Small Change mattered to Eboni

Hooray! Another great update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

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Small Change Mattered to Eboni

Small Change Matters

In our day-to-day lives, it's easy to forget that these three words are true.  But here at the Emergency Fund, we know that small change does matter.  It mattered to Joseph.  It mattered to Roxanna and Lashon. It mattered to Charlie.     

And it certainly mattered to Eboni.  

It was a sunny, March afternoon in Chicago, and seven-year-old Desaree couldn’t wait to get outside. It was the first warm day of the year, and she grinned when she heard the familiar music of the ice cream truck jingling toward her grandmother’s house.

As usual, Desaree finished her ice cream before her sisters and ran to her cousin’s blue scooter while her family sat on the front porch. When the bullet struck her head, she didn’t know what had hit her.

Desaree’s mother, Eboni, was startled awake by banging on her front door. Pregnant with her fourth daughter, she was napping before her evening security shift when she awoke to face her worst nightmare. No one could even tell her where Desaree had been shot.

Eboni waited for hours as Desaree’s condition was upgraded from critical to guarded. She kept vigil over her first-grader’s medically induced coma. She was there every time her little girl woke up from surgery. And when Desaree was released a month later, Eboni knew she would do whatever it took to keep her daughter safe from the gang that had begun harassing her family.

Eboni found a new home in a safe neighborhood – she could pay the rent, she just couldn’t afford the security deposit. Small change for some of us, it was an insurmountable obstacle for Eboni.

That’s why the Emergency Fund is here. We provide the small change that empowers our clients to get back on their feet and keep going. With our help, Eboni moved her family away from the violence and into a safe home.

Small Change Matters for people like Eboni. Whether it’s a bus pass to get to a job interview, or a security deposit that helps a family move into a safe home, when someone is close to the edge a small change can make all the difference.

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

IT'S ALIVE!!

My ability to blog from my phone, that is. I might even be able to post pics! Let's try... Ok, one pic of a downtown Chicago planter - loaded.

Let's try one more and see how that works...coneflowers by a neighbor's garage window.

Time to hit "publish" and flip out when it works!

Dance Party Friday! Harry Potter

Google+ is already doing great things in my life. I asked what today's Dance Party Friday theme should be and got two responses: "Angst. Pure, unadulterated angst." and "Harry Potter, natch."

Though those themes could be intertwined, I've found enough songs to go along with a Harry Potter-only theme that I'm gonna shelve Angst for today and visit it again, maybe next week. So, for all you HP fans, today's DPF is for you! I know y'all are still asleep after catching the midnight show last night, so maybe you can check out the DPF when you wake up this afternoon.

I am a fan of the Harry Potter books. I didn't think I would be, but finally decided to give them a try. By this time all the books had been published and my local library had several copies of each, so I didn't have to wait when it was time to move on to the next book. I gotta say, I really dug the books, especially as I got further into the series and the themes grew more mature. There were some slow or redundant parts, sure, but there were some really funny parts, some really scary parts and some really touching parts. One day I'll read them again, and I'm sure my kids will enjoy them soon.

So . . . here we go!

I love the Eagles, so am happy to kick off DPF with one of their songs. This was a suggestion by Marissa. As are several other songs today. Thanks, Marissa!!

Ok - check it out, there are ALL KINDS of awesome versions of "I Put A Spell On You", so I'm going to do a short DPF within a DPF and do a quick rundown of all the great versions:

Van Morrison

Nina Simone

The Animals

Joss Stone & Jeff Beck

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Thin Lizzy

CCR

She & Him

Ron's mom won't be having this, you guys.

Do You Believe in Magic? You know, Lovin' Spoonful, I'm not sure. This is a long conversation and I'm not sure we have time for it right now.

AIR SUPPLY, Y'ALL!!!


Black Magic Woman - Santana - great old school concert footage (even with the karaoke lyrics)!


Aww yeah, Hufflepuff, you know what's up . . . fun video.


Wizard by Black Sabbath. Dude, I could probably just post their entire catalog for this post. And Stevie Nicks, right?


Magic Potion by Open Mind. I like the mix of 60s fashion, psychedelics and plain weirdness of this video.


Man, oh man. Can a band get more emo? I love you but I've chosen darkness!!! Album title: Fear is on our side.


Add this song title to the name of the next group...


Flying Cars! Get it? Bonus song title on this one.

Alright, y'all. What other songs should be added to the Harry Potter Dance Party Friday?

Kevin tipped me off to a list of 25 Wizardry-related songs. Thanks, dude!

Possibly unusual safety tips for kids

Every once in a while, my husband and I go over safety tips with our kids. I don’t know that the things we teach our kids are that conventional, but I believe in them whole-heartedly.

1. If you’re in an emergency situation – if someone is hurt or is about to be hurt, if something is damaged or about to be damaged, if something really bad is going to happen and you need a way to stop it, it’s ok to break rules. It’s ok to scream in a public place. It’s ok to cuss your head off to get the attention of someone who can help you. It’s ok to interrupt me if I’m on the phone. It’s ok to talk to a stranger.

2. If you’re lost or need help from a grownup, don’t look for a police officer or someone who’s wearing a uniform – find someone who looks like a mom, a grandma, an aunt. Find a woman. Go to a woman with kids. Look, my Dad is a cop, I’m not saying people in uniform are bad. But – I feel more danger from men who would hurt kids than from women. And there aren’t usually people in uniform everywhere you go. But there are almost always women and moms. I know if a kid came up to me needing help, I would do anything I could to help that kid.

3. If someone comes up on you and tells you to be quiet or they’ll hurt you, you scream your head off. Think about it – if you ARE quiet, they ARE going to hurt you. That’s what they want to do. What they don’t want is to be noticed by anyone else. You kick, scratch, scream, bite, anything you need to do, but you do NOT obey.

4. On the other hand, if they tell you they want your money, give it over immediately. Don’t try to be a hero. You just have to use your best judgment – are they trying to hurt you or rob you? If they just want your stuff, give it to them and call the cops afterward. If you’re in a store or bank and someone tries to rob the place, become as invisible as you can and obey the robber. Don’t try to be a hero and don’t try to outsmart the robber. Most robbers aren’t brilliant, practiced jewel thieves like what you see in the movies. Rather, they’re hopped up on drugs or scared they’re going to get caught, and their trigger finger is itchy. Don’t give them any reason to freak out.

I’ve tried to balance safety tips like this with “puppies and unicorns, life is safe and happy” – I don’t want to freak them out unnecessarily . . . but I would rather them be a little scared – and prepared – than naïve and unsure of what to do in a bad situation. Obviously, when we’re in these situations, we don’t always think straight and may not do any of the things we thought we would. But sometimes we can, and those things can make a difference.

Do you have any safety tips you practice, or have taught to your kids?

John couldn’t wait that long

Hooray! Another great update from Chicago’s Emergency Fund, the organization I’ll be donating 10% of my Etsy profits to this year. I’m posting some of the stories they send to supporters so you can have an idea of what impact they make in the Chicago area.

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Here at the Emergency Fund, we know that our promise to provide help immediately and without red tape is crucial to our clients. It's especially important when the person in need is facing a tragedy so unexpected that they had no possible way to prepare for it. That's what happened to John.

Fifty-year-old John is a hardworking father, a man who had proudly raised his children with his wife, Becky. He thought he was done with parenthood and had happily settled into the life of the doting grandfather when tragedy struck.

John's son, Bill, and Bill's girlfriend were killed in a car accident, leaving their three children, ages 11, 5, and 2, to John and Becky. After paying the funeral expenses, John and Becky had no savings left and were struggling to feed their grandchildren.

John worked with a Fund Manager who helped him sign up for food stamps and enrolled the family in a monthly food pantry program. But it can take weeks from signing up for food stamps to actually receiving them, and the food pantry was still weeks away.

John couldn't wait that long.

With the Emergency Fund's help, John was able to feed his grandchildren until more permanent help was available.

Donate today and help the Emergency Fund be there for people who need help right now.

Content from the Emergency Fund website.

Please, make a donation to the Emergency Fund today. Together we will make the small change that changes lives.

Donate today and your new or increased gift will be matched* by an anonymous donor!

*Double your impact! An anonymous donor is matching all new or increased gifts. That means that 100% of first-time gifts and gifts from donors who have not given since 2008 will be matched. For those who gave in 2009 or 2010, any amount above the highest annual gift amount in 2009 and 2010 will be matched.

Couch to 5K – A new start!

Last week I began the Couch to 5K running program. It’s designed to get “couch potatoes”, or people with little-to-no regular exercise, running a 5K (five kilometers) or approximately 3miles, within 2 months. I do have regular exercise, but nothing too strenuous. Monday through Friday, I ride my bike two miles to the train station from my house and I walk a mile from the downtown Chicago train station to my office. Then I walk another mile and bike another two miles going home. Plus dance parties, walking around outside with the kids, riding my bike to the store . . . I’m not completely without exercise. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not making much of an impact. Oh – I have an elliptical machine but I don’t use it as often as I should. I weighed myself recently for the first time in months, and almost cried. I’m my highest weight ever, not counting pregnancies. Not good!

I’ve thought about doing Couch to 5K for a while, so after seeing the number on the scale, I looked up the program and decided to give it a try. The first week is three days of this pattern: you start with 5 minutes of brisk walking, then begin intervals of jogging and walking. You jog for 60 seconds then briskly walk for 90 seconds. You’re supposed to do the jogging/walking for 20 minutes total, which comes out to eight sets of jogging/walking.

My first day, I turned off my alarm. I’d stayed up very late the night before and I don’t operate well with little sleep. So I tried again the next day, and having gotten better sleep, I got up, excited to start. I stretched out a bit and then began my walking and jogging. During my first interval of jogging, I noticed someone walking toward me on the bike path I was on. I felt self-concious about how I looked jogging, and near the end of the minute, long after I’d passed them, I realized that I wasn’t even thinking about forcing myself to keep going, the way I thought I’d feel.

That didn’t last long. I did pretty well through the first half of my intervals and then had to push myself in intervals 5 and 6. And then I wanted to quit! I didn’t want to fail and I didn’t want to have to admit I’d failed (I’d told people I was doing the program) so I made myself slog through the last two intervals. I only ran about 50 seconds of the last two 60-second jogs, but I figure that’s better than quitting altogether. I finished, and felt great. I was dripping sweat and took some time to cool off before getting cleaned up and ready for work.

My second run, two days later, was the opposite. As soon as I started, I wanted to quit. OH MAN I wanted to quit. I told myself, you CAN do this. YOU CAN. And you WILL. And . . . I did! There was even one point where I began my jogging interval, I stopped, began walking, was going to quit, and I said, No, you better do this. This isn’t torture, it’s just jogging, stop acting like you have no strength and can’t deal with something unpleasant! So I started up again, and felt good at the end.

I was talking to my husband about this and remembered when I first started riding my bike to work a few months ago. I was miserable. I felt every incline no matter how slight, every bump. The seat hurt my butt, my legs cramped. Sometimes I got off my bike to push it up hills rather than ride it. This lasted a few weeks and I’m surprised I kept up with it, because it didn’t get much easier during those weeks. I was in lots of pain. Then one day, I got home from work and realized I hadn’t spent the ride home wincing and breathing hard. I was just home all of a sudden. From that day, the pains decreased, my speed and stamina increased, and now I absolutely LOVE riding my bike twice a day. My hope is that running will be this way for me, and I’m going to use this comparison to keep going when it sucks. Yes, it hurts, it sucks, you feel like you’re going to throw up, you feel like you’re just dragging along, your shins hurts . . . it will get better. One day, you might even like it!

Dance Party Friday: Guest Edition

My friend Alicia from Iowa City is visiting me today while her husband gets a tattoo at the Chicago Tattooing Co. Alicia and I are a couple of those crazy people that knew each other online before meeting in person. She and her husband are about to embark on an exciting adventure - selling all their stuff and traveling the world for a year! Then they're gonna come back and become sheep farmers . . . or something. Anyway, she's in town, we had a yummy lunch and now she gets her very own Dance Party Friday!

Here are her picks . . .we're going with a country/Americana theme. Did I mention it was Alicia who introduced me to the Avett Brothers? Oh yes, it was.

She says this was a major part of her childhood.


This is written by Greg Brown, but these lovely hipsters have the best video of it on YouTube. :)


Here's Marrow, sung (and probably written by) William Elliott Whitmore and Jenny Hoyston - from their Hallways of Always album.


Creepin' In - Dolly Parton and Norah Jones! Alicia just said her band covered this song, it has some "sweet banjo licks" - yes, Alicia plays banjo! Long but endearing intro. Note, this is a song by the late, great June Carter.


Alicia says this is one of her favorite videos of all time, but come on, isn't this one of EVERYONE'S favorite videos? I've seen a great basement party performance of this with Alicia on the banjo . . . wish I could share it with you but it's on facebook lockdown. Alicia loves the camp of this video. Me too!


This is Alicia's friend Katie's band, the Awful Purdies. They have a new album coming out, so Google the heck out of it and buy it! Now.


This one has neat flood pictures, if you like that sort of thing. Which I do. The female vocalist is Alicia's uncle's ex-wife's step-daughter. If you're wondering about Ferris Bueller's health status, she can probably tell you.


Dave Moore is an Iowan artist who plays a mean harp. He is also known to be a swell dude.


Horse Feathers! Alicia just saw them a few weeks ago, she (and the rest of the audience) got to sit on stage with the band for the performance. They also have a Tiny Desk Concert which Alicia says automatically makes them cool.


Great performance in LA's Knitting Factory. Alicia is famous by proxy because last week he gave her a high five. She knows this dude! She & her husband Tony have a design/printing business and they did a really cool concert poster for Will a while back. Check it - and their other wares, out, at Cicada Grove.

The end!!