serving more

participated in a king holiday community service project today through UB. we helped a local organization clean up one of the many forgotten areas of baltimore: oliver. this day has made me think of a lot so i thought i'd jot down some reminders (and tips) for participating in community service

- wear comfy clothes with pockets and good shoes
- if you're working outside, remember to layer appropriately for the cold or heat
- you are not thor. ask for help moving and lifting things
- be courteous and polite to your fellow volunteers
- remember that people are still people even when brought together to do some good
- be patient
- if you're doing trash cleanup, wear thick gloves
- you have access to soap, water and laundry
- there is at least one person who will appreciate what you're trying to do
- you are returning to warmer environments, but for some warmth is a luxury
- still enjoy that deliciously hot bath and hot tea
- manual labor is free exercise [one of our group mentioned this heh]
- you know when you've reached your true limit and need to take a break
- your muscles will recover from the extra exertion
- remember that you wanted to be more involved in the community
- you can't pick up every minute broken unwanted thing, but you sure as hell shouldn't walk away without trying
- this is just a first step

now that some parts of my life are slowing down, i'm hoping to increasingly involve myself in service projects. it's one of the many reasons i'm pledging DST (oh, yea. that's happening). i always want to give back, and now i finally have the ability to do more than give money :)

now excuse me as a crawl into bed with bengay ;)

giving back

one of my (un)official goals of 2012 is to make more donations to the causes i care about, about one a month. there was a chance that this wouldn't be possible because of changes at work. however, bossman worked me a deal to keep me rolling in full time monies. so i'm less worried about not being able to take care of me, which means i can help take care of others :)

awesomely, mandi from life in beta announced that, for her birthday, she wanted people to donate to animal rescues and welfare organizations. i figured that was an excellent way to kick off my personal year of giving. since i missed january, i donated double in february. one donation went to the maryland spca; one went to the world wildlife fund. mandi also attached a giveawy to the giving. and i won a print from hue and hum :) it's a small shop with beautiful work. i can't wait to get mine from caitlin!

i totally didn't do this for the prize though :p

i love donating. i wish i had more time so i could make other (non-monetary) contributions, too. when my life is less hectic, i am going to make that a priority :)

year condensed

i hadn't intended to do a reflective post on 2010, but then i scrolled through my photos again (yea... i reread my own posts a thousand times). it occurred to me that i had a pretty adventurous year. and i HATE adventure... says the girl who's planning a summer road trip with her bestie... i'm not in the mood to hunt down all the applicable blog posts (if i even wrote them), but here's a quick recap of 2010. in the order i remember them

- i met and fell in love with an awesome guy

- i walked in the susan komen 3day for the cure

- i helped gather postcards in support of marriage equality for maryland

- i hung out with the DC bloggers a few times

- i got drunk under the table by the tweeting lesbians

- i attended a pocket gays happy hour and met new people by myself, without knowing a single person (online or offline) beforehand

- i went to the DC NOH8 shoot

- i got a tattoo

- i worked the gate at baltimore pride, and THE pandora boxx smiled at me. then she and juju tweeted me, and i DIED

- i bought and carved my very first pumpkin

damn! that was a good year. running theme: booze and gays, sometimes at the same time :) oh, yea. and volunteering and my darling boy and a random pumpkin. but mostly boozey gays

dear 2011,
the stakes have been raised

:)

i walk for them

as of this very moment, i am walking my way through the streets of DC. starting at nationals park, up through germantown and bethesda maryland, then ending at the washington monument over the course of three days. it. is. intense. they sent us the schedule last week and the route map this week. my stomach was doing bellyflops every few hours ever since. one of the things that kept me from a last minute back out (besides all of the wonderful people who donated - team hit $11.3k as of thurs morning) are these women:


sharon walensky
she's currently 59 and the mother of two; her daughter and i went to college together. she was diagnosed in may of this year. since then she has undergone a dual mastectomy, surgical removal of her left lymph nodes and five chemotherapy treatments (started in july). she has one remaining chemo treatment before she goes for reconstructive surgery in december. as of right now, she is cancer free. she manages to keep going with the support and encouragement of her family and friends. she also tries to stay positive and take everything one day at a time


mrs. spokus
unfortunately, i did not receive her information in time for this write up. i do know that over the summer she had a few complications, but i still have high hopes that she'll come out on the other end sans cancer. her daughter is another friend from college


tish best
she's now in her late 50s, but was diagnosed and treated when she was 56. her doctors found stage one breast cancer in december of 2006. her treatments included a lumpectomy and radiation. she is on a five year course of arimidex, but has been cancer free since her rounds of radiation. gratitude kept her and her family going when she had cancer and continues to do so now that she doesn't. she is a close friend of a woman i work with


laura robinson bodie
the maternal grandmother of one of my college professors, laura is no longer with us. unfortunately, she passed after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1936. she was 36 at her death; her daughter was only 10. i asked the family if they could send me a photo on short notice, and deb forwarded me...

Laura Robinson Bodie by Sherman C. Ward Jr.

it is a painting deb's father created based on a photo of mrs. bodie... this image and this brief story always make me tear up. we have come so far since 1936, but we still have so far to go...

i'm dedicating the next three days to these four women

be aware

today is october 1st. i already hate this month because i have a thousand things happening and may lose my sanity by the end of it. however, this post is not about that. this is about the 25th anniversary of breast cancer awareness month

as i'm sure you're aware, i'm walking in this year's susan g. komen 3day walk for the cure. after months of training and fundraising (link to N's page; he's still short), the walk is exactly one week away. i'm getting very nervous. plus they just gave us the walk schedule (~21mi friday, 23mi saturday and ~16mi sunday), which didn't help. i think i'll be ok on day one, but i'll naturally be super exhausted afterwards. so i may not make it all the way through saturday :-/ that won't stop me from trying though. i've worked hard to get to this point because this cause means so much to me. i'm lucky to not have anyone in my family battling breast cancer, even though cancer, in general, runs in my family. N has had a couple people in his family diagnosed, which is really how i became involved in the first place. over the course of my training, i learned of four other women who had been diagnosed. i'll be writing about them next week. for now i want to focus on what we know about breast cancer and how you can help...

things i'm sure you've heard before:

- in the US, one person is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes
- over a lifetime, women have a one in eight chance of getting breast cancer. chances increase (one in 2000 for 20somethings to one in 26 for 60somethings) as one ages
- white women are at an increased risk for developing cancer. however, black women are more likely to die from it
- factors we always hear about that increase risk: obesity, alchohol consumption, family history
- factors that can decrease risk: physical activity and having babies before 30

almost a year ago, i joined the army of women, which matches participants up with breast cancer research studies. their goal is to build a network of one million men (yes, men) and women to support this research. from their website:

"The Army of Women campaign is an online initiative, where women can sign up at www.armyofwomen.org. The members are then contacted via E-blast to participate in groundbreaking, breast cancer prevention research studies. They can either sign-up for the studies online, or if they do not qualify, they are encouraged to forward the information to a friend or family member. Every woman over 18 is welcome to participate, whether a breast cancer survivor or someone never affected. In many breast cancer research studies, recruiting women is the biggest obstacle, and our innovative program is working to virtually eliminate this hurdle."

other points to note:

- signing up with the army of women does not enroll you in any studies. you are only added to their contact database
- research studies are focused on prevention, not clinical trials for treatment
- any person of any race or ethnicity over the age of 18 can sign up
- signing up for the army of women has no associated costs, and study participation is always voluntary. depending on study locations, there can be travel costs should you choose to participate in specific research
- the studies have various requirements for participation and methods of information collection. you can review some of the current studies here to get a better idea of what's involved

i've only been able to participate in two studies based on my age, location and diagnosis status. however, i make it a point to forward emails to those in my network of friends who may qualify. i also retweet every new study they announce in hopes that the right people can be matched up using the magic of the internets. because the more we know, the better we can fight. the more quickly we can determine a cause. and the more easily we can find a cure

other ways you can help: donate to a local or national organization that supports breast cancer survivors, research or treatment; participate in a breast cancer walk or run; buy pink ribbon products; educate others on risks and prevention. we can beat cancer, but we all have to work together to do it

saving some tatas

N and i are participating in the susan g. komen 3day walk for the cure in october. as participants, we've been asked to raise money to help fund the foundation's research efforts and community programs. our team's current goal is $10,000; my personal goal is $3000. so i'm coming to you, little blog group. i need to raise at least $16 per day from now until the event; that's less than a dollar per day from everyone following me. i know we're all still recovering from the recession, and we like our little luxuries. so i'm not going to guilt you into giving me money. but i would greatly appreciate if you would at least consider donating. if you'd like to contribute, you can donate on my personal page, over the phone (800-996-3DAY) or by using the handy box below (and in my sidebar)

if you can't donate to the walk, please consider signing up with the army of women. they're looking to match up as many individuals (women and men) with breast cancer research studies as they can. admittedly, most of the studies focus on women who have been diagnosed with cancer. however, there are currently two studies (one quick, one long term) that do not require this; i'm participating in both. and new studies are started every week(ish) so you never know when one will apply to you or someone you know

in the us, one person is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes. i'm doing what i can to help reduce that number and to aid in more individuals becoming survivors. i hope that you can help in some way, too

do some good

so many things are happening around me that i'm surprised i can keep up. not everything has been positive, and i've felt that there is little i can do about it. so, friends, i'm asking you to do something. if we all do just a little, good things can happen...

big changes are happening for(to?) ashley over at germato. her future hubby made a huge decision to leave his job at the end of the month. this is a good thing. she's looking for information and advice to help them get by until nathan finds something new (and *fingers crossed* better). from ashley's post: "Share your knowledge. Tell me what got you through the tough times. Explain your extra sources of income. Leave me/us words of encouragement. Keep us in your thoughts. And if you can, repost. The more people that can give me insight on what’s looking to be a rocky road ahead, the better."


brittney from lamidge has lost one of her babies (of the four legged persuasion). rom hasn't been seen at the homestead, near dallas, since last week. if you know anyone in the area, please pass this along. i've got my fingers crossed that he just shows up at home one day as if nothing happened... cats are like that i imagine

on the global front, haiti needs all the support it can get. everyone takes visa (american red cross, oxfam america, yele haiti, doctors without borders). plus there's that cellphone thing. if you haven't donated, please consider sending $5 instead of buying that grande skinny vanilla latte with the extra shot from starbucks

people need help. everywhere, every day. what are you doing about it?

[update]
some truly awesome individuals are raising money for the multiple myeloma research fund. for more information on who, how and why go visit erin over at the state that i am in or ashley. i told you people are always in need of a helping hand...