Hats for Kids - Update #2

Good news. I have just heard from Frida and have a contact person and address for the woolies. I plan to send the first box out on Monday. For those of you who will miss this mailing, not to worry, there will be a second box going out as well. I will post timelines on that one later. Diana, your gift card will be included in the next mailing along with a parcel I am expecting from Tennessee and additional items that will be arriving from some local friends next week but after Monday.

Our contact person is a civilian worker from Lithuania. Our effort continues to be a truly international and collaborative effort.

Blessings to all,
Annie

Hats for Kids Update

Children frozen out

Ghor is perhaps the province most affected by the worst Afghan winter for 15 years. Many people have died in temperatures as low as -30C. Some observers say thousands may have died, with children worst affected. Firewood is in short supply, and many have frozen to death.

Text by Tom Coghlan, pictures by Veronique de Viguerie

Just a quick note to all. The response to my request for wool goods for the kids of Ghor in Afghanistan has been wonderful. Several hats, gloves, scarves, and mittens have already been received. Frida wrote yesterday and indicated that she has an APO address for me to ship to; we are only needing a contact name at the APO end which hopefully I will have by tomorrow. Frida will be gone for a week after that.

I have learned a lot from this effort most important of which is the awareness that life in most other places does not move at our speed. Growing up as a Navy brat and then as a military wife, I learned early the meaning of hurry up and wait but waiting U.S. style is not the same as waiting, international and I am working in a war zone environment, style. So I continue to wait for the one critical piece of information. When that arrives, the woolies will go out - perhaps in two days or perhaps in two weeks.

Either way, I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who have sent gift cards, funds, woolies, warm wishes and prayers. You are an amazing and generous group of women and I am proud to count all of you as friends. You have all very much enriched my life.

Happenings!!! Part Three

The Old is New

I couldn't finish off this fun afternoon without talking a bit about Placerville and the big place it has in my heart. Placerville is an old mining town in the California Gold Country. Over the past 25 years, Don and I, with the kids have gone up countless times always attached to a visit with Barbara and Jeff. Our kids have tramped through the woods exploring knot holes and tree nooks; built treehouses, played pirates, caught fireflies, camped, and explored mines. We've made the annual trek up to Apple Hill enjoying cider, fritters, and mile high pies.

I used to think that moving there would be just about perfect. But time and rising real estate costs, not to mention increasing numbers of people moving up from the valley, has made that idea all but impossible. So now as we approach retirement, we look farther north to other possibilities. Don wants the mountains. I want the ocean. Sounds like coastal Oregon to me but that will be saved for another story.

In the meantime, I enjoy showing off Placerville to Biene and Lisa - the antique shops, yarn store, old bookshops, art galleries, and all the places where coffee can be had. Biene explored the yarnshop in great detail; Lisa found a vintage pink apron that she could not live without. And me? For the first time in memory, I went home empty-handed but heart full of memories as my old favorite became new again as I watched my friends enjoying it all.

Placerville Tour

Happenings!!! Part Two

Girlfriend Chop Suey

Once Biene and I realized we were going to be more than two on the 20th, we started figuring out meeting points. B is on the mountain. I'm in the valley. Lisa is in the South Bay. The logical meeting point for all of us was the Wal-Mart parking lot on Hammer Lane in Stockton.

Hammer Lane is a major exit point on Hwy 99, north and south, so finding it would not be a problem. Well, not a problem if you don't have major construction making the exit all but invisible and it's only mid-morning and the sun is out. The last sign I saw was Hammer Lane, 3 1/4 miles. Good, I'm thinking. That's less than five minutes and traffic was light. So, six minutes later I'm wondering where Hammer Lane has disappeared to. Eight minutes later I'm exiting at Lodi and pulling into an AM/PM mini-mart. Short of police and taxi drivers, the perfect person to give directions in a tow truck driver and there he was. I had indeed passed Hammer Lane by five exits so with a big thank you and good-bye, I headed south. Hammer Lane construction was not nice but I negotiated the confusion and pulled into the parking lot. There was a Mini-Lube. Biene and Lisa could not be far away and then - There they were. I hopped out of the car, let the door hanging open, said "first things first" and was hauled into a big bear hug by Lisa. Oh my goodness, does that Lisa know how to give a hug.



Lisa is an adorable bundle of energy and verve. She is laughter come to life. After the predictable laughs and giggles, we transferred my stuff into Biene's car and off we went. I consider the first official laugh of the day post-greetings to be when Lisa told me she crimps her hair to get it to look like mine looks naturally and of course that was the day I flat-ironed my hair to calm it down thus taking on HER natural hair look. Confused? Well, we weren't. We totally GOT the whole girl thing about hair and I don't think we shut up the entire drive.

Speaking of the drive up, be sure to read Lisa's account of the, as she so delicately put it, directional navigation between Biene and I. I will defer to Lisa's observation of the true and honest account of events regarding that bit of wrangling. After all, she was Switzerland. Biene will have another story to tell, but don't believe her. Biene, I was NOT whining. LOL


And finally, there we were at our destination. Maryellen of the to die for short short hair was outside and greeted us. Few people can wear hair that short but Maryellen has it nailed. Great shape to the head. Great bone structure. Here she is with my Biene.

One of my most long time and dearest friends is Barbara who lives in Diamond Springs, a tiny town just above (literally) Placerville. We have known each other since 1981 when she had two toddlers in diapers and I had one. Her family eventually grew to four and I added one more. We have been through the entire range of family experience together - births, high school and college graduations, severe illness, weddings, the death of a child (her eldest at age 24), and the passing of our moms and the advent of grandchildren (hers). She is a rock; a quiet center of calm authority and good common sense. In a stormy world, she is the anchor you want at your back.

I felt totally strange about going up to Placerville and not seeing Barbara. In fact, it felt downright unnatural. After all, Krista was on her way up to visit her son Paul (son number three and her best buddy) but no Annie in sight. What's with that?? Barbara asked later. Anyway, out came the cell phone and low and behold, she could join us for lunch. Here she is with Vicci (on the right) I've known Vicci through a Yahoo group for a couple of years and we had met on a couple of other occasions, but now I was finally about to get Barb and Vicci together in the same place.


Vicci is the most productive and prolific person I think I know. She has an enormous heart and is the heart of her family. If anyone could be described as a warm hearth of comfort, it would be Vicci. She quietly sat at the table, the noisy cheerfulness washing over her and just soaked it up. She has a lot on her plate caring for her 91 year old dad and I'm sure the energy around that table charged her battery for the rest of the weekend at least.



We were there for food but it became, at least for me, almost an after-thought. I don't know about anyone else, but I was almost unaware of the food. I know I ate but the warmth, sharing, and girlie chop suey that was being served up might have filled us up without the food itself. Well, may not Lisa. She was starved. LOL.

And finally, too soon, our happy lunch came to an end. Maryellen and Vicci needed to leave so that left B, Barb, Lisa and I to explore the Main Street of Placerville. We gathered up our piles of gifts we exchanged (see Happenings Part Three) and headed out the door with promises of seeing each other again soon. The comfort of this afternoon was amazing. I related to these women as easily as if I had known them for 25 years. There was no shyness. We all seemed to fall into the natural expressions of our personalities from quietly observant to boisterous and lively. It was a delicious chop suey of friendship.

Happenings!!! Part One

So much is happening so fast. My head is spinning so I need to make a LIST to just get it all in order -

1. Pillows
2. Morphing Meetings
3. Girlfriend Chop Suey
4. The Old is New

Pillows
There is a fabric store in town called Rainbow Fabric. It is owned by a couple of Mexican ladies and the shop is filled with upholstering material, soft flannels, buttons and adornments, wedding/quinceanera supplies and more fabric flash than you can shake a stick at. In the flash section, they have a gorgeous selection of Asian prints. I'm not a sewer by any means though I do like to dabble with a needle and thread occasionally so it is a rare time that I get out of there empty-handed. There is always a 1/4 yard of some Asian pretty that I just have to have for some future something. Two years after purchasing this pretty red fabric, I used some of it to make mini pillows for Biene, Lisa, Maryellen, and Vicci.

Morphing Meetings

Biene and I plot and plan our get togethers with minute precision. She lives in the back of beyond up a mountain. I live in the valley. Our meeting ground is the university where I work and she is a grad student. We've known each other now for about five years.

We are in winter term now so Biene comes down the mountain much less frequently. We planned a get together day in Old Town Sacramento for the 20th and I asked if she liked the idea of inviting Maryellen to lunch since she lived in Sac as well. This was agreed upon and I fired off an email. The upshot of that inquiry was a day in Placerville and the evolution of a simple one on one meet-up that morphed to include Vicci, and our Oceandreamin' Lisa, and my dear friend Barbara who lives in Diamond Springs, just above (literally) Placerville. Anne and Biene Dayhad turned into Anne and Biene, and Lisa, and Maryellen, and Vicci, and Barbara. Whew.

End of Part One

Good Things Report - Week of January 14th

January 14th - Kind words from Jeanne that warmed my heart: I will never forget how you understood and embraced the book project... other people give lip service to 'Good Causes'... you are willing to actually DO something about them... you are one of the few people who actually Live their religious ideals... if everyone in the world were more like you, it would be a greatly improved planet for sure!!

January 15th - I'm met David for coffee this morning at Starbucks. We used to do this alot when mom was in the final stages of her illness but less so since then. Meeting him this morning for no other reason than we are important to each other is a Good Thing.

January 16th
I was at work yesterday and was relentlessly cold. Then I got home and continued to shiver and freeze, not to mention the nausea. No dinner to me, thank you very much. Don buried me under blanks and quilts and I laid down on the couch, my head in his lap. He takes such good care of me.

My first donation of hats arrived on my doorstep today. Thank you Kris.

January 17th
All better this morning. Well sort of anyway. Well enough to go to work.Work - The HEADS report is all but finished. This is a nightmarish report that I have to submit every year to our accrediting body. Parts of it go really fast, others are statistical and make my head swim. Tomorrow it goes in for review and then it's out of my hair. Yahoooooo.

January 18th
I got an address from Frida today. The goods will be on their way.
I started reading the most outstanding book - Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul.

January 19th - Today I was given a spiritual advisor. I will meet with Fr. Silva a couple times a month for the next six months. Then he will be gone but I will be prepared for something else by then. Life is good.

January 20th - The meet-up at Placerville happened. I'll have our adventures and pictures posted tomorrow.

Making Progress

I didn't go to work today. What with two medical appointments (eyes and dental), it seemed all the running around back and forth just wasn't worth it. So I quilted together the pieces of a day that turned into a very satisfying picture.

9 a.m. - got my hair cut. Well that really means a trim and shaping it up since I'm letting it grow out. DH is very happy about this.

10:15 - eye exam - one year overdue. I definitely have had some changes in my vision but overall the health of my eyes are good. And the good, good news is that there is no evidence of the glaucoma that afflicted my mom. This has been in the back of my mind for a while.

Don, Kris and I met for lunch and heard about Kris' job interview. She is looking for another job, one that provides full time hours and benefits. She learned later that she didn't get the job. Not enough medical front office experience. All her work since graduation has been patient oriented. But she's not disappointed. She will simply keep looking.

I went to the post office to get information about shipping to Afghanistan. I was impressed by how manageable the amounts seems. Larry, the postal guy, also suggested networking into some of the local (read that California) non-profits that send barrels of goods. It's a thought I will bear in mind for the future depending on how this idea of Hats for Kids grows.

Next stop was the endodontist. For the uninitiated, this is a dental specialist for root canals. You see, I have this bad tooth so off I went for an evaluation. Can this tooth be saved? Sounds like an article for Red Book magazine doesn't it? LOL Anyway . . . no root canal for me. The tooth is too far gone. Next stop is the periodontist and gum treatment. If that doesn't work the final option is good-bye tooth and hello implant. This isn't as undesirable as you might imagine since DH has nine!!! of them. As you can see, I'm very familiar with implant technology. So, maybe . . .

On the way home I stopped by church and checked in with Fr. Silva. He arrived at All Saints two weeks ago and I knew immediately that this was the person I was looking for as spiritual advisor. This is something I've been thinking about for a long time and like so much recently, changes and opportunities have been finding me.

I knew that with mom's passing life would change in a big way. What one cannot anticipate are the how's of those changes. For me it has been an opening up of space within me. For five years mom was the focus. Every decision I made was predicated on how it would impact my mother. Now that space is open for so much more. Afghanistan's cry would have never been heard six months ago; I would not have recognized Fr. Silva and what he might give for my spiritual growth; I actually find myself eating better. So many unexpected and unanticipated doors are opening.

This day seems to have formed an emotional peak of sorts. Now I'm at a plateau and will be walking along for a while. I'm sure there will be a climb somewhere else along the road again.