Year is almost up

Wow the year has gone by fast. My garden worked out ok for my first time. I learned 2 important things, plants need water to grow and the right location is very crucial. People are always right when they say location, location, location. I did have a little success with cucumbers and cherry tomatoes but unfortunately some kind of animal got to my watermelons and squash.

Unfortunately I am no where near my volunteering goal. I have been able to add some hours the past couple of months. In August I volunteered 8 hours at a golf tournament for a pediatric cancer charity, 3 hours filming for the Bolingbrook Community TV station, and I volunteered 2 hours at a "Serenity" charity screening. In September I volunteered 3 hours at a wine festival event for the Naperville Humane Society and 8 hours at the Naperville Last Fling to benefit the Naperville Jaycees. In October so far I did 3 hours at the Northern Illinois Food Bank.


Goal = 250 hours
To date = 42 hours
To go = 208 hours

The Dead of Summer

Hello again. Unfortunately I went another month with no volunteer hours, but it looks like August and September will have a few opportunities for hours. Things are still pretty frustrating on the work front and the anxiety issues. Hopefully this time next year things will be better.

My garden (well actually mom's garden) has had some ups and downs. The ups include a very good crop of black raspberries and cherry tomatoes. The downs include the fact that a rabbit has eaten all but two of the flowers off of my cucumber plants, so that probably means I will only have 2 cucumbers if they grow correctly, and one of the apple trees has developed apple scab so all five of the apples that were growing are now gone. Hopefully next year it will have recovered. Luckily I did see one squash growing today and one brussel sprout plant seems to have survived my lack of watering certain days this year. I have learned some things this year in the garden and hopefully next year I will have more success. I also plan to do a photographic experiment next year. Starting on Jan. 1st I plan on taking a picture of something in the garden everyday next year. It is just very exciting to see the day to day changes in the garden and to see all of the different creatures that visit each day. I'm going to miss having a garden after next year.

Summer Has Officially Begun

It's official summer is here and I should be over the half-way mark of my volunteering goal unfortunately I did not have any volunteer hours in June. This month was mainly work and planning my mom's surprise party and it worked it stayed a surprise. We all had a great time eating BBQ and listening to Red Pop Fury perform. My mom sure is enjoying life right now.

My victory garden experiment has had a few setbacks. One of the raised beds cannot be used this year because of carpenter ants and I forgot to water a couple of days so somethings dies. Oh yeah and something has been eating the strawberries. I have only harvested about 6 strawberries total. :( Hopefully the blackberries will start ripening and the green peppers will be ready to pick soon.

I've been back from California for over a year now and it has been nothing like I expected. I really need to give myself a kick in the butt to get my life moving again. I was supposed to have done many many things by 34 but only a couple of them have happened. Hopefully in July things will start turning around.

Happy 4th everyone and remember the heroes are the everyday people who fight for what is right like the people who clean up oil spills and the people who try to protect wives from abusive husbands but end up getting beaten up themselves.

May 2010

May 20-10 has come to an end. I can't believe I haven't written in 2 months. It has been a busy month with my birthday, my nephew's birthday and a lot of work going on in the house. We have been redoing the kitchen with a new floor, new back door and new paint (our refrigerator has been in the living room for the last week). We have also done a lot of yardwork. My personal project has been a vegetable garden which I like to call my "victory" garden. My victory is over my black thumb. My goal is to harvest at least a pound of edible produce. I planted tomatoes, green peppers, strawberries, cucumbers, spaghetti squash and brussel sprouts. Hopefully one of these plants will actually grow something I can eat. One of my apple trees (that my brother bought) looks like it might have apples too.

Since the last time I wrote I have volunteered 2 shifts at the foodbank and my first shift at the Naperville Settlement. I didn't do much at the settlement, I was a door guard, but it was really interesting to watch the reenactments. It was during the annual civil war days and the people really go all out for it. They dress in period clothing and spend the weekend living as they did during the civil war era sleeping in canvas tents and all. It was also interesting to watch the interactions between the men and women such as men holding their arms out for women to hold and men doffing their caps for approaching women. The strange part was seeing the confederates and the union soldiers being cordial to each other.

Unfortunately I am still a long way from my 250 hour goal. My friend has referred me to a couple more local charities so hopefully that will work out.

I won't go into my birthday details mainly because I don't like birthdays. I will say I had a nice dinner with my parents and my brother and his fiancee gave me a very nice and unexpected gift. Other than that I get depressed on my birthday so I don't want to write more about it.

Til next time, live long and prosper.

Goal = 250 hours
To date = 15 hours
To go = 235 hours

Volunteering - Shouldn't be this hard

3 months down in the new year and only a total of 6 volunteer hours (another shift at the food bank). It shouldn't be so hard to find places to volunteer at (not medical related). I have submitted 3 applications to large places in my area but have not heard any responses. My father did make a good point that with so many people out of work right now people are turning to volunteering to fill the time. That may explain part of the reason no one has contacted me.

I recently got certified to use the equipment at the local community access television station so at least I can start working on some of my crazy ideas. I may also have to count my time there towards my 250 hour goal (when I work on other people's projects).

I have a "spring break" coming up in 2 weeks and I really wanted to do some volunteering that week but it probably won't happen. We'll see.

Goal = 250 hours
To date = 6 hours
To go = 244 hours

Volunteering - First Step

Putting in 250 hours of volunteer time this year is going to be harder than in the past. I only took my first step to my goal last weekend by volunteering 3 hours in the Northern Illinois Food Bank, St. Charles distribution center. My dad has been going there once a month for nine years. I join him whenever I get the chance. The minute we step in the door we head into what I call the conveyor room where we sort donated items to be sent to local pantries. He has to be in the fruits/vegetables station or he is not a happy camper. It is a good feeling knowing that people who can't afford the basic necessities have outlets like local food pantries to help fill their cabinets.

I am still waiting to hear from The Morton Arboretum, the Brookfield Zoo, and the Naper Settlement about my volunteer applications. They all start their new volunteers in the spring. I am also going to start looking elsewhere for other volunteer openings such as local retirement homes and local boys and girls clubs and the nearby libraries.

If you know of an event in the western suburbs let me know and I would love to check them out.

Goal = 250 hours
To date = 3 hours
To go = 247 hours

My Mama

Disclaimer: This is just me having some fun practicing my writing. I love my parents.

I did it I discovered the fountain of youth, well sort of…the key to staying young is listen to rock and roll!

There are so many gadgets and gizmos and ointments and creams out there to help you fight aging on the outside, this is an example of how to keep your spirit young.

This is based on my personal observation on how I watched my parents stay young without buying sports cars or running after young studs or studettes. As the baby boomers enter their seventh decade I wanted to write this to encourage them to keep the rock alive inside. Music is said to tame the savage beast but I think it can help keep your spirit young.

It all began a couple of years ago with a TV show called “Rockstar Inxs.” For weeks the world watched as men and women vied to be the new singer of Inxs. While the contestants sang and rocked their hearts out for the fans and judges my parents sat glued to the TV. The judges critiqued and the fans voted and in Chicago there was a local favorite.

Before leaving for LA for the contest Marty Casey fronted a band called Lovehammers. They had a small following throughout the Chicagoland area but that fame grew as each week Marty was saved from elimination. As the finale approached my mom learned everything she could about Marty and the Lovehammers.

It came down to the final 2 and my parents watched with bated breath to see who the world voted for. Marty came in second but in my opinion I think it was for the better. Marty came back to Chicago a hero in many people’s eyes.

As the show progressed my mom regressed into her second adolescence. She is a teenager again. Most teenagers follow their favorites every move and she does. Most teenagers are on the phone or computers 24/7 and she is. Growing up in the 60s she was always a music fan. She even took me to my first concert when I was 13, the Moody Blues.

She and my father moved to Chicago in ’74. They had a couple of casual friends here and there as I grew up but boy have things changed. She now has friends around the world. The Hammerheads are what the fans call themselves. They travel throughout the Midwest following the band from show to show. They’ve even flown in from Australia to see the band play. Most of the fan base is adult women 30-65 and they have become the best of friends.

For my mom this group has become her second family. My dad loves the fact that she has this in her life. This group has let her relive her teens without dealing with puberty again. They have also become a support system for each other. They rally around each other in many different ways. They also do great things for others. Their guitarist has encouraged them to build boxes for the troops overseas. There was also an online auction to benefit a fan fighting cancer, in which my mother donated handmade pottery.

Music and the Lovehammers have given my parents a renewed energy. My mom helps run the message board and the online store. She is more of a party girl at fifty something than most girls at 17, but she still makes it to work in the morning. She knows more about current music than my young adults.

My advice is you are never too old to rock out!!

Resolution Update

It is 17 days into the new year so let's do a brief recap of how the first 2 weeks have gone.

I wanted to curb my spending but unfortunately I did a little retail therapy at Macys.

I want to volunteer 250 hours this year and have yet to do 1 hour, although I did stop by the Naper Settlement today and picked up a volunteer application and I am still waiting to hear from The Morton Arboretum and the Brookfield Zoo.

I want do something in the entertainment field this year but unfortunately I can't find any local collaborators (although I have not looked on craigslist yet).

I did learn something new this week - the poinsettia plant is in the ragweed family and will affect ragweed allergies.

I did start my t-shirt memory quilt that I have been meaning to do for years.

I am still working on kicking this anxiety crap with therapy appointments every two weeks. It's nice to have someone to talk to.

I have yet to do more work on my poetry books which is my biggest goal of the year. I would like to have at least one published by my next birthday.

Last but not least I started playing with the Wii to slowly progress back into exercising. I have really enjoyed the Wii Fit program but have yet to lose any weight because I don't use it enough.

That's about it for me today so TTFN.

New Year New Me?

We are 4 days into 2010 and it's starting out about the same as the past 5. I have not been feeling 100%, stomach issues, which puts a damper on the reinventing myself that I wanted to begin this year. Oh well.

The holidays went by so quickly. Christmas and New Years were spent with the family. Took the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks" on Christmas and went to see "Sherlock Holmes" on New Year's Eve with my folks, but it would have been nice to have someone special to share the holidays with. The boys seemed to enjoy their first Christmas in Illinois and really have taken nicely to snow.

I have stuck to some of my resolutions so far especially the one about using my credit cards. But I have been lagging on other resolutions. I will list some of them now:

1. Get organized
2. Get healthy
3. Cut my debt down by half
4. Finish all the projects I have started
5. Become my own boss
6. Eliminate credit cards
7. No swearing
8. Stay positive - no complaining
9. Conquer my anxiety attacks
10. Conquer my fear of online dating
11. Learn to relax - meditate
12. Forgive people who have done me wrong in the past (start anew with everyone)
13. Learn something new everyday or at least learn a new skill by the end of the year

My goal of volunteering 250 hours this year is also off to a rough start since my top two places I want to volunteer at aren't accepting new volunteers at this time. I am going to look into more places to volunteer on my next day off.

I also have a goal of writing more on this blog so I can practice my writing skills. Even though no one reads this blog I can still use it to hone my creativity and broaden my vocabulary.

Welcome world to 2010.