Wednesday, September 19, 2012

New Board Member: Katie Kucharski

About a month ago, James and I asked Katie Kucharski to join the SixTwleve board and SHE SAID YES! We are ecstatic because she will bring such great things to the team. Katie is the Show House and Community Outreach manager for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Orchestra League, so she knows all about serving members of the Oklahoma City community. While I was still working at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Katie was the Education Coordinator for the Philharmonic, and thanks to the wonderful collaboration my colleague and awesome friend, Chandra Boyd, established between our two organizations, I had the privilege of working with Katie a couple of times during kids' events, aka the Discovery Series, which she planned at the Civic Center. It was always so much fun!

Dr. Irv Wagner and Katie in 2005
(I chose this old picture because 1. I love Irv and 2. It shows Katie with her Trombone!


Katie has two degrees in music and is passionate about the arts in Oklahoma City. From the time that I first told her about our dreams for SixTwelve, she has asked and asked what she could do to support and help us. She said she didn't care what it was; she just wanted to help. THAT'S exactly what we need! I'm so excited to work with Katie. Her positive, brilliant and incredibly happy personality blends perfectly with her professionalism to make her a true asset to our project. We're so lucky to have her. Welcome aboard, Katie!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Update: Health

A lot has happened since my last post! James finished getting approvals for all of our requests from the city for 612 and we finally got our building permit! Yes! We then turned in all of our paperwork for our bank loan and are currently waiting on the appraisal of our property (should be completed on Sept. 7) and then we'll know what we have to work with. We have also added another board member, Katie Kucharski! My next blog entry will focus on Katie and how lucky we are to have her join the team. For this entry, I thought I would just give an update over what has been happening...to catch up!

I guess the biggest thing that has been on my mind is my health. Last semester, I decided that as soon as I graduated I would take a deeper interest in my health. I had ignored things for too long, focusing on school and life in general. I went in for checkups, got my teeth cleaned, etc. and had some tests run before I left for this latest trip. While I was in Savannah I received a couple of calls with results that were a little scary. My mammogram came back with abnormalities and other ultrasounds came back showing things that concerned me as well. I won't go into too much detail because I still don't know what's going to happen with the later, but as for the mammogram issues, I went in for a second round of tests as soon as I returned home from my trip.

It's funny how things happen exactly as they should. When I started planning on this last trip to Savannah, I didn't know exactly who would be going with me. I had mentioned it to a few people but it didn't work for their schedules and I had actually decided that I might go alone...and that would be fine. I have no issue with traveling alone. Sometimes I really like it. :)

But it turned out that my mom and sis decided to join me a couple of weeks before I was to leave. Thank goodness. They were the perfect people to have there when I got the news. I needed my mama and sis. I don't know if anyone else would have known exactly how to encourage and calm me like they did. After I recovered from the initial shock, we had a great time because I could relax with them. And boy, did we giggle and enjoy each other.

Jenny, Me and Mom


The good news is that the second round of tests showed that "the girls" are fine. I'm so grateful. I will have another round of tests for the other issues on October 3rd and, in the meantime, I'm trying very hard to keep my chin up, to not worry and to take care of myself. I'm so grateful for family and friends who have checked on me and shown support. They are important and precious to me. I'm a blessed woman to have them in my life.