Relay For Life - Papa's Pizza Fundraiser 2011

Bring this flyer to Papa's Pizza on Tuesday, May 17th and Papa's will donate 50% of the value of the food you purchase to the American Cancer Society! (Click on the image to enlarge & print. You must bring the flyer for the donation!)  The fundraiser is all day but we will have desserts and reserved tables from 5-7pm.  See you there!

Relay for Life Fundraisers

Once again we're fundraising for Relay for Life! And once again, we have a name drawing with three terrific prizes and fundraising event at Papa's Pizza. All donations benefit the American Cancer Society. Without further ado, here are the details:

Papa's Pizza Event

Bring this flyer to Papa's Pizza today, June 1st and Papa's will donate 50% of the value of the food you purchase!(Click on the image to enlarge & print. You must bring the flyer for the donation!)

Name Drawings

• Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20


• You can donate online using a credit card and email me with your choice of prize.


• Or give your cash/check to me in person (if you give me cash, please let me know if you would like a receipt for tax purposes).


• Drawing will be held at Relay on July 11th
  

You choose which prize drawing you want to enter-

	FLIP VIDEO ULTRA HD CAMCORDER The Flip UltraHD™ camcorder combines Flip Video's signature shoot-and-share simplicity with the power of vivid, vibrant HD video. With 2 hours of record time, you'll never miss another minute again. And because of UltraHD's pocket-sized portability, you'll truly be able to capture HD video anytime, anywhere.
	GET PAMPERED - EDWARD WADSWORTH SALON Get pampered with this package of services from Edward Wadsworth salon. Package includes cut, color and a 60-minute massage.
	NIGHT OUT - DINNER & CHAMPAGNE Enjoy a night out with a $100 gift card to your choice of three Portland restaurants: Urban Farmer, The Origianl or Departure. Then toast a wonderful night with a bottle of Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne.

Through your donation, you will make a real difference in the lives of people facing cancer – and in the lives of the people who love them. Thank you!

Calling all cooks

We're creating a community cookbook filled to the brim with the best recipes from the best cooks we know - and that includes you! I think. If you somehow manage to burn water then no, not you.

Anyhoo, the theme of the cookbook is a year of weeknight recipes for the whole family. With your help we'll have 260 main dish recipes and separate sections for starters, side dishes and desserts for mixing & matching. And in support of Meatless Mondays, we're planning to include 52 vegetarian main dish recipes. Between leftovers and eating out, you'll have a complete year of meals at your fingertips! All the profits from the sale of these cookbooks will be donated to the American Cancer Society through our Relay for Life team.

If you have a recipe to submit, email me for the form. All recipes need to be submitted by April 15th. Oh, and each recipe in the book will include the name of the submitter so you'll finally be published!

We are also including advertising in our cookbook with prices starting at $40. Email me for more info on that as well.

If all goes well, the books will be ready to purchase in June. Wish us luck! I can't wait to try all of these tasty dishes.

Award worthy site!

Our Walking with Angels website has made it to final voting on About.com for the 2009 Web Design Reader' Choice Awards in the Best Use of Images in Web Design category. Voting begins today and runs through May 22nd.

This little site was created as a way to explain why we participate in Relay for Life and route people to our fundraising page. Even if we don't win, the exposure in these awards could mean more people visiting the site and hopefully more money for the American Cancer Society! This mama's heart is full. Special thanks to the web designer, Red Lace Design for creating an award-worthy site.

What are you still doing here? Vote already!

Relay for Life Fundraisers!

It's that time of year...we're fundraising for Relay for Life! Once again, we have a name drawing with three terrific prizes and fundraising event at Papa's Pizza. All donations benefit the American Cancer Society. Without further ado, here are the details:

Papa's Pizza Event

Bring this flyer to Papa's Pizza on June 16th and Papa's will donate 50% of the value of the food you purchase! The flyer is valid all day on Tuesday, June 16th but we'll be offering door prizes every half hour from 4-8pm. (Click on the image to enlarge & print. You must bring the flyer for the donation!)

Name Drawings

• Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20
• You can donate online using a credit card and email me with your choice of prize.
• Or give your cash/check to me in person (if you give me cash, please let me know if you would like a receipt for tax purposes).
• Drawing will be held at the Papa's Pizza event on June 16th

You choose which prize drawing you want to enter -

	FALL GETAWAY TO SUNRIVER Enjoy a 3 night stay in September or October at this cozy Sunriver home. Sleeps 6 with a private outdoor hot tub, access to Maverick's Fitness Center and Pool and walking distance to Fort Rock Park. Donated by Suzanne Peters.
	WINE AND CHEESE TASTING PARTY You and 7 guests will be treated to a guided wine and cheese tasting at Thirst Wine Bar and Bistro, Portland's premier wine bar specializing in Pacific NW Wines and Food. Donated by Thirst Wine Bar.
	16GB iPOD TOUCH It's the funnest iPod ever. (Apple's words, not mine) iPod touch puts music, movies, websites, and now games and applications in the palm of your hand. 3,500 songs, 20 hours of video Donated by Jeff and Lori Harris.

Through your donation, you will make a real difference in the lives of people facing cancer – and in the lives of the people who love them. Thank you!

This Post's For Me

How do you transition from a post about "Mamma Mia" to a post about grief? Not gracefully, that's for sure. I hesitated to write about this at all but then remembered that this blog is about me and for me. Yes I tap dance like a trained chimp just to entertain you at times. But then something happens and the sadness crashes over me like a wave. That's when I just have to get it out there. Even if it's just for me. So here goes.

Sometimes little things remind me of my sweet girl and make me smile. Other times they make me cry. Often these little things come in rapid succession and morph into one very big thing. I'm at the tail end of one of those times. I hope.
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We took Ian to the play class at Gymboree for the first time a couple of weeks ago. As I pulled off three name tags adorned with that loveable clown, I started to write Lillian's name. I had barely gotten the down stroke of the L before I realized my error. Sucking the air through my teeth, I finished the name tag with an A and an N for Lillian's little brother. The class opened with everyone introducing their child. Easy enough. Then the teacher asked us if we had been to Gymboree before. "This is Ian's first class but we have been here with our daughter," I responded. No big deal. Later in the class the teacher dropped by and asked how old our daughter was. Again, the wind was knocked out of me as I quickly muttered that she passed away last year. Ugh.
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Fast forward a few nights and Ian was a very cranky boy. His acid reflux continues to plague him. The acid blocker he is on typically does the trick. But our big boy has a tendency to out grow his dosage before his next doctor's appointment. So every few months, he gets atypically cranky and we know it's time to up the dosage. This was one of those times. Unfortunately it takes about 24 hours to really kick in. We tried everything but he would not be consoled. An hour past his bedtime, I finally decided to rock him to sleep. I watched as he slowly transformed from screaming to whining to silence. His little bald head once flailing in defiance now released in exhaustion. I felt the weight of his tense body turn limp as sleep overtook the fight. Without warning, I was suddenly back in the hospital room holding my angel's lifeless body and kissing her sweet bald head for the final time.
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Before Relay I decided to download Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" audiobook on my ipod. Listening to the wisdom of a man dying of pancreatic cancer seemed like the perfect accompaniment to the many laps around the track. I barely scratched the surface at Relay and have been listening to the book on my commute ever since. It is filled with humor and intelligence and common sense wisdom. It's about dreaming big and breaking down walls that stand in your way. It's a summary of everything he wants to pass on to his three young children. And we are privileged enough to share in it as well. Get it. You won't be sorry.

Last Friday on my way home from work, I glanced down at the ipod and was saddened to find I was nearly at the end of this little treasure. The rest would have to wait until Monday. A treat to brighten my commute to work!

As I was turning off the television later that night, I saw Randy Pausch's face light up the screen. At age 47, Randy died of complications from pancreatic cancer. Obviously I never knew him. But hearing his words fill my car each day somehow made this loss personal. Maybe I was still reeling from the earlier blows. Or maybe my heart was aching for his wife and kids. Or maybe his death is a reminder that life can change in an instant. Whatever the cause, it hurt.
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It's the little things that get you. They don't add up, they multiply. As quickly as the flood rises around you, it recedes into normalcy. I don't know which is harder. The flood or the aftermath.

Relay For Life

Relay for Life was last weekend and I think I've finally recovered enough from the fun and sun to tell you all about it.

The event is kicked off with the survivor lap. This year our Relay decided to have Grand Marshalls who would lead the survivor lap. Three of our cancer fighting friends were selected to be Grand Marshalls, Kennedy, Grady and McKayla. It was such a thrill to watch these three terrific kids honored.

Thanks to all of you and your incredible generosity, Walking with Angels raised over $6000 to cure cancer.

Our team has three members (Becci, Michelle and me) that raised over $1000 each which earns us a seat in the region's Grand Club. That was the most number of Grand Club members from one team!

For all of our efforts, Walking With Angels once again earned the coveted Spirit Award! This was based on overall contributions to the event from participation in activities to donations to the silent auction to recruiting teams and so much more.

We could not have done any of this without your help. Thank you so much for your prayers, attendance at fundraising events, donations and encouragement! I also want to call out the incredible support we received from several businesses. Let's reward their generosity by supporting their businesses.

• Al's Garden Center
• Blume (terrific handmade beauty products using essential oils)
• Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center
• Costco
• Dana Davis (Licensed Massage Therapist)
• Duck Pond Cellars
• Emily Andrews Portrait Design
• Ergo (mom-invented baby carrier system)
• Flossie & Maude Bistro
• Interstate Special Events
• Lamb's Palisades Market
• Maury Evans (Licensed Massage Therapist)
• Mom Agenda (organizers made specifically for moms)
• Mt. Bachelor Village Resort
• Nike
• OMSI
• Oregon Zoo
• Our Globo (awesome jackets that convert to backpacks for kids)
• Papa's Pizza
• Reser's Fine Foods
• Signing Time (the best sign language videos for kids. THE BEST.)
• Stash Tea
• Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant
• The Little Author (turn your children's artwork and stories into a book)
• The PLAY Boutique
• Thirst Wine Bar

I leave you with the Relay motto - Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.