Got some sleep last night. I woke up a couple of times but was able to go back to sleep. Still feel like I could use more sleep but that usually happens when I sleep more than normal. Maybe tonight I can sleep again and not wake up feeling tired tomorrow morning.
Had a wonderful Zoom conversation with an immigration attorney. She is going to edit the conversation and then it will be posted to the Love in Action Facebook page. It lasted an hour but worth the time to watch it when it is posted. She showed a book of the immigration law that is 2,500 pages thick and has been added to since. Geez, do you think we could make it more complicated?
I learned a lot during the conversation. One thing I knew but realized even more, is just how complicated immigration law is. Add to that the various interpretations of the law and current policy. We seriously need immigration reform in this country.
The items I ordered in bulk came in today. My tiny house feels a bit crowded. I got some of the things put into totes but I still have 14 boxes of things I am going to leave in boxes for now. The boxes got wet so may change my mind as I don’t like the smell of wet cardboard.
I am impressed with the quality of the items. They were much cheaper than what I can buy anywhere else and I was a bit afraid that the quality would reflect that. I don’t think it does.
I thought I had ordered the backpacks in various colors but got all the same color. The Sheriff had asked me to do various colors so they could find them in the property closet easier. I may have to get some stickers or do something creative to help him find them. I could tie bows on them or something like that to help them out. Anyone have an idea how to make a bag stand out that could then be removed from the bag when it is no longer needed?
Trying to figure out how many of the things we can do in one wash day. I have three wash days scheduled and I know we can’t do all of them in three days. How many washers do you need to wash 150 pair of socks? How many for 150 pair of underwear? Oh the things I am thinking about these days.
I think I can do a sock, underwear and bra day, I might throw in some T-shirts for each load. When I googled it, they recommended not doing just socks as they can escape into the abyss. No wonder my head is full these days! The things I am learning. Then again I have never needed to wash 150 pairs of socks at one time.
Another day would be to do the rest of the T-shirts. They recommend 20 – 25 T-shirts per load if that is all you do. We could match and fold socks while waiting for the T-shirts to wash and dry. Oh my, how much fun will it be to match 150 pairs of socks. What have I gotten myself into?
I still have blankets, leggings, sweat shirts, hoodies and sweat pants to do. Oh my. Thinking I will get the blankets washed up early myself as I know it is going to take lots of loads to do 100 blankets. On one of the wash days, the volunteers could fold blankets while we wait on the washers and dryers.
I found a bulk place I can order 110 hoodies with no strings for a little under $5 each. I don’t think I can beat that price. I’m trying to decide if I can trust the quality. I am feeling a bit better about that after seeing what I got today. Most of the items I got today were from China. They won’t arrive until the first part of November as they will be shipped from China. I will have time when I get home from my trip to get them washed up before we start passing out bags December 1. They will be easy to add to the bags or I could have another couple of work days to help get them washed and added to the bags.
Still haven’t found a cheap place for men’s sweat pants without strings. The cheapest I have found is just under $10 a pair. Someone is doing a collection of them. I will wait and see what they come up with. I may need to act soon though, as shipping can take a long time as I found with the hoodies.
If absolutely necessary, we can give them a bag without pants or a hoodies but I sure would prefer giving them a change of clothes. Good thing I started this early so we can work through these issues.
Need to order some more totes. I have 16 but that isn’t enough to put everything in them. I am thinking 8 more will do but we shall see. Sure wish I knew how fast we would go through the bags so I knew how big to build my supply. My intuition is telling me it will take a couple months for the first 100 and then the next 100 will go quickly. That may be a good thing so we can ease into this project a bit. I have the funds to order the next 100 which covers everything except the hoodies and pants and a few of the little things we are adding.
Trying to think of a place I can hide 14 boxes until our work day. Five of them are blankets so will work on getting those washed up. I have them in my living room right now and I know myself well enough to know they will drive me to drink if I don’t get them moved sooner rather than later. And I don’t drink! And I’m not sure where to move them to.
Got the month-end report posted. Always feels good to get that done. It is way too long but that is how I roll I guess. Lots going on.
I am grateful I have lots of empty space ahead of me. I filled the last two weeks in October with work days. I best give some time to my upcoming trip and decide what I will be wearing and if I need to get somethings for the trip. I leave the first part of November and that will be here before I know it.
Rain, rain, rain. It has rained off and on all day with lots more rain coming. We are in a tornado watch for the evening. So far we haven’t had any wind and the rain has been gentle and mostly light. Good day for a nap – wish I had thought of that sooner. Too late to nap now.
Reality kinda slapped me in the face today with the huge delivery. Things will get all sorted out. I need to remind myself to take one step at a time and it will all come together. So grateful I listened to my intuition and ordered the bulk things when I did so I have time to get them all ready. It would have been hard to schedule lots of work days the end of November and even in December with the holidays coming.
Grateful for my friend that did the Zoom lesson today, grateful the bulk items are here, and grateful I have time to figure things out.