A Planner... I Am

Some of you may have known that I worked in advertising before I became a teacher. I actually graduated in advertising and have worked in two large ad agencies in the city. To get into advertising you always start at the bottom and work your bottom off to get to the area where you really want to work. For me that was in Media. After about a year and a half in accounting, I was offered a position as assistant media planner. I eventually worked my way up to Media Supervisor when I was let go due to a loss of a big client but I really enjoyed being a Media Planner (one step below Media Sup).

What is a Media Planner? Well , I "plan'' how to spend the client's money in whatever "media/medium" would be the most cost efficient for their dollars. It could be in print (newspaper, magazine), outdoor (billboards) or broadcast (radio or TV). I had to do lots of research, print graphs and charts and all that good stuff that was in planning. We had lots of perks in the job. Reps from magazines and broadcast stations were really nice to us.. since we were their 'clients'. I mean, I did get to decide where our client's money goes.

Here I am with my co-workers at a Sports Illustrated function. They always had a big luncheon to promote their swimsuit issue.. and yes that is Kathy Ireland.. who was on the 1992 swimsuit cover.

I've always been a planner.. all my life actually. I 'planned' where I wanted to go to college, what to do as a career, when I was going to get married, what type of person I was going to get married to; my wedding; when I was going to have children etc.. Of course, the majority of my plans didn't pan out. I learned the hard way that "my plans" may not be "God's plans" for me and that "my" plans may not be the 'best' plans.

As a teacher, you have to write out lesson plans daily. That's pretty much what we do. Plan it out and then execute it.

Here is a sample week's lesson plan:

I guess planning things is my forte'. It is a gift from God since I do enjoy all the little details that come with planning.

At church, I help plan our women's retreats.  Normally our annual retreats have been through the weekend at a conference center in the mountains. It takes about six months to plan and execute.

This year we had a one-day retreat at the church. This one took three months to plan but felt like the same amount of work as if it was a weekend retreat. Nevertheless, we had over 90 ladies attend and it was extremely well received!

We served breakfast and lunch with the majority of the food all homemade.

We had a mini worship team lead by my dear friend who just celebrated her 25th anniversary. I, btw, coordinated her renewal of wedding vows ceremony.

I piggybacked on a great idea from my cousin's wedding: having a Favor Bar..

of candy ...

.. and bath salts (for those who are non-candy eaters). The theme of the retreat was Refresh.. Spa for the Soul so I though the bath salts would be very appropriate. It was a very blessed retreat and God was present!

I really do enjoy all the details of planning events. It's the melancholy in me I guess. Event planning is very exciting. I guess that's why I enjoy coordinating weddings; planning showers; organizing VBS and retreats. It's the little details that are thrilling to remember to include into a plan. I love the planning process. It's the execution that it not so exciting. The execution is so physically exhausting. It'll be much easier if I could just do the plan and have someone else do the execution. But of course, the choleric in me would not allow anyone to execute 'my' plan besides 'me'. (More about my temperaments in a future post).