Just a little post...

to keep you all posted.

After losing my job at the end of January, I was spending 3-4 days a week teaching at Bolton Valley. I continued skiing with the office team I put together for the corporate race league every Thursday night, and had a great time doing so. Um, until that last one...

Sports fans, I blew out my ACL.

It was my second run of the night, I was on my new skis. The whole team had been putting up great times, and we were all in a rowdy mood. Racing against VTKiwi, I slipped out of a gate and over-corrected...then over-corrected again, and before I knew it, I blew out of the course. As I was falling, I could feel the twist, and knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I got my first-ever ride in the ski patrol sled, after which we decided it was actually only a sprain. Hooray!! I took my baggie of snow (icepack) and happily walked to the bar with my team.

The next morning, I could barely move it or put weight on it. Not cool. Went to my doctor, they got me right in for an MRI at FAHC. That afternoon I had the results: ruptured ACL, bone bruise, and pulled LCL. I met with the surgeon the following Monday morning, and he basically told me if I ever want to be a skier again, I have to get the surgery.

So that's that. I have a month of PT, which I affectionately refer to as my 'Jane Fondas.' After that I'm meeting with the surgeon again to schedule the surgery.

Roger was SO patient with me when I was still in a brace and on crutches. He quickly figured out that we now take stairs one at a time instead of all in a mad dash. One morning on a walk, he saw a squirrel, tensed up to chase it, but then looked back at me, and kept walking. Seriously, he's smarter and more compassionate than some people I know.

So now, 11 days later, I'm doing great - I'm mobile, working on regaining full range of motion. It's my left leg, so I can still drive, and I'm off the crutches. Once I have the surgery though, I'm going to take you all up on the offers to walk Roger or pick up groceries!!

Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment you wake up

I woke up right on time today! Didn't hit the snooze once.

Checked the weather: 15 degrees and rising, with sun expected!

Walked the Little Sir - huge snowbanks, lots of fun!

Tried a couple different hair styles with my short new 'do, decided to leave it plain for today.

Aw, sweet - my pink shirt is clean! Matching bra and underwear makes me feel like a secret super hero.

Wearing my lucky penny for race day, and OMG, I found my sister ring - it's been missing since Christmas!!

Sunny walk to work.

Ooh, that cute coffee mug with the polka dots is clean, nice.


And then I got laid off. From a company I LOVE, and a job I loved. I'm still working on finding the silver lining for that one.

RACE DAY!!

Heyyyyyyyy, DISRUPTERS!!

Are we ready for the big night?!? First race of the season, FINALLY!!

So the season is off to a rough start - first week postponed due to temps so low your eyeballs would freeze. Now we've got Bookless partying in Vegas this week, and Ebbets out with what hopefully won't be a season-ending knee injury. At least I know Prunty and Flanagan have their game faces on, they were over last night to sharpen and wax their boards. I believe Ayer is going to tune his skis AT his office today, how's that for committment?!

You are all officially invited to come cheer us on at Bolton Valley and whoop it up afterward at the James Moore Tavern every Thursday night! Lift tickets are only $15 when purchased with a racer, so drop me a line. I believe we'll be posting results in the KSV Kitchen, for you uberlocals, and results are posted online on the Bolton Valley site - and I'll most likely be splashing them all over the blog, as well.

2009: Things I'm Looking Forward To

It started as a numbered list, but these aren't really the type of thing one can easily rank.

• -The inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama.
• -KSV's Corporate Race League team, The Disrupters!
  
• -Tulip season, expanding my vegetable and flower gardens
• -Warm weather run-arounding with Roger
• -Camping, hiking, cliff-jumping w/ Roger and the boys
• -Feminist meet-ups
  
• -Home improvement projects - painting and stenciling my bedroom!
  

Tribute Trifecta

Numbers, numbers. Walking home from happy hour. Home at last!


My dear Orange Pattern is taking a break from her lovely Trifectas, so I thought I'd try my hand...it could use some work. Sweet Carmen, enjoy your well-deserved rest, just know that we're missing you!

Personal Highlights 2008

#1: Adopting ROGER

(Um, duh. We all saw that coming)

#2: KSV

I love my job, I love my company. I love walking to work. In reality, this should be first on the list, since it made so many of these other things possible.

#3: Buying my condo

Finally, I'm the girl who can entertain company at a moment's notice!! Impromptu happy hour after work, weekend guests, etc - oh yeah and I'm building equity, blah blah blah.

#4: Watching Haiden grow

My amazing godson will be turning 2 years old in March, can you even believe it?! He's turning into such a cool little person.

#4.1: Watching Erin's belly grow
Erin and Ryan are due February 11th, I'm so excited for them!

#5: Making Friends

Here at KSV and through my feminist meet-up group, I'm making friends! (Meeting people after college is HARD!!)

#6: Reconnecting with Family
My cousins Patrick and Sara both got married in 2008. Traveling to St Louis, seeing family and going out drinking with the cousins was wonderful!

Networking 101: Welcome to the dog park

This is a piece I wrote for the KSV intern newsletter, The Know, on starting to network.

It’s all about who you know, right? That’s what “they” say, and they seem to have a point – the more people you know, the more likely you are to hear about potential job openings, new clients, and exciting opportunities. How do you get started though? It can be intimidating!

It’s hard to get used to, but forming and using personal connections are important steps to building a reputation and getting your name out there. At the beginning, attending networking events felt forced or uncomfortable. I realized I much preferred a more natural, real world approach – meeting people through shared interests! For me, the logical connector is DOGS! Every dog parent likes talking about his or her dog, so it’s an easy way to start a conversation. In my first few days at KSV, I was able to make a personal connection with 4 different coworkers just by being genuinely interested in their dogs.

As well as an ice breaker technique for getting to know your fellow KSVers, you never know who you’re going to meet at the dog park or in the dog-friendly shops on Church Street. And as far as personal interaction, it doesn’t get much more low-stress than watching your dog have fun! It’s easy enough to strike up a conversation about your dogs, and then venture to other topics. “Oh yes, Rufus comes to the office with me every day, it’s wonderful! Where do I work? KSV – we’re a full service ad agency. What do you do?”

Poof, you’re networking.

The way I was finally able to be comfortable with the big scary concept of networking was to take it for what it is, at its core – building personal connections that will benefit both of you down the road. For me, dogs are my foot in the door. But everyone has his or her own best fit. Maybe you love hiking and camping around Vermont, you’re a total green thumb, or a budding wine aficionado. Give it some thought, what’s yours?

Laura's March: A Walk to End Violence Against Women

On Saturday, September 6, Rogerdog and I will participate in the Laura Kate Winterbottom Memorial Fund's second-annual "Laura's March: A Walk to End Violence Against Women."

The LKW Memorial Fund is a non-profit organization created in the wake of Laura's murder in 2005. This year's 5K march will benefit two vital Vermont organizations: Women Helping Battered Women and the Women's Rape Crisis Center.

Please support Roger and me as we join the Kelliher Samets Volk team and the Burlington community at Laura's March. Every little donation helps!

Thanks for your support!
Laura Lou & Roger too

KSV's Commuter Challenge!

I'm excited to announce that the KSV Commuter Challenge is upon us! We're already in the thick of it, with Week 1 behind us and Week 2 under way...

Here's how it works:

●Outside the kitchen there's a star chart sign-up list. (Gold stars are motivating no matter what your age!)

●For every day that you alterna-commute (anything other than single person in a vehicle), you get to put up a star. If you totally leave your car at home, it's a gold star. If you drive a carpool, it's a green star.

●At the end of the week, each star earns you entry into the prize drawing. We've got a $25 gift certificate for each week, two from Skirack, and two from Outdoor Gear Exchange.

●In addition to the weekly drawings, at the end of the four weeks we will calculate an MVP. This will be the person who cuts the most driving miles from their commute.

The commuter challenge is brought to us by the green group, Skunkworks. We've been working on behind the scenes projects like making sure everyone has a blue recycling bin, switching all paper to FSC-certified, and urging people to make the switch to electronic instead of paper archival methods (job bags, open job lists, emails, etc).

In preparation for this project, Kate developed a Google map showing each employee's location and bus stops. The map is mounted and resides in the Diner. At our July company meeting, we had assigned seating in clusters of people who live near each other to facilitate carpool discussion. The following week was our official kick-off event, complete with green food (key lime cookies, guacamole) and drinks (appletinis and margaritas!).

We received great support and energy from our prize sponsors, Skirack and Outdoor Gear Exchange. Skirack even chipped in a bonus gift certificate and a bag of runner/cyclist give-aways! OGE runs a commuter challenge for their employees as well, with a prize every month.

There are 25 participants (27 if you count Edith and Rogerdog), and already this week 13 people have earned stars! Way to go KSV, keep up the green work!!