Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 140
January 16, 2015
A Different Ploy
Yesterday, I told you about my latest book, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Tonight I am going to switch gears and try marketing something else to you.
If you have ever read my blog before, you know that in addition to writing, I have a passion for Africa. I came home from my first trip to Kenya in 2006 feeling as if I hadn’t accomplished a thing, confused why I even went. How things have changed since then! It all makes sense now and I know exactly why I went to Africa eight and a half years ago. (And if it is not cheating, I will put in one plug for the book I wrote about that fateful trip. “A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven – One Woman’sTrip to Africa” is still available.)
What that trip set in a motion was a string of events which led my daughter and me to start our own nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers. Why Tumaini? Tumaini (too-my-ee-nee) means hopein Swahili.
The following is from our January newsletter (our first newsletter!).
It has been a busy 18 months for Tumaini Volunteers! Back in September of 2013 we first became an incorporated charitable organization. After that, the long process of applying for tax exempt status began. Just a year ago, we sent in the 31 page form, along with several attachments, and the $850 filing fee.
On September 5, we found out our application had been approved. Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., is now an official 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization.
We wished there was time to celebrate, but our work had only just begun. We had started writing a business plan a few months before, but now we had to get serious about it.
In addition to the business plan, we have begun planning our first volunteer trip. We hope to take a team of five or six volunteers to Kenya next fall for two weeks. We have several people on board already, but are recruiting a few more. Within in the next month or two we will choose a project to work on while we are there. If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch as soon as possible as deadlines are looming.
We remain in contact with our Kenyan friends to help us choose the project which is most helpful to the community’s needs.
Also contact us if you would like to join our team here at home, working on paperwork, fund-raising, marketing, etc. We can always use more help.
You can click here to go to our Facebook page or here to go to our website. I hate to sound desperate, but we are at the point where we really need more help. My daughter is so excited at the prospect of returning to Kenya and really making a difference. Won’t you help make a difference too? And bring Hope to Africa?
If you have ever read my blog before, you know that in addition to writing, I have a passion for Africa. I came home from my first trip to Kenya in 2006 feeling as if I hadn’t accomplished a thing, confused why I even went. How things have changed since then! It all makes sense now and I know exactly why I went to Africa eight and a half years ago. (And if it is not cheating, I will put in one plug for the book I wrote about that fateful trip. “A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven – One Woman’sTrip to Africa” is still available.)
What that trip set in a motion was a string of events which led my daughter and me to start our own nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers. Why Tumaini? Tumaini (too-my-ee-nee) means hopein Swahili.
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The following is from our January newsletter (our first newsletter!).
It has been a busy 18 months for Tumaini Volunteers! Back in September of 2013 we first became an incorporated charitable organization. After that, the long process of applying for tax exempt status began. Just a year ago, we sent in the 31 page form, along with several attachments, and the $850 filing fee.
On September 5, we found out our application had been approved. Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., is now an official 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization.
We wished there was time to celebrate, but our work had only just begun. We had started writing a business plan a few months before, but now we had to get serious about it.
In addition to the business plan, we have begun planning our first volunteer trip. We hope to take a team of five or six volunteers to Kenya next fall for two weeks. We have several people on board already, but are recruiting a few more. Within in the next month or two we will choose a project to work on while we are there. If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch as soon as possible as deadlines are looming.
We remain in contact with our Kenyan friends to help us choose the project which is most helpful to the community’s needs.
Also contact us if you would like to join our team here at home, working on paperwork, fund-raising, marketing, etc. We can always use more help.
You can click here to go to our Facebook page or here to go to our website. I hate to sound desperate, but we are at the point where we really need more help. My daughter is so excited at the prospect of returning to Kenya and really making a difference. Won’t you help make a difference too? And bring Hope to Africa?
January 15, 2015
Blatant Marketing
It is hard to believe that I took a marketing class in college or that I had a passing interest in going into advertising. There are so many things which I do not know about marketing. I suppose the hardest part is that by trying to market my books and my own writing, I am really marketing myself. And who wants to do that? But then who can afford to hire someone else to do it?
I know that I have told you that my latest book, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, is now available through the publisher, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and “every place where books are sold” (which may not quite be true, but I would love it if people would try that). Or of course you can send me a message by whatever means works for you, and I can get you a signed copy, price negotiable.
It might help you if I told you more about the book. The cover blurb reads like this:
Jesus' life on this earth began in a humble stable. Thirty years later He began preaching the good news of salvation for lost sinners. Have you ever wondered where He was for those three decades in between?
Take a few minutes each day to learn about the infant Jesus and His parents Mary and Joseph. Find out what life was like for a simple Jewish family two thousand years ago. Travel the countryside of the Middle East during Biblical times. Witness Jesus becoming a young man.
By reading The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days...• “Your faith will be strengthened as you learn more about the boy Jesus.”• “You will feel closer to God by knowing more about His Son.”• “You will understand what life was like for Jesus growing up.”• “You will know more about living during Bible times.”
But is that all there is to it? A friend of mine said that she read somewhere a fictional story about Jesus as a young boy. He was goofing around with a friend, the friend fell out of a tree and broke his arm. Jesus touched it and it was healed. His friend is like –whoa! And Jesus is like, don’t tell anybody!
I kept my book as close to fact as possible, throwing in just a little bit of speculation. But I so badly wanted to write a story like the one above. Or maybe make something up about Jesus out fishing with His brothers. Naturally they each want to catch the biggest fish, but they all know that Jesus is going to always pull in a fish bigger than anybody else’s.
Did His brothers and sisters get tired of Him always being perfect? Or did He always keep a low profile, even in the family? Did He always catch the smallest fish? Did He always come in last when running a race? Did He do His chores just good enough to pass inspection?
I’d like to think that Jesus was like any other boy growing up in His time. Ok, maybe, He never did get in trouble, He never disobeyed His parents or fought with His siblings. But wouldn’t you have liked to have known Him then?
All I can offer you is my 40 days of thoughts in my latest book. Available at all of the places mentioned above.
I know that I have told you that my latest book, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”, is now available through the publisher, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and “every place where books are sold” (which may not quite be true, but I would love it if people would try that). Or of course you can send me a message by whatever means works for you, and I can get you a signed copy, price negotiable.
It might help you if I told you more about the book. The cover blurb reads like this:
Jesus' life on this earth began in a humble stable. Thirty years later He began preaching the good news of salvation for lost sinners. Have you ever wondered where He was for those three decades in between?
Take a few minutes each day to learn about the infant Jesus and His parents Mary and Joseph. Find out what life was like for a simple Jewish family two thousand years ago. Travel the countryside of the Middle East during Biblical times. Witness Jesus becoming a young man.
By reading The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days...• “Your faith will be strengthened as you learn more about the boy Jesus.”• “You will feel closer to God by knowing more about His Son.”• “You will understand what life was like for Jesus growing up.”• “You will know more about living during Bible times.”
But is that all there is to it? A friend of mine said that she read somewhere a fictional story about Jesus as a young boy. He was goofing around with a friend, the friend fell out of a tree and broke his arm. Jesus touched it and it was healed. His friend is like –whoa! And Jesus is like, don’t tell anybody!
I kept my book as close to fact as possible, throwing in just a little bit of speculation. But I so badly wanted to write a story like the one above. Or maybe make something up about Jesus out fishing with His brothers. Naturally they each want to catch the biggest fish, but they all know that Jesus is going to always pull in a fish bigger than anybody else’s.
Did His brothers and sisters get tired of Him always being perfect? Or did He always keep a low profile, even in the family? Did He always catch the smallest fish? Did He always come in last when running a race? Did He do His chores just good enough to pass inspection?
I’d like to think that Jesus was like any other boy growing up in His time. Ok, maybe, He never did get in trouble, He never disobeyed His parents or fought with His siblings. But wouldn’t you have liked to have known Him then?
All I can offer you is my 40 days of thoughts in my latest book. Available at all of the places mentioned above.
January 14, 2015
My word is heard from again
Last week, I chose my “word” for the year, the word which was to guide me and keep me on track this year. The word I would turn to for inspiration or for tranquility. I picked the word “anticipation”. Or maybe it picked me.
I live to anticipate stuff – trips, holidays, days off, retirement. Yet, here I have been sitting for nearly a week feeling as if I had nothing to anticipate. There were no plans in the works, no holidays on the horizon, and until the number of days until retirement is less than a four digit number, that is just a depressing thing to look forward to.
But I won’t give up. On Monday, I turned in a vacation slip for a wedding out of town next summer. I wrote a note to the manager in big bold letters. “I know this is a long ways away, but I need to know as soon as possible so we can make reservations”. Usually I need to turn in such a vacation slip two or three times, always getting the response that the manager can’t plan that far in advance because change happens.
Then yesterday afternoon, the manager set this benign piece of paper on my desk, with her signature and an “x” in the line next to approved. That’s what I’m talking about – let the anticipation begin!
I will continue to anticipate the day I can return to this, my favorite place ever.
I live to anticipate stuff – trips, holidays, days off, retirement. Yet, here I have been sitting for nearly a week feeling as if I had nothing to anticipate. There were no plans in the works, no holidays on the horizon, and until the number of days until retirement is less than a four digit number, that is just a depressing thing to look forward to.
But I won’t give up. On Monday, I turned in a vacation slip for a wedding out of town next summer. I wrote a note to the manager in big bold letters. “I know this is a long ways away, but I need to know as soon as possible so we can make reservations”. Usually I need to turn in such a vacation slip two or three times, always getting the response that the manager can’t plan that far in advance because change happens.
Then yesterday afternoon, the manager set this benign piece of paper on my desk, with her signature and an “x” in the line next to approved. That’s what I’m talking about – let the anticipation begin!
I will continue to anticipate the day I can return to this, my favorite place ever. January 12, 2015
The Mischief of Two Dogs
Earlier I shared a poem about a naughty little dog, who was actually a compilation of three dogs I have run across in my life. I mentioned that my Dino was one of the dogs and what his indiscretion was. And here is the rest of the story.
Back in the early 70’s when I was around ten years old, my sister and I started bugging our parents to get a dog. We had a few cats over the years, all of whom seemed to meet their demise under the tires of a car. But my parents didn’t want to be tied down to a dog. Fate stepped in when one of Mom’s co-workers asked if she knew of anyone who would like a dog as they just couldn’t keep theirs any longer. The woman said he was a miniature collie and that he was about a year old. That spring, my sister and I met him just the one time, tied up in the woman’s small back yard in town. He was perfect. We could hardly contain our excitement.
Mac in 1973, shortly after we got him. Sorry that I cut off my sister's head. Mac came home within a few days. The woman who gave him to us issued two warnings. He liked to run away. And keep him away from the Christmas tree. The only Christmas that they had him, they had left him alone in the house with the Christmas tree and had come home to find it completely destroyed. My mom was cautious the first Christmas we had Mac, but he never gave the tree a second look.
Mac in 1981. What a beautiful face, huh? Just last week I met the third and final dog who inspired my poem about a destructive pound-puppy. My son rents a room in an old farmhouse in the southern part of the state. His landlord has always owned Springer Spaniels. In fact when Nick first moved into the house, the landlord’s dog’s name was Mac. Crazy, huh?
Well, just like my family’s Mac, this man’s Mac was up in years and had to be put to sleep. The man said, I don’t want to be tied down to another dog, yet within a few months, he heard of a young Springer who was looking for a good home. Gage is three years old now and still 100% puppy. When I spent the night in the spare room of this farmhouse last week, Gage was into everything. He didn’t destroy stuff, he just took everything he could get his teeth into, took it in his kennel and not give it up. Nick warned me about him, yet the dumb dog got my socks, my gloves and my bra.
Our Mac with Nick in 1987. If this picture doesn't melt your heart, nothing will.
Why do we put up with this stuff from these four-legged demons? Because they look up at us with those deep brown eyes and we melt.
Back in the early 70’s when I was around ten years old, my sister and I started bugging our parents to get a dog. We had a few cats over the years, all of whom seemed to meet their demise under the tires of a car. But my parents didn’t want to be tied down to a dog. Fate stepped in when one of Mom’s co-workers asked if she knew of anyone who would like a dog as they just couldn’t keep theirs any longer. The woman said he was a miniature collie and that he was about a year old. That spring, my sister and I met him just the one time, tied up in the woman’s small back yard in town. He was perfect. We could hardly contain our excitement.
Mac in 1973, shortly after we got him. Sorry that I cut off my sister's head. Mac came home within a few days. The woman who gave him to us issued two warnings. He liked to run away. And keep him away from the Christmas tree. The only Christmas that they had him, they had left him alone in the house with the Christmas tree and had come home to find it completely destroyed. My mom was cautious the first Christmas we had Mac, but he never gave the tree a second look.
Mac in 1981. What a beautiful face, huh? Just last week I met the third and final dog who inspired my poem about a destructive pound-puppy. My son rents a room in an old farmhouse in the southern part of the state. His landlord has always owned Springer Spaniels. In fact when Nick first moved into the house, the landlord’s dog’s name was Mac. Crazy, huh?Well, just like my family’s Mac, this man’s Mac was up in years and had to be put to sleep. The man said, I don’t want to be tied down to another dog, yet within a few months, he heard of a young Springer who was looking for a good home. Gage is three years old now and still 100% puppy. When I spent the night in the spare room of this farmhouse last week, Gage was into everything. He didn’t destroy stuff, he just took everything he could get his teeth into, took it in his kennel and not give it up. Nick warned me about him, yet the dumb dog got my socks, my gloves and my bra.
Our Mac with Nick in 1987. If this picture doesn't melt your heart, nothing will.Why do we put up with this stuff from these four-legged demons? Because they look up at us with those deep brown eyes and we melt.
One Dog's Mischief
This would be crunch-time for me on the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I work until seven tonight and I have Bible study at seven Tuesday morning. Very little extra gets done in my world in that time period. I was going to write some extra blogs on Sunday, but already did one here and on my other blog. But I am going to plow through and still somehow post something witty every single day this month!
In addition to everything else on Sunday, I wrote the following poem for my local writers group Facebook page. We have been having trouble getting together in person, so try to share stuff at least on Facebook. I posted the challenge to write a piece which included the line, “And that’s when the Christmas tree went out the door.”
The dog’s name was Bingo just like the songBut he did not know right from wrongHe got in the garbage, the cupboards, the washAnd chewed up so many things – oh goshNo matter how many scoldings or swatsHe kept getting into things, and I mean a lotThen he would gaze up with his little dark eyesA tilt of his head which made him look wiseHe would whimper a moment and raise a pawAnd just for that second I would forget all his flawsAs Christmas approached, I thought I had had itWith all of his messes, that four-legged sh - -I couldn’t imagine him not dragging awayEach present and package I had wrapped through the dayBut I was determined to keep Christmas good The dog would go first, yes he wouldHe seemed to relinquish his mischievous spreeAs if finally he realized what it meant to meThe house was all ready, the lights all aglowEven the nativity which was more than for showWith the Baby Jesus in his bed fast asleepUnder the tree, Mary and Joseph to keepIn the middle of the night Bingo jumped in my bed An innocent mixed breed who might have been deadHad I not saved him at the shelter that day Picking him from all of the straysWhen I went in the next room early next mornI screamed like a banshee when I looked at the floorEach present, each Santa, each snowflake, each ballHad been dragged from the tree and that’s not allBaby Jesus had become a scary sad sightHaving been torn in four pieces overnightI looked at the dog and started to roarNo more of you, dog, you are out that doorAs I pointed one finger and shook another at himHe lowered his body and started to shimFlat on the floor he slinked over to mePut one paw on my toe, looked at the treeI decided right then something must giveThis kind of a mess is no way to liveSo I picked up my mutt as I scanned the floorAnd that’s when the Christmas tree went out the doorMy wish for next year is not for a tree But to still have my Bingo spend Christmas with me.
My dad's dog Mac under our Christmas tree in 1981. The broken leg is a story for another time.
You perhaps think that this poem was inspired by Dino, the Wonder Dog. Actually, there was only one line which referred to an incident he was involved in, but I took it out as there was a 300 word limit on this challenge, and I was already over by 100 words! Dino’s indiscretion involved chewing up my underwear, only the dirty ones of course. Arrgh. The disgusting little mutt! But that was when he was still a puppy. He is all grown up now. All he chews up now are used Kleenex’s! He’s matured so much.
Watch for tomorrow’s post where I will tell you about the antics of the other two dogs I thought of when I wrote this. (Yes, one of them is Mac.)
In addition to everything else on Sunday, I wrote the following poem for my local writers group Facebook page. We have been having trouble getting together in person, so try to share stuff at least on Facebook. I posted the challenge to write a piece which included the line, “And that’s when the Christmas tree went out the door.”
The dog’s name was Bingo just like the songBut he did not know right from wrongHe got in the garbage, the cupboards, the washAnd chewed up so many things – oh goshNo matter how many scoldings or swatsHe kept getting into things, and I mean a lotThen he would gaze up with his little dark eyesA tilt of his head which made him look wiseHe would whimper a moment and raise a pawAnd just for that second I would forget all his flawsAs Christmas approached, I thought I had had itWith all of his messes, that four-legged sh - -I couldn’t imagine him not dragging awayEach present and package I had wrapped through the dayBut I was determined to keep Christmas good The dog would go first, yes he wouldHe seemed to relinquish his mischievous spreeAs if finally he realized what it meant to meThe house was all ready, the lights all aglowEven the nativity which was more than for showWith the Baby Jesus in his bed fast asleepUnder the tree, Mary and Joseph to keepIn the middle of the night Bingo jumped in my bed An innocent mixed breed who might have been deadHad I not saved him at the shelter that day Picking him from all of the straysWhen I went in the next room early next mornI screamed like a banshee when I looked at the floorEach present, each Santa, each snowflake, each ballHad been dragged from the tree and that’s not allBaby Jesus had become a scary sad sightHaving been torn in four pieces overnightI looked at the dog and started to roarNo more of you, dog, you are out that doorAs I pointed one finger and shook another at himHe lowered his body and started to shimFlat on the floor he slinked over to mePut one paw on my toe, looked at the treeI decided right then something must giveThis kind of a mess is no way to liveSo I picked up my mutt as I scanned the floorAnd that’s when the Christmas tree went out the doorMy wish for next year is not for a tree But to still have my Bingo spend Christmas with me.
My dad's dog Mac under our Christmas tree in 1981. The broken leg is a story for another time. You perhaps think that this poem was inspired by Dino, the Wonder Dog. Actually, there was only one line which referred to an incident he was involved in, but I took it out as there was a 300 word limit on this challenge, and I was already over by 100 words! Dino’s indiscretion involved chewing up my underwear, only the dirty ones of course. Arrgh. The disgusting little mutt! But that was when he was still a puppy. He is all grown up now. All he chews up now are used Kleenex’s! He’s matured so much.
Watch for tomorrow’s post where I will tell you about the antics of the other two dogs I thought of when I wrote this. (Yes, one of them is Mac.)
January 11, 2015
Does Christmas have to be over?
This time of year always makes me sad. Christmas has just passed, all of the decorations have been taken down, the presents put away, the Christmas cookies eaten (except at my house; come on over, I still have bags of cookies in my freezer). It's as if Christmas never happened, as if the baby Jesus had never been born. I would rather it stay Christmas a while longer. My tree is still up and there are still unopened presents underneath it. I think Christmas should be celebrated all year long.
Not that many presents though
Day 22Instructed by the king, they (the wise men) set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! (Matthew 2:9-10, The Message Bible)No one is quite certain who the magi were. Whoever they were though, searching for the one who was recently born King of the Jews was an important quest for them. It is possible that they had devoted the better part of their lives in this pursuit. They had been studying ancient texts for years, probably analyzing astrological charts to find this particular star. If this search for the Christ child had been their lifelong ambition, how excited they must have been to find Jesus.Have you been searching for Jesus this earnestly? In our modern times, we like to think that He is much easier to find. All we have to do is open our Bible or go to church, right? But it is not enough to just learn about Him. To truly find our Savior, we must welcome Him into our lives and into our hearts. We must accept Him as our very best friend.
(From "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days", available from Life Sentence Publishing, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or contact me and I can mail you a signed copy.)
Not that many presents thoughDay 22Instructed by the king, they (the wise men) set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! (Matthew 2:9-10, The Message Bible)No one is quite certain who the magi were. Whoever they were though, searching for the one who was recently born King of the Jews was an important quest for them. It is possible that they had devoted the better part of their lives in this pursuit. They had been studying ancient texts for years, probably analyzing astrological charts to find this particular star. If this search for the Christ child had been their lifelong ambition, how excited they must have been to find Jesus.Have you been searching for Jesus this earnestly? In our modern times, we like to think that He is much easier to find. All we have to do is open our Bible or go to church, right? But it is not enough to just learn about Him. To truly find our Savior, we must welcome Him into our lives and into our hearts. We must accept Him as our very best friend.
(From "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days", available from Life Sentence Publishing, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or contact me and I can mail you a signed copy.)
January 10, 2015
Let me wrap this up
I may have more to say about the 40 things I did in ’14, but I am going to wrap it up today. Here is what we had left.
TRAVEL 30. go away in the spring – Hubby and I went to Clarksville, Missouri, in April for a week. Had a super-great time. 31 take a road trip with my sister – Sister and I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan, on a spur of the moment trip to recover some Kenyan gifts for the nonprofit.32. go camping in the summer – Hubby, Dino and I went to our favorite place, CHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner – I didn’t do a whole lot, but I was there in spirit. 35. write children’s Christmas program – I thought about this for months, before actually writing it sometime in the fall. I have a template of sorts for the program, so I just plug in different verses and themes each year so it really isn’t too much of a big deal. 36. do the Christmas program – Everyone showed up, everyone knew what they were doing, church had four times the usual attendees for a Saturday night service, so all went well.
FAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party – The hubby’s brother decided last winter that the three sons should have a Birthday party for Mom’s 80th birthday. Great idea, but the only place to hold said-party would be my house. Best part – perfect weather. 48 people were here, they would not have all fit in my house. 38. host Thanksgiving dinner – And this year I didn’t even have to have any alcohol to get through the day.
HEALTH 39. walk half the streets of town – My goal was to walk every street in town. Didn’t happen, but it gives me something to do next summer.40. start running again – I ran that 5K in 2013 and I don’t know why I couldn’t get fired up to do it in 2014. But I have started on the treadmill and am going to be ready for 2015.
And there you have it. 40 things I did in ’14.
(Be sure to click on all the high-lighted links to read more about all the fun I had last year.)
TRAVEL 30. go away in the spring – Hubby and I went to Clarksville, Missouri, in April for a week. Had a super-great time. 31 take a road trip with my sister – Sister and I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan, on a spur of the moment trip to recover some Kenyan gifts for the nonprofit.32. go camping in the summer – Hubby, Dino and I went to our favorite place, CHURCH34. work on Easter Dinner – I didn’t do a whole lot, but I was there in spirit. 35. write children’s Christmas program – I thought about this for months, before actually writing it sometime in the fall. I have a template of sorts for the program, so I just plug in different verses and themes each year so it really isn’t too much of a big deal. 36. do the Christmas program – Everyone showed up, everyone knew what they were doing, church had four times the usual attendees for a Saturday night service, so all went well.
FAMILY37. host Trink’s BD party – The hubby’s brother decided last winter that the three sons should have a Birthday party for Mom’s 80th birthday. Great idea, but the only place to hold said-party would be my house. Best part – perfect weather. 48 people were here, they would not have all fit in my house. 38. host Thanksgiving dinner – And this year I didn’t even have to have any alcohol to get through the day.
HEALTH 39. walk half the streets of town – My goal was to walk every street in town. Didn’t happen, but it gives me something to do next summer.40. start running again – I ran that 5K in 2013 and I don’t know why I couldn’t get fired up to do it in 2014. But I have started on the treadmill and am going to be ready for 2015.
And there you have it. 40 things I did in ’14.
(Be sure to click on all the high-lighted links to read more about all the fun I had last year.)
January 9, 2015
House and Home
It looks like I am half-way through sharing the list of 40 things I did in ’14. Hopefully I can get through this coz right now the list looks a little boring, so I combined two categories to keep things moving.
SEWING
20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth 21. sew curtains for Palm room 22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean! 24. update my Snoopy list 25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden 27. plant my flowers 28. make another trail in the woods 29. clean the basement bedroom
I love to sew. I always have. When I was growing up, my parents had a partially finished room above the garage. They picked up an old sewing machine from somewhere and put it in that room. When I say “old” I mean it, as this sewing machine didn’t run on electricity, it ran by the foot peddle that the person sewing had to pump to get the needle to move up and down. That’s what I learned to sew on. Dad would bring pieces of fabric, destined to be cleaning rags, home from the paper mill he worked at. We would turn those hideously ugly pieces of cloth into curtains for our play house and skirts for our dolls. I sure wish I had pictures as my words would never do those scenes justice.
I also love my house and my yard. I know I’ve shared that whole story before, so I won’t go there again, at least not right now.
I know that I have shared pictures of Dino on the trail on the hill behind my house, but always wanted another trail that went past the swamp in front of my house. It took me just an afternoon last summer to widen the greater part of a deer trail, but I love that little path.
It is what inspired me to resurrect an old mail box.
Huh? Funny that didn’t make my 40 things list.
SEWING
20. sew scrub top from Kenyan cloth 21. sew curtains for Palm room 22. sew retro summer dressHOUSE AND YARD23. clean my office and keep it clean! 24. update my Snoopy list 25. paint my bathroom 26. plant my garden 27. plant my flowers 28. make another trail in the woods 29. clean the basement bedroomI love to sew. I always have. When I was growing up, my parents had a partially finished room above the garage. They picked up an old sewing machine from somewhere and put it in that room. When I say “old” I mean it, as this sewing machine didn’t run on electricity, it ran by the foot peddle that the person sewing had to pump to get the needle to move up and down. That’s what I learned to sew on. Dad would bring pieces of fabric, destined to be cleaning rags, home from the paper mill he worked at. We would turn those hideously ugly pieces of cloth into curtains for our play house and skirts for our dolls. I sure wish I had pictures as my words would never do those scenes justice.
I also love my house and my yard. I know I’ve shared that whole story before, so I won’t go there again, at least not right now.I know that I have shared pictures of Dino on the trail on the hill behind my house, but always wanted another trail that went past the swamp in front of my house. It took me just an afternoon last summer to widen the greater part of a deer trail, but I love that little path.
It is what inspired me to resurrect an old mail box.
Huh? Funny that didn’t make my 40 things list.
January 8, 2015
Tumaini Volunteers in 2014
If you have been following my blog, you know that I am recapping the 40 things I did in ’14. I am up to accomplishments made by our nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers.
I certainly can’t take credit for any of these. This is my daughter’s organization and I am just there for moral support. Since she is the chairman of the board and I am the vice-chairman, I guess my job is to let her boss me around.
This has been a lot more work than I had ever anticipated. Government forms, bylaws, business plan, audits, I don’t know, the list seems pretty endless. And what with all of that, it feels as if we are really not working much towards our goals of helping those living in poverty in Kenya. I just want all the paperwork out of the way and I want us to have our volunteers signed up for a trip to Kenya and I want them all fired up to work on a project which will bring sustainability into the lives of families in need. When I say, “I want, I want, I want”, I sound so selfish, don’t I?
Anyway, these are some of the concrete things we accomplished in 2014:
* apply for tax exempt status * do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini * set up Etsy shop * make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts * get tax exempt status
That doesn’t sound like much. In between all of that, though, we worked on our business plan, constantly hounded people to volunteer their time, and held a friend-raiser in addition to the fund-raiser. I personally set up and attended, I think, five sales. A few times my sister helped, but I did a few of them by myself. The crafts we brought back from Kenya reside in the suitcase my daughter took there twice. With all the toting of this suitcase which I have done to all these sales, I feel like the suitcase has put on more miles around northern Wisconsin than it has going back and forth to Africa twice.
In the coming year, we hope to finalize our business plan, solicit some larger contributions, sign up a team of volunteers to return to Kenya next fall, plan that trip and take it.
If anyone, anywhere out there, is interested in getting involved in any way with Tumaini, PLEASE let me know. You can go to our website for more information, www.tumainivolunteers.org or check out our facebook page.
I certainly can’t take credit for any of these. This is my daughter’s organization and I am just there for moral support. Since she is the chairman of the board and I am the vice-chairman, I guess my job is to let her boss me around.
This has been a lot more work than I had ever anticipated. Government forms, bylaws, business plan, audits, I don’t know, the list seems pretty endless. And what with all of that, it feels as if we are really not working much towards our goals of helping those living in poverty in Kenya. I just want all the paperwork out of the way and I want us to have our volunteers signed up for a trip to Kenya and I want them all fired up to work on a project which will bring sustainability into the lives of families in need. When I say, “I want, I want, I want”, I sound so selfish, don’t I?
Anyway, these are some of the concrete things we accomplished in 2014:
* apply for tax exempt status * do a large scale fundraiser for Tumaini * set up Etsy shop * make $1000 selling our Kenyan crafts * get tax exempt status
That doesn’t sound like much. In between all of that, though, we worked on our business plan, constantly hounded people to volunteer their time, and held a friend-raiser in addition to the fund-raiser. I personally set up and attended, I think, five sales. A few times my sister helped, but I did a few of them by myself. The crafts we brought back from Kenya reside in the suitcase my daughter took there twice. With all the toting of this suitcase which I have done to all these sales, I feel like the suitcase has put on more miles around northern Wisconsin than it has going back and forth to Africa twice.
In the coming year, we hope to finalize our business plan, solicit some larger contributions, sign up a team of volunteers to return to Kenya next fall, plan that trip and take it.
If anyone, anywhere out there, is interested in getting involved in any way with Tumaini, PLEASE let me know. You can go to our website for more information, www.tumainivolunteers.org or check out our facebook page.
January 7, 2015
What I wrote in 2014
Now that you know what I read last year (because of course you have been following my blog so you already know what I had to say last night), let me share what I wrote.
WRITING* finish writing “Early Lifeof Jesus in 40 Days” * publish “Early Life of Jesus” * finish writing “Tale of an American Woman” * start writing “Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”
I can’t remember when I actually started writing my second devotional, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Definitely over a year ago. I finished it, however, sometime in early September because it took me another month to finish a final edit and send it to my publisher.
My publisher released the book for publication on December 15, but if you are waiting for a print copy, join the crowd. There was a glitch with the printer, so even though I got one proof copy, I am still waiting for my case of copies to sell. The good news is that it is available to download onto your e-reader, so please do so. (And then don’t forget to write a review of it on Amazon.com or wherever else you wish.)
In January of 2012 (yes, three years ago), I had a dream about a lost Kenyan youth. I started writing his story shortly after that. About 40,000 words into the thing, I decided instead to tell the story of the American woman who befriended him. That was probably not my most productive decision, but I had to do it for various reasons.
On November 23, I typed “the end” and closed the file. After it ferments for a little while, I will open it back up and begin editing (one of my big goals for this year).
The problem with writing a series of books is that you have to keep writing them. At least three altogether. I think they call two books in a series “lazy author”. So, a while back I started organizing my Bible passages for the third book, which has the tentative title of “The Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”. It really doesn’t talk much about His actual ministry; it is more like “Jesus Comes on the Scene in 40 Days”. So if anyone has a better title than that, please share.
Anyway, so I did finish my outline for the third devotional and I did write a few of the 40 days. My goal is to get through most of it in the next few months so that I can start editing it by summer.
Yep, that is where my writing has taken me in 2014.
WRITING* finish writing “Early Lifeof Jesus in 40 Days” * publish “Early Life of Jesus” * finish writing “Tale of an American Woman” * start writing “Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”
I can’t remember when I actually started writing my second devotional, “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. Definitely over a year ago. I finished it, however, sometime in early September because it took me another month to finish a final edit and send it to my publisher. My publisher released the book for publication on December 15, but if you are waiting for a print copy, join the crowd. There was a glitch with the printer, so even though I got one proof copy, I am still waiting for my case of copies to sell. The good news is that it is available to download onto your e-reader, so please do so. (And then don’t forget to write a review of it on Amazon.com or wherever else you wish.)
In January of 2012 (yes, three years ago), I had a dream about a lost Kenyan youth. I started writing his story shortly after that. About 40,000 words into the thing, I decided instead to tell the story of the American woman who befriended him. That was probably not my most productive decision, but I had to do it for various reasons.
On November 23, I typed “the end” and closed the file. After it ferments for a little while, I will open it back up and begin editing (one of my big goals for this year).
The problem with writing a series of books is that you have to keep writing them. At least three altogether. I think they call two books in a series “lazy author”. So, a while back I started organizing my Bible passages for the third book, which has the tentative title of “The Early Ministry of Jesus in 40 Days”. It really doesn’t talk much about His actual ministry; it is more like “Jesus Comes on the Scene in 40 Days”. So if anyone has a better title than that, please share.
Anyway, so I did finish my outline for the third devotional and I did write a few of the 40 days. My goal is to get through most of it in the next few months so that I can start editing it by summer.
Yep, that is where my writing has taken me in 2014.
