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.

Time Warp

Just over a week ago, I finished a big project for work. This presented me with lots of "leisure time" for Christmas week. We'd be home for Christmas so this was indeed a wonderful opportunity.

I'm generally a multi-tasker. I play on-line Scrabble (actually, it's called Literati) several times a day with my good friend, Judi. But I'm rarely just playing Literati; I'm usually also eating dinner, or watching TV, or cooking at the stove.

But when I want to, I can focus on just one thing. Intently. And that's just what I did.

With a full week of time for me to use just as I want to, I decided to invest some time in the completion of the transcription of my mother-in-law's father's World War I journal. It's a project I started for her some time ago, but until last Sunday, I'd only squeezed in a little bit of time here and there, and hadn't made much progress with the 270 page hand-written journal.

So, during this Christmas week, I came to know Elmer Underwood. And his buddies, Monty, Dunlevy, Grover, Jake, and many others. And I learned much about France. Elmer had many opportunities to travel while serving in the US Army in rural France. He visited museums, old chateaux, historic sites, and took hundreds of walks into nearby villages. By the river. Usually to the YMCA for ice cream and lemonade. And he made lots of friends at all kinds of shops -- patisserie, cafes, restaurants.

And he was an incessant reader. And, of course, loved to write. Letters to his sweet Marie. And daily entries in his journal. And more than anything else, he loved to get mail. Soldiers in Europe during WWI didn't have our current-day luxuries of e-mail, instant messaging, and web-cams. All they had was mail. And sometimes it took weeks for letters to arrive from the United States to our soldiers.

However, our current electronic access provided great fact-checking while I transcribed. Elmer's handwriting was often very difficult to read. Google maps is a great tool -- when in doubt of the name of a remote village, I could type several variations, one at a time, into Google maps and sure enough, a map would pop up.

I became an historical detective during this past week. Did you know that you can go to the Louvre's website and type in the name of a sculpture in its collection, and hear an entire lecture, complete with linked photographs? Fantastic! Here's one that I learned a lot about -- the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Fascinating!

The transcription is done. In fact, it's printing right now, and I'll punch holes and put it into a notebook. What a privilege to get to know Elmer so well.

Christmas Joys

Psst! I found it! Anne, look! I found it! It's right here, in the third cubbyhole from the left!

I reach into the open secretary desk and silently slide out a small, smudged index card. Yup, this is it. Each of our names is strung out on the card, one under the other, oldest to youngest. There's my name. Near the bottom.

It's Mom's Christmas list.

I found it.

But at the same time, my tummy knots. Do I really want to know what I'm getting for Christmas? Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes!

Maybe if I look really, really quickly and only scan down the list as far as my brother's name, and then squint past my name . . . I wouldn't spoil my surprise.

Oops. I saw it. Right there next to my name. C.C. Hmmm...C.C? What could it be? C.C.? Captain Crunch? Candy Canes? I can't imagine.

I hear muffled footsteps. It might be Mom! I quickly push the index card back into its slot and studiously start flipping through the magazine on the desk . . . and smile innocently as Mom enters the room.

Fast forward 49 years . . .

We gather at church -- old friends and new, young and old. Some have volunteered, and some have been recruited. We prepare for the cold by getting our fill of homemade soups, delicious BBQ, and yummy cookies. I peer into the sanctuary.

The costumes are paired, and laying across the backs of the pews. I look for mine.


We get dressed. Layer after layer. We line up according to our role.

I overhear one costumed man quietly speak as he steps into line, "I'm here every year; I wouldn't miss it. This is what really starts Christmas for me." As we process outside, I carefully step up onto the box behind Mary and Joseph.

Cars slowly glide by for the next hour and twenty minutes. Some stop. Some get out to look more closely. Some drive down a side street and sweep back around for another look.

I watch Mary intently. She warms her hands. The wind is cold.

An unexpected warmth as we pause to reflect.

A new tradition begins for us.