Last week was a busy week for us. It was also a pretty hard week. Our lives are chaotic and we're always juggling too many things. Sometimes conflict arises and we get discouraged. Sometimes we push through it rather quickly, and sometimes it takes a while. We are encouraged though by the fact that our efforts are bearing fruit and people are supportive of us. We ended the week on a high note. Despite the cold weather, roads that weren't plowed very well, and lack of sidewalks that are usable due to the amount of snow, we headed out to do some neighborhood surveys. These surveys are designed to give us an idea of what the neighborhood would like Sundays at The Sal to look like. We don't want to assume we know what they want. So, we made it to one house but surveyed four families who live in that one house. They are all families we are connected with through Picnics in the Park and our after school program. We spent about an hour with one mom. She she shared her struggles, her hopes, and some bad things that had recently happened in her family. We were able to talk to her, share in her sorrow and hopes, and pray for her. This was what we needed. It was a rush. This must be what it feels like to wake up groggy and then have some coffee and feel more alert and ready to take on the day. (I don't drink coffee.) We'll be doing more surveys this week so that we can get the ball rolling.

We also found out the price that the Landbank wants for 923 and 927 Oak Street. The low price has allowed for us to move a bit faster on our end. Hopefully, we will be have the house ready for the 2011-2012 Ignite year which begins at the end of August. This will be a fascinating process to learn. I look forward to learning about capital projects.

We're now working on better promoting Ignite, and finding matching funds for the team aspect of Ignite.

So things are picking up despite the theory that Winter in Michigan sucks all motivation and energy out of a person. Spring cannot come soon enough.