This morning I got up and after a good cup of tea, Winston & I got in the van and headed to Hershey Motors. Last night I had prepared an email to the members of the Lions Club. Since there were very few at the meeting and the next Food Drive is scheduled to start on March 21st, I wanted to give them a heads up on the project and send the schedule for the next planned events as well.
I did not send the email as I wanted to visit with Hershey Motors to make sure they were on board as the newest drop-off point. After our January event I was approached by one of the owners, who asked me to include their facility as another drop-off when we did this again. They have been in Florida, so I did not know if this was ever expressed to the employees, so I wanted to cross t's and dot i's before putting it out in the information to the members and the flyers.
I met with Kathy and Jessica. I explained to them how I had come to them with this plan. They were delighted to be able to help out the community. I have to admit, that any time I have asked Hershey Motors to help out the Lions, they have been more than helpful. That even included lending us a convertible for a parade, even though we could not use it as it rained. I was welcomed and they thought it a wonderful idea.
So, I got back from the meeting at Hershey Motors and tweaked the email before sending it out to all members and two prospective members. And what did I get?? Not a single response from the members but rather a single response from one of the prospective members stating that he would get his students involved if I could get him the information.
Funny, the first project was to participate in a National Day of Service and the Lion who came up with the idea was very vocal and responsive to what was being done. I just took the idea to a different level and now all I hear is silence.
Strange group here in Parkesburg.
I continue to work on this project and I will accept the excitement to help our community from wherever I can find it!
Friday, February 27, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
I do not understand....
I just got back from the second monthly meeting of the Parkesburg Lions Club. I joined them in the fall after Rudy died. I thought it would be a good way to meet more local people and get out of the house from time to time. It seemed like a small but active group of people who were trying to do good for the area in Parkesburg.
After the first couple of meetings, one of my friends joked with me that within a few years I would be running the club. I told her 'no way' as I had done the organizing and getting activities together in many other groups and I was retiring from that,
Well, they asked me to take over as Secretary and I agreed. How hard can it be... take notes, write up minutes and send out reminders for meetings. Well, there are monthly reports to Lions International, the local District and then Zone. I report membership changes, volunteer hours and a bunch of other things. This was explained to me in a couple of minutes and I have been trying to figure it out each month a little at a time.
Our group is suffering the apathy that many organizations seem to be experiencing. Because our society has begun placing so much emphasis on extracurricular activities for even young children in order for colleges and the like to consider them for acceptance, many young people today are not joining the older service organizations like Lions and Rotary, etc. They find themselves getting kids from activity to activity as well doing fund raising for their children's organizations. So the membership in these service groups is dwindling and it is getting harder and harder to get activities together.
The Lions have many, many International Charities as well as local organizations that they give funds to and in the past, this local chapter had large memberships and lots of fund raisers. Not so much today. In fact, our group is having difficulty even planning any fund raising activity. Our aging group does not do well at night or in the cold, so winter meetings are sparse. There are some members on the books that I have never seen in the three years I have been a member. There are very active members who no longer find it a priority to come to the meetings if something better comes along. I even found a long time officer not attending a meeting (her husband said she had a meeting to go to)... but she posted that she was getting a pedicure on Facebook... oops!
But, taking the bull by the horns, tonight I presented and got approved a two year plan for quarterly service projects in the form of Community Food Drives. So at least we will be trying to collect food and needed articles for the people in our area who need assistance in getting food for their families.
I just do not understand what is happening to all of the caring folks who used to band together to be of service to their community. I will work with my service project and hope that we can get other projects on our calendars so our funding will get back to where we can assist more of our locals with their vision issues.
After the first couple of meetings, one of my friends joked with me that within a few years I would be running the club. I told her 'no way' as I had done the organizing and getting activities together in many other groups and I was retiring from that,
Well, they asked me to take over as Secretary and I agreed. How hard can it be... take notes, write up minutes and send out reminders for meetings. Well, there are monthly reports to Lions International, the local District and then Zone. I report membership changes, volunteer hours and a bunch of other things. This was explained to me in a couple of minutes and I have been trying to figure it out each month a little at a time.
Our group is suffering the apathy that many organizations seem to be experiencing. Because our society has begun placing so much emphasis on extracurricular activities for even young children in order for colleges and the like to consider them for acceptance, many young people today are not joining the older service organizations like Lions and Rotary, etc. They find themselves getting kids from activity to activity as well doing fund raising for their children's organizations. So the membership in these service groups is dwindling and it is getting harder and harder to get activities together.
The Lions have many, many International Charities as well as local organizations that they give funds to and in the past, this local chapter had large memberships and lots of fund raisers. Not so much today. In fact, our group is having difficulty even planning any fund raising activity. Our aging group does not do well at night or in the cold, so winter meetings are sparse. There are some members on the books that I have never seen in the three years I have been a member. There are very active members who no longer find it a priority to come to the meetings if something better comes along. I even found a long time officer not attending a meeting (her husband said she had a meeting to go to)... but she posted that she was getting a pedicure on Facebook... oops!
But, taking the bull by the horns, tonight I presented and got approved a two year plan for quarterly service projects in the form of Community Food Drives. So at least we will be trying to collect food and needed articles for the people in our area who need assistance in getting food for their families.
I just do not understand what is happening to all of the caring folks who used to band together to be of service to their community. I will work with my service project and hope that we can get other projects on our calendars so our funding will get back to where we can assist more of our locals with their vision issues.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
It pays to shop around.....
Well, I have long been a committed Amazon buyer. I have, until yesterday, always been able to find the cheaper prices and free shipping on just about everything. I have been a "prime" member since they started it and have enjoyed getting my items in two business days.
Yesterday I was looking for a lightweight interfacing to be used in a lovely quilt that was just recently shown on the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorials. I had checked Joann Fabrics and it was a bit pricey. I headed to Amazon and was shocked to see that it was way more expensive. So I headed to Google and put in the interfacing I was looking for and was completely taken back when I found that WalMart had the exact same interfacing four times cheaper than Amazon and even less expensive than Joann's.
It indicated that if I ordered just a couple of other things, they would ship for free by just having a total of $50.00. So I looked for another bolt of an interfacing I use a lot of doing pocketbooks and little duffle bags that the ladies do. Again, it was cheaper than Amazon. I added a couple of refills of the spray starch product that I like to use when I sew and, voila, free shipping. I opted for the next faster shipping for under $5.00. It will take longer than coming from Amazon, but I will take cheaper and wait anytime.
Had I ordered the first bolt of interfacing, the cost of that alone was over $85.00. I have heard of markup, but that is ridiculous.
So, please, please, look around online before you buy!! I always have, but I have noticed that Amazon's prices are ceasing to be the nice savings that they once were. Perhaps they have over built their distribution centers, because they are now charging more. Plus, I have a "saved for later list" and each day those items go up and down in prices.... sometimes by a lot. Interesting to watch.
Yesterday I was looking for a lightweight interfacing to be used in a lovely quilt that was just recently shown on the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorials. I had checked Joann Fabrics and it was a bit pricey. I headed to Amazon and was shocked to see that it was way more expensive. So I headed to Google and put in the interfacing I was looking for and was completely taken back when I found that WalMart had the exact same interfacing four times cheaper than Amazon and even less expensive than Joann's.
It indicated that if I ordered just a couple of other things, they would ship for free by just having a total of $50.00. So I looked for another bolt of an interfacing I use a lot of doing pocketbooks and little duffle bags that the ladies do. Again, it was cheaper than Amazon. I added a couple of refills of the spray starch product that I like to use when I sew and, voila, free shipping. I opted for the next faster shipping for under $5.00. It will take longer than coming from Amazon, but I will take cheaper and wait anytime.
Had I ordered the first bolt of interfacing, the cost of that alone was over $85.00. I have heard of markup, but that is ridiculous.
So, please, please, look around online before you buy!! I always have, but I have noticed that Amazon's prices are ceasing to be the nice savings that they once were. Perhaps they have over built their distribution centers, because they are now charging more. Plus, I have a "saved for later list" and each day those items go up and down in prices.... sometimes by a lot. Interesting to watch.
Friday, February 6, 2015
It's February and moving fast...
Wow... January flew by! Here it is, February 4th already. Just seems like yesterday it was Christmas and here it is.... February! The weather has been cold and there have been a couple of brushes with significant snow but they have been near misses and the last time I plowed it was pure slush that exploded upwards and outwards when the plow met the accumulated snow bank. It was the only fun I could have plowing snow.
Today is a bright an sunny morning and my little thermometer says it is 30 degrees. There is snow in the forecast, again, but it is February already. It is the shortest and if it moves as fast as January, well, spring cannot be far behind.
Puxatanny Phil saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter but Octorara Orphie did not, so spring will come early. I am voting for Orphie.
Okay, time keeps flying and it is now February 6th and I have had very little time to even finish this post. But it is really helping make this cold, dreary winter fly by.
I have had another followup appointment with my Cardiologist. Dr. Sulpizi went over, in detail, the results of my stress test. Bottom line, my heart is strong and has not had any kind of damage from an unfelt heart attack. The echo also caught parts of my lungs and she has declared them strong as well. The only real issue that she found was that when my heart finishes the beat, it does not completely relax. It is nothing that I need to worry about, but it will be something that we will monitor. She was also not happy with what the Lipitor had done regarding my cholesterol. Or, perhaps, what it had NOT done. My numbers were higher than she wants to see. My number is within normal levels but on the high side. With my family history, she wants it to be lower than it is. She changed my med back in the fall and we waited until now to see how it was doing and it went down one whole point. So we have now doubled it. I will have it checked again after I get back from my trip to Fancy Gap in the spring.
GriefShare is going well. We have some lovely people who have taken that first step to get help with their mourning. There are several widows and when we have enough to have two separate discussion groups, we carve them out and I take them as we have all gone through a similar loss, which helps everyone feel better and share more openly.
I have also been working in the sewing room. I finished a second little purse. I altered the interfacing and really like the way it feels. I have the material to make the larger version and hope that I will get it done shortly... yes, I will take pictures.
I got side-tracked a bit while in the basement sewing room. It has been a windy winter. As the Highs and Lows move across the land, the areas in between can be loaded isobars. The closer those isobars are to each other, the more wind. My sewing room, being a basement room, it can be a bit chilly. There are three windows and they are drafty. SO, I had purchased that window stuff that you can cover a drafty window, use a hair dryer to tighten it up and block some of the drafts. I also used some bubble wrap to do some additional insulating.
I have a list of things that need to be done or that I would like to have done here at the house. My son Rob has transferred that list to Google Docs which allows me to add to the list as I think of things to be done as well as move things from the "To-Be-Done" list to the "Done" list. Covering the windows was on the list and I am happy to say, it has now moved to the "Done" list. I insulated with bubble wrap, which allows light in but adds some layers. After they were totally covered, I put up curtain rods and added some cute, little lace curtain toppers with lighthouses on them just to cover the ugly basement window openings. The hardest one to deal with was the easiest to get to, but one of the furnace ducts was there and I had to be a contortionist to get everything done. But it is done and I am not sure it will help a lot, but it looks more finished. Tine will tell if it will help.
Rob is coming to do some more work around the house in March. Right now he is scheduled to come on the 12th of March for a week while his wife is in New Jersey for a project. I am not yet sure of what we will be working on as the list is long and there are a couple of things that are high on my list, but whatever we get done, will be wonderful.
So, I will try to post more often, but just know that I am doing fine and am keeping myself busy!
Today is a bright an sunny morning and my little thermometer says it is 30 degrees. There is snow in the forecast, again, but it is February already. It is the shortest and if it moves as fast as January, well, spring cannot be far behind.
Puxatanny Phil saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter but Octorara Orphie did not, so spring will come early. I am voting for Orphie.
Okay, time keeps flying and it is now February 6th and I have had very little time to even finish this post. But it is really helping make this cold, dreary winter fly by.
I have had another followup appointment with my Cardiologist. Dr. Sulpizi went over, in detail, the results of my stress test. Bottom line, my heart is strong and has not had any kind of damage from an unfelt heart attack. The echo also caught parts of my lungs and she has declared them strong as well. The only real issue that she found was that when my heart finishes the beat, it does not completely relax. It is nothing that I need to worry about, but it will be something that we will monitor. She was also not happy with what the Lipitor had done regarding my cholesterol. Or, perhaps, what it had NOT done. My numbers were higher than she wants to see. My number is within normal levels but on the high side. With my family history, she wants it to be lower than it is. She changed my med back in the fall and we waited until now to see how it was doing and it went down one whole point. So we have now doubled it. I will have it checked again after I get back from my trip to Fancy Gap in the spring.
GriefShare is going well. We have some lovely people who have taken that first step to get help with their mourning. There are several widows and when we have enough to have two separate discussion groups, we carve them out and I take them as we have all gone through a similar loss, which helps everyone feel better and share more openly.
I have also been working in the sewing room. I finished a second little purse. I altered the interfacing and really like the way it feels. I have the material to make the larger version and hope that I will get it done shortly... yes, I will take pictures.
I got side-tracked a bit while in the basement sewing room. It has been a windy winter. As the Highs and Lows move across the land, the areas in between can be loaded isobars. The closer those isobars are to each other, the more wind. My sewing room, being a basement room, it can be a bit chilly. There are three windows and they are drafty. SO, I had purchased that window stuff that you can cover a drafty window, use a hair dryer to tighten it up and block some of the drafts. I also used some bubble wrap to do some additional insulating.
I have a list of things that need to be done or that I would like to have done here at the house. My son Rob has transferred that list to Google Docs which allows me to add to the list as I think of things to be done as well as move things from the "To-Be-Done" list to the "Done" list. Covering the windows was on the list and I am happy to say, it has now moved to the "Done" list. I insulated with bubble wrap, which allows light in but adds some layers. After they were totally covered, I put up curtain rods and added some cute, little lace curtain toppers with lighthouses on them just to cover the ugly basement window openings. The hardest one to deal with was the easiest to get to, but one of the furnace ducts was there and I had to be a contortionist to get everything done. But it is done and I am not sure it will help a lot, but it looks more finished. Tine will tell if it will help.
Rob is coming to do some more work around the house in March. Right now he is scheduled to come on the 12th of March for a week while his wife is in New Jersey for a project. I am not yet sure of what we will be working on as the list is long and there are a couple of things that are high on my list, but whatever we get done, will be wonderful.
So, I will try to post more often, but just know that I am doing fine and am keeping myself busy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)