Starting My 2011 Holidays Project!

**Quick note: I went ahead and left this post up (I just feel weird about writing stuff and then deleting it - think it looks hinky), but I have actually canceled plans for both of my holiday projects. This isn't a sad thing, it's just that my family needs attention this holiday season and also there are two new young people added to our home, so it just wasn't feasible to add anything more to my plate. So, I have to take a year off of holiday projects, but it's for the best.

This year I'm starting a little early on my annual project for the holidays (well, I guess it's not really that early, but it is for a "queen of the last minute" like myself - lol). Last year we filled Christmas stockings for the homeless youth at the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center, the year before that I did a Christmas Day dinner, and before that the kids and I had done gift bags for the homeless. If you'd like to read about previous projects, just browse through my older posts here. ;)

If I can pull it off, I would actually like to do two projects this year. First of all, I'd like to do something on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, for those of you not familiar with the term). I was thinking about that day, and how when my kids were little I used to be out there every year in the wee hours of the morning with all the crowds, hunting down the toys and loving every minute of it. I've always loved how "Black Friday" kind of jump-starts the season. This year I would like to use that day to jump-start the season in a different kind of way. Instead of starting the season right off the bat in a commercialized, shopping-mall kind of mind set... Why not start the season right off in the spirit of giving and sharing? You know, reminding ourselves right from the beginning of what the holidays are really all about?

So for my first holiday project this year, I would like to throw a "Black Friday Party" that is not limited to homeless and at-risk youth, but rather open to anyone and everyone who is in need - whether that need is for food, tangible items, or just company and friendship. While we're all still basking in the glow of all that gratitude we expressed on Thanksgiving, let's keep in mind that the holiday season is not all about the mall. It's about people. Families, friends, communities. And this has been a rough, rough year for many people (myself and my family included), so let's start our holiday season off by remembering to stick together. Everyone has something to offer, whether it's a little extra food or a few kind and encouraging words.

For the "Black Friday Party" I will probably select a public park since we have the good fortune in Arizona of nice weather in the fall. I don't have my job at the church anymore, so I don't have the access I used to have to those facilities (bummer), but a park should work nicely. Of course I will serve food, but I'd also like to give away gift bags to those in need - bags filled with items like toiletries, socks for the cold weather season, first-aid items, useful stuff like duct tape and toilet paper, etc. I would like to set up and exchange table - if you received something you don't need, put it down and pick up something you do need. Share, swap, trade, talk, get to know people, spread some cheer and encouragement to each other... That's the whole idea here.

The second project I'd like to do this year is - again - Christmas stockings for the homeless youth. Exactly the same as we did last year, except this year I don't know if we will personalize them again or not (there were some complications with that, but I'm still thinking about it).

For both of these projects I'm going to need stuff, and I'm going to need volunteers to help out. If you'd like to contribute any items, we can use the following (I'll surely amend this list later):

• Socks
• Toothbrushes
• Small-sized toiletry items (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.)
• Rolls of toilet paper
• Duct tape
• Bunjee cords
• Christmas stockings
• Batteries
• Chapsticks
• Band-aids
• Aspirin
• Knit caps
• Snack food items
• Pens
• Dental floss
• Combs
• Breath mints
• Razors
• Feminine hygiene products
• Shoestrings
• Deodorant
• Rubber bands
• Gift cards
• Wet wipes
• Cough drops
• Matches / lighters
• Etc., etc., etc.

If you would like to contribute a dollar or five, you can do that here using PayPal: Holiday Projects Chip-In.

If you'd like to help out or if you have questions, drop me an email at salmagundigeneral@yahoo.com.

I will keep posting updates as these projects move along. If you'd like to be involved, feel free to jump in at any time! The more, the merrier! And let me be the first to say to you this year... HAPPY HOLIDAYS! :)

Happy New Year and The Scoop On The Stockings Project (Went Great!)

A belated Happy New Year to everyone! I want to let you all know that the Christmas stockings project worked out fabulously, thanks to some wonderful last-minute helpers and contributors to whom I will be eternally grateful. I’m sorry it took me a month to post here and let you all know, but my son’s illness has kept me beyond preoccupied. Better late than never, though. Right?

I owe lots and lots of thanks to:

Athene Robben and her charming little girls, Candace and Ruby
Mike Bonkoski and his wonderful family

Lisa Wagner

Molly Weeks
Leslie Daniels

For the first time in all my 42 years, we had no Christmas at our house this year. Not at all. No tree, no decorations, no gifts, nothing. My son’s illness overtook my entire life in December – all my time and all my money. I have never had such an experience as this before. The fact that we were able to pull through with the stockings project for the homeless youth as what lifted our spirits here at home and made the season “bright” in spite of all its difficulties. Thank you so much to all who helped.

Here are a few pics...

Some really beautiful stockings that Athene and her girls made at home:

Spreading out and sorting all the "stocking stuffer stuff" at the church where we got together:

Athene and her girls personalizing some more stockings with puff paints:

Laying the painted stockings out to dry:

Gustavo (my foster son) helping carry boxes of stockings into the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center:

I asked him to let me take another picture and he had to act like a goofball:

The happy staff at the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center:

That's all the pics I got - not a lot, I know. It was a kind of crazy-busy day, though, and I just couldn't keep running around with the camera. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with all of you and thank those who helped. Absolutely, positively could not have done it without you!

That's all for now, but I must say this: Here's looking forward to a better and smoother 2011!!! Right? Please!!! LOL! :)

Humbug. Down In The Dumps.

I do my best - really I do, and I'm generally pretty good at it - but even I sometimes can't pull myself out of a funk for a while. This Christmas season sucks.

In the last month and a half, my son has been in four different hospitals. Four emergency room trips, three ambulance rides, two extended hospital stays and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, okay, there was no partridge. But I'm trying to keep my humor here, people.

For a while I had to close my online booth (it's open again now, though - please visit!), and lately I can't even make or keep appointments because it seems every other day there's a new crisis with him. I've stood up the handyman, the plumber, and two of my own doctor's appointments. Shoot, he's missed his own doctor's appointments a couple of times because he ended up in the hospital first! So anyway, yeah, I'm down in the dumps.

I have no idea how Christmas is going to happen around here. We don't have a tree yet or a single decoration put up, and I haven't purchased a single gift. I am absolutely, positively determined that I will get my stockings project for the homeless youth done, come "hell or high water", as they say. But will I get Christmas to happen in this house? Gawd, I really don't know.

Well, keeping it short today. Here's hoping I will be back to my chipper ol' self pretty soon. Just wanted to put an update here for those who read. I try to keep it upbeat, but if I'm gonna be honest, I have to admit when times are hard, too.

Please keep my son in your thoughts and prayers.

Really, really, really quick update on Christmas Stocking Project!

I only have a few moments tonight, but I want to throw out an update on the Christmas stocking project. I now have two volunteer helpers; if you'd like to be involved, just get in touch with me.

I have now received a complete list of names from the director of the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center, and we will be making a total of 50 personalized stockings for the homeless youth who utilize the center.

Quick list of things we'll be needing:

* Stockings (50) - Homemade or store-bought, of adequate size to accommodate a decent number of items (probably at least 18"), and suitable for puff-painting on the cuff part so we can personalize. **Note: I have found that they have perfectly suitable stockings for one dollar at Dollar Tree!

* Puff paints or other paints that will work for writing on fabric.

* Small sized toiletry items.

* Socks.

* Stocking-stuffer sized gifts.

* Lip balms.

* Gift cards.

* Telephone calling cards (particularly important because these young people used to be able to make necessary calls from the drop-in center, but due to budget cuts the center can no longer allow long-distance calls).

* Batteries.

* Wet-wipes.

* Snack-size food items.

* Small flashlights.

* Body sprays.

* Candy (particularly Christmas candy, of course).

This list is by no means "all inclusive", and I will most surely be adding to it later. If you have items you'd like to donate other than those I've listed, of course I will not turn anything away! All items are welcomed happily!

If you'd like to help out but just don't have the time or any items to donate, you are welcome to donate a few dollars with which we can purchase any needed items. I will be setting up a Chip-In page that allows you to donate through PayPal.

My online booth still isn't open (sorry) and I don't have the shoe drive fully put together yet, either (sorry), but there will be more info to come on that within the next few days.

Thanks for reading and I hope your holiday season is wonderful so far this year!

This Year's Christmas Project For Homeless Youth

Just a quick update: The Christmas project I will be doing this year for the homeless youth in Phoenix will be... (drum roll please)... stockings! I have been in communication with the director of the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center (a home in central Phoenix that's used as a kind of daytime homeless shelter and resource center for homeless youth) and he is very enthusiastic about the project. He has provided me with names and ages of young people who regularly use the drop-in house so that we can personalize the stockings (he emphasized that this really means a lot to these kids), and we will also be making some blank stockings for any other youth who come in. Staff at the drop-in center will have supplies on hand for last-minute personalization of any blank stockings in those cases.

I have at least one helper so far on this project. If you would like to be involved, please contact me! Also, we're obviously going to need donations. We will need stockings, of course, and also items such as toiletries (small sizes) and socks, and of course fun "stocking stuffer" items. I will provide a list, hopefully by tomorrow, of more of the specific things we'll need.

The shoe drive project is still being worked out, and I should have more info on that within the next couple of days.

My online booth, Rummage Rampage, has still not re-opened, but that is also something I plan to have happening within the next couple of days.

Please stay tuned!

Gonna Need Some Help With This Year's Christmas For Homeless Youth!

Let’s talk about this year’s Christmas for the homeless youth here in Phoenix. When I did last year’s Christmas, it actually blossomed into a Christmas Day dinner/event not just for the youth, but for anyone who had no place (or no money) for that special day. I don’t mind if it turns into that again, by the way. For those of you who were there, you know it went beautifully.

I do need to do some things a little bit differently this year, though. The most important thing is that this year I cannot do it alone financially. Last year I funded the entire event (with the exception of some last-minute donated items) out of my own pocket. I did not even ask for “helpers” until a couple of days before Christmas, and I never asked anyone for any money. Now don’t get me wrong – I would not go back and change a thing. But this year I can’t do it by myself.

The details for this year’s event are still sketchy, but one thing is for sure: There will be one! LOL! I don’t know if we’ll be able to use the same church facility again, but I am in discussions with them. They are having some financial problems of their own, though, and some of their kitchen appliances (primarily the refrigerators) are not working, although they are in the process of trying to get all that fixed. In any case, I can’t be guaranteed the availability of that same space we used last year. Thus, I’d either have to hold the event at my home (unlikely because my home would also need certain repairs before I could accommodate a crowd), or I may have to rent a place.

Another thing that will most likely be quite different this year is that I will need more hands (“helpers”) and probably one main right-hand-person, because I may not be able to attend the actual event myself on Christmas Day. I can do all the work just as before, I can get everything set up, etc., but I may not be able to be physically present on Christmas. In that case, I will need a stand-in to take over and run the show.

Anyway, there’s just an awful lot that’s still up in the air. It’s all being hashed out, and something will get put together. But for the time being, I have to start asking (earlier this year) for help with this thing. I’m going to need volunteers, and I’m going to need some funds. If you’d like to volunteer, contact me either here through my blog or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RummageRampage is my booth fan page). If you were involved last year, you probably have my e-mail address and can contact me that way (I would post it here, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea?) or by phone if you still have my number. Okay, I don’t care how you contact me, just get ahold of me! LOL!

If you’d like to contribute funds, I have set up a “chipin” page where you can “chip in”. Here is the link for that page: http://freelancemom.chipin.com/shoe-drive-and-christmas-event-for-phoenix-homeless-youth. Sorry – I had no idea it was going to create a link that long when I set up the page. Ha ha. This is my first time using chipin, so if you run into any problems, please let me know. I’m just learning about this myself, so it’s a new thing for me.

So that’s where we are right now, still in the planning stages, but needing to start getting some money together for this thing. I hate asking for money, by the way, so I am a terrible fundraiser. But I really want to do this again for the young people out there, so I’m biting the proverbial bullet. That being said, if any of you who were there last year – and know just how great this was – would like to help spread the word, I would really appreciate it. I realize a lot of people don’t “know me from Adam”, as they say, so your help and endorsements on this could really make a difference.

Once I have a list of people who want to be involved, I will plan a lunch or something where we can all get together and talk. I think it would be really nice if this year – unlike last year – we all got to know each other in advance and could talk about what each of us has to offer and/or can do. I will keep you all posted on that!

Thanks for reading, thanks for helping, and I look forward to lots of fun this season!

All About Christmas - Finally

Moving this to my new home here, originally posted on my thoughts.com blog on 01/23/2010. Earlier posts telling about events leading up to this Christmas project can be found here 'Tis The Season For Me To Lose My Mind, here Make A Charity Christmas Feel Like Home, and here Almost The Big Day... Almost Ready... So Tired!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I have wanted to tell all about my Christmas “project”, and now here it is almost the end of January. I haven’t been able to sit down and write this until now, because just after Christmas it was as if an enormous metaphysical dump truck backed itself up (beeep… beeep… beeep…) and unloaded a big, stinking pile of family crises on my doorstep. I believe most of that has passed now, though, and the dust is beginning to settle. So, “better late than never”, and here goes…

I won’t waste a lot of space talking about what the “Christmas project” was all about, since I’ve talked that matter pretty much to death. So if you don’t know, you’ll have to refer to my previous blog posts. This is for those of you who have asked how it went, and I soooo want to tell you!

It was awesome. Amazing. Fantastic. Everything went smoothly and everyone had a great time. There were no problems, no conflicts, and no disasters. This came as quite a surprise to me, since that is not normal even for a regular day in my life (LOL), let alone a day when I’m clearly in over my head trying to pull something off.

The days leading up to Christmas, however, were anything but awesome and amazing and fantastic. Not that they weren’t rewarding, but they were exhausting. In the three days before Christmas, I managed to get a total of 7 hours and 45 minutes of sleep. But who’s counting?

It was really, really important to me that this feel like a “real” Christmas in a home, and not like some sort of charity function. Thus, I worked hard to convert the cold, sterile hall we were using into something as close to “homey” as I could get. I perused Craigslist and hounded friends and family for free stuff that could be used, and I drove all over the Phoenix area gathering up carpet scraps, decorations, furniture, paper plates, and so on. I would get my truck filled, then run to the church to unload so I could re-fill. It just so happened that I was always alone for these unloading sessions (no one’s fault, just that I always managed to fill up when everyone else was at work or something). That meant that I had the very special honor of lifting, hoisting, dragging, tugging, pulling, pushing and kicking a number of items, from small and manageable to ridiculously heavy and awkward, out of my truck and into the building all by myself. The grunting and occasional swearing involved was rather undignified, but no one needs to know about that. Ha ha.

Two days before the big event, with the proverbial clock ticking ever more loudly in my mind, I realized I couldn’t pull this off all alone and finally reached out for help. I put an ad on Craigslist (gotta love Craiglist) titled “Mrs. Claus Needs Some Elves”, and I got a lot of really wonderful responses. Ultimately, not everyone who offered to help came through, as is to be expected, but the ones who did were truly special people whom I feel privileged to have met. Some brought gifts, some brought food (a LOT of food, actually), some came over to the church at all hours of the night to help me decorate and move furniture and various heavy things around, and to contribute great ideas. All helped me keep things going smoothly throughout the actual “event”, and I am eternally grateful for that, since I rarely made it out of the kitchen on that day.

As all of these preparations were going on, things took some unexpected turns, and this project evolved into something slightly different from what I’d originally had in mind.

First of all, while I was getting a lot of responses to my plea for “helpers”, I was receiving surprisingly few responses to my “guest” invitations. I’d placed flyers at several locations that provide services to homeless teens, I’d spoken to several social workers who’d agreed to fax my invitations to other social workers in the field, and I'd placed ads on my beloved Craigslist. Still, the reaction was underwhelming, and I was starting to worry that I would have more helpers than guests! I decided to take a more direct, one-on-one approach, and I planted myself on the front porch of the Tumbleweed Drop-In Center (an old house in downtown Phoenix that serves basically as a daytime shelter where street youth can use facilities, do laundry, shower, etc.) for the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

For several hours, I hung out in front of the center and nagged the kids as they came and went. I had seen that my flyers were sitting on the desk in the front room of the house, so I grabbed a few and thrust them in the faces of young people, saying, “Hey! Do you have plans for Christmas Day or what? No? Then why don’t you come with us? Come on! I will pick you up and give you a ride! You’ve got nothing better to do, right? And the food will be awesome!”

Most of them eyed me suspiciously at first, seeming to wonder what might be in this for me, and why this was so important to me. They shrugged and gave non-committal responses. But after a few minutes, a young man named Don turned around, having overheard some of this talk that was going on behind his back, and said, “Wait… What is this all about?” I handed him a flyer, talked to him for a moment, explaining that this was “for real” and that nothing would be asked of them or preached at them or expected of them. I just wanted them to come and join us and relax for a day, have a good time, forget their troubles for a while and “kick back” with all the good food they wanted. He said, “I want to come. Can I bring someone?” Of course he could bring someone, I told him.

The “someone”, it turned out, was his wife, who was also present there in the house. Don, just in his early twenties, is married to a 19-year-old young lady, Carrie. Carrie is pregnant, in a wheelchair (I did not ask why), and lives in a women’s shelter apart from her husband. Unable to find beds in the same shelter, they sleep apart at night and see each other during the day at the Drop-In Center. There are many reasons for their predicament, some of which are the expected results of their own poor choices in their youth, and some being circumstances beyond their control, but I will go into that another day. For now, suffice it to say that Don proved tremendously helpful to me that day in convincing other young people that they should join us for Christmas. We sat out on that front porch and talked for much of the afternoon, and as I had to practically grab kids by the collar to get them to talk to me, Don would help “close the deal”.

I learned a lot that afternoon about why needy and homeless young people don’t respond as enthusiastically as one might expect to invitations such as mine. For one thing, they are somewhat suspicious of someone wanting to offer them something for nothing. More significantly, though, I learned that the idea of them having a nice Christmas was much more important to me than it was to them. These are young people who are struggling, often without the benefit of a solid upbringing that provides the tools and life skills necessary to avoid life’s most serious pitfalls, just to survive. In their minds, Christmas is just another day, and a nice meal with a few little gifts from some better-off do-gooders is not going to make any difference by the time they have to return to the shelter or the street that night. They have more important things on their minds, and they’re not losing any sleep over whether Santa brings them a stuffed stocking or whether they get any pumpkin pie. The singing of carols and the decorating of trees and the trimmings of the holiday are all just so much distraction and nonsense to them as they try to figure out where they will sleep, and how much more repair can stretch out the life of their worn-out shoes.

In the end, I think (and hope) that some of them saw things differently by the end of Christmas Day. While no one was so condescending as to act as if this event would change anyone’s life or circumstances, I do believe that some of these youth came away with the understanding that sometimes it’s good – when the opportunity presents itself – to let themselves relax and feel “normal” for a while. To spend some time just being able to set aside their worries for a bit and not feel like a charity case amongst people, but rather to feel like just another one of the people. If that makes sense. But I digress… I should get back to the story of how it all went down.

By the day of Christmas Eve, the donations of gifts were rolling in. A great percentage of the donated gifts, however, were toys for young children. Getting teenager-suitable gifts was quite a challenge. As a matter of fact, if there was any one disappointment I felt, it was that a lot of the gifts that were given to the teens and young adults were – frankly – kind of lame. At least there was something for everyone, though, and a few really good gifts among the mediocre; it was just something I learned from and decided to work on for next time. I was willing to accept the children’s toys because I knew that some of these young people had children of their own. What I’d never expected was that there would be quite so many toys, however, so that led to another last-minute decision that changed the course of things a bit. I decided to open the celebration up to needy families with children, and I placed another Craigslist ad.

Naturally, the phone rang off the hook. Unfortunately, I can’t afford a cell phone, so keeping up with the calls on my home phone along with incoming e-mails, all while running around with the aforementioned flurry of preparations, was yet another challenge. I had two kids (actually twenty-year-olds) at my house fielding calls, and I was checking my e-mail each time I stopped at home and also each time I went to the church. The church folks don’t know that I know the password to their computer – LOL – but it was lucky I did. Keeping up with it all was madness.

Several families called and e-mailed asking to come spend Christmas with us, and I had to start a note-taking system to make sure everyone had directions and a ride. One more thing to keep track of! I’ll admit I was starting to feel quite overwhelmed, but at this point I was running on adrenaline and had no time to even feel stress, which was actually kind of funny. LOL.

I was alone at the church and going over a list of last-minute grocery items that were needed in the late afternoon when the church phone rang. Assuming it was probably my kids trying to find me, I answered it. On the other end was a tearful young lady who asked for me, and when I identified myself, she blurted out, “I know you’re really, really busy and I am so sorry to bother you because I know you have a lot to do and you’re really busy, but do you think you could take, like, two minutes to talk to me?” I told her that of course I could, and I sat down. She told me that she’d called my house, and my kids (who later told me she’d been very emotional and so they’d told her the best place to try and track me down) had given her the number to the church and said I was probably there. She explained that she was 20 years old and single mother, unemployed, and was just devastated that she had absolutely nothing for her five-year-old son this Christmas. No gifts, no tree, no dinner, and no explanation to offer him that he would understand. He believed in Santa Claus, after all, and what could she say to him? She cried throughout the conversation and asked if she could please come with us for Christmas, and while repeatedly telling me how much she hated to beg, she wondered if we could provide a gift for her son. I calmed her down and told her that of course she could join us, that that was the whole purpose of what we were doing, and that we’d pick her up at home since she did not have a car. And I would make absolutely sure that her son got Christmas gifts. I hung up and added her name and situation to my notes, which were becoming a thick stack of paper.

As the hour was approaching when the stores would close, I had to leave the unfinished tasks I was working on and embark on the totally relaxing (not!) adventure of navigating the grocery aisles. I had a menu and a list of who was making what, but there were items needed to finish several of the planned dishes. I made it through my shopping just in time, checking out just as the lights were dimming with the hint that they’d like us all to leave so they could get home to their own families. Grocery stores are rarely subtle about these things, although I can’t say I blame them. After taking a few moments to help an elderly woman who spoke little English understand why hot cocoa mix would not work as a substitute for cocoa powder in baking a cake (lol), I was off and running again, heading home to my children who had not seen me all day. We had an obligation to be at my brother’s house at 6 p.m. (my little brother has always been a pain in my backside, and naturally had to be born on Christmas, so as to further inconvenience me every year for the rest of my life – LOL), and it was already past that. Ah, well. I had no time to sweat the small stuff. He’d tormented me as a kid, anyway, so if he complained that I was late for his birthday, I figured I would just threaten to put him back in the dryer.

We hopped in the car when I got home and made it – late – to my brother’s house. I had not brought him a gift, and told him I’d been busy and he was 38 years old now, so get over it. We spent the obligatory few hours there, with me spending most of my time running back to his computer to check my e-mails. They were still coming in, and all needed answering so that no one would be left out.

I arrived home around 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, only to turn right back around and run out. There was a woman who would not be able to make it to our celebration the next day, but her 8-year-old son still believed in Santa and she had no gifts. She was heartbroken at the idea of him waking up to nothing under the tree. My daughter and I put gifts together and delivered them to her home at midnight. The lady met me outside her house at my car, and she hugged me as she handed me a tiny wrapped package.

I unwrapped the package on the drive home. Inside was a lovely thank-you letter and a watch. It was not new, just a used watch, but a nice one and clearly something she’d given me of her own as her best gesture of gratitude. It was very sweet, and I am sure she will never know that it was she who made my Christmas, probably more so than the other way around. I get Christmas gifts every year, but it is not every year that I get to know that on Christmas morning there is a little boy who might have had nothing, but now gets to believe in Santa for another year. That’s priceless.

By the time I got home it was after 1:00 a.m. There was still much to do, and my house looked like a hurricane had struck it. Bags of donated items were piled all over the living room, the table was piled high with groceries, notes and to-do lists were scattered here and there and everywhere, and my kitchen was nearly impossible to find at all beneath the piles of rubble. I cleared some space and began washing, rinsing, chopping, slicing, and doing as much ahead-of-time food preparation as I could. I loaded pots and pans and cookie sheets and serving utensils into boxes and into the truck. I checked and double-checked lists, and loaded and loaded and loaded that truck. Somewhere around 4 a.m. I fell asleep. I don’t even remember where. Maybe it was the couch, maybe a chair, but certainly not my bed. I know I didn’t make it that far. LOL.

Somewhere around 6 a.m. on Christmas day I dragged myself up from wherever it was I’d crashed, and I stumbled around in a fog seeking coffee. I don’t remember if I ever found any. I do remember cursing the fast-food gods for not letting McDonald’s be open when I needed it most. I was temporarily determined to wrap my kids’ gifts, which I had not done yet. That idea lasted about 10 minutes, until I finally decided that I had too much else to do and it was a good thing I’d raised my kids to have a sense of humor. They woke up and my parents came over, as they always do on Christmas morning, and I tossed things at them as I rushed around still preparing for the rest of the day. “Here – I got you this. It’s not wrapped. Too bad. Hope you like it.” Ha ha. Since I am normally a crazy-perfect-Christmas-morning freak, my kids were pretty shocked, and they actually found the whole thing pretty amusing. Look at Mom – she’s lost her mind and doesn’t even care. LOL.

More mad prepping of dishes ensued, and I finally got loaded up for the last time and arrived at the church by around 11:00. I got straight to work in the kitchen, along with my father (who is a fabulous cook, although irritating while in the process), and I sent my mother to pick up the kids from the Drop-In Center.

Helpers began to arrive and put finishing touches on some things. The kids from the Drop-In Center arrived and I put them straight to work decorating the one Christmas tree that we still hadn’t gotten to. More and more people began to show up, some called needing rides, and helpers were sent to pick them up. A table was filled with snack items to keep people munching while we were still cooking. My son played the piano, and soon he was teaching another young girl how to play. The five-year-old son of the single mom who’d called me crying was playing with a toy basketball and shooting at the tiny hoop that someone mounted atop the door. Eventually a young man of about 21 began to play along with him, and they were having quite the good time goofing off together.

Folks were chatting all around me in the kitchen as they smashed the boiled potatoes for me and greased casserole dishes. Others disappeared into the gym behind the kitchen, arranging and sorting gifts. Some just circulated amongst the growing crowd and made people feel at home. My foster son played old records on the record player he’d brought and set up, and someone else fiddled with the TV and got a Christmas movie playing. There was a steady hum of noise – the chatting of people getting to know each other, the clanging of dishes, the laughter of children, the background sounds of music and TV. The older boys and young men found a basketball and went outside to play a game on the court in the church parking lot. My father snapped at my mother once, and I snapped at him to cut it out, and that the earth would not stop turning on its axis if the baked beans didn’t come out right. In other words… It felt just like any Christmas in any home with any family. I loved it.

I spent the entire day in the kitchen, really, so I had very little opportunity to actually see first-hand what was happening “out there”. I was busily cranking out dishes and then busily cranking out desserts, and it seemed that everything was getting eaten about as fast as I could get it out there. The only people I really got to talk to very much were those who came into the kitchen to chat, but that was okay since almost everyone did that from time to time. I got updates from my daughter on what was happening, who was flirting with whom (lol), who was wolfing down the corn casserole like it was their new favorite thing in the world, how the ball game was going, etc. The day flew by. I really mean that – I lost total track of time. My feet started to hurt and I got tired, but things were moving quickly and there was no time to slow down. I think I slipped away once to go to the bathroom, but even getting to do that was no small task.

By the time I got to leave the kitchen and sit down to eat some dinner myself, it was around 7 p.m. Everyone else was pretty much finished, but there were a few who nibbled and kept me company at the table for the few minutes I managed to stay there. I’d eaten a little less than half my dinner before I was called away and needed again. There was a mom who had asked if she could take home some leftovers since they had no food at home, and I helped pack up a box (we had plenty). There were people who wanted to say goodbye, and I politely chatted with them while my stomach growled and I ignored it (lol). There were a few who needed a ride back to the shelter in time to check in, lest they lose their bed for the night. I arranged for someone to drive them. By the time I got back to my plate, it was cold. That was okay, though. More than okay. I didn’t mind a bit.

There was some clean-up done that night, but a lot would have to be put off until the next day. When everyone had finally cleared out and I found myself alone, the exhaustion really hit. I took care of the most important stuff – covering and putting away food that needed to be refrigerated, rinsing dishes and piling them in the sink, taking out some of the trash. Then I sat down on the sofa and just enjoyed the peace and quiet and the flickering of the Christmas tree lights. I fell asleep on the sofa there for twelve hours.

In the end, I believe the head count for Christmas was around 50, with about (I’m guessing) 10 to 15 being helpers. Having worried about too many helpers for the number of guests turned out to be something I was all wrong about. The ratio being what it was contributed to making everything so nice. There were so many people, all strangers to each other, that one could not really tell who was there to help and who was there because they were needy. Thus, it just felt like one big get-together, and not a charity function. Exactly what I was aiming for.

I did not get very many photos, unfortunately, since I didn’t get out of the kitchen much, and I hadn’t planned ahead to assign someone the task of taking pictures. Another thing learned for next time. The few pics I did get are posted here. And since I’ve practically written a book in this post, I will just leave it at that.

So, that, folks, is how it went down. And to all a good night.