I keep checking Todd’s blog to see if he has written about his new best friend but haven’t seen anything yet so I thought I’d go ahead and tell you about him. Well – we aren’t sure if it is a him or her or many hims or hers.

Todd has never seen his new best friend but has seen what he can do. Last year about this time we went up to the lake and took the pontoon boat out for a very nice ride. The next time we went up there is when Todd discovered his new best friend(s). He went to take the cover off of the boat and found lots of stuffing all over the place. Yes – Ricky the raccoon had gotten under the cover and shredded all of the seats on the boat and did his business all over the carpet and everywhere else you can imagine. All new seats and carpet had to be ordered and we ended up not having a boat all summer.

Well guess who we ran into again? Yes – Ricky. This year, however, we never even took one ride on the boat. He got in there again and thankfully didn’t shred the seats but scratched some of them with his claws and did tear up the captain’s chair a bit. This year’s prank was pooping all over everything. Yes – he is very regular and can pretty much go like a large dog does if you get my drift here.

We had family up on Sunday so even though Todd discovered the mess on Sunday he pretty much stayed away from it until yesterday. It took him most of the day to get the boat cleaned up. I did very hesitantly offer to help but I think he knew it would be very hard for me to do. For some reason the older I get the more things like that bother me.

The next thing to do was to find a way to cover up the hole where the boat cover doesn’t cover the boat. Back where the ladder is there is a space where the raccoon was getting in. We tried to think of all kind of things to put there from a Velcro cover to wire, etc. We even talked about trapping Ricky and putting him in the raccoon relocation program. We finally decided to put boat bumpers in there. We decided we needed new ones anyway because Ricky had did his business on them too and the ropes attached to them were a mess also. So – we picked up some new ones thinking that if they didn’t work to block off the hole we could still use them on the boat for docking. We also put a sign next to the boat saying “We have moved next door – please visit our boat there. Thanks!”

In the April issue of Guideposts there was an article written by Nancy O’Dell who is a reporter for Access Hollywood. She wrote about how she grew up playing with her aunt Ellen who was about 20 years older than her and had Down Syndrome. She loved playing with her and had lots of cherished memories spending time with her.

When Nancy got older she was a reporter in Miami and did a story on Best Buddies which is an organization that promotes relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and those without.

After reading Nancy’s article I was curious as to what Best Buddies was all about so I checked out their website www.bestbuddies.org. Once on the website I found that not only do they link people together in person but they also have something called e-Buddies. I thought this might be something I would be interested in so I went to www.ebuddies.org and started reading about what it was all about.

You basically agree to correspond with an intellectually disabled person through email at least once a week. This gives them a chance to develop computer skills and to have a relationship with a new friend. Well I send lots of emails and would love to meet a new friend so I decided to sign up. You have to be 11 and older, which I surprisingly enough qualified for, and have to have your application processed and approved. References were requested and I had to fill out a questionnaire asking me about my interests so they could match me with someone with similar interests. If you are over 18 they charge you a one time fee of $50. All emails going both directions go through the organization before getting to the recipient. One of my references said she was going to tell them that I pick my nose so apparently that was okay because they approved me. LOL!

I got my logon information and was told my application was approved but I did not have an e-Buddy yet. After logging on I saw a message board so I decided to see what people were saying about their experiences with e-Buddies. I read several posts that said they had been approved for almost a year and had still not been assigned an e-Buddy. I also saw comments that after people received their assigned person they never got a response back from them. I have to admit I started to feel a bit upset that this may not turn out to be what I was hoping for.

Well I must be lucky or something because I got an email from the organization a couple of days ago saying that I had an e-Buddy named Anne. Since I had things going on that evening I decided to email her the next day. Before I even got anything typed up she emailed me. She had a friend help her type but she told me that she is short with brown hair and wears glasses. She asked what I looked like. She said she has a job packaging golf balls. I was so excited to hear from her so I emailed her back and told her a little bit about myself and asked her some questions. We are not allowed to disclose our full names or addresses unless approved by the organization. She probably lives several states away.

Anyway – I am excited to see where this goes. Hopefully it will be a good experience and when Evan turns 11 maybe he will want to get an e-Buddy too.

I have this habit of going to McDonalds about one morning every other week to get a bacon egg and cheese bagel and an English Toffee Cappuccino. I stop there after dropping Evan off at school. You see my poodle, Abby, gets really excited when I bring home McBagels. She loves every part of it and I always share little bits and pieces of it with her. That way I don’t get all 2100 calories myself.

On the days I take Evan to school she is always sniffing all over the minute I open the door. I feel so bad when I have to tell her that particular day was not a McBagel day. LOL! She forgives me anyway. That’s the way pets are you know. They are just so excited to see you that they soon forget that you didn’t bring them a McBagel.

Anyway – now that school is almost out I find myself going to get McBagels about twice a week. I never go there during the summer months so I figure I’d better get my McBagel and McCappuccino fix in before school is out.

Oh – and after eating that we just have to take a walk. Otherwise my McLovehandles will get out of control.

Tonight is the banquet for the EAGLES (Enrichment Aimed at Gifted Learners Embracing Success) program at school. The gifted coordinator, who is a very good friend of mine, asked me if Todd and I would like to speak at the banquet. She asked me this a few weeks ago and I said “sure” without any hesitation. Now that it is tonight I’m thinking to myself “What have I gotten myself into?”.

I asked her how long she wanted us to talk. She said around 5 minutes. I’m thinking 5 whole minutes? Todd thought – wow – how am I going to only talk for 5 minutes? LOL! You see he is great at standing up in front of people and talking. He loves it and is very good at it. I, on the other hand, would prefer to be in the audience. So tonight will be interesting. I’m hoping he talks for 4 minutes and 45 seconds so I can just utter a few words and be done.

I actually sat down yesterday and typed up what I wanted to say. I know what I want to say but saying it is another matter. I could kind of read it but that probably wouldn’t look too good. So – hopefully once I get up there I will remember everything I wanted to say and not have to look down at my notes too much. I am very proud of the EAGLES program at school. It has only been in place for 2 years but it is growing and is a great program. Last year we just had Reading and this year we added Math. The kids that qualify for the program are taken out of the classroom for 45 minutes twice a week. I have helped with it since the beginning and have enjoyed spending time with the kids. I have worked with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders.

One of the things I wanted to mention tonight is the fact that it is so interesting to see how the kids process things. I have found that even in Math they come up with different ways to solve a problem. I always thought Math was pretty concrete in that there are rules and methods for solving problems. Well I have learned otherwise. Sometimes the way they come up with answers is so far out there but it works. It just amazes me how their minds work. Even though they are all gifted they are still very different from one another when it comes to personalities and the way they learn.

Evan goes to a fairly small Christian school so starting a program like this was a big deal for the school. The superintendent was so supportive of this program and the teachers have been great too. The gifted coordinator is a volunteer who has a son in Evan’s class. She has spent a great deal of time talking to other gifted coordinators from several schools that have an enrichment program in place. She has done a great job getting this program going and is really the one person that got it all started.

Anyway – tonight I hope to do my best with something I’m not gifted in. Todd, however, we expect great things from you. LOL!

In March, 2004, we decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. We had heard good things about Compassion so we went to their website and were able to select a child online. You could search for a child by all kinds of criteria such as location, male/female, age, and birthday. We decided to put Evan’s birthday in and see if there was a match. We thought it would be neat to sponsor a child that was born on the exact same day as Evan and that Evan could possibly learn a lot about a child the same age as him.

The only one that came up was a boy from Ethiopia named Berkeit. He was meant to be our sponsored child. We signed up and printed off the picture of him from the internet and began paying our monthly sponsorship fee. We got another picture of him and some information about him. It stated that he lives with his mother. He is responsible for running errands and cleaning. His mother is sometimes employed. There are 4 children in the family. Soccer and playing group games are Berkeit’s favorite activities. In primary school his performance is average and he also regularly attends church activities. As we wrote to him and received letters from him we began to know him a bit better.

It is really hard to write to him though. There are so many things he cannot even comprehend because he has never seen or heard of some of the things we deal with on a daily basis. Here we are in a nice house with lots of comforts, food, clothing, and many extras we don’t really need. I think of him living in a shack with dirt floors with little food and the guilt just overwhelms me sometimes. If he could see how we live in comparison to him he would be overwhelmed too

I have learned one very important thing from corresponding with Berkeit. He is extremely happy. He doesn’t really know what he doesn’t have and he is happy with the little he does have. Are many of us Americans happy with what we have? We have so much but are always wanting more. I know I take things for granted all the time. When I think of Berkeit, however, it reminds me that God has blessed us far beyond our gratitude.

Every year for Berkeit’s birthday and at Christmas we send some extra money so that he can have something special. He always sends us a picture of himself with his birthday cake (hand made braided bread) each year. He tells us everything he got with the money and how much each item cost. I’ll never forget that the first thing he ever got after we sponsored him was a blanket. He told us he would not be cold at night now. He was so very happy about that and it meant the world to him. All of the items he buys are practical things such as bed sheets, shoes, etc. He also has to pay for the picture he sends us. It is important to him to share that with us.

I just finished writing Berkeit this afternoon. I have to admit that I have not given him the time he deserves lately. There is no excuse. Yes, I have been “busy” but I can certainly make time for him instead of reading or watching TV or even blogging. God has placed him in our lives and we need to do what we can to encourage him and show him that he is loved.

This summer I think Evan and I will spend some time learning more about Ethiopia and what life is like for Berkeit and his family. Wouldn’t it be cool to go visit him someday?

Last Friday was a very nice day. Todd decided to take the day off so he and I could spend some time together while we had free babysitting from school. We decided to go to The Greene which is a shopping village. It's like a little town of its own with shops, restaurants, and a theater. A lot of the stores have expensive items in them but it is fun to just look and walk around.

We ended up eating lunch at BD’s Mongolian Grill. I had heard about these restaurants before but had never been to one. Let me say – I want to go back now! It was so good. It is a very unique place where you basically create your own stir-fry. You get a bowl and then fill it up with what meat you want (chicken, steak, lamb, sausage, shrimp, calamari, etc) and then add vegetables to it (mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, been sprouts, snap peas, carrots, corn, etc). They also have some pasta you can add. You are supposed to fill your bowl up as high as you can. My bowl was a little on the wimpy side so next time I will definitely add more. You then pick out the sauce you want them to stir-fry it with and add any spices you want. They have lots of sauces and spices to choose from. You take your bowl and sauce up to the area around the grill and the cooks then cook your stir-fry on a 7 foot round grill along with everyone else’s. I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed to see my wimpy amount of stir-fry up there compared with everyone else’s. Size does matter you know. I felt very inadequate. LOL! They then serve rice and tortillas at your table. It was very good and I ate it all. I just wish there was one a bit closer. It seemed like healthy food and the price wasn’t all that bad.

After lunch we continued to walk around, spent time in the bookstore, and then had to pass The Cheesecake Factory on the way out. Todd had never been in The Cheesecake Factory before and so I just wanted to show him the unique building but once inside we just had to get some. I had been there once before. I recommended the “Craig’s Crazy Carrot Cake Cheesecake”. If you like carrot cake you would love this one. I’m even a big chocolate fan and would pick this out first over chocolate. We sat down and enjoyed our cheesecake, which cost almost as much as lunch by the way. It was nice just to sit and visit. We decided to get Evan a piece of Oreo cheesecake to go.

When we got home we took Abby for a quick walk before having to pick Evan up from school. I always enjoy any time spent with Todd. It was such a nice day and it meant a lot to me that he took the day off even though he had tons to do at work.

Maybe we could do this every Friday. (When we are retired)

At the Women of Faith conference Anita Renfroe, who is a Christian comedian, talked about your Purse-onality. Basically she was saying that you can tell a lot about a woman by what she carries on her shoulder. Just like the saying “You are what you eat” she stated that “You are what you carry”.

There were basically 5 different Purse-onalities that she talked about.

The first is the “Tiny Toter”.
This purse is approximately the size of a large cell phone. A person that carries this has a very controlled life. They have 1 credit card, 1 lipstick sample (because a full size lipstick would never fit), and 1 neatly folded antibacterial wipe. If you ever find yourself in jail they are the friend you want to call to bail you out.

The second is the “Mo is Mo Better”.
This purse is very large. They could survive 2 ½ weeks in the artic tundra with this purse. It holds over 1000 markers, ½ of the snack aisle at 7/11, a working pharmacy, and juice boxes for the kids. If you ever find yourself in jail they are the one that has the 7-in-1 McIver tool to get you out.

Thirdly there is the “Serial Monogamist”.
They have a very plain purse that they have had for 12 years. It is no longer functional. They are very loyal. If you ever find yourself in jail they would be the friend that would hold a candlelight vigil outside the jail.

The fourth one is the “I Love Bling”.
The people that carry these are fun people that are never on time. They change purses like people change underwear and can never find anything. This is the friend that would be responsible for you ending up in jail. They will sit in your cell with you and say “Honey – wasn’t that the best fun we ever had?”.

Lastly there are the ones that don’t carry a purse. Most likely their car is their purse. They tell their children to run to the car to get whatever it is they are asking for. They are so unorganized that they would probably forget that you were in jail to begin with.

The funny thing about Anita talking about your Purse-onality is the fact that we happened to go to a mall before the conference and guess what I got? Yep – a purse. And guess what type of Purse-onality I have? Well my friends would jump on this right away and tell you. I’m a Serial Monogamist. Yep – I admit it. The purse I was carrying was plain and probably over 12 years old. I believe Todd bought it for me. Yeah – how many women would like the purse their husband picked out? Well I did. He knows what I like so I hung on to that purse as long as I could. You see – JC Penney had a buy one get one for $.88 sale. So my friend H who loves purses, although I truly cannot pinpoint her Purse-onality, was so excited to see this sale and the excitement was contagious. I found a purse I really liked. It had huge outside pockets to hold my Tiny Toter sized Blackberry and everything else a girl could wish for. LOL! H and I got purses together which was fun.

I have to admit that when I switched over to my new purse it was kind of hard for me. I decided to keep it in the closet just in case I needed it. I love my new purse. Now I wish I had bought 2 so that 12 years from now I’d already have a new one.

This past weekend was a time of friendship and renewal and lots of estrogen floating around. LOL! I went to the Women of Faith conference in Columbus, OH. Our church gets a group of women together each year and we take a bus to the conference. This is my second year and I hope to go each year if it works out. Last year I drove over on my own and went with my friend from Columbus and stayed at her place. This year I took the bus over and stayed in the hotel with the other women.

Right before last year’s conference I was asked to be in charge of it for this year. The decision to say yes has led to a lot of positive things. I am now a member of the Women’s Ministry at church. Each month we meet at someone’s house and we talk about the different teams we are leading and what they are doing. Of course I never have a whole lot to say about my team because the conference is only once a year. There are, however, a few preparations that start in late summer just getting ready for the conference in April. I have really enjoyed getting to know the women at the meetings each month. Each one is unique and has something really special to give to their area of ministry.

One really sweet person I got to know is Pat, the lady who was in charge of the conference for the past 2 years. She agreed to stay on the Women of Faith team and help me along. I don’t know how many emails she has had to answer. She has been so helpful in guiding me along the whole process of getting everything taken care of. I am so glad I had her by my side and have gotten to know her better. She is one of those people that you meet and feel like you have known them for years.

I had asked some friends to go along to the conference with me. Because they are all in the witness protection program I will just refer to them by their first initials. LOL! Originally V and H were going to go but V ended up having to go to a footwear conference for work. H and I talked on the bus over to the conference just wondering what you do at a footwear conference. H thought it would be pretty cool to look at shoes like that. LOL! Anyway, I was pretty disappointed that V couldn’t go. She is my friend that now lives in Columbus and I enjoyed being with her at the conference last year. I also knew that the conference would have been really good for her since she has been going though some tough times lately. But since she couldn’t go I asked A to go along. H and I have know each other for around 13 yrs or so. We worked together at a prior job and now we are working together again. I have been working with A for about 8 yrs. I have talked to her a lot at work but have never done anything outside of work with her. She is a very upbeat person who is fun to be around. I knew we would all have a good time together. I knew that A could really use some time away too.

After we boarded the bus, Dan, our pastor came out and prayed with us before we left. He is not in the witness protection program so I can say his name. Anyway – in his prayer he mentioned that we might find God in times other than when we are at the conference such as when we are sharing a meal with friends, etc. As soon as we took off H and I noticed that A was just chatting away with the lady sitting next to her. A doesn’t know a stranger. After we got to the mall (Yes – we had to go shopping first) A told us that she had already been so blessed by talking to the lady sitting next to her. I remembered Dan’s prayer and thought that she found a little gift from God sitting next to her on the bus.

We spent the day shopping and then went to the hotel, out for dinner, and then to the conference for the evening. If you ever get a chance to go to the Women of Faith conference please go. They have them all over the USA. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying them. I found myself laughing one minute and then holding back tears the next. The speakers and music are great. Sharing the experience with friends too is so special.

I know that God was there with me during the organization of the conference. Everything just seemed to fall into place. People were there to help me along the way. I was so surprised and blessed to receive a gift bag from the women in our group. I’ve got lots of reading to do now and lots of laughing while watching Anita Renfroe’s DVD set. I have to admit in some ways I’m relieved it is over but I’m ready to go again next year. I know that by then I will need that time of renewal in my life.