A Relay Repeat!

Since my local paper doesn't have direct link to their articles (they use this funky "read it online" widget with no hyperlinks), here is the direct text from today's local section:

Relay repeat
Relay for Life again leads nation in amount it raised per capita to fight cancer

By JULIE SWIDWA
H-P Staff Writer

For the second straight year, Berrien County’s Relay for Life ranks first in the nation in the per-capita amount of money it raised to fight cancer.

The Relay for Life 2008 at three sites in Berrien County this year raised $735,000. That equates to $4.58 per capita, more than three times the na­tional average of $1.34 per capita...

...Shelli Knoll, community representa­tive for the Great Lakes Division of the American Cancer Society, said Berrien County raised 6.5 percent more money than in last year’s award-winning event. Besides ranking first in the nation in per capita money raised, Berrien Coun­ty raised more total money than any other county in the Great Lakes Divi­sion, which covers Michigan and Indi­ana.

*big smile* We are mighty proud!

Speechless

Haven't really processed everything from the weekend. Incredibly emotional plus being awake for 40 hours, sleeping on the ground, and being not as young as I was when I used to pull all-nighters (LOL) is making for a slow recovery still today.

Remembering David. Watching Peggy be pushed in a wheelchair for her first survivor lap. My sister-in-law, Sue, the oldest of the Viking sibling crew, was the keynote speaker at the luminaria ceremony Saturday night. Walking the silent lap in memory of those lost.

DaHubby took a video of Sue's speech but he is waiting for our switchover to a new ISP tomorrow which will provide us more than twice the speed connectivity than we have now.

We just want to say THANK YOU to all of you that supported us this weekend with your donations and/or your prayers.

Of the 110 teams that participated, ours was one of the three featured in our local paper Sunday morning. If you go to read the article, Peggy, my brother-in-law Marlon, and my two nieces are featured in the first picture as well.

Finally, it's hard to convey the scope and the power associated with this, but DaHubby captured a picture at the end of the luminaria ceremony which took place under the grandstand pavilion at our county fairgrounds.

Each person there was given an unlit glow stick. Then, the MC said "if you are a survivor of cancer, break your stick...if you are here honoring your parents, break your stick....if you are here honoring a sibling, break your stick...if you are here to honor an aunt or uncle....a grandparent...a spouse..." and on and on and on.

Within a few minutes, the whole place was lit with glow sticks:


Thanks for making supporting our county's Relay which last year was in first place nationally for donations per capita. Thank you for making our team second in the county this year for donation totals. And, to those who donated to Peggy specifically, thank you for making her the top individual fund raiser for the entire Relay this year!

Thank you again. Just thank you.

One Last Thing...

...before I scare off anyone who subscribes and sees that I posted 4 times already today (and it's only 8am)! LOL

Feeling kinda proud of the luminaries I made yesterday for Relay this weekend. I snapped a pic just now and took off some of the identifying info. Also in the pic are the lip glosses I made. Not included are the bath salts which are made, in a Ziplock on the counter, and awaiting containers.

As of this morning, Peggy is the third highest individual fund raiser in our county; our team is the second highest fund raiser for the county; and we are only $85 short of our $3,000 goal! *big smile*

If you haven't donated to a local Relay or the American Cancer Society recently, please consider going to my ACS page.

WFMW: frugal homemade lip gloss

One of the many things I got done while my internet was down (I mentioned it was for five days, right?) was to finish my fund raiser crafts to sell at our local Relay For Life this weekend. I was trying to cater to the pre-teen girl crowd who seem to attend in abundance with more pocket money than I remember having at that age! LOL So, I thought I'd tackle some frugal homemade lip gloss.

Using this recipe, it took about 30 minutes to produce 60 small containers (which I got in my local craft store's bead storage section) of chocolate and lemonade flavored lip gloss! Using my teacher discount at the craft store and getting the ingredients on sale and/or at our local dollar store, this whole project cost cost less than $10.

Frugal and fund raising? This week that REALLY works for me!

And, if you would like to help out my family's team who walk in memory of my brother-in-law as well as in honor of my sister-in-law who is currently 5 weeks post stem cell/bone marrow transplant for a rare leukemia and in honor of my mom who is a melanoma survivor, please consider going my American Cancer Society page. Our team is currently in second place in our whole county for funds raised! And, my other sister-in-law is the keynote speaker at our county's luminaria event Saturday night!

Finally, to see more WFMW ideas, see Shannon's post today.

Somewhat back online

Five days later, the internet can now reach the house but cannot reach my PC at my desk. I pulled out the 6 year old laptop to plug directly into the modem to post this. I'm actually afraid to log in to my email at this point! LOL

Everything here is fine. Without internet, I got an amazing amount done around the house! LOL I'm hoping to post tonight about the crafts and luminaries I made today for Tackle It Tuesday.

And, Relay is in 4 days and I HIT MY FUNDRAISING GOAL! Thank you to everyone who donated!! Can't wait to hand the checks in I received! And, as of last Friday, Peggy is the third largest indiviual fundraiser for our county and our "David's Runners" team is the third highest fundraising team out of 100+ teams! *big grin*

Thanks again SO much and I'll be back as soon as we are 100%-internet friendly again.

Relay For Life: (Nearly) One Year Later

This is a re-post from June 25, 2007.

Occurred at Relay this weekend...

At 10pm was the luminary ceremony. There were speakers, singers, etc. for a short time followed by a "silent lap" around our county fairgrounds (our "track") in honor of those lost to cancer. A little too heavy for me to want to take the kids to so we stayed back at our tent site. Flicka insisted so someone watched Pojke and then Flicka and I slid in the side of the grandstands to watch. After a few minutes of sitting patiently and quietly...

"Momma, why are all these people here?"

"We're trying to raise money for people who are sick, sweetheart."

"ALL these people are sick!?"

(chuckle) "No, baby...some are sick, some got better, and some just know someone who was sick."

"Momma, why are all these people here?"

(thinking she's just not gonna get this...)"Well, baby, sometimes when people are really sick, they don't always have enough money to find the thing that can make them better. So, we're trying to get money for those people who are sick to help them out."

(a few second pass...she starts shaking...) "What's a matter, sweetie?"

(she climbs into my lap, buries her head, she's crying, and then looks up at me and says...)

"Momma, I have money at home they can have!"

And, Momma loses it. I've been a mess ever since. But, I think we'll be doing this next year! *wink*

(photo above is one of the many luminaries honoring David. In the photo is my three awesome sisters-in-law, David, DaHubby as a teen, and my remaining BIL.)

If only I had known that 7 months later, Peggy would be fighting cancer as well. *sigh* Flicka's learned more about cancer in the last year than I wish she had to know at 4 years old.

Please consider giving - whether to your local Relay or to our team. Your giving may save life. Someone gave, someone took that money and did research, someone else took that research and developed a treatment, another someone took that treatment and gave it to my mom and Peggy - and my mom and Peggy are still here!

A Viking Pasty Party

Well, just got home a bit ago from our Viking Pasty-Making Extravaganza!

As I described here, our goal was to make about 100 pasties to sell at church Sunday to raise money for our local Relay For Life which the Viking extended family walk in honor of my BIL David who was lost to lung cancer, my mom who conquered melanoma, and my SIL Peggy who is 4 weeks post-stem cell/bone marrow transplant for a rare leukemia. You can read about them here too.

Also, I found out this morning that Peggy is currently third in our entire county for online donations! And, our team as a whole currently is third overall out of 100+ teams this year.

If you feel like donating to the American Cancer Society and have not yet done so, please consider going here.

Anyway, back to the fun at hand.

If you ever wondered what 7 women could do with several pounds of potatoes, carrots, onions, ground beef, flour, and Crisco, check it out:





For 7 women and about 3 hours of work (not including baking time), we should make about $300.

*sniff, sniff* Anyone hungry yet? LOL

A Friday Pasty Feast

Well, with our local Relay For Life closing in quickly (a week from Saturday), the extended Viking crew have mobilized for a final push of fund raising. While my siblings-in-law rack up $1,000+ plus in donations EACH, here DaHubby and I sit. LOL

DaHubby follows the silent-but-understood, bring-no-fundraisers-to-work pledge by his fellow engineers. And, being a stay-at-home mom, the only large groups I come in contact with are at church (where most of my in-laws already go to church) and the MOMS Club (which is already involved in fund raising elsewhere in the community).

The third option is here - at my bloggy home. According to Site Meter, I get about 30-50 hits a day on non-carnival days (like Works For Me Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday and Thursday Thanks Tank). So, you 30-50 of my loyal readers and those of you who stumble onto this blog by Google-chance are my only chance to reach my goal of $200! LOL

That being said, in previous years, the Viking in-laws have held a very large bake sale at our church just prior to Relay. But, this year at the request of Peggy, my sister-in-law who is about 4 weeks post stem cell transplant to battle a rare leukemia, we're having a "pasty party"! LOL

For those of you unfamiliar with this Yooper tradition, you will have to look here, here, or here for an explanation of the background of these cool little meat pies that I learned to cook almost immediately after marrying DaHubby.

My MIL, two sisters-in-law, and I (along with what will probably turn out to be several nieces and several little ones under 5) will be making large quantities of pasties on Friday under Peggy's eagle-eye supervision as well as her recipe to be sold at church this Sunday! LOL

So, loyal readers, you have a choice: either make an advanced order of several pasties or click on my Relay For Life button to donate! *wink*

And, all day Friday, pray for me that in the clouds of potatoes, onions, meat, and flour that I don't get stuffed into one of these little pies as well! LOL

"It is said that the Devil never crossed the Tamar into Cornwall on

account of the well-known habit of Cornish women of putting everything

into a pasty, and that he was not sufficiently courageous to risk such a fate!

-Cornish Recipes Ancient and Modern 23rd edition with supplement by the Cornwall Federation of Women's Institutes

(early legend about the pasty, Cornish women tended to throw in any left-overs they had into it)

My big brother and big sister

Despite the title of this post, I basically grew up an only child. My twin half-sisters (now 20) we're born when *I* was 20 and a sophomore at Michigan State.

To what will probably be my mom's great relief, I've never regretted being an only child. I've had a few "what if" moments but I have no recollection of ever being in want of anything like playmates growing up.

However, DaHubby is number 5 of 6 siblings so, upon marrying him, I immediately acquired an older brother, 3 older sisters,and a younger brother.

Now, DaHubby and I had a whirlwind meeting and courtship. We met. Five weeks later he proposed. And, five weeks after that, I left everything I knew and had been working towards to be with him here on the other side of the state far from all my family.

The first time I met my new "big brother" was when he and DaHubby came to help me move. Those two guys went up and down several flights of stairs several times and then stood and then drove through pouring rain for nearly 4 hours to bring all of my stuff from one side of Michigan to the other. And, during the loading process, my new big brother told off a wise-cracking cranky old neighbor of mine who made some comment about me leaving.

Now, this big brother was a former Marine. And, to this day, he is one of the toughest and strongest men I've ever met. What an introduction for a single only daughter of a single mom of the awesome power and influence of a man who's been trained to defend himself and others. I had DaHubby's engagement promise and now a big brother's additional protection. I already adored DaHubby but I also adored David from that point on, too! LOL

Then, to be honest, having three new sisters was incredibly awkward at first. I had *NO* clue how this sister thing (much less this in-law thing) was supposed to work. But, to their ultimate credit and classiness, the two living locally immediately took me out shopping for my wedding dress when I first arrived despite having only met me a handful of times and they realized I had no other family living close by.

By the time of the wedding, about 8 months later, those sisters had completely spoiled me and made me part of this incredibly close-knit family. Nowadays, they also spoil the Vikings rotten - as is the job of every good auntie, of course!

Tragically, four years after our wedding, it was this Marine, the only big brother I will ever know who, following a startlingly short battle with lung cancer, was taken back to Heaven only five months after completing his first Chicago Marathon.

And, it is one of those wonderful sisters who is right at this minute laying in a Chicago hospital fighting through a 3rd week of painful "engraftment syndrome" from a bone marrow transplant to cure a rare leukemia found just 3 years after losing her brother.

So, in 18 days, I will be walking in our local Relay For Life.

For David - who never got to see how incredibly beautiful and smart his only child, a daughter, K, has turned out since finishing high school and starting college.

For Peggy - who has been through things, procedures and tests, the roughest four months I have ever seen, which no one should ever have to go through and is still praising God the entire time.

And, for my mom - who doesn't talk about it much but is a melanoma survivor as well. Cancer free for nearly 3 years I think!

If you want, I am accepting donations for my local team. The button above will take you to our team's page. Or, you may want to donate locally to someone who you know in real life. But, please donate. It is people who donated previously who funded research into treatment and procedures that saved my mom's life and are currently saving Peggy's.

One way or another - please give.

Wordless Wednesday - a little early

Visit other Wordless Wednesday participants here.

Relay Update

"Last year the Berrien (County, Michigan) Relay raised a dollar amount that came close to topping the nation, based on population size, and this weekend they topped that number by almost $50,000, bringing in more than $482,000."

All I can say is "praise God!"

source: http://www.wsjm.com/stories/00000_Relay-for-Life-events-raise-nearly-$600k_133503.php

It Still Makes Me Cry...

Occurred at Relay this weekend...

At 10pm was the luminary ceremony. There were speakers, singers, etc. for a short time followed by a "silent lap" around our county fairgrounds (our "track") in honor of those lost to cancer. A little too heavy for me to want to take the kids to so we stayed back at our tent site. Flicka insisted so someone watched Pojke and then Flicka and I slid in the side of the grandstands to watch. After a few minutes of sitting patiently and quietly...

"Momma, why are all these people here?"

"We're trying to raise money for people who are sick, sweetheart."

"ALL these people are sick!?"

(chuckle) "No, baby...some are sick, some got better, and some just know someone who was sick."

"Momma, why are all these people here?"

(thinking she's just not gonna get this...)"Well, baby, sometimes when people are really sick, they don't always have enough money to find the thing that can make them better. So, we're trying to get money for those people who are sick to help them out."

(a few second pass...she starts shaking...) "What's a matter, sweetie?"

(she climbs into my lap, buries her head, she's crying, and then looks up at me and says...)

"Momma, I have money at home they can have!"

And, Momma loses it. I've been a mess ever since. But, I think we'll be doing this next year! *wink*

(photo above is one of the many luminaries honoring Big Bro D aka David. In the photo is my three awesome sisters-in-law, David, DaHubby as a teen, and my remaining BIL.)

Digging Out...

Out late Friday night on "date night" with DaHubby.

Saturday 10am 'til 11pm - we were fortunate enough to be part of the miracle photographed above.

Sunday exhausted and off schedule babies plus exhausted and aching parents made for a long day.

But, thank you for all your prayers, comments, and emails this weekend - about Relay and about the upcoming big decision! *wink* I'm sorting the whirlwind of our home right now and getting things back on track. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And, when I know our team's totals and that of the event, I'll let you know! :)

97 Hours From Now...

...is the beginning of our county's Relay For Life weekend. And, my in-laws are on a crafty, baking, planning, and follow-up phoning whirlwind! LOL You've probably noticed the ticker up above reminding me that I am now officially in panic mood to help get everything done!

As I've posted before here and here, we lost DaHubby's Big Bro D to lung cancer on February 28, 2005. He was a non-smoker who had run his first marathon 4 months earlier and he was only 44.

So, in preparation for "Relay in Paradise - no one is an island in the fight against cancer" theme, tropical colored shirts should be in anyday. Lots of tropical decorations have been sought out and hid away for decorating our weekend home-away-from-home on our assigned little square of dirt at the county fairgrounds.

There are a record number of teams this year - over 100. Our team page seems to indicate we have a long way to go but it is only recording our online donations. (By the way, thank you again, Anita, for supporting me and being my only online donation! LOL) Our team actually is #22 out of the 95 teams registered online for fundraising totals so far with only 7 team members!

So, to add even more to that total, two of my sisters-in-law, a niece, and I made over 20 bracelets out of UV sensitive beads last night. We threaded and knotted 'til we ran out of cording and still have beads left! *sheesh* But, while we were putting them together, one of my niece's friends called, heard what we were doing, and ordered three! LOL Praise God! I'm considering ordering more beads since it appears these are going to be a "hot item"! *wink*

And, I have 7 more pairs of flip-flops to make sometime in the next 4 days! *wipes sweat off forehead*

But it is all for a great cause....in memory of great brother...being done by a great family! I'm so blessed. If you feel led, please click here to donate. If not, please pray that this event is successful and that their participation in this event heals this family's broken hearts even if just a little. I appreciate it!

Two Months From Today...

...Da Hubby, Flicka, Pojke, and I will be spending most of that weekend at our county's fairgrounds for Relay For Life. We'll be pitching a tent in our family's reserved area for the 24-hour walk-a-thon. Being one of 6 and a cousin to many, it'll be cramped quarters as we remember Da Hubby's Big Brother D.

Da Hubby and I agree that Big Bro D was probably the strongest person we have ever known. As a only child for most of my life (until my half-sisters came along when I was 20), he will be the only big brother I will ever know...and I only knew him for 5 years.

That weekend and the planning for it are all the more poignant in that Da Hubby's uncle and aunt were both diagnosed with lung and colon cancer respectively. Aunt C's is inoperable and, once stabilized from the initial exploratory surgery, she will be heading home without treatment for her remaining time. As for Uncle T, we've have not heard any updates in the last week. But, the fact that Big Bro D died from the same type of cancer has hit the family hard. Uncle T is my MIL's baby brother. And, as always, she is a testament to her faith because I don't know how else she is dealing with this.

As the newest addition (other than all the grandchildren born since I got here) to this large, noisy, loving, sometimes cantankerous family, I often feel like I'm peeking in on their worst fears and most intimate struggles. I'm often self conscious and uncomfortable. I'm the new kid and, without having grown up with siblings, I'm at a loss at what to do, what to say, or where to even begin to understand what they are going through. I also know I've been incredibly blessed by these folks - especially in their gift of Da Hubby to me.

So, in honor of Big Bro D, who with Da Hubby, having never met me before, traveled several hours across the state in a driving rain storm, to help Da Hubby and I move my stuff to our new home...I'm fundraising for Relay For Life. I posted a simlar request a month ago. I've had three responses: Anita, my aunt, and my mom. If you three are reading this, thank you again! So, if you feel you are in a position to or felt led to help, that's great. Click here. But, mostly, I covet your prayers as I try to find a way to do my little part to minister to this family's hurt. Thanks!

Three Months From Today...

...Da Hubby, Flicka, Pojke, and I will be participating in our local Relay For Life. Part of DaHubby's heart was just broken beyond mending when his big brother passed unexpectedly at age 44 in February 2005 from lung cancer. It was only about 6 months after having run in his first marathon in Chicago. This Relay will be the third one Da Hubby's family has participated in but only the first one we will be active in.

Da Hubby didn't understand his other siblings' ways of dealing with this loss when his sisters began mobilizing within a month of Big Brother D's passing to get the whole family involved in this fundraiser. Da Hubby initially wanted nothing to do with it. In 2005, we made an appearance with a 15-month-old Flicka. It was incredibly uncomfortable: sweltering heat and hurting hearts. In 2006, I was at the height of first trimester morning sickness with Pojke. So, this year I'd like to help do my part to contribute to my wonderful in-law's desire to see some good come from Big Brother D's passing.

Pojke's full name is in part in honor to him...as well as my grandmother who we lost the month before Big Brother D. But, I'd like to show some financial support to the cause as well. Our budget is stretched beyond its' limits at this point. So, the only thing we can do is solicited donations and pledges which I've never done before.

Our local Relay folks have set up the capability for each participant to set up their own webpage. I have done so here. Please prayfully consider if you would be able to support us in this event. It's wonderful if you can. It's more than OK if you can't. Just as His grace is sufficient...so are your prayers. Thanks!