New Year! Meeting 1

My troop is full of wild, crazy and spunky girls.  They are also kind, smart and funny.  Like me, sometimes they lack a filter and sometimes say the most out there things we can't think of!  But, I really did miss them over the summer.  A couple I did get to see because they live so close to us.

This year is going to be so exciting for us!  We are a MULTILEVEL troop!  This crazy leader has taken on Daisies all the way up to Cadettes this year.  No, I have not lost my marbles (though we're not sure if I ever had them to begin with).  BUT, this would not be possible without my incredible team that I have on board this year!  Really, they are spectacular. 

So, what do you do when you have 4 levels of girls, girls with the same or similar names, and ones that are close to their leaders names?  Go by your camp names!  This year, you'll hear me talk about myself (Lima bean) and my three co-leaders, Firefly, Jelly and Twinkie.  I really mean it when I say that if it weren't for them, this crazy troop would not be possible this year.  I really do miss my old co-leaders, and wish they were both still with us, but I think the 4,000 mile commute might be a little too much on them.

First meeting of the new year, lots of new girls, and even more returning scouts.  We "inherited" another troop this year.  Some of the girls I had many, many years ago in my first troop in this area; and we also got to welcome in a few scouts who moved here from another state.  In a way, it was like a blending of a new family, and it really could not have gone more smoothly!

Let me start by talking about an "unspoken tradition."  It doesn't matter if you are a Girl Scout, Girl Guide or even a Boy Scout, this happens to us all- the first meeting of the year usually runs very late.  This is because we're all "getting back in the habit," almost like it is at the beginning of the school year.  How we managed to finish three minutes early is beyond me.  I am also certain that this will never happen again.  Ever.

Over all, it was a good meeting.  As the girls were coming in, we had them each do a Flat Juliette that we're trading with a Troop in England.  Once we finished up, we did snacks (early, yes), since it gave us a chance to go over some "troop business," mainly what's going on this year. We spent the rest of the meeting playing some simple get to know you games.

It was a simple meeting, but it went over very well!  Stayed tuned for more adventures of this wild, and crazy troop!

My next scouting adventure is.....

My wonderful friend Heather calls her blog The Life of a Crazy Volunteer and she's got a good point to it!  Those who don't know, have a hard time understanding what it means to be a volunteer.  It means loving something so much that you are willing to devote your time to it, because it's for a greater good.  It means things like cooking 150 breakfast burritos at 4 AM, or driving 3 hours round trip just to get a special patch, or even walking into a room of strangers just to tell them about your experiences.  

I have two new adventures in scouting coming my way, and I am so stoked about them!  I literally just began my first one today.  I was accepted into the WAGGGS Online Leadership Course with 49 other participants from all over the world!  It so happens that a couple ladies I attended GWF with are also a part of this course.  Yes, I am excited to know that I have a met a few of these ladies face-to-face.  I am however bummed that I may never get the chance to meet some of them, but, I can remain hopeful that I might get that chance one day!

As for my second adventure, well, how do I put this?  I am not crazy.  Ok, so maybe just a little, but in the good kind of way, I promise!  I took on a second troop of Juniors.  We have not had our first meeting yet, but will be very soon!  For those of you who are not familiar with what Juniors do, well, that depends on the troop.  "Traditionally," the first meeting with Juniors is when they sit down and plan out the year.  Every troop is different, and having not yet met these girls, I don't know what track they will want to take.  As their leader, I will do my best to be open to anything they want to do (ok, back to that crazy thing- I will not let them do something like go skydiving, I am not crazy enough to do that!).  I'm really excited though.  Normally, I don't do well not knowing what's going to happen next, but surprisingly I'm ok with it right now.  

I kind of have one more adventure coming up, but it's more for the adults than everything else.  I'm facilitating a few sessions next month at a leader's retreat at Camp Low, and one of them is based on what I did at GWF.  We're going to be playing a ton of games I've come up with to help teach the subject materials.  I'm also facilitating a session on how to teach younger girls how to cook and how to use your own pantry to make simple first aid remedies.  I'm excited!  I already have my course outlines done, now I just have to find some hot deals on the supplies/materials I need (if you guys have the hookup on essential oils, please, let me know since I need a bit and that stuff is expensive!).