The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 22-26, 2023

I told Sarah earlier this month that I had a goal to spend more days out of the office in May than I did in the office. It was mostly a joke (what are goals?), but between the work being done on our hallway and some traveling I'm doing, I haven't been far off. 

That's not to say I haven't been keeping myself busy. I have had plenty of stuff going on, to the point where I'm just giving up on getting any kind of sleep schedule. It'll be fine, right?

Anyway, I'll give an update on where things stand with the hallway. (We need a name for it, by the way. Probably one for the conference room and one for what used to be ECC. If you have any ideas, let me know.)

This was my view for a couple of days as chairs were put together, HVAC systems were fixed, and whatever else they are doing. (They asked my opinion, I gave it, but I don't think it counted for much.) 

That's what things look like right now. Yes, that is an orange triangle on the wall. It'll be fine.

We are republishing English files to account for all of the mistakes and formatting issues we've found over the last seven or eight years. This will hopefully make our lives easier as we start new language projects, and it will also look like we actually know what we're doing when people read through Train & Multiply booklets. Right now I'm working on the set that uses the Asian art. 

Fun times. 

My prayer letter went out last week. Keep an eye out for it, and if you don't receive it and want to, drop me a line or a comment. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 8-12, 2023

It has been a while, hasn't it?

I'll try to sum up the last couple of weeks as best I can. It seems like May hit and suddenly everything needed to be done pronto. Kinda drives me nuts, to be honest. But we persevere as we can. 

Last week I started what will likely be an ongoing project. I mentioned that I'm on the safety committee at OMS, right? Part of that is making sure we have evacuation plans for each building. No problem with the main building because we had those floor plans already drawn up. Not so much for the other two buildings - Research and Writing, and Men for Missions. Granted, they are smaller and have fewer employees in them. They know what to do. But visitors don't, and we need to be compliant because you never know what's going to trip you up with the law. 

So I found a website that would let me draw up some floor plans for free. (I'll probably have to eventually pay so I can get a more professional copy.) Last week, I worked on R&W. I had to know where the doors were, fire extinguishers, windows - all the stuff. I haven't done MFM, yet. This is less of a priority, unfortunately, but still important. 

We also learned during our seminar week (great timing) that our hallway would be getting a makeover to set up something to honor Stanley Tam. Tam founded U.S. Plastic and deeded his business over to God. Yes, it can be done. There's a book ("God Owns My Business"). He gave a lot of money to OMS, and we need to show our appreciation. Unfortunately, that means our hallways is a mess until that gets done. (I don't have a good before picture. Just imagine four cubicles along the wall.)

I took a couple of days last week to visit my sister for her birthday. We had a lovely time. Then it was back to work on Tuesday. 

I had to take a course on child protection. I'm sad that this is necessary, but I'm glad OMS is taking it seriously. There is no excuse, especially in the church, for any kind of abuse to be taking place. 

Continuing the safety theme, we had a Lunch & Learn on Wednesday about personal and work safety from the police here in Greenwood. We also talked about mental health needs. 

Finally, I've been working on my prayer letter this week in hopes that it will go out next week. I'm confident that will actually happen. 

Oh, and we had our last Family Fun Night of the season. I think it has gone well this year, and I'm hopeful that we have learned enough this year to make future events even better. 

Next week, they are painting the hallway, so I am staying out of the office. I'll be working on what I can from home, but I have no desire to huff paint fumes for five days straight. So I will catch up in a couple of weeks.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 17-28, 2023

I have been slacking in blog posts, and I can't promise that this one will be any better. So I apologize now and will hopefully make up for it in the coming weeks. (Not next week because I won't be here.)

We had the CMF Seminar this week, so it's not like I haven't been doing anything. Last week was spent going over the tech needed for each session and getting things ready. This week, I think I maybe sat at my desk for a total of about five hours. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but it really hasn't been much. 

Which means I haven't done any of my usual work this week. I knew it would happen and I prepared my team for that. They just kinda shrugged and got on with things, which I love about them. 

We were non-stop this week from 9 until whenever I could get home, which was sometimes after 8. I had a great tech team that was helping me record sessions and run the sound system and cameras. A lot of it is automated, which helps quite a bit, but it does still require a brain behind the curtain. Plus, it was nice to see people I only hang out with about once a year. And I like to help Sarah not go crazy. More crazy. 

My next prayer letter should lay out more of what happened this week, and I will totally get to writing it soon. I hope. I could use some sleep before that happens. But it will! I promise. 

Okay, I think that will have to be it. I gotta go de-people for a bit. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 10-14, 2023

Yes, the fun never stops here at OMS. 

I say this with all sarcasm. Obviously. It has been such a quiet week around here. 

Clearly, I missed last week's update. Somehow, I had forgotten that Friday was Good Friday and that we wouldn't be in the office. And if I'm not in the office, I can't do a blog post. (Not really. But it might as well be true.)

Anyway, we are replacing the ancient unit that runs the heating and cooling system in the building. Most people (probably the sane ones) opted not to come in since no one was sure what the temps would be in the office. Honestly, it hasn't been that bad. Maybe a little stuffy. But I also reside in the basement, so maybe I'm not the best judge. 

These last couple of weeks have been spent working on the last of the emails I needed to send to T&M users and following up with their inquiries. My computer is still having issues, so that hampered my efforts. But we had some decent responses, so I'm pleased with that. 

I was also doing a lot for Family Fun Night, which was Tuesday. I always forget to take pictures when I'm hosting an event, so I didn't get any. But it was a really good night! We had some fun Bible foods and did a quiz I devised. It took a lot out of me, though. I took Wednesday off with a headache. 

The next big event will be the CMF Seminar. I've been helping Sarah where I can with that. I'll be doing tech, and we're waiting for everyone to get their stuff in so we know what we're up against. Historically, these people are not great at deadlines. But, we'll get there. Come what may.

I did finally finish the Spanish art swap. All that's left is to publish those files. Sometime. Soon.

I think that's about the size of it, folks. Have a great weekend!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 27-31, 2023

Spanish is never going to end.

Am I being dramatic? A little. But it certainly feels that way. To be fair, though, I was working on booklet 52 (Church Growth Guide), which has at least 100 images to switch. No exaggeration. But that one is done now. I just need some uninterrupted time to do the rest and then publish the booklets. 

But, I'm still working on Family Fun Night stuff and responding to email inquiries. And on Wednesday, I had a last minute request to run the A/V for chapel. 

I don't think I've ever articulated what goes into that. We stream chapel simultaneously so that our further away family can participate and keep up with things as well as HQ folks. So that means starting the Zoom meeting and spotlighting whomever is speaking. But we also record chapel so that anyone who can't watch live is able to watch later. So you have to click the right program to make that happen. And mics need to be on, words for songs need to be showing on the screens - and all of this needs to be done at roughly the same time. 

I usually remember to do about 90% of it at the correct time. I'm sure if I did it more often, I'd eventually get to 100%. But we do what we can. And it's a nice change of pace. 

Not much else to report from the week. April is going to be fairly busy, so we'll see what that brings. I hope you have a great weekend!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 20-24, 2023

This was a better week. More rain, though. I'm not a fan of all the wet. 

Lots of side projects this week. I'm working on the Family Fun Night for April, and I agreed to organize a community garage sale for OMS campus folks. That always takes more work than people think.

The rest of the week, I was back to Spanish art. I'm getting close to being done! I think. 

We also had a prayer chapel this week, in which we prayed for the younger generations of OMS missionaries. I also got to sing with the other Jessica. (Did you know there's controversy about "How He Loves" by David Crowder? There's a lyric 'Heaven meets Earth like an unforeseen kiss.' But some people say 'sloppy wet kiss.' Obviously, those people should be shot. Not that I care much more for the first one. Christians argue about the weirdest stuff sometimes.)

Anyway.

Here's to clearer skies and warm breezes!

Bye.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 13-17, 2023

This was a frustrating week. 

It actually started out fairly well. Sarah and I worked on some stuff in our capacity as safety officers. That included some arts and crafts.

And then my computer went nuts. 

This is where my angry shark usually sits. He's not usually that angry. But I needed an accurate representation of my feelings at the time.

I spent a couple of days trying to figure out why my computer was being dumb. I still don't know. But it does work most of the time, so I'm just going to keep on keeping on until something changes. 

In that vein, I did finish one Chichewa volume. It's nice to get something done at least.

We also had Family Fun Night this week. We had a picnic and made fleece tie blankets for cancer patients. 

So as frustrating as things were, it was somewhat redeemed. And I get to see my parents this weekend, so that will help. 

Bye!