getting my second wind

I can’t believe that it’s been more than 2 months since I last posted.  good golly!

Let’s see what have I been doing? I’m sorry – life has just taken over here.  For nonprofits and especially for their development directors, this year is a rough one.  On the positive side, thanks to President Obama, we have some opportunities that are amazing and that we have a good chance of getting.  But my organization has typically had strong support from banks, who as everyone knows are not doing so well. And individual donors, well, my family isn’t the only one that’s hurting.  So, right now, as the development director, I don’t feel that I can let one opportunity pass us by. And that means long hours and little balance between life and work.

On Thursday, we just had our annual event and came in shy of our goal by about $3K.  So, good – really, only a 3% drop over where I thought we’d be.  But the work that it took to get to that point was incredible.  But so is the need.  Every day, I am seeing more and more people come to us for help with their rent, utilities, prescriptions, food, etc.  People who never thought that they would need to turn to a charity for help and are having to do so now.

So, we’re still out there hitting the pavement, applying for both foundation and government grants, and working to make sure we hit all angles and every possibility.  It is exhausting – to be honest.  But I can’t stop – there is such a huge need and there is nothing worse than turning someone away because we don’t have the money and know that their children are going to lose their home. So, we keep plugging… and praying that this economy turns around.

okay – so back to last Thursday’s event – I actually found time to work on a chinese coin quilt and, thanks to one of my mother’s friends (Denise – the lifesaver) actually got it quilted and finished (thanks to Mom, the binding queen) in time to turn it in.  Although, I have to admit it was a difficult decision to turn it in – I loved it.

I was a little bit worried because our auction people aren’t so into the handmade movement as I am.  But I think the fact that there was a lot of white space (7 inches around each side) helped.

And I think the funkier fabrics than what many are used to seeing (love me some Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry) and the colors worked out really well.  I will admit that it was a bear to make.  I am pretty much a mostly solid quilt sort of gal and it was difficult for me to have some many patterns – actually I started with only 7, but at about 3/4 of the way through, I decided that I really needed more patterns – which that alone is weird for me to say.  So, I”m pretty surprised by how much I loved it.

So, now I’m one down – 1 still to finish and 3 to start.

And you know what?  I can’t wait!

For those of you who took honors chemistry with me, i hope you appreciate this as much as I do.

from xkcd

Kinda funny that after <many years>, the lesson about Schrodinger’s Cat is the one that sticks with me.  Loved it then … love it now.

Love the fact that President Obama has a blog. Well, at least his administration does.  Frankly, I love the whole thing – check out the newly revamped whitehouse.gov.  It actually looks like an up-to-date website.  pretty to look at, easy to ready, and a great informal feel (love the bio about Michelle Obama).  I really like it.

I’m going on record that I truly believe that this administration can help engender real change and that the world we see today will be very different in 4 years:

Dr. King taught us that we could no longer view our own day-to-day cares and responsibilities as somehow separate from what was happening in the wider world that we read about in the newspaper and saw on TV. Because ultimately, for each of us, our own story and the American story are not separate, they are shared. And they are both strengthened and enriched each time we stand up and answer the call to help meet the challenges of our new century.

So today, I am asking you to roll up your sleeves and join in the work of remaking this nation. I pledge to you that government will do its part to open up more opportunities for citizens to participate. And in return, I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day, or even one presidency.

From President Obama’s Remarks at the Day of Service Luncheon at Coolidge High School

(And I’m going on record: Thank God for having a president who once again is an amazing orator and that the likelihood that he will ever say “misunderestimated” is nil.)

Have you ever woken up + thought that you just weren’t ready to wake up and face the day?  Well, that’s how I felt on Sunday.

For whatever reason, it’s been hard to get in the holiday spirit this year.  I didn’t do my normal Black Friday sales. And not for some (mind-blowing) reason, I just wasn’t interested in buying anything that was on sale.  As a matter of fact, S. + I have only been on one shopping excursion and my mom + I went on one other.  I can’t believe that I’ve only been on 2 shopping trips.  Goodness.  I shop more than that normally.

I think it’s the overwhelming pressure of the economy. Every time I listen to NPR or the news, it seems to center on the economy + how this is just the tip of the iceberg as to where we will be in a year or so.  I’ve felt the need – admittedly, somewhat needlessly – to batten down the hatches.  And this holiday, we’ve done that.  Both S + I have encouraged the kiddos to forgo presents + that we just want to spend some time with them. And with my family, we decided to draw names + just purchase a gift for the kids + one adult.  So, personally, we’ve battened down – but it’s been difficult.  Have you ever noticed that once you take someone off of your list, you suddenly find a ton of gifts that would be perfect for them?  Yeah, me too.

For the past two months, I have been working on getting some of the families I work with adopted for the holidays.  Last Tuesday, I found out that one group needed to back out of adopting the family. Understandable?  Absolutely.  Heartbreaking?  More than a little.

You see, this family got to me.  The family is a single father + a 10-year old son.  The mother (from what we know) either died early in the boys life or just hasn’t been in his life since then.  So the father + the son have just had the other. Recently, the father was diagnosed with lung cancer. He lost his minimum-wage paying job + now is without work, as well as without insurance. His son is just old enough to understand what this means + is having an understandably difficult time. Without going into too much detail, things aren’t looking good for the father + the person who nominated him for the holidays feels that this just may be his last Christmas with his son.  I really wanted him to be adopted. I wanted them to be able to share some really positive memories about this Christmas both for the son’s sake and for his father’s.  so, when the news came, I was hearbroken and started to work on finding a new last-minute adopter.

Things weren’t looking that great.  I called a group we were working with for 16 other families to see if I could squeeze them in.  But they just didn’t have the funds to include them in our group.

So, back to my Sunday morning blahs. When I got up I was still wrestling with how to get this family adopted and it was making getting excited about attending the Sunday service for the other 16 families a little bit difficult.  During my hour drive to the service, I kept thinking about this family rather than the 16 others who would be adopted. (It’s always about those that you can’t help.)  The Christmas service was beautiful – lots of singing and a good sermon.  BreakPointe Charities and Church – I have to say is amazing.  All in all, they provided $60,000 to the families that they had adopted – my families from Phoenix, families from 3 other large nonprofit groups + several individuals.  But even with all of that I sat there + felt sorry for myself + wished that I was still in bed.

Then the pastor told a story about another family.  The church had really hoped to be able to adopt this family. The story like so many others is incredibly sad.  The family was needing help because their three-year old daughter is on the heart transplant list and has been living at the local children’s hospital for the past several months while she waits for a transplant.  The mother quit her job to stay with her at the hospital and making ends meet with just one job plus all of the hospital bills was difficult to say in the least.  Well, the group was finally able to call the family on Thursday to let them know that they would be able to adopt them for the holidays only to learn that the little girl had passed away the previous Thursday.

As I dug in to my purse to donate to a new collection to help pay for the little girl’s funeral services, I thought a lot about this family, “my” family, my real family + Christmas. And, yes, my blessings.  And came home + put up my first holiday decorations of the year.

As for “my” family – well, I’m ecstatic to say that I think I have a new adopter. And that my friends is a very good thing.