It's a Party!

For the next 2 weeks over at the Sisterhood, we are having a Team Shrinking Jeans Bash! What is this Bash I speak of, you might be asking? It's a HUGE party with door prizes and an awesome Grand Prize of $400 cash! Yes, cash!

What is Team Shrinking Jeans anyway? Well, a group of 16 Sisters and one Brother are training to run the San Diego Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training Program (TNT). Through TNT, Team Shrinking Jeans will be training for the race AND raising $48,900 for LLS. Isn't that amazing?

You can read more about our amazing team here, and find out why each of us is doing this here.

How can you join the Bash? Simple! Donate to Team Shrinking Jeans through our secure online team fundraising page. For every $5 you donate, you'll be entered to win one of over 30 fabulous door prizes. If you donate $25, not only will you get 5 chances to win door prizes, but you'll also be entered to win the granddaddy of all prizes: CASH!

Did you know?

Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

An estimated 139,860 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2009. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma account for 9.5 percent of the 1,479,350 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year*.

Overall incidence rates per 100,000 population for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are almost identical for data reported in 2008 and 2009 [(leukemia 12.2, 2009 vs.12.3, 2008); (NHL, 19.5, each year); (Hodgkin lymphoma, 2.8, each year); (myeloma, 5.6, each year)].

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 53,240 people in the United States this year. These blood cancers will account for nearly 9.5 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2009 based on the 562,340 total cancer-related deaths.

Every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 146 people each day, or more than six people every hour. Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. In general, the likelihood of dying from most types of leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma decreased from 1996 to 2005 (the most recent data available).

*Facts and statistics from Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma Facts 2009-2010, June 2009.

Those are some pretty eye-opening statistics, huh?

So head on over and join in the Bash! Check out the fabulous prizes, click on over and donate, and be sure to check in everyday for Happy Hour!

Yard Designing

So, yesterday's post reminded me of a saga in yardwork that is beginning here on my house. You see, it's spring here. Well, I guess it's technically not spring yet, but it's close enough.

We've been busy cleaning out all the dead stuff from our yard. And I decided that I'm going to redo all my flowerbeds this year. I don't know why I think this is a good idea. I just have lost my mind. I mean, I love having a pretty yard. I love being outside and enjoying the yard. I just don't love actually WORKING in my yard. But then again, I don't really love work. It's, well, so work-like, ya know what I mean? And yard work involves sweat and heat (or right now cold and wind) and muscle strain and, in my case, anxiety.

I do try to live by my Aunt Kathy's philosophy that if it dies, it wasn't meant to be... but I have trouble with the vision of how I want it all to look. It doesn't help that the flower bed in my back yard is ridiculously HUGE! My husband didn't want as much lawn to mow, so he convinced me to put in this monstrous flower bed. What was I thinking? I'm going to have to remember to thank him for this brilliant idea he had.

So, anyway, I downloaded design plans and looked up where to buy each of the plants. The front yard and side yard are pretty cemented in my mind. It's that stupid backyard that is killing me! It's hard to find a pre-done plan that is the same shape and certainly the same SIZE! And I need something that works around my existing bushes and is good for heat and sun and low-water conditions (since if I'm gonna re-do it, I might as well go eco-friendly, right?).

Well, okay, I actually found one that I like, but I just still can't "see" it, ya know? And, quite frankly I am still going to have to modify it, 'cause it has lavender in it, and lavender always stays in small little clumps in the plans, but turns into 5 foot wide mammoth bushes in this neck of the woods. So, what do you put in place of lavender that stays in small clumps yet is kinda the same texture ('cause I'm sure that's why they use it) and is drought-resistant? And I have to move the plants all around to fit in the shape of MY yard.

Do you see why I'm confused? Is anyone any good at this? Am I just being silly? Does this concern anyone else? Does someone wanna come visit me and just tell me what to do? That would be the easiest solution...

More Work

Okay, so I was trying to think of something to post about, since I said I'd try to be better. Oh, and since my friend Jaime said she loves my blog, and I do aim to please! :)

So, I guess I can just give you a summary of my crazy life as of late. First, does everyone know that I'm walking in a 1/2 marathon in June? I'm doing it to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you want to donate, click here. I don't know how my friends talked me into this crazy idea. I have to raise $2900. And so far I only have $481. Yup, I know. That's not even close. I'm starting to get a little nervous.

This also means that we've been training, so that I can walk the 1/2 marathon. We did 6 miles last weekend after several weeks of not walking more than 1 mile. I came to several conclusions. First, I'm out of shape. Second, 13.1 miles is gonna SUCK. Third, I need new shoes in the next couple of weeks. More money. Yay.

Then we've been contemplating the next journey in fertility treatments. 'Nuf said.

I also decided to re-landscape my entire yard this spring/summer. Yes, I'm crazy. But I think we already knew that.

And last, I took a second job. I know, I know. I was only working 3 days a week. And this one is just 2 days each month, but holy cow! Last week I worked 4 days, and then on my only day off, I took my friends little girl to McDonald's for lunch and then we ran errands. All. Afternoon. Can you say exhausted?

Oh, and I had a dental nightmare 2 weeks ago as well to add to all the drama. You see, I broke my front tooth 7 or so years ago. They filled it in with composite to fix it. And subsequently I've had a root canal on it. Well, the devil himself (i.e. Cadbury eggs) did it in the other day. I bit down and the tooth broke. So, for 3 days in a row I got to visit the dentist: to get a temporary crown, to get my teeth bleached (so the new crown matches nicely) - which hurts like the dickins let me tell you, and to get a new temporary crown to match my new tooth color. Then I had to drive into Boise to get my tooth "matched" by the crown-making guy. And next week I should get my permanent crown. So, a million dental visits and a million dollar later....

So, as you can tell, things are a bit crazy. Now if I can just get my lazy butt up and clean the house!

I Give Up

Okay, what happened to all the time I used to have to blog and play around online? Why is my life so crazy and busy lately? I'm not really doing anything new. I don't think so, anyway. Things are pretty much same ol', same ol'. Yet somehow I SUCK at blogging right now. I promise I'll make a concerted effort. If I can ever think of anything to write about...