So many things have happened since the last time I wrote a proper blog post. I was appointed to the City of Cincinnati’s Gender Equity Taskforce (via the Cincinnati 4 CEDAW initiative efforts I was a part of) and I’ve been appointed to the Hamilton County Commission on Women and Girls. The commission is the first of its kind in Hamilton County and has garnered local and national attention.

But this post isn’t really about that. It’s about today and the long hectic-ness of it (I know hectic-ness is not a word!). I was at the end of my day and thought about how in the future, I’ll probably forget about today (because in the grand scheme of things, it will probably blend in with everything else). And then I thought: hey, I have a blog where I can document this stuff. And it’s MY blog, so I can do what I want with it!

And so, here we are. (I got a late start today because I knew I’d be in Columbus today and wouldn’t get back to Cincy until later than usual.)

7:30ish: I receive a frantic call from my mom saying that her bus was late and because of that, she missed the connecting bus that takes her to work. This particular bus route only runs twice per day, so if you miss, you’re SOL. She asks me to call her an Uber (her phone doesn’t have the technology to do so, nor does she really understand how to use it. Even though I’m not super happy that I’ve somehow suddenly become the person who’ll order up an Uber for her, I realize that this is an emergency situation (she could lose her job if she doesn’t show up), so I pull up the app to see what’s available. Please tell me why the only cars available were $50, $75, or $100???

8:15ish: I’m telling my daughter for the umpteenth time that we’ve got to go. I’ve got to take her to school and then circle back and pick up my mom and give her a ride to work. We go outside to the car and it’s snowing. Again. (when is all of this going to stop, already?).

8:40ish: My daughter is about to get out of the car but then spills iced tea on her jeans. She starts freaking out, wondering if there will now be a giant stain on her pants. For a moment, she seems as if the world is ending. I thankfully remember that I packed a bottle of water in her lunch and tell her to take that, put the water on the spill, and then sop it up with the first piece of fabric I can find in my car. #CrisisAverted

9:00ish: I finally make it to my mom. At 9:00 am, she’s now considered late to her job, but she still needs to get out there. With traffic and the distance, it takes nearly 45 minutes to get to her destination. Side note: when I was dropping her off, she showed me where the bus takes her and drops her. She then shows me the super long route she has to walk because the company she works for won’t allow employees to enter through the front entrance. This is so problematic for so many reasons. The company could really benefit from the Women’s Fund’s employer toolkit. It’s really a shame how some companies and organizations treat their employees. It really upsets me.

10:15ish: Despite the distance and the traffic, I’m able to make it back downtown for most of a meeting to talk about YWCA’s upcoming racial justice events. I’m the point person for all of the events except for two, so I had to be there. We’re trying to get a webpage created to be a holding spot for all of them but we don’t have a webmaster or a dedicated webpage design person. So we make it work. Anyway, we were also discussing this Friday’s film screening of James Baldwin’s I Am Not Your Negro. YWCA is sponsoring the follow up community conversations Being Curious About Race series and we wanted a place on the website so folks can register. Thankfully, our community partners GCF (Greater Cincinnati Foundation) have created the registration link for all three conversations and making things much easier to just add the link to our webpage. I’ll include a list of the events below, in case you’re curious.

11:15ish-12:30: I’m frantically gathering all of the follow up stuff from the meeting I’ve just left that I need to get out to everyone (we’ve got a deadline for some of these items and I knew I’d need to get them out before 12:30 when I was leaving for Columbus). I’m doing this while other things are also cropping and popping up.

12:30-2:20: I’m riding shotgun (shout out to Holly H. for driving!!) while also working, fielding emails and answers to questions on multiple projects I’m juggling. One of which I’ve found myself in the middle of…a controversial issue that’s got some of us on pins and needles…plus some other time sensitives things.

2:30-4:00ish: I attended a planning meeting for the Women Fund of Central Ohio’s Statehouse Day. Here’s an event description: Convene with women and men from across the state at The Women’s Fund Statehouse Day. You will spend the morning hearing from policymakers and community leaders on why issues promoting women’s economic empowerment benefit society. The lunch portion of this day will feature Lilly Ledbetter, the inspiring woman at the center of the historic discrimination case that inspired the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. Hear about her fight for equal rights in the workplace, and how her determination became a victory for the nation. Equipped and ready, you will spend the afternoon meeting with elected officials as change-makers influencing policy. To register, please visit this link:

https://womensfundcentralohio.givezooks.com/events/statehouse-day-2018-making-herstory

4:00ish-5:40ish: Back on the road. And back to working remotely and fielding questions and last minute issues that need my attention. Making calls and squaring Friday’s film screening away.

5:45ish: Back in Cincy and back in the office. A few more emails and calls to make. Someone make me stop. Please.

7:00ish: Finally. I’m leaving.

7:10ish: Have to go pick up my daughter from across town, before I can go home.

8:10ish: I made it back to where my day started.

9:00: We watch Grownish (cute show, but warning: language. It’s not exactly like Blackish. But it’s good.)

I’m not even going to tell you what time it is right now. I readjusted the post date and time so it would make more sense (since I’m referring to the events of 1-17-18). Okay, okay, it’s actually currently 1:05 am on 1-18-18. But since I haven’t fallen asleep yet, its basically the same day, right?

But remember that time I mentioned that I was a night owl and an early bird? Yeah. I wasn’t kidding.

Oh yeah. And here’s the list of upcoming racial justice events:

Goodnight.

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