A Thankful Thursday way to help!

Today, once again, I'm thankful for all the creative ways Susan Jae & Rita have imagined to help. And once again, they're inviting you to be a part of their wonderful idea ...

Rita & Susan Jae have been cleaning out their closets!
AND now…
my mom has lost almost 50 lbs and is gettin' rid of her CLOTHES too!!

It may be fun to lose weight, but what do you do with all of the clothes that no longer fit?!

GIVE THEM AWAY!

FREE…but with a catch!! :-)

All we ask for is a "donation" towards our Annual Kyrie EASTER Trip to Wesley Hospital Pediatric / PICU Floor!

Cash - New Toys - Color Books - Crayons - Games - Craft Kits

(Even just $1.00 per item…towards "Easter Bunny" & "Eggbert's" trip would be GREAT!)

IF you are interested in looking and trying on…let me know!

WEDNESDAY - MARCH 3, 2010

5:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Ladies: XL - XXL - XXXL - XXXXL
16 - 18 - 20 - 22 - 24 - 26

Misc. - Blouses - Shirts - Dresses - Skirts - Jeans - Slacks - Pants - Shorts - Capri's

A little bit of EVERYTHING!
A variety of styles!!

BRING A FRIEND!!!

Contact me ASAP if you would like to come over.
susaneckel@shelleyelectric.com or 316-213-7490!

A quick & free way to help!

So many of you have seen our connection to iGive and to GoodShop here and on our site. Today—for the next 24 hours starting at noon—you could help earn dollars to fight pediatric brain cancer by just looking around at iGive's shops (which are really the retail sites you already browse). Here's what they sent us about this 24-hour fundraiser ...

It's "go" for iGive's 24 hour/$5,000 challenge. This means The Kyrie Foundation has 24 hours to raise up to $5,000, just through your supporters joining iGive and visiting an iGive store.

We'll give The Kyrie Foundation one dollar for each person who joins iGive (for the first time) using the special link below and who visits a store via iGive.com. The challenge officially starts at noon, February 24, 2010 (CST) and ends at noon, February 25, 2010 (or when we've given away $5,000, whichever comes first.)

It's a bit of race--that $5,000 limit is for all causes, not just The Kyrie Foundation. So, when iGive gets 5,000 new members from all causes that are participating, the challenge is over.

This is the link:
http://www.igive.com/welcome/warm_reg_promo.cfm?c=42239

Joining and visiting a store is quick, free and easy. No purchase necessary.

The only way The Kyrie Foundation will get new supporters and that free $1 (or more) is if you invite them. Send your friends, family, and colleagues the following link in an e-mail, tweet it, chirp it, do a Facebook posting, put up posters, shout from mountain tops and let them know you think The Kyrie Foundation is pretty cool and deserves their support, especially since it's free! You can even just forward this post.

If these new members search (or buy something at an iGive store) they'll earn even more money for The Kyrie Foundation. We're donating a bonus $5 for that first purchase plus the usual percentage on shopping.

The details:
- Offer active between 12:00 p.m. February 24, 2010 and 11:59 a.m., February 25, 2010 (CST).
- New members only (never have been an iGive member previously). All the normal rules of membership, searching, and purchasing apply, our site has the details. For instance, you can't sign up somebody, they have to do it themselves.
- Once we've given away $5,000 in total, the offer ends.
- The special link AND visiting a store via iGive are necessary. No link, no store visit, no $1.

So if you haven't joined iGive yet, now's the time!

Repeat after me ...

Can't recall where in the web I found this, but it's nice. Reminds us to keep going, keep caring, keep hoping, keep praying, keep do-gooding.

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for fortitude, that second strength that props us, propels us forward when all seems lost. I'm thankful for that blind conviction to carry on, to endure long-suffering. It isn't fair, necessarily to be "blessed" with fortitude, as if somehow your burdens get to be more severe or more frequent because you are able to "handle" it. (And we know how I feel about that terrible platitude: "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle.") But it is a small comfort to be buoyed by something more than that other terrible platitude: "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Today I urge to you continue praying for Kate McRae and her family. Yesterday she received her own stem cells back into her body in an effort to fight the same kind of brain cancer Kyrie suffered. For Kyrie, this kind of treatment wasn't even an option. The cancer was just too fast, and she was too young for us to even get to this kind of opportunity.

If you read a few days back on Kate's mom's posts, you'll learn of some of the complications that come with the mere attempt to treat pediatric brain cancer. ***That's one of the things that makes brain cancer more devastating than others: the treatment alone could kill or permanently handicap your child because you're dealing with the brain.*** Growth, cognitive skills, coordination, organ function, motor skills—it's all up for grabs with this cancer. Plus, as in Kate's situation, she would normally be in kindergarten, learning, growing, playing, socializing. Those things, too, are never taken for granted in this situation.

Fortitude to face this kind of day. Fortitude to continue on this journey. Fortitude to see it through. Fortitude to keep working for a cure.

What are you thankful for today?

Day 1 of 40.

Today marks the beginning of what Christians honor as Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. It's a self-imposed time of self-analysis and self-sacrifice. Last night, depending on your geographic coordinates and cultural mores, you may have indulged in a Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday last hurrah: a decadent fudge brownie sundae, a lazy night of brainless TV or a blitz at a fav retailer. A deliberate binge to linger in your memory and last you to April.

We observe Lent in our house, and for the past several years, it has been a surprisingly beautiful time of improvement, of goodness. I can't always say that though. As a child, it felt like punishment. How many 7th graders are suffering in the fiery furnace for accidentally eating a bite of bacon? What if the only food left on earth was meat-how could God get mad at me for that? Even now, I hear adults reiterate this child view of the guilt-laden, religious torture it is to forgo pepperoni pizza on Fridays. Oh, the suffering. ;)

Of course, it's not about fish o'filet sandwiches on Fridays. More high-minded than a New Year's resolution, the idea is to sacrifice a pleasure or vice or to go above & beyond in some way for 40 days. For believers, this endeavor inflicts a fraction of a miniscule of a skosh of what it is to imitate Christ's fortitude against temptation for the 40 days leading up to the resurrection. For others, it is an exercise of Socratic analysis and the application of nearly every self-help book at Barnes & Noble.

Make no mistake, making a pledge like this is scary. It's scary because is asks something of us. It's scary because as soon as we make this promise, temptation comes like a plague of Kansas grasshoppers. Give up gossiping, and someone will call you every afternoon with new "news." Give $20 a week to a charity, and you'll receive an unexpected bill in the mail. Give more patience, that person will irk you in brand new ways.

The pledge, however, engages the decision-making part of our brains with a calm and reassuring refrain to remind us, that "giving" something up or "giving" something more celebrates the act of giving in a supremely heightened state. It's Christmas, without the wrapping paper. It's Random Acts of Kindness Day times 40. It's philanthropy that comes from the inside out rather than the outside in. Your pledge may improve your time here on Earth, your home life, your body, your relationships, your world—what an incredible way to spend the next 40 days.

Until next week ...

Must be off for a couple of days due to work travel, but that doesn't mean I won't be making notes for 2010 in that pink notebook on the plane. Our lovely holiday season and hibernation of January has given way, once again, to a to-do list a mile long. But that's okay, in fact, that's good. Doing is more useful than not doing. ;)

Until next week:

Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Poet

A valentine gift idea.

So if you're ruminating this week over tokens of affections, we have a Valentine's Day gift list to suggest!

1. Need to drop a gift hint for Prince Charming? Instead of expensive chocolate or champagne, how about he reserve a seat for you for the Kyrie Krop 2010? A full & lovely day of creativity and camaraderie, a massage therapist on hand, a little shopping, cool tunes, freebies—now that's some love.

2. To the heart through the stomach. How about a The Kyrie Foundation cookbook for your daughter in her new apartment, your sister a coupla states away or for the teacher who goes the extra mile for your kiddo?

3. Budget-friendly bling. The Kyrie Foundation bracelet collection is a simple, beautiful way to share the love. Each bracelet comes with Kyrie's story, and you get your choice of different styles or a "mommy & me" set—hey, a gift for your wife and little daughter.

4. Sealed with a cyber kiss. If you're purchasing a gift online, why not go through GoodShop or iGive? Free, easy way to shop your favorite stores, and a portion of your spending goes to fight this cancer. Fantastic!