Have I died and gone to Nordstrom?

As any parent knows, kids grow up so fast.  By this we usually are marking our own emotional milestone tied to their physical one...like kindergarten, middle school dance, prom, high school graduation or just the fact that you look up and you are...literally...looking up at them.  Or their shoe size is now bigger than yours.  They are emotional milestones that have a physical component.  We mark the seasons by looking at the trees and we mark our lives by looking at our kids.

Most of us are able to properly outfit our children as they grow.  But some kids are not so lucky.  They come to school with their toes bunched up in too small shoes, or wearing shorts when it's freezing outside.  Many don't have a coat or even a long sleeve hoodie. School nurses need clothes to distribute to children who are inappropriately dressed for school for whatever reason, be it bad judgement or simple lack.


In more affluent schools, the lost and found runneth over.  You'd be surprised the items that get tossed into lost and found and never picked up.  How does a child lose an entire pair of shoes?  Dozens of gloves (mates included!), knit caps, scarves, hoodies and jackets remain behind when the school year is over.   In the more affluent schools, these include designer brands such as Polo, Gap, and others.  It's a satellite branch of Nordstrom.

Last Saturday the ladies and I washed, dried, folded and sorted the lost and found items from one school alone.  There were 244 items, all of which were very nice.   Every kid in that school must have lost at least one item. 

I usually hate laundry, but watching the fluffy sweaters and clean coats come tumbling out of the dryer, I imagined a child standing there with outstretched hands. 

I wished I could hand it over warm from the dryer, with a hug.   They grow up so fast.

Abby

Looking forward to fall

As I put away my summer placemats and got the Halloween decorations out this week, I thought about the bittersweet end of summer. While we hate to say good bye, it’s always nice to have something new to look forward to. As Ecclesiates says, “To everything a season” and as my grandmother used to say, “This too shall pass.”

Things change, don't they?

Years ago, club work and being lady of the house was vastly different from today. Many ladies had household help which enabled them to put on luncheons and get out the silver tea service. If you’ve read the book “The Help” you will know what I mean. Today we are lucky if we all have the same day available for a meeting and can get 4 matching coffee mugs together. Now days, we all wear so many hats and juggle so many balls. Rather than club "work", I like to think we have club "fun". 

Change isn't easy, even when it's just the season.  This old world turns, and we go along for the ride.  But having something to look forward to makes saying goodbye to the old times so much easier.  So goodbye to summer!  We loved ya' but we like our sweaters and cozy fires as well.   We have club fun to look forward to and good friends to share it with.

See you at the October meeting! 

Abby

Act in October

Hello All!

I've returned from vacation and look forward to seeing you at our luncheon tomorrow.  Check your email for the details.  Soup and salad and good times!

On the calendar for October:
October 16 - Lee District meeting.  Please let me know if you can contribute to our silent auction prize.  We have a lovely teapot and a matching plate.  Any ideas you have for filling out the prize, as well as a catchy name or theme would be appreciated!

October 17 - Monthly business meeting.  Arrive on time, please.  (7:15) and let's leave on time too.  ; )  If you signed up for snacks, please rsvp to our hospitality chairman.

Coming up October 29th we have our "Act in October" event, which is wine and cheese at 7 pm.  Please let our first VP know if you have friends you'd like to invite as prospective members.

And...if you've spied a butterfly don't forget to leave a compliment as a comment on this article! 

All the best,
Abby

Ready to go!

Dear Ladies of TJ,


Today was a most inspiring day today.


Several of us attended the Lee District Leadership Workshop and what fun we had!  There were so many wonderful ideas for fund raising, for Arts projects, conservation, international affairs and so forth.  My dining room table is covered in brochures, handouts, sticky notes and email addresses for new friends.  I got the "official" skinny on my presidential duties, and dutifully accepted the handouts on parlimentary procedure.  And I thought I just got to bang that gavel with gusto!  Nope. We will be observing and learning together the formal rules that help us get along, and get things done.


After the workshop we had a delicious luncheon at Homemades by Suzanne as we sat by the railroad tracks and watched the trains go by.  Ashland is truly a beautiful, welcoming little town and it was a pleasure to sit with my fellow clubmembers and visit like ladies who lunch.  : )


TJ got some accolades today, too.  Our facebook page and blogsite were held up as examples of how to socially connect, when a website just is too much. 


Isn't that what our club is about?  Making new friends, taking the time to post a comment or say something encouraging to a member, and join together in making the world a better place.  Facebook is proof that people are "viral".  We all love to be connected and know each other.  I for one welcome technology into the world of GFWC.   I say, spread the love!


Remember our first meeting is Monday, 9/13 at 7:15.  New members, please come at 6:30 for a light dinner and orientation.  We've got much to teach you!


All the best,

-A-


Abby Magruder, President

Thomas Jefferson Junior Woman's Club

August is Upon Us

Hi Everyone!

August is not only Upon Us, it's half gone.  Can you believe this summer?  It seems the extra hot weather just burned the summer right up.  I'm looking forward to cool fall weather, but my goodness, where did the summer go?

While you've been lazing around the pool or "sweating out your impurities", your Board has been busy at work, eating Chinese food and planning for our coming year.   A  couple of things we have on the agenda: 

• At the end of this month we will conduct new member orientation and get all our newest members up-to-date on club info.  Also the calendar for othe new year will be announced. 

• Thomas Jefferson Junior Woman’s Club (TJ Juniors) is launching a new project this year called "Clothes for Kids". TJ Juniors Clothes for Kids project was started in response to an increasing need of families who are unable to provide enough clothing for their school age children.  We're finalizing the details, and will launch this new initiative in the fall.

Stay tuned!  As summer winds down and the excitement of a new school year begins, TJ has lots of opportunities to offer.  Come help us out!  We'd love to have you.

Abby Magruder
President
Thomas Jefferson Junior Woman's Club

Get out of your cocoon!

Thanks to everyone for a very special installation ceremony on Sunday, May 9th! I'm looking forward to working with everyone for the 2010-2011 year.

My symbol this year is the butterfly. My theme is "Get out of your cocoon!"

As we stand posed in a new direction, we dry our wings like a butterfly newly emerged from a cocoon. Let's take a moment and gather our thoughts, then take flight together towards our new projects and commitments.

As we do, let's remember this "Advice from the Butterfly"

Get out of your cocoon
Let your true colors show
Take yourself lightly
Look for the sweetness in life
Take time to smell the flowers
Catch a breeze
We can’t all be monarchs.

Have a great summer!  I look forward to seeing you in the fall.

Abby

TJ Juniors are proud to support Team Moody!

Freedom House received over 400 pairs of socks and outerwear items from local Moody Middle School teen efforts. Thomas Jefferson Junior Woman’s Club was honored to support both the Freedom House and the teens by donating socks, outerwear and a monetary sum to Team Moody Middle School’s Sock Hop for Socks.

The event took place in response to Destination Imagination’s® newly added Challenge; projectOUTREACH®.

Destination Imagination® is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Every year, the organization reaches over 100,000 students across the U.S. and in more than 30 countries. Team Moody Middle School met with the director of Freedom House, a local homeless shelter to learn that the harsh winter and over all decrease in donations, as well as an increase in the homeless population led to a need for socks and winter outerwear.

For their efforts Team Moody Middle School won first place in both Henrico District and Virginia State competitions. They are now on their way to Globals where they will compete internationally. Part of the challenge was to create an 8 minute skit and make a scrapbook to include all aspects of the challenge. The skit is an authentic 8 minute musical depicting their efforts with Freedom House performed by 5 puppets that were created by the teens.

TJ Juniors are proud to support Team Moody! Way to go!

Happy Easter to You and Your Family

I want to wish you a safe and happy Easter weekend, Passover week and Spring Break week. I hope you will take time to reflect on the meaning of the season, relax and enjoy time with family and friends!


I look forward to seeing you at our next next meeting on April 19.

Susan Beller

A note from your president!

Hi, this is Susan!  I'm sitting here with Abby and Sharon sharing a lovely lunch at Panera Bread.  We're having a lesson on using the new website, commenting and so forth.  Hope you like the site...leave us a comment!

If you're interested in visiting one of our club meetings, send us an email.  We'd love to have you!

Yours in club work,
Susan

Check us out on Facebook!

We're on Facebook.  You know you wanna be our fan, right?

March is Members Month!

When I was invited to join Thomas Jefferson JWC, I asked the obvious question:

Why?

I was coming out of 12 years as a Girl Scout Leader.  Girl Scout Leaders are TOLD why:  "So your daughter will be able to be a Girl Scout."  In short, I did it for my daughter.  And I did it for 12 years.  Every corner of my house was filled with glue, glitter, construction paper, beads, crafts, books, schedules, program notes and my oh my the forms that had to be filed! Four out of six of my girls got their Gold Award, the equivalent of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts.  I was a machine!

I told myself I was done with community service programs, but I found myself staring at too much TV. I missed the good ol' Brownie days (Brownies love EVERYTHING) and the jazzy jazzy juniors who still get into it. Then the crazy cadets came a little more reluctantly and the sassy seniors who kept a low profile (uniform? that tacky thing?). Ok, they were more like sullen seniors...but I digress. 

My TJ recruiter told me I could join for any number of reasons...to do good things in the community, to help raise consciousness for women's issues, to contribute to worthy causes, or just to make friends and have fun.   I figured I'd made my community contribution  but she had me at make friends and have fun.

That was five years ago.  I hardly knew so much time had passed until we started talking about orientation for our new members last night.  In that five years, I found new friends who loved me for myself and not for the program I supplied for their daughters.  They've supported me through health issues, becoming a mother-in-law and they listen to my endless stories.  We've shared the birth of children, the accidents and pitfalls of motherhood and still managed to log hundreds of hours of club work over the years. 

After filing reports this year (yes, there are forms here too!) I was again struck by how many little things can add up to do so much good.  Together with club members through out the Lee District, we make a real impact on our communities.  Much more than we could alone.  Every mile you drive to meetings, every phone call or email you respond to or place adds to the big karma we make together. 

There's something to be said for the power of sisterhood.

So, March is Members Month.  Along with our GFWC sisters, we celebrate the ladies of Thomas Jefferson Junior Woman's Club.

And that, ladies, is YOU! 

(Join us March 15 for the monthly meeting, at which time we celebrate our club members).

February is Heart Month

Hello everyone! Let's make plans now to make February a Heart Healthy Month.  Here are a couple of things you can do

1) Stand up and speak out against heart disease in women by wearing red on Friday, Feb. 5.
Details are here.

2) In honor of our new blog, tell us about your favorite red item.  Use the comment section below.  I'll get us started.  My favorite red item is the Le Crueset French Oven which Jim gave me for Christmas.  I call it my "magic pot" because anything I cook in it seems to come out delicious.  And that really is magic!  It's cherry red and looks great sitting on my stove.

And of course TJ club colors are red too!

What's YOUR favorite red item?