Heartbroken for Haiti

I am sure by now most of you have heard about the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred in Haiti yesterday near the capital city Port-au-Prince. I can't help but be reminded of my time there. Although I was only in Port-au-Prince itself for a brief, unexpected time due to our emergency aircraft landing there, I still remember the city well and can only imagine the devastation that is no doubt more substantial than can be depicted in the news photographs.

Aside from the death toll, the stories of collapsed schools are perhaps most upsetting to me. If you know me at all, you know how much I value education. My time in Haiti was spent building a school in the northern part of the country. Haitian schools are not only scarce, but those that do exist cost money. On about $400 per year (average Haitian income- no, that's not a typo- I said 400 and I said year), most families cannot afford to buy the required school uniforms or the necessary school supplies. Aid organizations have opened schools to help kids get an education and try to escape the poverty of the country, and the recent quake likely ruined many of the schools that were trying to educate the kids who couldn't afford school otherwise. It's just heart-breaking, there's no other way to say it.

I'm also...mad. President Obama has pledged "unwavering support," an example of the United States feeling compelled to step in and provide aide in the time of a disaster. Truly we are blessed to live in a country that has the resources to help others in their time of need. But why are we so...reactive? If we as a nation really wanted to help Haiti, why does the help come as a reaction to a crisis? Am I alone in being mad about our reactive nature? To Haiti. To the car industry. To financial institutions. To our health care system. What ever happened to being proactive? Building infrastructure before a collapse- either in the figurative sense, or in the literal sense during an earthquake? Where have we gone?

But I digress...

Here are a few photos I snapped in Haiti during my travel there that I posted when I first started my blog. You can see in the faces of even the children that Haitians are a resilient people. They're tough. They'll make it. They're the many faces of beautiful.

But I'm sending up some prayers anyway and I hope we can provide as much aide as possible to be a source of calm during their storm.

The Airport Travel that Inspired my Craft Project

A couple of months ago, Adam and I were making our way through airport security in the Detroit airport when my luggage was selected for a random search. If this has never happened to you, it's really no big deal: they pull you aside with all your carry-on luggage (and for me, that's all I have since I refuse to pay to check a bag) for a hand inspection of your belongings.

However, this bothered me for two reasons. The first was this: I am not a terrorist and carry no illicit materials, and therefore by searching me they were possibly missing someone who really should have been searched. I am a "nervous flier" so I get a little concerned about these things.

The second reason was this: as the late-twenty-something-male-airport-security-person opened my suitcase, I realized that all the "delicates" I had packed were right on top, displayed prominently through the mesh zip pocket in my suitcase for all the airport to see. And let me just say that they weren't my cute ones, either.

I am sure the search only lasted about 30 seconds, but it felt like about 10 minutes. My face was so red. Clearly I am modest enough to be embarrassed about my delicates on display for the airport, but not so much so that I won't share my plight on a public forum like my blog. Anyway...

While Christmas shopping a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the perfect solution at Tumi. If you've ever shopped at a Tumi store, then you know it is no surprise that I found a solution to my travel issue at Tumi. They make the MOST amazing luggage and handbags (I have two handbags that I have carried for several years now...and I never plan on buying anything else because the quality and customer service are unmatched). I found a delicates roll- similar to a jewelry roll that organizes jewelry for travel only much larger. It had these cute compartments that said "Wear" and "Wash." How perfect! But the price was not. It was $185, which was a bit (ok, a lot) out of my price range. Furthermore, it was kind of bulky, and for someone who only uses carry-on, it would have taken up almost half of my suitcase.

So...I thought about buying two cloth zipper bags, like from Vera Bradley. But even with the post-holiday sales I saw yesterday, Vera Bradley bags are quite expensive as well. Not $185 expensive, but more than I was willing to pay for something admittedly not a necessity.

To make this short story longer, I decided to make the solution myself. I went to Joanne Fabrics last night and bought some fabric and zippers to make my own delicates bags. I made two bags, one for "Wear" and one for "Wash." (It would have been great to have those words on them like the Tumi bags, but they didn't sell letters that would have worked and I can't sew letters. I can only sew rectangles together, but I think I've gotten pretty good at sewing rectangles considering I also can't follow a pattern other than the plan I make up in my head before I get started.) This was the result:


The total cost was about $10 and 2 hours of my time. The blue bag is lined with the polka dot fabric and the polka dot bag is lined with the blue fabric. Each of them zips with a black zipper.

These are pretty cute, if I do say so myself. We leave for Mexico tomorrow and I am so excited to use my new bags in my luggage! Perhaps I will be searched so the airport can see this cute fabric I selected. Watch out, Vera Bradley, here I come. :)

96 points.
Rest and peace in 2010.


We rang in the new year with Scrabble and pizza in our pj's while the puppies slept nearby. Hope you and yours had just as wonderful of a holiday. Wishing you a joyous 2010!