A Day in The Life of Miami Mike

For my next act, I will fulfill the request of the one, the only Nick Robinson. He suggested I describe a normal day for me up here in Oak-la-Home-a. So here we go.........

6:00am - my alarm goes off, and I hit the snooze button.

6:09am - my alarm goes off again and I reluctantly get out of bed and head to the shower.......I'll go no farther into that

6:17am - after a wonderful hot shower and brushing my teeth, I dress myself in some variety of navy, gray, and khaki clothing garments.

6:20am - probably my favorite part of my day. I sit down with a book and coffee and drink and read (at the same time). Right now, I'm reading Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry. It's the sequel to Lonesome Dove, my all time favorite book. I generally read for about 45 minutes to an hour.

7:30am - head to the dining hall for some good grub. The food is amazing up here, enough said.

8:00am - greet guests and find out any special needs they may have for the day. Those could include anything from facilitating activities (i.e. ziplines, paintball, skeet shooting) to fixing any small problems they may have with their meeting room or dorm.

9:00 to 11:30am - start cleaning something. Along with being a Retreat Coordinator, I am also the Manager of Housekeeping.......impressed, jealous, attracted????? I clean anything and everything that guests could touch, use, or see. Of course, I have quite an amazing couple of young ladies (Tracy and Kristin) that do roughly 99% of the cleaning as I try and learn how to do all these things at once. Without them, I'd be a mess.

11:30 to 12:30pm - lunch for myself and guests, pretty much the same thing as breakfast, except the food gets better as the day gets older. Seriously, its awesome.

12:30 to 4:30pm - this part of the day I try and devote to planning and emails and such. By planning, I mean I am trying to plan out the next week in terms of who is coming, what are their needs, meeting rooms assignments, activities, etc. I work with Rachel to figure out programs staffing and we make sure that all activities will run smoothly and efficiently. Also, I am trying to plan Sky Classic, which is Cave Springs Summer Camp for kids 7-16 years old. It's a beast, but its worth it considering this is my first love in the camping industry.

Emails have become a huge part of my life. Yeah, I know that sounds lame, but its true. I talk to as many 3 or 4 groups during the span of the week and we try and plan out their stay here. Some can be very easy and laid back and some can be very picky and high maintenance.

4:30 to 5:30pm - dinner for me and the guests (in that order suckas!)

5:30 to 9:00 - back at the office for more planning, inventory, and other random things I want to catch up on. Right now, I'm trying to recruit 16 amazing Program staff for this summer. That has become a larger task than I could ever imagine. I'm also trying to understand budgets and planning the summer months which represent 80% of our business. I want to be ready for that one.

9:00 to Bedtime - Sportscenter, Skype, answer personal emails.

So there you have it. I am one lame Retreat Coordinator. Hopefully I'll get better at making more time for myself and getting away from the office. As for now, I love what I'm doing and enjoy the long hours. Having said that, I have no life outside of work yet, but I just moved here and plan on getting plugged in with a church. It will all come with time.

I hope this didn't give you a nosebleed. Stay tuned for more from Miami Mike.......I kinda like that nickname, maybe I'll just start calling myself that. Total props to Nick on that one.

p.s. - I plan on changing the appearance of the blog whenever I get a chance. It's pretty boring right now, I know. Polka dots aren't really my thing.

Not Quite Like South Beach

So here I am in Miami........Oklahoma. Not the kind of move you would expect from a recent college graduate. But hey, who gives a crap. I'm adapting to my surroundings like a freaking chameleon. Some things I've learned since heading to the northeast tip of Oklahoma (in no particular order):

1. Don't pronounce it like the normal, hip, flashy, fancy, bikini clad ladies, over muscular dudes that make you laugh instead of being impressed. No, instead, pronounce it like you live in a place where rocks actually grow out of the earth rather than grass, where Wal Mart sets the latest fashions trends, where logic goes out the window and mullets are king. That's right, you're in MIAMAAAAA.

2. Everyone has a little bit of Native American in them........I think I may be 1/64 Quapaw now.

3. Casinos are the only thing open past 8pm. Oh, and meth labs too I guess. But I haven't seen their hours yet.

4. Pick a side. OU or OSU. Just do it for heaven's sake. It will save you time trying to explain you're not from around here and really don't care. I picked OSU by the way, which I've come to find isn't the popular choice.

5. Super Funds are not Super Fun. Actually, they are a place where lead and other deadly gases have mixed under the Earth and can cause a town to be evacuated. Picher, OK is the last lucky town to have this honor bestowed upon them. Trouble is, some people don't want to leave. Remember what I said about logic?

6. Learn the Turnpikes. And bring cash.


Okay, I think that may be a helpful list for any potential movers on their way up here. While it may seem that I hate life up here, I would like to step in and say that life is good. I love my new job, the people I work with, and the Lord I get to serve.

And yeah, I did put a cheesy Christian ending in there. And I don't give a crap.