(43-18) We're All In This TOGETHER

Today was a day of EXTREMELY mixed emotions.  I laughed several times, when I wasn't on the verge of tears.  I had a knot in the pit of my stomache (which actually took residence about a week ago;) but then I felt the kindess of strangers and the comfort of familiarity and the knot would dissipate.  Vague, I know; which must seem unusual coming from the Queen of OVER EXPLAINING; but details at this time are actually unimportant. 

Today Michelle M and I had a garage sale.  It wasn't one of my FULL ON garage sales; but one that I was helping her with and OK, of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to sell a few of my things along the way.  It was an enlightening day because our conversations ran the gamut from the economy and foreclosure to child rearing, to Disneyland and Las Vegas to careers, friendships and relationships to my utter disgust and annoyance with the NOT REAL "Real Housewives of New Jersey;" and that was just the first half hour.  Nah, just kidding; those conversations took place over the course of 8 hours and I know for sure that we, (or at least I) could have sat and talked for at least 8 hours more.
Michelle and I were engrossed in our conversations in between sales and I have to say that I was touched and impressed by so many of the people that we encountered today.  There was something different in the air and it wasn't just the unusual humidity.  People were open today; people shared their stories with strangers and offered comfort and reassurance to each other and we all commiserated and it felt GOOD.  People exposed their private information for an opportunity to feel connected and it seemed that the housing epidemic was uniting people in a way that we haven't been before.  Now again, I know that I'm writing in a lot of generalities but this time it was truly the actions that were important and NOT all of the details.  It was a sign that people were reaching out to each other, people wanted to be sympathetic and empathetic because after all WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

For A Cause...

I suppose it would be easy for me to start telling my latest story and not even acknowledge that I haven't posted a blog in over two months ~ but then I just wouldn't be me; now would I ?  I'm not going to give you a lengthy list of excuses for my absence; just one BIG one; I've been in a SLUMP!  Now a slump is totally different from having writer's block; because I certainly do have stories to tell; and rest assured that in good time THEY WILL BE TOLD -  but ever since we returned from Puerto Vallarta (in early June,) I've had several unexpected situations that have caused me an extraordinary amount of stress and I just haven't had the wherewithal or the confidence to write (even though I REALLY wanted to.)  My anxiety had been getting the better of me; and it kept me from doing what I LOVE to do and THAT made things even worse.  Even though I kept trying to convince myself that I was ready to write; I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Even though I was receiving requests from friends and readers asking me to post a blog; I just couldn't try; (though I hope that they know how grateful I was / am,  for their encouragement and how flattered I was / am by their interest.)  I know that  I'm stronger than all of the forces that seemed to be at work against me but actually writing just seemed impossible; UNTIL I witnessed something that moved me so much, that I KNEW it was time for me to get back to work.

On Monday I took my kids to swim team practice and while we were getting ready to leave; one of the coaches handed a bag of plastic bottle caps to a girl that we didn't know.  Someone asked why she was collecting the caps and she explained that a friend of hers had a friend who had Leukemia and that for every 700 caps that were collected, she would get a free treatment.  Well, my kids heard this and as soon as we got into our minivan, they immediately started searching for plastic bottle caps.  Then, as soon as we arrived home, they checked our garage, and our recycling baskets, and even though it was 109 degrees in the shade, they went out to our back yard and tried to dig up some more caps. After they'd found a few, they came inside and started searching our pantry.  Lyndzi said "Hey Mom, when will you ever use apple vinegar?"  And I explained what I use it for; to which she replied "Maybe when you're done, we can use that cap."  And then she continued searching further, suggesting "What about the mayonnaise and the peanut butter."  Kelsie then chimed in with "Maybe when I'm done taking my medicine, we could use that cap."  To which a very enthusiastic Lyndzi said "Do you take it two times a day?"  And Kelsie answered excitedly, "Yes, morning and night."  They then tried to think of other places that they might find caps and they remembered that Luis had a growing collection of water bottles in our Toyota; so they called him at work to make sure that he hadn't thrown the bottles away.  As luck would have it; he said that he had just cleaned the car out the day before and so we explained that we needed him to bring home the bottle caps from now on and get others to give them to him as well.

I was SO touched by my kids call to action, that I knew my slump was over and that THIS was the story that I was ready to write.  I found their desire to help and their compassion absolutely inspirational, and I was overcome by their good will and humanity.  Just because it's who they are, my kids were interested in (say it with me) THE GREATER GOOD; and that's not an expression that I have even used with them thus far.  And so, in the interest of THE GREATER GOOD, I thought that others might want to help too and since I wanted to write this post armed with all of the information that you would need to get involved; I promptly started researching bottle caps for cancer; (YES, sometimes I actually research something before I write about it...) and I found out that it is a total hoax.  Snopes reported it, as did several other articles; all with quotes from the American Cancer Society, stating "HOAX,"  "Urban myth" and absolutely UNTRUE.

Can you even imagine how difficult it was for me to explain to my kids that the 73 bottle caps that they'd collected since Monday, were not really going to be able to help anyone.  To say they were dejected would be an understatement, because they wanted so badly to help.  But you know what... THEY DID!  Their deed helped remind me of what truly EXCEPTIONAL, AMAZING people they are and I realized that in order to perpetuate this path, I shouldn't waste a minute worrying about trivial things, or stress about situations that I can't control; because when I do, my disposition prevents me from giving the best of myself TO THEM and NOTHING is more important than spending time with my children.  I recognized that all of the time that I had spent worrying and stressing was time that I could have spent focusing on the positive, which is that I am raising kind, considerate, loving individuals. People who are already going out into the world and trying to make a difference and NOTHING  deserves my concern and attention more than that!!

So now my slump IS officially over (because I say it is. ) I'm BACK and I'm ready to write AND I've got something planned that you're NEVER going to believe; so you're just going to have to stay tuned to find out.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

Humanity is alive and well

I'll admit that I am prone to complain a lot. I'd like to think that it's not so much, like poor me kinda stuff (that's usually not my style;) but I complain about whatever I consider to be injustices, ie: The Deal or No Deal Situation, or the uprising of the mediocre etc. Maybe they're not so much complaints as gripes; but anyway, what I want to get at is, as much as I can complain or gripe, I definitely take great pleasure in discussing what is good and right in the world when I have occasion to witness it.

The other day my friend Tiffany suffered a terrible tragedy when her 7 year old nephew accidentally shot himself in the eye with a pellet gun that he found in his garage. Tiffany's nephew was rushed to the ER, flown to the closest pediatric hospital and underwent surgery; but sadly, he did not make it.
Tiffany was devastated as ANYONE would be; and she planned to fly to Iowa to be with her sister, but the last minute airfare was not cheap; $600.00
Our friend Kara sent an email to all of their mutual friends as well as her relatives and Tiff's neighbors. Kara wrote of the tragedy and advised that she would be collecting contributions towards Tiffany's airfare; if anyone felt that they wanted to help out.

Tiffany is the type of person who is always there when you need her. Last year my son had been in the hospital for a few days because he was in asthmatic distress; and as soon as Tiffany heard about my sons hospitalization (from Kara,) she called to see what she could do. I hadn't had anything to eat for dinner and Tiffany offered to drive up late at night to bring me something to eat; she only lived 45 minutes from the hospital. I declined- I told her that I was sure that I could live off of my body fat for one night; but she then insisted that she would be there the next morning, no matter what I had to say about it. Tiffany showed up with Starbuck's and a scrapbooking magazine for me, a balloon and some coloring books for my son and some various other treats, if my memory serves me correctly - that's just the type of person that Tiffany is; and I could go on and on.

Since Tiffany has been such a good friend to me, of course I wanted to help her; but just one day after my $840 dentist bill, I didn't have much to contribute. I spoke with my husband and we planned to contribute $25 since our finances were so tight. I was trying to figure out what else I could do to help Tiffany so I decided to email everyone that Kara didn't know; like women that Tiffany and I scrapbook with and other friends of mine who have met Tiff.
I forwarded Kara's email with an introduction that explained "although you might not know Tiffany very well, I thought you would want to know about the tragedy that she has experienced." And then it happened... Women who have only met Tiffany a couple of times started contacting me to tell me that they wanted to contribute. Jenny and Lisa B and Lesa G and my friend Michelle K who hasn't even seen or spoken to Tiffany in over a year wanted to contribute, and my friend Rachel who lives in Santa Monica and comes in a couple of times a year, wanted to contribute; and my friend Jackie, who has been undergoing her own tragedies day in and day out, wanted to contribute and then the one that brought me to tears; Jackie's mother wanted to contribute. Now Jackie has become one of my closest friends and we spend a lot of time together, but I haven't even met her mom yet, so needless to say neither has Tiffany - and here was Jackie's mom giving a $50 contribution to a woman she never met... People can be GOOD!! People can pitch in when others are down because they recognize that this tragedy could have just as easily happened to them or someone that they are close to; or they recognize that there is pain and suffering in life and sometimes you just need to help because it is the right thing to do.
In a world where we often see the worst sides of people, it is so unexpected and delightful when people show you just how good we CAN BE to each other. People can AMAZE you; but it is kinda sad that generosity and compassion would be causes for amazement. Nonetheless, I was amazed and thankfully so. I was overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers and so thankful that we were all able to come together and help make things a little easier for Tiffany because I know that she would have been one of the first ones to do the same for someone else.
Certainly I am not the Queen of, oh what's that word? Like when someone of importance bestows you with a compliment? Well you know what I mean, it's not like my praise is going to get you into heaven or get you a Nobel peace prize, or really even matters, but I'll give it anyway - accolades to all of you who showed that humanity is alive and well.
Thank you so much for taking the time to care.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING