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Posts Tagged ‘Toys for Tots’

Last Chance for 2022!

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , on December 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

If you’ve been putting off donating to my toy drive this year, this is your wake-up call!  TODAY is the last day for donations; the collection center only accepts them through the 17th (one week before Christmas Eve), and I need at least a few days to buy them and get them to Olympia before then (especially because it’s been unusually snowy already this month).  Please help me to make this a merry Christmas for children who might otherwise have nothing; every $100 buys five to ten toys (like most things, they’re far more expensive than they used to be), so a successful drive brings joy to dozens of children.  But I can’t do it alone; please help top off my toy-buying account for this final shopping trip this season!

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Diary #648

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on November 29, 2022| 3 Comments »

As regular readers know, I’m serious about my traditions and rituals, and not inclined to treat them in a loosy-goosy fashion.  So it takes a lot to delay my tree-trimming, which I tend to do on the day after Thanksgiving like clockwork.  But I really wanted to get the waterproof coating (see this coming Friday’s column) done in the shower before it’s too cold to work with the stuff, and since we’re supposed to be getting a coldfront this weekend I didn’t want to risk delaying.  So after Chekhov and I went out and found this tree last Friday, I put it in the stand and gave it water, but did nothing else with it that day.  On Saturday I had to do the second coat in the shower, plus too many other small chores (like making stock from the turkey carcass) to have time.  But Sundays are my light writing day, so after I finished the third coat I was able to knock out my other chores pretty quickly, and trimmed the tree Sunday night.  I think it came out pretty nicely; the trees around here are spindly compared to the ones we had in Oklahoma, but it’s still very satisfying to get a tree from one’s own woods.  But while I’ve got your attention: please consider donating to my toy drive!  The last few years I’ve started slow and still did well, so I’m not worried about this year’s slow start again.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to remind y’all every chance I get!

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Yuletide 2022

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Every year on this day, the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the US, I remind my readers that the real spirit of the season involves giving to others rather than literally fighting to get more for yourself.  Children and whores are St. Nick’s two favorite groups of people; you can help the latter by donating to a sex worker charity such as SWOP Behind Bars, or you can help both by booking a session with a sex worker you know has kids.  If you don’t know any, you can help by participating in my annual toy drive!  From now until Monday, December 12th, I’m collecting donations with which to buy toys, which I then donate to Toys for Tots.  In the past I tied session-time to the donations, but since I’m semi-retired that’s not really a workable deal any more; besides, my readers have always been so generous I’ve only had a few collect on the bargain!  If you’re in the Seattle area, we may be able to meet in person; otherwise you can send it via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net.  Since I’m also working on my own blog’s funding right now (see that thermometer in the right-hand margin?), make sure you put “Toys for Tots” in the memo so I’ll know where you intend the donation to go.  And if you can afford only one, please make it to the toy drive!

As you can see from the pictures, my readers have always risen to the occasion to help provide some simple joy to needy children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.  If you’re not hurting economically yourself, please consider donating (either to my drive or to one near you); rising inflation is taking a bite out of many people’s income, so there will be less money for toys this year.  And while we adults can understand that, it can be heartbreaking for very young children to think Santa Claus has forgotten them or bypassed them because they were naughty.  Please help if you can!

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Diary #599

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on December 20, 2021| 1 Comment »

Because I like showing my toy drive donors what I did with their money, behold!  These are the results of the shopping trip I mentioned last Tuesday; since the trunk was already full, I didn’t want to leave them in the back seat overnight.  Immediately after taking this snap, I loaded them in the car and left my incall to return to Sunset, stopping by Olympia on the way to drop them off.  Those with sharp eyes may notice I got two copies of “Sorry”; that’s because it was one of my favorite games as a kid so I buy at least one every toy drive. In general, I try to avoid duplication within a batch, but since each drive requires several trips I sometimes forget what I’ve already bought, and I reckon it doesn’t really matter anyhow as long as I maintain a rough balance of boyish toys, girly toys, unisex toys (including games) and toddler toys.  Not in the picture: several books and DVDs (and a bottle of my favorite perfume) from some of my lovely gentlemen, which I found waiting for me when I arrived.  And while I was in Seattle I also did the last of my own Christmas shopping, so now I can just concentrate on the last of the preparations for our celebration this weekend.

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Diary #598

Posted in Diary, tagged , , , , on December 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I was concerned my toy drive would be a bit sparse this year, but two gentlemen came through at the last minute, doubling my total donations!  What you see here represents only the first half of my shopping; I’m doing the rest this afternoon, then tomorrow I’ll be dropping off the entire collection at the Toys for Tots donation center in Olympia, which also covers Grays Harbor County (which is where I live).  As y’all may already know, this is my charity of choice; it’s been a part of my Christmas since 1997, so it’s very important to me that it goes well and I have a lot of toys to donate every year.  So for all those who helped, please accept my sincere gratitude once again!  And if you wanted to help but forgot or missed the deadline, please contact your local Toys for Tots campaign to make a last-minute donation (many will still accept donations through this coming weekend).  Giving to others, whether loved ones or strangers, is really what this holiday is about, and if you make it a tradition as I have I think you’ll find you get a great deal more out of the festival than you otherwise might.

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Diary #597

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on December 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We got lucky this year; Chekhov and I were out looking for less than 15 minutes when we found this lovely tree.  As those of you who cut trees from your own woods are probably aware, naturally-growing trees can be maddeningly imperfect; the nicest ones are always much too big, and those of the right size are often scrawny.  Or, they look great on one side and terrible on the other.  Or they’re too crooked or lopsided or stunted.  This one was very full and just the right size, but it had such a thick trunk for a small tree that Chekhov soon regretted bringing the hand saw rather than the chainsaw.  And the upper branches were so full and healthy that the tree was more of a cylindrical shape than the traditional cone, so it required much more pruning than usual to get it into the proper shape for decorating.  But I think you’ll agree the result was lovely; it took three strings of lights rather than the two my trees for the past few years have been capable of supporting.  Anyway, while I’ve got your attention: Friday is the last day to donate to this year’s toy drive, so please give if you can manage it!

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Yuletide 2021

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on November 26, 2021| 2 Comments »

Every year on this day, the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the US, I remind my readers that the real spirit of the season involves giving to others rather than literally fighting to get more for yourself.  Children and whores are St. Nick’s two favorite groups of people; you can help the latter by donating to a sex worker charity such as SWOP Behind Bars, or you can help both by booking a session with a sex worker you know has kids.  If you don’t know any, you can help by participating in my annual Toys for Tots special.  Since I’m now semi-retired, I’ve changed the deal, but the new way is open to more people anyway.  From now until Friday, December 10th, everyone who donates $100 for me to buy toys with (you can send it via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or via Cash app to $MaggieMcNeill) will get any two of my books (your choice), autographed!  And if you’re one of my regular gents, we can still do the usual deal (30 minutes extra per $100) if you prefer.  If you’re not hurting economically yourself, please consider donating (either to my drive or to one near you); the economy still hasn’t rebounded yet, and rising inflation is taking a bite out of many people’s income, so there will be less money for toys this year.  And while we adults can understand that, it can be heartbreaking for very young children to think Santa Claus has forgotten them or bypassed them because they were naughty.  Please help if you can, so together we can bring joy to needy children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.

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Diary #546

Posted in Diary, tagged , on December 15, 2020| 1 Comment »

I was concerned that this year’s toy drive would provide meager results, but I was very happy to be proven wrong.  My usual stalwarts, came through, plus a couple who have never donated before; altogether I got quite the haul, as you can see!  The reason it may look like more than usual is that I generally make two or even three trips to the collection center before I’m done, but I normally don’t need to drive to Olympia to do it.  So this year, after making sure that the last collection day was December 17th, I decided to do it all in one load today (Grace has a doctor appointment just a few blocks away from the center, so it was easy).  The trip also gives me the opportunity to do a bit of last-minute shopping for a few friends, so it worked out perfectly.  And thanks to my generous donors, I was able to still provide my usual small help to needy kids in a year when there are likely to be many more of them than usual.

 

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Diary #545

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on December 8, 2020| 1 Comment »

I’m getting much better at scheduling my in-town appointments as closely together as possible so as to minimize the amount of time I spend in Seattle.  Last week, I drove in on Tuesday afternoon; did some shopping with a friend; had a hair appointment at 11:30 Wednesday morning; had my nails done at 2:00; saw one of my favorite gentlemen at 4:30; then drove back to Sunset early Thursday afternoon.  At first I thought I might have to extend my trip by a day to do toy shopping (I’ve already received $600 and several purchased toys from generous donors), but the day before I left I discovered that the Toys for Tots collection center in Olympia is on the west side of town, near many other places I know well (doctor’s office, Trader Joe’s, etc).  So that means I can take my time buying toys this week, and I can deliver them a week from today when I take Grace to a doctor’s appointment just a few blocks away from the collection center.  Look for my usual picture of the haul next week!  And the week after that, I’ll make one last run into Seattle just before Christmas.

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Yuletide 2020

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 27, 2020| 2 Comments »

Every year on this day, the traditional beginning of the Yuletide season in the US, I remind my readers that the real spirit of the season involves giving to others rather than literally fighting to get more for yourself.  Children and whores are St. Nick’s two favorite groups of people; you can help the latter by donating to a sex worker charity such as SWOP Behind Bars, or you can help BOTH by booking a session with a sex worker you know has kids.  If you don’t know any, you can help by participating in my annual Toys for Tots special.  This year, I’m doing it differently because so many people are doing the social distancing thing.  From now until Friday, December 11th, everyone who donates $100 for me to buy toys with (you can send it via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or via Cash app to $MaggieMcNeill) will get any TWO of my books (your choice), autographed!  If you want a copy of The War on Whores as one of your selections, that’s fine as well!  And if you’re one of my regular gents, we can still do the usual deal (30 minutes extra per $100) if you prefer.  If you’re not hurting economically yourself, please consider donating (either to my drive or to one near you); the pandemic has taken a huge bite out of many people’s income, and some have lost their jobs or businesses entirely, so there will be less money for toys this year.  And while we adults can understand that, it can be heartbreaking for very young children to think Santa Claus has forgotten them or bypassed them because they were naughty.  Please help if you can, so together we can bring joy to needy children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.

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