An Amazing Opportunity

I'm an investor and I'm smitten. Surprised? No, it's not Wall Street.

We're closely following the business development of a group of women in Bolivia. Here they are. They are craftswomen who sell their wares at market on Tuesdays and Fridays to support their families. They needed cash to buy more raw materials. We've invested in their business.

For Christmas, our daughter, Bethany, and her husband, Jon, gave us a gift certificate to KIVA. It came in an e-mail with the enclosed message:

Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad!
In the spirit of less "stuff" and more *good* in the world, here's $50 to invest and reinvest in small entrepreneurs around the world. We hope you'll enjoy finding a business owner who speaks to you!
Much love,
B&J

We were intrigued but didn't really do much investigation until earlier this week. Wow. I went to the website (link above) and voraciously explored the fascinating biographies of small business people all over the world. A single mother in Bolivia asked for $300 to increase her inventory of shoes for her shop. An older man, a livestock dealer in Tajikistan, applied for a loan of $4000 US to purchase several purebred sheep for his business. And on and on.

The loaned funds are administered by micro-financing businesses (partners) all around the world. For each partner, you can access a full disclosure with lots of data about how many loans they've made, total amount loaned to date, percentage rates of paybacks and defaults. It's quite an amazing program -- worldwide, more than $57 MILLION has already been loaned.

Also, as investors, we get updates on the business/entrepreneurs we're supporting. KIVA fieldworkers go out to get updates (which are published online) and to collect loan payments. We are kept abreast of the payback progress. As our money is repaid, we can choose to take it back ourselves OR reinvest in another entrepreneur.

To date, this week alone, more than 5600 new lenders have joined, more than 1500 entrepreneurs were funded, and 1 loan was funded every 30 seconds! Amazing!

Here is another business partner of ours. She's 23 years old and has a small photography business in Lebanon. She needs $ for a new camera so that she can grow her business.

Want to make a REAL difference? Whose business might appeal to you? Go find out! Make an investment.

Give a gift certificate to a friend or family member. And, thanks SO much, Beth and Jon!

Good Day Sunshine

Wow. Another ah-ha moment. Not working full-time seems to give me more time to think...and thinking CAN (but doesn't always!) lead to interesting insights.

I need sunshine.

I understand that that's not terribly profound. But the long, dark days of winter are waning...and I'm THRILLED! AND I find that more light, especially natural light, makes me feel happier. Energized. Rarin' to go!

I've spent the last several hours in our home office, bathed in sunlight. I had to get a few things done for work (yup, my paying job) and then got a few more things done that involved time online and use of the copying machine. Going into the other rooms, even the kitchen and living room, even briefly immediately set me on edge.

The sun doesn't shine into those rooms the way it does here in the office. And when I spend ANY length of time in those rooms, I'm all about putting up the window blinds, and putting on every available light --- but it's still not enough. Just plopping down in my favorite living room chair can make me feel a bit down. Hmmm...

Believe me -- I'm not trying to overdramatize here. But it's quite an interesting realization. Maybe we need to invest in a couple of those full-spectrum lights.

Guess we'll never be living in Seattle!

Snips and Snails and Puppy-dog Tails

I'm in heaven.

Actually, I'm in Corning. Spending time with Mike, Laurelyn, Graham, and Dean.

O.K., mostly with Graham and Dean. I admit it! I'm smitten! Grandmothering is the BEST!

Graham is now three years and three months old. He still loves books --- all the time, over and over. And snuggling with him on the big, cushy couch reading book after book after book is the B.E.S.T.

Yesterday, I had a few errands to do so I took G with me. First we drove to the Post Office. (Back home, Papa and Grandpa were trying to thaw frozen pipes with a hairdryer.) Then I took G out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant---it was a fun place to spend some time together over corn chips, guacamole, rice and beans. Then we went to Walmart and Sears to pick up a few things --- including Candy Land! Graham is the perfect age for the legendary game.

Finally, the public library -- Graham insists on wearing his "library backpack" from the car all the way to the circulation desk. He dutifully takes out each book, one at a time, and proudly slides it into the return slot. Off we head to the children's room where thousands of books await us! Graham is a kid in a candy shop ---- he pulls book after book off the shelf, carefully considering each one. Sometimes, he just looks at the cover; other times, he opens the book and checks out a few pictures. One of the books he slides off the shelf looks familiar; it's one he already has at home. He says, "I have this book. I'll leave this one here for someone else." A glimpse into his tender heart.

Dean, now 10-1/2 months with 5 teeth, continues to be one of the most engaging babies I've ever known! Catch his eye and you're BOUND to get a huge toothy smile and a deep dimple. Melts my heart. Every time. He's just learned to clap his hands and is so pleased with himself! So, that's led to LOTS of Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake; he LOVES when I roll his arms faster and faster and faster and he giggles until he can barely catch his breath. What a delight!

Graham hit a milestone this week. He can rhyme! Of course, by now, he's probably heard thousands of books, so he certainly was well-primed. We visited the PBS website, Graham on my lap, and played a number of rhyming games including Super Grover in 'The Nick of Time' and Elmo Rhymes. Then we moved on to another game or two that had him matching words with the same beginning sound. His favorite was Oscar's Bumper Cars. Oscar does have quite the attitude and it's not lost a bit on giggling Graham!

Dean's walking more and more, too. His current record is 12 steps. He'll furniture-cruise and then confidently get his balance, flash his toothy grin, and bound across the room, arms outstretched as he staggers toward me. Does he know I'm Grandma? Heck, yeah! I'm pretty sure of it.

We are so blessed to have such beautiful, healthy, loving grandsons. It is such a spectacular treat to watch them be raised so wonderfully and lovingly by our son, Mike, and our daughter-in-law, Laurelyn. They are amazing parents. And we are especially blessed to have so many opportunities to be present in the boys’ lives. The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren? A little piece of heaven.

What Type are YOU?

When I was little, our pediatrician was Dr. Margaret Armstrong. She had a thick German accent, a ruddy complexion, very flat-soled shoes, and she always carried her medical bag when she came to the house. Yup. She came to the house. To give us our inoculations. I. hid. under. the. bed.

The dust bunnies weren't such a bad alternative to a shot in the arm. Man. I hated shots.

Mom would bribe me with ice cream. Candy. And anything else she could think of to get me out from under the bed.

But here I am...50 years later. And I donate blood. Regularly. I don't really remember when I had the big transition to pulling up my big-girl-panties and hefting myself up onto the donor table. But I did it. Dr. Armstrong would be proud.

There is such a great feeling when you donate blood. And in the last few years, I've been donating platelets. It takes a bit longer, but it's a painless process and I get to watch a DVD and just lay there for about 90 minutes. It's pretty darned nice. The nurses bring you heated blankets if you get chilled. Pretty niiiiice. And there's often warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for me in the canteen.

I recently joined the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Blood Services for Northern New England. I'm quite excited! In Maine, we need to collect 300 units of blood EVERY weekday to meet 95% of the need for blood in the 39 hospitals across our state. And those needs are similar across the country. Day in. Day out.

Our son-in-law is alive today---ALIVE---because of the generosity of blood donors. And more and more often, I learn from a friend that they are also alive because of a tranfusion (or 2 or 3 or more) that they've had. Pretty powerful.

Are you a regular blood donor? Could you be? Even if you think you're not eligible because of your travel history, or because you're a cancer survivor, or because you take a certain medication, you might STILL be able to donate blood. A number of regulations have changed in recent years and months. It's important to check. Go to the American Red Cross website and look for information about eligibility. (Go ahead. Now. I'll wait.)

In 2009, I hope that each of you who can possibly donate blood WILL donate blood. You can help to save a life! Find a blood drive near you. Soon. You'll be so glad you did!

Pacing the New Year

Some years ago, when cleaning out my bedside table, I came upon an old pocket calendar. It was one I'd kept and it was old. Before PDA's. Before any kind of computer-based calendar.

I flipped through it, month after month, and was stunned by its contents. Although diminutive in size, this little calendar was jam-packed. Some of the tiniest writing I'd ever seen. And it was all mine. Sometimes as many as four, five or six activities were crammed into one little square. Yup. All in one day. As many as six different activities. Insanity. How did I do all that? More importantly---why?

I remember showing it to a counselor I was seeing at the time. He suggested that I was hiding from myself. Perhaps I was afraid to spend time alone. And if I kept myself so incredibly busy, I simply didn't HAVE the time to be alone, to reflect, and to truly experience the activities in which I did participate.

Times have changed. Perhaps wisdom comes with age? (I can hope!)

As I approach my 56th birthday, I treasure my time and choose activities and obligations more wisely than when I was in my 30s. Now, just sitting and talking with someone I love is so precious to me. I can be still and listen. I can look, really look at the other person. And I'm much more comfortable with quiet than I used to be. I don't have to have answers for everything and everyone. What a relief. I've heard it said that God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason--God wants us to listen twice as much as we speak.

During this past week, I took time for no more than one or two activities per day. I spent an entire day with my sister -- just sitting. Knitting. Talking. Sharing. Listening. And the next day, I spent four hours with another sister. It was blissful. I didn't have to be anywhere -- didn't have to rush off. We played Wheel of Fortune and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

That same evening, I spent several hours with my mother-in-law looking through her dad's WWI scrapbook. Fascinating. It was such a treat to slow down and immerse myself in another place and time. And the next day --- lunch with both sisters -- while snowflakes fell silently. It was a bit of heaven on earth.

A New Year invites us to make resolutions. Many of us choose resolutions like losing weight. Getting more exercise. Organizing our desk drawers.

This year I'm going to slow down and savor the moment, the precious moments that give me pause. As long as I give myself plenty of time.