Beautiful abstract paintings by Sue Grady of Inspiration Home Staging and Designs

Sue Grady is a home stager and a talented painter. She recently posted a bunch of sets of paintings on StagersLIST. I think they are just beautiful and I wanted to share them with you! You can view all of Sue’s listed paintings here.

The one above is called Gold Shimmer. Shipping is only $15 and Sue has listed her beautiful paintings at wholesale prices. One of my favorites is the one below this, Southwest Sunset. I like that they are already mounted because I’ve ordered paintings in the past that came rolled in a tube and then I procrastinate about taking them in for stretching!

I just thought I would take a minute to introduce you to Sue’s work. Home Stagers are so creative!

“Friends”
A Social Skills Group
Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc.

My daughter has been volunteering for these types of groups to socialize and play with the kids.  She is getting a lot out of it, and loves seeing their improvement as time goes on.  I thought I would share this group with all of you!

These groups are designed to involve social, motor and especially language skills through fun activities with skilled ABA therapists.  Our groups focus on the essential skills identified in the SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System) as building block skills with positive interactions with skilled therapists and age-appropriate peers. Each group has experienced therapists involving the children in positive activities which emphasize development of language, social and motor skills necessary for play with typical peers. Groups are organized for children between 4 and 13 years of age.  Group size is typically limited to six children to ensure optimal interaction with both adults and peers for every child.

Locations:
Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood

Date: Classes will begin the week of January 11, 2009

Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks.

Four to five year olds meet on Saturdays from 10am – 11:30am.
Six to eight year olds meet on Saturdays from 12pm - 1:30pm.
Nine to ten year olds meet on Tuesdays from 4pm – 5:30pm.
Eleven to thirteen year olds meet on Thursdays from 6pm – 7:30pm.

Cost: There is a $300 charge for the 8-week program.

Contact: Amy Bona, Director of Operations at 415.218.4157 or abona@goalsforautism.com.

- offering website design, redesign, maintenance, hosting and virtual assistance.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a win-win situation to me!  Tomorrow (12/18/09) Pacific Puffs in San Francisco, California will be donating 10% of their sales to Team in Training to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Did you need a good excuse to try a delicious cream puff?  I think I just gave you one!

Pacific Puffs is located at 2201 Union Street in San Francisco.  Make sure if youi are in the area you pay them a visit tomorrow and help people fighting blood cancers!

If you prefer to make a donation, my friend Adryon is participating in the fundraising and you can donate at her Team in Training page.

One of my favorite live music memories is this one… My sister and I took our littlest sister to see Cyndi Lauper as she was on the rise (She’s So Unusual had just come out – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). I may have blogged this before, but it came up again for me tonight. So Cyndi had a new band, Lone Justice, opening for her and asked the lead singer to come on stage and sing with her. They did their rendition of Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin and had to improvise the words. It was a beautiful thing. No one can out-do Janice for feeling and emotion in her singing, but the fact that Cyndi was promoting this much lesser known (but none the less extremely talented Maria McKee) has stuck with me all these years. Enjoy the song.

We put an “arm block” around my youngest sister so she could be at the front of the stage and she did get a guitar pick from Rick Derringer, who was playing with Cyndi at the time.

Here in the San Francisco East Bay Area something very strange has occurred. Maybe someone can help us figure it out. The closest I’ve seen to this around here was when my friend put way too much liquid dish soap in the dishwasher. Perhaps one of our neighbors seriously overdid it with the Christmas decorating and decided to include the whole neighborhood rather than just their own home? I can remember this bizarre occurrence twice in the past… once when my daughter was in 3rd grade and once when I was in 3rd grade, 30 years before her. What can this mean? Any ideas? We are staying inside until it passes, just in case.

Sibling Support Groups Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc. (Contra Costa & Alameda County)

Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood

Dates: Groups begin January 11th and 13th

Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks. Elementary groups are on Mondays from 4-5:30pm. Junior groups are on Wednesdays from 4pm-5:30pm.

Cost: $200 for the 8 week program

Therapists conducting the groups have a Masters degree and have been working with children with disabilities for many years.

Children in 4th through 6th grades are welcome to join the elementary group. Children in 7th and 8th grades are welcome to join the junior group.

This group is for brothers and sisters of persons with developmental disabilities. Siblings meet to talk about their mutual concerns and feelings. They gain information regarding the specific problems of their brother or sister and come to realize that their family and personal situations are unique and yet common to many families. The groups are fun, informative and provide a tremendous amount of support.

Contact Amy Bona, Director of Operations at 415.218.4157 or abona@goalsforautism.com.

FOOD DRIVE
FOR
Mt. Diablo Unified School District
Volunteer Food Pantry
Assisting Families in Need in Our District Community

Families in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District need your help.  There is a food pantry at the District office which is a maintained by group of volunteers.  Child Welfare and Attendance Liaisons (CWAs), School Psychologists and other District employees pick up boxes of food from the District office and deliver them to families in need.  As food is donated, volunteers check expiration dates, box up the food (emergency 3-4 day supply) and store excess food in cabinets in their main lunchroom.  All volunteers help during their lunch hour or after work.

 The food pantry is not just for the holidays.  This is a year round project.  Please consider organizing a donation station at your school either by asking your school administrator directly or going through your PTA, PTO, or PFC organization.  It’s simple, fill up some cans or barrels, then email or call Lori Amenta at amental@mdusd.k12.ca.us or 682-8000 ext 4002 and make arrangements to drop off your donations.  This is a great way for your school communities and your scouts to help families in our immediate area, as all donations are given out to families in our District.  This is also a wonderful community service project for your girls to be involved with.  If you have any questions about setting up your donations please call Gina Soleimanieh at 925-429-0433.  Thank you.

Top 10 Items to Donate

Peanut Butter
Rice
Canned Fruit
Cereal
Canned Tuna
Canned Chicken
Whole Beans
Canned Chili
Pasta Sauce & Pasta
Canned Vegetables

Other Suggested Items to Donate

Soup (Cans or Instant)
Crackers
Macaroni and Cheese
Jam/Jelly
Protein Power Bars
Granola Bars
Individual snacks such as:
Cheese & Crackers
PB & Crackers
Velveeta Cheese
Instant Powder Drinks
Canned Evaporated Milk
Juices — no refrigeration
Pickles
Mayo
Mustard
Catsup

 All Nonperishable Items Accepted