Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for these words from Rolf Potts:

Despite several millennia of such warnings, however, there is still an overwhelming social compulsion – an insanity of consensus, if you will – to get rich from life rather than live richly, to “do well” in the world instead of living well. And, in spite of the fact that America is famous for its unhappy rich people, most of us remain convinced that just a little more money will set life right. In this way, the messianic metaphor of modern life becomes the lottery – that outside chance that the right odds will come together to liberate us from financial worries once and for all.

“Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing…”
– Walt Whitman, “Song of the Open Road”

Fortunately, we were all born with winning tickets – and cashing them in is a simple matter of altering our cadence as we walk through the world ... Money, of course, is still needed to survive, but time is what you need to live. So, save what little money you possess to meet basic survival requirements, but spend your time lavishly in order to create the life values that make the fire worth the candle.

And I'm really thankful for this thought, too:

“Very many people spend money in ways quite different from those that their natural tastes would enjoin, merely because the respect of their neighbors depends upon their possession of a good car and their ability to give good dinners. As a matter of fact, any man who can obviously afford a car but genuinely prefers travels or a good library will in the end be much more respected than if he behaved exactly like everyone else.”
– Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness  

What are you thankful for today?

I stink.

So much to share. So little time. I owe you all a huge apology for being delinquent on postings as of late.

Do you ever feel that life swoops in and sweeps you away? Not Calgon. Just plain life. Ee-gads, sometimes the ride is all upward climbs and dizziness.

So ... a quick update:

It looks like we swept the Dillons reusable bag contest for Kansas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO+HOOOO!!!!!! Way to go everyone for voting everyday! I was cheerfully neurotic about it. A friend in Colorado was voting once on her work computer and once on her home computer. Genius, that girl.

I'm not sure what this means, though, for the contest. There was another design in another state with a lot more votes. (Probably got in on the very first day, and they probably own a lot of different computers. ;)) We'll keep you posted on the final results. In any case, kind of got us going on a friendly competition streak, which is perfect for the upcoming ...

Golf tournament!! Don't forget: Saturday, August 7 at Sierra Hills Golf Club. You can register online here. It's one of the most affordable golf tournaments around, plus it all goes to fight brain cancer in babies! We're still in need of a few sponsors, too, so if you know of a business owner that would like some publicity and a couple free registrations, send 'em to Wendy at wendy@kyriefoundation.org.

Two fundraisers coming up in June! The first is a fashion show put on by Foggy Bottom Boutique, a great little shop to find gorgeous gowns and cute party clothes—the kind of dresses worn by Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and new American Idol star Crystal Bowersox!!!!

Foggy Bottom Boutique has generously offered to donate proceeds from their fashion show June 5, 2010 to The Kyrie Foundation!!!!! Wow!!!!! Show starts at 9:00 p.m. at Suede Lounge in Old Town. Light snacks included!

Next up, Friday June 11 at the Sedgwick County Extension Office is Blinging for Babies!!!!!!!! 

The wonderful Brittany West has organized a blitzed-out, super-mega-blast Premier Jewelry party where 100% of the proceeds go to The Kyrie Foundation!!!!! That means everything you buy (think about upcoming birthdays, special occasions and Christmas now!) goes to fighting brain cancer!!!

The event just runs from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.—perfect to stop by on your way home from work or on your way out for the evening. Want to invite your BFFs? Click here to download the above PDF to send as an invite via e-mail!

More new news on Friday! Stay tuned!

Last day to VOTE + request + update.

Okay, it's the very last day to vote for  
The Kyrie Foundation's Dillon's bag design!
Just click here. You don't need to sign up or anything. Takes 10 seconds!

And ... we have another prayer request that hits close to home. Remember Kathi? Remember how she generously gave us her birthday? Can you believe that? Well, Kathi's little nephew Elliot in Nebraska has been diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumor. So if you can spare a prayer, this family would really appreciate it.

From Kathi:

Elliott was born with Spina Bifida (sp?) and has had MANY surgeries already during his young life, and that was before the cancer diagnosis.  He is an amazing little boy with his positive spirit and endurance. This family has gone through so much more than any one family should have to endure, yet they are taking this all in such a positive manner. I know they would appreciate all the support and prayers.

You can follow his story on Facebook. If you're in Lincoln, NE, there is a carnival fundraiser for him this weekend. Pass it on!

A couple of you asked how the Goddard family is doing in the days since the big fundraiser. Here is a brief report from our friend Jamie:

They’re doing well.  Still lots of days of missing Roger, of course.

Maryanne’s pathology report, unfortunately, showed the tumor was malignant.  She has to wait for her head to heal up completely from her last surgery before they will start the chemo/radiation radiation treatment.  I know that she has an appointment with her oncologist this afternoon, so she’ll likely find out more soon.

The younger kids have all finished school for the year and the I think the older girls finish this week too.  They are looking forward to some family time and have a few fun things on tap for the summer.

For a variety of reasons, the house situation isn’t going to work out and so Maryanne is currently looking for something else.  Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot that fits their needs/is big enough (considering it’s her and 6 kids) in the area where she wants to stay.  They may have to rent or something for a while until a home becomes available.  She’s currently looking into several options.  

Get ready for next week, too. Lotsa stuff to talk about!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for focus. I suppose that's a really, really boring thing for which to be thankful. This gift isn't very exciting, is it? Compared to the Grand Canyon or seeing the ballet at the Met or babies waiting to be born,  the ability to focus probably isn't even in the top 100. However, I'm thankful for the humble gift of focus because it's what I crave most amidst chaos, it's what is most absent in our days, our lives. Would you agree?

This idea of "focus" really is the baseline for all those little adages, gift books and affirmative Hallmark cards that encourage us to "live in the moment," "carpe diem," blah, blah, blah. The problem with those platitudes is that they never tell us how. How do we get more out of life? How do we love better? How do we do better?

I say, focus.

Concentrate. Really center on what matters. Think about who it is you want to be and then behave accordingly. Easier said than done, I know. Children, jobs, bosses, dinner, ball games, birthdays, meetings, parents, projects, promises, bills—everybody wants something from you, right? For me, I feel a little like Stretch Armstrong. Too many pulls, too much running, too much of too much. 2009 was fraught with me trying so hard to protect a little corner of my life with calm that I was frustrated 24/7. So my 2010 is about rolling with it, whatever, cram it in, deplete me, I can't win. ;)

Sometimes I daydream about having my life being devoted to gardening--only gardening. All I would need to think about is tending to little herbs, flowers and strawberry plants and sharing them with others. Sometimes I think about Helen Keller, a world where buzz, hype, celebrity, Twitter, fashion trends, network news is all turned off. I think about Einstein devoted to his inventions, creating wonders while everyone else is asleep. I think about monks who take a vow of silence. Oh, the thoughts that could be thunk in sweet peace & quiet.

I rarely listen to the radio in my car anymore. Overloaded. So now I take the time in the car to focus on driving—staying alive amid all the texting drivers!—and it's saved my live a time or two already. Very thankful for that. I'm thankful for you focusing long enough to make it to the end of this post. Hooray! That's no small achievement and I really mean that.

What are you thankful for today?

p.s. DON'T FORGET: Only 2 more days to vote on The Kyrie Foundation Dillon's bag!! Pass it on!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for what you're thankful for. How's that for gratitude?! ;)

We started Thankful Thursdays way back before we knew how things would go with Kyrie. It was one teeny, tiny way to feel good about something—anything—in the midst of mind-blowing despair & confusion. There have been moments when I've been thrilled to be thankful for the mundane, like being grateful for elastic, for pumpkins, for umbrellas. I've felt gratitude for divine product development, like the sun, clean air, landscapes, sunsets and, of course, butterflies. Stuff like love, friendship, family and support still gob-smack me. I'm stupefied often at your generosity with us, with each other. Always grateful for evidence of that.

So ... here's another opportunity to invite friends into this group of givers we know as The Kyrie Foundation during our Friendraiser Month: ask 'em to tell us what they're grateful for here in the comments. Or, if they'd rather e-mail me with their grateful items, I'll post for them.

 It's so much more fun to hear from you all. I'm thank for that today, too.

What are you thankful for today?

Keep on voting!

Don't forget you can vote once a day, every day, until May 21!  So let's keep it going! Currently we're doing great for our state but need a big jump to get in the top three for the entire contest.

So we're hoping you'll invite your friends to vote here once a day EVERY DAY until May 21, 2010. You don't even have to sign up, which means you don't have to give 'em your e-mail, log in, blah, blah, blah. You just click to vote, retype the code so they know you're a real person not spam and then ta-da! You've voted! Takes about 3 seconds.

And ... we're up to 40 followers over there on the right--woo-hoo!! THANK YOU!! Remember May is our Friend-raiser month. Why? Because it's Brain Cancer Awareness Month, too. The more people you tell about The Kyrie Foundation the more awareness is raised. The more awareness we have, the more people will be inclined to support the work. More support means more funding. More funding means more research. More research mean A CURE!!!!

For us, "awareness" isn't just a marketing buzzword. It's real. It's you. It's me. It's this blog. And it's our conversation about this disease and what we're going to do about it. One thing we're going to do today? Vote for the bag! ;)

Friendraiser 2010!!!!!!!!

Okay, here's the scoop: This month, May 2010, we're going to challenge ourselves to raise some friends for The Kyrie Foundation!!!!

Over the past two years, we done our share of fund-raising, but this is different because a) it's free! and b) it's all about your favorite peeps coming to show solidarity with you for saving babies' brains from cancer.

And ... as we go forward and seek support from companies and businesses throughout the year, they often check us out online, looking to see if people really care about us. For a business, they know a cause like ours is important enough to support and the support is a tax write-off, but ultimately they need potential customers to know that their business supports doing good, too ... because that means you'll patron their business when the need arises. It's this Circle of Support, us > you > them > children > families > us > you ...

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to raise our blog followers over there to right to 100! AND to raise our Facebook friends to 1,000! You can track our progress just by checking in and looking at the numbers.

Think we can do it??? Let's give it a go! Invite your friends to be our friends! Share the link to the blog! Tell 'em about Goodsearch/Goodshop! Send us photos/stories about your friends and we'll post why they mean so much to you!