I just came across a most important foundation and I wanted to share it with you all.
My daughter-in-laws parents Wilf and Suzanne Stagg recently returned from Cambodia where they served an 18 month mission. They were deeply touched by the people there and the hardships that they live with every day, so much so that they came home and started their own non-profit foundation. With this foundation they help the people of Battambang Cambodia learn new skills which help them gain employment to care for their families. They also help the people of this small village set up home based businesses. Their foundation supplies the poorest families with food and basic necessities of life.
Suzanne has also written a book about her experiences there over the 18 months called 'Conquering my fears in Cambodia' and with every $25 dollar donation you will receive a free book. I read this book and it is very inspiring and well written and I would recommend it to everyone. Check out their blog here and read up on the work they do. They also have a website here.
I have known Wilf and Suzanne Stagg for several years, they are wonderful, caring people and I know that every dollar goes directly to the people of Cambodia and all donations are tax deductible.
I am having one of those thinking moments, you know the kind where your mind just won't shut off. Mine started at 4:00 AM today. It started to roll pictures through my mind as if I were at a picture show. The pictures were there with vivid colors but it was the emotions that kept me awake and staring at the ceiling, so I finally got up.
The main feeling I was having was a heaviness on my heart that kept me from taking deep cleansing breaths, you know the kind that makes you wish that you could have a good cleansing cry but the tears won't come.
My thoughts centered around my dear little Sissy and some conflicts that have been assailing her for the past couple of days. Mr Darcy calls it 'Drama' but the true word to describe it is conflict. I have found myself in similar situations in the past and so I know the suffering that comes with it all to well and because of this I find myself mired in a funk of melancholy that sits like a weight upon my heart.
We are all human and therefore we are subjected to human feelings and reactions or should I say over-reactions that bring heartache and sorrow not only to us but to others as well. My daughter is having a human experience brought on by other humans that have allowed their overly sensitive situations to bubble and froth and ooze all over every aspect in their life right now and innocent bystanders find themselves in the line of fire. Is this what we would call 'friendly fire'?
Anyway, it has caused me to have a moment of thought, contemplation, empathy, whatever you want to call it and I find myself wrestling with my reactions. Logic tells me one thing and my heart tells me quite another. While I have always been a creature of logic, my first reaction is usually emotional....then after some walking, sometimes lots of walking...I come to the logical conclusion...one that will not have me repenting any more then I constantly have to.
But this time is different..... My logical mind has abandoned me, leaving me with no recourse but to allow those human emotions to trample all feeling of empathy that may try to find a foothold. I am finding a desperate need to share me, myself and I with someone, but not just anyone, someone that would understand my troubled heart and not judge me for the human way I am dealing with the hurt my daughter has been caused by an unthinking, unfeeling human being.
So here I sit, hoping against hope that seeing the words in print will shock my logical self back to the forefront so that I can better help my bruised and battered baby girl. And then my heart whispers to my truest friend, 'help me do the right thing for the right reason' ...the dam breaks and the cleansing tears come...the healing has started.
Each family made their own family flag and they were flown proudly The babies just loved their great auntie The wonderful eating tent that gave us all a great place to gather and play games The games this year were fantabulous Christoff....What a steady head you have my son
The stance of a professional horseshoe thrower, My Mr Darcy 3 of my very talented family, 2 granddaughters and my dear Son-in-law (creator of Helga) The newlyweds taking an actual plunge My beautiful grandson enjoying the sun Mr Darcy and my dear brother in law
My dear sistuh at the beach One of my beautiful grandbabies playing with the hoola hoop pa-pa expressing an opinion about having his picture taken Sister number 2 with her hubby Ma-ma and Pa-pa enjoying the whole family together, all this because 2 people fell in love!
So, the reunion of the century is over and while it was the BEST ever and I loved it MADLY, I have needed sleep, lots of sleep to get back to my normal sleep deprived self. I have also felt a little lost because all my projects for this AWESOME event are done and put to bed.
May I also say that my family is the most INCREDIBLE family around. They were WONDERFUL and made the whole experience one that I will never, ever, ever forget. I love you guys (if any of you are reading this) more then I love my Mickey Mouse Crocs (which I wore constantly during the reunion)!
I was going to post pictures for you to see just how awesome it was but my computer is in the shop getting something reattached and all my reunion pictures are on it and I am working on Mr Darcy's computer so you will have to wait for my next post to see printed proof in full color of our wonderful adventure. Just suffice it to say that I was completely and purrfectly and incandescently happy with the way things turned out.
I was just reading an article in a magazine and it suggested that if you haven't looked at your fashion style since 1982 it was time for a fashion check-up. Really and truly I probably haven't looked at myself and my fashion sense since I was 10 years old somewhere in the mid 60's when all I really wanted to look like was Twiggy.
So where does that leave me?
My Twiggy days are loooooong gone...and my fashion sense has been lying as dormant as a hibernating bear in the far, far north.
I even bring Mr Darcy with me on shopping trips as I need him to tell me what I like and don't like in clothing. Sad isn't it?
I just don't care very much about how I look....I mean, I like to look good, and not like a slug, but I just don't want to put the effort into it. I go for comfort, with a capitol C! I guess I don't have the proper woman genes that seem to be so prevalent in every female but me. To put it bluntly.....I HATE TO SHOP....unless I am at Disneyland.
So my fashion report card should put me to shame, thank goodness Mr Darcy gets an A in all things shopping and my dearest Daughter Sissy is a pro at accessorizing. If it were not for the two of them I might very well have to run naked through the streets and no one wants that to happen (trust me on this one).
To prove my point, this is a picture of my feet as they have been all day long! I have been running and doing everything I have needed to looking like this.Did you notice the writing on my socks sticking out a little. I think that fashion icons everywhere are turning over in their graves, (that is if they are in graves) whenever I get up in the morning and dress myself for the day.
Oh well, I look at it this way, without people like me in this world Stacy London and Clinton Kelly (from 'what not to wear') would be out of work. It's good to have a purpose.
