Komen Race for the Cure

We woke up early Saturday morning to join our friends to celebrate the life of Melissa, who died far too young from breast cancer. We beat our team fundraising goal for the year, and the weather was perfect. Micah enjoyed the walk and took a nice long nap in the middle. We were just impressed he was so pleasant after waking up 2 hours earlier than he normally does and being forced to wait 30 minutes to eat (we gave him a bottle on the trip down). Thanks to all who contributed to Melissa's Rainbows and the Komen Foundation! Your support means the world to us, and especially to Barry, Janet and Eric as they honor Melissa.

Brain Dump and a Hickey

It has been an insane week - no time to post! I think I will do a "hodge-podge" post today and try and catch you up on everything, including my new hickey. Yes, I said hickey.

Last night, I looked in the mirror, and there was a big giant mark on my chin. For the life of me, I could not figure out how it got there. I tried washing my face (hey, I've been busy - I thought perhaps I had dirt on my face, or a trail of chocolate) but the mark did not budge. I thought it over, and I decided that Micah must have accidentally head-butted me, and I simply forgot about it. Except the spot was not sore in the least, so I still had my doubts. Today, I was sitting here with Leslie, our organizer, and holding Micah while he stood on my lap. He leaned over, and decided to latch on my chin and start sucking like crazy. I started to laugh because I remembered that he spent all night on Wednesday doing the same thing...and I'm certain I have identified the source of my chin hickey. Micah is teething, and he was so fussy on Wednesday, and it seemed to be the only thing that was soothing him. Like every good mother, I just let him gnaw away on my chin because I'd really had enough of the fussing. I think I'll wear the hickey as a badge of honor - it should look great with my dress at the wedding on Saturday night.

Work has been crazy for me this week. I agreed to do an interview survey of 14 different AT projects enaged in the reutilization of assistive technology to look at their policies and procedures, help identify some best practices and make recommendations to improve their program. Each interview lasts 1 1/2 - 2 hours, and we have been trying to cram as many as possible in this week. On Monday, while Micah was in daycare, I did 3 interviews, another conference call, and tried to get some other work done. On Tuesday, our new babysitter, Christin, started work! My friend Niki recommended her - she is the daughter of one of Niki's friends. Her mom babysits for a few children on a regular basis, so Christin has had tons of experience working with babies. She was great with Micah, and it freed me up to do a few more interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday. I cut my day a bit short on Wednesday because Micah was a fuss-budget, and I was afraid of scaring Christin - I need her to keep coming back all summer while she is home from college! Thursday, Micah went to Christin's house - her mom wanted her home to help take care of the kids she was babysitting (Niki's children go there on Thursdays, and another neighborhood child, so it was a big giant playgroup) and they offered to have Micah join the fun. It worked out well, as I had 2 more phone interviews, a GE tech came to replace the microwave that caught fire two weeks ago, and the cleaning crew was here. I hope I presented an air of calm on my interviews despite the surrounding chaos. I was hoping Christin would return again today, but no such luck - she had other plans. She should be back on Tuesday again next week. Elliot covered Micah today while I did an interview this morning. He left for a meeting around 11:30, and I managed to sneak in 2 other conference calls while Micah napped. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Micah and trying to finish a few things around the house.

I am amazed by how much Micah is growing and developing. Over the past two days, he really seems to have mastered sitting. He is getting fairly steady and able to balance himself and play with toys while he is sitting. He continues to steadfastly refuse belly time or rolling from his back to belly, but it is obvious to me he is CAPABLE of rolling from back to belly. He loves to play with his toys, and we just figured out how to lower the jumperoo so that he can use that as well. He loves to be busy - he cannot sit still for too long! I've also noticed that he is starting to reduce his naps - he is only napping maybe 2x each day for 30 minutes or so lately. The past two days, he also slept until 9:00 am! I'm not certain if that is a good idea - I think he should wake up by 8 or 8:30, so I may have to nip this new habit in the bud.

Our food update - since Micah tried peas, he has also tasted avocado, green beans and squash. Tomorrow is day three of squash, and then we will move on to sweet potatoes. He loves eating. Last night, I was holding him while I went to get my own dinner, and he tried to grab the squash out of the fridge - it was clear he wanted more food. I made myself a bowl of cottage cheese, and he kept trying to eat it! He opened wide every time I had a spoonful that I brought towards my mouth, and started to cry when I would not share. I gave him a little extra squash to make him happy. Today, when he finished his squash and cereal, he was still hungry and kept grabbing at the spoon until I gave him more. Tomorrow we are going to try to increase to 3 tbs cereal and 3 tbs squash!

This weekend is going to be crazy busy. Tomorrow morning, we have the Komen Race for the Cure in the morning, and my cousin Jodi's wedding at night. On Sunday, we have plans to take Micah to the Mets game with Ken, Erica and their son Micah. The Micahs will be seeing their first baseball game together! My niece Peyton is also here until Thursday and staying with my parents, so we'd like to squeeze in a visit, too.

I'll update again after the weekend.

Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure

For the 5^th year, I am walking on Saturday in the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure with Team Melissa’s Rainbows, in honor of my friend Eric’s sister, Melissa, who died 5 years ago of breast cancer at age 32.  Each year, in addition to soliciting donations by email, Eric's wife Niki and I bake cookies to put out at her dental office.  Niki's patients have been quite generous over the past few years, helping us contribute hundreds of dollars to the cause.  In fact, last year I was at Niki's house baking cookies the day I discovered I was pregnant with Micah.

More than 50,000 people will all gather on the National Mall on June 6 to take a stand in the global movement to end breast cancer. Each year, up to 75 percent of the Komen Global Race's net income stays in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to fund local screening, treatment and education programs for the medically underserved. The remaining dollars support the Global Promise Fund, a program of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is dedicated to reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer mortality rates are the highest.

Over the past five years, our team has raised over $20,000 towards fighting breast cancer. I need your help to continue our goal of raising another $6,000 this year.  You can give online by clicking here to visit my personal fundraising webpage and make a donation.  Without a cure, an estimated 25 million women around the world will be diagnosed with breast cancer - and 10 million could die over the next 25 years. That's why I'm joining the fight. I hope that you'll support me.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

I'd rather strangle her than sing along

My playgroup decided to join a "Singalong with Karen" class on Thursdays.  This session is only 4 sessions in July, and it really is perfect.  I got a note from the other mommies this weekend confirming which class, so I went online to sign up last night (I was told by the other girls they had contacted Karen, let her know we were joining as a group, and we were all set).  When I got to the website, it said that there was a $15 late fee for registering after May 15.  I sent Karen a note saying that I was part of the group that contacted her, and since she just confirmed that the 10:30 class would be age appropriate for our group, I was ready to sign up.  She very politely responded and told me that she had a late fee policy, and it was unfortunate I did not contact her sooner.

I couldn't help myself.  The price per class session is about $15, so a $15 late fee is the cost of another session.  It isn't that I cannot afford the $15, but the principle of it was irritating me.  I sent her another note, again explaining that I DID contact her earlier as I was part of a group who initially contacted her in April.  Here was her response:

Hi, Jessica!
I'm delighted that you would like to join us, and I have a wonnnnderful Sizzling Summer '09 Session planned, too!  Everyone who you have named (except for one), is already is enrolled, and each enrolled individually (they rushed in their registrations).  It would be wonderful for the two of you to join us in our Thursday 10:30 class!

Please know that I always offer Early Bird Savings deadlines, and I've mentioned our next one is June 20th.  In fairness to everyone who has registered early to gain savings, I need to be consistent.  We still have room for you in our class, but there is a $15 late fee after May 15th.  (If it makes you feel better, I too am paying late fees for the camps I am placing my children in this summer, as I did not register them early on.)

I am holding your space through the end of this week to allow you ample time to mail in your summer registration.  As I'm sure you understand, I can only hold spaces for a few days.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  My best, :) Karen

I have to say, I'm annoyed.  I understand she has a late fee policy, but I do think that in this instance, she should waive it.  Especially since I am certain that several of the girls in the group registered late, but did not pay the late fee.  So, in fairness she really should waive the fee this one time.  In this economy, most people/places are just happy to fill spaces in their classes!  And to risk someone not enrolling over a $15 fee is ridiculous!  Especially with the word of mouth we could create.

So, now I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.  I think the $15 fee is outrageous, but Karen is clearly not going to waive it.  All of our other friends are going to be in this class, and I think it will be good for Micah.  So, it is a choice between standing on principle or doing something because it will be good for Micah.  I'm probably stuck paying the $15 because I do want to have Micah participate with his playgroup, but I can assure you I'm going to do everything in my power to convince the ladies not to enroll in another one of these classes next session since Karen was so uncooperative about this.  There are so many other teachers and classes, and I think any of them would be a better choice.

What would you do?  Am I being ridiculous about her attitude towards the late fee?

Shattered

As I often do, I managed to break another glass last night.  I think I need to buy an extra 18-32 glasses to keep in the basement so that I can be sure I'll have enough when we have a big dinner.  Do most people go through a few glasses each month?  Lately, I think I've been going through a few each week.  I think between the granite countertops and the hardwood floors, I'm breaking them more often. 

Without fail, I always break the glasses late at night, while I am barefoot, and the glass is ALWAYS full.  I went to refill my water glass last night, and I'm still not sure what happened . . . I think it must have committed suicide.  The glass just threw itself off of the ledge where it was resting.  Not surprisingly, it didn't just break, it SHATTERED.  The glass shards managed to cover a 4 mile radius, I think.  Okay, maybe only 15 feet, but still, I'm always impressed by how well glass travels.

So, here is how the cleanup routine happens.  First, the dog comes running, excited to try and eat all the glass on the floor.  Have you ever tried to fend off an eager dog while standing barefoot surrounded by glass?  It takes a special kind of talent.  Then, I need to obtain help because it is impossible to move when standing barefoot surrounded by millions of glass shards and restraining a dog.  Last night it was particularly challenging - have you ever tried to scream quietly upstairs for your husband's attention while the baby is asleep?  Yeah, not an easy accomplishment.  After I get Elliot to help, we have to figure out how to mop up the wet.  He likes to use dish towels, however, I prefer to use paper towels because of all the glass (I don't think it is a good idea to track glass through the house on the towels or put it through the washing machine).  We have an obligatory tiff about wasting paper and ruining the environment, and then he gets me the paper towels to clean up the water.  After picking up the few large shards, drying up the water and getting some shoes on, we usually attempt to vacuum up the glass.  The cleanup process took us 40 minutes last night!  We'll probably be finding glass shards for weeks to come . . . well, at least until the next glass I break. 

Have you ever noticed that some objects just want to be destroyed?  In college, I had bottles of nail polish that I swear used to jump off the shelf to their demise on a regular basis.  Have you ever had an object "commit suicide" on your watch?