Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Lookie Lookie It's Back to School Time!

Lookie Lookie It's Back to School Time!

I saw a sad photo of my friend's child on FaceBook yesterday because the kid had just been told that he had only 4 more weeks of summer.  Truly, the boy looked like he had lost his last friend and his dog had gone the way of his friend, too!

For those of us at Community Partners of Dallas, school is almost always on our minds. 

  • We know that kids at risk of abuse are safer in school.
  • We know that school is a place where kids can interact with well-functioning adults.
  • We know that kids will be educated and hopefully break the cycle of abuse in their adult lives.

Today, we gave out 1,972 backpacks filled with age-appropriate supplies and uniforms to children with open cases at CPS.  Tomorrow (and for weeks) we'll continue the job by distributing a bunch more.  We couldn't do it without our great donors and volunteers.  Thank you if you helped us.  It's not too late -- we provide school supplies to kids 365 days a year.  Visit our website at www.CommunityPartnersDallas.org -- the kids need you!

Here's a pic from today!  All of those sacks and boxes are filled with new supplies and uniforms.  We're ready -- are you?



Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Good things about getting older

As they always say, the good thing about getting older is that it's better than the alternative.

My friends and I think a lot about getting older -- we talk about our doctors, how our hips hurt, how we can't sleep well at night -- really everything.  So, I enjoyed seeing the cast of The Today Show putting out their pics using the FaceApp this morning.  All of them ended up looking good as older people.

They have editors who must know what they are doing!

Look at this

I may end up looking like this, but I can also tell you that I'll be better at a lot of things...

  • I always tell my nieces that you don't know anything until you're 40 (really it's 50, but I don't want them to think they have to wait THAT long).
  • I absolutely love my job and know I'm really good at it -- after 17 years at Community Partners of Dallas, I ought to be.
  • I've lived in Dallas so long that I know a ton of people, so I almost never walk into a room of strangers.
  • I know what I like to eat and drink and watch and read -- and if I want to do any of these things at any hour of the day, I do it.
  • I live in the present.

And I can have some work done if I want to.  This is the same photo with the Hollywood application
The real me is in the round one.  I'm OK!

What else gets better with age?

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Need the Shingles Vaccine? Fuggedaboutit.

What's wrong with me?


To be honest, there are probably a lot of things wrong with me.
  • I'm getting really sick of my frizzy hair.
  • I cannot make a breakfast sausage casserole that is satisfying to all.
  • I'm certainly overweight and have no willpower to change.
  • I'm getting really sick of my frizzy hair.  Wait -- did I already say that?
  • I'm pretty much a couch potato in my leisure time.  If I didn't have a job, I'd really be in trouble!
And I'm also at risk of shingles.

NOTE:  My friend Corinne told me that the shot hurts for weeks -- and she just left to get her second one.  Who knew that it was such a pain to be in pain?

I've been asking doctors about getting the shingles shot for years and the doctors -- different ones, BTW -- have always blown me off.  I used to think it was because I don't look (almost) 58, but now that I'm in a frenzy to find the damn thing, I'm beginning to think it was because the f-ing doctors didn't care if I got the shingles.

My Tom Thumb Pharmacy told me they are saving theirs for the waiting list (but when I asked to be put on the waiting list, they said no).  A few days later a friend on FaceBook posted she was getting her's at my Tom Thumb and that she was on the waiting list.  

NOTE:  Why would they put her on the wait list and not me?  Michelle is very pretty (and no frizzy hair) -- hmmmm...

Today, Corinne told me there is a vaccine locator website to look up who has the shots.  The Walgreens near me said they are holding their inventory for second shot patients and to call back.  

Another pharmacy on the vaccine locator website told me they had the shots, but that I had to be a Native American to get one.  

NOTE:  My Ancestry.com profile will not help me here.  Not one f-ing iota.

I'm SOL.  Stay away from me if you have shingles.  I'll make an exception if you have Cheetos or a flat iron.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Uniforms for all!

Have you ever worn a uniform?  

I haven't -- except at Camp Longhorn and at gym -- and I sucked at gym.  I went to public school, and back then public schools didn't require uniforms.

NOTE:  I'm so old that when I started working in the mid-1980's ladies couldn't wear pants to work.  I'm sitting at my desk now in pants and a top, but could easily be in blue jeans and a t-shirt, but I have a meeting at a donor's office in an hour.  My, how things have changed!

Anyway, now uniforms are worn by students in public and private schools.  At Community Partners of Dallas, we provide uniforms for abused and neglected kids in Dallas County to be able to start school with dignity.  If that child has an open CPS case and is living in their own home or with a relative, our donors make sure that that child has a fresh new uniform to go back to school and fit in with the other children.  A uniform is an equalizer for our kiddos who often feel like they don't measure up. 

Adults sometimes wear uniforms too...  Servers at restaurants, grocery stores, mail carriers.  Airline personnel, pest control employees.  Police officers, firefighters, and the military.


Are you the type of person who will pay for a police or firefighter's meal if you see them in their uniform?  Buy their sack of groceries at the store?  Buy a service person a beer at a bar or a coffee in the line at Starbucks?  I am.  Half the time when I ask the server to put their bill on my credit card, they say someone else has already provided payment!

NOTE:  I always like to do this anonymously and ask the server not to tell the officer that I'm the one who paid.  It makes it a real feel-good moment for me!



I think it happens all the time and it should.  I know some restaurants comp the meals for service persons and those restaurants should be celebrated and patronized by all of us. 

BUT

It doesn't ever happen for a group I believe deserves the comped meal just as much -- CPS caseworkers.  The caseworkers of CPS walk amongst us, having dinner or lunch, buying groceries for their families, and are not wearing a uniform.  We don't recognize who they are and what they do.  

They save children's lives.  They help families through crises and find safe homes for children.  They make sure kids are safe -- sometimes risking their own lives to do so.  They leave their own children at home with family and sit all night in a hospital room with a child on life support.  They drive miles and miles in their own cars with kids in car seats who are screaming and vomiting.


I wish I could give them a uniform so you could spot them and buy their lunch or a cup of coffee.  I know you'd do it if you could.

P.S.  If you are so inclined, we have lots of opportunities to feed and nurture CPS caseworkers.  Visit www.CommunityPartnersDallas.org

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Four Favorite Things I Love Right Now -- Part 25


It has been some time since I wrote a Four Faves post -- see the most recent one here: http://blog.paigemcdaniel.org/search/label/Four%20Faves -- but the people who read this blog before (literally 3 of you), have asked me to do this again.  Your wish is my command, loyal readers!

Four Faves, reboot style:

1.  I've probably admitted my addiction before, but Garrett's Cheese Popcorn is my kryptonite.  I'm drawn to it like a bee to a flower, like a fly to honey, like e coli to raw room temperature shrimp.  I get their emails and usually, I delete without reading because it's dangerous, but about two weeks ago they had a special on for National Cheese Day and I couldn't resist.  I ordered one can of cheese and one can of Garrett's mix (caramel and cheese mixed) and, well, you can see what happened within a week.  The cheese is long gone and the mix is hidden in my closet to leave the premises soon.  A pox on you, Garrett's!


2.  I watch a lot of reality TV and am an expert in all things Bravo.  Note photo of me with the Bravo guru Andy Cohen and my niece at this year's Chick Lit Luncheon benefitting Community Partners of Dallas.  Such a nice guy!

But my current addiction is 90 Day Fiance on TLC.  I have a friend who also watches and some nights we are keeping the texts ON FIRE as we comment back and forth.  And the franchise doesn't stop there -- They now have a show called Pillow Talk where former and current cast members lie in bed and comment on the evening's episode.  It is hilarious.  Well worth several hours of your time a week -- and yes, you read me right, SEVERAL HOURS...

3.  I ordered this Jin Soon Nail Polish on Amazon after seeing a recommendation somewhere.  I do my own fingernails and am always trying to find one that stays on better.  Light colored nail polish is my favorite (because I can't see the chips and imperfections as much), so I ordered away and hoped the polish would look good.  It does and the best part is it dries SUPER quickly.  I do the bottom coat, 2 coats of color, and a top coat, and I'm not kidding, it seems to be pretty dry in about 10 minutes.  My old polish (Chanel, Essie or OPI) would crease even after hours of drying.  This stuff is a winner!


4.  Traders Joe's Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend is the BOMB.  I was late to the game, but my friend Cynthia told me about using it on avocado toast and it is a revelation.  I've tried it on baked potatoes, mac and cheese -- it would be good on anything.  Don't walk, run to the store and make yourself avocado toast and put an over easy egg atop it tomorrow.  Sprinkle away.  YUM.


What are your faves?

P.S.  I do not know why I cannot get these photos to right themselves.  Enjoy the neck stretch...

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Who Replaced The Toilet Paper?

The title of this post isn't quite right, because what I really want to say is:

Why am I the ONLY one who ever replaces the toilet paper?

In fact, "say" isn't the right word, because I really want to shout it!

Like most of us, we are totally used to changing the rolls at home and even for those of us who live with others, you probably have a system of how the rolls get changed -- even if you have to shout at your family to do it -- or you may have just resigned yourself to doing it over and over again.

But (ha!) at work, I'm at a loss.  I feel like I'm the TP Queen.  Seems like almost every time I enter a stall, I need to replace the roll(s) -- and you better look first, people, or beware!  We do not have extra rolls in the stalls...

Part of the problem is the brand-spankin' (ha!)-newness of our building at Community Partners of Dallas.  We have new, modern fixtures, and there is NO STORAGE in the bathrooms; plus, the TP holders are kind of a pain.  There is a key to open them and it's difficult to figure out how to do it.

NOTE:  I did put my foot down when we decided upon the toilets -- I want to flush the commode my self -- no automatic flushers here, as well as at the sinks.  I absolutely hate the automatic ones.  How many times at the NorthPark AMC Movie Theater have you had to shuffle to the next sink to finish washing your hands after waving frantically to no avail?  And don't get me started on the yucky toilets that don't flush or flush while you are using them!  Horrors!

But (ha!), then again, if it's not my job to change the rolls, whose is it?  No one at CPD has it in their job description and while we do have a janitor service 3 times a week (God bless them), someone has to do it.  It can be me.

P.S.  I do know that I am not the only employee who does this, in fact, I bet all of us do it.  I'm lucky to work with a bunch of great people who know it takes a village to paper the pots!


Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Forgetting Is Yeezy

I forgot to blog today, so am trying to keep my commitment by writing now. Even with fun of the holiday on Monday and our annual Community Partners of Dallas’ Staff Bonding Day Tuesday, it's been a tough week. I’m so grateful to have a fantastic group of women to work with each day and I would put my team up against any group in town.

Come back and visit me next week and I promise something pithy and funny — I have some stuff I’m working on and you are going to enjoy it, damn it!

Ps. Did anyone see the preview of David Letterman getting dressed by Kanye on The Today Show this morning?  Dave looked amazing and I think everyone was surprised (including Kanye)!

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Well, hello again.

Hello, it's me.  I've thought about us for a long long time.

Shout out to Todd Rundgren

I gave up blogging a few years ago.  I liked it -- in fact at times I loved it -- but I do miss the practice.  It made me feel smart.  And if you know me very well at all you know I like to feel smart more than anything.  I'd rather be smart than pretty any day!  Hasn't that worked out well for me?

Truly, the reason I quit it was that we raised the funds and built a new facility for Community Partners of Dallas in Dallas' Caring Corridor.  As the President and CEO, I was involved in every donor ask and every decision made on the building from carpet to ceiling.  We moved to the new building in January and it is wonderful.  I'll write later about those choices and how they were made, but know that this place is going to be a revolution in how children are cared for by CPS.  

And abused and neglected children need all the revolutions they can get!

The garden (a British floral designer I heard recently asked why we call our yards "yards" instead of gardens, so I'm embracing it now) has had work done, but you can get an idea here.