operation gratitude

for a while now, i've been feeling a little blue... just a little... nothing too deep to overcome though. our financial situation has been pretty bleak for many months - a year even... honestly, we're fine... considering how little (financially) i had growing up - we're doing well... we're healthy (chicken pox free!), amply clothed, fed and sheltered.

recently, we heard from our former neighbors (but still very close friends) that our house was finally boarded up. we had no idea since the daily calls we receive from the bank impart no information or very late misinformation on their part...

i also really missed creating, writing and sending out our Christmas cards this year too. we just couldn't afford it. i am very surprised by my melancholy over it. i had no idea the act of correspondence (albeit one sided and slightly robotic) meant so much to me. and hence - my vivid smurfette blue pallor... :)

i'm hopeful that we'll have recovered financially and that we actually have GOOD news to share next year.

luckily, the thin man and i managed to scrape up enough to get the kids some gifts this year - ourselves, friends and family are still in negotiation... (yes, i know it's 3 days until the BIG day....) i've come to realize that getting creative with a financial budget is emotionally exhausting - i don't care how easy excel can make it - the numbers are still red! :( our families have also been very generous as always at this time. and santa's coming too, we can't forget santa! thankfully, the kids are also slowly learning to become more reflective about wants vs. needs as well as learning to be more patient.

as a child, when times were tight, and my emotions and impatience would sometimes consume me, my mother would remind me of our trips home to the philippines where the desperate poverty was never far from view. i remembered children like myself who i would see bathing in potholes full of fresh rainwater to get clean. i would stop complaining and do something... anything.... to reassure myself that "this too shall pass" and recount how much i had to be thankful for...

recently, i heard about Operation Gratitude, a non profit that sends care packages to soldiers overseas. inside the care packages, they also send knit scarves (in the winter) made by volunteers. after reading their guidelines, i knew this was something i could do easily.

i married into a family of military veterans and after hearing their stories have grown to sincerely appreciate the heartbreaking sacrifices the troops and their families make. i couldn't get beyond the feeling that this would help me lift my spirits and would help a soldier out there feel some warmth/comfort - physically, maybe even emotionallly - a mutual win-win situation... :)

i got myself acquainted with the mistake rib via crazy aunt purl. i found lion brand fisherman's wool yarn on sale at my local Michael's and got started. i finished up last week:



i know it won't get there in time for Christmas. but i know they're still accepting scarves so it will find a new owner eventually - hopefully, sooner than later. after i wrote my accompanying letter of thanks and concern to the soldier, i really felt a renewal of sorts. it never ceases to amaze me how making something and giving it to someone else always makes me feel like i received a gift instead....

2011 looks better and brighter with every passing day of 2010... :)

i hope this holiday season has brought you great joy, some peace and ample time to spend with your loved ones! as always, thanks for coming by and reading...