Tuesday, March 26, 2013

I need training for this?

My husband and I went to a local restaurant for dinner recently. As we entered the door my eye was drawn to to colorful notice on the bulletin board. "Dementia Training" it said. I turned to TopDad and remarked "You need training for dementia? I think I'm doing just fine on my own." We enjoyed a good laugh. My sense of humor seems to still be intact.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Rain in a thirsty land

Last week I had the privilege of assisting at an Iraq-Afghanistan Conference of NGO's (Non-governmental Organizations) and meeting almost two dozen wonderful persons involved in making life better in the war ravaged lands of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The conference organizer, a friend from church, asked me if I was willing to assist in a few tasks such as picking up and taking attendees to and from airports, taking notes, operating the computer/projector, and setting up a Skype call. I told Rick that in a former life I'd been an executive secretary, and administrative assistant so I figured I could handle whatever he needed.

I missed the opening session of the conference on Tuesday while picking up that night's keynote speaker at the airport in Des Moines. Cindy Fogelman and I had a wonderful conversation on the drive back (over an hour). We arrived back at the Danish Immigrant Museum at the end of the introductions, followed by a delicious lunch at the Danish Inn in Elk Horn, Iowa. The afternoon session was time for each representative to introduce his/her organization. This is when I helped with the computer/projector for the PowerPoint presentations.

Dinner was held at a renovated livestock sale barn in Kimballton, Iowa, catered again by Danish Inn. Cindy told the story of her organization's involvement in caring for orphans and street children in Baghdad with a captivating slide show.

Wednesday's morning session included two speakers, the first, Jan Bradley on Sustainability, and then Julie Mierau (former Director of Entrepreneurship at Iowa Western Community College) on Innovation. After a really tasty lunch from Vittles, in Elk Horn, the participants decided to move forward with the breakout sessions planned for Thursday morning. I took notes for the Iraq group.

That night at the Cottonwood Barn we enjoyed another great meal from Vittles and heard Charlotte (Charlie) Ponticelli talk about her experiences working with women's issues in Afghanistan while at the State Department during the Bush Administration.

Thursday morning was a review and wrap-up session. I had to leave early to take Charlie and Allison, another participant from the Denver/Baghdad Partnership, to the airport in Omaha. When I returned to the Museum, everyone was gone except my friend Rick.

I thoroughly enjoyed being with these intelligent, educated, passionate people! My mind came alive and my heart was touched. I hadn't even realized how "dehydrated" I was, but I soaked up the conversation and camaraderie like the proverbial sponge. At each session and meal I sat with someone different so I could get to know as many as possible. At one session Ann Geiger from Sister Cities International was reaching for her bag to retrieve something and I stood up and got it for her. She said "I'm capable." I said, :"I know, but I'm the assistant so I endeavor to assist." We had a good laugh!

Many thanks to the participants: Linda Egle of Eternal Threads, Ginna Brelsford of Ayni Education International, Don McKay of Iraqi Hope Foundation, John and Jan Bradley of The Lamia Afghan Foundation, and Marshall Plan Charities; Mary Baumgarten from Food for Kidz, Ann Geiger, Sister Cities International, Lee McManus representing Council Bluffs, Iowa local sister city; Allison Sharp, representing the Denver Baghdad Regional Partnership for Peace; Adam De Jong from Dwell Earth, Monty Simus from The Bayat Foundation, Cindy Fogelman of The Sponsor Iraqi Children Foundation, as well as Charlie Ponticelli; Ken Choquette; Steve and Randi Nelson from Nathan Hale Middle School; Troy Muller, Pat Crossly and Dr. Scott Smith from New Century Art Guild; and Aseya, college student from Afghanistan (forgive my spelling, I never saw it written).

Thank you Rick for asking me to participate, we can fight over who got the most out of it, but I know I'll win. This was truly a saw sharpening experience for me.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Pushing the Envelope

For some time I've been using up a stash of envelopes that accumulated from other things such as cards bought for crafting. Last fall I ran out of "regular" envelopes and couldn't get to the store that minute so I hauled out my box of stationary and cards (the one I had organized and found dozens of envelopes). I've been using the odd envelopes ever since. It makes me feel virtuous and "green". When I finally use up all the oddballs I will go back to buying the regular ones, but until that day I'll stick to pushing my envelopes.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Some Things Never Change

I'm reading a gentle book called Village Diary by Miss Read, the observations of a Headmistress at a country school in England during the course of a year, and came upon this description:

    What I do feel that the modern child lacks, when compared with the earlier generation, is concentration, and the sheer dogged grit to carry a long job through. Teaching through playing is right. It is, in fact, the only way to teach young children. But as they get older they find that any attainment needs application, and fun alone will not bring completion to a project. This is the danger-point. The older generation, resigned to hum-drum methods and a whacking here and there if there were any marked falling-off from hard work, got almost all their satisfaction from seeing the job completed and perhaps a word or two of approval as a tidbit. They were geared, as it were, to low returns for much effort.
    The child today, used as he is to much praise and encouragement, finds it much more difficult to keep going as his task get progressively long. Helping children to face up to a certain amount of drudgery, cheerfully and energetically, is one of the biggest problems that teachers, in these days of ubiquitous entertainment, have to face in our schools; and the negative attitude, in so many homes, of 'How-much-money-can-I-get-for-how-little-work?' does nothing to help them in their daily battle.

Miss Read wrote this in 1957! (The year I was born.)
 

 

Monday, January 28, 2013

Downsizing, Minimizing, De-Cluttering, De-Junking, etc.

So far this month I've gotten rid of 145 things. Actually it's more than that, but I didn't list every single piece of paper, and I didn't list every pair of socks and each t-shirt I cut up for rags. But I feel good about getting rid of those things, and without looking at the list, I can't even remember what they all were. That's how excess they were.

Of course, there are still a million (not much of an exaggeration) to go. And this exercise is like peeling a huge onion, finishing a layer simply reveals another. However, having been through my sister's and then my mother's death, I'm determined not to leave my children a mess to go through. I can just hear the laughs and sighs and the complete bewilderment: "Why did she save this?"

I'll just press forward and make weekly trips to the thrift store to donate all the usable stuff for someone else to buy and enjoy. I'm tired of feeling confined by my clutter. I truly want to feel free and light. It's not easy to overcome "keeper" habits. If you know of any good sites that encourage and applaud, please share them.