Salute

May 3, 2011


Announcements on top.  Fun below.

• If you live within a fifteen mile radius of my house and want to donate items to the Erin Buenger Memorial Scholarship Fund garage sale Taking place this Saturday (May 7) from 8-2 in the gym at Jane Long Middle School, please give me a message, text, email,  phone call, or smoke signal, and I will swing by your place and pick up your stuff.  
• If you'd rather shop than donate, that's fine too.  I have seen a few of the donated items:  
• almost new toddler bed and mattress 
• multiple children's bicycles in good condition 
• foosball table
• table lamps
• working toaster oven
• much, much more
• Both Mo Ranch Summer Camp and Flaming Arrow YMCA Camp in Hunt, Texas have adopted Erin's Dream Lanyards as their summer service project, thus sending me into a spinning frenzy trying to figure out how to supply 1500 kids with enough beads and wire to make beautiful things happen.  Ideas, anyone?
• Erin's Dream Lanyards is also one of the featured service projects at the Presbyterian Woman's Conferences at Mo Ranch.  
• The Brazos Interfaith Immigration Network (which I have a tiny part in helping to organize) will hold its Learn and Launch Meeting on Sunday May 15 at 5:00.  Save the date and I will provide more details later.  Here's the gist of the new organization:  As the immigrant population in Brazos County grows, there is an increasing need to promote the human dignity and the well-being of immigrants in our community and to advocate for and facilitate better access to legal, educational, and social services. BIIN will provide three main services not currently available in the Brazos Valley area:
• Information and referral services for immigrants, regardless of legal status;
• Speakers Bureau; and 
• At a later date, training opportunities for local people to become accredited Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA) representatives.
• Relay for Life will start at 7:00 on Friday night at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. Many teams walking a raising money in Erin's memory and the memory and honor of many others. Walk some laps for someone you love.

Now for the fun:

Q: What is this hummingbird doing in my coffee cup?

A: The backstroke?

The real the answer is: Preparing to challenge Gemma Spofforth for her world record in the 100M backstroke, because I can't imagine what/who could swim faster than a hummingbird stoked by my mother's chickory-laced, fully caffeinated, loaded with sugar, Cafe du Monde French roast. Somehow, she had left a cup half-filled with "her" day starter on her second story deck. When she returned an hour later, she found the hummer drenched in go juice, still stuck in the cup. She showed up at my door with the soggy bird wrapped loosely in a towel, afraid that if she let it go it might die of C8H10N4O2 (caffeine) poisoning. I found the water spray bottle I keep in my trombone case, spritzed the little guy all over ( I don't think you really notice wet birds when it's raining, but they are pretty sad looking up close), and in a moment it flew away, willy nilly, and ever so quickly. With its chances of aquatic glory dashed, it was no doubt looking to set a new air speed record (with the added bonus of putting some distance between itself and those ladies riding the crazy train).

Finally (but still fun), I let it slip by without telling you that I had a special occasion last weekend. The Bryan/College Station Pre-Natal Clinic picked me as one of the honorees for this year's “You’re the Tops!” Luncheon, proving yet again that it is quite possible to pull the wool over people's eyes.

As lovely as it was to be chosen, it was ill timed.  Who could have known that all the horse-drawn carriages would be outsourced to London for the weekend, forcing me to drive myself in the fiery Prius? I also had a hard time finding a decent crown, tiara, or if can believe it, hat.  All sold out by the time I looked.  Something about someone's nuptials or something.  I had to settle for a new outfit and the five most handsome escorts in the room!

Starting from the upper left and moving clockwise:  Nico, me, Jesse, Jason, Ian, and Adam.