I have this crazy little notion that this journey is going to help some things fall into place.
Hope I'm right.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Shiza.
Pretty bummed out that my cheddar cheese tidbits from the Vermont Country Store are almost gone! Love affair with cheese aside, those tidbits have saved me from having to shell out tons of money for blocks of the delicious stuff. Little baggie chock-full-o' cheese cubes. Geeeez. If you are ever in VT, and find yourself within spittin' distance of a Vermont Country Store, you NEED to get those tidbits.
Not to mention that now I'm thinking of Buffalo Bleu Cheese dip... Pick up one of those too. You can even split the cost with a friend! And then make that friend keep it at her home so you aren't tempted to eat the entire thing by yourself.
Food, food, food... what a wonderful thing.
[In case my favorite buffalo chicken dip making person reads this, I am actually at this very moment tasting it in my mouth. It's just a ghost of a taste, a whisper of buffalo-chickeny-cheesy goodness. Sure, buffalo bleu cheese dip is good and takes the edge off, but it doesn't hold a candle to the real stuff...]
Haha, I'm hungry.
Not to mention that now I'm thinking of Buffalo Bleu Cheese dip... Pick up one of those too. You can even split the cost with a friend! And then make that friend keep it at her home so you aren't tempted to eat the entire thing by yourself.
Food, food, food... what a wonderful thing.
[In case my favorite buffalo chicken dip making person reads this, I am actually at this very moment tasting it in my mouth. It's just a ghost of a taste, a whisper of buffalo-chickeny-cheesy goodness. Sure, buffalo bleu cheese dip is good and takes the edge off, but it doesn't hold a candle to the real stuff...]
Haha, I'm hungry.
Pre-wrap
This is what he looked like before he took that fatal step. As you can tell, he was pretty scared from the beginning.Of course, he did have a knife sticking out the top of his head...
Pumpkin
I sort of always liked Halloween. Some years it's more fun than others, and some years I get more involved than others. But I think it's the combination of the season mixed with the potential for good times with friends, and the ever-important creative element intertwined.
['Course, I won't get into how I don't have a costume for the party I'm supposed to go to on Saturday, but that's okay. How 'bout a Bayside Tigers t? Haha. Yeeeeah.]
Pumpkin carving has become a fun little Halloween activity for me. Especially after looking through Extreme Pumpkins and its successor. Last year I made a "Carrie Pumpkin", complete with tiara, tears and blood flow. This year, a couple more people jumped in on the action and we adapted the "Drowning in a Bag Pumpkin" to "Suffocated Pumpkin." My excitement bubbled over [even though most of the people I texted didn't seem to share my enthusiasm.]
But here he is:
Of course, not to be outdone by:
Clone Trooper Pumpkin!
['Course, I won't get into how I don't have a costume for the party I'm supposed to go to on Saturday, but that's okay. How 'bout a Bayside Tigers t? Haha. Yeeeeah.]
Pumpkin carving has become a fun little Halloween activity for me. Especially after looking through Extreme Pumpkins and its successor. Last year I made a "Carrie Pumpkin", complete with tiara, tears and blood flow. This year, a couple more people jumped in on the action and we adapted the "Drowning in a Bag Pumpkin" to "Suffocated Pumpkin." My excitement bubbled over [even though most of the people I texted didn't seem to share my enthusiasm.]
But here he is:
Of course, not to be outdone by:
Clone Trooper Pumpkin!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Oops...
Know how I keep going on about how indecisive I am?
Stumbled across this today:
Guess, at least in that opinion, I'm already on the road to recovery...
Stumbled across this today:
When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice. ~William James
Guess, at least in that opinion, I'm already on the road to recovery...
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
GoodShopp'in
A few months ago, I blogged a bit about GoodSearch, and sort of suggested that you use it for online searches in order to do some good without actually having to DO anything. During a conversation in a pretty sick Scottish pub in a quaint little Vermont town amongst some of the coolest kids this side of the Mississippi, I mentioned GoodSearch again, and how I have actually been using GoodShop a whole lot this year as well. There was brief discussion that perhaps I had not really talked about GoodShop, and I guess I hadn't when compared to it's predecessor.
So, my dear 6-8 readers, here is my plug for GoodShop!
A quick look at the "Amount Raised" link for my ARF [Amyloidosis Research Foundation] searches will show that my actual searching has declined this year. [Granted, I am mostly operating under the possibly erroneous assumption that I am the only person Good-something-ing for ARF. I might be the biggest contributor, but there's got to be a few others, right?] As of the moment, there have been 2,412 searches in 2009. I am still a huge nerd, and am guilty of looking up a variety of dorky things. But I guess I don't spend as much time sitting in front of a computer screen bored out of my mind. Wicked!
But!!
If you were to take a look at 2007, you'd see ARF raised $2.41. In 2008, $39.51 were raised. In 2009... $74.70! Where did that extra $50+ dollars come from, you ask? From online shopping through GoodShop, I'd answer. I find shopping online to be pretty convenient, especially as I find myself shunning crowded, public-filled places in my free time. [Working with the public can do that to you sometimes.] And it just so happens practically all the places I shop, like Amazon, Old Navy and Apple, are all hooked up with the service. Each month, I tried to make a purchase, however small, through one of the merchants through the GoodShop site. A percentage of each of those purchases is donated by the merchant to the cause. While the donations are usually somewhere between 1%-3%, it's way better than nothing. And looks so much nicer than the penny per search.
Granted, I made a couple of hefty purchases this year [read: TV and the oh, so wonderful MacBook that I'm typing away on right this very minute]. But I'm a strong believer in the idea that every little bit helps. A penny might be a penny. And I wouldn't bet on that 1% chance. But when you put all those pennies together... When you add up all those 1% chances... I have to believe it equals a good thing. [Haha, besides, 1% of $3,000.00 is a hot 30 bucks! Please, don't tell my credit card statement...]
As you've gathered from my posts, I really try to support my friends in their fundraising endeavors. While my biggest commitment remains Relay, and while most of my donations go to support that, I have come to look on ARF as my other cause. [Having friends who are basically family threatened by something you can't seem to fight will do that to you.]
Unfortunately, I'm not wealthy and as much as I want to, I can't support everything. I wanted badly to donate more than the registration fee at the Search on Saturday, and even the extra check I got from my parents didn't seem enough. What makes me feel a little better though, is that a huge chunk of that $74.70 for ARF came from my support.
I set a goal earlier in the year to raise over $100 for ARF through the GoodSearch/GoodShop sites. I know that amount seems so small compared to the dollars raised in other places. But I think it's amazing that any amount can be donated by simple acts of searching, or buying through a link which pretty much requires just one or two extra clicks.
If you're feeling adventurous or supportive, I encourage you to use these websites. You can support almost any cause. If by some chance you actually can't find an organization you support on these sites, you can actually start one of your own. Or, if you don't know who to support, I'd ask for the next 2 1/2 months to toss "ARF" into that charity selection, click the second option [Amyloidsosis Research Fund], and GoodSearch and GoodShop the junk out of it. And maybe together we can raise that $100 by doing nothing more than using our clicking fingers.
Okay, those and maybe our credit cards. But face it, you were going to use those anyway.
So, my dear 6-8 readers, here is my plug for GoodShop!
A quick look at the "Amount Raised" link for my ARF [Amyloidosis Research Foundation] searches will show that my actual searching has declined this year. [Granted, I am mostly operating under the possibly erroneous assumption that I am the only person Good-something-ing for ARF. I might be the biggest contributor, but there's got to be a few others, right?] As of the moment, there have been 2,412 searches in 2009. I am still a huge nerd, and am guilty of looking up a variety of dorky things. But I guess I don't spend as much time sitting in front of a computer screen bored out of my mind. Wicked!
But!!
If you were to take a look at 2007, you'd see ARF raised $2.41. In 2008, $39.51 were raised. In 2009... $74.70! Where did that extra $50+ dollars come from, you ask? From online shopping through GoodShop, I'd answer. I find shopping online to be pretty convenient, especially as I find myself shunning crowded, public-filled places in my free time. [Working with the public can do that to you sometimes.] And it just so happens practically all the places I shop, like Amazon, Old Navy and Apple, are all hooked up with the service. Each month, I tried to make a purchase, however small, through one of the merchants through the GoodShop site. A percentage of each of those purchases is donated by the merchant to the cause. While the donations are usually somewhere between 1%-3%, it's way better than nothing. And looks so much nicer than the penny per search.
Granted, I made a couple of hefty purchases this year [read: TV and the oh, so wonderful MacBook that I'm typing away on right this very minute]. But I'm a strong believer in the idea that every little bit helps. A penny might be a penny. And I wouldn't bet on that 1% chance. But when you put all those pennies together... When you add up all those 1% chances... I have to believe it equals a good thing. [Haha, besides, 1% of $3,000.00 is a hot 30 bucks! Please, don't tell my credit card statement...]
As you've gathered from my posts, I really try to support my friends in their fundraising endeavors. While my biggest commitment remains Relay, and while most of my donations go to support that, I have come to look on ARF as my other cause. [Having friends who are basically family threatened by something you can't seem to fight will do that to you.]
Unfortunately, I'm not wealthy and as much as I want to, I can't support everything. I wanted badly to donate more than the registration fee at the Search on Saturday, and even the extra check I got from my parents didn't seem enough. What makes me feel a little better though, is that a huge chunk of that $74.70 for ARF came from my support.
I set a goal earlier in the year to raise over $100 for ARF through the GoodSearch/GoodShop sites. I know that amount seems so small compared to the dollars raised in other places. But I think it's amazing that any amount can be donated by simple acts of searching, or buying through a link which pretty much requires just one or two extra clicks.
If you're feeling adventurous or supportive, I encourage you to use these websites. You can support almost any cause. If by some chance you actually can't find an organization you support on these sites, you can actually start one of your own. Or, if you don't know who to support, I'd ask for the next 2 1/2 months to toss "ARF" into that charity selection, click the second option [Amyloidsosis Research Fund], and GoodSearch and GoodShop the junk out of it. And maybe together we can raise that $100 by doing nothing more than using our clicking fingers.
Okay, those and maybe our credit cards. But face it, you were going to use those anyway.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
...And done
This weekend was pretty exhausting. I am so glad we were able to be part of these fundraisers though. Vermont, as always, is beautiful. Can never really get used to how many stars there are in the night sky. Or how amazing it is to see the color in the mountains during the fall. Not to mention how absolutely great it is to be with friends you never get a chance to see.
The Search For A Cure event was a lot of fun. Though the "Outsiders" team wasn't from VT, and 2/3 of it had never been there before, we came in a respectable 5th (or was it 6th?) place and actually won the most creative award! After all, just because the David statue we used for our "Take a picture with a famous person" category wasn't the original [and not technically a living, breathing person], I'd argue to say he was the most famous person in anyone's picture. [I can bet we wouldn't have known any of the other team's famous people... Haha].
I think we should have gotten extra points for making our judge laugh the hardest too. Just saying. Next year we're going to mop up.
It's unfortunate that all these fundraisers were the same weekend. It would have been nice to spend a bit more time up there and hang out with those elusive mountain people who again, I don't ever see anymore. But the JDRF walk is important too, and while the freezing rain was not nearly as fun as the possibly-illegal and random U-turns on small town Main Street, they raked it in this morning.
One thing I think I will always appreciate is seeing how strong people feel about a cause by how they react to the misfortune. I'm not saying JDRF didn't have a bigger turnout had today been beautiful. But the people who did show up got involved and walked and most looked to be having a good time. The rain did not deter them, and I bet it even strengthened their resolve. Go human spirit and the urge to overcome in the face of a crappy hand.
So now the whirlwind of the weekend is over. Kinda sucks, but all in all, a great one.
The Search For A Cure event was a lot of fun. Though the "Outsiders" team wasn't from VT, and 2/3 of it had never been there before, we came in a respectable 5th (or was it 6th?) place and actually won the most creative award! After all, just because the David statue we used for our "Take a picture with a famous person" category wasn't the original [and not technically a living, breathing person], I'd argue to say he was the most famous person in anyone's picture. [I can bet we wouldn't have known any of the other team's famous people... Haha].
I think we should have gotten extra points for making our judge laugh the hardest too. Just saying. Next year we're going to mop up.
It's unfortunate that all these fundraisers were the same weekend. It would have been nice to spend a bit more time up there and hang out with those elusive mountain people who again, I don't ever see anymore. But the JDRF walk is important too, and while the freezing rain was not nearly as fun as the possibly-illegal and random U-turns on small town Main Street, they raked it in this morning.
One thing I think I will always appreciate is seeing how strong people feel about a cause by how they react to the misfortune. I'm not saying JDRF didn't have a bigger turnout had today been beautiful. But the people who did show up got involved and walked and most looked to be having a good time. The rain did not deter them, and I bet it even strengthened their resolve. Go human spirit and the urge to overcome in the face of a crappy hand.
So now the whirlwind of the weekend is over. Kinda sucks, but all in all, a great one.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Here we go...
Let the philanthropic weekend begin!
[And here's to raising money between the raindrops... again.]
Search For A Cure
JDRF Walk
[And here's to raising money between the raindrops... again.]
Search For A Cure
JDRF Walk
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
May angels lead you in
I recently received a text from one of my college friends about a woman we used to work with. She passed away during the summer at the age of 50 from the cancer which had spread throughout her body.
I hadn't seen her in years, and I don't even remember the last time I talked to her [I remember sending an email or two after graduation, but never really got a response.] She was a pretty cool lady, and while she was a boss, she was one of those who always had a smile, wasn't tyrannical, and made working in retail as bearable as I've ever found it to be.
I especially remember how great she was the summer before my senior year, when my grandfather passed away and I was unable to go home for the funeral. You just know sometimes that people care about you. Even if it's just for those small moments in time.
This all hit a bit harder because the thought of a woman younger than my mother succumbing to cancer is not something I would like to think about now.
But in light of this sad news, some good news today. The chemo is working, and while I don't have any details yet, we look to be on the right path. Hopefully we'll stay that way.
May angels lead you in, Martha. And thank you.
I hadn't seen her in years, and I don't even remember the last time I talked to her [I remember sending an email or two after graduation, but never really got a response.] She was a pretty cool lady, and while she was a boss, she was one of those who always had a smile, wasn't tyrannical, and made working in retail as bearable as I've ever found it to be.
I especially remember how great she was the summer before my senior year, when my grandfather passed away and I was unable to go home for the funeral. You just know sometimes that people care about you. Even if it's just for those small moments in time.
This all hit a bit harder because the thought of a woman younger than my mother succumbing to cancer is not something I would like to think about now.
But in light of this sad news, some good news today. The chemo is working, and while I don't have any details yet, we look to be on the right path. Hopefully we'll stay that way.
May angels lead you in, Martha. And thank you.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Practical application of life skills
Two things happened today that caused me to take a minute to pause and reflect [Okay, it was more like grabbing the bull by the horns, wrestling it to the ground, jerking its head in the direction I wanted it to look at, and screaming in its ear, "LOOK!"]
The first was the more specific of the two. After dropping my car off for service, I hitched a ride home with my father and Mags. I got a pretty good chuckle seeing her sitting there behind the wheel of the car as if she was the one chauffeuring our butts back and forth. Her reluctance to hop in the back seat was apparent, however with a couple open windows, how could one resist? Looking in the side mirror, I was able to observe a smiling canine face, eyes half-closed as if in a trance, nose snuffling away at what I can only imagine to be a smorgasbord of smells too enticing to even bother thinking of anything else. Pure bliss for those moments in time, everything else be damned. Talk about living in the moment--being fully present in the moment. I need to be more like a dog.
[If my beach bum surfer boy reincarnation falls through, I will happily settle for a carefree dog. Perhaps the carefree dog of a surfer?]
The second thing that happened today was a combination of a few things. The most relevant I've considered before, but today it became more and more apparent. My job is beginning to destroy me, however, I feel like I should be taking more advantage of it than I allow it to bleed from me. Working with the public is difficult, and my patience levels have more or less been obliterated. Yet, I want to try and be more Buddhist in my ways. More calm and composed. I recognize the possibility of the hypocritical nature of my day-to-day relations with people if I'm barely holding myself back from asking them how stupid they are. This... daily endeavor is a perfect training ground for practicing patience. In fact, dare I say it would even be ideal to practice compassion?
[I'm also glad that you can't see me wincing at the thought of practicing compassion with some of these people. I swear unless you have worked with the general public, you have no idea whatsoever what this could even entail.]
But see! Training grounds. Small steps. Let us ignore the fact that it's sort of like being tossed in the deep end before you even learn how to tread water, let alone swim for the edge of the pool. Ha! Who am I to take the easy path anyway? Not to mention that my patience and understanding and compassion must remain in full swing when I get home. I'm not going to touch that now... You get the general idea.
So my two lessons: 1) Be more like a dog. 2) Practice patience and compassion at work, the optimal training arena.
Somehow I think if I can manage the first, the second will fall more easily into place.
The first was the more specific of the two. After dropping my car off for service, I hitched a ride home with my father and Mags. I got a pretty good chuckle seeing her sitting there behind the wheel of the car as if she was the one chauffeuring our butts back and forth. Her reluctance to hop in the back seat was apparent, however with a couple open windows, how could one resist? Looking in the side mirror, I was able to observe a smiling canine face, eyes half-closed as if in a trance, nose snuffling away at what I can only imagine to be a smorgasbord of smells too enticing to even bother thinking of anything else. Pure bliss for those moments in time, everything else be damned. Talk about living in the moment--being fully present in the moment. I need to be more like a dog.
[If my beach bum surfer boy reincarnation falls through, I will happily settle for a carefree dog. Perhaps the carefree dog of a surfer?]
The second thing that happened today was a combination of a few things. The most relevant I've considered before, but today it became more and more apparent. My job is beginning to destroy me, however, I feel like I should be taking more advantage of it than I allow it to bleed from me. Working with the public is difficult, and my patience levels have more or less been obliterated. Yet, I want to try and be more Buddhist in my ways. More calm and composed. I recognize the possibility of the hypocritical nature of my day-to-day relations with people if I'm barely holding myself back from asking them how stupid they are. This... daily endeavor is a perfect training ground for practicing patience. In fact, dare I say it would even be ideal to practice compassion?
[I'm also glad that you can't see me wincing at the thought of practicing compassion with some of these people. I swear unless you have worked with the general public, you have no idea whatsoever what this could even entail.]
But see! Training grounds. Small steps. Let us ignore the fact that it's sort of like being tossed in the deep end before you even learn how to tread water, let alone swim for the edge of the pool. Ha! Who am I to take the easy path anyway? Not to mention that my patience and understanding and compassion must remain in full swing when I get home. I'm not going to touch that now... You get the general idea.
So my two lessons: 1) Be more like a dog. 2) Practice patience and compassion at work, the optimal training arena.
Somehow I think if I can manage the first, the second will fall more easily into place.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Money money money
Earlier in the year, I remember sort of complaining about how it was a major project to get people to donate money to charitable organizations. There was also probably something in there about how I don't care if people [read: friends] support my causes. But we're all reasonably young and able and lucky, and I think we should be involved.
Well, a bunch of people did indeed get involved! And, as luck would have it, 5 of those people got involved with fundraisers that take place within 2 weeks of one another! I actually ran into the problem of not being able to put as much money out for these things as I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong, I know it's okay to support certain charities and not others. But these individuals have been so great with Relay, how could I not support them?
Strides Against Breast Cancer, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Alliance for Lupus Research, and The May Fund will all take pieces of my paycheck this month. While they threaten my family and friends, it's a small sacrifice.
Thanks to all of you who got involved with something. Keep it up! Here's to making a difference.
Well, a bunch of people did indeed get involved! And, as luck would have it, 5 of those people got involved with fundraisers that take place within 2 weeks of one another! I actually ran into the problem of not being able to put as much money out for these things as I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong, I know it's okay to support certain charities and not others. But these individuals have been so great with Relay, how could I not support them?
Strides Against Breast Cancer, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, Alliance for Lupus Research, and The May Fund will all take pieces of my paycheck this month. While they threaten my family and friends, it's a small sacrifice.
Thanks to all of you who got involved with something. Keep it up! Here's to making a difference.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)