle Cone Snacks:
GSUSA Product Reviews 4 Comments gsusa, licensing, money
I’m starting a new video series centering around reviewing GSUSA licensed products. Here’s my first one! Apologies for the low quality but you gotta start somewhere!
National Operations No Comments gsusa, j-low, money
We’re in the money!
We’re in the money!
We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along!
GSUSA didn’t quite get what it wanted when it came to a membership dues raise back in October, but any disappointment should have been short lived when it was announced that the Lilly Endowment recently awarded a grant of $30 million to GSUSA to “create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in the young people they serve.” There’s been no word on whether councils will receive any of these funds. What will this grant support? Don’t know about that either. Hopefully something more than a hastily developed patch program.
This isn’t the first time Girl Scouts has received a grant from the Lilly Endowment. In 2022, six councils that serve Indiana girls received a total of $15 million to “find creative solutions to reach and better support Hoosier girls and families in all 92 counties with a particular focus on girls and families who have historically not engaged with Girl Scouts.” Continue reading
National Operations 5 Comments 2024 special ncs, badges we don't need no stinkin badges, girls guides, gsusa, leader issues, national council
Recently, I checked my blog’s stats to find that for 2024, I’ve broken my previous record of yearly page views even though I published fewer posts this year comparatively. But the upward trend started before this year. I noticed in 2023 that daily page views had doubled, and after looking into it, I finally found the reason. It’s due to hits from Google searches to two specific blog posts: one being my badge and award summary from 2023 and the other of the same topic from 2024.
According to Google, here are the top 10 keyword searches for my blog in 2024:
The results for 11-20 are more of the same with a few “journey” keywords mixed in. Continue reading
National Governance 9 Comments 2024 special ncs, blue book, bonnie b, camp wabak, gsusa, membership dues, mountain magic, national board, national council, university of georgia
Another National Council Session (NCS) is in the books, albeit this one comes a little sooner within the triennium due to it being the first ever special session. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to listen to this 12 hour marathon from start to finish due to my attending and running trainings at our council’s leader weekend at Camp WaBak. However, I did get to hear a good portion of the NCS between sessions so I feel like I caught about two-thirds of it. I also had some friends take very good notes and catch me up on what I missed. If you’re interested in a high level play by play, be sure to check out GSG’s summary. But if you don’t want to read it, know that the National Council decided that girl membership dues will be raised to $45 for Membership Year (MY) 2026 (next year) and then $65 for MY2027, and adult dues will rise to $30 starting MY2026. Continue reading
National Governance 7 Comments 2024 special ncs, councils, membership dues
I usually don’t do things like this, but I just wanted to bring attention to the absolutely most low key effort survey out there when it comes to the membership dues proposals. As my daughter says, this is Beta Ohio. Dog water. Not demure and not very mindful. And they actually use the words “democratic process” on this form.
Edit on 10/14/24: Well, looks like they pulled the form. Basically it was obvious that the leadership of that council already made their mind up to vote for $85 dues for girls and asked one question so that they could twist the results to match what they wanted.