Just Telling Our Story

Two off the to-do list

I am feeling a bit relieved this week, having just sent two major, year-long projects off to the publishers! I had to share.

The first is a poetry book for a woman who has become my dear friend, Dolores Christie. I met Dolores through her husband's connection with St. Francis Hospital, and she became my first freelance project since once I went completely on my own back in January. I have been working with her since then on compiling a book of the poetry she has written over the past 60 years. The woman has TONS of poetry. Piles and piles of it!

I have to admit, I'm not always big into poetry. But Dolores' is down-to-earth, breezy and clever. I love her style. I have so enjoyed working on this project that I am actually in many ways sad to see it come to an end.

Over the past 10 months, Dolores and I have spent several hours at her dining room table, talking about kids, grandkids (OK, so that part of the conversation was fairly one-sided), heritage, family histories, poetry, scrapbooking, dogs ... you name it. I don't think there has ever been a quiet moment when we're together. The talking comes easy. And she makes me laugh. I will really miss working on this project for her, although she says she's going to have me help her with a collection of family stories she is writing for her children and grandchildren. She and I must be cut from the same cloth. I love that stuff. That's why I like to scrapbook.

Yesterday, I uploaded the final copy of her book to the publisher. (I'm using lulu.com - has anyone used it before?) I can't wait to see the final thing! She really wants to keep it a private book for family and friends, so I'm not posting the content.

OK, the second major project off my to-do list is my sister's wedding scrapbook! It's off being printed and bound, too.

That project is 74 pages, so averaging 2 to 3 hours per page, it's a project that has around 200 hours of my time invested in it. It's worth it, though.

I'm trying a new publisher for that one (www.blurb.com), so I am hopeful that it turns out OK.

I love this book. I kind of wish I could go back and do my own wedding scrapbook all over again. My scrappin' style has changed quite a bit since I did mine about seven years ago or so.

Margo's was easy...her photographer sold her the copyright to all of her digital photos, so putting together this album was a breeze! That's the greatest thing about wedding photography these days! I paid like $7 for every 5x7 picture and a ton for every 8x10. She can pay a few bucks at Cord or Snapfish and make as many as she'd like. Three cheers to forward-thinking photographers!

Here are a couple of pages out of that one. Enjoy!

I love marking things off the list!

It's a scary world

I tell you what, I don't know how I'm going to survive raising two children in this crazy, mean and dangerous world.

Every time I turn on the TV, open my e-mail, read the news online, listen to the radio, take my kids to school or walk outside my door, my innocent little kids are exposed to the horrid nature of this world. The first 15 minutes of our local newscast every day is filled with murders, attempted murders, burglaries, car accidents, wildfires, tornadoes, school shootings, MRSA "superbug" infections, people fighting cancer, toy recalls...and the list goes on and on.

Even in our quiet little town, there is an increasing grapevine of stories about violence and attempted abductions and who knows what else.

Today, I got a forwarded e-mail (taking it with a grain of salt, of course, since I really don't know the source) that tells the story of a little kid's playing with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser resulting in nearly 24 hours of continuous burning of his skin. (See the picture at right, but keep in mind, again, that I don't know the source.) Yes, even cleaning products are a risk for kids.

And my little 5-year-old boy has already been subjected to bullying on the bus, having only ridden the bus for a few short months of his life. He's in kindergarten, for goodness sake. He's been repeatedly made to give up his seat to bigger kids, he's been called "a baby," been told he wears diapers and was even depantsed...by a 5-year-old girl sitting in his seat with him. The poor little guy wants nothing more than to fit in and have a safe ride home. He's only on the bus for about 15 minutes total. Why do kids have to be so mean?

So I want to know...how in the world do I keep my kids positive, comforted, confident and constantly feeling safe, when the world is filled with hatred, danger and risk?

Short of not watching TV, not listening to the radio (except for our little piece of heaven, the Christian radio station, where at least the words are positive), not letting my boy ride the bus, etc., what do we do? I don't want our kids to be sheltered and oblivious to the realities of life...but come on! Where's the positive in this world?

Unfortunately, the financial demands of a two-income home with two student loans, two car payments, two gas tanks on those cars, two kids in ridiculously expensive day care...even part-time, two credit cards, one dog, three cats, seven hungry (4 people, 3 pet) mouths to feed, four bodies to clothe (two that grow out of clothes faster than some people can eat, it seems), one house and all the accompanying utilities, doesn't leave much time for volunteering. That's likely the best way to teach our kids the good things in life. Thank goodness for church, too.

Still, even with things like church and the volunteering I don't yet do, it's easy to be overwhelmed by all of the negative out there. I want nothing more than for my kids to grow up feeling safe and loved, and yet there are hundreds of obstacles in the way.

Was the world like this when I was a young kid? Do I just not remember it? And where is God in this? I am struggling with that right now. How does God let the world get to be such a terrible place?

(By the way, my husband had a bout of MRSA in 2005. We knew it was nasty, but I had no idea the death rate was something like 1 in 7, according to a recent newscast. I'm glad I didn't know that back then. Thank God he survived!)

Sometimes the best-laid plans fall through

Well, it's just not my day. In a hurry this morning to get my kiddos to day care/kindergarten, I grabbed the umbrella, my purse and two backpacks; rushed out of the house; locked the door behind me and slammed the door shut. As I propped up the umbrella and tried to wrangle my 5-year-old away from the temptations of the pouring rain,  it occurred to me that today was not going to be a good day.... I had just locked myself, a 2-year-old and a kindergartner out of the house. With my car keys attached to the house key lying just on the other side of the door, and our only friendly neighbors who would normally have been at home just moving away, there we were with no place to go.

Activate Plan B. I called my mom, who lives close by and normally has a key. But she didn't have the key. (She thinks I still have it from the last time I locked myself out, but I don't think I do. And no, fortunately, I don't do this often.) So I called my friend, who also lives nearby and takes care of our animals when we're out of town. But she's lost our key, too, at least for the time being. I called my sister, who also lives nearby, but silly me, I have apparently never given her a key. Ugh.

Finally, my mom arrives, and we whip up Plan C. She takes me and the kids to drop the latter off at their day care/kindergarten. I ride with her back to her house while she gets ready for work. She takes me to my husband's work on her way to work. I meet him and am preparing to pick up his car when the following conversation takes place.

• Me: "What time should I pick you up?"
• My hubby: "Probably by 2, so we make sure we're home in time to get (our son). I don't want him to get home and us not be there." (It's parent-teacher conference day, so he needs to be home early.)
• Me: "Oh, it's OK," I say, proud to have had that base covered. I'm prepared, after all, in case I'm ever running late and not there when he gets home. "He has a key in his backpack."

And that's when I felt like the biggest idiot in town.

Yes, that's right, ladies and gentlemen. He had a key in his backpack the whole time. The backpack that was with us as we waited in the rain, calling every would-be rescuer in a one-mile radius. The backpack we took to school while my mother taxied me around like an elementary-school student, making her late to work. His little life-saver, emergency key, which he has never had to use, was within inches of my hands as I contemplated breaking into my own home.

It just goes to show, I suppose, that even the best-laid plans won't work if you don't have intelligent people operating them!

Some of the many reasons I'm thankful

A few of the people, places and things for which I am thankful (not a complete list, and not necessarily in order!):

1. My husband, Chad, who loves me, supports me and puts up with my craziness.
2. My two beautiful children, without whom I would not be complete.
3. My extended family, a list too long to share by name here.
4. Beautiful, sunny, 75-degree days (like the middle part of today...ignoring the storms on both ends)
5. My work life: flexible, creative, completely driven by me
6. God and my faith
7. My home: the house and everything in it, sure, but mostly, the people who make it home
8. The material things: the fact that I have a car that runs and is in good shape, the clothes I wear, the extra stuff I don't need but enjoy having
9. My three kitties and my lovey Labrador retriever
10. My friends!
11. Knowing I have people who love me just for being me
12. Chocolate
13. Dr. Pepper
14. Blue skies
15. Technology
16. Photoshop
17. My camera
18. My awesome hobby - scrapbooking - which will allow my kids and grandkids to know who I was and who they were even after I'm gone
19. Having a job that is fulfilling
20. Having the opportunity to work from home
21. Having a window in my "office"
22. All of the awesome people whom I have met over the past year as a result of my new career adventure
23. My loved ones' health
24. My health
25. All of my clients, who have made my dream job a reality.

I'm pretty lucky. I'll share more some other time, perhaps. Back to work for now!

Feeling thankful

I am feeling thankful today. Judging by the way the day started -- with horrendous rain and strong winds at 6:45 a.m. as I drove to my BNI meeting -- I wouldn't have predicted it. Storms do not make me happy. But that round has passed, and before we move into Round Two of the nasty weather today, I have had the great fortune of being able to attend a session of the Fishhook Communications Directors Roundtable, a group that meets about monthly to talk about the joys and challenges of church communications. I was introduced to this group by my friend Leah Norton, who introduced me to Evan McBroom, the founder of Fishhook, at some point down the line when I was working as communications director at the Cathedral. Two great folks. Anyway, I have been away from the group for a while but made it a point to revisit today, and I'm glad I did.

There's something about this group that always makes me leave the meeting in a good mood, inspired to do good things and encouraged to leave my complaints behind. It's not usually the topic of the meeting (although useful). It's just the companionship of a group of people from different churches that are all working together to share a powerful, positive message in our world...a world filled with hate and crime and all kinds of other unpleasant stuff.

So I left Grace Community Church today and drove more than an hour home from Noblesville, in a thankful mood, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for today. I'm going to share them in my next post. But right now I need to go get my son home from school. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Fishhook, for always being such an inspiring source of comfort.

Best of both worlds

I just love how things always work out for the best.

More than two years ago, I left a job with the Indianapolis Parks Foundation for several reasons. While every job has its drawbacks (including freelancing, by the way), there were many things I enjoyed about that job. I loved being part of a not-for-profit organization that was doing fantastic things for the city of Indianapolis. I loved spending my time knowing that what I was doing was making a difference in some of the most desperate neighborhoods in the city. I hated to leave my job for that reason.

Now, two jobs later, I am getting the best of both worlds. Today I had the pleasure of meeting with my former boss and co-worker to talk about a new chance to work together. I even got to meet the person who replaced me, which was fun. I got to hear about the major progress this very small foundation has made in my time away. And, best yet, I get a chance to work with them again - this time as a contracted freelancer.

So my path has come full circle, and I couldn't be happier about it. I now have all three of my former employers as clients, and I am getting to do the work I have loved at each job, all in a neat little arrangement from my former-dining-room office in my home. Wow. I am blessed. Thank you, IPF, for the chance to return to your world. I look forward to working with you all again.