Next week, I will meet five TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Tunisia whom I will help mentor during their visit to the USA. The U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs – TechWomen program connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them the access and opportunities to advance their careers and pursue their dreams. Three of us have been invited to coach these senior technical women in developing the project they will take home. This is my second time being an Impact Coach for Tunisia – our 2016 team developed a project to improve transport in Tunis. I was also a member of the 2015 TechWomen Delegation to Tunisia. I have been a TechWomen mentor since 2010 when I served as the TechWomen Process Architect – it is such an inspiring and fulfilling program. I am so looking forward to meeting the new Team Tunisia!
Techwomen Impact Coach Mentors for Tunisia, 8 Sep 2022TechWomen Team Tunisia 2016Sheep on the road, Tunisia 2015Katy Dickinson and TechWomen on beach camels, Tunisia 2015Dougga Roman ruins, Tunisia 2015Katy Dickinson, Dougga Roman ruins, Tunisia 2015Africus carving, Dougga Roman ruins, Tunisia 2015TechWomen, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia Delegation 2015TechWomen, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia Delegation 2015Pine nut tea, TechWomen, Tunis, Tunisia Delegation 2015Eileen Brewer, Katy Dickinson, TechWomen, Tunis, Tunisia Delegation 2015
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John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022
Our family went on two short trips this summer. John and visited the Plocher family at Loon Lake, Wisconsin, in June. At the end of August, John and I and our kids took a road trip through Northern-Northern California, including a ride on the Skunk Train from Willets. John and Paul and I were in one car and Jessica and Matthew were in another.
Loon Lake, Wisconsin
Plocher family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022Loon family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022Plocher boating on Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022Dragon fly, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022Osprey fish eagles, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022John and Naomi Plocher, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022John and Naomi Plocher, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022
California Road Trip
Dickinson family, Willits, California, August 2022Wild Turkey, Red Bluff, California, August 2022deer, Northern California, August 2022Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Paul D. Goodman, Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022Road Trip through redwoods, Northern California, August 2022Skunk Train tunnel, Willits, California, August 2022Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022John Plocher on Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, August 2022John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman, Katy Dickinson, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, August 2022
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CIC stickers and bracelets, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training
Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy‘s training was held last weekend: Going In, Staying In jail ministry training is for new and returning volunteers and focuses on orientation to chaplaincy and facility updates as well as context specific skill building such as trauma informed ministry and cultural humility. The training is free and open to all over the age of 21. The opening meditation titled “Choosing to Incarcerate Yourself” was presented by CIC Associate Director & Facility Chaplain, Angel Hernandez. Green bracelets saying “I Choose to be Incarcerated – CIC Ministries Jail Chaplains” were distributed.
I was inspired by Chaplain Angel’s talk, especially when he said: “We have these ministry trainings so that as Chaplains, you need to choose incarceration as well. Not like those that are incarcerated, and not like those who have families inside. You choose the surroundings of incarceration in order to be with those inside. We have these ministry trainings so that you can understand what it is like to be inside… We are a ministry that seeks out people that choose incarceration. That know that their rights are left, like their phones, like their smart watches, their rights are left in the car. We look for people that allow the direction of the law inside to have the authority, regardless of the title you have worked so hard to attain on the outside. We look for people who are willing to humble themselves…. As you consider being a chaplain, or if you have been a chaplain for some time, we ask that you understand that you choose incarceration to then be inspiration to those inside. Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those in prison as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”
Chaplain Angel Hernandez, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchChaplains Lidia Jimenez and Ra Amen, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchChaplain Lidia Jimenez, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchJen Shultz, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchCIC Executive Director Liz Milner, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchLiz Milner and Katy Dickinson, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchSinging during Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchChaplain Katy Dickinson, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 training, Crosswalk Community ChurchChaplain staff lunch, Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy, 10 Sep 2022 (Chaplains Lidia and Yilmaz not present)
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John Plocher and I are in the process of fixing up our 90-year-old Spanish Mission style home in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). One of the duties of homeownership is maintenance, particularly fixing what does not show. We just completed Phase One of a maintenance project, including adding new French drains to redirect water away from the house, repairing some rocky tiles on the side porch, replacing a front porch post, adding better support for the ground floor so that the front door opens all the way, and replacing a walkway-with-a-step with a ramp. This work will not meet the realtors’ goal of “increasing the value of your home” for resale, but since this is our family’s forever home, it is enough that the work increases its comfort and value to us. We got virtual tours of the ongoing work under the house using FaceTime.
Some of maintenance challenges come from ours being an old (if well-built) house, and others from the land being part of the original Willow Glen swamp of the Guadalupe River. The ground shifts annually with seasonal moisture changes, causing stucco cracks and sometimes making doors stick. The most unhappy person with the construction has been Princess, our porch cat, who resented the disruption of her royal domain. Phase Two is being planned now!
Porch post with gap, July 2022Original side walkway, July 2022John Plocher raking weeds, July 2022Resetting porch tiles, July 2022Repaired side porch tiles, July 2022Cat judging front porch construction, July 2022Digging french drain trenches, July 2022French drain trench complete, July 2022French drain lining and rock, July 2022Completed french drains, July 2022Painting new porch post, July 2022Pouring new side ramp, July 2022Smoothing new ramp, July 2022New ramp walkway, July 2022FaceTime of work under house, July 2022End of walkway drying, July 2022Fixing front door, July 2022Princess the cat hiding, July 2022
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Katy Dickinson, 17 July 2022 (with earrings erased by John‘s iPhone Portrait setting)
As I wrote in April, I have been using the Noom program for weight loss and wellness. I am proud of myself that as of today, I met my 145 pound weight goal – hooray! Changing my eating patterns, losing over 60 pounds, and reducing my size from extra large (XL) to small (S) was not easy. There were many frustrating weeks when nothing seemed to happen. When I started in October 2021, Noom’s original estimate for my completion date was months ago. Nonetheless, today I am in the new phase of weight maintenance rather than loss. I had fun buying new clothes for my changed figure, since nothing but my shoes and scarves still fit. I have discovered by trial and error that I am now a Talbots size 8, Chico’s size 1, t-shirt size small, Gloria Vanderbilt size 10, Land’s End size 12 swimsuit but size 10 shirt, and Zuri medium size dress (but small shirt).
Read to the end of this post for a funny poem by my Grandma…
Katy Dickinson, 11 Oct 2021-17 July 2022 Noom Weight Graph
Weight management is a family problem, as illustrated by the following poem written by my Grandma, Evelyn Van Gilder Creekmore. I expect to work on maintenance for the rest of my life but am happy to have reached today’s milestone. Thank you to friends and family who have patiently supported my journey toward better health.
Visiting Grandchildren
Katy came first, a slender girl Afraid to gain one ounce of weight, Her diet worried me no end – Grapefruit was almost all she ate. But next came Pete, a teenage boy Who loved roast beef, and cake, and pie, Milk by the gallon, ham and steak – (We gained a few pounds – he and I) Then after Pete his brother came, I stocked the freezer well with meat, But Mark’s a vegetarian now – So I fixed salads and cracked wheat. Then after Mark came Rip whose diet Consists of steaks (by choice T-Bone) So we lived high on rare cooked steak, (I couldn’t let him eat alone.) My budget fluctuated much, As likewise did my weight, In matching menus day by day To choice of food each grandchild ate.
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El Camino Real sign decorations, General Convention, 11 July 2022
This is the fourth and final legislative day for the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) at the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, after morning worship and an inspiring sermon by the newly-elected President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris, we discussed changes to the Book of Common Prayer, heard a health report by Dr. Rodney Coldren (only 26 COVID cases reported during GC-80) who thanked us for protecting our fellow deputies, celebrated many House of Deputies awards by outgoing President, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, thanked many remarkable people who have worked for years to make this event happen, planned for GC-81 in Louisville in two years, and filled a variety of positions by election. We particularly celebrated the ten years of the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings as HofD President and gave her many standing ovations.
The historic change of leadership was symbolized by a hand off of the President’s gavel from the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings to Julia Ayala Harris. Both are inspiring and remarkable women who make the world change for the better. In her concluding remarks, Rev. Gay Clark Jennings said it was not enough to appoint and elect change makers, we must also actively encourage and support them to stop the racism and misogyny endemic in our church. People of color and women face real gritty situations and structural barriers, not theoretical problems. We must commit ourselves to this work, seize the opportunity, and not assume others will take care of it.
El Camino Real deputation with the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, General Convention, 11 July 2022Rev. Gay Clark Jennings with masked pigeon mascot, General Convention, 11 July 2022House of Deputies ovation for Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, General Convention, 11 July 2022Katy Dickinson badge and iPad, General Convention, 11 July 2022Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, General Convention, 11 July 2022House of Deputies President calling House of Bishops, General Convention, 11 July 2022Handoff of gavel between House of Deputies Presidents, General Convention, 11 July 2022
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This is the third legislative day for the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) at the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, despite persistent technical challenges, the House of Deputies (HOD) passed a variety of resolutions and amendments, including the church’s budget, the election of Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton as Vice President of the HOD (the first ordained woman to be so elected), and the celebration of the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, the first woman to serve as President of HOD as her term nears its end. There are so many remarkable faith and community leaders here – it is inspiring!
I have mostly stayed in the hotel and convention center but from time to time we go out to eat. Tomorrow night, we celebrate Maryland Night, so I will see more of Baltimore. Check out the Diocese of El Camino Real’s daily GC-80 “Updates from the Floor.”
El Camino Real Diocese, General Convention, 10 July 2022Constellation ship, Inner Harbor Baltimore, 9 July 2022dragon paddle boats, Inner Harbor Baltimore, 9 July 2022Bumble bee on morning glory flower, Baltimore, 10 July 2022Bird inside Baltimore Convention Center, 10 July 2022Bishop Susan Haynes (Diocese Southern Virginia), Helen Sharpe-Williams, Katy Dickinson, 9 Jul 2022Chaplain Rev. Lester Mackenzie, Katy Dickinson, General Convention, 10 July 2022Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves, and Bishop Lucinda Ashby, General Convention, 10 July 2022Chaplain Rev. Lester Mackenzie, General Convention, 10 July 2022
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