Days 15-17

I didn't expect to have much time to post anything or any site this week.... it's back to school week for us, so things have been beyond busy at our house. ( I'd be gone right now, except we're experiencing a much needed rain... gives me an excuse to stay home, do laundry and get other things caught up! )
Anyways, here's the three day run, in summarized form.

Tuesday ( Day 15 ):
Jennah's first day of school. I came home and packed up some things for donation, worked on the baby shower centerpieces and my friend Marie came over, seeking help with a crafting project.

The give for the day was in the form of time, tutelage and supplies.

I showed Marie how to heat seal her chipboard coasters, and walked her through some creative pointers for the process along the way. The end result came out very well. I think that the SCS hostess ( and the five other recipients ) will be pleased with her work.
In addition, I worked on a project that Chris has sweet talked me into. It could be lucrative, IF I can pull it off, but at this point, it's still a taxing pain in the rear.But it'll hopefully be cost effective for us... paying for his welding caps adds up fast!

Martha Stewart, eat your heart out. ;-)

Wednsday ( Day 16 ):
Iain and Braeden's first day of Kindergarten!
I followed the bus to school, dropped off the rest of Jennah's monster supply list, and all of the paperwork for all three kiddos ( everything goes home with / returns to school with the youngest child in the building to save on shuffling ).From there, it was off to the police department and then the office, to spend the day at work.

Yesterday's gives were patience, knowledge and 'extras'.

I dealt with calls who were not residents, but had valid issues.
Legally, I can - and am supposed to - simply refer them to the resource who can give the needed information, and send them on their way, instead of helping them obtain the real answers. If the person I am dealing with doesn't live within our neighborhood boundaries, then I can't count it in my performance report, and our board can get uppity and refuse to pay me for any time that I spent on the project.

But they were just phone calls, and none of them required a great deal of extra time... just a couple of websites searched and a couple of additional phone calls... I know how frustrating it is to seek help and get shoved off on someone else, and I just couldn't do it.

It felt like the right way to handle the first situtation, and then the floodgates opened... as if karma sent out a beacon, telling people to call me instead of phoning elsewhere.
I closed out my work day by bringing a volunteer home, and thanking him for coming in to help out.
Instead of feeling drained when I stepped in my front door, I felt very energized.

Just for fun ( and to clean up some leftovers ), I suggested a less than healthy but oh so fun for the kiddos dinner ( this mexican dip mess that Chris created... loaded with meat, beans, fresh veggies, dairy... not all *that* bad but a lot of calories on a plate ). They were thrilled, and it gave me an opportunity to scoop up Iain for some one on one time in the form of a quick jaunt to the mom n' pop grocery store a few blocks away ( had to grab tortilla chips for dinner ).

We talked about school and the things he did and enjoyed, and how excited he is to make new friends and see old ones. Iain was, however, upset because his favorite shirt got ripped on the climbing wall. Someone stepped on it, and tore a clean slice across the front of one panel.
He wasn't mad at the person who did it, just frustrated because it's his favorite Hawaiian shirt.
So, I dug around and poked at it and I think I've found a way to fix it, if I add something to cover the sewn line and mask the other side... I'll make sure he has it back by next week to wear it again.
After dinner I spent some time online, doing additional networking, and relaying information. Instead of looking for people who wanted items, I looked for people who wanted resources and feedback.

Today, thus far ( also known as Day 17, In Progress ):
I decided to resume the networking / info sharing vibe, and found a couple of folks on Craigslist who I had a feeling weren't going to get much feedback, and what one of them was bound to get wasn't going to be very nice.
A young man has come to our community to finish his education and is looking for hippies in our uptight community. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it IS if you live here. Nothing is mocked more often than a 'dirty hippie'. And this kid is looking for his own people. Sounded educated, inspired and very polite... just sincerely wanted some information and to hopefully establish a connection, as he knows no one.
So I shared what I had and knew, and he was thrilled. Sent a very sweet and well thought out response within minutes of my message to him... signed it with 'keep fighting the good fight'.

It's inspiring to see so much hope in the youth. I feel very old saying this, but kids these days are spoiled and lazy.The majority of the twenty-something generation has failed to complete a damned thing, and cannot do much on their own. Those who have achieved more stand out, exalted for their efforts, and paraded about like poster children for reformation of Generation Y's collective slacker attitude problem.
While I do not partake in his lifestyle, I applaud his efforts. I hope that he finds the likeminded souls he's seeking and when I see this fella's name pop up in the legalization movement, I won't be the least bit surprised.

This post has taken me three times as long as it usually would, because I keep popping over to CL, freecycle and GR cafe` to further the responding process.I don't mean to sound arrogant, but sometimes I forget what I gigantic toolbox I am.
It's not like I know anything that anyone else cannot find out.. I simply network and do the research.
That and forge connections in the community. But really, anyone with enough ambition can do it.
I have the data nestled in my grey matter and I am happy to share it.


...for now I'll retrun to housework and network, and maybe some needed item scouting. If I have time I'll post a wrap up to the day before I head off to bed.