Back to Work

I'm back! Well, my Baltimore trip got cut short- I got sick and came home on Saturday which was obviously very disappointing. I did get to do some sightseeing on Friday which was good- but it would have been a lot better if my nose wasn't running like a faucet. Anyways, I'm feeling better and was back to work today- sort of. I was catching up on emails, mailing calendars that had been ordered and doing a few other small things. I didn't get a lot accomplished, mostly because I was feeling pretty tired. Two really good pieces of news came in today though- we are getting a $1,000 grant from a large discount chain's Worcester store. This was really surprising- they did a $500 grant last year in support of our Halloween/Child Safety event and in February, I had applied for another $500 grant in support of this year's event and never heard anything back. I had heard that the company had changed their donation policies, so I wasn't particularly surprised that we didn't receive anything. Our Halloween event obviously has come and gone, so I had put that donation request out of my mind. The lady from the store called this morning with the good news! She said that she liked our event so much that she increased our request to $1,000 from the $500 we had asked for. How great is that? That happens very rarely.

In other good news, we will be receiving a $500 grant from an electrical supply company. A friend had suggested that I write to them for a donation, so I really appreciate his help, because without that suggestion, I wouldn't have thought of it.

There is something especially great about getting news of financial donations when one sitting at their desk, feeling mopey and half wishing they were back in bed and still feeling a little sorry for themselves that their vacation wasn't really enjoyed because of sickness. The good news did help cure the mopeyness (is that a word? probably not).

Tomorrow, I'm meeting with the event planner to discuss details of the potential Valentines themed event. We don't have much time to put together a Valentines event, so if we are going to do something, it needs to start now. Tomorrow evening, I have an interview with the foundation that awarded us a grant last year. It was an incredibly quick interview last year and I left feeling that they weren't interested in PS, but then we received a grant, which actually surprised me because I felt that it hadn't gone well. I also need to get back to work on regular program things, grant, and calendar sales- we have about 750 calendars to sell and about 7 weeks to do it.

Well, I'm tired and my eyes are hurting. I wish that didn't happen so much. I do feel inspired though. When one looks around our country and see people who came from so little, that started so humbly, worked so hard and have achieved such greatness- beyond what anyone could have imagined, that is truly inspiring. It makes me believe that it is possible for Project Smile too- that we can go from working in one room to someday becoming a national charity- and that it can be done under my direction- with a lot of help from a lot of people. It is a reassuring reminder that it can be done, that anything is possible.

Well, it is now 1:46, eyes are realy hurting. I need to switch CNN to my favorite bed time tv show- ESPN Sports Center (yes, I am serious), write my list for tomorrow and go to sleep. Wish me luck for the grant interview tomorrow please! Tomorrow, I also want to work on changing my schedule- I need to set aside time every day to work on certain tasks no matter what else is going on. I'll write more about that tomorrow- need to stop now. Until tomorrow friends..