We have a WINNER!!!

Sam "I am a mother of 2 girls and 1 boy! I spend my days packing lunches and sliding down slides!" is the winner. I don't know you but I'm sure we're best friends. Email me your address and I'll send you your loot!!

shel7by at mac dot com

Thanks to everyone who donated! We're almost there! It is so awesome to see everyone rally together for this great cause. Maybe somebody else won't have to go through the yuck that is Lymphoma because of the research that will be done with all this money.

Spring Forward

I love Spring. I HATE "spring forward". We're almost two weeks into it and I still can't wake up. Every morning I fight to get out of bed and when i succeed, I turn around only to see Sleep sitting on my bed like a toddler screaming with his arms outstretched - begging me to return. I don't make my bed and I tell him I'll be right back - just as soon as I get the kids of to school... well, and get some laundry going. Also, I HAVE to check my email and go to the Mafia Wars bank (don't ask). I better clean up breakfast, too, while I'm up. Change some poopy pants. And draw some fleurs for some new Bazzill paper...

By the time I get back to my room, Sleep has cried himself into a sleep of his own. It wouldn't do me any good to cuddle with him now. He'd just ignore me.

Stupid spring forward. It's your fault Sleep and I aren't getting along.

Great Big Bazzill Giveaway EXTENDED!!!

Wahoo! We're extending the giveaway ONE MORE WEEK. Please reply to the previous giveaway post after donating. 

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today my dad would have been 62 years old.

Sometimes I let this day come and go and try to be as normal and fine as I can. Usually, then when the day is over I sit down and wrap my hands around my knees in a shadowy corner of my heart and rock myself to sleep saying,"It's ok. It's how it was supposed to be. Don't be sad. You'll see him again one day. He knows you still. He knows Jaymee. He loves your kids." I try not to remember that sometimes I forget. It feels better to forget that you're forgetting certain mannerisms or what he liked to eat.

I have been missing him so much lately. He's been in my dreams and in my awake-time dreams, too. I try to imagine what we'd say to each other. What I'd want to tell him or show him. I feel like I'm more like him now than I was when he was here and we'd get along so well. Boy, would we be mad at Obama. And he'd have my same 44oz diet dr pepper with vanilla (easy ice) at Sonic. I'd probably tease him a little about how I didn't quit my chemo and he did. But then he'd remind me that he still worked the whole time and I'd shut up real fast. He'd do a lot of graphic design with me. It would have suited him perfectly. The blending of art and technology. Technology was his favorite color. Although, if you asked him, he'd say,"sky-blue yellow". I remember that.

So today, I decided instead of just getting by, I thought I'd remember. I did things I thought he would have enjoyed doing with me. I went to Sonic, test drove some cool cars and found some jewelry for my girls. It was plastic, but it was jewelry and I gave it to them from their Grandpa Ron. A few days ago when I was cleaning out our basement (he wouldn't have enjoyed that) I opened boxes that I never opened the last time we moved and found a tape he made for us just before he died. It had Father's Blessings and then on the other side, him talking to his best friend Bob Weaver about my mom and each of us and what his hopes and thoughts were. It's very sweet. I haven't listened to it for about 10 years. I thought it was lost. I located a tape player - seriously, I had to call around... no tape players anymore??? Then I bought a bunch of my dad's favorite treats - circus peanuts, ginger snaps, etc. and my kids and I sprawled out on the floor watching the ceiling, eating treats and listening to him talk. Even though I was 17 when he recorded it, it's still pretty accurate. He knew me well.

Camryn said she was sad he died. I'm certainly happy he lived and I got to be a part of it.

P.S. If you're sick of looking for a great present for my dad on his 60th birthday, how about donating to our Stop It  Run next month? Just a thought...

the GREAT BIG Bazzill Basics GIVEAWAY!!!

I never promised myself I'd never do a blog giveaway. Thank goodness.

If you look at my blog, you'd think all I do is have cancer, travel, run and play on frozen lakes. That's true, but occasionally I like to work full-time for Bazzill Basics Paper as a designer. I design their catalogs, advertising, packaging, idea books and posters for their kids school projects. Over the years, I have started "accumulating" (hoarding is a strong, ugly word) Bazzill products. I have been selfish with my Bazzill. It's a mystery to me why I cannot part with it. I don't scrapbook. I just love it. I love it so much that I gingerly put it in a closet and in boxes in the basement.

THEREFORE, ere go, heretofore I have decided to pry some of it from my supple, model-like hands. For you, but mostly for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That's right, I'm still at the begging for money thing. Everyone who has donated is eligible to enter. After you have donated to our run, leave a comment on this entry for a chance to win:

• 37 YARDS(ish) (one yard of each) of ALL BAZZILL BASICS RIBBON!!! That's a lot of giant bows you could make for tiny baby heads.
  
• (70) 8.5x11 textured Bazzill Cardstock in about 70 colors and varying textures
  
• (20) 12x12 textured Bazzill Cardstock - including some "bling" paper
• (2) 15-sheet DOTTED SWISS multipacks - have you seen this? So cute. Reminds me of the dress my mom made me... and the dress your mom made you when we were little.
• A 25-sheet 12x12 Monochomatic green multipack
• A 15-sheet 12x12 Mono Trio Forget-Me-Not multipack
• A 25-sheet Places We Love multipack
• A 25-sheet 8x8 Monochromatic yellow multipack
• A 25 8.5x5.5 Places We Love scrap pack
• A Places We Love idea book
• A 8x8 post-bound album
• A 12x6 tall post-bound album
• A Bitty Blossoms Garden Mix jar of blossoms
• Assorted brads, boshers (I don't know either), buttons, etc.

And MORE! Please keep in mind that this is a shelby-sponsored event and not a Bazzill-sponsored event. Therefore, some packaging might be first generation, etc. I hope maybe this is what you were waiting for... go donate and enter TODAY!! I'll do the drawing in a very scientific way SUNDAY, MARCH 15 at 7pm. Good Luck!

DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, THIS GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL MARCH 22 AT 7PM. THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SITES HAVE BEEN ACTING UP LATELY. PLEASE KEEP TRYNG. IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEND A CHECK, MAKE IT OUT TO THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY AND SEND IT TO:

MELANIE W.

14409 W Maui Lane

Surprise, AZ

85379

Karli's Dream

Karli is practically one of my kids. (She would BE one of my kids if her family wasn't so selfish.) She is such a quirky, funny girl. When she first started coming over (when she was three) she would tell me stories of her sister "sheila" who was very unlucky. She was constantly falling off the roof or getting hit by cars. Eventually it was too much for her mom and she was forced to sell her. It was all very sad. One time Karli went into her parents' room in the middle of the night to tell them of the best dream she ever had where she was "playing at Camryn's and [they] never came to pick her up!" I know you have all had similar dreams.

So recently Karli dreamed a new dream. In that dream, she was picking her nose. She pulled out a big booger that was the shape of a dog. It was SO CUTE. She played with it all day. They had a tea party and when night came, she put her booger dog to bed. THE END.

P.s. you can still donate to our run - THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT HAS!!!! I'M AMAZED and humbled. You are all so nice:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/cmc09/mwellmaduz