I say that because as I look at my clock it's currently 1:36 am on Thursday morning and I'm wide awake after having slept for about five hours due to a headache that overtook me.  Whether or not that's really due to my busy workload... who knows... but it does serve as a great segue to talking about my schedule for this month - a topic I'd been meaning to blog about for a couple of days... but I've been to busy to do!

I'm not sure what's made August such a busy month for me, but it's definitely a result of my inability to say no combined with my desire to contribute to so many worthwhile causes... plus I think I'm more of a people-pleaser than I thought.  That's something I'll be working on next year!

First off, I'm still working as an administrative assistant at the Athenaeum.  Ideally, they want me there 24 hours a week but for this month my goal is 20 hours.  Some weeks I might be there a couple hours more, but for the most part I think I'm planning to be there a couple hours less but it's not really a big deal as long as I get the work done, and it's better for their budget this way.  It also balances nicely that I'm scheduled to be at the Art Institute 4 hours a week, so I'm still getting close to 24 hours of paid work time every week...

The Art Institute is an interesting scheduling situation.  I'm currently teaching a class there on Tuesday afternoons from 1:00-4:50pm.  While that comes out to only about 4 hours a week, it doesn't factor in the additional eight hours a week I'm spending working on lesson plans, grading assignments and doing student follow-up.  While it's definitely a lot of work, it's also a lot of fun and very rewarding.  I've got a great group of students who are understanding as I learn what it's like to be a college instructor while I'm trying to prepare them the best way I know how.  The nice thing about this gig is that if they ask me to come back, there will be considerably less work next time as I'll already have a basic outline of the quarter done and I can focus on tweaking my lesson plans and focusing more on student needs.

I'm also still doing the freelance illustration/design, but unfortunately that's taking a back seat to just about everything else so there's not a whole lot to say about that this month.  I have at least two projects I'm trying to get done, but by the time I get home in the evening I'm either too tired or I have some other project that popped up with a tighter deadline... but I'm still trying...  it's also about time for me to be thinking about Christmas cards for this season - I'll keep you posted as I get work done on that as I'd love to have them available for sale again this year!

Then there's the volunteer stuff...

I'm still volunteering at The Damien Center, one of Indianapolis' local AIDS Service Organizations.  While my schedule there is currently pretty minimal, I have taken some strides with the potential opportunities I'm capable of there.  I recently earned my statewide certification to teach HIV 101 (which I'll be doing one evening next week) and I have my certification to do HIV Test Counseling in Indiana.  These are both things I did when I was in PA (though I taught HIV 101 without a certification there) and I'm excited for the opportunity to get back into doing things I enjoy so much.  This is some of the most meaningful work I've done so far and I hope to get more and more involved!

I've also spent the summer volunteering at the Salvation Army on Monday nights hanging out with the 5-year-olds-teen kids there.  It's called Monday Fun-Day and basically it's an opportunity for a group of us to go into the Salvation Army and get to know and hang out with these great kids who happen to have some less-than-fortunate circumstances that are beyond their control.  As usual, I think I've gotten more out of this experience than the kids have, and though I look forward to the opening in my schedule when it ends, I'm gonna miss these great kids and I hope I'll have more opportunities to see them in the coming months.

Finally, for all of 2009 I've been serving on the board of the Indianapolis Jaycees and August is a busy month as we're responsible for the cornbooth at the State Fair.  I'm not exactly sure what that is except that I've heard we sell some of the most delicious buttery corn on the cob you've ever tasted.  I'll be finding out more, though, as I'm expected to chair at least one day and I'll probably be volunteering to help out a couple of other days.  I'll be sure to get pictures to post but if you wanna taste it you'll have to show up yourself - or volunteer!

Added to this, for the month of August only, I'm going to be returning to the University of Indianapolis bookstore a couple of days to help out and visit some of my friends at the first job I had when I moved to Indianapolis.  I went back this past winter and had a lot of fun seeing old co-workers and students and I'm looking forward to the busy-ness and fun to be had... and the discount on art supplies and books!  (maybe I can talk them into paying me that way instead of money!)

I'm also pitching in on the AIDSWalk Steering Committee.  So far that's only entailed one night a month for meeting and some outside planning, and thankfully that's still the case during August before it becomes a weekly schedule in September.  I don't think I'm adding too much to that group this time around, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to sit in again next year and make a bigger impact as I better understand how it all works.

There are plenty of other things I'm hoping to get involved with as the year rolls on but my first priority is to manage my time wisely.  I'm spread a little thin at the moment, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I think everything I'm involved with is worthwhile so it's hard to complain.  I've also made the intentional decision that I will not be working any Sundays in August in an effort to keep some balance for my quiet times and sanity and I've not scheduled my Saturdays so I have a day to catch up on the things that may have slipped through the cracks during the week.

In an economy where so many people I know are struggling to find work and so many others are trying to find assistance in a variety of challenging situations, I'm grateful for the opportunities I have to earn an honest wage and help others find hope.  God has blessed me, and though some days are trickier than others and leave me feeling exhausted, you won't catch me complaining... I don't really have anything to complain about!

It's now 2:11 and I've gotten a blog entry done so I can check it off my list and try to go back to sleep.  G'nite!