Somalia

Usually I am against war. However I realize generally we don't have a clue about what is really going on. I grudgingly accept the reasons that we invaded Iraq and then Afganistan.

 People get angry at President Obama for what he's done or not done.   I don't think unless they are in his position they know what they'd do if they were in his shoes, because he has expert policy advisers.
I'm glad Saddam Hussein is gone and Osama bin Laden. I  just don't want to see troops killed or civilians.

If I WERE to think we should interfere in another country or just plain take it over,  it would be Somalia! I'm tired of reading of Somalians chasing their own people off their land,  stealing food that was meant for the starving there,  to make a profit by selling it,  kidnapping and pirating ships from all over the world.  The Al Shabbab group seems to be a band of heartless thugs. I don't want to even chance donating money to an organization that can't be reasonably certain they can distribute it safely.   I'd like to see armed 24/7 guards with guns. People are starving to death!  Others are tryiing to help!  I've read some terrible statistics about how much food is actually getting to the starving.

We have a huge Somali population here.  I can see why they had to flee their homeland.  It truly is a lawless, godless country.

Successful Charity Fundraising for Haiti on Ebay!

I saw a story today in Ebay Giving Works that was inspiring.  A small Baptist church in the south,  decided to auction off items donated to them, to earn money for building materials so they could build another house in Haiti. The church is Mulberry Baptist.

What is interesting is how they did their public relations work.
http://www.ebaygivingworks.com/community-stories-mulberrychurch.html

Project Runway All Stars

I love love love Project Runway,  at least most of the time.  I am in awe of their creativity.  I think,  what is wrong with me that I don't loosen up and free my mind and get more creative,  more daring?  I guess it's because I am not a designer!   However they do inspire me.

I'm really enjoying Project Runway All Stars.   However I was a little aghast that they sent April Johnson home and kept Kara Janx!   April is so talented! Also I want to see Mondo win some challenges.  I think there were a few times that his design was a tie with someone elses, but they won.  He truly should have won the season he competed, and not Gretchen.  I think most of the world agrees with this!  Anyhow I feel bad for Mondo.   As great as Michael is doing,  I want Mondo to win some challenges! 

The GOP Presidential Candidates

I will divulge right now that I am a fairly liberal Democrat.   This candidate selection has been quite entertaining so far.  I find some much more likeable than others,  for example Santorum over Gingrich.  I think it's sad that it takes a rich man to run.  It looks like Romney will be the candidate, but it isn't over yet.

I see the candidates are all against abortion.  They have their alternatives such as adoption,  all figured out.  Where are all the adopting parents for the kids now in foster care?  It seems adopting parents usually want a "perfect" child.  When you have a birth child,  generally you don't leave them at the hospital if there is something wrong!  I 've heard of surrogate parents backing out when they found out the child had a disability.  I think adoption is a wonderful thing.  I just don't think it is the only answer.  People forget that before Roe vs Wade that women died while having an illegal abortion.  People panic and get scared when they have an unplanned pregnancy.  I think we need to let people follow their own consciences.

I agree with the Pope.  Respect life means to respect all life and that includes murderers in prison.  Yes,  I'd like to see horrible things done to men or women who have caused great horror.  But then I think it out.  Men have been sent to death row on the witness of one person! Also on the testimony of someone else who was given immunity for their testimony.  There is an awful long list of men and women who were in death row and exonerated.  Death sentences do not deter crime.  Death sentences cost about 4 times what a life without parole sentence does, because the death sentence is entitled to a length appeals process with attorneys.

About 8 years ago I was on the steering committee of Minnesotans Against the Death Penalty.

I look forward to the presidential debates with Obama!

God's Interventions in Our Lives

I find this topic endlessly fascinating.  If you do not believe in God,  then it is "serendipity" or chance.  Believers know differently!  It's not so simple though,  as sometimes prayers are answered and some are not.

One of my little frustrations in life is when I sell something on ebay and cannot locate it!  It makes me look bad.  I don't want to disappoint people.  I try to keep like things together but sometimes pull out the used stamp sets for example,  for a project.  It might still be in a box next to my bed.  I may put that designer paper that I got slightly curved,  under a stack to straight it out.   The stamp rollers and ribbons have fallen out of the baskets or bins without my seeing them , until later.  I think my cat also jumps up on the table to grab small items to play with.  A few times after searching an hour,  I have said a little prayer to St. Andrew or is it St. Anthony... the saint of missing things?  Evidently he hasn't cared that I got his name right.

Once I prayed when I couldn't find some designer paper.  I then thought,  maybe you mixed it up with your own personal ones when you sorted and listed some?   Sure enough it was under those.  Recently I KNEW I had this set.  I only kept them in one place.  I moved them around on the shelf to try to find out where it was hiding.  I prayed... a voice in my head said,  go look under the shelves in that bin below.  I did and under two other sets that had fallen off the shelf, there was the set I was looking for.  another time I was looking for a "print pack".  I kept them all together ... I thought.  After I prayed that time,  it was like a voice said,  look down...  and there it was under some sets of ink spots that are the same size.  When I first looked I thought it was all ink spots there.

Then there are the more major things.   You miss a flight and the plane crashes.  How many people should have been in the Twin Towers 9/11 at 9 AM on a Tuesday?   And three planes went down as well as the Pentagon hit?  The loss of life was very sad and upsetting, but surely God intervened that so many were spared.  I remember at the time reading stories about people who missed their train,  didn't feel well and all kinds of things that kept them from being there.  The total loss of life for both towers, the pentagon and 3 planes was about 3300.. 

I looked on craigslist for a free TV after a second one quit working.  It had just been listed.  It was near my daughter's house.  I went over there and it was HUGE.  The young college guys said it worked well but they were going their own ways and it was too big.  I hesitated but they loaded it into my SUV, along with the stand.  I saw the remote and grabbed it.  It was SOOO heavy I couldn't move it at all.  They said the TV weighed over 240 pounds.  I don't have 4 strong men at my house to move things around so it's been in the SUV for two weeks. 

I was on my way to a friends house who has a dog.  I brought my dog along so they could play.  The back seats were down for the TV and stand but he had about 18 inches of room in front of it.   Well a light ahead was turning yellow and I would have been entering the intersection when it had turned red.  I decided to break.  I heard a crash in back as the TV hurtled forward and a yelp from my dog.  My heart was pounding and images of a crushed dog were in my head with me unable to free him.  he crawled through the space between the front seats,  shaking, into my arms,  without a scratch on him.  The TV had tipped forward and the top was leaning against the front seats.  He was in the space in the bottom.

I was very grateful to God for sparing my dog!  He was still shaking when we got to my friend's house.  Then he met her dog and went off to play!

I have prayed for healing for people with very serious illness and had them completely healed.  Many others were also praying for them.  Part of you thinks,  was this God or maybe the surgery took care of it?  Somehow the little things like immediately having an idea of where something that was missing is prove to me clearly that God is willing to help us even in small ways when we ask.  Do I think this God of the universe has nothing to do but hear each of our little concerns?  Maybe it's guardian angels who take care of the little stuff! 

Volunteering at the Jail

I like to teach.  I wish I had gotten a master's degree in teaching rather than in social work.  I enjoyed substitute teaching at least 95% of the time for a local school system.  However I got tired of taking a job and then having it get cancelled at the last minute,  with no pay.  The first year I subbed I went to a high school once and was told they had scheduled in mistake, but not to worry, I would get paid.  I stayed and helped the staff with new student paperwork.  Things changed and with the tough economy they had hundreds of people applying monthly to sub so we were dispensible!

However last year,  4 times I took a job and didn't get paid for it.  We had two snow days.   I had shovelled and shovelled to be able to get out of my driveway and was up and dressed at 6:30.  The full time and part time staff got paid, but not the subsitutes until someone looked up a rule in the teacher's contract.  Then a month later we got paid for one of those days if we were scheduled.  Another day I was a few minutes away and got a call on my cell phone saying it was a mistake.  Gas costs me almost $10 a day over and back and it was too late to get another job.  Then another time I got there and they told me they didn't need me after 2 hours.  Again it was too late for another job.  Furthermore they had been disorganized and it was a program for high school students with severe behavior problems.  I had had it with that! 

I looked online for volunteer opportunities and decided to volunteer in a county corrections program.  Evidently they used volunteers for juveniles  as well as adult males and females at the  jails.  They told me the big need was at the men's jail.  I knew that the inmates couldn't be disrespectful to me or call me names like middle school or high school students in the schools sometimes did.   I wanted to just be able to go and do my thing and not get involved with any other of their problems ( like working with families).

I also knew that many people wouldn't  feel comfortable volunteering in a jail.  Previously I had tried to help mostly Illinois inmates get books and helped post their penpal ads at a free penpal web site called lostvault.com .  Later a group started called Books to Prisoners in Urbana IL was started and they grew and have sent books to many thousands of prisoners in IL.  It's very impressive.

I knew that jail and prison conditions in Minnesota were much better than in IL and that I'd probably feel comfortable volunteering in one.  I've gone 4 days now for about  6 1/2 hours a day.  It's very well organized.  They have many CD's with learning programs on them.  The inmates who don't have a high school degree or GED are tested to see what level they are at when they first arrive.  They mostly use the computers ( they are not online) and workbooks to work at their own pace. 

Some have trouble doing that and that is when they schedule a volunteer tutor to work with them.  I get a schedule each day I come in with their names,  the time I have them, and what subjects they want help with.   Some are learning English now.  Some were hopelessly lost in school and didn't get the help they needed.  Having been a foster parent I know how that can happen.

I've enjoyed working with them.  Most will mention that they have to pass this or that part of the GED, and are leaving at a certain date,  so want to pass the test before they leave.  Some talk about why they got so far behind.  They are dyslexic,  moved all the time, and/ or parents didn't care of pay attention to them.  I got stumped a little with the science questions. 

I have a lot to learn about what materials they have available to help them, and about GED testing and materials.  I'm enjoying it and I hope that the men are happy with the help they received.

Volunteering with Homeless and Refugees

I decided in the middle of the summer to choose a new volunteer "job".   Last year I volunteered to work with a refugee family that came from a camp in Nepal.  They had been there 18 years.  I helped them learn English, but also get winter clothing ,  get library cards,  and other odds and ends.  I hear that two of them have jobs now. The committment was for 3 months. 

I told the other members of the volunteer group I wouldn't do it again.  I was shocked that when so many Americans are out of work and losing their homes,  we are footing the bill for refugees to settle here.  It's extensive.  They get welfare benefits with medicaid, and food stamps.  Here I was with probable cancer,  working about 75% of the available days as a substitute teacher and on ebay and I had NO health insurance! There is no way I could afford to pay it , either. Then they had everything in the apartment including food,  donated by our church.  We also took up a Christmas offering to help them pay back their debt to the US government for their air fare.

 The group working with them continued to pay for this and that,  such as boots and antenna so a donated TV would work.  Refugee staff took them to clothes closets kinds of places where they got donated winter clothing.  Payless Shoes gave each child a new pair of shoes or boots.  They got free bus cards to get to English classes, with free babysitting.  And of course in our country school and the school busses are free.  Then they had various  paid staff at the Council of Churches and refugee services helping them. These are all paid people.  We have thousands of refugees arriving all the time in the Twin Cities.  I guess we have the largest Somali population of any where else in the US.   I am sympathetic to the refugees but I disagree with settling them here at our expense.  I really feel Americans should come first. 

For all the uproar about illegal immigrants,  one thing is sure.  They don't receive welfare benefits! They would get free medical attention in emergency rooms and hospitals and could get food at food shelves.  They attend schools free and get free bussing and meals.  However they are working and do work that most Americans will not do!  I have no idea what the solution is to the problem.

For 11 years I volunteered with Project Home.  It is homeless shelter for families.  It is a St. Paul Minnesota program under the St. Paul Council of Churches.  Two or sometimes three churches ( occassionally a school or synagoge) host up to 20 people per night. That church has a volunteer who organizes volunteer help from their church as well as surrounding churches to staff it.  I was that person for 2 of the years.  Generally we needed about 4 people in the evenings and then 2 overnight. 

I met a lot of great people who were "guests" but also some awful people.  People who would steal the supplies we bought with our own money that were meant for everyone,  people who horribly neglected their children,  people who sat and watched TV and let their children run loose unsupervised,  emptying out boxes of puzzles all on top of each other and then walking over them, and then dumping all in a toy box.  I made a huge Sunday meal once for the group and the volunteers.  For just 20 people including children and about 5 volunteers,  I bought 2 huge cat fish and 5 huge roasts.  I was stunned that all the fish and most of the meat was gone before the volunteers could eat.  Evidently this one woman who had 5 children had grabbed a bunch and then went out of sight to her area to eat.   I made a big mistake by not serving the food myself! 

I have a Master's degree in Social Work.  However,  I'm real tired of excuses.  The volunteers just want to put in their time they promised and go home.  The hired staff of Project Home are just paid to be there 1 or 2 hours and make sure new families get a short orientation and that beds are set up,  etc.  So parents are out of sight and don't supervise babies and toddlers eating.  It is beyond me how they think it ok to have a church take them in when they are homeless and then let their children run around the social area of the church with peanut butter sandwiches in hand,  or handfuls of cheetos. Last December,  I was aleady knowing I probably had cancer, and probably since it was uterine cancer,  my hormones were all over the place, but I had had it one night.  I left early and cancelled the other night I was supposed to volunteer.  I just cannot do it any more.  I won't be donating either.  With my low income I had donated just $20 when they said they badly needed toys.  When I saw all those puzzles trashed in about an hours time I thought... what a waste of money!

I've volunteered with five different families that were either under child protective services or that they decided needed extra support help.  I've done two internships while in graduate school.  I was a foster parent for a total of 9 years and a foster care social worker for 2 years.  I know that many of these people are in the shelter because their family and friends have had it with them!  My ex husband was from a poor rough area of Chicago.  One of his sisters,  who had 5 babies a year apart ( !!) and no man in sight to help take care of them or support them,  was homeless.  I asked him,  why doesn't your family help them?   Later he said he heard her step dad had taken her in with all 5 little kids.  He said the step Dad was sick and tired of her sitting on her butt watching TV and the kids making a total mess of the house.  She did not clean up after them!   She went out of state to get section 8 benefits for a year.  Then  she was eligible to get Section 8 benefits in Chicago.  She came back and got a 5 bedroom very nice apartment!  

I guess I am an officially older grumpy person now, but honestly if I were in charge,  they would have to be with and supervising their children at all times when in homeless shelter.  They are responsible for washing their kids up,  brushing their teeth, picking up their toys and putting them away, and serving their food and cleaning up after them... just like the rest of us do! 

I got two gallons of milk for the price of one and stopped at the host church from last December 2010 to give it to them.   The church people said they didn't host it this year.   I know I am not the only person who gets real tired of how it's run!
I do want to help the community and many are in need.  So I decided to tutor.  I called a local school and didn't get a call back.  I decided to volunteer at one of the jails or juvenile facilities.   New post on that subject.
































I decided about 6 months ago that I would like to volunteer some of my time tutoring.  There was a web site with information as to which organizations needed what kind of help.  I decided to email and get more information.  I  first applied online to volunteer at a county jail/ correctional facility.  I had to get 3 references and have them sent in and then go in for an interview.  Then there was a training.  Most present were interns. The volunteer trainer  told me that the men's learning center was in the greatest need of volunteers and was at the same location.  The very next day I heard from the head of the learning center.  I did go down there before Christmas to get a tour and find out a little more about it.

I was really impressed with how organized it was.  There are lots of math software CD's on the walls,  labelled in pockets as to the exact topic covered. There must be nearly a 100 of them. There lots of GED books as well,  by topic, level, pretests,  skills study and more.  There were maybe 15 computers for the men to use the software on. 

The head of the department explained to me that most of the work done there was towards completing GED's but that some were pre GED, ( not ready to start GED study yet) and others were preparing to apply to colleges. It is a very busy place!  I was a little self conscious the first day I was being shown around.  Today as I had a few minutes I went behind the men to see what programs they were using.  The majority were working on math software.  Everyone was working on something different!  She explained that they are all in different places so it would be near impossible to have a class on a particular area of learning.

Today was my second day of tutoring.  I was given a schedule with the name of the inmate, topic he wanted help with,  and the time slot.  Each day I had 6 one hour slots. The staff told me I was the only volunteer to say I would be willing to teach all subjects other than high level math.  I substitute taught in Minneapolis schools for over  3 years and learned to jump in to teach a lesson plan at over 40 schools and literally from special education 4 year olds to adults learning English. .  I certainly didn't have personal knowledge of all those topics, but gained  confidence in how many I was comfortable with.  I told them I would not be embarassed at all to tell someone I didn't understand the math,  for example.  I learned a great deal when I was teaching in Minneapolis.  I also found out how much I didn't know! 

So what was it like,  you ask?   Was I nervous?  The staff were all very friendly and so were the inmates.  I was nervous I'd do something wrong.   I asked in advance if the center  could use some pencils, for example, before bringing them in.  Today the inmates weren't coming in after lunch and the staff found out there was a lockdown.  I hoped someone wasn't hurt.  It turned out it was a medical emergency and once the ambulance had left,  things returned to normal.  There wasn't any tension between the inmates that I detected and none of them were acting crazy.  I mention this because I have known of attacks on staff by inmates in prisons.   The staff told me that if the inmates were every disrespectful,  the staff would remove them and they wouldn't be able to return for a week or so.  If it happened a second time,  they would not be able to come to the learning center.

Today I thought I'd try to find my way in without asking someone to come get me.  I signed the log and showed my volunteer badge.  There was a lady behind a screen.  I looked around to see if there was something I was missing.  She asked what was the problem?   I said I don't know how to get in!  There was a screen and doorbell kind of thing.  Then I got to those huge gates and only saw a man behind a "command center".  I heard a click and thought I'd try to slide the gate, and sure enough that worked.  It seemed strange to be moving it myself.

I got settled and got my schedule.  Two students I had last week.  About half of them mentioned when they were leaving and that they hoped to finish the GED testing before then.  They'd mention when they were having a test.  Then they talked about wanting to get a job to support their children, and a little about their lives.  One said to me,  you are the first person to ever help me with school work. I thought that was odd.  I said he's probably forgotten all the times a teacher tried to help him. Three were Mexican and English was their second language. `

This n That sewing, ebay, punches , dresses

I've had the "crud" for over a month.   When I get out of the house I see and hear that others have the same thing.   I didn't feel "sick" so much as tired all the time.  This is my excuse for not getting nearly as much as I wanted done on my various projects.

I'm waiting for a photo of the finished teal and silver satin dress to post.   I gave it to my granddaughter December 31st.   I have the other one to finish this week!  She picked out fabrics at S R Harris warehouse with me this summer.   We got lots of sparkly fun fabrics and trims.  Then I made a number of trips to fabric stores to get solid fabrics and patterns to go with them. This time I am determined to do it faster!  No hand putting in zippers and lining.  I must have spent 3 days solid on the last dress.

Maybe half of my sisters do some sewing.  I have seven sisters,  and no brothers.  Sister Clare is the one with "nanaclare'skitchen" blog.  I can't think of one of our daughters or sons who has wanted to learn to sew at all.  However,  my granddaughter may have an interest.  She sure loves pattern and design! She made a paper pattern for a dress for her stuffed tiger.  She spent about 3 hours taping copy paper together and cutting it this way and that! She was 4 at the time.  She does drawings of people ,  that have patterned fabric in great detail.  She was VERY enthusiastic in the fabric warehouse and lasted several hours.  Don't we all watch our children and grandchildren closely and wonder what their talents and interests will be in life?

I ended up having the sparkly fabric as a separate  overskirt with elastic that could be worn with or without the dress.  This next one is using the purple fabrics in that photo with the pile of fabrics.

I have not done work on the dolls. 

I did get some new merchandise and Valentine making supplies posted on ebay.

Speaking of ebay..... the new postal increase goes into effect on Monday.  The increase for an international flat rate envelope is $4... substantial!  I need to revise everything in my store for the new rates.

I love papercrafting tools.  I know I am not alone.  Seriously I think my heart pounds a little faster when I see great new designs in punches, embossing folders and framelits and dies.  The stampin up mini catalog that just came out is GREAT!  Lots of "vintage" type designs which I love.   I  dislike stamp sets that look like a 3 year old drew them.  I want to see ones done by an artist.  They have new stamp sets and coordinating punches, as well as dies and the brand new framelits from Sizzix to go with many of them.   I have a number of customers in Australia that sent me messages that they are drooling over the new mini catalog.  They are likely to have most of those products themselves later on.  However none of the international markets have the full product catalog like the US does. The company is based here and the stamp sets are made in the US. 

Martha Stewart and EK Success also have wonderful new punches ( and they are on sale tomorrow) There is a 24 hour sale with 24% off at Martha Stewart.  I am sure you can google to see, but I think the Code is Shopnow.  It's for  1/21/12.   Martha has wonderful new "all around the page" punches that can punch in the middle of a page,  not just on an edge or slightly in.  Then there are the coordinating punches for an edge and then the corner.