but close enough.
I know you all can tell by how painful my blogging has been that I'm not really comfortable with the whole "asking for money" thing. As if adding groveling to my resume wasn't enough, now I'm becoming an expert at gratefulness. The amount of encouragement (not to mention donations [we're over 50% paid for!!]) we've received in the last two weeks has blown me away. If I had any doubt that what we were doing wasn't the right thing, they've all been quieted by the floods of positive messages coming in. Here are a few, without names to protect the flattering:
Friend 1: Anna, you never ask for money. This isn't a big deal to help you out. Besides, it's something I wish I could do, so giving you the money makes me feel less guilty...
Family Member 1: We are so proud of you both for the work you have done in the past and we know you will continue - just because you both have big hearts & empathy for the unfortunate...
Friends 2-10: STAY SAFE!!!
Family Member 2: We will pray for you on your trip. I hope you'll keep us posted.
Friend 11: That is one heck of a way to give back!
Round about "Family Member 1" is where I started crying, and truly believing that we're doing the right thing. To answer a few common questions: No, we're not scared. Yes, we're very excited. We've already raised enough money for one of us to go without a problem, so we're 100% sure we're going. The pharmacies and hospital here have donated and pledged help, and I've never seen Stephan pound so much pavement and pass out so many letters.
Read this post because it really echoes a lot of what's going on inside me right now.
And read this post because it was one year ago today that I visited my first ranch, the photo of me is really cute, and WOW have I learned a LOT since then!!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Falling Forward
It's spring on ranches all over the Northern Hemisphere. The snow is melting, the water is finally flowing, the ranchers are running for their lives while trying to put ear-tags on newly born calves which makes them beller and sends their moms into a panic.
Yes? What's that? Oh, "Beller"? It's the sound a cow/calf/steer/bull makes.
Not "Moo". Beller.
BELL - er
The calves are SO cute and tiny and fun to watch playing in the fields. I totally forgot how fun spring is around here. Of course, there are the sad stories of calves or cows who've died already. That's so sad to hear about. One cow laid down with her head on a downhill, and gravity worked against her and the calf and they both died. So sad.
I guess that's life on the ranch, though.
Yes? What's that? Oh, "Beller"? It's the sound a cow/calf/steer/bull makes.
Not "Moo". Beller.
BELL - er
The calves are SO cute and tiny and fun to watch playing in the fields. I totally forgot how fun spring is around here. Of course, there are the sad stories of calves or cows who've died already. That's so sad to hear about. One cow laid down with her head on a downhill, and gravity worked against her and the calf and they both died. So sad.
I guess that's life on the ranch, though.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Full-Disclosure
Sorry about dropping off the planet for a few days. With everything that was in the air I forgot to mention our short trip to the Twin Cities (via Amtrak- wonderful!!) to visit Stephan's family. More about that later.
When we got home we had lots of return envelopes waiting for us. Yippie!! You'll all be getting Thank-you postcards (postcards to save $$ on postage) in the mail soon!
Ok- here's the deal... we've been feeling pretty darn guilty about having to ask for the money for the trip. SO- while we were on the train, and during down-time with the family, Stephan and I read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. We put all our finances on one piece of paper, got real about our budget, and about what our potential income could be. The result? We're on board. Totally, as Dave says, with Gazelle Intensity. Stephan's taking another job, and I'm expanding my hours. I'm not getting an endorsement for this (but if you're interested in it- I'll totally pimp this program) but the plan seems so simple. Not easy. NOT EASY. Adding hours to our work-week and taking away time from being together is NOT EASY. But, hey, if we're ballsey enough to beg to our friends, we're ballsey enough to work our balls off.
Enough ball-talk (Sorry Mom). I'll be posting photos of our short trip soon, and telling you all about the 100-mile trail we found laden with bison. Do you have any idea how large bison scat is?? Big. Trust me.
When we got home we had lots of return envelopes waiting for us. Yippie!! You'll all be getting Thank-you postcards (postcards to save $$ on postage) in the mail soon!
Ok- here's the deal... we've been feeling pretty darn guilty about having to ask for the money for the trip. SO- while we were on the train, and during down-time with the family, Stephan and I read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. We put all our finances on one piece of paper, got real about our budget, and about what our potential income could be. The result? We're on board. Totally, as Dave says, with Gazelle Intensity. Stephan's taking another job, and I'm expanding my hours. I'm not getting an endorsement for this (but if you're interested in it- I'll totally pimp this program) but the plan seems so simple. Not easy. NOT EASY. Adding hours to our work-week and taking away time from being together is NOT EASY. But, hey, if we're ballsey enough to beg to our friends, we're ballsey enough to work our balls off.
Enough ball-talk (Sorry Mom). I'll be posting photos of our short trip soon, and telling you all about the 100-mile trail we found laden with bison. Do you have any idea how large bison scat is?? Big. Trust me.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Overheard: Hospital Nurse's Station
CNA: Anna, someone called and said your dogs are ok.
Me: Um. What?
CNA: Yeah, your dogs were out, they said they must have gotten away from Stephan, and they have them.
Me: Stephan's at work today, the girls were in the garage.
CNA: Oh. They didn't leave their name.
Me: Huh.
So the girls had a little adventure today. When I came home at 7pm the door to the garage had been pushed open- the stick that keeps it closed was broken. Two blocks away some very nice friends had put the girls in their fenced-in yard and gave them some water. They jumped right into the back seat of the car, and then came home to snuggle.
Fact: Besa doesn't wear a collar at all, and Red's collar just has her rabies tag on it. No identifying marks on either of them. I love living in a small town.
Me: Um. What?
CNA: Yeah, your dogs were out, they said they must have gotten away from Stephan, and they have them.
Me: Stephan's at work today, the girls were in the garage.
CNA: Oh. They didn't leave their name.
Me: Huh.
So the girls had a little adventure today. When I came home at 7pm the door to the garage had been pushed open- the stick that keeps it closed was broken. Two blocks away some very nice friends had put the girls in their fenced-in yard and gave them some water. They jumped right into the back seat of the car, and then came home to snuggle.
Fact: Besa doesn't wear a collar at all, and Red's collar just has her rabies tag on it. No identifying marks on either of them. I love living in a small town.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
FAQ: How's the begging going?
Answer: Great!!
So far we've had some really inspiring help. We wrote/printed/mailed letters to everyone we have postal addresses for this week already, with return envelopes (not stamped, sorry!) inside. A friend read it and said, "Wow, that's a $20 letter... and you're only asking for $10!!"
You'll also notice a new addition to the information bar on the left. See it? The big "DONATE" button? If you click it you'll go to a PayPal site that allows you to make a secure online donation using a credit card or bank account. I've had good luck with PayPal over the years, and I really trust the company.
What are we doing with the money? Travel and room and board is going to run us about $1,500 each (I think I just choked on my gum). We figured last week that we could manage to almost send one of us on our own, but definitely not the two of us. But- we're both going. No matter what.
Any money we collect above our own travel needs will be used to buy more supplies/medicines or will be donated directly to Global Medical Brigades or Sociedad Amigos de los Niños. There's a link on the GMB website for you to donate directly to the organization itself.
I'll keep updating everyone on how we're doing, while NOT taking away from the wonderment that is Montana Calving Season.
So far we've had some really inspiring help. We wrote/printed/mailed letters to everyone we have postal addresses for this week already, with return envelopes (not stamped, sorry!) inside. A friend read it and said, "Wow, that's a $20 letter... and you're only asking for $10!!"
You'll also notice a new addition to the information bar on the left. See it? The big "DONATE" button? If you click it you'll go to a PayPal site that allows you to make a secure online donation using a credit card or bank account. I've had good luck with PayPal over the years, and I really trust the company.
What are we doing with the money? Travel and room and board is going to run us about $1,500 each (I think I just choked on my gum). We figured last week that we could manage to almost send one of us on our own, but definitely not the two of us. But- we're both going. No matter what.
Any money we collect above our own travel needs will be used to buy more supplies/medicines or will be donated directly to Global Medical Brigades or Sociedad Amigos de los Niños. There's a link on the GMB website for you to donate directly to the organization itself.
I'll keep updating everyone on how we're doing, while NOT taking away from the wonderment that is Montana Calving Season.
Overheard: Standing in Front of an Open Dresser Drawer
Him: Hey, Hon?
Me: You never call me that. What's wrong?
Him: How many of my white t-shirts did you turn pink?
Me: None.
Him: What about this one? And this one? And this one?
Me: That's not pink.
Him: Ok. "How many of my t-shirts did you kinda turn a little less into white than pink, but not really?"
Me: Three.
Him: What was red in the laundry??
Me: What do you mean?
Him: .... (skeptical look)
Me: (laughing uncontrollably)
--- 5 minutes later ---
Me: Whew! I haven't laughed like that-
Him: What was red?
Me: (laughing) OK OK! I don't know what was red. There were a few things, some shorts and some socks.
Him: Are you kidding me?
Me: It was a "socks and underwear" load.
Him: WE WENT OVER THIS ALREADY!!!!! Sort by color, wife, not by purpose.
Me: (uncontrollable laughter again, continues, perhaps 10 minutes)
Me: You never call me that. What's wrong?
Him: How many of my white t-shirts did you turn pink?
Me: None.
Him: What about this one? And this one? And this one?
Me: That's not pink.
Him: Ok. "How many of my t-shirts did you kinda turn a little less into white than pink, but not really?"
Me: Three.
Him: What was red in the laundry??
Me: What do you mean?
Him: .... (skeptical look)
Me: (laughing uncontrollably)
--- 5 minutes later ---
Me: Whew! I haven't laughed like that-
Him: What was red?
Me: (laughing) OK OK! I don't know what was red. There were a few things, some shorts and some socks.
Him: Are you kidding me?
Me: It was a "socks and underwear" load.
Him: WE WENT OVER THIS ALREADY!!!!! Sort by color, wife, not by purpose.
Me: (uncontrollable laughter again, continues, perhaps 10 minutes)
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