From a Mess to the Masses

I have declared today a Good Music Day.  I mean, every day should, of course, be a good music day, but today I will actively ensure that it is indeed.

With an early start, a few planned expeditions, a dinner adventure with the roomies, our first Executive Board Meeting, and then the drive home to pack for my rainy weekend in Syracuse for Homecoming... I need it!

So, here is my gift to you: Phoenix, a fabulous French band.  They've been around for a while but have only just made their way to my ears, which is lamentable because they are just so good!

Lisztomania/Think less but see it grow/Like a riot, like a riot, Oh !/
I'm not easily offended/It's not hard to let it go/From a mess to the masses

"Lisztomania" always has me rocking out, be it in my car, in the living room, or at my desk at the office.  It hasn't failed as a pick-me-up.

Phoenix is on their way up.  They performed on SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Letterman, and Conan.  Their song "1901" is in the new commercial for the 2010 Cadillac SRX and in the trailer for New York, I Love You, the Americanish version of Paris, je t'aime.

Plus, the album name, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is just plain kickass.

Enjoy!

Yummm

As you may or may not know, I am secretly a very domestic person, and my inner hostess with the mostest has been itching to come out.  Our kitchen may be tiny and our oven may have been designed for Thumbelina, but they do the trick.  We're always cooking up something yummy, and my new goal is to always have fresh baked goods in the house.

Currently we have pumpkin pie...

And it is super delicious!

How did we end up with pumpkin pie?  Well yesterday I pulled up to the house just as Richard was leaving.  He told me he was going to the duck pond down the road and invited me to go with him.  The weather was nice, so I agreed.  And as we sat by the water, looking at the mallards and the beautiful red leaves, he suddenly announced that he wanted pumpkin pie.  He meant that we should buy a pie from one of the many roadside stands out here, but I thought he wanted to bake one, and I promptly agreed.  It took some convincing, but we drove to the grocery store and picked up all of the ingredients.  The process got a little hairy because our oven is pretty hoopty, but in the end it was quite delicious.  And it certainly put us all in a wonderful autumn mood.

If you have any good recipes for baked goods, particularly ones involving apples or pumpkin, let me know!

The Gift of Gifts

My first house dedication with this affiliate was right before I started working with them.  In fact, it's where I said yes.  While I already knew that I was going to do it, being there for the event definitely pushed me into wanting it even more.

I watched as all of these people gathered in and around the house, looking at all of the rooms, admiring the new flowers.  A table in the living room was covered with gift baskets for the family.  One woman had brought a twelve pack of tissue boxes, complete with giant bow, with the top corner unwrapped and tissues already sticking out for the tears that were sure to come.  The corporate house sponsors were there to present the homeowner with gifts and warm words.  Volunteers who had worked on the house were there, proud of their handiwork, and excited to have made a difference in the lives of Yolanda and her children.  I cried even though I didn't know anyone there.

My second dedication was completely different.  It was the Student Build house, worked on by hundreds of students from three dozen schools all across the Island.  But not a single student came.  There were no gifts, apart from a card I made and a repaired lawnmower donated by a board member's church.  There were a few staff members, a handful of Family Support Committee members, and some close friends of the Fuentes family.  And that was it.  The priest never even showed up to do the blessing.

Last week I went to my third dedication.  This house was sponsored by a local high school.  They brought busloads of kids who had volunteered, including the entire cheerleading squad and a jazz band.  They set out a table full of baked good and more gift baskets than we knew what to do with.  A week or so earlier, we had been contacted by a group of mothers who wanted to contribute.  They promised three baskets and ended up bringing seven.  We held the dedication in the backyard because everyone couldn't fit in Tina's new house.  The local news channel came and filmed the entire event.  The store owner from across the street came to present Tina with a gift certificate.  At the end of the day, we put all of the gifts away, and they all barely fit in the pantry.  The home was busting with food, appliances, bedding, gardening tools, games, and all kinds of other stuff.

I was amazed by the outpouring of consideration manifested in  material.  I became a little annoyed that the previous family had received so little in comparison.  But then I stopped to think...they did get a home.  Why didn't I feel like that enough? 

I've decided that it is a pretty wonderful gift in and of itself.  But it wasn't the lack of presents at the Fuentes dedication that bothered me.  It was the lack of emotion.  There weren't enough people there to feel the positive energy pulsating in the air, the Habitat love that I feed off of.  It felt like we were all just going through the motions. 

This week, we've gotten calls from all kinds of other donators.  An interior design group will be completely outfitting the next home.  The entire network of public libraries in Suffolk County will be donating approximately 30 gift baskets to our next dedication in Bellport.  Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn will be partnering to do up the kitchen in the Westhampton house.  I know that we can't control when we get these calls and we have no power over who will donate what and when.  But I do wish that the love continues to be spread.  That every dedication can be full of community spirit and warmth.

And that is one of my goals for the year.  I want to do everything in my power to make sure that every volunteer has the opportunity to feel the cause.  I can't make anyone do anything, but I want people to feel connected to the homes they work on, to the families they build for.  I want every dedication to be bursting at the seams with warm and fuzzy.

Thanks a Million!

I turned the tv on to watch some Regis & Kelly while ironing my dress for today.  It happens to be Relly Award week, where they give out silly superlatives.  When they gave Emma Hendrickson her trophy for Sensational Senior, she said she wanted to thank all of her family and friends and all of the fans who voted for her.

And then she went on to say that if she hasn't thanked you yet, remember that it's never too late to say "Thank you!"

I just thought that was so significant.  I completely agree.  It's never to late to thank someone.  Recognition is such a powerful thing, and we don't do it enough.

So thank someone today!

{Thank you for reading my blog and following my journey!}

Working That Net

I've been going to several events as part of the Community Outreach aspect of my job, and I really enjoy it.  While trying to convince random people to volunteer with or donate to Habitat isn't very easy, I've found that talking to the people at the other tables is.  In the past couple of weeks I've met a lot of fabulous individuals from some really excellent organizations.

I guess that you could say that I'm networking, making connections and adding names to my proverbial Rolodex.  The concept of networking is a funny one in my mind.  There's the idea of meeting the people whom it would be advantageous to have a connection with.  And then there's the idea of exchanging business cards with everyone in the room.  I feel as though the latter is pretty prevalent, but it seems pointless to me.  What am I going to do with the card from a person I don't have any connection with and barely remember?

Well, I'd throw it away, but I guess that's not true for everyone.  After all, the concept of Six Degrees of Separation isn't completely made up.  The idea is that we're all just five personal connections away from each other.  And it's not because there are so few people in the world.  It's because of those business card collectors that just seem to know everyone.

I'm not the card collector type.  In fact, it's taking me quite a bit of effort to try to force myself do it a little bit more.  It's not that I don't like talking to people.  We know that's not my issue.  My problem is that I'm looking for more than a phone number and an email address.  I'm looking for a reason to remember you.

Recently I've found a lot of really good reasons.  During these community events I get to hear about all kinds of really great local, national, and international organizations that have amazing missions.  But even better than being introduced to the groups is getting to meet the people who represent them.  Because they are people who are working towards a goal, serving their community with a guided purpose.  People who care.  People like me.

And that's pretty exciting.  I understand that working in service isn't for everyone, and I don't expect it to be.  But it is very disheartening to be told that you're making the wrong decision by going into this field, that you're hurting yourself by trying to help others.  Meeting the people at these events lifts me up.  It shows me that I have made the right choice.  That there are other people just like me who love the thrill of helping another human.  And that I should keep at it.

So that's how I network.  I exchange cards with the people that I want to talk to, the ones who are on my path, that have accomplished a piece of what I'm looking for.  That might come back to bite me if my yard develops a bamboo overgrowth problem, since I threw away the card from that guy who would not stop talking about the building potential of bamboo.  But for now I'm content with my collection of cards from cool folks doing their part to be the change.