Yay for serendipity and spring!!

So... Saturday after yet ANOTHER Bowl For Kids' Sake event... Paul's buddy Phil had asked whether we wanted to go along while he took the kidders fishing at a friend's place. I decided I am getting WAY too burned out on BFKS and work... and just need to start saying "yes" to things exactly like this that are NOT in my day planner and do not have expectations of productivity or time management attached to them. I need to just live life a little... on my own terms... and give a little nod to the things that actually make me happy. We followed Phil WAY out into the boonies. Paul and I looked at each other when we were on the kind of narrow little gravel road going through the woods with trees right up to the edge (and no poles/wires), and we agreed that THIS was our favorite kind of road to travel. We could live in a place like that. We pulled back a long winding muddy drive and parked beside a log cabin with a litter of about six or eight barking puppies on the porch. Phil got the kidders (age 4 and 6) all set up with fishing rods at the pond and we just enjoyed the quiet setting and the funny comments from the kids. After a while, Phil's buddy came out and we went up to chat. He invited us in, commenting that "Martha Stewart doesn't live here." As we walked through the door, it was all I could do to not just start rambling about how cool this place was!! I've never walked into a place that just seemed more like the "dream home" of my imagination. This cabin was small and very rustic, with a spiral staircase and lush hanging baskets of plants. There were lots of books around... a Native American patterned rug on the floor, a pretty lace curtain in the kitchen window, and I have NEVER in my life seen as many guitars and "ethnic" stringed instruments in one place!!!!! Turns out, this guy is a luthier... which is a term I haven't heard since School of Music days. We started talking about folk music and folkalley.com... and I said that in my car I haved lately been listening to a Russian bluegrass group called Kukuruza. He was interested and I said that I would love to see or hear a balalaika. He went into another room and came out with... you guessed it!!! A balalaika!

Then he brought out an oud with amazing inlaid designs, a sitar, a gorgeous lute, a yueqin from China, and showed me countless other instruments that I learned about in college classes... I recognized the kora that he had on his mantle as an African harp! He had some really ancient instruments as well. I was SO excited! I think this could be someone to go play music with. As we were driving out the lane, I told Paul, "I think we made a friend today!" :)

Blogging about BBBS...

I must admit...blogging has not yet found a niche in my l ife. I think it's fascinating and I like looking at other people's blogs, but I just don't have the savvy yet to make mine fun. For example, once again... I cannot figure out why it won't let me upload a photo, and frankly, it makes me want to scrap the idea of putting a new post here today. Darn it! I want a post WITH a picture... and why shouldn't it be just as easy for me as it is for everyone else?! I shouldn't have to do research into HTML. Anyway, the picture I would have put with this one is of Paul & I on our wedding day, with Heidi (my Little Sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters) standing beside us.

I had the idea that perhaps a blog would be an innovative marketing/recruitment tool for BBBS in terms of generating interest in the program and "meeting" potential Bigs. So, I thought I'd do a little research this afternoon and see if anyone else has already tried this idea. I was very pleased to find some cool BBBS-related blogs. Here they are:

http://bigbrothersbigsistersofcentraltexas.blogspot.com/

http://one2onefun.blogspot.com/

http://www.abiglittleblog.blogspot.com/

Right now I am in the "thick of things" with the Bowl For Kids' Sake campaign. It's kind of immensely stressful... and I don't feel confident that we're going to reach our goal. I am working SO hard, and devoting tons of personal time to the endeavor as well. I'm learning a lot, and am taking every challenge, success, and frustration as a learning experience and something to use constructively to make our 2008 campaign that much better. I'm a bit self-conscious that I'm probably a VERY boring person to converse with right now, because my thoughts are so consumed with work-related stuff.

At the same time that Bowl For Kids' Sake is going on... some MAJOR volunteer recruitment needs to happen in the counties we serve. We especially need Big Brothers. Anyway, here I go rambling about work again... but I am thinking that maybe a work-related blog (with posts about the agency, posts about matches, posts about events, etc.) might have some usefulness and might be a creative outreach tool. However, right now, I simply don't have the time. I'm not tossing out the idea though...

Colonel Good Night at The Good House

Well... I would have put a picture of the Good House here, but my "add image" button does NOTHING! I'm aggravated about that. The last time I did this, I was able to include a photo... what's the problem NOW? As far as I know, I'm doing nothing differently. Anyway...

Next Wednesday evening, Paul and I have reservations at The Good House for Colonel Good Night!! I am so excited. Mom & Dad and a bunch of their Model T friends are going the following Wednesday. Donna & Buck have had the Good House open for five years now... so to celebrate that, Donna came up with this Colonel Good Night idea. They did a bunch of research into what things would have been like at The Good House back in the original days when Colonel Good was running the show. This includes the way the tables would have been set up and the types of food that would have probably been served at that time. From what I hear... this could mean even something like a dish of RABBIT!!! My mom got some books on the subject from the library for Buck, Donna, & Sharon to use to plan all this out. Sharon said last evening, "I think we've created a monster." They never expected it to be as popular as it is... this past Wednesday they had 75 people in attendance, and they're already busting at the seams with reservations for the remaining two Wednesdays!
At one end of the restaurant, they have a display with a big portrat of Col. Good. They set the tables up end to end to make two LONG tables. Dinner starts promptly at 6pm. Dinner is 25 cents (like it would have been back whenever) but there is a $9.50 cover charge. A local historian/storyteller is there to "paint the picture" about certain figures and events from that time. I absolutely cannot wait!

I had an interesting conversation with Sharon last evening at The Good House. She and her husband used to own it in he 70's. She said that sometimes on Saturdays, they'd have bands play at 9pm. They could pack in up to 120 people!! They usually just had a cover charge. I really hope that everything comes together for the Boondogglers ("unplugged" version) to come play at The Good House as my Bowl For Kids' Sake benefit (sometime before May 14). There are conversations happening... and I think it looks promising. :) I feel very certain we could get a LOT of locals to come to this event.

Pumpkin Rarebit Soup

(from "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" cookbook)

4 cups cooked or canned pumpkin

1 cup chicken stock or water

1-1/2 cups light beer or ale

1 heaping cup chopped onion

2 tbsp. butter

3/4-1 tsp. salt

2-3 medium garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

black pepper

1 packed cup grated cheddar cheese

1) Blend pumpkin & stock. Combine with beer in heavy saucepan & simmer just to boiling.

2) Saute the onions & garlic with salt in butter, until slightly browned. Add to pumpkin mixture.

3) Add remaining ingredients, stirring well.

4) Let simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes, strirring to prevent scorching.

Serve with rolls or crusty bread & salad. Serves 4-6.

"Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed." ~ Storm Jameson

Here goes! My first blog... I make no claims of any profound or prophetic thoughts. I just had to start somewhere. I actually have a day off work today and the first part of it has been spent (hopefully not wasted) in setting up this blog. My to-do list today includes:

1. laundry (another attempt to conquer Mt. Washmore)
2. go to the office and gather items for a BBBS display at a grocery store in Orrville
3. find the grocery store in Orrville and set up display
4. go to the office and work a little on Bowl For Kids' Sake (not more than one hour!)
5. watch "Dear Frankie" (recommendation by one of Mom's friends)
6. some efforts toward a cleaner house
7. make my annual batch of pumpkin rarebit
8. write 10 wedding thank-you notes

I think this seems reasonable. I have a lot of difficulty creating realistic to-do lists, and hence, at the end of the day... sometimes have a bigger mess than what I started with.

I think this quote caught my attention today because it goes with the overall theme of why I took my cousin's suggestion to start a blog. I get swept away with projects of one sort or another (at the moment, Bowl For Kids' Sake), and have the illusion that I am not holding the reins on the direction and contents of my own life. I have come to the conclusion that some change and prioritizing is in order, and keeping a blog seems to be a way to accomplish several objectives.