Reasons To Be Happy...and reasons to be sad

He makes me smile.

credits here

And today I need that. Seems like one bad thing after another this year. We just found out that our dear neighbor Paul is getting kicked out of his house because HIS LANDLORD missed 14 MONTHS of mortgage payments and the house is being foreclosed.  (14 payments which Paul handed him each month) He was given 3 days notice to move. Paul is on my speed dial. He waters our plants when we are gone. Brings in my trash can almost every week. Rakes my yard sometimes just because. Is kind to Ian. Best neighbor I've ever had.  Now he and his roommate need a home while his jerk of a LANDLORD sits in his house and ignores his obligations.

This Is So Important

This is in my town, my neighborhood, but it could be anywhere in America...

A message from Joan Burke, Director of Advocacy at Loaves & Fishes: 

Dear Friend of Loaves & Fishes, 

Watch the Oprah Show at 4 PM this Wednesday, February 25! It’s about the recession and homelessness and was filmed at Loaves & Fishes, Sacramento homeless shelters and Sacramento’s Tent City. They also filmed in other cities to show this is a national problem. 

Please pass the word by forwarding this on to your e-mail groups, colleagues and friends. 

The Oprah Winfrey Show asked Loaves & Fishes if they could interview one of the homeless mothers at Maryhouse. Favor Whitesides, a very devoted mother of three bright and beautiful children, agreed to share her story. Oprah Correspondent Lisa Ling, Sister Libby and I also visited the large tent city in Sacramento with over 100 tents spread out over several acres as far as the eye can see. Over 200 people live there in a scene straight out of the Great Depression. When I asked the film crew if they had seen anything like it anywhere else, the sound man replied, “Only in a war zone.” 

The show airs this Wednesday, Feb. 25. In Sacramento it will be shown at 4PM on Channel 3 KCRA and again at 9 PM on Channel 58 KQCA. Showing times in other cities vary. A link to info on Oprah’s website is below: 

Tent Cities in America: A Lisa Ling Special Report 
http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20090218_recession 

Correspondent Lisa Ling brings us the new faces of the recession. The desperate search for work, a hot meal, a place to sleep. Meet families who are struggling every day to get by. 

The spiraling economy and the foreclosure crisis are causing an increasing number of middle-class Americans to suffer. On today's show, Lisa Ling investigates the emergence of tent cities—makeshift temporary shelters set up by people who simply have nowhere else to go. Our cameras follow a family that went from living in a condo and driving a Lincoln Navigator a year ago to sleeping in homeless shelters and carrying all their possessions in garbage bags. Then, hear from a woman who was making $70,000 a year and is facing eviction. Get an inside look at how more and more families are struggling every day just to get by. 

We believe, in the words of Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, that sunshine is the best disinfectant. We hope that those who see this show and its sad and shocking depiction of the pain of homelessness will be motivated to both seek solutions and to help the families and individuals who are homeless now. We will have a special page set up on Loaves & Fishes website by Wednesday for those who wish to help: www.sacloaves.org 

Joan Burke 
Director of Advocacy 
Loaves & Fishes 
P O Box 2161 
Sacramento, CA 96812 
(916) 446-0874 
advocate4loaves@yahoo.com 
www.SacLoaves.org

Little Things That Give Me Big Hope for Humanity

Just a few things around the web today that make me happy. They make me remember that people out their really care about each other.

Basin Found Camera

I Found Your Camera

That's all...but they made me smile today. And don't we all need to do a little more of that?

Today My Heart Is Breaking

I spent the day with a group of state supervisors today who are facing receiving layoff notices and/or who are managing staff who will be receiving those notices. It was an emotional day.

When Shea picked me up he gave me the news that is making my heart break. Ian's nonprofit parent-cooperative preschool had to lay off two people today. Two wonderful "educarers" who have touched our lives in such a special way.  E looked at Ian on his second day of school in September and said, "I think he's ready to be potty trained, do you want me to try?" I told her of course since nothing we've been doing at home is making any progress. One week later the little man was out of diapers completely. Taking care of his business, accident free ever since (knocking on wood here) Painlessly for us. She was just magic. She could watch the kids and just know exactly what to say or do and they would fall in line. She would laugh when I'd tell her stories of how Ian was at home compared to how he is at school. It will not feel the same to take him to school tomorrow. I'm just so sad.  We'd ask him who his friends are at school and she was always on the list before anyone in the three year old crowd. He called her his "best friend."

She has been such an important part of our family and I didn't even get to say goodbye.

Want to Make Your Photos Even Better?

My dear friend Lynn Weber is kicking off a great Beginning Photo Editing over at Get It Scrapped! Lot's of great tips and tricks plus Lynn is one of the nicest people I've ever met! I got a chance to preview her first class on cropping, and LOVED it! 

(and shhhhh, a little bird mentioned that someone you know might just be teaching her own class over there sometime soon...)

POTD 021409

POTD 021409, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

It was an on again off again chance we were going to make it to watch the Tour of California today. Ian has been battling a cold for a week and Shea wasn't feeling well either.

I left them napping and joined Justin to watch. So glad I made it out! I had a blast taking photos in the near perfect overcast light.

About 45 minutes before it was over Shea showed up with Ian. Fun to watch it together! Ian cheered as each rider went by, but I think he was a little more impressed with the motorcycles behind each bike!

Any guesses who this guy is?? Click on the photo to see the non cut off version!

Embracing My Frugality

Ian needs Valentine's cards. His party like most others in the 3 year old crowd is at preschool after nap time on Friday. It will be a candy, cookie, punch, and card filled fest. He knows he is giving cards but asked today if we could just redo Halloween instead. The kiddo really likes Halloween!

Alas, no Halloween redo, although we could use one given how last year's went. So tonight we set about making cards. I was determined to not spend anything on a piece of paper little fingers will get sticky, look at, toss into a bag along with others and ultimately toss. (probably in the trash can, even though most will be recyclable) Call me frugal. Call me cheap. Call me a curmudgeon. I just couldn't see spending money on waste.

Being on the Creative Team for Designer Digitals I have access to beautiful elements for making gorgeous cards. Last year I made them using some great products, stuffed them, took them to school and Ian really had no idea what occurred or that his name had been tied to a pink monkey hanging from a tree that said something like "I'm bananas for you" or some such nonsense. 

This year I was determined it be different. So I dug out a bunch of old paper from my paper scrapbooking days which were pre Ian and more of an excuse to get together with a few friends and chat all night. I had no design in mind. I just knew we were going to cut out hearts, use some stamps, some glue and see where it took us! Turns out he LOVED cutting out the cards. Of course that meant he got to pull the arm down on the Sizzix and cut out hearts. He decided he was Inspector Gadget and the Sizzix was a claw. He'd announce, "go go Gadget claw" each time he cut. He made it through about 10 before he needed a break and ran away. Then he was back, this time playing school complete with his backpack and addressing me as "teacher". After he made a trip into the "toy room" aka the living room he was back for some stamping of the word "happy" across a few hearts and then some strategic placing of stickers. 

We didn't finish, but we made a good start. They look homemade. Well...because they are! I had a brief moment of thinking, geez, what are the other moms going to think. And then I decided. Big flippin' deal (sorry for the replacement profanity there mom, but it is what I thought!) He had fun. I loved helping him and right now he thinks I'm the coolest mom EVER!

I'd show you what they look like, but it's not Valentine's Day yet!!

*****************

And in other news...

I've redesigned my work website www.katrinakennedy.com. Let me know what you think!

Words To Live By

My talented friend Debi sent me this a few weeks ago. I found it today and wanted to save it!

 The most important thing she’d learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one. 

— Jill Churchill

Today I'm a good mom. I hung out with him at school for a bit. I played dinosaurs with him. And tonight we're baking cookies together. That leaves 999,997 more ways!

Myra of the Mix Tape Monday

My dear friend Myra is featuring my iPOD play list on her blog today! Go there not because of my list but because the wonderful things she says so much better than I can. I am lucky to count her among my dearest friends!

While you are over there check out her great photos and design! She's amazingly talented!

Make Me Those Cookies!

POTD 020209, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Cookies seem to be a theme in our house this week! Today Ian and I made Vegan Sugar Cookies that were yummy! He loves cutting them out and runs into the kitchen over and over to check them. Today was pink frosting and no sprinkles. And the photo? He's doing his best job of hiding his face, his latest photo trick with me. Hold anything he can up and ask for a photo with it strategically placed in front of him. I guess I really did want a photo of those dirty fingernails! Makes me wonder how big his impish smile is behind that heart!

Quiet Weekend?

Our quiet weekend became a weekend filled with unexpected house guests, a moody mom, and a photo shoot for a six month old. By 3PM today Ian was napping and Shea and I were exhausted! While the rest of the world watched the big game, we sat at our computers and enjoyed a few superbowl type snacks and did our own thing!

I made a page that I LOVE. Just makes me smile when it comes together so easily with a result I'm happy with. That just doesn't seem to happen very often. And it seems I'm back to orange again!

Credits here

And my favorite photo of today? Ian insisted he pose just like Baby E who visited our house for her photoshoot today. So imagine a six month old baby girl under a cleaner version of Ian's dirty blanket and you have a fairly good idea of what my other photos from the morning look like! Oh, the face paint? Darth Maul of course on top and a pirate beard on the chin!