Drops of Kindness

I haven't seen anyone else blog about this, so I'm taking it on.

In celebration/commemoration of the organization of the Relief Society, the Brighton Ward had a family day where we ran around the community sharing

"Drops of Kindness".

I believe it was the Brainchild of The ever-so-fabulous (and often-so-humble) Wesley Casper and Polly Mallory. Here's how it went:

Calling all families: Meet at the church at 9:00.

(Be sure to bring your rakes, shovels, gloves and smiles.) Get fueled-up with a yummy pancake breakfast.

Get your assignment. (Calls were made earlier to find out where help was needed.) Assignments were based on the need of the "dropee" and the ages and number of people in the family.
Go-Go-Go. Be kind!!!

J-man and I were asked in advance to be the photographers, to follow everybody around and photograph what was going on. I got to use Wesley's really fancy camera. (The pix posted are from my not-so-fancy one tho.)

Care kits were assembled for the children at the shelter. There was some sort of project for everyone to work on, outside, inside, with other people, solo. Just to show that anyone, everyone can drop kindness around them. I think of the Primary song: I want to be kind to everyone, for that is right, you see. So I say to myself, remember this, "kindness begins with me."

Pam and Kent Aeschliman are heading down to Pinckney to spread their kindness.

Potted flowers were dropped off at random locations.

Wes also gave us a boat-load of change to spend. Woo-Hoo!!! Taco Bell here we come!!! Oops, not a good idea.

BUT:
Pre-paying in the vending machines in the hospital waiting room, coins in the laundramat, pre-pay the car wash. (Ya know, the quarter car washes require 7 quarters now!!!) I wanted to buy some instant winner lotto tickets, but J-man shot that idea down.

Challenger Elementary:
There were families with kids. Parents worked, kids worked. This job was to shovel pea gravel onto the playground. Much had spilled off into the parking lot. Good thing there were lots of folks, 'cause that's a lots-a pea gravel.

Opera House: They got a scrubbing, sweeping, spit shine thru and thru. I think they must have been singing as they worked, 'cause they sure did look happy.

Gleaner's Food Bank:

Sorting bags, packing eggs. They were very thankful for the help. Another group from a local church were there also. Nice to have brotherhood in "kindness".

A house on the lake: The homeowner wasn't there, so work got started and carried on. The neighbors came out to see what was going on and expressed their delight.

A house on Spencer Road:

This homeowner was out with her gloves on. She was thrilled to have help. She wasn't looking for a free ride, just a bunch of happy families to help get the job done. There was a lot of work to do, and do, they did. They took a moment to do a little rockin' after their rakin' O-style. Bags were donated by the City of Brighton. It was made known in the community that kindness was being dropped on Livingston County.

A new friend found: This sweet lady is a 2 time cancer survivor. Hmmmm, how did Wesley know to have Theresa Rowe go to her house to help? (Theresa is a 2 time survivor too.)

By noon we stopped for lunch, and hoped everyone else had a great time too.

Now, go be kind today.

The Last of the 25

23: I'm "Urgency Addicted" That means I work best under a deadline. For example: no force, seen or unseen "makes" me update my blog. In running my business, my clients are my force.

24: I like white. Underwear, kitchen, dining and bathroom linens and toilet paper must be WHITE.

25: hmmm... shux I thought I had this one figgered out. Gimme another 2 days. Oh, yes, I remember!!! Mabeline is my mascara, always, for years. I've tried others, Revlon, Mary Kay (every time they have a "new" formula), Estee Lauder. No thanks: Mabeline is the one for me!!

Endurence

Ok, maybe I'm a tuff old broad, well, ok, I AM, but actually, I don't think I've changed so much in the past 30 years.

Are you above grief? Do you feel like you don't "deserve" trials? Do you get "mad at God" when crap happens in your life? Mad at GOD? What the heck is that all about?????

OK, a discussion at church today was about enduring. We all need to endure. What we endure depends on what we're given. When crap happens, do you say "Why me?" Buck-up girls. Why NOT you? Why not Me? Because we pray daily for strength, peace and happy children? Because we welcome new neighbors with fresh-baked cookies? Because we have killer hand-outs for a Sunday school lesson?

I came to know in my late teens that I was given trials to prepare me for more to come. In my 20's I figured "this is the tragedy I've been groomed for." and I pulled myself up and sparkled-up the life I was in. In my 30's it was "oh, I guess that last trial helped prepare me for this one. Did I really agree to this?" Go figure. Then another tragedy. I remember J-man and I walking the halls of a hospital KNOWING that something good would come from this, that there was something to learn. DONE. Heckey-naw!! Ok, would you rather have a brick house fall on you? You never see it coming, BAM! OR, would you want see the mountain crack and the avalanche start rolling your way? We can't even chose that. What we can chose is, when crap happens, do we kneel to plead for help, comfort and understanding? OR do we get mad at God? I want to be on HIS side!!

I'll just say "thanks for knowing me, loving me, sending your Son to bear the burden; thanks for comforting me when I am able to be still enough to feel it, thanks for strong lungs that can breath in and out when day to day seems too far away; thanks for gently guiding me when I cannot know which way to go. Thanks for the trials? Hmmm, not really, but "thanks" for the ability to grow closer through the trials, and for having confidence in me, after all, I AM one of the ninety and nine.

Easter.

Is it different from other Sundays? Is the Lord present in my life every day? Do I daily have an awareness of His atonement and resurrection? Is Good Friday more sacred? Is Easter Sunday more reverenced than any other of the 51 Sabbath days in the year? I guess that is a personal decision. Maybe it is sometimes a new beginning for people who would not usually attend services for any reason, and whatever it takes to bring someone to Christ for regular gospel living? That's a good thing. There was some fuss about the Tiger's home opening game being on Good Friday? Hey, wait, don't they play ball on Sundays? Hmmm.

Each Sunday during our Sacrament, I read and re-read the words to the hymns; hymns of atonement, resurrection, forgiveness, redemption, and resurrection. "I Stand All Amazed" is my all-time favorite. I can still hear my grandma Matt singing it, and it tickles my heart. For that reason, I have read those words probably more than any other sacrament hymn. "...That He should extent His great love unto such as I, sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify" those are the words I have had ringing in my brain today. He love me. How much? "sufficiently". That's a lotta love; enough to redeem ME, enough to own ME, enough to justify ME. am more than just one of the sands of the sea, I am one of the ninety and nine.

Cinnamon Anyone?

I'm always working on my home storage. Ya know, with all that wheat and honey, we're gonna need some flavoring. Recently I was in the Mexican area of Detroit. There are some great eateries there and little markets. I always like going to little markets in out of the way places. Recently when Jerome and I were in Chicago we went to Devon street. Any Indian who has ever lived in or visited the US knows about Devon Street. We did some fun shopping while there, but this isn't about Devon Street. It's about cinnamon. Well, while in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge, I bought 5 pounds of cinnamon. That's a LOT of cinnamon. I think I have enough for the entire community for a very long time. I like the sticks. Not the tough little ones that Durkee put in a little bottle and sell for $4.oo. The long thin, multi layered ones that usually are cut down into 4-6 inch sticks and sold in 4 oz packages. But I wanted them uncut. That's about 25 inches long. How do you say "I want the cinnamon, uncut.... about 5 lbs" in Spanish? Well, we got it figured out. I got a bundle and spent about $30.00 for a lifetime supply of cinnamon for ..... like I said, a LOT of people.

Then to process it. Not all of it, just some, but then to store the rest of it. Can't get wet or dusty. Vacuum sealed. Some ground.. by hand, (can you say Micro plane? A MUST HAVE. Robbi Schneider told me to get one, and I think of her every time I use mine.) and some by electric coffee grinder. Yes, this non-coffee drinker has a coffee grinder for.. grinding cinnamon!!!

It is nice, also to take a piece and just suck or chew on it. I'm not sure where this stuff was grown, but I love it. I'll make an attempt to post picture of it. If it doesn't work now, I'll have my "blogsupport staff" help out in the next day or two."

Cinnamon anyone?

Now I only need 3 more Random Things

This is not as easy as I thought it would be:

10) Jerome is not my first husband. He's the longest, so I guess It's easy to forget the first.



11) I eat plain low-fat yogurt every morning for breakfast.



12) I'm not going to eat a single puncze today.



13) I danced Bollywood style in my hotel room alone in India. They had 2 American TV show stations and a g'zillion MTV type stations.



14) Last time I wore my saree I put it on backwards, and didn't know it. A darling teenaged hostess at the restaurant told me as i was leaving the restaurant. She asked who put on my "drapes". I was so proud to day I did it myself. She smiled and said "next time, put it on this shoulder".



15) I don't watch R rated movies. It makes rentals and theater much easier to decide, and not seeing several award-winning movies is... ok with me.



16) I didn't cry when my dad died. (I'll post more on that later, in March)



17) I lived with my oldest brother and his family for 7 months in Germany when I was a teenager. I met some great people, some I still am in contact with, many others I think of and wonder about often.



18) I spent a weekend in Paris alone when I was 14. (I was with a tour group, but once I got there I was on my own til we got on the bus to go back to Ludwigsburg.)



19) My mother gave me my middle name from Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian LEIGH).



20) The first name came from some sickeningly Sweet cologne mom wore for several years. Tabu by DANA.



21) I used to think I would be just like Dawn (my favorite sister) and said I was 5'3" and even bought size 7 shoes. I figured I would be just like her. I was nearly 20 before I admitted I'm NOT Dawn, I'm DANA.



22) My favorite birthday party was when I turned 17. It was the night of the Bloomfield Hills Stake Valentine Ball. Mom planned a Pre-Ball Ball, invited all my friends from around the stake, didn't mention it was my birthday. She copied a beautiful dress for me that Marie Osmond wore on her TV show and had butlered dors devours. The cake was a huge heart. It was a fabulous way to start off a great dance. It was a real grown up party and I LOVED IT.

Picture-Picture

Ok, so I'm not so fond of any pictures of myself. Goofy expression, frizzy hair, freckles, wrong view, nose looks too sharp, cheecks look too full, you get the idea. Ya know, when we look at the babes in advertisements, the one picture we see is probably one of a g'zillion taken of them that day. I hesitate to put pictures of myself on the blog. I know, I know. It is what it is. But let me tell you about how I got the one that is there. We were having a Womens' retreat and the ever- so-fab photographer Laurel Hogge was in charge of getting pictures of each sister. So for a few weeks she was showing up at church with one of her cameras. I'm sure she has a truck load of equipment, but this was just a point and shoot camera. We were in the hallway, yukkin' it up and giggling, she knew I was uncomfortable with a lense pointed at me, but she made it fun and I was flipping my hair around and just being goofey. By golly, it's pretty dang good!!! Oh, I see my face is a little shiny, but.. it is what it is. Laurel did a great job.

I hesitate to give too much info online, ya know anybody can read it, but Laurel has a website, I did say she's a professional, didn't I? Enjoy her website. She has a great shoot from a Ford Mansion. She's not from around here, she's from Alaska, so I had to call and tell her what a big deal it is that she got that Ford job.

She's a doll and I wouldn't have been this happy in front of a lense with anybody else behind it.

22 Randoms

4). I love Cop shows, Dragnet, Streets of SanFrancisco, Law and Order, Cops, The First 48... But I believe everybody's alibi. "I wouldn't lie to you!" I'd say "ok, go home, sorry to bother you."
5). I jumped out of a plane in Lehi, Utah when I was 17. John Holiday was impressed, I was ok with that.
6). I pulled out my first gray hairs when I was also... 17. Then my first dye job; "washed away only the gray". Now I use the real stuff. I always figured I'd get sick and have a bald head and let it all grow back gray. So far that hasn't happened. I may be one of those 80 year old ladies that you look at and say "Who does she think she's fooling?"
7). I love baking and cooking, always have and always will. I often eat something and try to figure the recipe in my mind. I don't follow recipes too often, but things usually turn out ok.
8). I never knew my grandfathers. One died when my mom was a child and the other left the family when my dad was a pre-schooler. My dad was a fabulous grandfather. Darned good dad too.
9). I went to a fortune teller once. She wanted $100. I wasn't THAT interested. We agreed on $35. It was interestin. Not too spooky. She knew some stuff that was not too generic.
...Stay tuned... Is this ego, or what? Like anybody really cares? I guess it's more for me than anything.

25 Random things about me

It may take me 25 days:
1.) I'm the only redhead in my family. My sister always had soft beautiful blond hair.
2). I had the same kindergarten teacher as my mom and dad. (Miss Eisenberg, also a redhead)
3). My Gramma Mattson made me feel like life was magic.
... more to come...

The New Year celebration

The last Sunday of the year Jerome was at his parents' house caring for his dying father. I was having a light lunch and the power went out. It happens in the countryside and in bad weather. Ya never know for how long. Soooo, I got out the old phone (the one that you plug in to the wall for phone line, not electricity. Everybody should keep one on hand) and called the electric compay. I know the number by heart: 800-477-4747. The recorded message said that yes, there is a power outage. The recording couldn't even tell us what to expect in terms of how long. Hmm, 2 hrs? 2 weeks? No clue. So, into emergency mode: candels and matches, flashlights, wood for the stove, Pot of water to keep heated on the stove, battery operated alarm clock and radio. All that great stuff that I buy from Emergency Essentials really comes in handy. And that beautiful wood buring stove Jerome hooked us up with last year? Yep, lovin' it now. (I'll learn to post pictures and have them on hand so that you can see not only the beautiful stove, but the fabulouse marble and slate tile work the the men in my life did.)I am thankful for it. Monday: Glad to go to work. Kirstynn, being my neighbor, was out of power too, so she felt my pain. Actually, I wasn't having much pain. We take benefit of the day-light hours and set things of for easy function in the dark. It's dark at 5:30, so we went to the pool. Entertainment, exercise AND a hot shower. Jerome stayed in Dearborn to care for his dad. Kirstynn went to her Monday Girls' Night and Nora slept in my bed with me and we watched a movie until the battery died. I think the power came on the evening of the 31st. Again, I refer you to Kirstynn's blog, December 31st. .

On the afternoon of New Years' Eve, Jerome and I went for a Couples Massage. It was a well-deserved treat. The Om Spa in Dearborn that really does it up nice. OM Spa... Ahhh, another shower!!! New Year's eve was once again Jerome's turn to spend the night with his father. I decided to spend the night too, Pauline was there of course and Aunt Theresa was there too. It was not the average New Year's Eve celebration we would normally enjoy, but it was necessary.

New Year's Day was quite fun, though. Their little house flooded with family, neighbors and well-wishers. It was really nice to see so many people that we love. We went to celebrate MARLEY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY. It's always a party withthose kids, but when BIRTHDAY is involved it means CAKE too, and Alison did a killer job on some ooohhh so yummy foods. See Alie's blog dated Jan 12.

On January 2nd Jerry took his final breath. Kirstynn posted on that event from her perspective. Jerome and I left for a couple of hours to have a long-planned dinner date with a co-worker. We made it a short evening and returned to find the house again, still filled with family. Matt and Alie spent their "date night" there and more family was there as well. The following few days were of course the viewing and the funeral. (I know it isn't right to compare for better or best, but I must say, Chuck Staub spoiled it for everybody who I know who will ever die from his death onward. I'll post more about that later too, so you're gonna get 2 years worth of stuff from me this year.) Once the funeral events were over, we were able to take our winter get-away to Florida. That's the week it was in the 50s in the Sunshine state. So, you see, this is a glimpse of the chaos that I am growing from by February 14th. That's my target date for being "on track". You'll see how that works out for me.

2009

Ahhhh, January.. Out with the old, in with the new. I hesitate to make New Year's resolutions. I prefer to reflect and visualize what I want to be and make the changes in the coming year. I have had the thought in July... "I think I'll do that next year." It's "next year". So my visual includes BLOGGING. Posting and encouraging. I also see orderly closets in my home and fun, filled scrapbooks to look at on Sunday afternoons with my grandchildren.

I'm quite thankful that 2008 is over. I pretty much missed the last few months of it and the first few weeks of this year, so my goal is that by Feburary 14th I'll be all up to date with life.

I'll take time in future posts to share some of the blessings, tragedies, inconveniences, and detours that I experienced in 2008.

What remains steady, I am so thankful for:
Peace in my home.
The endless game of catch-up I am in with my Father in Heaven. (I am blessed. I strive to be worthy. He blesses me more. I strive to be worthy ... you get the idea.)
A mother who loves me and thinks I'm fabulous. (If she tells me I am, I will strive to live up to that. It works: I keep striving.)
Children that really know me and love me still.
Grandchildren that turn the house to magic when they come. Jump on Lulu's bed? Sure!!
Knowlege that this is but a portion of our existence.

What you'll see from me this year:
Clean orderly closets.
Beautiful scrapbooks.
Healthy, properly proportioned physical self.