We Are Blending

Great News!!!

Many of you will remember this post from last week: Clean out your closet for Haitians?

Since last week, lots of individuals and Shirtworks, a screen printing business run by two very gracious sisters, opened their hearts and cleaned out their closets for Haitians.  For a couple of days, when the news hit that doctors and medical supplies had been turned away from the Port-au-Prince airport by the U.S. Military, Dear Fiance and I worried that all those clothes would have no way to get to the people who need them so badly right now.

Thankfully there is a way.  This morning I got to talk with a very warm and appreciative Senior Pastor, Gerald Jean-Jacques, of the Ebenezer Vision Haitian Church in Atlanta. The church is one of the agencies suggested by CARE for in kind donations and we chose it because these people are Haitian. And to my mind, nobody knows what's going on with everyday people in Haiti more than Haitians who are in touch with family and friends over there.  Jean-Jacques said "it's much worse in the outlying areas than what you see in the news. Conditions are desperate."



The church has secured an intermodal container so that lots of people can donate tangible things to help Haitians. It has clearance to leave in March.

My feeling is this:  In times like these, money is tight for lots of people.  A lot of us donate cash as we can, but have tangible things we can easily give that will make a real difference in somebody's life.

If you have them to spare, please consider donating toys, clothing of all sizes, linens, non-perishable food items, cookware, anything useful that will help people to rebuild their lives on this island that has been rocked by multiple tragedies.  And you know that each person that gets something from your home is going to be touched by that care you took to get it to them.

Thank you for being such wonderful readers!

For reasons that are too distressing for me to ponder, our puppy Picasso raided the dirty laundry basket and purloined another pair of my favorite panties.  He managed to completely digest the essential zone from a particularly nice pair.  Well, it used to be nice.

Adding insult to injury, Picasso chose to flaunt his crime by leaving them under my bed, which is clearly visible from the powder room. This means that during and after his chew-fest my kids (and their friends) could be treated with a view.  I was oblivious what was going on, guessing that the random light colored something was more shredded paper, when Dear Fiance grabbed them out from under the bed and waved them at me to show me what the dog had done.  This is not the stuff of romance novels.

It does however, teach me two very important lessons.  First, I should stash the dirty laundry in a more secure location. And second, I have GOT to start wearing my glasses!

After the news of Haiti's 6.1 aftershock this morning, I contacted Care to see how our family can at least clean out our closets and donate desperately needed clothing to Haitians.

This is their considerate and thorough reply.  I hope you'll give.  Even if you're broke like so many are these days, clothes are something that most of us can spare.  Thanks.

AmeriCares, 88 Hamilton Ave, Stamford, CT 06092	800-486-4357	www.americares.org
Catholic Relief Services, 209 W. Fayette St, Baltimore, MD 21201	410-625-2220	www.catholicrelief.org
Gifts In Kind International, 333 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314	703-836-2121	www.giftsinkind.org

Partners in Health - urgently need the following: 1/18/10      617-432-5256      www.standwithhaiti.org Orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, OR nurses, post-op nurses, and surgical technicians. Unfortunately, unable to accommodate any volunteers without significant surgical or trauma training and experience. If your qualifications match these needs, please CLICK HERE to fill out form.
Orthopedic supplies, surgical consumables (sutures, bandages, non-powdered sterile gloves, syringes, etc.), and large unopened boxes of medications. Unfortunately, cannot accept small quantities or unused personal medications. Need blankets, tents, and satellite phones with minutes. People with private planes willing to fly medical personnel and/or large quantities of supplies are also greatly needed. To donate any of the above goods, please CLICK HERE to fill out form.
International Relief Team, 3547 Camino Del Rio South, Suite C, San Diego, CA 92108	619-284-7979	www.IRTeams.org
Cross Cultural Solutions,  2 Clinton Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801	800-380-4777	www.crossculturalsolutions.org
Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat Street,  Americus, GA 31709-3498	229-924-6935	www.habitat.org
Volunteer International, 2006 31 73rd Street, Suite 2, North Bergen, NJ 07047	201-221-4105	www.volunteerinternational.org
Volunteer Match, 717 California St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108	415-241-6872	www.volunteermatch.org
Global Volunteers, 375 East Little Canada Road, St. Paul, MN 55117-1628	800-487-1074	www.globalvolunteers.org
Volunteers For Peace, 1034 Tiffany Road, Belmont, VT 05730	802-259-2759	www.volunteersforpeace.org
i-to-i North America, 190 East 9th Ave, Suite 350, Denver, CO 80203	800-985-4852	www.i-to-i.com
The Road Less Traveled Inc., 2331 N. Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60614	800-939-9839 773-342-5200	www.theroadlesstraveled.com
Universal Giving, 560 Sutter Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94102	415-296-9193	www.universalgiving.org/volunteer/index.jsp
Earthwatch Institute International Headquarters, 3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 100, Box 75, Maynard, MA 01754	800-776-0188 978-461-0081	www.earthwatch.org
Crooked Trails, P O Box 94034, Seattle, WA 98124	206-383-9828	www.crookedtrails.com
International Medical Volunteers Association, P.O. Box 205, Woodville, MA. 01784	508-435-7377	www.imva.org
VSO International, Carlton House, 27A Carlton Dr, Putney, London, SW15 2BS, United Kingdom	+44 (0) 20-8780-7500	www.vsointernational.org

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Possible marketing claims:

"Protect your kid from online sexting!"

"Great for internet dating scene!"

"So thin you forget it's there!"

One keyboard cover is even named iSkin, which I have to wonder about, given this line of thought.  Somebody doubtless got there before me and is working that packaging idea right now.  I mean, they already come in different colors, how difficult could it be?

Thursday I drove our rat terrier Picasso (named by Dear Daughter because of his asymetrical coloring) and Dear Younger Son to the middle school in order to clean out his locker.

While there, he discovered several "lost" worksheets from last semester, as well as something slimy, brownish green, and indistinguishable that was residing in a zip lock sandwich bag.  Thankfully that seal held, because the stench was liable to be lethal if the bag had come open.  It was revolting to look at.  Even the dog turned away from it. That's saying a lot.

After DYS carefully disposed of this alarming find we took Picasso to meet one of his favorite teachers.  While there, DYS mentioned the pre-historic sandwich, treat, who-knows-what, and his teacher got ALL excited!!

"Oh My God!!  Do you still have it?!"

We paused, wondering if she was kidding and just why anybody would get so thrilled over something that repulsive. "Oh! Mrs. Toadstool, the Science teacher, would go nuts over it!! She absolutely LOVES mold!  One time I left an orange here over vacation and it turned into a giant green puff ball.  I gave it to her and you'd think it was the most wonderful gift ever to see her face!  See if you can dig it out of that trash can and leave it for her!!"

Again, we paused.  Could she be serious?  Evidently, one person's revolting, slimy stink bomb really can be another person's delight.  God knows what kinds of mold are in that bag.  I shudder to think of it.  But a middle school science teacher strolled into her classroom to discover our gift, complete with explanatory note.  We were assured that she would jump and down, squealing with delight.  Let's hope so...

Now I have to wonder: What will her husband get her for Valentine's Day?

Ahhh! I'm ecstatic about getting to engage in my traditional MBT thigh burning again!!  The holiday season was tough on my fitness schedule and I've been eager to get back into bathing suit shape.  Today was warm enough to walk outside without fearing polar bears or arctic wolves, so I made my getaway.  We don't really have those animals in Georgia, but it's felt cold enough to host them lately.

Nothing singes every muscle in my calves, thighs, and yes, butt quite like a brisk walk in these glorious MBT's. At first they seemed too good to be true, but those puppies put my lower half in better shape than any amount of other exercise. I'll put up with a lot of muscle pain for smooth thighs.  Wouldn't you?

Today's walk felt grand: sun on my face, music in my ears, heart pumping, and the lovely, delicious feel of muscles all over my legs working together, and burning.

Better stretch tonight or there'll be hell to pay tomorrow.

This is a little something I wrote in response to Redhead Writing , a brilliant blogger whom I found last month and have enjoyed very much.  She issued a request for people to write about their single takeaway for this past decade.  Here's my response:

Over the last decade I've been on this journey towards self acceptance that involved several of your benchmarks, such as a divorce, the severe breakage parts on my left side (and recovery), personal fitness, traveling to Europe several times, and getting two dogs that didn't come with manuals either. Some differences: I left repressive, mean religious system, while being successful in ministry, and learned how to think/talk/act/imagine for myself. After this, I had my own Elle Woods class speaker moment at college graduation after going back to school during said divorce and graduated with honors while raising 3 kids, 2 of whom were teens. Got dream job. Got laid off from dream job and am translating skills into marketing a kick-ass design firm and social media. Fell in love with right person, for a change. Am engaged.

My SINGLE nugget of goodness from this decade, however, comes from a culmination of these events that will hopefully propel me into a breakaway new year and decade. I learned how to shut up that nasty, critical voice that plagues every creative person. That collective voice of teachers, parents, religious leaders, and everybody else who ever criticized out of insecurity instead of giving kind, honest, and helpful feedback. In so doing, I learned how to love myself and others better. Who knows what kind of ass-kicking goodness I can do with that in place?

Happy New Year!!

So I'm trying out this feature where I get to blog from my phone. Scary? A little. Words just go up into space and I trust that they'll look OK on the site. Trust is a big word, even when it comes to this sort of thing.
Dear Fiance and I are headed out to run some errands and to meet friends for supper at their favorite dive, er, buffet.
The thing is that I love to cook and try new and interesting cuisine that doesn't involve having to wear stretch pants. At least the company will be very enjoyable.
And so, dear reader, I hope your Friday night is warm, wonderful, and surrounded by people you care about. And if this involves stretchy pants, then so be it.

So it's still wicked cold out there and my house feels like a walk in freezer.  I'm wearing my New Hampshire coat.  Inside.  And my fingers and nose feel like they're going numb.  Fun?  I don't think so.  Let's see if this new heater kicks in.

So it feels like about zero degrees in my house right now.  After a whirlwind tour of housework and (real job) work, I'm sitting down for a moment.  In Georgia, houses aren't really made for cold weather.  They only look that way.  This morning it was colder than most of Alaska and parts of Canada.  That's not supposed to happen here and my house has the crappiest heating system imaginable for 20 degree weather.  Heat strips stay on for days at a time with no discernable benefit, except that the vents feel like they're pumping out air conditioning.

So today I turned it all off (or at least down to 55) and Dear, Sweet, Wonderful Fiance is picking up ceramic heaters to use in specific rooms, since the "heat" isn't doing the job anyway.  It feels better already with just the fireplace and no more icy breeze.  Plus, this means we get to eat next month because the electric bill won't be as prohibitive.  ;)

I've been feeling a lot like this heating system right now.  Lots and lots of creative energy/thought/, but it hasn't been happening.  And that's no fun place for a creative soul to be. It seems like there have been about a hundred interesting/funny posts that I've thought of and then they kept not happening.

Writing rut is officially over.

Does that ever happen to you?  Do you ever have the best ideas and then abandon them because they don't seem to be perfect enough, or the timing doesn't seem to be just right enough?  I think I do it because it's a way to sidestep taking the risk.  But the challenge is to just do what needs to be done and trust that it will be good enough.  Kinda like using ceramic heaters and the fireplace to heat this house because the poor little heat pump system cannot possibly keep up with days of icy weather.

It's a bright, new year.  Full of promise and, for once, at this very moment the sun is shining right through my window onto this laptop and my face.  Even my fingers aren't numb and all is right with the world right now.

Thanks, Dear Reader.  I hope you are warm and encouraged wherever you are, pushing through where you need to push, and taking care of yourself.  I am.

Goth Trannys, men in leather kilts, fishnet tights, discussion of absinthe, and genuinely artistic pinup photography involving bondage.  Corsets, tuxedos, patent leather platform boots, tattoos and piercings of every kind.  


Now picture all of this mingled with discussion of Facebook, the stock market, dogs, and food.  And the most gracious hostess and host imaginable.  


I guess it was only a matter of time.  Although it seems fair to say that most people will never attend the sort of New Year's soiree that I did last night.  


It was amazing. And a little shocking for a formerly religious mom like me who sips tea from her best china every morning and watches Pride and Prejudice every year, no matter what.  


Dear Fiance took me to his annual New Years Eve party, where Goths and people in Armani suits mingle freely.  This year, however, it was almost 100% Goth.  And I'm not. Neither is he.  But we both appreciate interesting people and so we ushered in the new year with about 75 Goths, some of whom are Trannys.  One had the most amazing cleavage, but that's probably a story for another time.  But can I just say that he must have had some serious laser?  Because he looked otherwise hairy.  Nuff said.  


We had a great time this morning filling DearEx in with the details.  He's staying with us through the holidays and graciously enabled Dear Fiance and I to attend this party by staying with the kids and dogs.  It's my first grown up New Years Eve party since before I became a mother.  And that, Gentle Reader, was quite a while ago!  And so it's a little fun to be joining millions of slightly hung over revelers on this bright New Years Day and therefore dreading fixing the meal that I must prepare.  I normally love to cook. Bletch!!


Frankly, I'd rather be sipping tea and watching a movie in my sweats today.  


But duty calls and so does the lovely pork roast that needs my attention.  But I may still brew up a pot and wear my sweats.  It's New Years Day, afterall, and I rang in the new year with Trannies and Goths.  Maybe I'll wear something black.