It's All Part of the Job...

    Woke up to a beautiful morning and flowers on my desk from Mom, Dad, and Austin. They surprised me at the museum yesterday with a bouquet delivery and balloons. I'm so spoiled! <3
    After a wet and muddy walk with Cindy through the back pasture, I washed up and headed into work early. Rushed out the door a little too fast, though, and forgot my lunch on the counter, but Clay was an incredibly nice guy and dropped it by around 10 during his errands.
   Only me and Lori at the museum today since we're closed. Grunt work didn’t really start til after 2:00, though. She showed me how they use QuickBooks, the museum bookkeeping system, in the morning. Even though we were closed, a family of 9 from Virginia came by, so we let them in. Interesting to be working on the payroll and financial functions at the front desk. This isn’t really what my training focus is here at DD, but it’s all part of Lori’s job and what she does here as the only full-time staffer.
     After the bookkeeping was up to date, we ventured into the paper-covered realm of Lori’s office and tried to make contact with some local musicians. This Saturday is DD’s annual Summer Music Festival, featuring free concert performances by local and regional folk/country/bluegrass performers. They vary in styles, instruments, and backgrounds. One is a math professor on the Dakota Wesleyan campus across the street and another is driving all the way from Minnesota for a 45 minute set. Not too shabby, DD.
     In between making calls and sending emails, and entering every possible new form of contact and performer name into the PastPerfect system, we drove downtown to the local radio station where Lori recorded some radio spots for the Music Festival as well as the Rubber Duck Race we’re hosting at Mitchell Lake Saturday afternoon as a fundraiser. Not sure how we’re going to split volunteers/staff between the Music Festival and the Duck Race, but it’ll work out somehow. Given the choice, I’d go with the Music Festival….museum volunteers are making homemade pies and ice cream! Yay!
Before locking up, we redid the Discovery Land kid’s area. Discovery Land is based around a theme that changes every few weeks or so. We took down all the U.S. Immigration-theme murals, activities, maps, and toys and hauled them to the basement, replacing them with Wild, Wild, West-themed activities and murals, including a chuck wagon with rusting metal wheels pleading for WD-40 with every turn and Shorty, the Dakota Discovery Safety Horse made of an old saw horse, bicycle and tire parts, a colorful antique saddle, and a tiny white plastic cowboy hat. Probably the most awkward thing I’ve ever tried to haul into an elevator. The freight elevator was removed a few years ago, so hauling anything up from the basement that is longer than 8 feet in any direction means bypassing the human elevator and taking the emergency staircase. Some call it an adventure, some call it a vocabulary lesson. Either way, it took both of us and I can’t imagine Lori trying to do that by herself.
    Tomorrow will be a big day. During June, July, and August, DD is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Not sure if I’ll keep those hours with Lori or if Cindy and Clay will want me home earlier for dinner. I have to check with my new/temporary family on what my hours with Lori will be from here on out. Either way, we can expect a lot more visitors.
    Here. We. Go.