MLK Day - Hosea Feed The Hungry

The Coca-Cola Company has a Reaching Out program where they encourage employees to be an integral part of their communities and volunteer doing various hands-on projects with charities where they live.

We also have Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday.

On Sunday, January 17th from 9 PM - Midnight, I will be helping to prepare food for Monday's main event to help feed the hungry and homeless at Turner Field in Atlanta through Hosea Feed The Hungry program. I'm really excited about this opportunity. I'm volunteering as an Employee of TCCC but I also love to cook. I've never cooked for hundreds of people so that will be a learning experience.

I will update after my experience.

Haiti

The Earthquake in Haiti has been nothing short of tragic and heartwrenching. Talk about when things go from bad to worse. It was tragic enough for a country in 2010 to be so poor and unprepared for such a disaster. As of today, they're estimating between 50 - 100K people who have perished.

I am often at a loss when things like this happen. I felt very much the same way when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf. I wanted to do something right then and there for people. I do not have the luxury to pick up and go help, nor would I have any skills needed in such emergency situations, but I still want to be a part of the efforts. I am so thankful that the wonderful company that I work for donated $1 Million for relief and they're coordinating with bottlers to supply water to Haiti.

I did participate in the texting donations to the Red Cross. Ten dollars will be added to my phone bill. While that is hardly a dent, I was part of over 6 Million dollars donated by Americans via texts.

I plan to give blood to the Red Cross also. I am O+ so I am a universal donor.

If anyone else has any good ideas for fundraisers and/or relief efforts (sending supplies) I'd love to hear them.

Please keep the Haitians in your prayers.
And, please do what you can.

Day 15 - I never said I was good at this!

Ok, so it's been a while since I posted. Slow start, I guess. However, I've been pretty busy. Work is keeping me busy and some projects I'm working on (Social Media) is growing rapidly, day by day. It's very exciting.

Let's see if I can catch up with what I've been up to.

Sometime between last post and this one, I've continued to Live Positively!

• Landscape Consultation - This is ironic since I used to be in relationship with someone who was (is) a Landscape Architect. You'd think I would have learned something. Alas, I did not. So, my husband and I gave each other a consultation for our landscaping as a Christmas present to each other. We found a woman who is an LA and was offering to consult for those who are "do it yourself-ers" (HAHAHAHAHA!) I laugh because I'm sooo NOT the DIY'er. I pay people to do stuff I don't do. Anyway, she came over and we discussed our drainage issues (we live on a hill and the water drains all of our mulch and dirt down the side of the house and into the grass) and our dreams for plants and trees to ultimately add color, interest and overall value to our home. We think it was a great present to each other and as time and money allow, we'll add to our landscape plan. Part of that plan is to add at least two rain barrels. This is a great LPA because it helps to conserve water and we can water our plants with them and possibly our grass during the spring and summer. We can save money and help the environment by water conservation.


• Farmers Market Baskets - I picked up my "bounty" from my trial order from http://www.farmersmarketbaskets.com/ . It was their "small" basket. In it were: 3 red skinned potatoes, a head of broccoli, 5 small apples, a whole pineapple, cilantro, 1 avocado, bananas, 1 lime and a head of romaine. All for $12.00. And it was farmers market produce (local, where possible).


• Toy Donation - I dropped off the toy donations to the Foster Care Support Foundation in Roswell, GA. They were pleased, of course, and happy to have had all the toys sorted and all the pieces bundled in plastic storage bags. I asked the gentleman what they needed the most. He said the website has a page that lists the items most wanted. When I asked him for his opinion he said they are always in need of cribs and bassinets and young boys clothes because boys wear through them so fast (I can vouch for that!)


• A friend in need - a co-worker friend of mine has been in some money troubles. He trusted me enough to ask me if he could borrow money until payday. I told him, "you're asking this of the one person who works part time and whose husband has been unemployed since April '09? HA HA!" Well, that took him by surprise which took me by surprise because I thought he already knew that. However, I had some cash that I told him he was welcome to have. He declined but I asked him to keep it. He was grateful.


• Random Acts of Kindness - While the Living Positively program was not my idea, it is something I'm passionate about and continue to do little things everyday to have some impact on the lives of others. Here is a list of some great ideas we all can do every day. (The list was provided by a team of co-workers)
  

Keep an extra umbrella in your car and give it to the next person you see stuck in a downpour.

Leave a big tip for your server. Write a note on the back of the bill thanking them for his/her service.

Leave a bouquet of flowers on your neighbor's front steps anonymously.

Hold the door open for someone carrying packages.

Write a thank you note to a mentor or someone who has influenced your life in a positive way.

Leave a dollar bill on the ground for someone else to find.

Give up your seat on the subway or train to someone who looks tired.

Buy a homeless person lunch.

Get all of Dr. Seuss's books and leave them in the children's section at the hospital.

Write, draw, make or buy something encouraging for a colleague who is experiencing difficulties.

When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.

Pay the toll for the person behind you.

Invite someone new for dinner.

Donate blood.

Help someone struggling with heavy bags.

Give a compliment about your waiter/waitress to his/her manager.

Smile and say "hello" to someone you don't know.

Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.

Pay a compliment at least once a day.

Slip a $20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.

Give another driver your parking spot.

Put some coins in someone else's parking meter.

Day 5: Farmers Market Baskets

Day 5: This is pretty cool. I received an email yesterday in which was mentioned Farmers Market Baskets - a way to order fresh fruits and vegetables by the basket weekly from the farmers market but without having to trek to it! They will come to you! This is obviously local near to where I live and I have to go pick it up but the nearest farmers market is not close by. (Chris, I still want to go to the Dekalb Farmers Market with you sometime soon!)

So, I ordered one on a trial basis. I thought this was a great way to Live Positively for my family! A great way to get seasonal fruits and veggies at good prices and I will have a chance to have some new cooking discoveries! I wonder what I will get in my basket? I pick my first one up next Tuesday.

Toys get dropped off tomorrow!

Day 4 - Back to Work

Day 4: A full day at the office with both boys in Preschool and Daycare (yay!) The little one did good for his first day but cried a lot. Harder on me, I suppose.

I found out that the Foster Care place would LOVE to have donated toys so I will be dropping those off tomorrow (possibly Wednesday since they have a small window for drop-offs and it would need to be at my lunch break).

The coats were taken to the donation boxes at the boys' school this morning (I was the first to donate!) I will look for more, actually, because they're also accepting hats, gloves and scarves. I might be able to find more.

Today, my LPA was, even after a full day for all, getting dinner on the table to have all 4 of us enjoy a meal together. That was a challenge I worked hard at last year and seemed to have maintained the momentum. I was exhausted after working all day, then coming home (pregnant, at the time) to make dinner for my oldest son who refused to eat the same dinners as we did and then after the bedtime routine, I would go back into the kitchen to make our dinner and it would be 8 or 9 o'clock at night before we ate! THAT had to stop! I worked pretty hard at changing everyone's patterns and learned to make easier meals that I could get on the table by 6:30 at the latest so that we could ALL eat together....as a family! What a novel idea?!?! Go fig....

So, yeah, proud of that one.

Working 1/2 day tomorrow. Room for more ideas in there!

Day 3

Day 3: Last day of vacation so it's back to work tomorrow. Granted, I jobshare right now so I'm only working 20 hours right now....but after vacation I always have a TON of emails to go through. Back to the grind, right?

My Living Positively Action (LPA) today was Operation Toy Binging and Purging! A.K.A. going through my oldest son's toys and determining which ones he no longer plays with that would still be good, and safe, for my youngest son and anything unwanted and in good condition (some brand new and never opened) wound up in a laundry hamper to be donated.

I found http://www.fostercares.org that take in toy donations. I still need to call them to make an appointment to drop off the goodies. That's a call I will make tomorrow. I think they only take them Tues - Saturday anyway. I was a foster baby once. I was adopted at 3 months so this is a good choice for me.

My Winter Outerwear is ready to go from Day 1. I will drop that off at the Preschool tomorrow.
Both boys are enrolled there now. Daddy Daycare is officially closed so my husband gets to buckle down and find a job with a paycheck!! I'm so excited for my 11 month old. He is going to love it there! (I'm not going to like going through the illnesses every other week again, though...ugh).

Wonder what Day 4 will bring....hmmmm...

Day 2

Day 2: Ok....so already stumbling. That's okay, right? Today I spent all day trying to keep my patience in check. I have a screaming 1 year old (11 month old, really), a very strong-willed and independent 4 year old, and a husband with a short temper....so I get the lucky short stick and get to manage it all to keep everyone sane, happy, entertained, fed, changed, all the while trying to figure out which stupid box the snow globe goes back into....yes, we put away Christmas decorations today.

Was that Living Positively? Maybe not in the sense I want it to be...but I did the best I could. Oh! I never got out of my jammies today....THAT was cool! I also informed my husband about my goals for this blog. He seemed impressed. (He's a man of little words).

Tomorrow is another day. I'm thinking toy organization and preparation for donation would be a good project.