Charity--Not to Toot My Own Horn

It really isn't. I'm not trying to call attention to us as if what we've done is so great, but I want to make you, all my friends, aware of an awesome giving opportunity.

Dave and I just got our federal tax return back, and we wanted to tithe off the portion of money that had been withheld and never tithed. After we figured out what that amount was, we began watching for opportunities that would truly make the world a better place. Also, we wanted something that would stretch our dollar as far as possible.

Enter World Vision! We've been supporting a little girl in Ecuador for years and years. World Vision's mailings keep us up-to-date on giving opportunities around the world and we found two that fit the bill for what we wanted to do.

Many of you know there is a food crisis going on in Africa right now. The pictures are heartbreaking, but World Vision has a program that delivers a low-cost, locally-made, high-protein bar to the malnourished. Within WEEKS--not the usual months--people are  recovering! One such product is Plumpy'nut. Here's the great thing, if you call World Vision at 1.888.511.6534 and donate to the Horn of Africa fund, your money will be multiplied by 5!

But, Dave and I asked, what good is having food if you can't stay healthy? We decided to split our given amount in two and donate the other half to deliver medicine to hurting, sick communities. Drug manufacturers have donated the medicine, but donors need to cover the delivery of antibiotics, antifungals, de-worming meds, pain meds, and surgical supplies. The effect of this is your money is multiplied by 11!

To recap, Horn of Africa = $5x;  Life-saving Medicine = $11x.

A further illustration:
You decide to donate $100 of your tax refund. You split it in half. $50 to feed hungry Africans becomes $250. $50 to buy medicine becomes $550. Your $100 streeeeeeetches out to $1250.

And the feeling after you donate is priceless.

The Riddle of the Mysterious Ice Cream

First of all, I must tell you that everything I write in this post is 100% the truth. Solve the riddle with that in mind ... :)

Yesterday, as I transplanted some purple pansies, a man walked onto our short, dead-end street.

"Would you like some free ice cream?" he called out.

I stood, removed my dirty gardening gloves, and shook them out as I walked toward him. "Wow, that's a proposition that would be crazy to turn down."

He held out a few ice cream sandwiches.

And I thanked him and took them.

From a perfect stranger.

I promise that I had never seen this man before in my life, yet I took ice cream from him--free ice cream--and ate it. Not only that, but I also shared with three of the kids.

And nothing was wrong with it.

Can you figure out the riddle? Why was this behavior okay?

I might send a little prize to the first person to guess the correct answer.

Which Three Men Would Be My Dinner Dates?

Find out this and more on Ausjenny's blog, where she's posted an interview with me. Yes, amazingly, every now and then someone still wants to find something out about me.

Ausjenny: Getting to know you Thursdays with Christina Berry Tarabochia

Interviews like this help make me feel like I'm still an author, but another event occurred this week that reminded me of my status as well ....

Which I will tell about in the next blog. :)

I Can't Get No ... Satisfaction ...

That is my dad's LEAST favorite song of all time so we always tell him we'll play it at his funeral.

Yes, it's kind of a ridiculous song. Except I feel really bad for farmers whose tractors can't get no traction. But there is a kernel of truth to it in me ...

On New Year's Day, we woke up at Grandma's, went to my old church, came home, had a great breakfast-for-lunch of french toast, ham, scrambled eggs, and OJ. Then we de-Christmasfied. I got all the outdoor lights off the gutters and coiled up. Removed the wreath. The kids gathered all the stuff from around the house after Dave brought in the boxes. He took all the Christmas cards down that we'd taped around our column in the kitchen while I supervised ornament removal, got the tree outside, and packed up the bins. Then we vacuumed and cleaned.

And did I look around with a great sense of accomplishment at the uncluttered surfaces? No, I beat myself up that I was too tired to dust.

While I'm not making a resolution, like I said in my last post, I am trying to appreciate what I accomplish more and not be too hard on myself. To be satisfied with good, hard work, even if I could have done more.

Can I get an Amen from you other Type As? lol

My To-done List

Honestly, yesterday at this time I was still asleep in bed.

So far today:

~made sweet husband breakfast (Not As Hard As It Sounds as it was only oatmeal)
~packed his lunch
~updated the money program we use after checking the bank
~folded a load of clothes (NAHAIS as they just needed a fluff in the dryer)
~got three kids up, fed, and driven to school
~unloaded the dishwasher
~made the menu list through the 16th
~wrote out the shopping list
~ran 4 miles
~started another load of laundry
~raked the front yard (NAHAIS as I left the huge pile of leaves for Dave to get when he comes home :))
~caught up on email
~almost finished a blog ;p
~plan to finish up a section of a manuscript for an editing client

I've come to see that I don't need a bunch of New Year's resolutions. I simply need routine and a spoonful of self-discipline.

Anyone else like that? Or did you make resolutions you are willing to share?

I Am So, So Sorry, Lord!

We were privileged to serve as a family this weekend at the live nativity put on by Lake Bible Church. The Journey to Bethlehem has a real baby Jesus--you know what I mean--a llama, sheep, a donkey, and great actors in wonderful costumes.

Here's my sweet husband dressed as a centurion. I made him practice his lines everywhere and anytime. :)

Here he and his friend are being serious.

Lili was a cute little lamb that baaed and rushed past travelers as they entered the town, but we couldn't get a picture of her as she was very fast. Josh, Andrea, and I were angels in the heavenly chorus.

On rehearsal night

Which brings me to my apology.

We had a technical glitch during the middle of the night tonight. We were not given our starting notes for our acapella version of Angels We Have Heard on High and it was HORRIBLE!! We sounded so bad that I hope the soldiers apologized after they took the "travelers" to the refreshment room. It was so bad I was praying God would make the audience deaf for two minutes. HORRIBLE. Did I mention it was bad?!?!? By the second verse we had dropped all into an alto part and sounded better, though with no harmony...

If you happened to be part of that crowd, I will come clean your toilet to help make up for you having to listen to such HORRIBLE "singing."

So out of thirty-three times through it, we performed badly once. Unless God did that whole deaf thing--a Christmas Miracle!

Employee of the Month is ...