Family Literacy Night

Last night was 'Family Literacy Night' at CeCe's school (Riverside Elementary). She was so excited to read her poetry and practiced quite a few times with her mom, Manny, and me. Four other schools were also in attendance which made it a bit chaotic at times but the kids, being the resilient beings they are, didn't mind. Each school had the floor for 15 minutes; when you tapped a girl's knee (that's what the sign says she's wearing around her neck) or a boy's elbow then they read their poems to you. CeCe's favorite was 'I knew an old woman who swallowed a fly' -- remember that one? CeCe read with great expression, clarity, and confidence; I was quite proud of her :-)

Tonight was her cheerleading class through the Rec Department. She's really enjoying this and is so excited to demonstrate what she learned to Gregg and I.

Perhaps she'll get a scholarship to UW as a cheerleader / poet?? Do grandparents get into the games at a reduced cost?

Meeting Abigail Adams

Tonight I met up with my girlfriends, Sue and Karen, for dinner at Fazoli's (oh, they don't walk around handing out breadsticks anymore -- you have to go up and get them yourself!) It was great to see the surprised look on Sue and Karen's faces when I arrived earlier than them (as opposed to being the late one due to my propensity of getting lost)! After we caught up with each others' busy lives we headed over to the New Berlin Library in a color-coordinated order . . . Sue just bought a blue Pacifica and lead the team; Karen has this gorgeous Malibu and I followed up in the rear with my cute blue Cobalt.

The New Berlin Historical Society hosted another program with Jessica Michna. Jessica invokes the identity of prominent women from history like Mary Todd Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Abigail Adams (she's currently working on a Dolly Madison performance). She begins with music of the era to get you in the right frame of mind and then appears to the crowd as though she's inviting you into her livingroom. She's so convincing that you feel her pain as well as delight in her joys. Abigail Adams talked much about the letters that she sent to her wonderful husband, John, and his responses. I've heard these letters identified as the greatest love story of that time. After the performance she opens the floor to questions and answers them in character when needed. Oh, it was so wonderful!! I want to learn more about her . . . ahh, so many books to read, so little time . . .

Perhaps I can get her booked at the Menomonee Falls Historical Society; good excuse to renew my membership!

In case you're interested in talking to her (or her alter egos); here's her contact info:
Jessica Michna - marytodd1880@yahoo.com

Random Acts of Kindness

Yesterday Christie and I awoke at the crack of dawn (or at least it seemed like that to me) and made it to church (Emmanuel Community United Methodist Church, Menomonee Falls) a couple of minutes before 7 am for our annual rummage sale (Christie brought extra caffeine). Now, you might be asking yourself 'what fool would go to a rummage sale that early?' My answer: ALOT of people. When we got there the line stretched from the back door all the way to the side door; I'm guessing over 100 people were queued up anxiously awaiting the doors to open. I had scoped out the merchandise on Thursday evening at choir so I had an idea of which room to hit first. See, this is the most organized sale one could think of. Each type of rummage is sorted, tested, priced and displayed in its specific room; i.e., books, kitchen, holiday, toys, clothes. The books were even sorted by type (mystery, history, travel, childrens) and then alphabetized within each category. The clothes were sorted by size and then once again by color! The clothes were sold by bag -- as much as you could shove into a bag for $6.00 (excluding baby clothes). Christie made a haul with books for her classroom and non-gender specific baby clothes (you know what a planner Christie is). I filled my GREEN canvas bag to the brim with all kinds of needless necessities and spent a whole $12.00 which included a coupon for bringing in some non-perishable food items for the food pantry. Carrie and her family went later and spent two hours there. The totals weren't completely tallied up by this morning but it was thought that we passed last year's total which was $11,000 -- yes, that's right folks -- eleven thousand dollars! Proceeds from a rummage sale!! The church uses this for outreach services. It's felt that the rummage sale itself is a type of outreach; it brings people into our church from all over the community and we gently show them what types of services that we have to offer. I'm not sure if they've kept track of the number of people who have joined our church by getting to know it by this type of outreach -- wouldn't that be an interesting statistic?

Last week two people from our congregation offered to pump gas at the local Witlin's gas station AND give the customer a $5.00 bill as a random act of kindness. How many people do you think would have gone to that particular station on a rainy Sunday afternoon between the hours of 12 and 1? Three? Seven? Twelve? Actually they pumped gas for SEVENTY customers! Wow!!!

So, rather than bringing people into church by guilt (as churches that I belonged to in the past were known to do), Emmanuel brings them in by through the back door. I think that's quite creative. Know what? It works!

Family Matters

I was entertaining myself tonight at my own private pity party when low and behold, Uncle Marvin called me out of the blue -- he'd been thinking of me. When I whined to him about losing my job he did the Zarling 'ach' thing and told me that he lost his job too, a couple of times already. Oh, there goes my idea of being at the center of the universe! I asked him what he was going to do now, he said that we're going to 'go fishing' . . . About a half hour after that Uncle David called -- yes, you've got, he was thinking of me too. Telepathy or just chance? I like to think it was my Dad tapping on my relatives' shoulders from the heavens. Dad? It worked.

Family . . . I've heard that in some mystical way we actually choose the family we're teleported into. I picked the best. I have to admit it took me a long time to admit or appreciate it but I certainly have been graced with an awesome lineage!

Yesterday I met a 'first cousin, once removed' who is simply amazing. Sharon and her husband, Carl, raised 5 children (one a set of twins) and then decided to open their home to special needs children. They adopted 4 children that continuously bring joy into their lives; two of them have Down's syndrome, one is deaf, and the other is wheelchair bound. These two love and nurture these angels that God brought to them inspite of their challenges. Sharon told me that when she was a young girl her grandfather would take her on picnics at the childrens' home which left a lasting impression of the lonely children left behind the window shades. It was her lifelong dream to be able to provide a home for children that were less fortunate than her biological children. Sharon and Carl traveling extensively with their children to build memories for not only the children but for others whose lives are touched by these special children. She has books and books of photo albums that the children page through from time to time to relive those memories.

This afternoon Uncle Harold and Aunt Bessie invited us to lunch. They're both in their mid-80's but are still active in their creative pursuits. Aunt Bessie always amazes me with all the projects that she has going and all the ideas that she has for the next project down the line. Uncle Harold is like a slow moving deep river; he always keeps me on my toes with current events and often adds a little nudge along the way. They have always been an inspiration to me -- Aunt Bessie taught me to sew and Uncle Harold opened my creativity.

It's said that you can choose your friends but you can't choose your relatives. No problem for me!

Coaching Mature Workers

Today's workshop was quite inspiring and reignited my job search focus. The woman who moderated the workshop, Jean Bunke, was AWESOME . . . she spoke to us as though we were sitting down for coffee; not over our heads or beneath us, just plain stuff. She in our age bracket (mature) and feels our pain. The job search of today is not what is was five years ago or even a year ago. We need to market and sell ourselves just to get in the door and this mainly done using nothing more than technology -- if we fit their perfect profile then we've got a chance. However, she told us not to dismiss those job descriptions in which we don't fit all the qualifications. She told us to think about if we were looking for the perfect mate; what are our chances of finding him or her? If I'm looking for someone who's tall, dark, handsome, rich, fun to be with, witty, etc. would I settle for fun to be with and witty? Probably (mmm, I think I did). Anyway, employers are much the same -- they want the perfect match but will settle for someone close to ideal. So, back to Marketing 101 -- get a foot in the door and wow them with how wonderful I am.

So with this new bit of knowledge under my belt, next week I'm going to concentrate on:

1. Revamping my resume . . . use more action words . . . emphasize my awesome work ethic . . . all the computer programs I'm proficient in . . . my success rates, etc.
2. Studying open positions and modify my resume to best fit each position (I've been blasting the openings with my generic one)
3. Doing same for my cover letter
4. Updating my Linkedin profile
5. Getting out and walking to clear my head, energize, and build focus

Wish me luck :-)

Networking for Boomers

Today I sat in on a networking session at the Workforce Development Center -- I am finding that I'm more focused and refreshed after going out there. Perhaps it's because everyone I meet is on the same mission as I am -- to become gainfully employed. Anyway, I was joined by about 30 other like boomers at this workshop. We spent an hour going around the room and introducing ourselves, discussing where we're at in our job search and what our strategies we're using to stay positive and focused. I'm one of the newbies; some have been at this since the beginning of the year! Yes, now I AM getting a bit scared. But, even so, the veterans are involved in continuous learning to enhance their job skills and are confident that this awful economy will turn around. It surprised me to meet so many displaced workers that were in manufacturing -- or maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised. Is manufacturing dead? Or will it come back with gusto to support the GREEN tech boom?

We learned about creating a JIST card -- it's like a business card with our top accomplishments to hand out informally. The workshop moderator suggested that we paste it on grocery bulletin boards, car windshields, the library, etc. I'm not quite that desparate -- YET. One woman in our mini group suggested that this would be perfect to give to 'warm' groups such as your circle of friends, people you know at church, relatives, etc. That way if they hear of anything they can give the potential employer your JIST card as an introduction. I'm not too sure about this yet but will give it some thought.

We also talked about what IS working in our job search -- I'm feeling pretty good because some of the suggestions I'm already following:
- Keep a To Do list and mark off your accomplishments
- Schedule something significant to do each day
- Continue to meet and network with people on a regular basis
- Follow up on your applications (this one I need to work on)
- Laugh, take time for yourself

So, this has indeed been a learning experience. The process for getting a new job is so different now than when I last searched for a job. When was that again? 1987?? Geez am I really that old?

U/C and the Grammar Police

Week one of unemployment moved along quite swiftly. I tried to keep myself on track by getting up at (or close to) my normal work hours and following a to do list. I only wish that the darn refrigerator wasn't so close! I applied for two jobs each day, followed up on the ones from the previous day, made friends with the folk at Workforce Development, finished up my Friends of Plum and Pilot newsletter, organized my bookshelves, cleaned out closets and carted stuff over to church for this weekend's rummage sale. Zackie and my father-in-law hope that this unemployment status will be short lived as I'm getting them both off schedule. Zackie now thinks that he should sit right on my desk to keep me company -- it's hilarious to watch him climb up my office chair, balance on the back and then jump over to the desk -- I have no idea why he doesn't just jump from the floor!

OK, so this morning I checked in for U/C and it wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. They ask that you apply for two jobs per week, not per day as I've been doing so I guess I've got some in reserve should I decide to spend some time out in the garden if it should ever stop raining. I received my U/C determination statement today and was surprised to see typos on this government form!!

'. . . the employe earned.' Ahh, they forgot the extra 'e' in employee. Then in the next sentence:
'As of the week ending 04/18/09, the employe has satisfied . . .' Again, missing that last 'e'!

One would think that with all of these notices being mailed that SOMEONE would catch the typos and have them corrected. But then I got to thinking: what if maybe, just maybe I might be wrong? Sure enough! I checked the dictionary and indeed employe is the correct spelling -- dahhhh!

Employee is the usual American English spelling, but employe is a Standard variant used especially by some corporate house organs and business publications.

OK, so U/C documents are considered either a corporate house organ (whatever that is) or a business publication . . . there's a chance for continuous learning even in my sweats and slippers!

Earth Day 2009

Today my niece, Tena, and I joined in on the Menomonee River Cleanup Event which was organized by the Milwaukee Riverkeepers in honor of Earth Day. We met at Rotary Park at 9:00, got our assignments and returned back to the park at noon for a lunch sponsored by area restaurants, mmm good. One of the restaurants was the new Cheesecake Bakery that's opening this month - yummm. Tena and I were given the area along the river out by the doggie park to patrol with our Hefty garbage bags and gardening gloves. The picture shows Tena's stash that we hauled off the river bank. Mainly we found styrofoam and plastic bags along with many, many plastic bottles. Tena found a coconut, wagon wheel, and about 3 mismatched pair of flip-flops. I found a garbage can cover, multiple Bic lighters, snuff containers, and balls that rolled down from the dog park. We met a wonderfully enthusiast woman (that I wish I would have gotten her email address from --- grrrrr) that found a fox skull, rubber ducky, and a container with some money -- lucky her! (That's not the reason why I wanted to get her email address.) My back is sore, my arms are all scratched up, and my nose is sunburnt but I feel really, really good about these 'battle scars'! We did something for the ecology! We made a difference! And I vow never to buy one of those stupid, cheap styrofoam coolers again!

What did you do to celebrate Earth Day?

Book Club Rooky

Learning that I have all this free time on my hands, the 'mature' ladies in my choir invited me to join them for their book club meeting. Now, I've never been to a book club and had this idea in my head that I had to read the book and take notes so I'd be prepared to answer questions if called upon in the group. So, I read the book with intent and hit the website; printed out the book club questions and studied them, thinking that this is what everyone else would do . . .

We met this afternoon at charming Meg Watson's home, we ate our bag lunches and Meg passed around some veggies and these uber wonderful chips served on her best china! She made tea and even kept it warm under tea cozzies (I gotta get me some of those!). Once we were done Meg asked if I would be the moderator - yikes! But it went quite well. The group is quite diverse and each had a comment to add to the conversation; keeping them on track was a bit of a challenge but I was able to get through all the recommended questions in the time that they usually alot for the group. Guess I did OK as they invited me back again :-)

The book we read was 'The Last Lecture' about this young man who learned his cancer was incurable and that he only had a couple of months to live so he prepared the legacy he wanted to leave for his wife and children in the form of a lecture. Yes, I cried through a good part of the book -- what type of a legacy would I leave to Gregg, the girls and kids? I hope that I don't have to think about that for a long, long, long time but in case God should come to call me sooner than expected I would want to leave them knowing how much I loved them and how each of them holds a small slice of me in their hearts that will live on forever. Each of them have done things in their lives that I have been fortunate enough to live vicariously through; what a blessing my family has been to me! (OK Christie, you can stop crying now)

Continuous Learning

Congressman Tom Petri

One of my goals during my forced sabbatical is to keep a schedule similar to that of being gainfully employed, remain engaged, and learn new stuff. Today I went to a Town Hall Meeting to learn about the current economic state of affairs in our community. I had never done this and felt like I've been living under a rock! I fully intend to be more aware from this day going forward.

Congressman Tom Petri was quite delightful considering that he was standing up in front of a group of people who each felt that their agenda was the one that he should bring back to Congress and get resolved. He opened the floor for the constituents and was immediately battered but he managed to keep his calm and educate us all on what he's been learning throughout his Town Hall Meetings and work in DC.

Here's just a few of the comments raised by the group:

• The Global Warming Tax -- couldn't this be resolved in a different way? We exported thousands of jobs overseas and pay a huge price (energy and otherwsie) to get them shipped back here for us to purchase. Let's bring manufacturing back home. Petri told us that the Global Warming Tax could adversely affect us in WI and Upper MI as we import a good percentage of our energy. Wind is bringing that reliance down but we don't currently have a way to store the unused energy that is produced . . . more later.
• No Child Left Behind -- what about the gifted children? Isn't there a level of disparity between those that need extra help and those that don't? Parents are pulling their children out of the community schools and home schooling them. Please vote for the reform of the No Child Left Behind program. He agreed that there is much room for discussion in regards to this program.
• Domestic / Eco Terrorism -- Wisconsin is one of the largest centers of animal and plant-based research in the US (bet you didn't know that!); we rank right behind Oxford. Eco terrorists are now part of a national network that make it difficult to track but once we do these people are being prosecuted. A constituent asked him to review the bill for reopening domestic slaughterhouses so we can monitor the humane treatment of horses being sent overseas for slaughter. She also suggested that the 'wild' ponies being held in goverment pens should either be released or slaughtered rather than use our tax paying dollars to feed them - have them feed us!
• War Efforts -- A consituent's son is on his 3rd tour of Iraq; he's been in combat for 3 of his 6 years in the service. In previous war efforts a soldier only saw 12 months. The men and women that are returning need a better way to be reintroduced into the system than what's been happening. Petri told us that finally there is a system that allows the VA's records to communicate directly with the Pentagon. I was surprised to hear that this is still a problem in the age of technology; he seemed a bit embarassed also.
• Priorities -- When there are people losing their homes how can he consiously vote for such flagrant programs such as studying honeybees, blueberries, and pig farts? Aren't we spending money on the wrong things? He tried to explain that it takes a long time to put a program into place and used the example of a naval destroyer -- why do we need 15 of them when certainly 10 should do? OK, I didn't completely follow his way of thinking with this analogy but then a woman farmer stood up and explained how studying the honey bees helps the farmer to pollinate his fields without using commercial fertilizers and excess fuel for farm equipment . . . mmmm, this makes sense now.
• Job Loses -- What is the government doing about them? People need income not more debt. Wind Energy does completely solve the problem as we have no reliable way to store power when the demand is down or what to do when it's not windy? Petri reported that there is a new electric car technology being developed in Milwaukee, Israel, Hawaii, and Denmark that would use the energy from the cars that are plugged in during the non-peak hours. These new cars would use a battery pack that could be easily exchanged in a refueling station. Mmmmm sounds interesting! However, we are looking at a potential .08 to .10 increase in gas and heating fuel in the not-too-distant future.
• Bank Money / Regulation -- Yes, the bailout is given in the form of a loan with interest. All those frauding the system will be prosecuted to the extent of the law.

You're welcome to join me for the next one or perhaps a cup of coffee to discuss the facts and see what each one of us can do to make this world a better place for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren.

What's a little cat hair?

I found this AWESOME little tool for trying to get ahead of Zackie's shedding. It's called the BAMBOO cat de-shedding tool. Basically it's a fine tooth comb designed to get at the undergrowth that I can't seem to reach with his slicker brush. They show a picture on the packaging of a cat surrounded by mounds of fur -- if he would have sat still long enough to get his picture taken I would have sent it in to the company. He filled a small plastic grocery bag with his fur!! No wonder everything I touch is laden with cat fur! He wasn't real wild about it at first and moaned alot but once he got used to it he was fine. Next time though I certainly will wear something different than my fleece pj's! I have enough fur on me to knit a sweater (OK, so I'm exaggerating a bit). According to the advertisement if I brush him regularly the shedding should decrease dramatically. Gosh, I hope so because I'm finding cat hair in places where there's no cat, like my dresser drawers. I found it at PetCo but I checked online and it's available all over the place. They make a similar one for dogs and have posted a video on UTUBE so you can see how easy it is. I wish I would have found this when we had Pudgie!