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This exciting life of mine

July 30th, 2007

This picture should give you some indication as to how I am feeling tonight. Yes, I used a straw to suck out the last bit of pepto in the bottle, I was desperate, people, desperate.

I did not take this picture either, Brian went to throw something away and found the evidence of his desperate wife staring up at him. He said "did you use a straw with the pepto?" And I was all like "who? wah? me? no!! Of course, not! That would be crazy and desperate!" And he was all like, "yeah but there’s a bottle of pepto with a straw in it in the garbage."

To which I replied.

"oh yeah. that was me." So, then he took a picture. "For the blog," he says. It’s a family business this blogging is. (and friends, I know I should have recycled the bottle, I know, but that is how out of sorts I am feeling, please forgive.)
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On to other non-tummy ache stories, if you don’t mind. Let’s see…did you hear me screaming on Friday? You did? It’s because we came through with t-shirt sponsors for the 5K. Yes, we did. And a water donation, yep, you heard me. And then the Chicago White Sox (which is not my favorite Chicago team, by ANY means) sent me an autographed picture to be raffled off at my event, which makes them by fave Chicago team! (that is totally not true, I’m a Cubs fan. Even if they ignore me when I ask for free crap for my event.) Then, Dick’s Sporting Goods sent me a packet of free stuff…all this on Friday and then there was more, soooo much more, but I do not want to bore you. Let’s just say we are under way! And if you live near Northern Indiana, Northeast Illinois and Southwest Michigan you and your family had BEST be at this event. Got that? I’ll be watching you.

Man, I can be bossy.
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On to other news that does not have to do with my 5K.

We went to the county fair last week. Racecar finally faced his fears and went on a ride, which is a big deal because he will not go anywhere near anything that you can ride on or that moves or that makes any noise, he’s an adventurous one, that Racecar is. And suddenly, he said "I WANT TO RIDE ON THE BOAT." I was all over it. You can see why.

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So, that about wraps up this edition of what my little family has been up to! I did have to syringe a pea out of Racecar’s nose yesterday, that was fun. And Ariel gave birth to a cabbage patch kid today, it was all very exciting.
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I need more pepto.

Random like the lottery

July 23rd, 2007

Today started out running a ton of errands for the 5K Run, although it was productive, it was tiring and my kids drove me crazy and I just wanted to go home or go to a fair or do something besides WAITING FOR SPONSORS.

Which aren’t calling, or e-mailing or sending checks. At least to me. (despite additional attempts today and over the weekend. whatever, y’all. what.ever.)

I’m so aggravated, I feel defeated, I feel like a failure, I’m very upset tonight. This event is so good, everything is right, great location, great logo, awesome prizes, incredible entertainment, but I just can’t get THREE BUSINESSES TO DONATE $300 so we can give our runners t-shirts and I’m just very upset over this. I shed tears tonight, people, TEARS. That’s doesn’t happen too often. (usually only when I’m out of queso or when I watch Steel Magnolias. Shut up, you cry, too.)

I almost didn’t blog tonight because who wants to read someone whining about some charity work gone potentially bad, but I am blogging because this is my life right now, so therefore I blog about it.

Oh and did I mention my air conditioning is not working? I heart my piece of crap house.

ON TO THE GOOD SIDE OF THINGS, because there are always good things if you look hard enough….Brian is home safely from his trip, after a cancelled flight he came home tonight and the kids turned into crazy, hyper children, they were so excited to see him. So hyper that he immediately put them to bed.

I LOVE MY iPOD so much. I’m really getting a ton of use out of it. Brian bought me speakers for it last week and now I love it even more!

I received my Monk & Neagle CD from BooMama’s giveaway and it’s awesome…and already on my iTunes.

And a thyroid update, I did get my thyroid test results back a week ago Friday and they came back fine, which sucks. (nice attitude, huh?) I do plan to get into my doctor to discuss some of my symptoms because I am still tired and totally on the crazy side. Totally.

At least I can admit it, right?

And, for those wondering, I loved the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert, I’m so glad I went. The concert was very long, I went to bed at 3:00 a.m. that night, but it was worth it. I didn’t know that our seats were in a suite, which equals free drinks and food and a DESSERT CART! Hello?!?!?! Then, Christine and Shanlie, who worked the dessert cart were super nice. Christine told me I was too young to be married and I was all like "HUH?? whatchoo talkin’ about willis??" Seriously, I explained that I was thirty and had two children and had been married for eight years and she said I looked much younger, like 22. OMG, I almost kissed her. (I may have…I said free drinks, remember?) Anyway, both girls were super duper nice. (by the way, I do not say "super duper" in real life.) I love the songs "I Need You" and "Like We Never Loved At All." Love those songs. They are totally on my iTunes.

Oh and I was given a gift at the concert, too. (by our very generous host)

I did get a t-shirt after all. And there are more pictures, but they are on someone else’s computer and that person is in DisneyWorld, so I took a picture of the shirt hanging in my room, rather than showing you a picture of me in the shirt which is kinda better because this way you can’t see my rolls hanging over my jeans. Which is a good thing.

So, there you have it. Aren’t you glad I blogged tonight?

The other me

July 19th, 2007

The non blogging part of me is planning this huge event. Because I volunteer. I volunteer with a large group of people across the country, we make up a national team called Friends of Heroes
, we (mothers, fathers and children) have raised over $840,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since 2004.

We are inspired by children, children who are battling cancer, children who have lost their
battles and by the families that stand by them. We have teams all over the country that walk in The Leukemia & Lymphoma’s Light The Night Walk, we have affiliate teams that walk in honor of their sons and daughters, sisters and brothers.

We are a very good thing.

I bring this up to you because I am currently chest deep in planning for our local fundraiser this year. Our walk will be held in September, it’s a beautiful event that is so sad, yet so motivating. Survivors hold white balloons and their supporter hold red balloons, both colors light up and illuminate against the night’s sky. The message is powerful. I’m always so proud to turn in my entire teams worth of donations. I’m so lucky to have my family and friends and their family and friends join me for this walk.

Last year our biggest fundraiser locally was a garage sale that raised over $1,000, which was a huge success. We also manned a large booth at a very popular day long festival in the area that not only raised money but raised a ton of awareness, raising awareness is just as important raising the money.

My friend and fellow walker e-mailed me this spring, we’ll call her Mel (which is not her name but I don’t want to give her name away and Mel is easier than say Regina Phalange or Anastasia Beaverhousen), so Mel e-mails me and she’s all like" hey why don’t we hold a 5K run for a fundraiser?" And I was all like "wha? Little us? Holding something so very large? I don’t think so." and she was all like "yeah, but we can do it." and so we did.

We are holding this 5K and the planning has gone really well. The location is GORGEOUS and was donated ($1000) and other race like things were donated and now this run is like 5 weeks away and I’m freaking out.

I’m freaking out because we need some very important things, things like t-shirts for runners, water and well, runners. You know, the little things. The cost of t-shirts is approximately $900, so we just figured that if we could get three businesses to donate $300 that we could get the t-shirts easily…except we can’t seem to get even one business to donate $300 (even with our very generous sponsorship program with national exposure), so now were topless, so to speak, and our runners are expecting t-shirts and well, it looks like they’ll be topless, too.

So now what? I don’t know. Honestly I don’t know. We mailed out 175 beautiful sponsorship letters and we did receive some responses. After the run we are also hosting a Family Fun Walk and after the walk Gymboree has agreed to host activities for the children and I love that. We have hotel stays and gift certificates for a drawing, but we don’t have $900 or bottles of water and well…let’s just say sleep comes after I worry about all the details of this run. This run that I love, this run that I can’t wait for, this run that is giving me an ulcer.

I also e-mailed 11 companies on-line that do screen printing and asked them very nicely to just cover the cost of our shirts (it doesn’t hurt to ask, right?) and they were all like "nope, but here’s a very special price just for asking!" Which some of the prices aren’t really all that nice at all.

The thing is, is that I am a team captain of my walk, but I don’t have to hold big fundraisers, I can show up with a small envelope of donations and show my support and that is awesome, except I’m not wired that way. Each year gets bigger and each year I see our potential and each year I hear about more children who are fighting for their lives to beat cancer and I just can’t sit around and not do anything. Therefore I challenge myself to do more…because I can.

So, there you go. That’s what is on my plate. Tomorrow morning I am
having 100 posters printed (for free, I know, right?) and I need to get
on the ball and design this bad boy. Like right now.

Until then, if you happen to have a t-shirt business in your basement, call me, m’kay?

Did you
know that currently, one in every 330 Americans develops cancer during
childhood or adolescence, before the age of 20. On the average, 46 children and adolescents
are diagnosed with cancer every weekday in the United States?

shocking, isn’t it?

If you have a moment…

April 11th, 2007

Please hop over to the Blogger’s Choice Awards and vote for the
Friends of Heroes Blog, the organization I volunteer with. They have been nominated for Best Charity Blog!!

THANK YOU! (you do have to register to vote, but it’s no biggie!)

I’d like to thank the Academy

March 30th, 2007

I totally won a contest over at Design Mom. A site that I visit almost everyday, I LOVE the site, be sure to check it out!

I won a $50 gift certificate at My Charmed Life. When I saw the giveaway, I knew I wanted to win, but never thought I would, because, well, I don’t win anything, but my name was drawn out of 190 people! WOW! So, go here and you can actually see my mug on the site along with a bio about me! HOORAY! (oh and by going to Design Mom now, you’ll be getting there just in time for another giveaway!)

After reading my bio, be sure to check out www.friendsofheroes.org–which is how I spend my time when not blogging…

I just wanted to inform you all that I ordered my bracelet plus 2 charms from My Charmed Life not two hours ago and it has already been shipped. Now, that is service.

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