July 3rd.

If you haven't heard Jerry Seinfeld's bit on the expiration date for milk - then the title of this post will mean nothing to you...but for those of you who have, I hope you 1) get it and 2) thank me for reminding you of this oh, so important date.

In other news - Le Tour de France starts to day...and yes, I am routing for Lance amid all of his life troubles - I just can't turn my back on him and his cycling talent. I'm a little bummed though because while I'm here at institute I do get some cable channels - but no Versus. So it will be the online live updates for me this tour... Go LANCE!!!!

As mentioned - I'm at institute and well, institute is the reason that I'm actually posting to this blog (shout out to the lovely and talented 2010 OCs!!). Institute kicked off w/ 4 straight 7-day weeks of work for me until last weekend when I had my first day off since Memorial Day. Looking back, it seems like a blur - but amid that blur we built an institute and welcomed 575 brand new teachers who have now completed their first week of teaching (P.S. don't ask me about anything that happened outside of the 5 mile radius surrounding the Illinois Institute of Technology - because I won't have a clue!)

Right now I'm battling this want to have institute end asap and not wanting it to ever end because 3 days after I move out of institute - I'm moving to Milwaukee. And while I know in my heart, mind, and gut that moving to MKE is the best thing for me to do in my life right now - it is hard to think about leaving the city I started my "life" in and the people that have been a huge part of me becoming "me" these past four years. However, this is what life is and if there is anything I have learned in my past4 years here in Chicago is that nothing is permanent except for my faith, my family, and my friends (yeah, definitely not linking that considering I don't have a picture of ALL of my friends and me)- and those are the 3 things that matter to me the most.

My faith will always be with me wherever I go, my family while there maybe some distance between us - they know I'll always jump in my car or on a plane to come and see them, and my friends - well, it may be a facebook post, e-mail, or phone call...but I know we are always connected no matter where we go or live.

Hopefully it won't be another 5 months before I post again...

GO LANCE!

~mitzi

P.S. OCs - this is for you:

Procrastination

After getting a bunch of pictures from the holidays, I decided to make this to keep me from doing work...washing dishes...cleaning my apartment...doing laundry...etc.

26 and rolling...

You know you missed me.

After seeing that the Büschelmännerhaus had posted 3 times in the past week, I realized that it was time to update the old blog. Lots of thing have happened since my last post, but I'll try to keep this short and focus on the highlights - and what the heck, I'll just skip forward to January 2010.

I got back from spending the holidays in Kansas and then jetted off to San Francisco to see my friend and former teammate, Ashley, who is in law school at Stanford. It was a quick trip, but it was just what I needed to get refreshed after being back at work for only 4 days. It was my first time in the Bay Area and I have to say, I loved seeing the Golden Gate Bridge...there's something about seeing landmarks in person that you have seen millions of times in pictures. We also visited Alcatraz and ate plenty of good food - including the West Coast trend: frozen yogurt. I didn't know that TCBY could be out done.

After getting back from San Fran - it was back to work. As my family knows, this is the "busy time"...and well, it lasts until August where I'll have my four weeks off...so I know it is worth it. In the past month and a half, I have schedule nearly 200 interviews to select the staff that will training the 550 new corps members at the Chicago institute. This year, certainly went much better than last year - so I do feel good about that!

In late January, I was in Tulsa for a quick team retreat - it was nice to get away from the Chicago winter for 48 hours....but then I headed back to Chicago and then to Madison for my 26th birthday. It was a great day - including free Einstein's bagels, balloons picked out by my nieces, pumpkin cheesecake, ice skating, BWWs, and a great KU basketball victory.

My boss gave birth to the newest member of the Chicago institute management team on Groundhog Day - so I (we) have been without an official boss...and will be so for the next couple of weeks. It has certainly been a test for our team - to make sure we are getting things done and holding each other accountable as we continue to shape what this year's Chicago institute will look like. It's been a learning experience and I will definitely be glad when my boss gets back!

My team getting ready for our first conference in Houston - our boss sent us a cookie bouquet!
L-R: Abigail, me, Demi, Nikki, and MaryAnn

I was able to spend a weekend in Madison and take part in the 4 annual Feuerzangenbowle there as well as have a girls (and boy) night w/ the Reddig kids as their parents headed off to winter ball. I'm currently considering a switch in careers having done a decent job with Katie's hair.

Aren't they cute?

I was then off to Houston for the first training conference for our institute staff...it was the first time we would meet the leaders of our institute - and it was a success! Looks like we are in the right place for a great summer, but there's a bunch of work that has to get done between now and my vacation in August!

Our institute's motto

This is how I decorated our tables - the "table tents" have our institute's goals listed on them...
and a shout out to the Madison party store that still had 2010 confetti!

The 2010 Chicago institute leadership team
aka my family during the months of June and July!

Fundamental rights...

I just looked at the calendar and thought to myself - Where is October going??? It's almost gone! Oh no! (a la Seinfeld's "Milk"). It has been a pretty busy time since my last post. 2 days after my last post - my car was hit by a drunk driver (no injuries - except for the car)...so for about 5 weeks, I was paying for a car that I couldn't drive. Luckily, the Lawrence police found the guilty driver and so his insurance paid for the repairs which ended up being close to $7000...which basically means that my car was totaled - except it wasn't. Either way, it was pain and I had to drive a non-cruise control PT Cruiser for 4 weeks including a trip back to Chicago from Lawrence, a trip to-and-from Dayton, and then back to Lawrence...thankfully, I have my car back and life is somewhat normal.

Work has been fairly slow so far since this is our "down season". I'm doing a lot of strategic planning for the coming year as well as reflecting on how to make the Chicago institute in 2010 even better (or at least not worse!). This past week we had our official kick-off conference for all the institutes here in Chicago. We got to discuss this report during the beginning of the conference and while it was pretty incredible to read where the United States' educational achievement gap is in comparison to other countries...one person at the conference started discussing how education should be a "fundamental right of humans". This comment made me stop in my thoughts during the discussion because I couldn't get away from that phrase and where I had only heard it before - within the Right to Life movement...I wanted to stand up and say, "How can we grant education has a fundamental right when we can't even grant life as one?"...but I held back - for now. Anyway, the conference was long and there's a lot of work ahead again this year as another 600 corps members will be coming to Chicago next summer to be trained.

Amid the slow period of work - I've been able to take advantage of some vacation time and have been able to visit the Buschelmans and Lawrence in the past few weeks. I headed to Fairborn, OH earlier this month to hang out and enjoy fall with Liesel, Eric, Dom, and Will...it's always great to see them and see what new things are going on in the new house! I'm pretty sure the thing that Dom and Will (and Liesel for that matter) enjoyed the most about my visit was that I brought Dunkin' Donuts.

Then just last weekend, I drove back to Lawrence for Homecoming. It was a planned trip from the summer - to see the KU game with friends from college and be at the Oktoberfest...but I added on picking up my car from the collision repair shop to the list! It was an extremely quick weekend home, but it was great to be there for the Oktoberfest and Homecoming! Who knows - maybe this will become a tradition minus the 8 hour drive both ways.

-mitzi

see you in september...

I'm having a hard time understanding that September is really here already, but there's nothing you can do to stop time from continuing to plug along. I know that I've been able to visit with many of you - but I figured I could do some sort of post here to give you an update on my summer since my last post. I had planned on posting in a more frequent fashion, but as work consumed my existence this summer - this is the way that I'm going to have update on what was a 'ado about Mitzi' in the past 3 months.

I'll start from the very beginning...

My 5th nephew came into the world on May 29 - luckily, I was able to see him the day he was born - just as I was able to do with his 2 older sisters...before I had to head back to Chicago to gear up for institute.

with Peter just a few hours after he was born

The excitement prior to moving into institute was that I purchase my first pair of TOMS (well, actually I purchased 2 pairs). I knew that I would be walking (and running) across campus during institute - in some cases carrying boxes...so I wanted something that was light-weight and as convenient as a pair of flip-flops and TOMS were the answer - and they do good things too. Overall, I have been very happy with my TOMS and would recommend them to anyone looking for a close-toe flip-flop alternative.

June 8th - I moved into my apartment on the campus of the Illinois of Institute Technology. For some reason, I never took a picture of my apartment - but it would be my home for the next 7.5 weeks. June 8-June 14 is "Week -1" in TFA-institute-speak. Basically a TFA institute runs for 5 weeks - so the weeks prior to corps members arriving for training are called "Week -1 and Week 0". Only myself, the full-time team I work with throughout the year, and the leadership team of the summer staff we hired, trained, and would be managing moved lived on campus Week -1, then the rest of the summer staff moved in at the beginning of Week 0, and as you can assume Week 1 is when corps members move in for their 5 weeks of training.

I'm having a hard time trying to explain exactly all that happens before corps members arrive in those few short days - but the only thing that I can think of it as is what a campaign's advance team does before the candidate they are working for arrives. Only in TFA's case, we were planning for about 615 corps members to arrive while maintaining the support for the 150 staff members who just arrived in a new city for the summer. Needless to say - I was working about 120 hours/week the first 2 weeks on campus to set up this small city for our staff and corps members to function in.

One of our larger tasks was our supply delivery - since the Chicago institute was brand new - that means we didn't have anything...so in 2 semi-trucks were 700 boxes that we unloaded, sorted, and organized - at the end of institute we would collect everything, pack it up, and store it for next summer. This is a picture of the 180 crates we stacked and lined in one hallway.

Checking in with Taylor (school operations manager coordinator) during Week -1

I set up this "Reimbursement Station" for my staff to work at if they wanted to be reimbursed for their travel to institute. It was a HUGE success!!

My operations coordinators and I are working to sort the materials that were used to train our staff during Week 0.

Our staff...well most of it - and their ID pictures!

June 21 - The inaugural Chicago institute starts. 14 days after I moved to IIT - corps members arrived and institute life truly began. One of the staff members and I would joke about how each day was really about 4 days when you think about everything that would go on even before you had breakfast. Here's a day in the life of my life this summer for example:

"Day 1"
4:30am - Alarm clock goes off
4:39am - Snooze alarm goes off
4:48am - Snooz alarm goes off again and I finally get up
5:00am - Leave my apartment and head over to the main campus building for lunch pick-up
5:10am - Make sure all the operations staff are there for lunch pick-up, take my position to make sure corps members and staff are following the flow of traffic to get their lunch and head to breakfast
5:15am - Corps members and instructional staff start arriving to pick-up their lunch. The only words that I say for about the next two hours are "Good morning!","Have a great day at school!", "No, you can only have 1 drink with your lunch." "Please, go up these stairs so that we can keep traffic moving." "No, please go this way instead." "I understand that way looks quicker, but we are trying to move 700 people through this line right now, please go this way instead."
7:00am - Head out to the busline and check on the staff there, greet the bus drivers, and make sure the buses leave on time.
7:30am - Get breakfast with bus duty and lunch pick-up staff

Checking in on bus duty - you can see one of the 20+ buses on the left-hand side of the picture

"Day 2"
8:00am - Catch-up on any e-mails that came in over night
9:00am - Meet with staff to make sure they know what needs to happen that day
9:30am - Meet with Director of Institute Operations to plan meeting with operations director meeting.
10am - Operations Director meeting
11:15am - Check-in phone call with my school operations manager coordinator
12:00pm - Lunch
1:00pm - Shower

"Day 3"
2:00pm - Prepare for meeting with school directors, meet with operations coordinators
3:00pm - Individual meetings with operations directors about institute close-out
4:00pm - Greet corps members with the rest of the operations staff when they arrive back at campus.
4:30pm - Check-in with school operations manager coordinator
5:00pm - Dinner

"Day 4"
6:00pm - School Operations Manager meeting
7:00pm - School Director meeting
8:00pm - Check-in with operations across campus
9:00pm - Check e-mail from the afternoon and respond to staff needs
10:00pm - Check on copy center and resouce center
11:00pm - Final e-mail check
11:30pm - Bed

Granted, this was typical day - but throw in a case of the swine flu, departing corps members, a car accident, an unhappy staff member, a frustrated corps member, a 45 minute wait at the copy center, and my personal favorite - bacon on the vegetarian sandwiches - the day becomes much more than 'typical'.

But I survived...and so did our staff...and most importantly, so did our corps members - who are now beginning their first year of teaching in either Chicago, Milwaukee, Kansas City, South Dakota, Boston, Charlotte, or Eastern North Carolina.

So for about 7.5 weeks - institute was life. We did have fun though and TFA always knows how to celebrate. I made some great friends who I hope will return next summer! Also, probably the best part is that as a full-time institute staff member, I am required to take 3 weeks of comp time following institute...and tack on a week of vacation I've acculmulated - you get 4 weeks of work-free life. Now that my final days of vacation are approaching - I'm anxious about heading back to Chicago to beginning planning the 2010 Chicago institute...but also renewed and ready to do things even better this year.

The operations team!

The four operations coordinators I managed - they are completing college this year and all 4 plan to apply for the corps.

Taylor and I - the school operations power force!! We exceeded our goals for school operations - which is exactly why I decided to join full-time institute staff!

The operations team enjoyed the open-bar Happy Hour w/ Karaoke one Friday afternoon!!

The full-time Chicago institute management team - our last night in Chicago after 7.5 weeks together!

2 months later...

Considering that it has been almost 2 months since my last post, it's probably time to post at least something.

First up - this is currently my favorite song.

Secondly - since May 15 (last posting) it's been just a little bit busy in the Teach For America - Chicago Institute world. My team and I hosted "Leadership Conference 2" here in Chicago in March - I co-managed the logistics for this conference w/ the Phoenix MIS and her crew - so about 50 people to house/feed/guide. We were able to use the new TFA office and overall the conference was a success. I was able to present to the leadership team of the Chicago institute (school directors - SD) about how the school operations manager (SOM) functions in their lives. This has been one of the things driving me in my work this year - to make sure that SDs and SOMs have a good working relationship and that they understand their roles. The other exciting part of LC2 was that I acquired a membership here.

LC2 definitely wiped me out - but I was back at work the next day gearing up for the "Operations Director Conference" in Houston and the big-one: "All Staff Conference" in Chicago both of which happened in April. ODC was nice - just hanging w/ the ops folks of institute - my kind of people :)! And then - I got a vacation!!

And vacation was wonderful - just enjoying the life of the Reddigs and Holy Week. Some highlights of that trip: not working, Katie's Zumba class, Samba de Amigo, the annual Seder Meal - which the Beiers joined us for, discovering a new restaurant with a friend, a new scarf from the Easter Bunny, watching The Masters for the first time ever, and of course having Mary Ann update me on things coming up - i.e. "Mitzi, didn't you know that tomorrow is Easter?"

And then it was back to work...let's just say that coming back from vacation was a little rough, and the 2 weeks that I had to prepare for the All Staff Conference were just a little stressful - but it was all worth it. We had an incredible conference and with the survey results back now - it seems as though all 110 people that I logistically brought together were pretty happy about their time in Chicago. I had been working on this conference in particular since last August - so it was really great to see it all happen...and to meet everyone that I have been e-mailing since December. That's just one of the things that I truly enjoy about this job - I get to see the results of my planning and organization.

A week later - the Buschelmans came to visit me - first time since my move to the Ukrainian Village. It was a relaxing weekend of wandering around the city, the zoo, and the brewery. And we were able to get the kitchen curtains hung! It's incredible to see how Dom and Will are growing...and more incredible to realize how small my apartment can become with 4 extra bodies.

And now we are up to this past week - well, work picked up quite a bit with the announcement of a new region attending the Chicago institute. This means that not only will the corps members from Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Eastnern NC, Charlotte, and Boston be trained here in Chicago this summer - but now also the South Dakota corps members. It'll be quite an group of people (over 600) descending on Chicago and the public schools this summer - so now is the time to get ready for it all.

A future corps member (who has worked at institute before) wrote a letter - and well, this small excerpt gives me a little inspiration to continue to work hard:

I am excited to return to institute, this time as a corps member, to know the other side of the experience, to earn my place in this cycle, and to prove myself worthy of the children I will teach – and worthy of the time you spend at conferences like this preparing to lead me and my fellow corps members. I look forward to having my own stories of the ways “my kids” changed my life – and hopefully, the ways I changed theirs – and I’m grateful for the role you have already begun to play in moving me there.

genius...

I know I need to give an update here on what is much ado about me, but as a tease - I saw this quote tonight and thought it was pertinent to the "hard-times" that we are all going through...

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

valentine's day(s)...

For some reason - I can remember random events that happened on particular day for sometimes several years back...I think I got this from Liesel and Katie because I can remember one evening when we spent about an hour thinking back through the years of what happened on a particular day in June. All I can remember now from that was that we couldn't believe so many things had happened on that particular day.

So...as I sit here thinking about Valentine's day - I think about how I have spent my last few V-days:

2008: I flew to Philadelphia for work on Southwest Airlines. I remember the flight attendants handing out Valentine's day candy and the plane being decorated for the special day. Once arriving in Philly - my manager, Mike, and I took a walk around the city, saw the Liberty Bell and Constitutional Hall and we at an Irish pub.

2007: I was home in Lawrence recruiting for TFA w/ my manager, Casey - and we had dinner at Mom and Dad's - ahhh, the seafood pilaf!!

2006: I remember this one the most because the night before my car door broke and Mom and Dad had been watching "24" and didn't answer the phone when I called for help (no hard feelings!). On V-day...I sent out an e-mail to my siblings about the previous night's happenings and I remember Liesel calling me after one of my classes to tell me it was the funniest e-mail that she ever read. I know for dinner - Blair, Amy, and I went to Chipotle and I can specifically remember Blair telling me to apply for Teach For America's corps - and I actually started an application that night (the deadline was in 2 days)...but I got distracted because Liesel called me again to tell me she and Eric were expecting their first child.

2005: Can't remember...

2004: My roommates and I decided that we were going to spend Valentine's day alone and so we decided to round up our guy-friends from the schol-halls and go get dinner some place. We ended up going McDonald's and then came back to schol-hall land to watch 'Bend It Like Beckam'.

2003: I remember that I received a handmade Valentine from Katie this year...I wonder if I still have it in one of my boxes at home...it was so pretty!!

Hmmm...6 years back and only missing one isn't that bad. If anyone can remember what happened in 2005 - let me know.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!!

Love,
Mitzi

Chances?

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

-President Barack H. Obama

I must ask, then, when is the exact moment that someone is given the chance to be equal - the chance to be free - and the chance to pursue their full measure of happiness?

I think conception would be a pretty sweet moment to have that chance be given...let's go with that, Mr. President.

obama cookies...

As I was grocery shopping in my local Dominick's my eyes caught a section of tables decorated in red, white, and blue at the front entrance of the store. There were cakes, cupcakes, cake-top decorations, confetti, party hats, and other party paraphernalia for tomorrow's inauguration. I guess people are still celebrating among these economic hard times. However, as I tried to ignore the display and keep my head held high - I noticed "Obama Cookies" - Obama's face had been imprinted on several sugar cookies. I guess that's a level of fame that I certainly do not want to reach.

In other news - today is Martin* Luther King Jr. Day (observed) and it made me think of one of his quotes that is often not associated with him on this day - but is still incredibly powerful.

"Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that it is so ambiguous that it will include every thing, and so popular that it will include everybody. Not a few men who cherish lofty and noble ideals hide them under a bushel for fear of being called different."

Now, there are many ways that I have read this quote and considering what tomorrow will be for our country - I truly hope and pray that our new president - who campaigned on bringing change to this nation...will not fear of being called different. That he will not fear of being the first democrat to look to his opposing side and see the good that it stands for and the good that it can bring to our country. I wonder what our world would be like if we could take the good parts from each side of the aisle and work to make those things happen instead of debating them.

Yesterday, I joined about 100 other Chicago pro-lifers on Michigan Avenue for a rally for life. While it was small it was nice to have that feeling of camaraderie here in Chicago even though many were strangers. Fox News - Chicago covered it here.

Tomorrow will be about change...I just hope that change includes some warmer weather here in the Windy City.

-mitzi

*Thank you to my editor...

living the moment...

Happy 2009! I'm currently enjoying my last day of vacation until April (minus 2 federal holidays) and I am still enjoying life in Kansas and the benefits of being at home to wake up to the two things that I enjoyed about being home: coffee already made and a licking dog.

As I (and the family) get older and families continue to grow - you learn to enjoy the little moments a bit more and savor the memories of being together for another time - not quite knowing when another time will come.

I arrived a week prior to Christmas to help Mom and Dad prepare the house. Dad and I made a trip to Mrs. Baker's farm once again to find the perfect cedar for our living room - we managed to get it to stand straight after 2 failures and it's still standing to this day.

I had better luck with the fudge production - producing 3 near-perfect batches:

Christmas Eve and Day were chaotically wonderful as my whole family came to Lawrence for a traditional "Keel" Christmas...we even all made it to church on time and were able to snap a family photo - the first since the Buschelman wedding...

Christmas morning was filled with excitement as my niece, Mary Ann, exclaimed that Santa shops at Costco...she's quite smart and loves the spirit of Christmas and her god-mother:


A trip to Free State Brewery was a highlight for the entire family on the 26th...the Buschelmans posed for another family shot courtesy of 'Hund Photography':

Then it was off to the Hickory Grove to celebrate with Oma and the St. Louis Keels. Oma got to meet her 5th and 6th great-grandchildren. Here she is with William:
I was able to meet up with my high school friends, "The Clarinets", for our annual get-together. We've being reuniting every year for 8 years now. This year, Laura could not make it but we called her to catch up!
And finally as 2008 closed - I celebrated with some dear friends from St. Lawrence:

2009 will be busy as soon as I head back to Chicago...we have just 5 months to get an institute ready to open!

May the new year bring you many blessings!

Much love,
Mitzi

okay, okay...

So I realized that my last two posts have been more of me venting and I think I just need to get past it all. Here's a real post of what's "Much Ado About Mitzi"...

Last Friday was my first concert with the DePaul Community Chorus...I think my last 'official' choral concert would have been back in May of 2002 - so it was nice to revisit that experience and test my musical intellect once again. The concert went really well and hopefully there will be a DVD (Family - don't worry, I pre-ordered one for every niece and nephew for Christmas!). 4 of my Teach For America colleagues (both past and present) came to listen and then afterwards we all went to this place to listen to these ladies. All and all - a very musically stimulating evening.

At my concert - I was a part of small chorale that sang in a call/response (or cantor/chorus) piece. Which introduced me to a new favorite Bible verse: (Philippians 4:6-7) "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord." The musical tune that was set to these words was very powerful - if you're friends with (or parents/grandparents of) my nieces or nephews...just maybe you'll get to hear it!

Last night I had an amazing experience at The Counter - Custom Built Burgers here in Chicago. It is a chain restaurant that just open here and there's been quite a bit of talk about it. Some friends and I decided to take it in for a Monday evening out and well, let's just say - the diet was definitely off for the 2 hours I was there. I highly recommend going with an appetite and friends to share the fries :)!

"only uneducated women voted for mccain"...

I don't know how many times I heard that line during this last election season...but now I really wonder how educated Obama supporters are...this clip is from this website

report from nobamaland...

Well, thank goodness I don't live in Hyde Park because I don't think anyone would be able to come and visit me due to the serious amount of secret service security that exists in that area of Chicago now. Election night here in Chicago was pretty crazy for the folks that headed to Grant Park - included all of my co-workers. However, for me - I headed to choir rehearsal and came home to the news that we have a new president-elect Obama. Yes, it is historical...but just because some is "historical" does not mean that you must agree with it. While I've been called 'uneducated' and/or 'close-minded' for my political preference in this particular election - I hope that those who will be steering this country for the next 4 years will continue to educate themselves in the truth and facts about all issues and will be open-minded to the thoughts, opinions, etc of those that they might agree with at first. There are my two cents.

The weekend before the election - two of my best friends came into town for a few days. Sarah and I were able to make a quick trip to Mundelein Seminary and see our friends Greg and Daniel who have just started their first year there. It was a gorgeous fall day - so we had to take some pictures. Here's my favorite:

Amy joined us and we hit the town on Saturday night with some delicious deep-dished pizza at Gino's and then a few hours at the Red Head Piano Bar:
Work is starting to pick-up...though things won't really get started until January. I'm still doing a lot of planning and some hiring - that's right, I'm going to actually be managing people. I've also been able to help recruit our staff for next summer which is probably the best part of the job right now - just getting to talk about why institute life is so great. Last week, I had the privilege of speaking on the "Big Pic" call for the recruitment associates at Teach For America (my first position right out of college). The purpose of the call is connect RAs to the mission of TFA and help them realize that the little things they do have a huge impact. I got to talk about how I went from e-mailing hundreds of college seniors to helping start up a brand new institute that will train over 600 new teachers. It's pretty incredible to think how far I've come in just a few years of really hard work. I know there's still more hard work ahead, but knowing that it is making a difference is the best part.

I attended an encyclical study last Wednesday on 'Humane Vitae' and 'Evangelium Vitae' - which was incredible! While I've been connect to the pro-life movement since college - I haven't been as active as my time at St. L's. Well, it just so happens that the Archdiocese of Chicago is starting a junior board for the Respect Life office - and well, guess who was asked to join?? :)! We had our first meeting last night and we are just trying to get the structure and purpose set - but I'm excited to be connected to pro-life people here in Chicago...that's something that I've been lacking since I moved here.

Until next time...

next stop - vegas, please...

Well, if you don't know what song my 'post title' came from - listen here.

Yep, I'm back from my conference in Las Vegas - a very productive time as we discuss our 2015 goals for the organization as a whole and the Chicago's team goals for next summer. So far everything is looking good - just a lot of planning and preparation before everything really kicks-off in January.

Here I am with my winnings - I put in $10 and won $12.25...my heart was racing the whole time until I cashed out. I don't think I'll ever gamble again. And here is the "Venetian" inside...not quite like the pictures from Liesel and Eric's trip to Venice.

Outside the Venetian (Treasure Island).

And here is 4/5 of my team - (L-R) Abigail (from NYC), Ashley (from DC), me, and Tiffany (from Houston).

And fall is here

It's hard to believe that it is already October, but here we are. I don't have any new pictures to post - because they've been posted here instead. No hard feelings, Eric! :)! I had a great time in Dayton and I'm looking forward to an upcoming weekend in Madison.

Life in Chicago is going fairly well - I'm enjoying the fall weather now that it has fully set-in...wearing scarves and jackets as I walk to my bus stop. I know that winter will be here soon where I'll be complaining about the fact that I have to wear Cuddle Duds every day, but for now I'll imagine that I'm Anne Shirley (only with dark brown hair and no Gilbert Blythe) and enjoy the crisp fall air.

Work is going really well amid the economic crisis (DRINK!). I heard a bit on NPR about how non-profits are beginning to worry about the year's 'giving drive' as well as major funders dropping out of their pledges, but so far - I'm still getting my pay check - so I guess we're okay - for now! I am still excited about my job. I have much more autonomy because I'm not reporting directly to a manager everyday. Instead, I'm the member of a 5 person team...so we kind of just work in our own worlds and then come together once a week. It reminds me of my work with the March for Life leadership team back in the day - and Veritas. So I feel prepared, but there is also this very large weight on my shoulders about being a part of the first institute management team (IMT) to open the Chicago institute. For instance, if you've read any of the books/articles about Teach For America - you usually hear about an institute's 'first' year. So basically all the Chicago IMT's work this year will help to complete the sentence, "Well, remember that first institute in Chicago??? Man, we had (fill in the blank)."

Soooo, no pressure.

Outside of work, I've join the DePaul Community Chorus (DCC). It's just a group of about 150 people who want to sing together. We practice once a week and then have about 4 concerts during the year. The first on is November 15th - if anybody wants to come :)! There will be one in December for "Christmas at DePaul" - and then 2 in Spring 2009. The choir is actually very good...a cross between the Matins choir back when Chris Berry directed us and we sang "O Healing River" and my senior year in "A Cappella Choir" at LHS.

I'm also trying to make it to the weekly Bible study at Holy Name Cathedral. This month is on St. Paul - so last week we received the basic introduction of where St. Paul came from and the background he brought to the faith. It's pretty incredible the amount of people St. Paul reached in the short life he had post-conversion. And it makes me wonder what if people who already have a great following were to convert (cough-Obama-cough).

A week from today is not only this guy's birthday, but also the 6th anniversary of my broken leg. I have a friend from work running the Chicago marathon next Sunday - I'm planning to cheer her on there, so hopefully there won't be a repeat broken tibia.

And lastly - McCain-Palin '08, Darn RIGHT!


-mitzi

A call to serve...

When my dad called me to tell me that McCain had just spoken about Teach For America during the "Presidential Service Forum" on September 11th - I have to say, I was surprised...this was the second time that I would hear of the senator from Arizona speaking about education in the way that the organization that I work for sees it. The first time was during McCain's acceptance speech that he actually proclaimed "Education is this generation's civil rights issue" - something that Teach For America has been saying since its beginning in 1990.

Obviously, McCain has learned about what Teach For America is providing for our country - and especially our students. I can only guess that McCain has known about Teach For America because of its presence in Phoenix, AZ - where 288 corps members where placed just last year and where Teach For America's 6th summer training institute opened just this past summer. I know there are critics out there who talk about the "teach for awhile" idea that Teach For America is often linked to since the commitment to teach is only 2 years - however, if you look at the studies and what Teach For America's theory of change is - you will see that by having Teach For America be talked about in a national setting, by a presidential candidate shows that the movement is growing and may truly change the course of public education in this country.

I'm surprised as any to hear a conservative Republican speak about education they way McCain has...and I think this really does show that he is willing to do what is good and right for this country - even if it means working with those that most likely will not vote for him.

I am not saying that the organization that I work for aligns itself to a certain party - but I will say that I am the minority in my working environment and the people I work with are often surprised when they first learn about my political views.

Here's part (full) of the transcript from the "Presidential Service Forum" :

JUDY WOODRUFF (PBS): Senator, do you — what are there — what are the obligations of citizenship, other than paying taxes? Should there be — do you see service connected to what you’re talking about in Washington and should there be something compulsory?

JOHN MCCAIN: I don’t think so, Judy. I don’t think — because I think when you compel someone to do something, then you basically are in contradictions to the fundamental principle of having people wanting to serve and willing and eager to serve.

Americans are still eager to serve. Americans, when we look at all of the programs that we made available, almost all of them, in fact, all of them are oversubscribed by people who are volunteering. What’s the most — probably one of the lead organizations in America today?

It’s Teach for America. Where vastly — thousands more are seeking to be part of that program, to go in the inner cities of America and teach children.

McCain is right there were over 20,000 applications to the Teach For America program last recruitment season - only 4,100 of those applications turned into first year teachers this fall. So, there are about 16,000 recent college-grads and young professionals who at least when they applied - wanted to be a part of something bigger than themselves...I often wonder what happens to those 16,000 or so. My hope is that they do go and do some sort of service in whatever field they choose.

I would have to correct McCain on one point that he makes - particularly relating to Teach For America's generation of applications. Having been a part of the recruitment team - I can tell you that yes - in some cases you do have to compel people to serve (or to at least apply). There is quite a bit of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into getting those 20,000 applications to Teach For America...but knowing that this program is finally being talked about by leaders of our country, maybe - just maybe we will have a nation of people wanting to serve and to make a difference in some capacity that is fitting to their own skills, knowledge, and mindset.

Maybe if we have a president who works for the service of others we can make progress in this nation. Maybe we will finally get to point where instead of seeking justification of why we are sacrificing for others --- we will only ask ourselves "How can we justify not sacrificing for those that need us the most?"

Maybe I'm idealistic, but if we don't strive for the ideal...then what's the point.

you decide...

new living/guest room...

I still remember the day that I purchased the old burnt orange love seat from the Lawrence Salvation Army the summer after my freshman year of college. That love seat was a great piece of furniture...but at some point in one's life - you have to depart from that college lifestyle and upgrade (in my case) to furniture that will support your ever-growing family...in hopes that they will come and visit you in Chicago (Reddigs, don't worry - you're winning in that point count!).

So here is the new living/guest room in my 1 bedroom apartment:

The "Beddinge" IKEA sofa bed - yes, it folds out to a full-size bed. Also included in this picture - Opa's coffee table (the former childhood kitchen counter), Grandma and Grandpa's living room chair, Dan Paulette-Chapman's bookshelf (made by his father), and (hidden) a small end table donated to me by the former Douthart SHD, Gina Lopez-Ferguson.

Another shot (as you walk out of my bedroom)...here you can see that I still have not placed the work order to fix the right window blind. Tux is also there on the window still keeping watch and Christian still lights the way in the corner under his plant home making sure no schnottgurgels attack my guests.

And here is the new placement of the television (I know, Liesel...I don't have the angles any more...).

breaking news...

I don't know why I feel the need to "blog" about this, but let's just say that when you live by yourself, "blogging" acts in place of say a roommate that you could yell to in another room in your nice two bedroom apartment when something goes crazy in your life.

Well, as you all know I just made it back to Chicago and probably my greatest fear was that my apartment would have just disappeared. I don't know how exactly - but I did have nightmares of freak explosions and all my worldly possessions turning to ash. Anyhow - everything turned out okay and all is well in apartment land. Little did I know that I should have been worried about something else.

I was going through my 2 months of mail...and found a note from my gym, Crunch. Those who know me - know that I'm not the most avid worker-outer, but for the past year and a half, I have been a member of this gym that is conveniently located in my office building - I've come to enjoy Crunch and the people that work there. I had my routine there and felt comfortable with my surroundings there. Now, the Chicago TFA office is going to be moving locations...but I was planning on keeping my membership since it is fairly close to me - I would just have to switch my routine a little.

BUT!

The note in the mail from my beloved Crunch was to tell me that the corporate Crunch offices our closing my location and that my membership has been transferred to another location. To say the least - I feel crushed (or maybe crunched).