September 10 2015

R.I.P. Big Boy

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    1 Comment    ,

OrionA little while back I mentioned that we had a cat nicknamed Big Boy.  Unfortunately, Orion passed away yesterday.  He was 15.  My husband and I got him from the Greenville Humane Society right after we got married.  We had already gotten a stray kitten named Athena, and we wanted to have two kittens at the same time.  So the two of us drove up to the Humane Society and picked him out.  He was in a cage all by himself, and unlike the extremely loud kitten in the cage next to him, he sat there very quietly.  He reminded me of my cat growing up because he was all white with a black tail.  My cat Garfield was the same, except he had three black spots on his head and three on his side along with the black tail.  People always commented about how his tail didn’t match the rest of his body, and this was just one part of his charm.  I would say it was as if God went to a Pull a Part auto shop when He made him. Continue reading

September 9 2015

How to Use Google Forms for Sign Ups

Ideas    No Comments    , , , ,

This is an extremely dated post and Google Forms is no longer formatted this way.
For great justice.
For great justice.

I’ve been asked to create a tutorial on how to use Google Forms for event signups.  I tell my parents that emails get buried, and I forget if they tell me in person (especially at a meeting – SQUIRREL!), so I require that they sign up using this form.  It’s an easy way for me to keep up with who has signed up for what event all in one place, and I can also save the data to an excel spreadsheet.  It’s easy for the parents too – I send them a link, they fill out the form, they hit submit – and that’s it!  Continue reading

August 23 2015

Moonshine Falls at Asbury Hills

Hikes & Outdoors    2 Comments    , ,

I’ve decided to start logging my hikes in this blog because I do get asked what hikes I’ve taken and which ones I’d recommend for troops.  I hope that’s OK with all four or five of you reading this blog.  😉

Back in March of 2014, my friend Meggan and I drove up to Asbury Hills, a United Methodist youth camp near Cleveland, SC, to hike to Moonshine Falls as recommended by our Methodist minister.  You can download a map on the Asbury Hills website.  It’s called Moonshine Falls because it used to be the site of an actual moonshine still way back when.  And the 55 gallon drums are still there!   I’m guessing Asbury Hills wasn’t there at the time.  At least I hope not.  You know those crazy Methodists, though!  Continue reading

August 22 2015

The Path to the Gold Award in the 80s

Traditional Stuff    2 Comments    , , , ,

Gold Award

Back when Troop 20 was made up of wee little Brownies and Juniors, Mrs. Vickers said she would take us to Europe if we stayed in Scouts and earned our Gold Award.  Well, not PAY for it, but plan and arrange it and all that stuff.  And this was a big deal for Mrs. Vickers, because she was deathly afraid of flying.  She did get on a plane to go to Our Cabaña before that trip, but flying overseas was a much bigger deal for her.  Continue reading

August 16 2015

A RECENT Newspaper Clipping!

Experiences as a Leader    No Comments    , , , , , ,

Enough of this living in the past!  I received a welcome surprise this morning when I opened up the August issue of our local city’s newspaper.  The Simpsonville Sentinel featured an article about our service unit’s City Slickers summer camp and our Juniors’ work with the Fountain Inn Garden Club.  I can’t say enough good things about the work they did with our girls.  So if you’re in the Golden Strip of SC area, please contact them for projects!  They were extremely enthusiastic about working with us.  Continue reading

August 14 2015

Another Favorite Newspaper Clipping

Reminiscing    No Comments    , , , ,

alices adventures

Here’s another favorite newspaper clipping from Troop 20.  I don’t have a date for this one, but I’m guessing it’s from 1984 or 1985 since Barbara is in it.  And how she got to be the one dressed up, I don’t know.  She must have drawn the short straw or something.  Mrs. Vickers was always big on publicity and submitted our picture to the newspaper whenever possible.  (Thanks Mrs. Vickers!  Memories!)  As you can read from the newspaper caption, we created a costume that was sent to the J-Low Birthplace for one of their sessions.  Sometime I’ll share the time when I slipped and was knocked out at the J-Low house.  No joke!  Continue reading

August 10 2015

Happy National S’mores Day!

Traditional Stuff    No Comments    , , , ,

August 10th is National S’mores Day.  Yay!  Here’s an excerpt from a GSUSA article that also features some more s’mores (see what I did there) recipes:

National S’Mores Day is August 10, and as we all know, s’mores hold a special place in Girl Scout history. Did you know that the first-known recorded version of a “s’mores” recipe can be found in an official Girl Scout publication from 1927? So cool! The recipe is credited to Loretta Scott Crew, who reportedly made s’mores by the campfire for a group of Girl Scouts. Originally called “some mores,” it is unknown when the name was shortened to “s’mores,” but recipes using the longer name can be found in various Girl Scout publications up through 1971.

Continue reading