There are people all over the world doing amazing things! Here is another example from Haiti.

Denise Goodale, is the founder of Jacmel Bay, a company deeply entwined with the process of redemption. She creates with the broken treasures washed up on the shores of Jacmel Bay, (a small city on the southern coast of Haiti) including sea glass, sea ceramic, earthquake rubble. All of these beautiful "treasures" were made out of items that were one time very, very broken.

But that's just the beginning. Denise, a sign language interpreter, teaches classes/clinics in sea glass creation to a group of deaf young adults in Jacmel, Haiti. She provides supplies for their artwork and buys from them wholesale. This enables these young people, who currently have no other options for work, income which she hopes will one day be enough to support themselves. Denise sells their work (as well as her own creations) online, in boutiques on the Outer Banks of NC, and at a variety of craft shows. 25% of her profits return to Haiti to support the work of Joy in Hope.Finally, Denise offers significant bulk discounts to teams/individuals raising funds to come and serve in Haiti (with any organization or individual).

In order to get the word out about the work of Jacmel Bay (currently in its second year of operation), Denise is offering a great giveaway.

The winner will receive the following items:

Nativity Scene made from earthquake rubble and Jacmel Bay sea ceramic.

AND

This beautiful cobalt earring/necklace set made with sea glass collected from the beach of Jacmel Bay, Haiti.

If you want to sign up for the giveaway, go here and follow the instructions!

Earthquakes are confusing.

So, yesterday I was in the shower. Getting ready for work. I got out. Got some tp to clean off some of the little boy nastiness I noticed on the back area of the toilet. As I was leaning over, the sink beside me started making a funny noise. Water draining?

Then someone was at the door. Wiggling the nob and trying to get it. Kids? Not a moment of privacy for a mom, right. But why weren't they just opening it? Then Jon opened it. Surely he doesn't have trouble opening doors. And he said, "are you doing something in here?"

Apparently he and William had been sitting on our bed and it had been shaking. And he wondered why in the world I would be jumping up and down in the bathroom!?! (Callie was in her bedroom playing on her bed and said it had started wiggling.)

Then we thought, maybe a big truck had driven by? Sometimes big trucks shake the house....a little. The thought of an earthquake did cross our minds, but we dismissed it immediately. And, with our house being old, we wondered if something was happening. (Lately, I am paranoid that our slanty floors are getting worse, although they're really not.) Jon checked around the house and in the basement and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Then I got the brilliant idea to check our local news website FB. And, sure enough, friends had started posting about an earthquake. And then we figured out it really was true. I hadn't felt a shake per se, but just noticed things rattling.

Then Jon took the kids to an appointment and I went to work. On with the day.

Work was horrible and crazy, by the way! Worst day I've ever had in the ED. Only day I'd ever thought about returning to med/surg. When I arrived there were 4 ambulances parked out back (the most I've ever seen at once is 2) and the helicopter was just taking off. Super busy, but not even earthquake related, it's just been busy around there lately. We started a new doctor order entry system yesterday as well and therefore had LOTS of extra tech support around. The computer system wasn't bad, it was all the people around and the extra noise that was stressing me out! Oh, and the doctors being stressed, therefore 1 of them seriously yelling at me and the other doing it in a round about way. Not lovely.

Oh, but this is about the earthquake, not work. Here's my favorite news report about the quake.

"VIRGINIA QUAKE~~BREAKING NEWS!!! The USGS has determined that the epicenter of the Va earthquake was in a graveyard just outside of DC. The cause appears to be all of our Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves."

Chance to win a pair of Sseko Sandles!

Have you heard of Ssekos? These are some sandals I've been interested in for a while. They're made from a pretty basic rubber sole, but the straps are anything but basic. They come in many many colors and designs. And once you've chosen a strap, you still have the fun of designing a new pair of sandals every time you wear them!! The straps are made to be worn many different ways. Any way you can twist or wrap them around your foot. They are also made by a great organization!

Sseko's leather sandals are handmade by women in Uganda who recently graduated from secondary school and aspire to go on to attend university. By working with Sseko, these young ladies are able to earn money for their tuition and receive an education that is not often a possibility for a young girl growing up in worn-torn and male-dominated countries.

Employment with Sseko not only means these ladies will be able to make their dreams of becoming a teacher, a social worker, or even a surgeon, a reality, but it also enables these young women to be able to help their families in many ways including to pay for their younger siblings school fees. Sseko also provides programs for the personal development of the women who work there, like health seminars, personal finance plans and typing lessons. This company truly cares for and empowers the women who work there.

I love companies/organizations like Sseko that are providing jobs for people and helping them to earn their way, to earn their university degree and further themselves. With this sort of empowerment also comes dignity and pride and strength that is a beautiful result of the journey these women are on.

You can purchase a pair of Ssekos online or you can join the raffle on Heather's blog.

William and the Monster Trucks

This is the face of a boy excited to see a bunch of Monster Trucks.

We passed by (and turned around to visit) the home base of Grave Digger. (Sorry Grandmas, but we usually do call it by a different name at home.) And Callie was only smiling because I told her she either had to smile or get out of the picture.

It was fun to see the trucks. He especially liked the orange one. (Making the Grandmas happy)

And this is the face of a boy RIDING in a Monster Truck!!

It was fun! ...for all of us. : )

While we were there he asked, "Can we go see Monster Jam for real sometime, not watch it on tv, but go there for real and see it for real?" .....And it will be even so exciting Sunday when he finds out we are going to Monster Jam!! for REAL!

Picture Post

Callie hid under the picnic table to try to catch a bird. We told her she was allowed to keep it and bring it for show and tell if she caught one. Behind her is a pile of sticks. The kids like to pretend to build a fire. So, they gather all the sticks in the yard and put them in a pile. It's a wonderful game!

William had a weeks worth of lessons on Dr Suess. The last day was dress up day.

The kids learned to play Skip-Bo.

We're all enjoying green smoothies.

As a reward for a good week at school (no blue or red marks...actually all green with only 2 yellow!!!) we went bowling.

Each of the kids got at least one strike. This is William's response to one of his.

This is how she watches her ball go down the lane, while slowly walking backward toward the chairs.

He's just cool like that.
And this afternoon the kids were playing in the yard.

The trucks got back to work. Both kids still love the sand box.

And then, after supper, we had a little fire and the appropriate snacks, of course.

William learning to sit on his "honkers" as Callie calls them. (Haunches)

William's Lost and Found Story

It has taken me this long to put this story into writing. I have mostly neglected the blog since then. Sorry. It was a rough day. Here goes.

So, here is the story behind this picture and the post titled 'Lost and Found' back on May 28th last year.

It was 7:30 am. I had planned on getting up early to exercise, but I didn’t. Callie had climbed in bed with me and I heard William downstairs getting into the cupboards. Then I heard him open and close the door to our mud room. I rolled out of bed, wondering what he was doing. Assuming he was heading out to the garage to ride his bike or something. I used the bathroom, peeked in his room, thinking he maybe had gone back there and not out into the garage, he wasn’t in his bed, and I hadn’t expected him to be there. Got downstairs, no William. Asked Callie where he was (yes, the reliable 4 year old who was with me at the time). She said he was in his room. So, I thought maybe he had been playing on the floor or was buried in his blankets and I just hadn’t seen him. Went into the laundry room, put a wet load in the basket to hang outside and started putting another into the washer.

And then it occurred to me, this just wasn’t adding up. A bit of sudden panic while I ran upstairs. Not in his room. Not in my room, or Callie’s. Back downstairs, not there. Not in the garage. But the garage door was unlocked…and his shoes were gone. More panic. Went outside yelling, looking around at all the usual, and some unusual, places. Sandbox, shed, garden, field out back. Called Jon (because he could be of help from 1.5 hours away at work). Re-checked the house quickly while grabbing keys and Callie. Hopped in the jeep and drove about ¼ mile down each road in each direction. Starting with the usual path we take for walks. Ending with the direction of the house of a neighbor who he had just met the previous day. Nothing. Returned home, called police while checking the house again. The police arrived, one checked the back lot (he later complained that his boots were wet and had grass sticking to them) and one went with me in to check the house again. I knew he wasn’t there, I didn’t want to go back in, but I understand why. We checked the first floor and were in the hall upstairs when she got the radio call that they had found him!

We went back outside to wait. It took a while, Callie wanted to chat with the police officers, I cried a little. They pulled up with him in the back seat, told me I could open the door. I didn’t really know what to do, squeeze him, yell at him, not sure. But I didn’t have a chance, he got out of the car, threw his hands in the air showing off his pudding cup he had and yelled, “I got to go for a walk, and have pudding and ride in a police car, and there’s more police!!!!!” He was SO EXCITED about his WONDERFUL morning!!! Best morning of his life!!!.....worst of mine. So, how do you convey to him that this was wrong and can never ever happen again? The young 20 something police officer said, “Now don’t run off anymore.” Not enough to put the fear of the police into the child, but nice try.

Unfortunately, it gets more fun...We went in to have breakfast. I was in too much shock and allowed him to have that pudding for breakfast. I was still torn between so glad to have him back safe and sound and how do I scold him harsh enough? After breakfast we had to go into town, so we stopped by the home of the people who had found him...or more like whom he had found. They were sweet. They gave the kids each another pudding, more rewards, and invited us to come over in the summer and play with their 5 year old grandkids they would be watching. And then they showed us the man’s huge model train set in the basement. William was in heaven!

So, in the next few months we got bits and pieces of the story from William. He had wanted to go for a walk to his friend Brenton’s house. He almost made it. Brenton lives 1 mile away, he got 0.9 miles. On our very busy 45mph road....on which people, of course, drive 55. He, at one point, ran across the road right in front of a truck. He said, “I went like this (zoom one hand one way) and the truck went like this (zoom other hand perpendicular to and across first arm)” !!!!!!!! Callie asked him, “didn’t you see the truck coming?” to which he answered, “yes”. And she and I, at the same time, said, “then you should not have gone!” Also, from what we can gather, he stopped at at least two other houses. He told the people he was going to school and they told him to go home. He was looking in peoples’ mailboxes (right by the road). And he saw the police go by (which was so exciting for him) and when they went by, “I spied on them, I hid behind a tree.” That’s what he said, in a sneaky voice. He told me they were going to an emergency and was surprised when I explained that HE was the emergency. So, when he finally got to this couple’s house, he didn’t knock or ring the door bell. The man was walking by the door and noticed his head sticking up over the window. He thought that was strange that his grandson was there and wondered where his son-in-law was. He opened the door and said, “Honey, I think you need to come look at this,” to his wife. They told him to come in, he politely took off his shoes and asked where he should put them. They asked if he was hungry, of course he was. They tried to figure out where he lived, there was a house across the field with young kids they thought he may have come from. Then they called the police who put it together quickly who he was and where he belonged. We are so thankful for this kind couple! She is a retired principal and he is a retired teacher. So thankful!

That day William and Callie learned our address and phone number and William decided he wanted to go live with his new friends when Jon and I die.