Helping Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti

Would you like to help with disaster relief in Haiti? If so, please read my letter:

Dear Friends and Family,

Those of you who know me personally are aware that I am blessed. I have 4 healthy wonderful children, a fantastic husband, food to eat, a house to live in, health care, a good job, and even a great business/hobby making jewelry. My life is enriching and my heart is often full of love.

Many, many people in Haiti have lost everything. Their homes, jobs, families, are gone. Because I can, I want to help. My family and I are gathering materials for “health kits”. We are working through UMCOR (a United Methodist Committee on Relief ( http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/about/ ), to create, pack and ship the kits for distribution to people in Haiti.

This is where you come in. We need help obtaining supplies. Please help by buying what you can afford and delivering it to us. We will accept donations at our home or, if necessary, arrange to pick up materials that you have bought.

When we have all of the needed materials, we will pack them into “kits” (gallon sized plastic bags) and ship them to the UMCOR office in Louisiana. That office will then ship the boxes to Haiti for distribution to the people who need health kits.

Below is a link to the UMCOR site about health kits, a list of needed materials, and my contact information.


Materials that are needed: Please note – All items must be NEW and exactly as described.

~ Hand towels (15” x 25” up to 17” x 27”, NO kitchen towels)

~Wash cloths

~Combs (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)

~Nail files or fingernail clippers (NO emery boards or toenail clippers)

~Bath-sized bars of soap (3oz. and up)

~Toothbrushes (single brushes only in original wrappers, no child-size brushes)

~Adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages

~Gallon sized plastic bags

~Money to purchase toothpaste (being bought in bulk by Sager Brown UMCOR to ensure that the product does not expire before it is sent) and to pay for shipping.

My contact information:
sher065@aol.com

Here is the link for UMCOR page on health kits:
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/

With Gratitude and Love,

Sheryl

New Obsesion

Had a blast making rings last weekend! Here are pictures my 1st two bezel rings and a couple of pair of fun earrings.

Look Ma, no Hands!!

Blogging just became a little bit more fun! As I write, I am folding clothes, with two hands. How is that possible you might ask? I am using a speech recognition program.

I am fortunate enough to have a new computer. It arrived with Windows Vista loaded onto it. What I didn't know when I bought my computer is that Windows Vista has speech recognition software built into it. When I found out that I had such a cool tool hiding in my computer, I had to give it a try! After 1 hour of learning and practicing, I am now able to write with out using my hands! Well, at least until I need to edit my work.

I am an occupational therapist. Many of my clients struggle with the writing process. As a result, I often recommend that my clients use adaptations to improve their writing abilities. So, I have known for years that speech recognition programs can be very helpful. But I never thought that I would have my own!

Not only does using speech recognition software make writing more fun, it allows me to multitask in a whole new way. Just imagine the possibilities!

Happy Typing!

Summer Sale

It's sale time! All items in my Etsy shop are marked down by 20 percent!

http://treefrogjewelry.etsy.com

What size are my toes?

Why wear toe rings? They're fun! During warm weather when your feet are exposed, toe rings are a fantastic and inexpensive way to express yourself. And they are a lot easier to put on and take off than nail polish!

Toe rings are made either closed (not adjustable) or open (adjustable). Adjustable toe rings can be easier to fit because they can be squeezed tight onto your toe.

So, how do you know what type and size of toe ring to buy? First, consider where your toe ring will rest. Will it have to fit over a wide spot, a knuckle? If so, you might be more comfortable wearing an adjustable toe ring. If not, either closed or open toe rings should work.

Now, how to find the correct sizes for you toes? It's actually an easy thing to figure out. Follow the simple steps provided by Amazon at the link below.

http://images.amazon.com/media/i3d/01/ring-size-finder.pdf

My "Top 10" list of the great things about being Mom

Being Mom can be totally engulfing. As the mother of 4 children, life seems to move at such a rapid pace that, sometimes, I barely notice my family! I have been on that crazy treadmill all spring. So now, I'm going to blog on the great things about being Mom. It's time to focus my mind on my kids for a while.
Here are my “top ten” favorite things about being Mom - not necessarily in order since all are very important:
10. Development - Witnessing my children develop, watching them learn something new and internalize it, is magical. Sometimes I can actually look into their eyes and see the connections get made!
9. Ideas - Sometimes I am floored when I hear some of the amazing ideas/thoughts my kids have. They must come into this life with wisdom already!
8. Love - Being appreciated by my kids for who I am and what I can give them is sometimes breath taking. The simplest gestures can have the biggest impact. They love to do things for me too! The more I give of myself (time, attention, respect) the more they give to me.
7. Values - Seeing my kids learn important life lessons, lessons that will carry them through life, is very rewarding. For example, when my oldest son watched me give a needy man my last $5.00 he said, under his breath, "mom, are you sure you want to do that?" (worried about money). I told him that it always comes back. And 2 days later it did, when an unfamiliar woman put a $100.00 dollar bill on our restaurant table to buy our family dinner! My husband insisted that we didn’t need the money but she insisted. Home run!
6. Self-confidence - Watching the kids test and expand their abilities is awesome. Knowing when to step in and help and when to hold back and wait is the hard part.
5. Compassion - Feeling the love and caring that my kids have for others helps me to know that my husband and I are doing our jobs.
4. Physical comfort - Snuggles, hugs and kisses always feel good, even when the giver wiggles constantly, unable to sit still, or climbs into bed in the middle of the night. My heart fills every time.
3. Talent - When I take the time to really observe what my children can do I am amazed at their talent! My oldest son and my daughter are amazing musicians. And they are both naturals at caring for others (go figure). My third is a fantastic visual artist with an almost intuitive ability to work with colors. And my youngest has always been a master at physical coordination. It's hilarious to watch him dance and make faces!
2. Nurturing - because I am Mom, I get to nurture, to give, to feel love.
1. Fulfillment - Being mom really matters! Even on my worst days my kids can pull me back to what really matters - Love, Gratitude, Faith, Joy, Inspiration. They help me to be whom I need and want to be.

Depression

Depression has won another battle. I spent this afternoon at a funeral grieving for a mother and her children, friends of mine. They lost their husband/father a few days ago. He couldn't fight any more. His depression won. And this is not the first time that I have lost a friend in this way.

Having struggled through bouts of depression myself I know that simply existing can be exhausting. At my worst I simply felt numb, like nothing really mattered. Moving around the house, feeding my kids, answering the phone, I felt as if I was walking through waist deep water. Exhausting.... However, my depression has never felt so painful that I ever considered ending my life, and I hope that it never does.

How do people do it, I wonder. How does a person, living with such excruciating emotional pain, make it through every day? I know that problem solving, planning ahead, just thinking, go out the window when depression takes over. Is that why some people loose? Is that why they don't find the right medicine or the right therapy or the right whatever they need to feel better?

It's not right! It's not fair to their loved ones. My friend was a fantastic father. Now his boys don't have him anymore. Helpless, that's how I feel, helpless and angry. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN? If I could figure out how to stop it I would do anything that I could to help.

More tears and lots of prayers. Please pray for them all.