Anyway, this is the first year Daisy Girl Scouts are allowed to sell Girl Scout Cookies and my daughter and I could not be more thrilled! I think seeing one of my daughter’s friends selling cookies with her troops mate in front of a Blockbuster last year is what got Gigi hooked on the idea of scouting.

When I was selling cookies, I think they were $1.25 a box. Now they are $3.50 a box, but we all have to remember this is a non-profit organization and the cookies raise funds for this very noble institution. I can hardly think of a single person who would pass up a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

Anyway, if any of my local friends who read this blog are up for some cookies, give us a call. We’ll hook you up

Anyway, today has been a big day at our house for sorting and tossing. We went through my daughter’s toys, costume jewelry, and shoes today. I will go through her clothing tomorrow. Then, I will take a few loads to the local Hospice donation center and come home to sort through my own things.

I admire the Hospice organization for what it does best, too. They are with people as they pass from this earth, working hard to make them comfortable and surrounding by peace. My mom’s late husband passed away at the Hospice unit down at Bay Pines V.A. Center. Mom often comments that shopping at their thrift stores is sometimes difficult for her, as she knows families sometimes donate entire estates worth of stuff to the Hospice. I think it makes her feel too close to the reality of death. I actually feel very peaceful at their stores myself. I like knowing that everything is going to good use.

Might I suggest that one of your resolutions be to find a way to support the military families that sacrifice so much all year round?

I have an idea for a very easy way that you can accomplish such a resolution. Check out what Sears is doing with their Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry. It’s a heartening program, to say the least. People like you and I can simply donate money to the program. Qualified military families can register and then Sears distributes the funds equally in the form of Sears gift cards.

The Heroes at Home Wish Registry program is not a non-profit organization, so you cannot write off your contributions as a tax reduction. However, this is a program that is DIRECTLY accessible for the over 30,000 military families registered. There is no overhead or salaries to pay. Whatever is donated is then passed right on to the military families. That is something you can feel great about.

While you are checking out the Heroes at Home section of the Sears website, don’t forget to leave a message of support for our military men and women.

It used to be that I would pick up one of the ornaments and read that the child wanted clothes and shoes. Their sizes would be provided. Sometimes I would see a request for a modest toy.

How is it that most of the “needy” children enrolled in these programs are now asking for things like Xbox and Wii games? I have not been able to buy my own daughter a game system until his year, when I saved up Amazon gift certificates earned from taking surveys all year so I could put it toward a Nintendo DS. Even then, my relatives bought her the games to go with it.

And yet, when I made a move to help a less fortunately family, I saw a long list of game titles. I can only assume they already own the multiple game systems. Call me nuts, but if I were in a situation dire enough that I would sign my daughter up to receive gifts from charitable strangers, I would be spending my money on clothing and food before purchasing multiple high-priced game systems. I live my life wanting to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but when I see things like this I lose a little faith in people.

And now I am reading about another program Sears has called the Heroes at Home Wish Registry. You can donate money to the program and Sears will take all of the money collected and distribute it equally between all of the registered families in the form of Sears gift cards. The program benefits those in the military and their families. It’s a wonderful, selfless program and it puts the focus back on the HEROES who are out there right now fighting to ensure that our nation stays free. I thin it is unfortunate that the recent election overshadowed news of our soldiers and I’m thrilled to see a program like this put the focus back where it belongs.

I’d like to encourage all of my readers to go now and donate to the Sears Heroes at Home Wish Registry. When you look at the family wish lists, you’ll see that most of the families just need help buying warm coats and other clothing for their kids. It’s an honor to be able to help them fulfill that.

However, my grandmother did not know my mother anymore. She had been suffering the affects of Alzheimer’s disease for years and little by little she lost parts of her past to the illness. She never was able to remember that I got married or that I had a daughter. She still saw me as a being in my mid-20s.

My sister and I had made her collage of pictures of the kids and labeled them and put them in her bedroom. When I would bring my daughter to visit her dear great-grandmothers, she would look at her and tell her that she “knew those eyes.” She was not sure who my daughter way, but she had conjured up a vague recognition based on the pictures she saw daily in her room.

It’s with great conviction that I can ask you, my readers, to consider participating in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®. It’s the biggest event in the United States to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. Over 600 communities play host to the events and you can be a part of a Alzheimer’s Memory Walk in your area. In fact, they still need lots of team captains.

Please, consider getting involved.

Now, finding happiness, feeling happy, those are more illusive concepts. Sometimes you have to work at it. I like to use the example of actress Mariel Hemingway. She admits that depression runs in her family. Her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, was notoriously downcast, was diagnosed as manic depressive and in the end, he took his own life. Other members of the Hemingway clan also took their own lives: Mariel’s great-grandfather, two of Ernest’s siblings, and Mariel’s sister Margaux.

Despite all of that, Mariel says she avoids the depression that plagued her family by using the Sedona Method. In “Happy for No Reason” by Marci Shimoff, Mariel talks about overcoming “Hemingway curse”. If you think about it, overcoming such a long history of unhappiness is no small feat.

The Sedona Method is a self-help technique that centers on letting go of thoughts and feelings that are causing you to be unhappy. You focus on the ability to let the thoughts go and learn how to give them over to the moment by tuning into concepts like beingness presence awareness. It is often favorably compared to the popular Release Technique.

You can learn more about the Sedona Method by requesting a free DVD or CD.

It’s only January, but our strawberry crops are already in. So, it is starting to feel a little bit like spring down here. We put in some tomato plants last week and I have noticed the grass is getting greener. So, that makes me feel like throwing open the sashes, putting up the garage door, and cleaning the dickens out of this place. It is time to wash windows and take down curtains. It’s time to air the rugs and shampoo the upholstery. I also want to get rid of a lot of the clutter in the garage and go on over to my storage unit and see if I can thin out my boxes.

I have some friends who are already working on their back yard for the season. They are putting in pavers and making a raised patio out near the back garden. They bought a new boat for the summer and are working with a local charity on a boat donation for their old boat. If we could just grow bulb flowers down here, I could see them hip high in tulips and daffodils by now.

In case you were wondering about the charity my friends picked to give their boat to, it is Carangel.com. They use the money from vehicle donations to make the coolest videos for kids, and they give those videos away at no charge.We love their Donkey Ollie cartoons.

If you are a watcher of news, you have probably heard about the horrific car crashes that happened very early this morning on Florida’s I-4 near Polk City. Smoke from a controlled fire mixed with unusually heavy fog to make visibility null and in the end there were over 70 vehicles involved in multiple pileups that lead to four deaths and untold injuries.

Since there is now an increased need for blood, blood mobiles have been out in force around here. Some high schools are even getting in on the donations by reminding both their students and teachers to donate. Students 17 and over do not need permission to donate. Sixteen-year-old students may donate with a not from their parents.

Here's where to get the month2month free eCards. And, here is the press release. Better late than never, and I’m usually late.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

Bill Grein
Marine Toys for Tots
V: 703-640-9433
F: 703-640-0917
wjgrein@toysfortots.org
http://www.toysfortots.org

Steven Marcus
Month2Month.com
V: 914-933-2638
F: 501-325-9147
smarcus@month2month.com
http://www.month2month.com

Marines Toys for Tots Needs Last Minute Help
Quantico, VA. December 21, 2007 / PR Newswire – The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is making a nationwide last minute appeal for more toys. Since time is critical as they go into their toy distribution phase this weekend the Foundation is encouraging people to make cash contributions because it allows them to purchase the toys they need to fill in gaps and match the remaining needs.

One novel way to get cash immediately into the hands of the Marines is to send lots of holiday eCards to everyone you know. Month2Month.com, a free eCard website has agreed to contribute up to $50,000 when their cards are sent and received.
Bill Grein, Vice President for Marines Toys for Tots, said: “Cash contributions are critical for us at this time because we can purchase the toys we need and can place them where they are needed most at the last minute. It will help us close a gap in many areas where the economy, toy recalls and even bad weather have caused us to come short of our goals so far. We urge everyone to take advantage of this wonderful offer from Month2Month.”

John Aslanian, CEO of Month2Month.com said: “We are expecting to have 1 million cards sent in the next few days that could result in a contribution of up to $50,000. We know that for some the economy might be putting a crimp in their generosity. But what this can do is to save them the cost of buying cards and the postage. We are asking everyone to send these cards, even if they already sent other cards, to help make this a merry Christmas and happy holiday for many more needy children.”

Month2Month.com cards are all produced by top-notch artists working in a loft studio just outside of New York City. The cards show great care in design and detail and often take weeks or months to complete. They are all professionally animated often requiring hundreds of frames to get the motion to look smooth and flowing. Month2Month.com is a privately held online greeting company founded in 2005. The site offers free high quality online greeting cards and can be found at http://www.month2month.com.
This year marks the 60th anniversary for the Toys for Tots tradition of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. In 2006, Toys for Tots delivered more than 19.2 million toys to over 7.6 million children.