What I Did on My Summer Vacation

One big week of summer left. I’m relieved – everyone goes back to school/work, I can get things done during the day without crowds, and traffic starts to follow a schedule again. So… I’m less cranky when y’all have a routine. Personally, I’m not good in the sun, don’t like crowds, don’t like summer parking issues, don’t get all that much out of live music, and can’t drink nearly as much beer as I should be able to. I’d stay inside and watch Netflix all summer, given my druthers. All my life I’ve felt that I never actually belong to anything – was never really in the center of a group of friends, never really Canadian but never really American, never really mainstream in any of my professions. The upside to that is that no one ever expects to see me anywhere, and most of the time they don’t even think to invite me. This makes for many relaxing days with my dog in my own world, where everyone knows me and no one ever gets sunburnt.

I’m worried that this summer wasn’t as productive as last summer. Last year was the summer of “Pretending to Be Someone Who Leaves the House and Does Things,” and it went very well. Never did find a good summer boyfriend, but learned a lot about sociopaths and narcissists, so – productive. And I saw at least one concert a week, and not always just the ones I could walk to. I did a lot of things that were against my character, including travelling to places I didn’t have to go to. I even got tan. People told me they were envious of my life, which made me think, “I have a life? Huh, that’s new…”

This year was the summer of “Dress Like You Intended to Leave the House and Not Like You Were Surprised by the Fire Alarm.” Apparently, I should have said “LEAVE THE HOUSE Dressed Like you Intended to Leave the House…” because, I didn’t actually go out much. So I’m trying to figure out what I actually DID this summer, and whether I at least challenged my status quo. (To be clear, when I did leave the house, I managed to pull together clean, matching clothes and jewellry and mascara, so – mission accomplished, anyway.)

1. Return of Tegan Tuesdays. Except that they weren’t always Tuesdays, and were actually different days every week. It reminded me of a song Tegan sang last summer, “Saturday, it’s Saturday, most of all, it’s Saturday. Actually, it’s Tuesday, but most of all, it’s Saturday.” I love that kid so much, and only she could get me swimming for four hours a day.

I won’t go into all the hilarious things she said and did this summer, but my favourite was when we were walking in the trees behind her house (“the forest”), and she saw something she’d never seen before. She put her hands on her hips and said, “Where in the cotton-picking darn tootin’ heck are we?”

Hrib Rib Fest

2. Staying in to Go Out. I didn’t go out to a lot of concerts (and when I did, Alcoholic Sociopath was always right there, making sure I saw him). I even had tickets for Elvis Costello and couldn’t bring myself to go. Crowds – ugh. Great Big Sea was sacrified for a surprise party.. I did go out, though, spending a lot of time in other people’s backyards. Spent a lot of time at Susannah’s with old friends (that I met last September), helped ready for a rockin’ party with mostly strangers at Sue’s in Atlanta, still discovering Mary’s new backyard, and reconnected with Robin and Kathy and Cathy and Rummikub. Dogs are always welcome. Except in Atlanta.

3. Journeys with Friends. The party at Sue’s in Atlanta could go here, too, but I’m to the point where her house is more like a second home. The first big trip of the summer, then, was the Cycling the Erie Canal tour. Also known as “Uncle Al’s Summer Camp” (after our ride director, Al Hastings). We have a core volunteer group that supports each other – we keep all our gear together and the first ones in every day set up all the tents. I make sure there is cold beer there for them. Everyone takes care of Yodel. Shower Truck Chuck even takes Yo for a walk so I can go in and take a shower every morning. Lot of symbiosis.

2011 CTEC Volunteers

The second big trip was Iowa. There was less emphasis on the State Fair this year, since I’d already been once. All about family, and Tammy has lots and lots of family. Still haven’t met all the siblings/in-laws, and I may never meet all the nieces and nephews. They make me feel so at home, I kind of felt left out when I had to leave and not live in Iowa anymore.

4. Agility Training for Yodel. Anyone who has really concentrated on training a dog realises that YOU are the one who gets trained, and it’s up to you to use what you’ve learned to train your dog. This is kind of a step into a void for me — fun times for Yodel, but lots of self-doubt and angst over whether I’m doing right by that dog. Yodel compensates for me by doing everything perfectly at our lessons, whether or not I’ve spent any time training him during the week. He’s a natural. He just needs a better trainer.

Yodel and Prometheus

5. Trying New Things. 2011 has been a year full of trying new things. I tried calamari and duck, and jet skis and trapeze. That slowed down a little in the summer, but Yodel took over and tried all sorts of things I never expected. When I first got him, no one else could get within 20 feet of him, especially children. This summer on the bike trip, he actually played with another dog every night, played with children, and — here’s the kicker that tells me therapy works — actually approached strangers and nosed their hands so they would pet him. Even though I live on a lake and take him to water’s edge every day to get him used to it, he is afraid of the water. But one day at my brother’s cottage in August, he just went into the water all by himself. At first he just jumped through it like it was deep snow, but within a couple of days he was going in over his head and paddling. He did not look happy. But he inspired me. Trying new things isn’t just about doing things that are different, it is about looking your fears in the eye. Put all those worst-case scenarios out of your mind and forge ahead. So I did it. I took on something I’d been avoiding since the 1990s. I’ve actually watched videos on how to do it, but could never bring myself to take it on. But, inspired by my dog, one day in Iowa, I cut up a mango. And I did it without even knowing where the BandAids® were.

6. Raised over $5,000 for Habitat for Humanity Haiti. Well, you all know about that.  Goooooood summer.

Be A Saint

"A saint is a person who gives of themselves without asking for anything in return. That's how simple it is to be a saint. Try it! Try being a saint." 

-Edward James Olmos

Donate at my Team Member Page!

The best thing about ECMC…

When I was going to India in 2006, I was told to get my shots first. Which shots? Well, the ones they recommend. They who?


Fortunately a search for “travel shots” brought up a whole aspect of life I hadn’t considered (since I was still terrified of flying at that point): travel clinics. The people who have the shots to give you and tell you what shots you need. And where is ours? Just behind the Emergency Room at Erie County Medical Center. Who knew?


I’ve been back since, getting my shots for Guatemala in 2008. And then today, to get my shots for Haiti. Did you know, if you get vaccinated against Hepatitis A, and then you get a booster shot 6-12 months later, it’s good for 10 years? They told me that in 2006, but I never managed to go back to get it in time. But in 2008 after Guatemala, I, um, didn’t go either. So today, they mocked me. Mocked me for having to spend a hundred bucks again for a Hep A shot, when I could have just been halfway through the term of the shots from 2006 if I had only made that appointment… “Time for the Hep A shot – you seem to love those!” “Side effects can be similar to flu symptoms, but your body should be used to Hep A by now from all those shots.” “You know, you don’t get a free Hep A shot if you buy five.”


In a world where others are often called upon to save me from myself, they made me make an appointment for the booster in February before I could leave. I love those guys.

Ding! Ding! Ding! You built a whole house!

My friends rock. Yeah, you guys. Less than two months into a five-month fundraiser, you have reached deep and donated to meet my $5000 goal. Special thanks to Dave Pietrowski, who did the math and made sure I hit goal exactly!


Each home that we build in Haiti costs between $5000-$7000 to construct. While I’ll be down there doing the work, it’s my friends and family who have made sure I have a house to build. Think of that – every one of you who has donated to this campaign is responsible for creating a solid, hurricane-proof cinderblock home in Haiti. The four walls that a family lives within. The roof that keeps them dry. The stability upon which a community can be rebuilt.


We can do more.


We can help purchase tools. Pay for materials for the school. Contribute to training programs that allow our homeowners to find work or start businesses. And make sure there’s money available to start the house I’m going to work on next year.


So, I’m updating my goal to $7000 — the high end of the cost of building one house — in hopes that those who haven’t yet donated can add to what we’ve raised, so we can give that much more to a program that really helps in a country that really, really needs it.


Please keep those donations coming!

Top 14&1/2 Reasons to Send Suzanne to Haiti...

1. Because she will Safety Monitor the heck out of that place.

2. Three words: Hard Hat Thursday!

3. Because she hardly ever gets to use "trambleman tè" in a sentence in the US.

4. That rebar isn't going to tie itself, Sparky.

5. If Jimmy and Rosalynn can do it...

6. By November, she needs Vitamin D.

7. The Sabres are on the road that week anyway.

8. Otherwise her blog about the CWP in Haiti will be lacking, well, a certain something.

9. She looks awesome in big floppy hats and work gloves.

10. Living in tents. For a week. In Haiti. Without showers. OK, not such good reasons...

11. If Trisha and Garth can do it...

12. 'Cause of that story about the kid throwing the starfish back into the ocean one at a time, where he said, "It made a difference to that one."

13. Be the change you want to see in the world. Gandhi said that. Sounds kinda bossy, but he's right.

14 1/2. (the extra-big reason) Because the Haitian people, already impoverished, have now suffered through an earthquake, a hurricane, and a cholera outbreak. Millions are displaced, unemployment is 60%, relief is not getting through and rebuilding is slow. She thinks it might be WJWD.

'14.5 REASONS' T-SHIRTS ARE HERE!

I Get to Go to Haiti!

Yeah, when they said there was a fundraising "requirement," that's exactly what they meant. There are deadlines by which we have to have a certain amount raised in order to be able to go on the trip at all, even though we have until a few weeks after the trip to reach $5,000.

Guess what? Because my friends are so fabulous and generous, I've already reached the goal set for October 15th. That's right - you've put me more than two months ahead of schedule! Volunteers are only allowed to go if they've raised $4,000 by October 15th, so I'm good to go!!

Again - thanks for your donations, thanks for your words of support, and thanks for putting up with my fundraising posts. Almost there!

Oh, did I mention that next year's build is in Haiti again...?

Raising Money for Habitat is just an Excuse to Drink Beer in the Sun

Here’s the thing… when I did my first Carter Work Project in 2006 in India, I started a fundraiser called “Homes at Home” to raise money for Buffalo Habitat, raising a dollar for every mile between Buffalo and the build in Lonavala, India. Almost $8,000, and that was without Facebook.

When I told my friend Bob about my fundraiser then, he told me about his sister. Shirley Arnold, a painter who had done a a still life of tools that Jimmy Carter had actually used on a previous Carter Work Project, called “The Humanitarian’s Handtools.” (She wants to donate the painting to The Carter Center. At the time, I didn’t know anyone at the CC to ask – I was just in my Jimmy Carter Groupie infancy.) She had posters of the painting, so I bought 100 of them to sell for the fundraiser, and planned to drive down to Georgia to pick them up.

Aaaaaand…  that was the last I ever heard from Shirley Arnold. She moved after she got my cheque, and the person who sent me the new address must have written it wrong, because my letters came back. Huh.

Flash forward to 2011. I’d run into Bob a couple times but he never had the address with him. Then I didn’t see Bob for a while. One or both of us stopped hanging out in the right bars. A couple of weeks ago, I looked for him on Facebook, and BAM – Bob was back in my life. One of his first comments? “We’ve got posters in Georgia for you!” That’s about $2500 worth of good news… and just in time for another Habitat fundraiser.

So, the week after Labour Day, I’ll be driving down to Georgia. Because I kind of have a short fuse and I don’t see the scenario of me trying to ship 100 posters going very well. And anything can happen to them during shipping, and I’ve waited five years for these. AND… I can bring beer to Atlanta.

I have many displaced Buffalo friends living in Atlanta. And my friend Sue Hrib who I visit? She’s actually from Syracuse. So I’m planning on taking orders, for Bison Chip Dip, Crystal Beach Loganberry, Dinosaur BBQ sauce, and plenty of products from the Labatt family of breweries. Maybe even Genesee and Saranac. Because I can’t bring the dog, so I’ll need friends with me on the drive. Blue Light Limes by the pool, anyone?

And, yes, I have the right address for Shirley now.

Thanks...

Over the weekend, I did a Facebook message blitz for my fundraiser. "The $2.75 Facebook Challenge." The idea was that if every one of my Facebook friends who hadn't yet donated gave $2.75, I would reach my goal. Even though some of my friends did not respond, many others gave more than that (it's actually a pain in the butt to only donate $2.75). By the end of the weekend, I'd raised about $900 towards my goal - almost exactly $1 for each of my Facebook friends.


This is my status on Facebook this morning:

"You commit to these projects alone, for your own reasons. You know in your heart it's what you want to do, no matter what anyone else thinks or would do in your place. And along the way, your friends tell you that you made a good choice, that you're doing the right thing, that they wish they could join you. And you realize how much easier it is to meet a personal challenge with the moral support of loving people. You guys really rock."

Thanks, everyone who has donated so far. I'm 3/4 of the way there!

Voix et Actions

On August 4^th, I met James Duracin.

James is the son of the Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, Episcopal Bishop of Haiti, and leads a Haitian group called Voix et Actions (Voices and Actions) which is seeking scholarship sponsors for Haitian children. In Haiti, he met Emily Pifer of Grand Island, who brought him to meet with members of the Episcopal Diocese here to further his cause.

Surprise #1: There are no public schools in Haiti. How does anyone break out of a cycle of poverty without access to education? While many families are struggling to provide food, the annual tuition of $250 plus the costs of books and uniforms is formidable. Children simply don’t go to school.

Surprise #2: There is still debris from the earthquake in the streets. That’s right: lots of money was promised to Haiti (only two countries have now fulfilled their pledges), but it’s all earmarked for sexier causes with sexier results. No one is sending millions of dollars to clear rubble, not when they can be sending vaccines and food. The rubble doesn’t get moved, traffic doesn’t flow, vendors aren’t patonised, rebuilding can’t start...

Surprise #3: Here I am forgetting my French to learn Creole, but Haitian children need to forget their Creole and learn proper French to get jobs. Yet, of the population of school-age children, only 50% enroll in school. Of those, 30% will drop out before Grade 3, and 60% will drop out before Grade 6. Here’s the math done for you: only 20% of the population gets a Grade 6 education or above, which explains why the average literacy rate in Haiti hovers just below 50%. Unless they’re learning French some other way, only 20% will be employable in tourism or in industry (large companies are waiting for the rebuild to locate in Haiti, but until they clear the streets…).

It’s no big secret that political corruption is keeping much-needed funds from getting where they need to go, unless where they need to go is to the French vacation homes of government officials. The Episcopal Church of Haiti is operating along similar lines as Habitat Haiti, if with less force. Creating jobs, educating people to make them employable, and channelling funds to create tangible results while international pledges remain unpaid or undistributed. The more I hear about conditions there, the more anxious I am to get there and do my part, even if it means getting on a plane first.

As an aside, Emily is in Haiti teaching English, but is still learning Creole herself. I’m hoping to hook up with her for some practice coffees once I learn some more verbs. So there’s the bright side: help is on the way.

Haiti Earthquake: 19 months later...

What is Habitat for Humanity International doing to help piece Haiti back together? 

More than just bricks and mortar...

On Jan. 12, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti just 10 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 The earthquake damaged nearly 190,000 houses, of which 105,000 were completely destroyed. Of the more than two million affected survivors, 600,000 are still displaced today. That’s more than twice the population of Buffalo, living in temporary shelters and with little infrastructure in an area not much larger than Western New York.

This summer, Habitat for Humanity will break ground on a permanent housing development in the Santo community of Léogâne. Léogâne is close to the epicenter of the earthquake, where nearly 80 to 90 percent of buildings were damaged or destroyed. The development will provide housing for up to 500 homeless families, or approximately 2,500 individuals.

The Carter Work Project in November will complete 100 homes in one week, toward that goal of 500 homes. The Global Village Program, which organizes volunteer teams to perform short-term assignments at builds all over the world, has put together three week-long trips before the CWP to assist in preparing the foundations for our build.

In light of the number of displaced persons, housing 2,500 people may not seem to make a dent. While Habitat measures their progress by the number of families and individuals served, the impact of their work can be seen in the transformation not only of lives but entire communities. They call it their Urban Development Approach, which is based on empowering and strengthening communities in defined geographic areas. By working closely with communities, Habitat helps them to build self-confidence to take action, identify and prioritize their needs. Habitat also helps them develop community action plans and leverage their collective capacity to advocate for change.

While Habitat has set a goal of serving 50,000 families in the five years after the earthquake, the scope of their services to date goes well beyond building permanent structures:

• more that 24,000 emergency shelter kits have been distributed to those in greatest needs, while 3,000 more have been stockpiled for distribution in the event of a future disaster

• more than 2,500 families have received upgradable shelters (a timber-frame skeleton with pressure-treated plywood walls, a tin roof, and permanent concrete foundation, to which concrete blocks can be added later when the family can afford to upgrade), including the families who will move out of them to occupy the CWP-built homes

• Habitat has assessed housing damage on over 5,000 units, to determine which can be made safe, and launched a repair/rehab program that completed 500 projects by the end of this June

• more than 3,000 Haitians have been trained in construction or construction business practices

• 1,200 Haitians have been trained in financial literacy

• more than 700 Haitians have found job opportunities through Habitat Haiti and Habitat Resource Centers (with unemployment at 60%, rebuilding cannot take place without employment opportunities)

To help in funding these desperately-needed projects in Haiti, all participants in the 2011 Carter Work Project are asked to raise $5000 apiece. Please help rebuild Haiti and allow me to do the same by donating here!

Join “The Whiner Pool”!

I’m trying to toughen up for this build.

I’m inspired by my friend Chris Kelley, who was blown up twice in Iraq and still complains about nothing (actually, he was blown up three times, but he doesn’t even count the first one). I’m inspired by the Haitian people, who had little to begin with and lost it all, and still persevere. I’m even inspired by my very own motto as a camp counselor: Don’t talk about it, just do it.

But, let’s face it — I’m gonna whine about something. The question is, what’s going to be first? The weather? The lack of running water? Chapped lips? Food? Spotty WiFi? My aching feet? Or am I going to come up with something new and different this time, something I’ve not yet whined about?

This is your chance to get in the pool. (Remember my marathon pool? Dann Stevens guessed within five minutes of my actual 8:23 finish time!) For ten bucks, you can pick a number. I’ve assigned numbers to 90 possibilities, either when I’ll start whining or what I’ll be whining about.  There will be two winners –the closest time, and the closest “whine.” Judging will be done by those poor souls around me on the build who have to listen to it. Winners (not whiners) will be lauded for their incredible perception and intuition in a blog entry about the whining. In bold. In colour. If possible.

1.

2.

3. Sunburn/bursting into flames. (Anne Hengehold)

4.

5.

6. Friday — dinner. I may behave in front of the homeowners, but once we're done... (Bonnie Botsford)

7. The problem with lifting heavy things? They’re heavy. (The Bauers)

8.

9.

10. Friday — breakfast. I have smiled through this whole week. Until now. (Anne Hengehold)

11. Thursday — lunch. When we realise that we're so far behind that we're going to have to work late tonight. (Chuck Canham)

12.

13. My phone's dead. Again. (Steve Morrell)

14.

15. Haiti is hot? Rats, I thought it was just near hot places on the globe... (Cathy Dempesy)

16. Thursday — night... the night we work late because we're so far behind... (Deb Oberg)

17. My work gloves suck. (Jill Lemke)

18. Monday — build afternoon. Yeah, this was fun until the heat started to build... (Kristen Becker)

19. Is it because I'm Canadian? - Valerie Priester

20. Anyone else get bug bites? (Bonnie Botsford)

21.

22. Monday — dinner. Sure, I might be polite all day, but... (Steve Morrell)

23. No bacon? (Diane Vermette)

24.

25.

26. Thursday — build morning. We've been building for 24 hours. I thought there would be shade by now... (Bonnie Botsford)

27.

28. Next build, I'm totally bringing a chair... (Ellen Hassett)

29.

30.

31. Portajohns. (Sue Campbell)

32. Are there snakes? (Tegan Taylor)

33. That fan really cools the place down. (Anne Hengehold)

34.

35.

36.

37. Sunday  — arrival at accommodations. (Bonnie Botsford)

38.

39.

40.

41.

42. Tuesday - breakfast... Yes, we're doing this again, and no, your body didn't recover last night... - Valerie Priester

43.

44.

45.

46. I can't get this to work... (a whine with multiple build/travel possibilities) (Peter Loomis)

47.

48.

49. India, Thailand, Haiti… are there no poor people needing housing in temperate climes? (Jim Sheldon)

50. Is it going to be this hot all the time? (Deb Oberg)

51.

52.

53.

54. Sunday — trip to the airport. When I start to realise what I've gotten myself into. (Anne Hengehold)

55.

56.

57.

58. If I could just get a little nap... (Bonnie Botsford)

59.

60.

61.  Whaddya mean a margarita cart isn't appropriate? I'm the Safety Monitor, people need to be HYDRATED. (Cathy Dempesy)

62. Tuesday — build morning. Wait... we're doing this again? (Steve Morrell)

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68. The Secret Service are making me nervous... (Anne Hengehold)

69.

70. Who's snoring? (Chuck Canham)

71.

72.

73.

74. 

75.

76.

77. Wednesday — breakfast. This is when the novelty has really worn off, and I realize I have another three long hot days ahead of me... (Sue Campbell)

78.

79.

80.

81. Tuesday — dinner. By now I'm overheated, maybe sunburnt, and probably dropped something on my foot. (Bonnie Botsford)

82.

83.

84.

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90. Saturday — Opening Ceremonies. This is when they show us slides of what the build is going to be like. I bet it looks hard... (Jolene Baller)

TO ENTER:

A) Click on the Carters’ photo at the top, and go to my donation page — donate $10 for every entry you want in The Whiner Pool. 

B) Forward the acknowledgement e-mail you receive from Habitat to me at homesathome@mac.com, and in the e-mail, choose one of the open numbers. If you don’t, I’ll assume that you donated out of the goodness of your heart, and not to purchase the opportunity to mock my weaknesses.

C) The "whines" and "times" are already written, and have each been assigned a random number 1-90 — you don't have to write a thing! Pick your number, I’ll post your name with the corresponding time/whine next to your number on this page.

D) Heckling is fair game. Start thinking of ways to provoke me to whine, because I’ll get texts when I’m in Haiti. And I will fold like a deck of cards…