Donate at FreeRice

arbalest, baobab, caries, copacetic, coriaceous, lapidary, sinistral, taboret...

What do these words have in common?

Well, they all managed to remain undiscovered by me until today.

I came across FreeRice.com via one of the monthly e-newsletters I subscribe to.

I went there out of curiosity and stayed there for a while, addicted. It is a vocabulary test you can play for as long as you want, and with each correct answer, you end up donating rice grains for U.N World Food Program.

There are fifty levels. Every time you get three words correct in a row, you go up a level. And, you drop down a level if you get them wrong. Apparently it is rare for players to cross level 48.

I had to quit at level 42 in about 10 minutes of play (I was playing during my lunch time at work and it didn't feel right, tut-tut indeed), after donating only about 1980 grains of rice, vowing to keep revisiting as often as I can, as 1980 grains of rice seems too little to feed even one child for one day...

One might wonder why set up this game at all, why not give the rice away.. Reading their FAQ was quite interesting.

If FreeRice has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now?

FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.

a surprise, yet not quite a surprise

I was walking up the stairs to my third floor office, when a not-so-familiar, but smiling-and-friendly girl started climbing up with me. We chatted about how wet the weather is and such.

And she followed me up three flights of stairs and through the front door to my office.

Struck me as odd, but, then again, may be she is visiting one of her friends, I said to myself, when she stopped and very sweetly asked, "Can you help me find this person? I have a valentine-a-gram to deliver."

Yes, indeed, it was for me!

I could have saved her the climb upstairs if we had gotten to business sooner :-)

A while back, I called to find out if they could deliver a valentine-a-gram to where D works. Turns out they won't be able to. Plus, it so happens, D works at a high security building which does not have a front office. Of course, there is a front office for his company in another building where they accept all standard deliveries... seemed pretty complicated to arrange.

So, I sent the link to D telling him this is what I wanted to get him. And left the rest unsaid...

D, I know you don't read my blogs, and I know I am not going to quit asking, "Have you read my posts this week?", even if I know the answer... but, I just want to let you know that I appreciate you a lot more than I manage to let on.

• thank you for taking the garbage out, for taking care of kitty litter box, for taking the compost bucket out to the yard to empty it in the bin always
  
• even though you have no patience to listen to my daily bantering about mundane happenings at work and such, thank you for listening patiently when it counts: when I worry about Baby, when I am unable to emotionally handle some things...
  
• thank you for never yelling or swearing, not even when i push all the wrong buttons and you are justified in pushing back
• when i kicked and fussed about the Dryer making rattling noises and not drying the clothes, i am really glad you were resourceful enough to diagnose the problem, order parts, and fix it
  
• when I look around the house and see all the little (and the not-so-little) touches you added, i can't help but admire
• i like the way you appreciate even my simplest craft/sewing/crochet creations
• when i start getting flustered about something, thank you for asking the right questions and helping me identify what is troubling me; it helps tame the monster my emotional mind creates out of panic
• when i excitedly present a confection from my experiments in the kitchen and await your input breathlessly, thank you for honestly stating, "looks like somebody sat on it": i appreciate your sense of humor

Does it mean I find you flawless? Of course not, you wouldn't be human otherwise...

But, does it matter? Not when your thoughtfulness outweighs it... not today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

valentine-a-gram

D is not a romantic. Not by any stretch of my imagination. He is very creative, very practical, very smart, even very sweet at times, but, not very romantic.

I could drop hints all over the place for an affordable yet brilliant gift that would sweep me off my feet and he would still be clueless. I adore him, nonetheless.

It's a good thing he doesn't read my blogs - wouldn't want to dispel the myth about his self-proclaimed romantic nature...

So, this Valentine's Day, just like all others so far, I am not expecting anything from him.

Unfortunately, I am a bit practical as well.

So, we punch out the numbers for the month and feel, "Oh well, flowers die out in a week anyway why waste money that can be spent on food and bills; candy and chocolate go right to the waistline and thighs, and I should be on a diet-of-sorts anyway..."

Besides, we both typically refer to valentine merchandise like teddy bears, heart pillows and such as Valentine Kitsch in an attempt to avoid becoming gullible consumers.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from crocheting a heart-shaped coaster or sewing a big heart-shaped placemat and pink napkins with organza accents :)

Not sure how I stand on Valentine's Day in general these days... Every day should be special to show your loved ones you care. I used to reject it as a made-up holiday as I didn't have any conclusive history on its origin that I could relate to and celebrate.

Setting all that aside, here is an option I came across as worth considering this year: Valentine-a-gram by Loaves and Fishes Centers, The Meals-on-Wheels People.

It's a worthy cause. I'll have to find out if they would deliver valentine-a-grams to where D works. He'd be too embarrassed to receive it at work I am sure... We'll see...

And then again, maybe D will read this blog soon and decide to order one for me. Ha! That would happen when it snows in Madras, India!

merry christmas!

Santa paid us a visit and he apparently thought we've been good:-)

I sent out a couple of caps i crocheted for the Caps to the Capital program I mentioned earlier.

I feel like Q4 2006 was too hectic: work was crazy as we had projects all lined up to be launched before year end; I had started a few projects of my own at home and they got done; am glad I could contribute in a small way to Project Linus and Save The Children foundation.

I feel like I need a long holiday.

Usually, on Christmas day, by mid-afternoon, I get a strange sense of have-i-done-anything-in-my-life-that-is-worth-anything feeling, sort of puts me in philosophical mode and makes me take stock of all the good things in Life and push away unnecessary baggage I carry about stuff I cannot change...

This year was no exception. I am still struggling with that feeling, but, it will pass.

project linus

Seeing my frenzied quilt-making, D was naturally curious.

"What are you going to do with all the baby quilts?", he cautiously quizzed so as not to trample on my spirits.

I am glad he asked.

I had set a teensy goal for myself for Q4 2006 to be a blanketeer for Project Linus.

So, I was pretty thrilled today when I went and dropped three quilts of varying sizes, suitable for toddlers and kids, at the nearest Project Linus drop off, which was A Common Thread in Lake Oswego.

Not too long ago, my wee one started getting attached to one of the fleece blankets I had made for her, way back when she was barely 2 months old. She likes to walk around with it, take it everywhere... not always, though. Just sometimes when she feels the need to hold on to it.

I am secretly hoping that one of my quilts (if not all three) would become a comforting security-blanket-of-sorts to a kid in need, and am glad Project Linus accepts/prefers handmade blankets.

Quilting stimulates me, am happy to do it, but, it is labor-intensive and a tad bit expensive especially since we are on a budget of sorts. So, I am glad I had a goal and I was doing it for a cause I believe in. Labor of Love.

I have been crocheting for a while and I can follow a pattern fairly well, and I can sort of cover up mistakes, and even maybe extrapolate and improvise on patterns as I go along.

But, knitting so far has not come with the same ease and comfort as crocheting for me. That's OK.

Crocheting, while it is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming - depending on the project and how tight my schedule happens to be, seems to be more rewarding for me, personally. So, I am sure I will be crocheting away as best as I can, as and when I can manage it.

My teensy goal for before Jan 1 2007 is to crochet for newborns around the world by joining the Caps to the Capital campaign. If interested, please download an action kit.

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p.s: We have hot water flowing in our pipes again. Yay!