No, I'm not shaving my head again. But my nephew and niece are. When our friend Raven shaved her head last year, Jenny's son, Kam, decided that he would be doing it this year.
Since then, Aurora's daughter, Jaden, joined the team, along with her friends, Sara and Maisy. All four of them will be going under the clippers this Friday afternoon. (Maisy isn't in the pictures because she decided to do it after Jenny had taken all the pics.)
A week ago Joey and the shavees got together to film the video below. Then Jenny spent a massive amount of time putting it all together with pictures she took and voice-overs that the kiddos did. I love how it turned out.
One note- The Odd Little Monkeys started as an weekly crafting group, but it's evolving in a way that lets them use their creativity to make a positive difference in the world. This is the first of their endeavors and I couldn't be more proud.
(If, for some reason, you have trouble viewing this through Vimeo, you can see the YouTube version here.)
St. Baldrick's is a great organization that provides funding to fight childhood cancer. At last year's event, we listened as one incredibly grateful mom told the story of how her son was alive thanks to the funding efforts of this organization.
So please consider making a donation to St. Baldrick's. And if you feel so moved, we'd love it if you emailed a link to all your friends and family or posted the video up on facebook. The more people who see this, the more kids we can help!
And if they are having one of these in your neck of the woods, it's not a bad way to spend an afternoon, even if you aren't getting shaved yourself. Here are some of the pictures from last year's celebration in downtown Denver.
Originally, I wrote this post focusing on many of the things in my life that are, well... less than ideal lately. Not really to complain, but because I find it all rather amusing. And just as I was about to hit publish, I happened to hop over to Flickr and find some beautiful pics that Jenny took at my house in the very areas I was complaining about. It's amazing how much beauty she was able to uncover by simply focusing on it.
It also made me think about our mom, who could walk across a dry field of grass and emerge at the other end holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Her ability to do that always amazed me.
So in the spirit of both full disclosure and unashamed optimism, here are seven things I am not proud of (and a few things that I am)...
Background Info- I've been preparing for a multi-family garage sale and getting ready has used up all spare time, space and energy.
1) I wrote most of this last Wednesday, and am just now editing and posting it. 2) I was just looking at a video from Sunday, and I can see that I was wearing the same t-shirt that I currently have on. (Note- I just reread this and realized that I was unclear... I wore the same shirt from Sunday to Wednesday. OK, I feel better for clarifying that.) 3) I have a patch of thistles in my backyard that is almost as tall as I am. - Those thistles did create a lush green background for some of my favorite flowers, though. 4) When I woke up with a sore throat today, my first thought was, "Ah, I can postpone that damned garage sale." 5) The state of my living room, dining room and laundry room. That picture shows the living room and part of the dining room. I know. It looks like a crazy person, no, a pack of crazy people lives here. (Feel free to click on over to Flickr for a fun Eye Spy game of crapulence.) - Just out of frame of that picture, though, are my orchids, which I've managed to keep alive and blooming for many years. 6) I had removed a couple of containers full of old leftovers from the fridge and instead of immediately emptying and cleaning them, I forgot them on the counter. They've started to bulge menacingly and I'm worried they will soon explode. I've actually considered throwing all of it away, containers and all, because I feel that the situation is beyond my ability to deal with. And each hour that passes makes the situation that much more dire. (But I think I may be over-reacting here.) 7) I walked around with peanut butter in my hair for several hours. Jenny insisted on taking a picture of me before she told me what she was laughing at. And I let her.
And the final thing that I'm happy with is the family of volunteer flowers (sweet peas, violas and snapdragons) that are growing out of the rocks in the back yard.
So, here's hoping all of you can focus on the flowers and not the weeds.
And thank you, Jenny, for helping me to do just that.
On Wednesday, Jeff got a text from an old high school friend asking if he’d like tickets to the DNC on Thursday. Of course he said yes, please and thank you, and yesterday we took our 3 girls to hear Barack Obama speak. Joey is getting herself quite the homeschool education, I’m proud to say. And, Scott, you are my new hero.
When I watch TV at home, especially political stuff, I tend to yell things, both good and bad, at the TV. It was nice to be in a crowd of people who were all yelling along with me.
So, just in case you missed it, I’ve included the speech here. You might just be moved to tears. Myself, I was moved to sobs. Big, choking sobs.
Not only was I inspired to be a better American, to do more for my country, but I was also inspired to be a better person and a better mother. And I did snap a picture of Jeff waving the American flag like crazy. When I threatened to send it to all his relatives in Canada, he said, “Of my 40 years of life, I’ve spent 31 of them here.” And I realized that he's a product of the American education system almost as much as I am. He’s worked and raised children and paid taxes. He's watched our political system and not been able to vote, but he’s paid close attention and cared, which is more than I can say for many Americans. No, I don’t think he’ll be declaring his American citizenship (he still has dreams of us moving back to Canada one day, as soon as his American children are grown) but if anything could make him change his mind, I think it would be that speech last night.
Some of my favorite points of the day… -Along the long walk to Mile High, one cop was barking orders at a massive crowd of us. A block later another officer was holding a sign that read, “Stay Positive.” Up until that point, many of us had been grumbling about the walk (they unexpectedly made us exit the lightrail train one stop early, which resulted in an extra mile added to the walk). But this particular officer just held his sign and smiled and kept repeating, “There will be no negativity in this line.” I think every single one of us smiled along with him. And I was reminded again that it really is all about the attitude (and also that we, in America, are some of the luckiest people in the world).
-A picture of Barack and Michelle on a couch on their wedding day. I couldn’t find it anywhere, but it’s in the photo tribute they showed before the speech. (Can't find that either. Oh, internets, you have let me down.) Update- Christine, thank you so much for the link to the photo tribute. (And it's OK internets, I love you again. Don't scare me like that, though.)
-The speech, obviously. There are more parts to Obama’s speech than I could do justice to here. I’d be thinking, “Oh, great point. I’ll have to remember it,” and then I’d be so moved by something else he was saying that I’d completely forget the previous thought. His speech wasn’t just about the highest American ideals, but truly universal, human ideals. Luckily someone was courteous enough to write it all down for us. (And in case you couldn't figure it out, all italics are from the speech, not the entire speech mind you, but some of my favorite bits.)
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement? It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
Throughout the speech, I just kept thinking how much my mom would have loved this man. How he seems to see the best in people and is able to inspire others to do the same. My mother also had a gift for seeing the best in people. And like Barack’s mother (who also died of cancer when she was way too young) she taught her children to always try to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and realize that we have more in common with others than we realize. She taught us that it’s important to be kind and to play fair. And whether I’ve always lived up to her teaching, I’ve done my damnedest to pass that along to our children.
I love the idea of a president with those same ideals.
After the speech, Joey asked if she could come with me when I vote because she wants to help cast a ballot for Obama.
(And, I promise that this isn’t about to become a political blog, unless, of course, we get tickets to Obama's inauguration. Heh heh. I’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow with pictures from Aurora’s kickball party. Thanks for your indulgence.)
Isn't this what mothers are for, to remind us of the best in ourselves, so that we are encouraged to carry that goodness out into the world and share it?
Thanks for everything you've given me, Mom. I miss you.
(This is me, our mom and Jenny in Kentucky. She liked to put us in matching outfits. She might actually have been a bigger dork than I am.)
Explanatory Notes- -When I was born, I had meconium aspiration (yep, I breathed my own poo) and had to be in an incubator for awhile. -Because I was in distress when I was born, they sort of forgot about my mom, who had some issues with the placenta and a tipped uterus and consequently had trouble walking for awhile. -My parents were divorced. -My dad and I have always had a... difficult relationship. And my mom was always explaining his side of things to me, trying to get us to work it out. Her comment about him is not a backhanded insult. She really meant it and hoped that we could have a good relationship. -I do love my dad, we just don't exactly function on the same plane of existence. -I found this note laying on my pillow after one weekend that my mom had come to visit. It wasn't for any special occasion; it wasn't even May. I was probably 21 at the time. -I spent all morning looking for the original of this note that my mom wrote on pink paper. I could only find the scrapbooked version that I'd photocopied years and years ago.
Oh yah, Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms out there! Remember, it's up to us to make the world better, one kid at a time.
During the month of May, I usually wear this ring. I don't normally wear jewelry (I take it off and lose it whenever I garden, craft, cook) but for the last 11 years or so, I wear this one… but only in May.
Here's the story behind it. The mother's day one year before my mom died, we all went hiking in the mountains. On the trip, my mom gave me this ring. It had been her engagement ring when she and my dad got married. Also, the stone is an emerald, which is my birth stone (May). Sensing, I think, that she may not survive the breast cancer long enough to see her grandchildren, she gave it to me, telling me that she was sure that I would be a good mother.
Sometimes, when I'm feeling like an especially crappy mom, I'll pull it out and wear it for the day. I'd always wondered why she didn't give it to Jenny, but now that I've seen Jenny parent, I feel sure that our mom knew she wouldn't need it. She parents with such intelligence, grace and patience that I am constantly inspired (or irritated, depending on my mood). I, on the other hand, am often in need of something to focus my thoughts and remind me that my mom, who knew me since before I was born, was sure I could do this. And who am I to doubt her wisdom?
So, that's the main reason I started wearing this ring in May. Another, less sentimental reason is to remind myself and others that I am queen for the month. Because, as I think I mentioned, my birthday is in May.
And then there's also mother's day. I went from being completely single and autonomous to a mother of 4 in less than a year (yes, you read that right, Jeff and I didn't waste time creating his 4th child). So, when May rolls around, I expect extra attention, mainly because I feel I'm still recovering from the shock of it all.
I would like to give you a picture of the ridiculousness that May brings to my psyche… last night Jeff was being a smart ass and I told him "You can't talk to me that way in May". He got this smile as if he knew I'd been thinking that sort of thing for the last 10 years, but I hadn't had the nerve to say it. He should know by now that there's very little I don't have the nerve to say.
Anyway, the reason he was being a smart ass (and since most of you don't know him, let me tell you, he's never a mean smart ass, but more of a funny smart ass that points out in a humorous way your own ridiculousness) um, where was I going with that, oh yah, the reason he was being a smart ass was because I was complaining that May has suddenly and completely filled up with activities for, get this... Other People. It is not, as I expect year after year, a month-long celebration of me, but weekend after weekend of parties for other people.
Geesh.
Oh yah, and my one year blog anniversary was yesterday, so now I expect three parties in May. Ya hear that, Jeff?
PS- In case I forgot to mention it, my birthday is in May.
So, are you tired of posts about kids and bald heads yet? Well, too bad. It's all I've got right now.
So even if you didn't donate over at St. Baldrick's, I've decided to put up pictures for the whole world to see. It isn't like I'm embarrassed of what I look like, I just wanted to get more people to donate. Since we're just under $2,000 as a team, I'm feeling pretty good about what we've done.
(The day before we were getting shaved, Angeleen wrote and asked, "Dude, are you seriously going to shave your head for $75?" Yes, I was going to. And, luckily, a lot more donations came in, including Angeleen's. Most of it is to us as a team, which is appropriate, 'cause that's really what it was, a total team effort.)
We were also on TV, I think mainly because Aurora was crying. (We're at the end of it, so watch all the way through if you want to hear what my nasally voice sounds like.)
I will be doing the prize drawings sometime after April 5th. Sorry, but I've got Jeff's 40th birthday party to figure out before then.
Thanks to all of you that donated and also to those of you who put up links on your sites. We appreciate it so much!
Namaste.
PS- I just realized it's April 1st. And I can assure you that this is not a prank. I am seriously not that good with photoshop (nor do I have access to the Channel 7 news website).
We showed up at St. Baldrick's with plenty of time to see the Avalanche players who were getting shaved, which, for me and Joey, was a very big deal. It was such a big deal to me in fact, that when I walked up to them to ask them to sign our shirts, I completely lost my mind.
I had thought briefly about what I wanted to say, "We're getting our heads shaved too. Would you sign the back of my shirt? We're huge fans." You know, normal stuff. But the moment I started speaking, complete gibberish came out of my mouth. I used all the words I had intended, just not in the right order.
What I said to Liles was, "Would you shave my shirt?"
Um yah. Really.
I guess it could have been worse. I could have asked him to shave my back. Anyway, they were still nice enough to not only sign the back of my shirt, but pose for a picture with Joey. It's a small miracle that the picture wasn't more blurry. That is Tony Granato, John-Michael Liles, Ian Laperriere and Ben Guite, oh yah, and my daughter, too. I know that most of you probably have no idea who these guys are, but I was star-struck. In fact, I'd rather meet Ian Laperriere than Brad Pitt. His nose isn't as pretty, but there are more important things than pretty noses.
Did I mention that the only reason we still have TV is to watch Av's games? We were set to get rid of it and then Forsberg and Foote came back. Oh well, maybe after the playoffs.
OK, so just as a frame of reference, here's what we looked like the week before. We wore these somewhat inappropriate shirts to get donations. When you wear these, people walk up to you and ask to give you money.
Can you believe Aurora's hair?! (And see, I told you about mine.)
St. Baldrick's was loud and crowded and when it was our turn to get shaved, everybody cheered.
Aurora immediately started crying (because she does that).
I just couldn't stop grinning.
Isn't Jenny adorable?
First, they cut off our piggy tails and braids and then they went to work with the clippers.
So, here's the deal. If you wanna see ALL of the pictures from Friday, you'll have to pony up over at St. Baldrick's. Then I'll send you links to the actual baldy pictures.
'Cause I'm mean like that.
For those of you who've already donated, I should be emailing those links out shortly. Aurora, Jenny and I all thank you so much for your generosity!
I've been sort of consumed lately with projects around the house. I've been busy painting Randa's room and the kitchen and I've been mucking through and organizing the play and craft rooms. I've also been trying to decide on fabric for new shades for just about every window we have. We haven't changed them since we moved in 4 years ago and I really hate what's up right now. I'm also almost finished with Joey's Easter dress. Oh yah, and I've been Feng Shui-ing the hell out of this place.
It feels like I'm pregnant and nesting, but I know that I'm not. (Seriously. I'm not.) It's just that feeling that I can do nothing but paint and sew and clean and get rid of extra crap.
There's lots going on, and I've been taking pictures of the disasters in progress (which is how I do this sort of thing- I'm a tornado trashing and cleaning everything in my path until one day, it starts to fall into place), so hopefully I can get them posted one of these days.
Unlike Aurora, I haven't even found time to blog, much less to pine for my soon to be gone tresses. Though 'tresses' might be stretching it- with my hair this long I look a lot like Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich.
Any pictures that I've shown of my long hair have been snapped immediately after much brushing, curling, etc. I hope Locks of Love doesn't send it back.
Anyway, the reason I sat down at the computer was to talk one last time about St. Baldrick's before I go under the knife (OK, just clippers, but still). Which, by the way, will be at 8:45 tomorrow morning.
We're really doing this in honor of two people. The first is my mom (thus the team name) and the second is a little girl named Alyssa Rose Hemmelgarn. My mom died on March 15th, 1997. Alyssa passed away on March 8th, 2007 at the age of 9, just 10 days after she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Yes, I said 10 days.
Just thinking of that gives me a lump in my throat and makes me feel ill. Before she had any idea she was sick, Alyssa had grown out her hair for 2 years to donate to Locks of Love. Three months after she cut it off, she was gone.
A week or so ago, Joey was reading over my shoulder as I typed up an email about Alyssa and St. Baldrick's. She quietly went to her room and returned with $30 of her own money. It was about half the money that she'd managed to save up for a Wii and she wanted to donate it to help fight childhood cancer.
Knowing that we've managed to raise a kid who could do that makes me more proud than I can say.
My mom passed away almost 11 years ago on March 15th, just 16 days before her 50th birthday. She had breast cancer. I was 22 at the time, the oldest of her four kids.
So, obviously, she's no longer around to give motherly advice. Sometimes I think that's why Jenny and I rely so much on each other. We each fill that mom roll to the other. Weird. I know. But, it seems to work. We just take turns, depending on who needs to be the kid most at the time.
Our mom doesn't answer the phone when I call and she can't come over for dinner. We can't talk about how I was as a child or the similarities between me and Joey.
Until recently, I also happened to believe that she was no longer available for craft projects.
I was wrong. Because she did manage to make an Easter dress.
Thanks to the fact that my mom had as many unfinished projects as I do, I recently discovered an almost entirely completed, yellow, smocked dress. I have no idea who she started it for, but I know that it now belongs to Joey.
Looking at this makes me feel at peace.
Honestly.
It makes me cry, but they're happy tears. When I look at this, I don't feel angry or bitter that she's gone. I feel like she's right here with me. I feel like an adult and a kid, a mother and a child... all in the same instant.
Come on, people, don't you wanna see us bald? I bet we'll look great! Or not. It's just something you can't predict. That's what's so exciting.
If you go over to our page at St. Baldricks and make a donation (I really don't care whether you donate to me specifically or our team in general), several things will happen…
1- You will support a fantastic cause. They raise money (and awareness) to help cure childhood cancer.
2- You will get to see me, Jenny and Aurora bald. I'll even put up pictures of the shaving process which happens on the morning of March 14th.
3- You will most likely get to see pictures of Aurora crying. I can almost guarantee that she will; she does that whenever she gets really excited. And I know she's super stoked to be doing this. (I might cry too; we're an emotional bunch, ya know.)
Not enough incentive yet? Our tears aren't good enough for you? Is it prizes you want? OK, we can do that too.
4- For every $10 that you donate, you will be given one chance in a drawing for any one of my aromatherapy necklaces. So, if you donate $50, you'll get 5 chances. If you win you can choose from anything in my Etsy shop.
5- Anybody donating $100 or over, will be entered in a drawing to win a package deal from the 3 of us. The $100 donation prize includes all of the following…
a bag of pretty fabric grocery bags complete with sheer produce bags (and made specially by yours truly)
(You'll get one chance for every $100 you donate.)
Them's a lot of prizes, people.
Also, feel free to give us a little blog love and post about this on your site. Special thanks to Aimee from Aimee's Petite Maison and Robyn from both Warm With Love and Craft & Found who've already done this. If you'd be willing to put a button on your sidebar, just email me and I'll send you the HTML code.
And for those of you that are totally and completely strapped for cash, but still want to join in the fun… whether you donate or not, we're having a contest to see who can accurately guess the weight of all of the hair that we'll be shaving off and donating to Locks of Love. Just put your guess (one per person) in the comments here or over at Aurora's site. The person that is closest will receive a set of Aurora's Upcycled Cork Stitch Stoppers so your knitting will never fall of your needles again. I've got several sets and they work beautifully!
Oh and one last thing… this weekend Jenny received a $2 donation from a 9-year-old, so there's absolutely no backing out now.
* OK, I admit that it won't be this Sunday. I just wanted to get your attention. It works for race car driving, doesn't it? (or is that just on the Simpsons?)
Joey and I just completed a bunch of headbands. I found the pattern at Altered Cloth and, really, it was a very simple project, which is why I decided to make 9 of them. Also, there's a decent amount of stretch to them, so they fit both of our heads, which is handy.
The reason for the headbands is that Jenny, Aurora and I have signed up for St. Baldrick's, an event that raises money to fight childhood cancer. We have all been growing our hair out since last summer in preparation for this. And, personally, my hair is getting a little out of control and in need of something to keep it out of my face.
This is how it works, all three of us will shave our head on March 14th (though we're not sure we'd be willing to do it for less than $500 each in donations... Hint, Hint). So, if you want to support a great cause as well as see lovely pictures of me with no hair, CLICK HERE and make me do it! We'll also be donating the hair they cut off to Locks of Love.
As it gets closer to March, I'll be doing a drawing in conjunction with this. Probably something like guessing how much all that hair weighs or the total length or something.
And, for a little behind-the-scenes action, here is a 'Making Of' collage.
Cause, you know, a photo that great requires some extensive set up. ;)
Back in November, I joined up with Tricot du coeur as both a sponsor and a participant.
(This is a sample of what I'm donating as a sponsor, though I haven't finished what I'm donating as a participant.)
Tricot du coeur is working to make blankets for Victory Junction, which provides a camp environment for kids with chronic medical conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, epilepsy, hemophilia, immunology deficiencies/HIV, sickle cell disease, spina bifida, gastrointestinal disease, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, neurological disease, skin disease, burn survivors, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, autism, craniofacial anomalies, physical disabilities, kids on vents, transverse myelitis.
The kids get to take home the blankets at the end of their time at the camp, so Victory Junction obviously needs many of them. They could use either quilts or afghans (quilted or crocheted). The necessary dimensions are here. They also ask that the blankets be made in bright colors and from yarn that can easily go through the washing machine.
If you want to qualify to win some super prizes, leave a comment over at Tricot du coeur, make one blanket (or 5) and send it to...
Blanket Project 2505 Caralea Valley Drive Concord, NC, 28027
The shipping due date is March 30th. My guess is that you should include your name and email in the package so they can contact you about the prizes.
So, I've mentioned this before, but wanted to do another post in case any of you missed it. Our family is doing the 2007 Colorado AIDS Walk tomorrow. We are doing this in support of our brother, Tommy, who has been living with HIV for over a year. His numbers have recently dropped and he will be going on meds soon. Much has changed in the treatment of HIV; many are living long and full lives, mostly thanks to advances in treatment options.
We are helping raise much-needed funds for people living with HIV/AIDS and to prevent HIV infection in our state. New treatments are now available that were unheard of ten years ago. These have decreased the number of AIDS related deaths; unfortunately, more people are being infected with the virus everyday.
Jeff is running the 5K. Joey, Randa, Kenzi, Sean, Jenny, Brad, Tommy, Alice, Doug and I are walking it. Kam will be riding, I assume. He's taken a few steps in a row, but I don't think he's ready for a 5K.
Aurora has just changed jobs and is very upset that she won't be able to make it. We know she'll be there in spirit, though.
So far we've raised $2,200, which is just amazing. We are so very grateful to our friends and family who have been so generous. Of course, if you're interested in supporting us, you are welcome to join or donate to our group.
Or click here to donate to my page specifically; I'm getting my ass kicked in the family donation ranking.
Added Note- I would like to mention that this fundraiser is not to raise money for Tommy. He has good insurance and can afford his medications. However, many people simply don't have access to these life-saving medicines. The AIDS Walk helps fund those people and helps provide programs that reduce the spread of the disease. By donating to our group, you will help us to help others.
I took these last weekend while we were playing at the park. I love them. Both the pictures and the kiddos in them.
What strikes me about these pictures is that they are of my mom's only two actual grandchildren. She died of breast cancer before she got to meet either of these wonderful people. Joey knows who Grandma Sandy is (and Kam will) but they never got to sit in her lap or know her in any real way. They'll only hear the stories.
We'll tell them what a kind and generous person our mom was. How she was always late. And always talking. When we were young, she sometimes irritated us. After she died, and we heard person after person tell us how she was instrumental in making their lives better, we began to appreciate the lateness as well as the chattiness. She had been helping people. People told us how she inspired them, how she encouraged them to live sober, how she was simply there to talk to. She didn't just do these things for her children or her family, but for anyone that needed it. Sometimes, OK many times, she fell short of her promises. But, as I've grown up, I've realized that it's only because she promised so much. She had such good intentions that she often over committed.
And now she's gone. And a very important person in our lives has HIV. And she isn't here to hug him and tell him everything will be OK. And we all miss her very very much, Tommy especially.
So, in honor of our mom and in support of our brother, we are doing the Colorado AIDS Walk this year. We just got all signed up as a team, and the walk is in less than two weeks, so time is short. If you would like to sponsor me or sponsor our family group, I would be so grateful.
On behalf of those who are living with HIV and AIDS and those who have been lost, thank you for your support. It means the world to me and to the people who will benefit from your generosity!
Oh, and here's one more picture. Also a favorite. This is our mom holding my sister (Kam's mommy).
So, for various reasons that I shant go into, up until now I've been having a somewhat crappy day. I won't bother you with the specifics, not because I'm *not* a whiner and complainer, but because I feel you readers should not be exposed to it. I would hate for my bad mood to rub off on anyone. Let me just say that it has been trying (and the problems were all self-induced, which somehow makes it worse).
However, as it usually does, something happened to move my self-absorbed focus from my own problems, to something greater than myself. And it is that experience that I would like to share. And I do hope that my current feelings of goodwill and happiness will rub off.
Thich Nhat Hanh, is one of the kindest, gentlest human beings on the earth, and also happens to have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. I think he gives excellent advice.
He believes that when it is difficult to feel your own happiness, it can be helpful to reach out to others. It is good to empathize with others, to touch their happiness, to also touch their sadness. I believe this is one secret to a life well lived. You can move out from yourself and appreciate that we're all in this together. Each one of us has the same desire for happiness and peace. Your life doesn't seem so small somehow.
I was reminded of how true this is, when I received an email from Cindy at Skip To My Lou this morning containing the picture above.
Earlier in the summer, Cindy asked her blog readers to make and send her 12" square blankets so that her nephew could bring them to orphanages in China with a group called Hope's Heart. They needed to be small, not to provide warmth so much as comfort. So, on a Thursday 'Craft Day' in June, we put together at least 5 or 6 of them and sent them off. The kids were excited to do most of the work themselves. And I was glad to see them do it. When they were finished, we held onto the blankets and sent a little bit of extra love into them. My mom was a Reiki practitioner and I believe that the energy of love is real, it's tangible and it can help heal the world.
The little guy above is wearing one of the blankies that we made. Cindy's email said that he wore it on his head like a hat. The picture below is of Cindy's nephew with some of the many blankets that people sent in. I was so excited to spot our blankets in this bunch back in July. I can't even tell you how thrilled I was to see the picture of the blankie's actual recipient today.
It was so great to see these pictures and read Cindy's words. Each post she has done has literally made me cry. We made the blue stripy blankets with fabric that I inherited when my mom passed away. That, in itself, made it somewhat emotional. This morning, when I looked at that kiddo wearing a blanket made from that fabric, I just started to blubber. Joey went to get my sister, telling her that something was wrong with me.
I don't know why she thought something was wrong; she sees me cry all the time. And, if I'm crying, it's most likely because of something extremely happy. I'm silly that way.
So, in case any of you are reading... I would just like to say Thank You to Jaden, Joey, Raven, Aurora, Beccy and Jenny. Thank you for doing this with me. I hope you enjoy the picture as much as I did.
I try a lot of things. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. Take knitting as an example. I always say that I like knitting, but honestly, I think I just like the *idea* of knitting.
About Wendy
I'm a mom with 4 kids, only one of which I've grown from scratch. And as for my 3 stepkids, I'm incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. I've almost always got way too many projects going. But, if you want to know more than that, click here to see 8,452 completely random things about me... give or take.
This site is for entertainment purposes only. Though she has many impressive talents, Wendy is not a professional and nothing on this site should be construed as professional advice. She is simply describing how she takes care of herself and her family. Please do not do anything on this site without first checking in with your physician, trainer, life coach, nutritionist, financial adviser or clergy (and most importantly, with your own sense of what is right for you).
