And the Earth Shook

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement and great suggestions regarding the well project! I am excited that this is going to happen. Fundraising "thermometer" and donation buttons to follow.

But first things first. Like me, you are probably reeling when thinking of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. You may be wondering why these things happen to the poorest and most vulnerable people. I don't have an answer. You may be wondering how to help.

Two wonderful organizations I mentioned yesterday, Community Coalition for Haiti and World Vision, are accepting on-line donations right now to help people in Haiti. The director of CCH is a friend of mine and we emailed after the earthquake yesterday. Both of these websites have updated information regarding conditions in Haiti and what their organizations are doing to help.

Off to tuck my kids into their warm, safe beds.

Dig It

I am so excited I could burst!

Each year we give money and time to various charities. Ok, more money than time, but we are trying to get better about that. In addition to sponsoring children through Compassion International (for the past 21 years! woohooo!), we love to give “alternative gifts” through World Vision, Community Coalition for Haiti, and Unicef. The kids select mosquito nets, clothes, pregnant goats, piggies and chicks to donate around the world. Lately, however, we’ve been thinking about WATER.

Our family has decided to donate a well that will serve up to 150 people. We have asked my friends from small group to join us. I am so excited to have a family project to focus on throughout the year, and the possibility of partnering with dear friends is even better.

At dinner last night Molly had us brainstorm ways to raise the amount needed throughout the year. I can't believe that little cutie in the picture above is now old enough to wield a clipboard and pen just like a teacher, figuring out ways to help other little ones who have not had the same opportunities she has, just because of where they were born.

(Note: Please ignore the Hillary Clinton look-alike holding Molly. I guess I was already working the turkey wattle 8 years ago).

Okay, here is our list, as recorded by Molly:

Hot chocolate stand
Lemonade stand
Bionicle Show (Jake shows people his Bionicle creations and charges money)
Sell stuff on Craig’s List (Mom)
Change Jar ( $66.10 already!)
Bake Sale
Car Wash
Yard Sale
Self Donations/Birthday donations
Ask People
Save Money by not eating out

One friend is thinking of donating her class fees when she teaches a crafting class. The possibilities go on and on.

I must admit I am basically a selfish person. I want my yard sale money. I want my Craig’s List money. I want to go out to eat. So telling you this, getting the kids involved, and joining in with friends will hopefully keep me honest and motivated. Because water? Makes all the difference.

What do you think? Do you think we can do it? Do you any have creative ideas to raise money to help others in 2010?

For Women Only-- The Dough Also Rises

So I’ve had a bit of a weird week health-wise and I went to the doctor today to see if we could piece together why I haven’t been feeling like myself. Problem is I’ve been watching too many Medical Mystery-type shows. Our local paper also has one of these weekly in the Health section and I’m captivated by the stories. The common theme is that it takes an awful long time before people find answers to their puzzling medical problems.

So when I started having some vision problems and a lot of brain fog this week, I wanted to be sure I was very specific about my symptoms. Then when I noticed I’d gotten got a little yeasty down there, I knew I should share that, too. I wanted the doc to be fully informed. But how much is too much?

I didn’t want to get caught up in years of misery like the girl in the newspaper who was treated for eczema when she really had a tropical parasite living in her leg (!!) but I didn’t want to over-share either.

For instance, I DID mention that I haven't exercised at all in years. I DID mention the date of my last period. Christmas Eve-- how could I forget all that joy?

I did NOT mention as they took notes and then 3 vials of blood, that I may have become a little too enamored with the fabulous heated seats in my brand new car during this week's cold snap.

I mean, what if having all that heat and yeast together had turned me into some kind of unwitting focaccia bakery?

Was I correct in keeping my mouth shut?

Before and During

I've been trying to find a few Before and Afters of our house to share with you.

Unfortunately, when we moved into this house I wasn't too keen on taking Before pics. Not sure if it was the seafoam green carpet, the 4 kinds of wallpaper, or that fact that we had just set the record for paying the highest price ever in our neighborhood for a 1970's paradise, but I didn't really want to document what we had gotten ourselves into. That, coupled with the fact that we hadn't yet gone digital and didn't want to "waste film" means we have a dearth of photos.

Of course, had I heard of blogging back then and realized how we all love a good Before and After, I would have snapped some pics for posterity. Actually, I'd rather call them Before and Durings, because are we ever really finished putzing around and changing things here and there?

I came across a few that I'll share with you. Here's our staircase "Before." The iron railing continues around the right up one more small level. Of course the true "before" would have a formal Oriental carpet runner going down the stairs and wallpaper on the wall. Do we still say Oriental carpet or is Asian?

We ripped up the carpets and had the floors and stairs professionally refinished. A railing guy put up this new banister and posts in one day, then Tom painted the risers for me for our anniversary.

I like to hang greens on the banister at Christmas:

Or maybe some little mice at Halloween:

The stairs are too messy today to get you a good picture, but believe me--6.5 years later and I still love it!

I Resemble That Statement

Artwork by Molly, which MAY allude to the fact that I've never learned how to remove my eye makeup properly at night.

I really don't know what she's referring to.

Poor Dinner Planning, An Inch of Gray Style

Th: Venison/Black Bean Chili
Fri: Taco Bell Bean Burrito
Sat: Black Bean and Veggie Enchiladas
Sun: Navy Bean and Bacon Soup

I Hereby Acknowledge

So I was checking email down at my sister’s house. I saw 4 or 5 work emails that I thought I would get to later. I’m in charge of registration for an upcoming event at work, and people are registering via email and our website. The next day when I checked—the work emails were gone. I commented on this odd fact to my sister. Tom was laptopping away next to me and said nothing. Tappety tappety tap.

Now his NOT chiming in on a convo between my sister and me is not unusual, because he usually has no desire to weigh in on whether Old Navy’s Perfect Fit tees are better than the Baby Fit ones, but his silence seemed…notable. He also had a bit of a deer in the headlights look.

Upon pressing, I learned that he had checked our shared email account and done what he usually does, deleted the emails that were of no concern to him. He usually does this upstairs from his office on his computer and it doesn’t seem to affect my emails downstairs on mine. So I don’t want to get into a whole Yahoo/Outlook technical thing here (yawn) but suffice it to say, my wheels started turning.

Were my work emails lost forever? How many registrations were missing? Did this explain why for over a year I would check my emails from my work computer and not be able to find them when I knew full well they were on my home computer? About 4 or 5 times I’d called in tech support to help me with this, but no one had any idea of what I was talking about.

Had Tom been the culprit the whole time? He proclaimed what he had done would have NO effect on my emails. Hmmm. I was not buying this litttle co-ink-y-dink.

I don’t know whether it was the excess of Christmas cookies or a zen new attitude, but I took it in stride. Normally I would freak and worry that I would look incompetent at work. I would lash out at Tom for ruining my life. Instead, I emailed my boss and told her I had no idea who had registered. I contacted the website people at work to see if they could find the info some other way. It was notable that I didn’t get mad and didn’t start playing the blame game.

I think because it was so obviously Tom’s fault, and so clearly unintentional, that I felt sorry for him. I tend to lash out and blame others the most when I feel a bit culpable myself, and on this one I didn’t feel the need because I was smelling like a rose.

But it got me thinking. All I want in life is a little acknowledgement. Tom is not super-forthcoming in this department. He is more of the, “if we don’t talk about it, perhaps it will go away” school of thought. “Maybe Anna will forget it ever happened in the first place.” Ha. I am from the land of, “just admit you are wrong, then I’ll feel sorry for you, and we can all move on.”

I know acknowledging our failures does not come easily, especially to me. I am such a blamer I am apt to drop a can of diced tomatoes on my toe, cuss, and look around for someone else to pin it on. The thing is, when we (I) say a sincere “I screwed up" or "I’m sorry” --NOT “I’m sorry you feel that way”-- we are all better off.

After an hour Tom volunteered, “I think I may have been responsible for the disappearing emails…” Not clear cut, but it did land him firmly back on my good list. He also said perhaps we should get separate email accounts so his ardent desire for an uncluttered inbox would not adversely affect me. Bravo.

I think his motives may not have been 100% pure. He had a vested interest in getting on my good side because he knew that within the next two hours we would be headed to this bed and breakfast for our anniversary. He did not want to ruin all chances of a little Anniversary Lovin.’




Like most men, he has experienced the (insert screetchy sound effect of a needle being dragged backwards across a record) of a promising evening quickly going down the tubes because of one wrong move, look, or a careless answer to the question, “Do these Jeans make my butt look big?”

Don’t we all want the same thing? No, not a big butt or even some Anniversary Lovin’—but a little acknowledgement? It’s not that we DISLIKE doing the shopping, decorating, and un-decorating for Christmas, but we want someone to verbalize that they know these things don’t happen magically by themselves. We want someone to say, “Good job. I know packages don’t mail themselves.”

We need it. Our kids need it. Our husbands and friends need it too.

Think of how far these words could go: "I appreciate you. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I screwed up. You need a break. I’m sorry. You seem worried about the kids. I haven't been spending enough time with you. I've been neglecting our friendship. I get what you’re saying. You look great in those jeans. I smell what you’re stepping in. You matter to me."

So here's to a 2010 in which we slow down, notice, and acknowledge...