New wheels

My husband bought me a new car last week, a new 2009 Buick Enclave.  Yes, that's right, one day he sold my Lexus while I wasn't looking and is now forcing me to drive a GM just to get around!!  Okay, perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration.  I'll admit it, I was a little bit in love with my last car, but since I'm more than a little bit in love with my husband we made the decision together to get some new wheels.  I'll post a picture after I have a chance to run through the car wash since a little birdie decided to leave me a present, ahem.
 
But let me just take a moment to complain about the 3 GM dealerships we went to, because I found the common thread to be quite interesting - no one tried to sell me a car.  And no, I don't mean people ignored me or flat out lied to me (like at Suburban Mazda where I walked away from when shopping for a previous car-boo), I mean the sales staff could barely be bothered to answer questions that I had, much less encourage me to spend quite a few pennies on one of their cars.  It was completely bizarre, and the hubby mused that perhaps it was because they are so used to people with employee-related discount sales that they don't put in a big effort.  But even that explanation doesn't sit well with me in that they still stand to make a little money off of even those sales, so why not try to have people buy through you?  Oh, and also I could have done without the loud gripes about GM by some employees at two of those places (we had to go looking for someone to even greet us at the third place), not helping matters folks.  Lastly, had I known about the discriminatory remark one salesperson made about some other customers after they left the dealership, I would've pitched a famous fit but alas I had left the dealership feeling ill and I let the Barton deal with all the paperwork.  Don't worry, as the manager will receive a copy of my strongly worded survey reply!
 
Anyway, so far so good on the new car, now only if some of the people within the GM supply chain could hop on the don't-call-it-a-comeback bandwagon, perhaps we'll see light at the end of the tunnel yet.
 
P.S.  Hey OnStar chick, I didn't appreciate you being so flirty with my husband even after you discovered that I was in the car too!  Now if only he didn't enjoy it so much :).

A fresh perspective

As usual, I'm a week or so behind in my weekly copy of Crain's Detroit Business, but this morning I read with interest the (April 20-26) edition that profiles of their twenty in their 20's list http://www.crainsdetroit.com/assets/html/twenties09.html.  While many were "creative" types, others were successful in a more standard business career path, and I found myself reading each of their comments about why they live in the metropolitan Detroit area. So many of them shared the common thread of feeling rewarded if they could thrive in this unique environment lots of us call home.  Stay on and fight my fellow 20-somethings!  Okay fine, so maybe that ship (my 20's) sailed some time ago, but anyway take a peek and try to get inspired yourself. 

Also read this article last week in the Detroit News http://www.detnews.com/article/20090424/SCHOOLS/904240389/1026/MSU+s+$10+million+gift+a+mystery, how cool is that? Basically there's a donor that has given away nearly $70 million in recent weeks to colleges across the country - anonymously.  The only pattern they've found so far is that the 14 schools that have received the gifts are run by women.  Double cool.  But I'll be honest and say that if I had that kind of dough to give away, I'd probably put my name all over it!
 
Lastly, hitting this week's newstand in Fortune magazine is not just the annual Fortune 500 list, but smack dab in the middle of the magazine itself is a 2-page spread that is a simple and effective ad about the Judson Center www.judsoncenter.org, a human services agency where I sit on the board.  A fellow board member who is a GM executive (not sure if he's wanting to be anonymous himself) "donated" the  national ad space by letting Judson use it because it's one of his favorite charities.  Pleae check it out, it's awesome.  If I can get an electronic copy, I'll post it.  

Start small

Since I may have scared off a few readers by asking them to become organ donors (but c'mon folks, don't let them go to waste :), I'll also suggest a few ideas to start small.

I've convinced the hubby (isn't he great??) to join me this week in making a blood donation through the American Red Cross who holds blood drives every week in your backyard www.givelife.org, even though he admits it is not his favorite thing. But here's the deal, as it turns out it is also not my favorite thing to be poked by a needle, but I'm sure that sentiment is also shared by a 2-yr-old at our church whose parents shared a story yesterday of his blood disease and the transfusions that he needs every 6 weeks just to get by. It breaks their heart to watch their little boy and all the other families they meet at the hospital go through the process over and over, and yet they can't even give themselves in case he needs a bone marrow transplant. I do love you my friends - but get over it. No excuses. Please?!!?

For better reading than my whiny/tough love, see the top 10 reasons to give http://www.givelife2.org/donor/top10.asp, and the top 10 excuses http://www.givelife2.org/donor/top10excuses.asp.

Another coolio idea that I recently discovered, an organization called Paper to Pearls www.papertopearls.org that benefits women in Uganda and helps them better their lives through jewelry-making. Seriously, I get to make a difference in someone's live and get a fantastic handmade new necklace to boot? Somebody pinch me. So if you're due to get a present from me this year, guess what it will be?? :)

Have a heart

Hi friends - please consider joining me & my husband by registering to become and organ and tissue donor. April is designated as Donate Life Month, and in Michigan alone 3,000 residents are waiting to receive hearts, livers, lungs, kidney and other organs; but last year in Michigan only 327 people donated organs (which in itself was a record). Nationwide, the number of people waiting for donors is 100,000. God forbid that any of our lives or our loved ones are cut short, but if so your physical body can help so many. One local mother reported that her son Tim tragically died at 17 yrs old in a car accident, but as he was a donor 7 people received his healthy organs and another 158 people were recipients of his tissue donations - what a gift!

Leave a legacy of generosity - join via www.giftoflifemichigan.org or in another states check your state government website.

Helpful hubby

I promise I'm not just trying to be cheesy about the positive attributes of my spouse, but he really can be super helpful to have around! While he readily admits that doing certain things around the house are not exactly top of mind for him, when I ask for assistance with something he is always at the ready. Also, he has figured out how to handle my independent, I'd-rather-do-it-myself mentality, in that he will ask "is there anything I can do to help?" and I'll quickly assess the situation and reply either no thanks I've got it covered, or I'll rattle off a couple of things he can do to assist me. That way I know that he is willing to pitch in if I need it, but I can also let him know that it would be better to just give me my space (especially in the kitchen!).

After deciding that it would be best to stay in our condo this year (stupid economy!), I asked if we could have a bedroom makeover, and he agreed. I also had the benevolent excuse of passing on some of my old furniture to my sister who recently moved into a new place (ironically into an apartment directly across the hall from the one I moved out of almost 5 years ago to the day! weird). Now nearly everything in our room is brand new, all the way down to several new decorative notions including a mirror and tapestry that the hubby hung up yesterday after painstakingly measuring for after I had him reposition both a few times :). So while it's not a new house that I really wanted, it's a new touch that we've added together to a place that still has mostly things I previously bought and decorated with. Didn't he do a great job?!?

Signs of spring

We are still waiting for the season to truly take hold in our fickle-weather state of Michigan, but while I am eagerly anticipating some consistently warm days in which to bring out the peep-toe pumps and slingbacks, I've been keeping my eye out for signs.
 
Thought I'd share a few, including some hopeful glimpses of green in the flower pot that I planted some seed packets in, a bunch of vibrant daffodils that my sister Aimee bought and brought over last weekend, and our mischievous nephew playing in their backyard mud (yes, in his pajamas!).  Ahh, spring, it has been too long, dear friend...

Sunny Florida

OK, so it wasn't exactly sunny the whole time we were there, which was over two months ago at this point.  But forgive me while I look for the sunny side of this dreary April day. 
 
The first pic is my documented review my first time eating at a Chic-Fil-A, which my friend Rich cannot believe as he raves about them constantly.  I appreciated the friendliness of the cashier/franchise owner (his picture was on the wall!) but my favorite part was the older gentleman passing out mints as the Hospitality Manager, I filled out a comment card just for him!  Thank you, kind sir.  The next one is of me with our good friend Karin (with the hubby popping up from behind, that stinker! :) who drove in 3 hours to stay and visit with us, and also a picture of a local restaurant that I took to show my mother-in-law.  Lastly, no we did not take pictures of any homeless people (nor do I believe they exist there in downtown Celebrations!), Aimee just captured our friends Dave & Damon taking a little nappy in the sun while the Barton & I popped into the arcade and ice cream shop.
 
Fun times!