Things I Am Not So Great At

I'm starting to bike to work!  By starting, I mean I biked there once for a Saturday event and I biked for a regular day at the office for the first time today.  I've done a fair amount of biking to the busway to shorten my daily travel time, but I hadn't done the whole 7.3-mile trip before.  (Biking the whole way doesn't shorten travel time much at all, at least not with the leg muscles I currently have.)  I'm still planning to be a weather wimp, but bike commuting at all feels like an accomplishment!  Woohoo!  

I've also kinda sorta taken up swimming (like, a couple times a month).  I still apparently think I can breathe water, and I'm not quite to the point of particularly enjoying it, but what I do enjoy is seeing myself gain a skill!  I'm not a fan of doing things I'm not good at, so I have to force myself.  But, with that in mind, I have a whole list of other skills I want to learn.  

*ahem*  

Skills I want: Spanish-English interpretation, permaculture, graphic design, web development, drawing, ballroom dance, sight reading, playing an instrument well, bike maintenance, driving stick, tennis, conversational German.  

This I Choose for Myself (A Womanifesto)

A VIBRANT LIFE: 
In which I have the freedom to explore.
In which I delight in the world & the people I encounter each day.
In which creativity colors my very habits.
In which feeling deeply is welcome.

A WHOLE LIFE: 
In which health & well-being are at the forefront.
In which meaningful relationships stem from listening, kindness, and consent.
In which my behavior contributes to equity and sustainability.

A BOLD LIFE: 
In which I speak and act with integrity.
In which grace is the first response to a mistake.
In which fear will never hold me back.

"This is not the end, but it is the road."  

Spring

Open windows.  The first flowers.  People out on porches.  Bare feet.  Taking walks and actually enjoying it.  Wearing only one pair of pants at a time!

It makes my heart happy.  

Waste Yes, Win Not

A piece I wrote for a blog that's not this one:
http://www.go-gba.org/zero-waste-competition-gba-insert-catchy-title/.
(Also entitled "Can Pittsburgh Please Get Curbside Compost, Pretty Please?")

A Day in the Life of Ruth at GBA

My official job title at Green Building Alliance is "Research & Resource Coordinator."  What exactly does that mean?  I'm working on a number of projects, and I have a lot of discretion as to how I spend my time on any given day.  Here are my main responsibilities:  

1. Resource pages: I research topics of interest and write beginner- or intermediate-level overviews on what I find.  I wrote the majority of the content found on our Green Building Methods page.  
2. Directories: We have online directories of green building projects in the region and also products/services.  These used to be in a print publication but are now very out-of-date.  I reach out to the contacts for products and projects already in the directories to get them to update their listings, as well as get new people to submit relevant listings. I also update some listings manually.  
3. Events: I write event descriptions, post events on our web calendar, and set up pages so people can register/pay for events.  I am increasingly involved in event planning/facilitation.  
4. General website: We switched to a new website very soon after I started at GBA last fall.  Part of my role has been learning the features of the new website, training other staffers, and identifying issues for our web developers to fix.  
5. Green Workplace Challenge: This is a competition among various groups in Pittsburgh to do green actions and gain points.  Last year GBA placed third in the Observer category, and we are currently leading in the Small Nonprofit category.  I organize/implement green actions and then document and submit them for points.  
6. Other duties as assigned.  

A typical day in the office starts around 9, usually with a cup of coffee and chats with coworkers.  If it's Wednesday, someone brings in breakfast for all of us!  Then I work on some combination of the above items, write emails, go to meetings, and attend events.  If I feel like it I empty the dishwasher.  My role has already shifted some in the last 5.5 months and will probably continue to do so in the next 5.5, but that's the gist.  

Nerd Time

This is how I spent my Friday night.  Yep, major nerd time.

(Don't worry, I also spent some really quality time with my housemates, who happen to be awesome.)

December

A rough month.  Between the holidays and the illness/death of my grandfather, I was back and forth to Indiana three times.  Thanks to the incredible flexibility of my team at GBA, I was able to work remotely for a week and avoid a fourth trip!  I don't mind the travel so much, but working out the logistics of all these trips  was stressful.  Before I left the third time, my housemates and I were talking about what we could do with the PULSE group to reconnect and leave for the holidays on a high note.  It was then that I realized just how much I had already checked out.  Yes, I would be missing things in Pittsburgh while I was away, but I wasn't being present even when I was here.

I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with both my immediate and extended family in the past several weeks!  I kept coming back to the fact that unlike in college when I knew I'd be in Indianapolis by the time May rolled around, I currently can't pin a date on the next time I'll be back.  I love the wide open vastness of the future and all its possibilities, but at the same time there are that many more ways I can screw up my priorities.  In other words, if I want to see my family, I now have to be the one to make it happen.

Anyway, of the various times I've left Pittsburgh since August, this was the first time that coming back here really felt like coming home.