An Embarrassing Hodgepodge

1.July 15th is National Give Something Away Day.  What can you give away? Will you?

I recently went through all of my shoes and gave away about 40 pairs to my niece, co-workers, and to the Genesis Women's Shelter Thrift Store.  I know that I have other stuff to "pass along" but I doubt I'll be giving away anything other than a smile and a witty remark today.  Witty remarks tend to occur during our capital campaign leadership team meetings!

2. Do you have a mantra? Please share with the class if you feel comfortable doing so.

When I think of a mantra it makes me think of one to use during meditation.  Mine is always "Thank you, God".

Now if you mean just a quote or saying to live by, one of my favorites is "Money can't buy happiness, but it sure keeps the kids in touch."  My friend Jane had this posted in her kitchen.  Jane died a few years ago and I miss her a lot.  She was a no-BS Texas woman.

3. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? How many times a week do you shop? Do you make a list or pray for inspiration in the produce aisle?

I do the shopping and must have a list.  I usually go on Saturday to Tom Thumb (Safeway to those of you who aren't locals) and go to Whole Foods on Sunday.  My mom and I usually go together and have fun pointing out new finds/sharing a box of peaches or a watermelon.  Sometimes she will even tell the check-out person to put my groceries on her credit card!  #winning

4. Is there a TV show you're embarrassed to say you watch? You're going to tell us what it is, right?

Nothing embarrasses me.  I watch all TV all the time.

Some shows I watch that some people think I should be embarrassed to watch are:  Total Divas, Real Housewives (all of them), Dance Moms, and at this time of the year, Big Brother.  I even sometimes watch the live feed of Big Brother on Showtime After Dark.  Now, I'm really sleepy then, but it's total trash.  On another note, Big Brother host Julie Chen (otherwise known as the Chen-Bot by Andy Cohen) looks absolutely amaze-balls this summer.

My mother and Joe would want me to point out that I also read, have a good job and a bachelor's degree from a 4-year accredited university.  Bite me.

5. A recent article listed fifteen words we should eliminate from our (written) vocabulary in order to sound smarter-

that, went, honestly, absolutely, very, really, amazing, always, never, literally, just, maybe, stuff, things, and irregardless

Of the fifteen, which word is your most overused?

I never say irregardless.  It's not a word.  I totally say the rest of them and use them all the time.  I'm actually surprised that totally wasn't on the list.  Of the listed words I probably say very the most, with amazing as a close second.

6. So apparently dying your hair gray (in your youth!) is a thing right now. It's called 'The Granny Hair' trend. Your thoughts? 

My mother has always said that our family members tend to look better as they get older, so I'm looking forward to going gray.  It seems to take a long time in our family.  I have very little gray and have never colored my hair -- of course it is hard to tell on redheads.  My brother has very dark brown hair and barely has any gray.  Not sure what mom is trying to tell us about looking better, but apparently we have some more years to go until we are at our most beautiful.  #winning?

As for young people dying their hair gray for fun, I say do what you want, kids, just be prepared to suffer the consequences of your choices and don't complain about why you are having trouble finding a decent job.

7. A while back Buzz Feed asked members to share the most beautiful sentence they've read in a piece of literature. A hard thing to narrow down, at least for me, but let's try. What's one of the most beautiful sentences you've ever read in a piece of literature?

This is not the most beautiful sentence, but I do love this book:

"Yet we always envy others, comparing our shadows to their sunlit sides." -- Margaret George from The Autobiography of Henry VIII

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The block I live on is a fantastic block -- we have about 45 houses on our block and we get together more often than most.  We have a Christmas progressive dinner, a ladies book club, a block party, etc.  I feel really blessed to have lived there for many years.  Unfortunately, the ring-leader, organizer-extraordinaire, friendliest-mom, call-me-if-you-need-anything neighbor and her family sold their house and are moving to be closer to their sons' schools.  This is going to be a huge loss for the block.  It's really amazing just how much one person can do to make everyone else's lives more enriching.  I truly envy the neighbors on the block where Julie is moving.  They are in for a real gift.

We will miss her.

4 Tips for Non-Profit Grant Writing Success

I'm on vacation this week, so I forgot about the Wednesday blog until late last night and unless you wanted to read a blog about Top Chef Texas and The Real Housewives of Orange County, it is best that I waited until this morning -- but never count that reality blog out -- coming soon!

So a quick post about an area I know really well:  Grant Writing.

First, everyone and his dog wants to write grants.  I think at one point or another, every person who has ever worked for me in any capacity has told me they were interested in writing grants during their annual review.  I think it is because that on the surface, it sounds easy.  All you have to do is answer the questions and mail the grant, right?

Well, yes that is true, but there is more to it than that -- otherwise every non-profit in the world would be raking it in and never have to hold another auction again.  So here are my quick tips for success:

1. You must answer all of the questions and provide all of the info requested by the funder or foundation.  If you don't have an answer, say that.  Foundation representatives are very smart and they totally know if you are bulling them.  Include every piece of documentation that the funder requests -- you don't want to give them a reason to cull your application just because you accidentally left out the current financials.
2. You must write a compelling grant that shows the need of your organization. You have to show the funder why your client is important and why you do the work better than anyone else in town.  The funder is making a investment in your agency -- they want to feel good about it.  Help them to feel good about their funds!
3. If you don't fit the funding guidelines for the foundation, don't apply.  As an organization that supports abused and neglected kids, Community Partners of Dallas is never going to get a grant from a foundation that gives only to animal rescue.  Don't waste your time or theirs.  
4. Check out who is funding similar organizations and review foundation lists of grants funded.  If I see that such-and-such foundation gave a grant to CASA (Sorry CASA, but I'm sure you check out who is funding us, too!), I'm going to ask them for CPD.  Such-and-such foundation has just proven they will give to children in foster care, so CPD will probably fit their guidelines too.  The kids call it "creeping" -- I call it "research" -- do it!

This is by no means a full list of grant writing tips, but it's a start.  What are yours?

P.S.  I'll take any comments about Top Chef too.

I'm Still Mad at the Jerk on Hell's Kitchen.

Those of you who know me well know that I love reality TV.  I watch Project Runway, Top Chef, all the Real Housewives, Flipping Out, Jersey Shore, Little People Big World, The Apprentice, and more.  And yes, it is slightly embarrasing to admit that this is a short list of the shows that I watch.  It makes me think of Howard Stern's movie Private Parts, when the station management (who hated Howard's broadcasts) was talking to the ratings guy who was telling them the results of the listener survey that said something like listeners who loved Howard listened for an unheard of 68 minutes.  When asked why they listened so long, the listeners said that they "wanted to see what he would say next".  The ratings guy then revealed that the listeners who hated Howard listened for 90 minutes and their most common reason for listening was "I want to see what he's going to say next". 

I both love and hate reality TV.  I enjoy the break from my real life to look into the produced and edited lives of others. 

Russell, heretofore (and everafter) known as the Jerk, is one of the current "chef-testants" on Hell's Kitchen, hosted by Master Chef Gordon Ramsay on FOX.  The other night the gang of misfit chefs looking to work for Ramsay was tasked with throwing a Prom Party for kids from Beverly Hills High.  Of course, when the school was announced I had a twinge of "oh, I bet those kids will be bratty and demanding" and held my breath. 

The teens weren't bratty.  They were perfectly nice (at least what was shown on the screen) and other than having more advanced palates than many of their peers, were normal teens.

What has kept me thinking about this show was the treatment that the teens endured from the Jerk.  He belittled them in words, actions, and eye rolls when he was asked to put up decorations.  He treated the teens with such disdain that the restaurant manager finally had to step in to remind the Jerk that these kids were CLIENTS.

I was graduated from Highland Park High School, so I will admit that maybe I am somewhat biased, but let me tell you about the teens I know who go to schools like HPHS, ESD, St. Marks, Greenhill, etc.  The teens who help us at Community Partners of Dallas from these schools may drive over here in a Lexus or Mercedes, but they are kind and generous and really care about helping others.  These teens will spend hours and hours on the floor in our warehouse counting school supplies or sweeping the floor.  One of our THANKs (CPD's teen board) members has volunteered more than 700 hours with us to help abused and neglected children in our community. 

The teens I know are super kids and are very deserving of respect.

You better give it to them, because they'll run this world one day.  I think it will be a better world.