Weekly Review of Ukraine Efforts
As winter is starting to close in on all of us over here in Europe - things are getting a bit chilly at night. My husband had wanted to take a load all the way into Ukraine ever since the war started - before it snows, of course!
Well, this was the load.
A friend of his, Tim Smith, flew in on Tuesday evening and they left Wednesday morning to go. Mike figured with only one border crossing, that possibly he would be in the truck fewer hours than normal.
And that proved to be the case. Let’s review the week.
Monday
My helpers, Rachel and Lena helped me and we went shopping on Monday morning to several stores in order to get more things for the trip other than what I had already received.
Tuesday
We had to go and get some kielbasa and cheese this morning and then take it all to the church building. We then loaded starting about 10:30 or so and finished about 1 pm. We had a large load!
Loading took quite a while. We did get the truck to deliver a lot of food to us which we packed in and then loaded as much from the garage as we could. We actually had too much stuff this time. The rest of the stuff in the garage will go in the next load to Ukraine which should be next week.
Then here it is as we loaded. I was helping load, so the photos are a bit sporadic. But enough.
We were a bit concerned with how much weight was in this load - at least my husband was. He was going to take this load ALL the way to the middle of Ukraine - not just to one or 1.5 hours the other side of the border.
Wednesday
This morning Mike left with Tim, his friend who had arrived the evening before by plane - this was technically ‘his load’ - in name anyway - as it is going to his relatives in Ukraine and they will distribute.
They left at 3:30am.
I walked outside to check on things about 9 am and found some papers on the ground which they had dropped out of the truck. I had hoped they weren’t important as they were the receipt to a kind of expensive piece of equipment they took.
Otherwise, I had been feeling like I was succumbing to a cold. I didn’t do a lot- as I had done a tremendous amount on Monday and Tuesday to prepare for this day.
And yes, it was a mistake - but the receipt wasn’t needed in Ukraine.
Thursday
On this day I picked up some things that were delivered to our home or I picked up in the package locker and took them to the church - for the NEXT load. I had spent some time ordering over the weekend.
These items include things like batteries, wool blankets, razors, power banks, socks, etc.
My cold is worsening. Now I have a cough and sinus issues. Night time is the worst as when I lie down the congestion makes me have to cough more. No, I don’t feel like it’s COVID - it’s an old-fashioned COLD - of which I’ve not had for a year or more. I know from my past life, often after a stressful thing is OVER, I get sick. This is no exception. I feel like that whole residency permit was over and my body said, “Ok, you can get sick now.”
(Plus after my husband got over his COVID - he then got a cold - as his test came back negative but he had typical cold symptoms - so he shared with me. LOL)
Friday
Nothing for Ukraine except I bought a few things for the next trip at the grocery store. Otherwise, my trip to downtown to get my residency permit (and pay for the long-arm) was a big deal for me and enough for me. I went home and just vegged.
Saturday
I ordered a couple more wool blankets and bought 24 more cups of instant noodle soup at Lidl while I was doing shopping for myself. Otherwise, nothing. My cough is now bronchitis - if I can diagnose myself. :) Vegging the rest of the day again. (I sewed.)
The other thing I did do was chatted with a lady about buying some food for a group and giving them some blanket packs and it took quite a while. Then I got a couple of phone calls from that lady’s contacts but I pleaded with the two people that I just wasn’t up to talking any more today - as I had talked with my husband on Messenger for quite a while.
My voice needed the break. Bronchitis, remember?
The danger is that once people learn that you have things to give, you may (?? - WILL is a better word) get bombarded with requests.
I told my husband I want to get all these quilt bundles moved on out because I don’t like having to make these decisions. If they are all gone - well, they are gone - no decision to make about who gets them!
So I think my day with regards to Ukraine TODAY (Saturday when I’m writing most of this blog post) mostly was organizational or talking or texting. I’ll admit it was a little disrupting to my sewing that I was trying to get done! :) I wasn’t exactly going at the speed of light, though, due to the cold I have. I’m functioning, but not at top speed. And no, I don’t want to just sit and stare at the walls. For me, sewing is relaxing as long as things are working well.
And that’s it. It was a busy week - but especially early in the week.
The NEXT load should be right at the end of the month so I still have a week and a half to buy more things and decide exactly what else to buy. We are planning on sending all the older blankets with this next load - as they are stacked in the garage at the church. The next load is going to go almost entirely to a part of Ukraine that has been devastated with bombing and the people have some severe needs. Think shelled out apartment buildings.
And that’s it. Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey! I do appreciate you!
Have a great day wherever you are reading!
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