Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sunday night
Feb 18, 2007

Had a great day with the kids and some great times at with my sister's just hanging out having some wine and celebrating her upcoming 50th birthday. My family has been extremely supportive of the adventure that I will soon take and all are excited to hear of the adventures that I will experience.

Yesterday we received another cash donation of $1,000.00 for our trip from Tecumseh Laser Centre. Thanks so much Joanne Duff! We have also received $1,000.00 from Alumni and Development at the U of W and the Cooperators Insurance Company has donated 40 long sleeved t-shirts, 40 back packs and $1,000.00! Incredible how this has made its way through the whole Windsor community. Friday we did a live radio interview on AM 800 CKLW and we are so thankful for the opportunity to publicize our fundraising with their help!

I checked out a map of our destination on mapquest today and also checked out the average temperatures in New Orleans for this time of the year. Since it's so far down south, I expected it would be slightly warmer, but it will still be warmer than here.

I'm excited about the upcoming week as we prepare for the trip. It's been interesting to begin thinking about what to pack. It's not my typical packing trip. Usually, going down south means packing my best clothes, evening wear, considering which swim suits I will wear, etc, etc. But now, it means, scouring through my closets and those of my sisters' for junky old pants and t-shirts fit for painting and staying warm as a first priority. I might actually head to Value Village for some old pants since I purged all of mine about 5 months ago, prior to knowing I would be taking such a trip. My sisters are kind of grossed out by this idea, but I think it's a humbling experience. Think about the people in New Orleans who at this point would likely die for the opportunity to shop at a Value Village.

We have another group meeting on Wednesday night where we will make our final preparations for the trip.For now, I must attempt to fit two weeks of work into one and tie up a great deal of loose ends before I can go away so I can "relax" and "enjoy" this experience without worrying about work.Stay tuned for more......Beth
Posted by Beth at 6:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: donations and packing, Family time
Thursday, February 15, 2007

Fundraising
February 15, 2007

Our fundraising efforts are going very well, but we have a long way to go. The University of Windsor community has so far helped us to raise over $9,000.00 but we have our work cut out for us. We have 8 days to go and LOTS more money to raise.The U of W residence students have been terrific. When Sandy (our fearless leader) asks for volunteers to fundraise, pretty well every hand in the room raises up at our meetings. While I'm home sleeping, these young people are out in the freezing cold, barbecuing hot dogs for their hungry room mates at midnight. What an impressive site. It's amazing to imagine that 35 students have given of their time, personal money and spring break plans to help those less fortunate. These are definitely our leaders of tomorrow and I'm really proud to be going along with them.

We are hopeful that we can garner more support from some corporate community sponsors. With financial support and a donation of 40 company t-shirts, we're hopeful we can take some great photos on the Katrina build site and provide those photos to the sponsor for their website to show others how they supported the University of Windsor and the Windsor community who cares about those in need.So, on the home front, my husband Jim is a bit jealous. He really wants to come along, and as a self-proclaimed Mike Holmes wannabe (he is actually quite handy and I would liken him to a Mike Holmes/McGyver combo), it's killing him not to be able to join us. But alas, someone must stay at the homestead and torture the kids with Hamburger Helper and Wendy's (because that's the only time they get it).

As for my back, it's on the mend but still a bit tender. I'm hoping with my exercises, treadmill workouts and Yoga, I'll be fit and ready to pick up anything (less heavy than a large screen tv that is). Perhaps a hammer?

Well it's late and since my daughter disconnected her computer on me as I was writing this the first time, this is in fact my second posting of the evening. (Hmm, perhaps a week in a cold school room dorm will be a vacation afterall!)

bye for now!

By the way, if you want to send a financial contribution, you may do so by sending a cheque to The University of Windsorc/o Mike ClarkUniversity Advancement401 Sunset AveWindsor, ONN9B 3P4
Posted by Beth at 7:24 PM 0 comments
Labels: Fundraising
Monday, February 12, 2007

13 Days to Go
So, only 13 more days of a comfortable sleep and then it's one night in a bus and and several nights on a cot sleeping in a converted school without heat. But, how cold could it be? Afterall it's down south right. Can't be as bad as here! After spending a very cold couple of nights in a cabin at a horse camp last fall in the pouring rain, I should be ready for anything. Luckily I have lots of good camping gear to keep me warm and from experience, sleeping with a winter touque is always a good idea.

So, the donations continue to pour in from friends and family members. I'm amazed at the generosity clear across the Windsor campus. I can't walk anywhere on campus without someone mentioning our upcoming trip or slipping a donation into my palm.I sure hope my back gets better soon so I'm not totally useless on the Habitat build site.

On the weekend I attempted to help my husband carry a tv out to his truck and underestimated the weight. I'm now suffering from a painful sprain that better be healed soon. Thank goodness for my friend Dr. Mike at Chiroworks who should have me better soon.

Here comes the snow storm! I guess I won't have to shovel this time.

Beth
Posted by Beth at 5:21 PM 0 comments
Labels: 13 days to go
Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Getting Ready
February 7, 2007

Hello Readers:

Welcome to my first ever blog documenting our exciting upcoming trip to New Orleans from my perspective.

As the Director of the Educational Development Centre at the University of Windsor, I'm extremely excited to be accompanying my fellow colleagues (Brooke, Sandy, Sandra) and 30 plus residence students on this trip. I'm also a tad bit nervous, since I've never done anything like this before and quite frankly, I'm afraid of what I will see in terms of the destruction of the area. Sounds selfish, but I think it also shows that this isn't something I just jumped into before thinking it over long and hard.

As a full time working mother of two girls, with a very supportive husband, I'm really looking forward to sharing the adventures of my trip with my family and friends through this blog. They in turn are likely looking forward to 8 days of life without mom and eating junk food; since I'm a bit of a fanatic on healthy food.

I will try to make it as lively as possible.

Let's begin...Last night, we hosted a bowl-a-thon to raise funds for the trip. It was a huge success! We had 86 participants from the University community (students galore, staff and faculty!). A great time was had by all and after adding up sales of tickets, pledges, a 50/50 draw and silent auction table, and almost $1,500.00 dollars was raised for the cause! We even had league bowlers dropping by and dropping off money! The Mardi Gras theme added some extra fun to the event. Thanks to all of you who participated in this event.Many other fundraising activities are planned as the event comes closer. The campus and community support has been simply amazing!

I'm off to the University for a 10 pm group meeting of the Katrina participants. Ugh, it's late, it's freezing out and my favourite show Lost is beaconing me,,,, but alas, busy University students can only meet late at night, so off I go across the city. I'm anxious to hear from the guest speaker who will be telling us all about his recent trip to help the hurricane survivors!Have a great night!
Beth