Special Delivery

This Christmas my AMAZING co-workers came together to help someone in need from my community. This morning we made a special delivery of clothing, blankets, towels, lanterns, batteries, flashlights, towels, paper goods, a Coleman stove, fuel, lanterns, canned goods and SO much more! This someone is the man that my farmer friend and I have been delivering food to weekly for over 6+ months now. Most recently we have connected him with a local food bank which has greatly eased the amount of food we have to come up with ourselves. I first posted about him here and again here if you are interested in reading a little history of how I got involved in this adventure.

When we first arrived he did not appear to be home. Knowing he could not be far I unloaded all the goods in his front yard. As we started to take off he appeared from behind his house. He was gathering branches for his fire. The smile on his face when he saw all the supplies was PRICELESS! I just want to THANK all that were involved in this RANDOM ACT of KINDNESS! I could not have pulled this off with you, MUCH APPRECIATED!

Ordinary Days

I watched this video that was posted by friends on facebook tonight. I found it very touching! For those of you that know me personally know that I have struggled a bit with the transition Country Boy has made from age 9 to 10. I could so relate to much that was said in this video. You will as well if you have children of any age. I cried tears of joy and sadness all at the same time. Just the other night I was telling Maine Man that the hardest part of your children growing older is that you constantly have to reassess and make adjustments to how you parent your children. They don't have to change, you the parent has too! I think I also spouted off that I was headed to the library to get a parenting book to try and figure out how to handle this stage......lol.

On another note the kid above is not mine or anyone I know. Just snapped a picture of him at the Common Ground Fair a couple months back.

Almost time for New Years Resolutions.......anyone thinking that far ahead? Sorry I am a bit of a planner. Last year when I made my resolution of delivering a meal or a baked goodie once a week to some older folks down the way I had absolutely NO idea what the outcome would be! Little did I know that 1 year later I couldn't even imagine life without them! My old man friend holds a place in my heart like no other. He truly is one of the most involved and important people in my life. Blessed I am! So for this year I have a few things I'm pondering....loose a couple pounds is a yearlong battle so that is a given, no more cussing, to decrease my cell phone use while driving (never calling out.....want to set and example for my kids & be safe) and lastly to post 1 or more pictures a day on my blog for 365 days of 2011. What do you think.....little crazy? I think it will be fun, it will encourage me to take my camera out more and document the "ordinary days", and it will allow me to improve my photography and editing capabilities as they could use some more work. What are you pondering? Would love to hear!

~Just for Fun~

For the record I'll admit it....I have a slight magazine fetish. I get a lot of great ideas from them. Remember the Community Treasure Chest I started back in May 09', that was started after I read about it in a magazine. A year and a half later and we still have 2 totes in continuous circulation. It is a really cool way to recycle, re-purpose, and re-use while bonding with friends, neighbors, and/or co-workers. I posted here about as well if you are a new reader and would like to learn more about it.
Several months ago I read an article in Mary Jane Farm magazine about a group of ladies called the "Dining Divas". They meet once a month alternating homes bringing together local, organic, homemade food. Immediately I was inspired! Instead of doing it at home I decided to start something at my work place. This was the beginning of the "X-Rayted Dining Divas" named so as I work in the radiology department. Every month we pick a theme such as: Mexican, Soups/Salads, Chili/Crock Pot cook-off and I post a sign up with different categories: appetizer, main dish, dessert, paper products etc. So far every monthly luncheon has proven to be a success. Hope I inspire someone to do the same. Would love to hear what fun activities you do at your workplace!

Another GREAT thing my department is doing is sponsoring the man my old farmer friend and I deliver weekly groceries as our "Christmas Family". I am SO excited to get all the goodies (blankets, boots, matches, lighters, lanterns etc) gathered and delivered on Christmas day. I will definitely take some pictures and post about it here!

Putting an End to Hunger

At the end of June I wrote a post about a person we (my farmer friend and I) make weekly meal deliveries to. Tonight marked our 15th trip over to his house dropping by food. Every week we deliver a dozen fresh eggs, milk, bread, garden vegetables, meat, canned goods (donated by friends...you know who you are, THANK YOU!), and sometimes even a sweet treat along with a couple gallons of frozen water to supply his cooler for the week.

In past weeks we have also delivered clothing, shoes, and household supplies (tp, soap etc.). Despite our efforts to supply him with weather appropriate (it was up to 100 degrees here today, actually VERY unusual weather for Maine in September) clean clothing he has the SAME attire on EVERY visit.... worn tan pants, t-shit, zip-up sweatshirt with cutoff sleeves propped up with clothes pins, a belt and sneakers with holes. Kinda strange but, to each his own I guess! My farmer friend has finally convinced the man that he'd take him to the social security office next week in hopes to get him enrolled in benefits. He should be able to collect as he is 63 years old. My FF told him he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to live and he wanted to help him while he could......brought tears to my eyes! I can't imagine life without that man. LOVE HIM, he has become such an IMPORTANT part of my life! There isn't a day that goes by that I do not visit him or at the very least talk to him. One that note I can't urge you enough to take a few extra moments a week out of your busy lives and spend some time with an elderly neighbor or relative. I promise you they will enrich your lives and teach you invaluable lessons if you just take the time and listen.

On a lighter note.....are you wondering why I posted a picture of our naughty dog Rona? Lately we noticed she kept loosing weight to the point of real concern. We wormed her using 2 different wormers thinking that was her problem. After close observation we realized she was literally starving herself in hopes to get table scraps come days end. Despite our dogs bottomless bowl of decent dog food. Can you even imagine? We have NEVER had a dog do something of this nature before. Now in order to get our spoiled rotten dog to eat dog food twice daily we give her what we now call "dog cereal" covering her food with milk or meat broth. Has anyone else ever had a finicky dog like this?