After a really long week of VERY early flights... yesterday happened!

This was the first time I have been part of it....and all I know is I want to be part of it again!!!

A break away from my church is called Community 4:12. It focuses on the mainly Hispanic under privileged area of East Aurora, Illinois.

For the last 6 years they have given the community a Toy Mart... let me explain...

Our church networks, to gain toy and financial donations (for more toys) to then sell those toys to the families of 2 schools (Brady and Bardwell Elementary) in East Aurora, Illinois. The families are able to purchase up to 8 toys at $2 each (so it does not feel like a handout). Those monies are then split amongst the elementary schools for needed supplies for art, music, etc...

In addition to our congregations giving of their time and money... Both Starbucks and Caribou (rivals!!) donated both the time of their employees and enough coffee and hot cocoa to serve to 4000 parents and children waiting out in the cold yesterday morning... Starbucks also presented Community 4:12 with a financial gift at the end of the day! Let me also mention and thank Meijer for their gift certificates and assistance in purchasing more for the donation money would have allowed thanks discounts in cost!

I played a very small part of this whole event this year... 1 person out of 1000(!!!!) volunteers! But I really felt the Joy of giving back... and want to help that much more next Christmas and in the months to come!

This year, despite the economic fears... we exceeded our toy goal by 2000 toys for a total of 9500 toys...

We provided toys for Christmas morning (or Midnight as is the Hispanic tradition) for 3500 families.

$ 12,000 is going to the schools for their programs and needs... How cool it that!!

An amazing feat of logistics... from outside parking direction to crowd control to restocking to cashiers to gift wrapping to kid crafts and so on.... I am in awe and want to help it run even smoother next year!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Choas and Ode To Joy!!

OMG... I love Andy Rooney!

This dates me... but how appropriate for this week... note women and men of color casting their votes... see... all that hope in the Seventies... all that hope now!

Oh my gosh.... I loooooooooooooooooooooove this... I have been looking for it... watched it all the time when I was 4 or so on Sesame Street (and that was a REALLY long time ago... I hum the song all the time... next it will be time to find The Ladybug's Picnic!!!!!

Huge deep breath now... now we all need to support this man... pray he has the strength and inner peace to weather the many storms ahead... pray he has wise men to guide him... pray he stays safe... pray this country can get past his color and see him for who he is... a bright, driven, eloquent, articulate, spiritual, man of vision and courage.

Well... I never even got a chance to listen to my Ipod. There were no lines at my polling location AT ALL... in fact at the A-L table I was the ONLY one in line... was in and out in 10 minutes...

I hope the lack of lines are not an indication of how many in my area are voting...

Oh my goodness... I am so nervous about tomorrow... it's like going on a blind date! I will be out at the polls... with a bottle of water and my Ipod is case lines are long... GObama!!!!

Spent a couple days in Frankenmuth Michigan for work... rented a car... nice to not worry about weather the car was safe to make it there and back... total miles driven... 700

The rental had a jack for my Ipod... so I was able to listen to a book there and back... Irish author Marian Keyes... fun mindless story...

Patient and his family was great...weather was gloomy, cold and wet... first hotel room smelled sour and mildewy... yuck... second hotel room was much nicer... slept well...

Today I will go to Lauren's Halloween Parade at school... Yeah!!! Then trick or treating tonight... Lauren returns after about and hour and helps hand out candy... will have to lut Bella in the kitchen... she gets too over zealous in her greetings... pizza and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas after... Emma's choice...

Oh... Emma made High Honor Roll!!! 5 A's... 1 B+ in advanced math which counts as another A... and a B in gym... Yeah!!

Watching sound bites on Palin on the Today show... she is a rogue... dangerous... and I think she is not controlled by anyone... with her own "climb the ladder by any means" ways... if I hear the word Maverick one more time... I might just have to start playing the Tina Fey Maverick drinking game... McCain makes my skin crawl... I know that's not nice... but I have a visceral cringy itchy teeth clenching response to them both.... and Joe the #$%&ing Plumber!