One Busy Weekend

Yesterday we held the “friend-raiser” picnic for my daughter’s nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers. Amazing to me how a four-hour long event can take up an entire three days of my time. I spent most of Friday shopping for food and preparing food with my daughter. Started packing the vehicles at seven yesterday morning, got to the park at 9:30, didn’t leave the park until 4:30, unpacked the vehicles and left the mess all over the house. So, today, I need to clean up the mess.

The sad part is that with all the time invested in this, we only had five new people show up. We did take in enough in donations and sales of Kenyan items through these people that we paid for the food and still have some money left over to put in the back. But that wasn’t the point of this. The whole idea was to spread the word and get more people involved.

The weather started out pretty dreary yesterday, very overcast and cool until about three, when the sun finally came out and it got instantly hot and humid. Also, because it was the first day of summer there were a lot of other events going on around town.

We continue to tell ourselves that we are still new, that it will take time to get the community behind us. So we will keep plowing ahead. Our goal is to take a group of five or six volunteers to Kenya in the fall of 2015. That gives us more time to plan (and also time for the tensions in Kenya to settle down). We also do have three, possibly four, people who are committed to that time frame. That’s exciting.

For now it is time to let the nonprofit rest and regroup for the next event. In the meantime, here is where everything else stands.

READING

·         My reading goal is to finish four of the books that I started reading a while back. Still at three out of four.

WRITING

·         Finish my novel. Still so very close, have only maybe three or four chapters left.   

REACHING

·         I will get back on track with my blogging, twice a week here and three times a week on my other blog. Pretty much stuck with this.

·         Submit three pieces each Round. Still at two out of three.  

·         Walk and document streets in my hometown once a week. Started this late in the Round, but have done three blogs on this so far.  

HOME AND FAMILY

·         My daughter and I are still working on our nonprofit, Tumaini Volunteers. We are planning a “friend-raiser” for June 21. That is my goal with the nonprofit this month: help with and attend the “friend-raiser”. See above. 

·         Running. Have definitely decided to not run in any 5Ks. Have pretty much stuck with running one to two miles three times a week. Am happy with that.  

That's kind of how gloomy it was most of the day.

The geniuses trying to put together the signs.

 Our team, looking like ants, while they draw on the road in chalk, putting down arrows pointing the way.

Molly our secretary on the left and daughter Val our chairman of the board on the right.

The hubby and me, relaxing before it was time to pack up and go home.