Vote for the Snoopy License Plate

Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in shopping

Do you like Snoopy?
Of course you do!

Do you like museums?
Of course you do!

Therefore, please click here to sign up to show support for a personalized Snoopy California license plate. The DMV requires that there are at least 7,500 pre-paid plates before it will issue a new personalized design. Once there are 7,500 people that have signed up on this site, they’ll ask people for $50 towards payment for the plate. Proceeds benefit California’s awesome museums.

You can pay a bit extra and get a personalized plate. I think I’ll pass on that; I prefer anonymity. So far, so good on that front. I was in a line of five cars the other day waiting to turn left, and four of them were my model and color. Doesn’t get more anonymous than that.

But I’ll make an exception for a Snoopy license plate. I’ve liked Snoopy for so long that my Teddy bear that I got when I was three years old is named Snoopy.    :)

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Here are the FAQs from the website:

Q: Okay, so what do I need to do?

A: You just have to tell us you’re interested in a Snoopy license plate. This pre-registration won’t cost you a thing, and only requires your name and email address.

Q: I sign up. Then what happens?

A: When we have enough California drivers signed up, you’ll be contacted again to complete an application and pay $50 per vehicle towards an official Snoopy license plate – or a bit more if you want it personalized. The DMV requires 7,500 pre-paid registrants to begin production on the plate.

Q: But what if you can’t find 7,500 people?

A: Last we checked, California has 23,000,000 (that’s 23 MILLION) registered drivers. We’re pretty sure we can find 7,500 Snoopy and museum fans out there. If we can’t, you’ll get your fee back.

Q: So why is Snoopy supporting California museums?

A: Snoopy, being the community-minded beagle he is, understands that museums are for everybody.

Q: And why should I support California museums?

A: Museums are truly special places, community forums where families, friends and neighbors can meet, learn and discover together. We’re lucky in California, because our state has an incredible variety of great museums that serve a truly diverse range of interests and specialties.

Q: Who is the California Association of Museums?

A: The California Association of Museums is an organization dedicated to building a brighter future for California museums and the communities they serve, through education, outreach and support. You can find out more about CAM here.

Q: And who is Snoopy?

A: Good Grief!

Finally: An easy way to organize meals for friends

Posted on 24. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in food

Over the years, there are several times that I’ve organized meals for friends who have had babies, had surgery, or lost loved ones to help ease their burden in difficult times. I’ve used Microsoft Excel and Google Documents, but neither of these has been as seamless for me and the people providing the meals as I’d wish.

I’m happy to report that there’s a new website, MealBaby, that finally solves the meal planning dilemma. You set up an account and include the dates available, dietary preferences and restrictions, and other relevant instructions. Then, send a link to the people who might like to provide a meal. Once they either register or sign in, they’ll see the dates on the calendar that are still available. They’ll also see what people are planning on cooking on the nights that are already taken. (After all, lasagne is wonderful, but you don’t necessarily want it every night. Unless you’re me.)

I signed up to make a meal for someone on Saturday night. I plan to make a great recipe for Tex-Mex Chicken & Rice Bake on AllRecipes.com, and will double it so my family can eat it too.

Why I love Baccalaureate

Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in education, religion

The night before my oldest child graduated from La Canada High School, our family attended the community-wide Baccalaureate ceremony at our local Catholic church, St. Bede the Venerable. The ecumenical ceremony included prayers, music, a featured speaker, and student speakers of different faiths. I’d never attended such a service, but I really appreciated having a chance to:

• Take time out to reflect upon what matters in life;
• Reflect upon how our children can make our world a better place;
• Appreciate the faith journeys of students of different faiths;
• Find our common ground;
• Gather together as a community of Seniors and their families. Graduation is so crowded, and so rushed afterwards. My best conversations with fellow parents, some of whom I’d met when our kids attended preschool together, occurred at Baccalaureate.

When I spoke to the organizer, she said that she’d tried to get student speakers from more faiths, but that some religious communities either didn’t have any teens they thought would speak or chose not to participate. I offered to help identify students that might be inspirational speakers when she organizes next year’s ceremony.

I’m all for separation of church and state, but I think that was adequately satisfied by holding this off-campus and making it completely optional. Also, because it was ecumenical, it wasn’t pushing one faith over another. I didn’t count, but I think about 1/3 of the students from the graduating class attended.

I meant to blog about this earlier, but I’ve been very busy. I finally did, however, because not only did I see a Facebook thread discussing it, but I hosted friends from Pakistan this morning who spoke about how they organize a big event after Ramadan to bring Christians and Muslims together. We’re so fortunate to live in a country where getting along is a blessing, and not critical for survival.

New website launched: LCPC

Posted on 13. Jun, 2010 by kchristieh in religion, work

After years of whining that my church needed a new website, I finally put my hours where my mouth is and redesigned the website for La Cañada Presbyterian Church.

I customized a premium Wordpress theme, WP-Genius by Solostream. The site has over 133 pages and dozens of posts, which are mostly for events. It also includes six different templates. I migrated years worth of past podcasts, presentations and videos from the old site to the new site. I integrated Google calendars for each ministry area, Formstack forms for event sign-ups and website editing requests, Flickr slideshows for photo albums, and Vimeo for embedding videos.

Besides creating an easy-to-navigate, informative, attractive site that complements the new church logo, my main goal in this project is to delegate the daily maintenance of the site to church staff and other volunteers. I spent countless hours creating a detailed Wordpress instruction page, and have held four training sessions thus far for people who will update the site. I don’t expect to completely extricate myself from the process, but I’d like to be called on only when necessary.

It’s a work-in-progress, but I think it’s pretty cool.