goodie bag grumble

I detest goodie bags for children's parties.

I have the courage to say this because my friend Pam said it first in a comment on another post about parenting, so since she bore the burden of going first, I feel OK about going second. That's what friends are for, right.

Go to pinterest and search for goodie bags. Oh the fancy nancy stuff that will pop up. On second thought, take my word for it and spare yourself the guilt.

I'm not immune to the crafty love of creating a special treat...look at this adorableness right here...I've assembled a few goodie bags in my time...I'm kindof ashamed to say...but no more. I have learned.

First of all, it's generally not appreciated, unless there is gum involved. And you know that no good can come from young children chewing gum.
Second, it's an attempt to level the playing field--you brought me a gift, so I feel obligated to give you a gift in return so I do not feel indebted to you. Mind you, kids don't feel this way, parents do.
Third, it's impractical and contributes to the useless clutter. Do we really need a stretchy jet plane? How about some mod podged yo-yos? Or better yet, sew your own goodie bags with this pattern.

When one parent in your group goes to pinterest and finds an adorable idea for a goodie bag, creates it and distributes it amongst us, she spoils it for all the rest of us. Now we have to compete.

Just the other day my very own sister said "I was thinking about making goodie bags for Easter...I saw this idea on pinterest..." Mind you this woman is a single parent of a three year old, she's in college and she works. Pray tell how much sleep is she going to have to sacrifice in the name of crafting these goodie bags for her own and other three year olds? Really? Just say No.

Is the craftiness of the goodie bags the measure of a good party for three year olds?

I just don't think so.

Yes, I'm doing the goodie bag grumble.

The concept and importance of a goodie bag for a children's party has apparently been blown way out of proportion and it's time to rethink. Just say no. Mind you, it's going to take some time for this current crop of littles to be re-trained. We are going to have to be willing to say "today is Anna Claire's birthday and we are taking her a present. Today is not your birthday. You will not be getting a present. You will be having ice cream and cake with all your friends. That will be enough."

And that's going to have to be *enough*.

I ask you--be that parent who curbs the trend. Give yourself a pass on one more thing that you have to do out of some misguided sense of obligation because everyone else does it.

Say no.
Move on.
Be OK with it.

If you do this, I might send you a goodie bag. :)

the life of a fourth grader isnt always skittles and rainbows

Peer-pressured Parents. We all know that our school-aged children face the much-maligned, dreaded peer pressure often--probably more often than we want to admit. We go to great lengths to encourage them to be strong and confident in themselves and to do what they know to be right, even in the face of the big bad monster we call "peer pressure". But let's cut to the chase. Is that enough? Is what we are teaching with our spoken words being undermined by our own behavior?

It occurred to me yesterday that parents also face a great deal of peer pressure--from our fellow parents and, to a lesser degree, from other children, because we want our own children to be accepted. How do we respond, as parents, to what other parents put forth to us as normal and acceptable, even if we disagree?

How do you parent children in this world, while keeping your focus on the big eternal picture?

If, at 40, I sometimes feel the pressure of my peers in an uncomfortable way, how can I expect my sons to resist the pressure of their own peers? (Don't answer that.)

Lately, I've been learning some important lessons about parenting (I think. I hope). Grey is in the fourth grade this year and right out of the gate, declared that he hated Social Studies. This child enjoys school and for the most part, excels at his academic work so this immediate and complete disgust for all things Social Studies was a new experience for us.

"It's boring." he whined. When you are in the fourth grade, being subjected to something you've already deemed "boring" is akin to spending time in the great abyss, covered in tar and being stalked by predatory birds day and night.

(I have no idea where he gets such a flare for the dramatic.)

Bringing up the topic of Social Studies sent him into the doldrums.
He slumped when reading the book.
He fumbled around with his papers when studying notes.
The notes were written sloppily and as you might suspect, the first few grades were failures.

A few weeks into the semester, it was abundantly clear that desperate times were upon us and something drastic needed to be done.

We spoke at length about his attitude and I spoke privately with his teacher. "It's just not interesting." he lamented. "We just read out of the book and write stuff down." We had a very pointed conversation about having to do things that don't always "light your fire". I laid down the law.

I enlisted the help of a friend who also happens to be a teacher--she showed him some ways to associate what he needed to remember for the test with some visual reminder cues and I think it helped to hear from someone other than me that this was a doable task. His next test grade was 95!

Crisis averted. I thought we were done.

But no. The next two test grades were barely passing muster. It was clear, he wasn't putting any effort into studying and the mid-point of the semester was fast approaching.

He worked hard but it was clear he needed some additional inspiration. The deal was soon struck. If his grade for the semester ended up being an A, his reward would be a shopping trip to Toys R Us. (You should know that I detest Toys R Us and we never go there.) I was very clear on the terms of the deal. The grade *must* be an A.

It's going to be a fight because you had those very gutter-ball grades in the first few weeks. You'll have to work very, very diligently.

I was confident that an A was possible, but that it was certainly not going to be easy to come by. A little adversity is a good thing, especially for boys. It's a good teacher.

He did it. He invested himself. He did the work with a little more spark. He tried harder. He wrote neater. He asked for help and made plans for what to look for when he earned the shopping trip. When semester grades came out, he didn't rip into the envelope immediately. Instead he saved it until he got into the car in the afternoon. He handed it to me and I pulled it out of the envelope.

SOCIAL STUDIES: 90
In our school, an A is a 93 and above.

There shall be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I'm pretty sure we were both more than a little heart-broken that day. Even though I detest Toys R Us, I love this boy and I knew (in depth) how much he had invested into his own success. He was deflated and broken. Real tears of disappointment dripped down his cheeks.

"But I worked so hard..." he said.

I know. Believe me. I know. I'm so proud of the diligent work you did. I'm proud that you didn't give up. You set yourself a goal and while you didn't make it precisely, you were only three points away. You pulled it from an F to a B. That's a pretty big accomplishment.

I tried to make him see but there was no consolation to be had.

I gave him some time.
He moped.
He hid in his closet.
He smirked.
He kicked things.
He did all the things that frustrated 9 year old boys do.
I gave him some space.

The following day he seemed in better spirits and he asked if the deal could be extended to cover next semester. I agreed.

And then I made the mistake of consulting a few friends about the situation. Some of them agreed with me, that the terms of the deal were clearly stated and there was no backup plan. The requirements for reward were not met, so no trip. Unfortunately, a few of them indicated that they would have given him the trip anyway because "what's three points?".

He had done his best.
He had worked hard.
He deserved the trip.

This gave me pause.

I hemed and hawed, as my father would say. I mulled. I felt pressured by some of my peers. I kinda wanted to be the cool mom who rewards hard work and diligence and poo poo'd the "tow the line mom". You see, it pains me deeply to see this boy hurt. It breaks my heart to see him disappointed. I love him like nobody's business. I really really like it when his life is happy and easy and fun and filled with great music, Skittles and rainbows.

But that's not how life is.

And it soon became clear that this was going to be one of those life lessons that stuck around for a while--for both of us.

In private, I wanted to be the easy parent.
I wanted to relieve his disappointment.
I wanted to bend the rules and give him a waiver.
I wanted to ignore all those underlying messages.
I wanted to cast aside the precedent I would be setting.
I wanted to say "you worked so hard--let's go shopping!"

But just in the moments of my wavering, real life--big and tall--stood up and announced it's presence with authority, and connected *all* the little dots for me.

I am not the parent who takes the easy road.
And there's a reason for that.

About a day after the report card came home, my husband got an email regarding his impending quarterly bonus paycheck. It seems that, despite his very diligent work and careful planning, he had missed getting the top tier bonus by a measly 13 points.

Guess what.
No one at his company called to say "we're sorry." No one considered how hard he had worked, how far he had driven, how neat his handwriting was on his reports...No one offered to spot him 13 points to bump him up to the top tier of a bonus structure because he's a good guy and the fourth most productive salesperson in his company and the youngest guy in the top 20.

Nor did he expect them to.

He lamented the loss of those extra dollars for about 3.57 seconds and then said "I'll get up and go to work tomorrow, just like always."

I couldn't help but laugh. I like it when life makes things real obvious and the lesson here could not have been stated more openly or more eloquently.

The following weekend, Grey and I took a few minutes over Sonic drinks to discuss what had gone down. He seemed to get it--to understand that there will be disappointments in life--some big, some small (that's the easy part) and that how we choose to deal with those disappointments is the very definition of who we are as people and children of God (that would be the more difficult part).

Yes, there is grace.

Grace extended the deal into the next semester.
Grace said "Joal gets a second level bonus".
Grace says "I love you no matter what and if I can help you to learn some of the difficult precepts of life when the price of not hitting the mark is relatively minor, I will choose that for you, even if it's unpopular and mildly uncomfortable for both of us."

The man you are becoming is worth that to me.

valentines

A very special hello if you are visiting from Tracie Claiborne's blog...Welcome. (Thanks Tracie, for sharing some of my cards on your blog. You are a gem!)

I have been especially insipred to create Valentine's Day cards this year that are built on a white base. There's something so crisp and enjoyable about white cards.

Most of the stamps and supplies I used weren't especially "Valentine's"--sometimes you can create a holiday feel just by using a certain color scheme or repurposing certain images together. All the stamps used in the above card are from long-retired Stampin' Up! sets and a heart of gems that has been hanging out in my stash for way too long (it's by Me and My Big Ideas). Foam tape behind the heart adds a tiny bit of dimension and allows the gem heart to be tucked in behind the larger element.

 

 

And finally, what could be a more sweet treat for a sweetheart than a cupcake topped with a conversation heart? And now, with Zero calories! :)

 

Happy Valentine's Day crafting!

 

 



Stamp Happy

Valentine's Day...is just around the corner!! Cardmakers everywhere love Valentine's Day! This is one of my first Valentines creations of the year...

It just might be the fastest card I have ever made! Five impressions total...the row of hearts is all one stamp (retired, Stampin' Up!) and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Red on white...classic, clean and very Valentine-y.

Keep on stampin'.

crisp winter birthday

I have more friends with birthdays in January than any other month...so here's my January birthday card creation.

If you know your Stampin' Up! punches, you might notice that this snowflake stamp fits perfectly in the flower punch. (Eeeek.) Yes, that makes me so very happy!!

Happy Stampin'.

christmas different

It was a different kind of Christmas at the Devendorf's this year.

Joal played at church several times throughout the Christmas season--which takes him away for practices and services. We are all good with that--it's what he's good at--but we miss him a little more this time of the year, I think. His major task was the leading of the "midnight mass" (our 11PM Christmas Eve service). Fortunately, this year, we didn't have any major assembling to do when he got home at 1AM. Last year, we had a drum kit to assemble. (Lesson learned.)

We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on the 21st, in the most casual way ever--I was recouperating from a day of major dental improvements so we just went out for a simple lunch at my favorite Mexican place. Twenty one years. At lunch, Julian said "Moma, have you loved Daddy forever?" Most definately.

Christmas Eve was spent preparing dishes for Christmas Day Lunch. I bought a ham and rolls, prepared a crock pot apple crisp, a corn and sausage chowder, black bean salsa, and a broccoli salad all to be shared at The Little Pantry. It was a full day of shopping and preparing and I was pretty tired at the end of it. From time to time, I still get knocked out by alot of movement, and Christmas Eve was a day filled with "alot of movement".

Christmas Morning came extremely early...two boys conspired to get up at the unspeakable hour of 4:35AM. Did I mention that their parents didn't even lay down until 2AM? It was not pretty. I hushed them, turned on the tree lights for entertainment and said "you will be quiet until 7AM." To their credit, they cooperated pretty well.

We opened presents and ate breakfast. Joal let me take a nap, knowing that the day was going to get really busy very shortly. By 11AM we were loaded up and headed over to The Little Pantry for Christmas Lunch. The meal preparations were already in full swing when we got there--there was roast beef, Augratin potatoes, cheesy broccoli, green beans, rolls, roasted vegetable medley and for dessert, pumpkin pie, in addition to the items we brought. Who knew Mike was such a master in the kitchen? It was a beautiful spread and I enjoyed being there. One of the volunteers brought her violin along and played some traditional Christmas tunes so beautifully during lunch. It was the perfect touch.

About 40 patrons of the pantry were served for lunch--a meal shared and gifts given. It was the way Christmas should be, for the most part. It was warm and familial.

After lunch, and clean-up, and spending a few minutes just hanging out, we came home. Julian and Grey immediately dove head-long into the assembling of the new Lego sets. That's alway a priority as soon as the Christmas festivities are complete.

It seemed to go by quickly--Christmas 2012. I didn't take many pictures. I just wanted to live it--something I don't do very often. I rarely scrapbook Christmas pictures anyway. They are all chaotic and difficult. I've never really liked the traditional color scheme of red and green--I read somewhere that most people can't make their eyes focus on red and green at the same time. How odd is that? Nevertheless, I find Christmas pictures hard to scrapbook, so for the most part, I don't.

I wanted a calm Christmas experience this year. I think for the most part, we accomplished that. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas too.


 

don't let the darkness win

there are times when evil seems to prevail
when darkness threatens to overtake, snuffing out the light
when life gets complicated, convoluted and hard
when the hurt comes in like a storm and wreaks havoc and conjures chaos
when faith is threatens to falter
when breathing feels like too much work
when cold surrounds like a wet blanket
when life is ending before it got started, at the hand of disease and desperation
when there's just not enough of what is desperately needed
when death steals away that which is precious and innocent
when, for a moment, our understanding of life is disrupted--shaken

what do we do in these times?
how do we respond?

do we shout at the darkness and wonder who is listening?
do we throw up our hands and declare that there is no God?
do we deny, deny, deny?
do we give in and give up?
do we mope and cry in self-pity?
do we cower in fear?
do we medicate the pain with whatever seems to dull it for a moment?
do we fall to our knees and pray?
do we pontificate on the impending world doom?
do we try to decide who deserves this cosmic punishment?
do we lash out in anger?
do we retreat and hide?
do we angle for answers that can't be found?
do we hold tighter to that which we long to protect but ultimately can't?

No.
No.
No.

We live.
In the Light.
For all it's worth.
We live Loudly.
Vibrantly.
With buckets of Grace.
With Joy and Honor.
With deep intensity.
And Love.
We Love with Greatness.
And humility.
We Give with open hands.
We demand that Life is Good.
Hard but Good.
We refuse to be embraced by anything less than Right and Good and Strength and Love.
We knock down the walls that segregate and separate.
We throw open the windows and drink in the sunshine of friendship and grace and life and Love.
We turn up the music.
We create new art.
We choose to find joy in Life.
Today, just for today, we do it better.

We live better.
We give better.
We hug better.
We kiss better.
We dance better.
We breathe better.
We listen better.
We experience better.
We acknowledge better.
We do not back down from life.
We do not let the darkness win.

It's the only way.

CAS Blue

While traveling this week, I discovered a new-to-me blog that I am so loving. It's called CAS-ual Fridays and it features *Clean and Simple* stamping for cards. ((Love.))

There's a weekly challenge--if you go there be sure to take a peek at all the Crisp, clean works of card art.

This week's challenge is a *blue Christmas* card...(CFC79) so of course, I had to join in.

 

 

 

The tree stamp is from my favorite retired Stampin' Up! set--Seasons of Joy. It can be found on ebay...I so love this little tree. :)

 

 

Happy *Clean and Simple* stamping!

 

--Sarah



Inspired by Etsy

As usual, I'm incredibly late to the party. While everyone else is stuck on Pinterest, I'm still loving www.etsy.com.

I find some of the best ideas there so I thought I would share a few.

This is an awesome card by LuluandJayne. Find it here.

It was one of those that is constructed with such simplicity but without being plain. I'm particularly drawn to those kinds of designs.

This may be the fastest card I've ever made. (Love that.)

In other news, some of my far-away friends have asked about *Cards for Cans*--how it went and how to get some of those cards. It was, in a word, delightful. We had 9 attendees and collected a mountain of canned goods. It was really awesome! Many thanks to those who attended and contributed.

If you would like to participate, a full set (16 cards) of the *Cards for Cans* card designs (2 of each, all fully-assembled) can be purchased for $16, shipping included. You may pay by Paypal or by mailing me a Kroger/Publix Gift Card. (Email me for details. devendorf@bellsouth.net

Happy Saturday!
--Sarah

crazy lady from down the street

A few weeks ago I was hanging out at home one morning, with Julian playing in the backyard, when a lady rang the doorbell.

 

The conversation went something like this:

 

Her: “Hi. I live down the street and I’ve seen your son riding his bike in the street in the last few weeks.”

Me: “Yes…”

Her: “Clearly, he has some problems.”

Me: “His name is Julian and he is autistic, yes.”

Her: “Well, I have two sons and I just want you to know that I don’t want him to interact with my sons.”

Me: “OK. Did he come into your driveway?”

Her: “No.”

Me:  “Did he approach your children or speak to them?”

Her: “No.”

Me: “Ok well riding his bike around our circle is something we have just started allowing him to do and he’s been told not to go into anyone’s driveways or stop and talk to anyone he doesn’t know.”

Her: “My sons are younger and they ride bikes in the street in front of our house and I don’t want him interacting with them.”

Me: “OK”

 

To say I was a little caught off guard by this ambush is the understatement of the year.  Julian got a new bike a few weeks ago and yes, we have been letting him ride around our neighborhood—with some trepidation. Julian is 16 years old and has the body of a fully grown person. However, developmentally, he’s about 10. He has almost zero ability to anticipate the consequences of his actions. He has no concept of time management. As most people can probably imagine, both of these limitations make sending him out into the big neighborhood a little off-putting for his parents. Which is why we haven't done it until now.

 Mind you, we didn't just unleash him willy nilly upon the neighborhood. He was given a-l-o-t of guidance. We have instructed him to only ride on our street and one other circular connecting street. He is to never remove his helmet. He is to pull over when a car comes to pass, and of course, he’s not supposed to stop and engage with people he doesn’t know. That’s a difficult one because Julian has never met a stranger--he likes people and he’s wildly curious to talk to people.

(We live in a quiet, mostly peaceful neighborhood. Many people walk and bike the streets. There are alot of houses with kids and pets. The neighbors we know, we call friends. It's a really nice place to live.)

I was ambushed by this woman on my own porch and her “clearly he has problems” opening statement. Gees, lady. How nice of you to notice…and what a tactful way you have of putting things. How nice it is of you to let me know that you want to shield your sons from anything that doesn’t quite fit your mold of normal, for whatever reason. What are your reasons again? How very healthy for them. Gosh, I hope you never know what it means to have a child who’s not entirely “normal”.

I’m still confused as to why I needed this “warning” or whatever it was supposed to be. She said he hadn’t entered her driveway or approached her children so I’m confused. If there’s been no interaction, and he hasn’t, apparently, done anything inappropriate, why did she feel the need to preemptively strike at the mother of the boy who hadn't done anything wrong?

Later, after some non-accusatory questions, I learned that Julian had (one time) stopped his bike in the street near her house and sat there for a minute adjusting his iPod earphones and helmet. Her children were riding their bikes in the (public) street. He didn’t talk to them. He didn’t even get off his bike. (Good boy.) But apparently, this alarmed her and merited a visit.

I think about this ambush every time I ride her way down our street. I didn’t know how to react that day because, frankly, it takes me a few minutes to get over that kind of confrontational assault. When I opened the door, I had no idea what she wanted…or even who she was. I still don't, although I did google her and find out a few things. That was my mistake.

Frankly, I think she has a screw loose and is perhaps completely clueless—but whatever. In a roundabout way, she let me know that Julian had been doing appropriate things and not doing things we had told him not to do, even if her delivery left a lot to be desired. I hope she never has to deal with being ambushed by some stranger who starts their conversation with “clearly your child has problems”.  When you have a child with problems, you tend to already know this and you don’t need it announced to you by a stranger. If I had been a little quicker witted, perhaps  when she said "clearly your son has problems", I would have said "He does?"

Then again that probably wouldn't have been helpful.

If she stepped up on my porch today, she would get a very different answer to her pronouncement.

For some reason, even though I have tried to be diligent in my role as protector and shield to my not-so-little-anymore son, I have been through this more times than I care to recount.  People who don’t understand that not all of us function on the same plane and that looks can be deceptive seem to think I need their take on the situation. Sincerely, I don’t.

Just because his body functions (mostly) properly and he’s 6’1”, doesn’t mean his brain has developed the same way yours and mine has. (It's insanely difficult to *see* a damaged brain.) No, he can’t, in fact, tie his own boot strings, despite years of trying to teach him. Yes, he raises his voice to get his point across at inappropriate times. Yes, I help him wipe his mouth after lunch because he doesn’t have the spacial awareness to know or care that there is ketchup on his chin. No, he can’t tell you what grade he’s in.

It’s a special kind of brutal for a parent to endure these encounters with ignorant strangers who feel the need to inject themselves onto your life. (Just ask some of my friends who have adopted children who don't look like them.) I spend much of my life running interference between Julian and the world at large. It’s exhausting. How much more exhausted is this poor woman going to be if she tries to constantly run interference between her children and all the abnormal in the world? And these  bonus incidents, where an unknown and unknowing person heaps  another generous helping of “let’s point out how dysfunctional you are” on me is getting old. I’m sincerely tired of being nice in the face of stupidity. I wish there was a warning system.

Beep Beep. Crazy opinionated person coming at 3 o'clock.

Then I could at least be prepared.

Dear rude lady from down the street.

If you are going to let your sons ride their bikes in the public street, you need to be prepared to have them see other people, who might also be using the public street in our neighborhood for exactly what it’s intended to be used for.  There might even be interaction. (Gasp.) If you can’t handle that…here’s a newsflash…maybe they aren’t ready to ride in the street.

Part of me just wishes I could understand what motivated her...because clearly, I don't. What's she so afraid of? What did she really expect me to say or do? What was the point? Did she get what she wanted out of the short weird conversation?

Now I'm the one who might be clueless. :)

 

about the little pantry

It's not *all* about the food at The Little Pantry That Could, but in another way, it is. The food is what draws us all together. It's why people come to see us...because they are in need of (mainly) food, but sometimes other things too. Things such as a hug, a handshake, a smile, an honest conversation, a joke, a dance, a little understanding, a few moments of safe respite, a drink of water or coffee, a pastry or a cookie...

But back to the food.

Today if you shopped, you could have selected

Canned green beans
Canned corn
A can of beans (baked, black, pinto, navy, great northern, chili...)
A can of soup or chili
A can of chicken or tuna
A few packets of instant coffee or hot cocoa
A few bottles of water or tea
A box of spanish rice mix or a box of pasta
A can of pasta sauce or a can of fruit
A box of cereal or oatmeal
A couple of loaves of bread--bread was abundant today...lots of styles snd flavors
Snack crackers or snack chips
Peanut butter
Half a dozen eggs
A case of greek yogurt (yes, we gave away cases today...how awesome is that!)
A bag of fresh lettuce
Onions
Beets
Yellow Squash
Potatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
A bowl of fresh pico or salsa

And toilet paper...a very popular item!

It was a good day--the best day ever--with a record-breaking number of families being served--more than 100. The shelves are almost bare again...so we start over gleaning and collecting for next Saturday.

Every week, as shopping winds down, I find myself wondering how it stretched so far. Every week I want to do more. I don't really like it when we have to make our shoppers choose just one of some items. I want there to be enough for everyone...every single week.

Every Saturday I read the story of Jesus taking the lunch that was prepared to feed just one little boy and miraculously making it feed thousands (with leftovers) and I pray for that miracle to be repeated in the walls of The Little Pantry. I'm pretty sure it has many times over.

When I first started visiting the Pantry, I would say "Stacy, we are out of canned fruit." And Stacy, in her cheerful, eternal optimism would say "We gave it all away!" It's all in how you choose to look at it.

In November, I will have been going to TLP for a year. Well, with a slight break in the middle when I had a broken knee.

In that time I've noticed that a few things have changed, so I made a list.

20 Ways to Know You've Been Spending Time at The Little Pantry

1. You measure the value of other items by Campbell's Chunky Soup Cans.

If I buy those shoes for $40, that's 20 cans of Campbell's Chunky I can not buy. Maybe I'll buy the $6 shoes...

2. You harangue your friends and neighbors for  extra coupons for Campbell's Chunky Soup and stalk the Publix sale papers to see when Campbell's Chunky Soup is included in their weekly Buy One Get One Free promotions. You have spent way too much time doing the math, comparison shopping for the best deal on chunky soups with pull-tab tops.

3. You have bought more than a dozen pairs of tennis shoes in the past year, yet you only actually own one.

4. You don't avert your eyes and adjust the radio when you pull up to a corner where there's a person selling The Contributor. Now you look straight at them, thinking "Is that Moose, or Mark or Vonnie?" and "Do I have some cash?"

5. You plan family holidays around Fridays and Saturdays.

6. You shop the coat rack at Our Thrift Store, hoping to score super warm coats in sizes you don't wear.

7. You wish you drove a bigger SUV so you could more easily carry all the bread and produce and canned goods and stuff from the church to the Pantry. You pray for the day when you have to make more than one trip. You wonder if they make refrigeration units for Jeeps.

8. You are sometimes referred to as the *Peanut Butter Princess*.

9. You haven't had a haircut in 4 months...because well, that's 25 cans of soup.

10. You've heard at least 6 jokes about feeding a pet gorilla, making the world's biggest Banana Pudding and "what in the heck?" from shoppers and clerks at Kroger, when you buy 35 to 45 pounds of bananas at one time.

11. You have missed church on Sunday because you are so exhausted from Friday and Saturday...and you don't feel bad about it.

12. You have ordered peanut butter from Amazon (they auto-ship individual servings of PB and I had a gift card) and you've quaried Jiff to see if they would consider making PB in smaller containers so it's not so much for our homeless people to carry around. (They haven't yet responded.)

13. You know the definition of "food snobery" and you only succumb to the condition occasionally.

14. Random people at church hand you bags of food and pairs of shoes and say "for the pantry"...and you cry.

15. You stop taking your reusable grocery bags to the grocery because the pantry needs the plastic ones.

16. Your nine year old lectured the manager at McDonald's about the Pantry while eating his lunch...and she listened.

17. Your husband no longer says "are you going this week?". He asks "how long are you staying?"

18. You want a set of larger pots and pans for Christmas so cooking for more people is not such a messy challenge.

19. You have collected paper shopping bags from people in two states and used egg cartons from people in three states.

20. You feel things more deeply. You are depressed far less often. You work harder. You love more. You are more appreciative and more generous and more grateful...more open to compassion. Your life is better.

because you are my sister

There's only one woman in this world who calls me her sister. She is the youngest of my three siblings and because she wasn't born until I was 16, in many ways we did not grow up together. I got married when she was 3...and at the same time, my family moved to Texas, so the bulk of her growing up years didn't include me.

I missed out.

As she became an adult, it became a little easier to make up for the time we lost and I have loved every moment. It's a little weird because we are very much alike, in so many ways. I like to think she's the younger, cuter, brassier, fun version of me.

A while back I made this list.



Because you are my sister.

I love you more than my own life.

I will hold your hair back when you puke.

I will hold your child and let you sleep.

I will drive the getaway car.

I will not tell Dad. Or Mom. Or worse, Andy and Daniel.

I will tell you that you are beautiful, because I know it’s true.

I will keep your secrets.

I will help you hide the body.

I will bring the gun to the fight.

I will tell you if the jeans make your backside look huge.

I will give you my last dollar and my last Diet Coke.

I will cry for you and with you. Both kinds of tears.

I will celebrate your happinesses and mourn your losses.

I will defend you to anyone who dares to think less of you than they ought.

I will testify to your courage and your strength when you forget who you are.

I will hold your hand when it trembles and believe in you when no one else does.

I will say the hard things if you need to hear them.

I will sit with you in the quiet and just be.

I will pray over you every day…even from many miles away.

I will dream for you when your way seems cluttered with just surviving today.

I will share the last spoonful of coconut pie and the last bite of mom’s cole slaw.

I will spend 44 cents to send you a fifty cents off coupon.

I will cry and think of you when a happy song comes on the radio.

I will forgive you for the oven and remind you of it often. No, really.

I will share my 324 chicken salad sandwich recipes, and half my chicken salad sandwich.

I will always buy our drinks at Sonic. And Starbucks. And Fresh.

I will always think of you when peeling shrimp.

I will love your child with every fiber of my being, because he is you.

I will lift you up with the darkness threatens.

I will say the words you need to hear and swallow the ones you don’t.

I will love you forever.

I will respect you even though I know you ate dirt when you were three and gave yourself a horrid haircut the day before my wedding.

I will understand when you choose to go to a baseball game on the day that I arrive in town..no, really. I will. But I will also bring it up when I need some leverage.

I will answer your texts at 1am.

I will always be your sister.

I will believe in your dreams always.

I will see the woman you are becoming and be undenyably proud.

Because I am your sister.

the joy of microcheck ribbon

So you don't have to hang around my little scrapbooking space for very long before you realize that despite the buckets, bins and drawers of ribbons that I have collected over the years, about 9 times out of 10, I will reach for one ribbon-- the Offray black and white microcheck ribbon, 5/8".

It just goes.

 

 

It amps up just about any design.

It's a breeze to tie.

It's affordable and pretty universally available.

 

What's not to love?

 



Cards for Cans six, seven and eight

So here they are...cards number 6, 7 and 8 for *Cards for Cans*!

 

Card #6 uses tensil and flags...can't get more festive than that!

 

 

 

 

Card #7 has a few color scheme options: traditional red and white, spunky black and white, and (not shown) pool party and black (in case you prefer the non-traditional Christmas style.)

Card #8 uses glitter but you can't really see it here...I'll try to get a more glittery photo.

 

 

So there you have it. All 8 cards have been shared. Now is the time to let me know that you are planning to attend the first *Cards for Cans* event!

 

This event will benefit The Little Pantry that Could--West Nashville's locally supported food pantry.

 

Bring a canned item to donate to TLP, and in exchange, make a card from the card buffet. One can equals one card and envelope.

 

Friday, November 2, 2012

beginning at 4PM

 

at my studio space in Bellevue (Nashville).

 

New stampers or cardmakers welcome. Stamping and cardmaking is very easy...but if you are new to the craft, don't worry. We will walk you through the steps.

 

The Little Pantry is very special to me. I work there on a weekly basis and am committed to seeing the shelves filled with very necessary canned goods. Items needed weekly at TLP are:

 

canned vegetables

canned fruits (especially the low-sugar and no-sugar varieties)

canned tuna and chicken

canned Chunky soups (especially the brands with pull-tab tops)

 

Make your reservation *now* to attend *Cards for Cans*

by emailing

devendorf at bellsouth dot net

 

If you have cardmaking tools such as a trimmer, scissors, etc, please feel free to bring them to avoid having to share. An email with further instructions/details will be sent when you reserve your spot. :)

 

Let's share a delightful night of holiday snacks and cardmaking.

 

 

--Sarah