The Unexpected

I know this has nothing to do with work, but I wanted to share. I went to Horseneck Beach on Saturday with a girl friend. We were hanging out in the water, very close to shore. I saw a life guard jump down from his post, but I didn't pay much attention. A few minutes later, I noticed a small group of beach goers gathered around a man lying on the sand with life guards kneeling in the sand next to him. They were only about 30 feet away. The life guard started doing CPR on the man, police arrived and more life guards and the crowd grew bigger. After what seemed like a long while, even though it probably wasn't, the ambulance arrived. The man was lifted into the dune buggy, the life guard still doing CPR on him. I had never seen anyone do CPR for real in person. It turns out the man drowned. He was 61 years old, from San Francisco. It said the State Police had to work to identify him, so it sounds like he had been at the beach by himself. It was so incredibly sad and shocking to see the lifeguards working on him and then to find out that he died. I was hoping they were able to bring him back. It is such a reminder about how short life can be. Things can just end in an instant. I'm sure that man had no idea that he was going to die when he went to the beach. It's so easy to get caught up with all the stress of work or personal matters or get bogged down with things that one forgets to enjoy all the little moments and to make the most of each day- because you just never know when it is all over. I don't mean to sound preachy, it was just so shocking to see and I feel so sorry for the poor man who died by himself in such a sad way.

Well, moving on to more cheerful things. Today was not the most productive day. I woke up this morning feeling like I had a stomach bug- so bad that I couldn't even work. I decided to go back to bed, I slept for a while and woke up feeling much better. I was able to get some work done, not nearly as much as I intended, but at least I got some things done. I don't know what caused me to feel so sick, I'm glad it didn't last. We're doing well with recruiting bachelors for the date auction which is great. A friend of mine just recruited 5 more people over the weekend. We're at the half-way point for ladies who have signed up. It usually is the other way around- we always fill the ladies spots before the guys.

There is more to write about, but I'm getting tired. It isn't even midnight yet, but I think I will get an early night. I'm doing photos in Burlington tomorrow and have about a million things to work on as well- including grants. I'm getting far behind on grant work again which isn't good. On that note, I'm off to write my list. Until tomorrow...

Much to Do

Yes, it is the constant refrain- I have so much to do! I've been working on emails and other things related to Project Smile for the past 3 hours and I'm not sure how much I actually got accomplished- I did get stuff done, but it feels like I should have done a lot more. I wasn't even intending to keep working tonight, but I've been running around a lot lately doing photos and other things, so I need more time sitting at my desk and working. I did a donation of stuffed animals, books and coloring books/crayons to Sommerville PD today. It has been almost a year since our last donation there. Then later I did calendar photos at Upton PD. It is so funny to see how big the kids are getting who have been in our calendar for a few years now. They have are a very supportive department. Tomorrow, I'm probably doing photos at Worcester PD.

Yesterday, I did photos with a Franklin family- two girls about 10 and 15 years old with their little dog. The photos came out great. The little dog was hilarious. When the mom said certain words to him, the dog would immediately look up, turn his head to the side and his ears would perk up- he looked like he was ready to have an actual conversation. I've been doing a lot of photos with babies lately, so it has been nice these past couple of days to do photos with older kids- they can sit still and smile on command! I need to keep following up to schedule the remaining photo shoots. We still have plenty of time to get the calendar done, but I like to get it finished as early as possible so I can focus on other things.

Well, I'm getting rather tired- I went to bed incredibly late last night. I need to write my list and I think I'm going to have some cheese and crackers. I already had some watermelon. For a while, I was trying not to eat anything that wasn't fruit late at night- but I'm craving goat cheese and Pretzel Crisps. I need to get to bed at a decent hour so I can be super productive tomorrow. Until next time friends..

400th Blog Posting!

Well, this is a milestone- my 400th blog posting! I wish I had something epic to share to mark the moment- perhaps a million dollar donation? We did receive a $500 from a local bank today. We had asked for $3,000. This is the first time I approached this bank, so I'm glad that they donated something- every donation helps. It was disappointing that they weren't able to do a larger donation, but at least they were able to contribute. This seems to be a bit of a pattern- ask for $3,000 and receive $500. Perhaps I should ask for $10,000 so we can get $2,500. I haven't done any grant writing this week, so I need to get working on that tomorrow.

What else is going on? I was at the police academy recruiting bachelors for our date auction- always a tough job, but someone has to do it! Just kidding of course, it is a great time to go up there and recruit. I signed up four bachelors which was good. Tomorrow, I need to follow up with more of the people that have signed up, but still haven't sent in their info yet for the program and our website. I also need to work on getting more gift certificates donated for the couples to use on their date.

Calendar photos are coming out great. It is always fun doing the photos. We are at about the half way point right now. We have some new families in it as well which is really good. I still have some more calendar ads to take care of- that is going on tomorrow's list too.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I know this was not exactly the most exciting blog post, especially not for a 400th blog post! I'm off to eat some cherries and maybe watermelon too. Summer fruit is the best. Until tomorrow friends...

Wednesday Happenings

So what's been happening in the week since I blogged? Well, I got a cold last week and didn't feel very good- so a lot of work was not accomplished on Thursday and Friday. Things are back on track this week. I did another calendar photo shoot today with the family that volunteered at our Anniversary Celebration last year. They are back to help out again as well- they staffed the registration table and did a phenomenal job. I got such good feedback on their help from people who attended. There are two girls and two boys in the family- they all were in the pictures. The photos came out very cute. Tomorrow morning, I have another photo shoot scheduled with a little boy who was in the calendar last year. I've been working on lining up some more photos. Tomorrow, I need to follow up with some other departments.

I met with the event planning company again on Tuesday to discuss the special race that we want to do next year. The event is a lot more expensive than any of other events that I've done before, but it is an event that requires professional help and there are expenses that can not be avoided. It has a lot of potential for exposure and fundraising, although for the first year I'm not planning on it raising a ton of money. It is a unique event and it is one that if we don't do it, someone else will be doing it pretty soon in Boston. I want it to happen, the issue is finding the right sponsor to get on board and support the event. There is a company that would be a perfect fit and has already expressed interest, but I need to get all the details together before I can present them with our proposal. It is a lot to work on, but I know it will be worth it.

Tomorrow, I need to follow up with people who have promised gift certificates but haven't sent them in yet, particularly for the date auction. I also need to work on getting more auction items for our anniversary event. I need to follow up with some of the people who have signed up for our date auction, but haven't submitted their info yet. I've noticed this more last year than in the past- people will send me an email saying they want to participate in the auction, I email them back promptly with the details and info that I need from them for the program and marketing, then I never hear from them. I've sent follow up emails and still no reply. I'm not sure why someone would volunteer to sign up, then never respond. It's rather annoying because it wastes my time.

Well friends, that's it for tonight. I'm off to eat some more delicious cherries, read for a bit and write my list. I should go and clean my office as well, but I'm rather tired. Until tomorrow...

Slow Start

Well, July is off to a bit of a slow start. We were rejected by one of the Foundation's that I recently applied for. They invited us to apply again in the future, so I think it is a funding issue for them. It is disappointing though. I need grant support and right now it isn't coming through. I was searching for new grants this afternoon and found two more that we are good fits for. Hopefully, we will have good news from some of the other grants that we recently applied for. I'm concerned that I haven't heard any news from the Foundation grant that we applied for in March. I applied online and they don't have a way to follow up. I got an email when I applied to say that they received it, but I haven't heard anything since. The constant pursuit of funding gets exhausting sometimes and is really stressful. To top it all off today, I had a sore throat and wasn't feeling so good- so that just made bad news hit harder.

The meeting that was scheduled for today with the Boston event planners was rescheduled. One of the ladies was out sick and they also needed more time to get some of the budget details together for me. I was relieved that they rescheduled it since I wasn't feeling so good.

Tomorrow, I need to get back to work on auction items and gift certificates for the date auction couples. I also need to follow up with getting more calendar photo shoots scheduled. There are a lot of other things to work on too, but I can't remember them right now- I need to write my list.

Well, I'm off to bed. Hopefully a good nights sleep will help me feel better tomorrow and lead to some good things happening. Until tomorrow friends..