{Tiny Wings}

I’m honored to have my dear friend Tracie as a guest blogger today, and I’m grateful that I can assist her on getting the word out on this tragic event.  Please consider helping out — what is seemingly a little by our standards can mean the entire world to the people in Haiti right now.

–Leslie

Thank you Leslie for letting me guest post here today!  My blog is currently under construction and it’s killing me to stay silent on this issue.  So I thank you Leslie for letting me get my thoughts out and spread the word on some ways we can help.

My family and I are currently visiting the island of Exuma, in the Bahamas … located approximately 100 miles north of Haiti.  When we were alerted Tuesday night that the Bahamas were on a tsunami watch, I have to admit … we freaked a bit.

Sadly … truth be told … I didn’t really give much thought to the devastation that might have occurred in Haiti.

But when I started seeing all the tweets yesterday on Twitter … we started realizing the depths of this tragedy.

I did as much retweeting as I could yesterday and today … but it just wasn’t the same.  I felt that I needed to get my own thoughts out and share what I could with links, etc.

When Leslie saw my desperation and suggested I guest post here, I went to the internet to gather some photos.

My heart is heavy and my stomach … literally sick.  Here are just a few photos that I felt were tame enough to share.  If you want to see extreme devastation and have it really hit home, I suggest you do a search for “images of haiti.”

So sad.  So many deaths.  So much pain.  Affecting families, children, mothers, fathers.  People just like you and I.

It’s reported that three million people may have been affected, but the human toll is still unknown.

We have to do what we can to help this already very impoverished country.  I urge you … any amount will help!  Here are some sites and organizations to consider:

Prayer
First and foremost, we need to pray.  The power of prayer is bigger and more powerful that we can imagine.  The girls & I have been praying for Haiti, the people and the relief they need since yesterday.  Please join us.

American Red Cross
There has been an outpouring of support from the public. To help, people can make an unrestricted donation to the International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767). The public can also help by texting “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.  100 percent of all money donated will be passed on to the Red Cross.

Not an AT&T customer? Donate through Wyclef Jean’s foundation, Yele Haiti. Text “Yele” to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization.

Compassion International
Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.

All funds raised in response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to provide for Compassion-assisted children and families affected by this crisis. Any funds raised in excess will be stewarded by Compassion for additional and future disaster relief efforts.

Oxfam
Oxfam has long experience in Haiti, and we’re rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation where our assistance is most needed. Our response will include providing clean water, shelter, sanitation and helping people recover – your donation will go immediately to the most critical needs in Haiti, and we will ensure that every penny is used wisely.

Design for Mankind
Erin has put together a great list of organizations you can donate through.

Lastly …

Hope for Haiti
Jenny went to bed Tuesday night with a heavy heart.  God spoke to her … she obeyed and started a website to raise money, through the blogging community, for Haiti.  Amazing.  I’m in awe.  She’s already got some great items up for bid.  I urge you to take a look.

People … we are blessed.  We can. not. possibly. begin to imagine the depths of devastation this country is facing.  If you can’t help financially … pray … spread the word … raise awareness … it’s the least you can do.

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”  I Peter 3:8

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For the past few years, Ali Edwards and several other people have chosen a word to act as a goal or reminder for their entire entire year.  In Ali’s words:  “I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January – a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. . . something I wanted to bring into my life in a more tangible way.”

I’ve always loved this concept . . . and yet every year I had too much difficulty picking just one word to act as my guide for the whole year.  So I never participated.  As 2009 came to a close and people began picking their new words for 2010, once again I could not just settle on one.  And then this morning, as I was reading my friend Tracie’s blog, MY word suddenly popped into my head from nowhere. And it is perfect.

My word for 2010 is LISTEN.

(image by NumericDesign on Etsy)

Why listen?  And to whom?

I need to truly listen to my loved ones, giving them my undivided attention.  So often, I’m multitasking and not giving my children or my husband 100% of my attention when they’re looking for it, I’m ashamed to say.  I really want to be mindful to pause what I’m doing, and be completely in the moment with them.

I need to listen to the words coming out of my own mouth.  Sometimes I think I talk too much — out of nervousness, or when seeking  acceptance — and later regret it.  I would rather “be quick to listen and slow to speak”  for more meaningful interactions.

I need to listen to my body.  I’m tired of feeling less-than stellar for most of the time.  I need to slow down, eat better, exercise more, and stop pushing myself to impossible perfection.  Living in constant exhaustion is taking a toll, and I need to turn that around for my own sake and for my family’s.

I need to listen to God.  I need to spend more time in prayer and reflection.  This year has taught me that God has been working behind the scenes on my behalf, and that perhaps I should be paying more attention to the gifts He has given me.  I’ve been told that the more you talk to Him, the more He’ll talk back to you.  I’d love to be able to stop my own internal chatter (that never-ending To Do list, for instance) to listen to the quiet voice guiding me to my true purpose on this earth.

I’m so pleased with the word I’ve chosen . . . because I think if I remember to listen, the effect it will have on my life will be cascading.  Taking better care of myself and my family can only make 2010 a wonderful year!

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The family has voted, and it’s unanimous . . . Life would be boring without Meghan.

Santa brought her a lovely TV for Christmas.  It matches her bedroom.  It is a beautiful upgrade from her circa 1994 , only gets 10 channels, colors- everything -red TV.  Except for the fact that one station  — Cartoon Network — mysteriously had no sound.  We could manually change the audio settings . . . but as soon as you’d change the channel, poor channel 57 would go silent once again.  Baffling.  But just as Mommy was going to contact Santa and arrange for an exchange . . . Meghan fixed it.

Mind you . . . Daddy tried and failed.  Reilly tried and failed.  Mommy tried and failed.   So when Meg announced that she fixed it, I was incredulous.  So I asked for a demonstration.

Gleefully, she showed me how she went into the settings and changed it from SAP (the station’s mysterious default on that TV) not to STEREO, like Mom & Dad & Ry had tried, but to MONO.  For whatever reason, that setting stuck.  Well, huh.

The kicker, however, was her explanation: “When I changed it to Mow-No it worked!!”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter!  (And,of course,tell her dad and brother about the cute Meg-Pronunciation.)

Reilly, of course couldn’t let that pass, so said to her, “So, it works if you set it to Mow-No??????”

She screamed and said, “MOM!!!  Why did you hafta tell my Stupid, Ugly, Idiot Pants Brother??”

Love you Meg!  You’re a keeper!!

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I know that this blog has been sadly neglected for the last two months, and I do apologize for that. The 4th Quarter of the year gets me every time! Thankfully, many blessings have come my way recently and I am working up a good Year in Review post to make up for everything that I’ve glossed over lately!

In the meantime, I wanted to wish all of my friends, readers and lurkers a very blessed Christmas and a bountiful 2010!

Leslie, circa 1973

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When an Ugly Doll shows up on your doorstep, crying, filthy, hungry and thousands of miles from home, what do you do?? Well, you take him in, calm him down, clean him up, and send him homeward. But before you do, you throw him a party.

When little Deer Ugly arrived on our doorstep a few weeks ago, we didn’t see him at first. We heard the loud wailing of someone lost and far, far away from his favorite person. So we brought him inside, calmed him down and waited for him to tell us where he lived and who he belonged to. Between hiccups and sniffles, he told us that he belongs to a girl named Greta who lives in Portland, Oregon. When we asked how in the world he ended up in Wisconsin, the wailing started all over again, so we gently dropped the subject and got down to the business of getting this poor chap reunited with his best friend.

First of all, he needed a bath. Maybe it was ten baths. We lost count, actually. And a flea dip. I think there may have been a pedicure, too. Ugly was in sad shape, but with a little elbow grease, we got him looking as good as new. (And smelling better than when he arrived!! Peeeeee-yeww!) We even got him dressed in some new special duds, so he’d look his best when he got home.

Next, Ugly helped himself to the refrigerator. All of it, including the butter, a few bottles of salad dressing, and that rogue jar of olives hidden waaaaay in the back. I appreciated him getting rid of all of those leftovers, really. One less job for me.   (Uh, I mean Mike.  That’s his domain.)

When he was clean and full, then we had a little send-off party. All of the Uglies at our house (and the Domo brothers, too) gathered. They were loud. There was karaoke. And knock-knock jokes.  But most of all, there were cupcakes. The guest of honor was very careful not to get frosting on his new necktie.

And then it was time to send Mr. Ugly back to Ms. Greta, who was surely beside herself with worry for her little lost friend. So we packaged him up with a note (telling Greta this little tale) and some photographs of the party and sent him Priority to Portland.  Home, sweet home.

After a whirlwind day, we felt good knowing that friends would be reunited, and that we could help make it happen.

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Well, huh.  I just realized that I am almost 7 months into my 40th year, which means I should probably see how I’m doing on my 40 @ 40 list that I posted on my birthday in March.  (Click on the link if you want to see my progress!)

I’m kind of wishing I had made some of my goals a bit more measurable . . . a few of them are work-in-progress type goals, and I can’t exactly check them off as “complete”.  Regardless, I think I’ve made some decent headway.  It’s also interesting that a few of my goals seem not as important to me now.  And that I could easily add some new ones to replace them.  I guess that confirms my hunch that I’m always on a quest to learn more things . . . and that I get bored easily.  LOL.

I’m excited to have a few more things ready to be checked off . . . October and November are fun, busy months, and I’m excited that a few more wishes are turning into realities!

Keeping this list has been really motivating to me, and I’m almost 100% sure I’ll continue to set yearly goals for myself in the same manner.  Not only does it provide a little incentive, but it’s also a fun snapshot of who I am and what I’m interested in at a given point in my life!

Tune back in in March to see how I did! (But I promise to blog again before then.  I think. Hee.)

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Meghan has decided to join the Battle of the Books team at her school this year.  Between her normal classroom reading obligation plus the B.O.B. team, this translates into a whole lotta reading going on!  I realized that we’re going to need some way to keep it all straight!  Originally, I thought I’d make a wall chart for her to record the books she’s read . . . but then I thought that a cute little Book Journal might be more fun and easier to use.  After perusing the internet for book log ideas, I went to work creating my own.

For the inside pages of the journal, I used Microsoft Publisher to create a two-sided log sheet for Meg to enter the important information about the book, including the title, author, number of pages, summary, difficulty, rating, and even some new vocabulary words learned.  I formatted it to fit two pages per 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and then cut them apart with my large paper trimmer.

Next, I designed the cover in Photoshop.  I used some digital scrapbook paper  and ribbon from Ronna Penner for the background, a digital element from Rhonna Farrer for the title frame and some clip art I found in Microsoft Publisher to make a cute, custom  book cover.  I printed it out, and adhered it to chipboard with gel medium to create the front and back covers of my notebook, which I eventually spiral bound with my Bind-It-All. I think it turned out so cute!

Meg squealed with delight when I gave it to her, so I think I can call this quick and easy project a success!  Hopefully she will use it to stay organized, and will be proud of herself when she fills every page with the wonderful books she’ll be reading this year!

Take a peek . . .

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I have so many things to say about my trip to Trees for Tomorrow with Reilly and his classmates . . . and I want to do it justice.  The trip was amazing, and I’m still churning the whole experience around in my head.  A real post will come very soon, but when I saw this quote today, I knew I had to jot it down before I forgot, because it beautifully sums up the experience.

Peace,
Leslie

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