it’s easy to say now, but i’ll start this by saying that if i had more money, i’d love to give more of it away, especially those groups that don’t ask for much.

however, the last two groups that solicited me for funds caused me to question some of their methods. i received one via phone call and one via door to door.

the first was a phone call which presented their case, and because my lovely wife usually can’t say
o”, they were calling again. they were very nice up front.

the second was a nice kid this evening who was raising money for a group that i’ve not heard of, but seemed to have a good motive of keeping kids off the streets and away from drugs and such. he was very nice and presented himself well.

now, here’s the issue. as soon as i told both of them “not at this time,” they immediately shut down. the caller hung up and the kid put the lid on his box and walked off. there was no “thanks” or anything.

i understand how hard it is to raise money and how rejection feels, but i also understand how important relations are in keeping donors.

just food for thought. what do you think?

well, today is my birthday. i’ve reached what some would call another milestone at 35. to me, though 35 is really no different than 30, and 30 was not that big either.

what’s great is all the different ways that i have been wished a happy birthday”. i’ve gotten the typical cards (including one from American Idol CABC Style) and presents in the mail. both my parents and grandparents called this morning, and my parents actually sang! my other grandmother im’d me. i got blogged about here (with a baby pic) and here. I’ve had a post on my wall in facebook. i’ve gotten emails from friends. and hannah wanted to sit in my lap for breakfast. the day is still young, who knows what’s in store!

thanks to you all. it’s good to have friends and family who care.

been doing a little playing over the last few weeks with the site and did some new things.

first, i found a new way to handle pictures that is easier for me and probably better for the end user. it works well with firefox and safari, and okay with IE. i also changed the name to Photo Gallery, which doesn’t really have anything to do with anything.

second, as you can see, i changed the layout a little. just wanted to do a little playing and this is what i came up with. i’ll have to run it by dana since she’s posting, too. don’t be surprised if it changes again.

last, i added a feature where you can just read dana’s or my blogs. again, just seeing what i can do.

We went to HEB this morning to get some groceries. Hannah got a white balloon as we were leaving. After we got home, she wanted to play outside while I put the groceries up. I went out and checked on her once. She was having a ball playing in the backyard. The next time I went out, she was standing by the fence just crying. I asked her what happened. She said her white boon” flew away. So I went back to the back of the yard and there it was high in a tree. After I calmed her down, she looked at me and said, “Daddy climb tree and get it.” In Hannah’s eyes, Alan is her hero. She thinks he can fix anything. It is the sweetest thing. Well, I got her a new “boon” as she calls them and then Alan came home for lunch. He took a ladder and a tree cutter with him to the back. It was a sight to see — Alan trying to get this balloon out of the tree. Well, he got it and then the wind blew it even higher. He never got the balloon down, but he was still Hannah’s hero of the day for trying!!!!

Right before nap time, I pulled Hannah in my arms and said, “Guess what? You have been a good girl today!!” Well, she looked at me and said, ” Guess what mom? (that’s what she calls me sometimes) You’re very special!”

It truly is amazing the gift of a child’s love!!!!!

since this blog is bowdenhome.com and not alanbowdenhome.com, i’d like to introduce you to a new blogger in the bowden house. dana has decided that she can add entries every once in a while. soon i’ll make it so we can separate the two, otherwise just look to see who posted.