favorite thing friday (& KitchenAid giveaway!)

I've written on more than one occasion about our family's ancient O'Henry Bar recipe. When I went back to search for my original O'Henry Bar post, I found that after I wrote that first O'Henry Bar entry, a mere four months after starting my blog, I have made reference to O'Henry Bars on at least 40 other occasions. If that doesn't border on obsessive, I don't know what does.

Suffice to say, I love O'Henry Bars.

Everyone in my family loves O'Henry Bars. Although seeing as other members of my family also have an insatiable appetite for sweet things, it's really no surprise. (For example, here's a link to my cousin Anne Marie's new baking blog. Once I caught a glimpse of the baked goodness that she was capable of creating, my desire to move back to Massachusetts and live next door to her, went up ten-fold.)

For that matter: everyone I've ever met in my entire life - who does not have an allergic reaction to peanuts or chocolate and is not crazy - loves O'Henry Bars.

This oatmeal, chocolate and peanut butter treat from heaven, is such a part of my heritage, such a part of who I am, that my son is named after them.

(Seriously, it's true.)

Although I've written about O'Henry Bars before and have provided basic instructions on how one might set about cooking up a batch, I have never posted a visual on how these bars are made. And based on some of the feedback that I have received over the past three years, I think a tutorial might be useful, if not downright necessary.

I would like to apologize in advance for the increase to your waist size that this recipe may precipitate. However, it may also serve as a great opportunity for you to embark upon a fitness program that you've been putting off. So with that introduction, here's to your health!

To make O'Henry Bars, you will need:
1 stick butter
¾ cup brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
4 cup oatmeal
¾ cup Karo syrup
Up to 2 cups of chocolate chips
Up to 2 cups of peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

** Warning: Small helpers are useful and fun to have around, although they will rapidly diminish your chocolate chip supply if left unguarded.**

In a large mixing bowl - or preferably, KitchenAid mixer - add a stick of butter.


Then add in ¾ cup of brown sugar.


Add in your 3 teaspoons of vanilla - but beware that if your small helper assisted you with adding the aforementioned stick of butter, their little hands might be especially slick and you may lose your measuring device. Fear not. Just fish it out.


Add four cups of oatmeal.

One cup ...


Two cups ...

Three cups...


Four cups.


Now, you'll need to add ¾ of a cup of Karo syrup. But if you are anything like me, you will just pour that Karo Syrup directly in to your mixing bowl because you can never get all the Karo out of your measuring cup, or off your spoon, and this way - you save yourself something to wash.

(Notice the pink breast cancer ribbon. Making O'Henry Bars is helping to raise money for cancer research. Could I just bake for a cure instead of run for a cure?)

Grab a spoon and start stirring.

Or, turn on your KitchenAid mixer and let it work it's magic.


Once everything has been thoroughly mixed, pour (dump?) this concoction on to a rimmed un-greased cookie sheet. Then, using a spatula - or a spoon - or your hands, begin the process of spreading the oatmeal base. Because of the Karo, you might find that the oatmeal base is very difficult to distribute and sticks to everything.

I have found that it helps the spreading process significantly, if you frequently dip your spatula (or spoon, or hands) in to a small bowl of water. You don't want too much water on your spreading utensil, but just enough so that it's not as sticky.


Continue the spreading process until every square inch of your ungreased cookie sheet is covered with the oatmeal base.

It should look like this.

Although, it might look like this if you decide to taste the oatmeal base.


Or like this if you determine WOW that is good.

But before you place your cookie sheet in to a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes (not a minute less, not a minute more), you'll want to be sure that there are no gobs of oatmeal base missing.

Once your base is evenly distributed, place it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 (TEN) minutes, maximum. Do not overcook these or they will be way too hard and might break your teeth. When the bars are done, remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool.


Now. In a saucepan, mix together approximately 1 cup of chocolate chips ...


With approximately one cup of peanut butter.

I'd like to add in here, that much like the Karo Syrup issue above, I do not measure out the exact quantity of peanut butter because a precise measurement is too difficult to accurately gauge. So, I just ration out what I believe to be approximately one cup of peanut butter.

Then you'll turn the stove on low, and while continuously stirring, let the peanut butter and chocolate chips INFUSE together.

Oh! Dear! God!


My heart is skipping out of my chest just looking at this picture.


As for me, I test the peanut butter / chocolate chip mixture pretty frequently and prefer it to be a little more peanut-buttery.

(Oh, and notice my saucepan? That was a gift from my sister Beth the year I moved away to college. I think she picked up an entire set of Faberware at Filene's Basement in the late 70's. Thirty years later, they still work great. Thanks again, Beth!!)

Once your peanut butter / chocolate ratio is just where you want it, pour the mixture over your cooled oatmeal base.

Then, using a spatula - or spoon - but preferably not your hands, begin the process of evenly distributing the chocolate topping.

When completed, your cookie sheet should look something like this. Notice there are no divets or obvious undulations to indicate that I ate half of the uncooked base.

You will then want to put your cookie sheet in to the refrigerator to cool. Typically, it takes at least an hour before they are ready to be cut up in to squares, although, I have witnessed people diving in to a tray of not-fully-cooled O'Henry Bars after less than 10 minutes of refrigerator time.

OK. Fine. It was me.

I would really love to show you what a picture of the finished bars looks like, but alas, as I was standing up from taking the picture directly above, I fumbled my Nikon SLR and it landed on our tile floor with a CRASH. This is the last picture that was snapped off a millisecond before my LENS broke off the camera. And trust me, if it wasn't for a tray of O'Henry bars in the refrigerator right now, I would still be crying.


The purpose of this Favorite Thing Friday post is two-fold.

First, to share with the world one of my favorite recipes. Second, to share with the world that one of my favorite kitchen appliances is my KitchenAid mixer.

We bought our KitchenAid a week before our triplets turned one. Up until that time, I could never rationalize why we needed one of these professional mixers that grace the kitchens of people who actually know how to cook. Sure, I would have loved to have owned a KitchenAid, but they are rather pricey and I had never been terribly opposed to mixing things the good old fashioned way. Mostly because I didn't KNOW better.

But when Charlie had decided that he was going to bake his family's ancient tradition five-tiered, one-year birthday cake for our children, we were told that in order to make the batter, we would absolutely, positively need a large capacity KitchenAid mixer.


We also needed specially sized baking pans and a host of cooking supplies and ingredients that I thought for sure we'd never use again.

Unless of course we had another baby. Which lo and behold we did, but due to our being on a huge road trip, three thousand miles from home when our baby turned one, he shared a sheet cake with his grandmother, that was decorated in patriotic colors.

So we bought a KitchenAid and four years later, I cannot imagine my life without it.

And whenever I was directed to this post yesterday on the King Arthur Flour website (thanks Amanda) I jumped out of my seat with joy. LOOK!! Here's one more thing I can make with my KitchenAid!! (And one more reason I must NEVER stop running.)

Do you like it?

Do you want one?

Now that Charlie and I have reached our fundraising minimums (or will once the bundle of checks we've received are deposited), for a minimum $5.00 online donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Margaret and a comment left on THIS post, you will be entered in to a raffle to win a KitchenAid Artisan Series mixer, in your choice of color. (If you donate $10.00 you will be entered twice; $20.00 four times and so on.) If you select pink, KitchenAid will make an additional $50.00 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer fund.

The retail value of this mixer is $350.00.


But for a minimum $5.00 donation, you can enter this contest to win one.

Your donation is 100% tax deductible.

Your donation is fueling research for a cure.

And seeing as the most recent update from Deana indicates that the newest round of "emerging" treatment that she has been receiving is having a dramatic effect against her highly aggressive cancer, your donation will help someone live a longer life. I can't think of anything more awesome than Deana winning this fight and watching those two beautiful little boys grow up.

If you have concerns with donating on line, you can write a check made payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and mail your donation to:

The Amazing Trip to Cure Cancer
2220 Otay Lakes Road
Suite 502, PMB #99
Chula Vista, CA 91915

However, if you chose to donate online, please add KA next to your name so that is clearly visible.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 1.

*******

Please for the love of all that is good and right, help us spread the word. It is our goal to not only reach our fundraising minimums but to EXCEED them. By forwarding the link to this post to anyone you know who doesn't have a KitchenAid mixer but sure would like one, you will earn yourself a special place in the heart of anyone who has been touched by cancer.

OK, ready ... set ... GO!

This concludes the longest post I have ever written. Now, I'm off to eat an O'Henry bar and mourn the loss of my lens.

what's in you wednesday

Oh, hey there!


How are you doing?

Me?

I'm great!

Other than my running has taken a total skid and I've been living off a diet of frozen pizza, bagged salad, Ginger Ale and chocolate chip cookies. But whatever. I figure everyone is entitled to a week or so of nothing but junk food and severe inactivity.

Sadly, the one real meal that I made this week, (french toast and tofu sausage) was put on a plate and stuck in the oven to be kept warm and enjoyed after I took a shower. But I've had so much on my mind that I completely forgot about it until two days later when I opened the oven to stick in yet another sheet of cookies.

What happened?

Why the loss of momentum?

I'm not really sure.

Everyone in our household is sick with a cold. Children are sleeping even less than they normally do and, they've gotten in to this tricky habit of taking off their night time diapers in the middle of the night and since they don't yet know how to wake up to use the toilet ... we have been awoken from a sound sleep on more than one occasion by howls of, "I AM SOAKED!"

Followed by, "I AM, TOO!"

Followed by, "I AM, TOO!"

Followed by a baby that screams, "MAMAMAMA!!! APPWLES!!!"

Work has been a little crazy. There is a lot of discussion over a possible relocation and lots of soul searching as to what we need and want to do. The relocation wouldn't be to the northeast. It would be to Texas. Houston to be exact. This coming summer. Circa July.

Isn't that the equivalent of moving to Alaska in January?

I tried to go running on Thursday of last week and I could only run for two minutes before stopping to walk. After starting and stopping, I would set my sights on something like a stop sign a few hundred yards ahead and think, "I'll make it to that sign and then I can walk." But I'd start running and only cover a distance of about 10 feet before having to stop again.

It seriously took every ounce of my strength to not lay down on the ground and draft a note for those who found me.

My legs were lead.

On Saturday, Charlie and I drove out to meet our Team In Training group for the eight-mile run. And for the record, the acronym for Team In Training is T-N-T.

(Whenever Charlie read on someone's blog [who shall remain nameless] about training for a T-I-T endeavor, he fell in to a laughing fit so badly I thought he was going to stop breathing.)

As it turns out, we were an hour and a half late. And even though we still could have done the run, we took one look at the hilly course, and the rising sun, and the two double strollers that we needed to push and we decided that a morning spent at IHOP sounded like a much better proposal. So that's just what we did.

Heck yeah I'll take a Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity!

Today, I was thinking that perhaps the reason I have been feeling so tired is because I have almost completely cut meat out of my diet the past six months and my body is in dire need of protein. So for the next few days I am going to eat nothing but steak (and peanut butter cups) and we'll see how that helps.

Oh and yesterday?

I met with a podiatrist who gave me a pair of inserts for my running shoes and told me that if those don't work with my feet falling asleep, he wants to schedule an angiogram and MRI.

Hot diggity!

Cookie anyone?

Now I know you didn't come here to hear me complain. Unless you enjoy seeing someone who feels like they are getting run over by the train of life.

So now I want to share some awesome news about Deana.

Today, she wrote on her CaringBridge site that the doctors have told her the chemo seems to be working. Two weeks ago, Deana was told by her doctors in California that she had a few weeks left to live and she needed to call in Hospice. And now, her doctors in Texas are telling her that she may be released as soon as Friday or Saturday as an outpatient. Granted, Deana still has a long road ahead of her ... but for now ... the chemo seems to be working.

Can I get a Hallelujah?!

Charlie, Margaret and I will finish the 26.2 miles. As for me, personally, I might walk 25 of those miles, but I will cross the finish line. All three of us will also meet our minimum fundraising goals, and hopefully, exceed them by at least a thousand or two.

When I met my fundraising minimum last week, I received a (form) e-mail from the President of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in which I learned that since its founding in 1949, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has invested more than $600 million in blood cancer research.

They have funded more blood cancer research than all other voluntary agencies combined.

They have been directly responsible for developing Gleevec, a pill for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). Now, more than 95 percent of newly diagnosed CML patients survive more than five years with a good quality of life. AND, they were instrumental in the development of Velcade, the first new treatment in more than a decade to be approved for patients with multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma.

This is the exact reason we are participating in this marathon.

This is the exact reason we are raising money for research.

Because RESEARCH leads to DEVELOPMENT of new MEDICATIONS that SAVE lives.

Can I get a Hallelujah?!

So even though I have legs of lead and my doctor thinks that I have a circulatory problem within my calves that may require surgery, and we have four-year-old triplets and a one-year-old toddler and we both work and we don't sleep nearly as much as we'd like and yada, yada, yada ... we are so PUMPED to be doing exactly what it is that we are doing.

Infact, I am planning to compete in the Ovarian Cancer Research triathlon in October and in November, I am planning to complete the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk. (Provided of course we don't move to Texas in the middle of July.) I'm currently in the process of pulling together a walk team and thus far, I have three people who have said they would walk with me.

Granted, two of them had consumed two cocktails when they accepted the invitation ... but I'm sure they'll be out there with me.

Right, Jessica and Jeanmarie?

And Debbie? I'm expecting you out there, too.

And Lorie. You're not getting out of THIS one.

Do you live in southern California and want to walk with us?

OK then, you're invited.

I don't know how exactly I am going to do it, without giving away the farm, but my lofty goal is to help raise $50,000.00 this year for cancer research. As of today, between Margaret, Charlie and I, we have raised over $6,000.00 (not shown on our fundraising pages are several checks that need to be deposited in to our accounts).

So that leaves $44,000.00.

Have you bid yet on the Melissa & Doug easel?

Did I mention it is one of our children's favorite toys and even I, who tends to prefer activities of the non-messy variety, really loves this thing? Probably even more so than I love our PBK beanbag chairs?!

Speaking of which ... the winner of the personalized beanbag chair is: Maggie Nixon!

Maggie, please send me an e-mail to: TheAmazingTrips (at) gmail.com and let me know what solid color slipcover you would like for your beanbag, and also - the name you would like to have embroidered and which font selection. Here's the link to the PBK website to help you in your selection process. If you could also confirm the mailing address where you would like the bag shipped, that would be great.

For everyone who participated in the beanbag contest, thank you so much.

You helped to raise almost $1,000.00 for cancer research. Even though you didn't win a beanbag, I hope that you get a lot of satisfaction from knowing that you are providing an opportunity for people like Deana to live a longer life.

And hey, there is yet another contest coming up this Friday and it is guaranteed to be the biggest one yet. (Shhh. Don't tell Charlie. He might put a freeze on our bank account.)

Hopefully, once my fellow cancer crusaders have met their minimum fundraising goals, I will stop stuffing my face with cookies and see if perhaps I can get excited about running.

running.

COOKIES!!!

running.

COOKIES!!!

I fear I have a looong way to go.

How are you doing with your goals?

huh?

Today we purged our closets and garage. We filled up at least 10 bags of clothes for a local shelter and we donated several household and baby items that we will no longer need. While Charlie was loading up some old stereo speakers in to the back of his truck, I ran my hand over the crib and highchair that we would be giving away.

Once upon a time, not very long ago, there were three matching cribs and three matching high chairs. We gave two of the highchairs away a couple years ago. But we held on to one of the highchairs for Henry, which he has since outgrown. And although we do still have two of the cribs, including one that has been converted to a double bed for the girls and the crib that Henry currently lays in for a few hours before coming in to our bed sleeps in at night ... as I watched these once critical baby items leave our house, I felt a sense of sadness sweep over me.

It wasn't that long ago our children were so small.


Slowly, the baby supplies are going.


Quickly, it seems this phase of our life is passing.

While I stood outside trying to hold back tears, Charlie walked up and putting his arm around my shoulders said, "I feel oddly sad right now." It felt good to know that he understood the significance of moving these items out of our home. I looked up at my husband and through blurry eyes nodded, "Yes, I know! It's really sad to see some of this stuff go, isn't it?"

Charlie was quiet for a moment before he added, "Yeah. Those were my very first stereo speakers."

favorite thing friday

Ever since they were small toddlers, our children have loved to play with paint. When they were only two-years-old, I would let them fingerpaint on our kitchen table. I would strap them in to their booster seats and cover the table with butcher paper, before squeezing a big dollop of brightly colored paint before them.

This activity was always guaranteed to keep the children busy for a solid seven or eight minutes and generate the largest mess imaginable. But for those seven or eight minutes, they were blissfully happy. Until they realized that they had PAINT ALL OVER THEIR HANDS and they'd fall in to a screaming fit, while grabbing at their hair, faces and anything within reach.

Although we own a PBK Carolina Craft Table, with a built in roll of paper, the children all seem to prefer the Melissa & Doug easel that Santa brought this past Christmas, for painting.

On one side of the easel is a dry erase board, on the other side is a chalk board. Through the middle of the easel, one can pull up a roll of paper that is affixed in the center, transforming one or both sides to a paint center.

Because we have multiple budding artists in our home - I will typically clip paper to both sides of the easel - and at least two children can express their inner artist.

The ability to create two separate paint centers works very well because although only one child may have expressed an interest in painting, whenever the easel is set up and paint cups are filled, everyone wants to be Renoir.

We use our easel every day. When we aren't using it for painting, we are using the chalkboard and dry erase board to practice letter writing and spelling. It is one of my top 10 favorite toys and something that everyone enjoys.

Do you have small children?

Or do you know any one that has small children?

For a $5.00 donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via either Margaret or Charlie and a comment left on THIS post, you will be entered in to a raffle to win a Melissa & Doug easel AND the Melissa & Doug easel companion set.

(The estimated value including tax and shipping is ~$125.00).


Your donation is 100% tax deductible.

Your donation is fueling research for a cure.

And your donation will enter you in to a raffle to win one of these easels, which will keep your child happily and constructively entertained for hours tens of minutes each and every day.

Personally? I can't think of a better way to invest $5.00.

When I met with my fellow Team-In-Trainers this past weekend, it came to my attention that there are all kinds of accolades and glory bestowed upon those individuals who are capable of raising the most funds since our season has begun.

What?

You mean to tell me that I've been intentionally sending everyone over to Margaret and Charlie's fundraising pages when I should have been telling them to donate to me, me, ME so that I could have won a new purple jacket?!

When the top three fundraisers from my team proudly stood up to be recognized for raising $2,000.00, $1,500.00 and $1,000.00 over the past few weeks, I couldn't help but smile at how awesome it is that we've raised more than twice as much.

To me, it really doesn't matter that one person raises more than another. What matters is that all of us reach our minimum fundraising goals and that all of that money goes to cancer research.

Thanks in large part to so many of you, earlier this week, I reached my minimum fundraising requirement of $1,750.00. My cousin Candy's $250.00 donation put me over. And my eight-year-old nephew, Michael's $5.00 donation (from his very first allowance) was the cherry on top.

Although my goal is to raise as much as we can, at this juncture, my priority is insuring that my fellow "Cancer Crusaders" have reached their minimum fundraising goals, as well. So to enter this contest, please make your donation to either Margaret or Charlie's fundraising page and don't forget to leave a comment on THIS post.

If you donate $10.00, you will be entered 2 times; if you donate $20.00 you will be entered 4 times. And so on. All of the entries will be placed in to an excel spreadsheet and the winner will be selected using a random integer generator on Wednesday March 11.

Is anyone having as much fun as me? Seriously, if I didn't need to actually work to make money to fund these giveaways, I could honestly see doing this for a living.

*******

Do you visit BabySteps? Carolyn's Board? Triplet Connection? Mothering.com? Please let people know to head over and enter for a chance to win. In doing so, they will be expediting the cure of a disease that takes one life every 10 minutes and is the number one cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 14.

OK, ready ... set ... GO!

Be Amazing

Most of the people that read this blog already know who I am.

But if you're new here ... Hi.

My name is Jen. This is my blog. (This is the only decent picture I could find of myself where I wasn't wearing a wedding gown.)


The man with his arms raised is my husband, Charlie. (We need to have pictures taken of ourselves more often.)


These are our four-year-old triplets, William, Carolyn and Elizabeth.


This is our one-year-old toddler, Hurricane Henry.


We are on a mission to cure cancer.

Oh, it's a lofty goal, we know. And we realize that there are a lot of different forms of cancer. But we're doing what we can to raise money for research because we believe that the cure for one form may lead to the cure for others. And cancer is one of those things that must be stopped.

My cousin Raymond died from cancer in 1976.

My Aunt Dorothy died from cancer in 1976.

My Aunt Carolyn died from cancer in 1986.

My mother-in-law Jeanne died from cancer in 1992.

My cousin Andrea died from cancer in 1996.

My college buddy Tom died from cancer in 1998.

My Aunt Barbara died from cancer in 2001.

My dear friend Julie died from cancer in 2005.

My cousin Paul died from cancer in 2006.

My neighbor Anne died from cancer in 2009.

My sister Mary was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2008.

My Uncle Bill, a man who has never smoked a cigarette, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and given three months to live in 2005. He is still fighting his cancer battle due in large part to the tremendous strides that have been made in cancer research and treatment.

Six months ago, my friend Deana - a mother to two young sons - was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt's lymphoma. Just when everyone thought the cancer was gone and Deana was in remission, the cancer came back with vengeance. Recently doctors told Deana that chemotherapy isn't working and she needs to contact Hospice. This week, Deana flew from California to Texas with the hope that the treatment she receives at MD Anderson will save her life.

These are just a few of the people in our life that have been affected by cancer.

We are frustrated hearing the stories. We are frustrated when another loved one is struck down by this horrific disease. We are frustrated feeling like there is nothing we can do except bake lasagna, pray and send cards. We are frustrated with feeling afraid.

Who is next?

Me?

Charlie?

God forbid, one of our precious children?

It happens. All too often.

We are frustrated with feeling helpless.

And we are not alone.

Along with my cousin Margaret, Charlie and I are running the San Diego Rock N' Roll marathon, to benefit the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Up until very recently, none of us could run more than a mile. (I still barely can.) But all of us are dedicated to raising money that will fuel the research for a cure. All of us are dedicated that once this race is over, we will not stop. We are going to keep raising money for a cure for as long as we are physically able, or a cure is found, which ever comes first.

Three weeks ago, we began fundraising for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Twenty-two days later, we have raised over $5,000.00. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would raise so much money so quickly, especially during a recession. Never once did we imagine that people, especially those we've never met, would donate so generously to this cause.

But it seems everyone has been touched by cancer. Today while at the dentist office, I told the receptionist about our involvement with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and she told me that she had never known anyone that had cancer. Just then, her coworker leaned over and confided that she was currently battling uterine cancer.

It's everywhere.

We are committed to exceeding our minimum fundraising goals. To that end, every week until Charlie tells me that I have to stop hosting giveaways, I am planning to hold a new contest with a prize that will be raffled off in return for a 100% tax deductible donation to fund cancer research. The details for any contests that are currently underway can be found in the top left hand corner of the blog under the title, "Go Deana GO!"

We know we are going after Moby Dick.

But we're bringing along the tartar sauce.

So we hope that you will help us.

We hope that you realize cancer does not discriminate based on age, gender, religious viewpoints, political viewpoints, financial status, highest-level of education received, or national origin.

We hope that you will challenge yourself to become physically strong because if you are able, there is nothing stopping you. We hope that you will become inspired to use your physical strength to do things for those who cannot and in doing so, we hope that you will discover you have the ability to be amazing.

We hope that you will grab this button and help spread the word. It is free to a good home. Lisa: all you need to do is open layouts > page elements > add a gadget > link list > then paste the HTML code in to the content section of the HTML/JavaScript box and select a name for the button which you'll type in under Title. Once you save the changes, the button will show up in the sidebar of your blog. (And once it does, I'll send you a box of Joe-Joe's.)

<a href="http://amazingtrips.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/3293290919_9f233e0e03_o.png"/></a>

We hope that you will join us on this amazing trip to help end cancer.

(Coming soon: t-shirts and wristbands. OK. Soon might be Christmas 2010. Unless I can find more time in the day or at least, convince the children that a three-hour nap is a GOOD idea.)

what's in you wednesday

I took the names of all the people who left me a comment on the iPod post that made a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and plugged their names in to an excel spreadsheet.

Since the minimum donation to participate in this giveaway was $5.00, if someone made a $25.00 donation, they were entered five times. I then used a random integer generator program to select a winner based on the total number of cells.

And the winner of the iPod shuffle is DENISE.

Congratulations, Denise!!

Please send me an e-mail at TheAmazingTrips (at) gmail.com with your mailing address and I will have the iPod shipped out post haste.

(Unlike the scarf for Karen that is sitting in a package waiting to be mailed ... and the scarf for Stephanie that I had made, but upon learning that she is in NORTH DAKOTA, decided to make over again using a warmer wool.)

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed thus far. In just under four weeks, between the three of us, we have raised almost $4,000.00 for cancer research. At the rate we are going, I am really hopeful that we will not only meet our goals but exceed them.

Margaret has been concerned that since she was flying in to San Diego, some people might think that she was fundraising for a vacation. But in regards to why her fundraising goals are higher than ours, we reached out to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and this is the response we received:

"We maintain a ratio of 25% expenses and 75% towards the mission for our fundraising goals. Therefore, for every dollar expense we incur for you, we ask that you raise $4 to make up for it. This is a good ratio that other nonprofits and we are proud of. Every fundraiser (balls, walks, mail campaigns) have some expenses, but we make sure ours are always less than 25%. So adding a $500 flight to your expenses will add $2000 to your fundraising goal. (San Diego Team doesn't have to buy that flight). They still have all of our other expenses. (Probably a hotel, dinners in San Diego, race entry, coaches fees, powerade, shirts, etc)."

I hope to have the next contest up by this Friday.

Now. On to other important matters.

This past Saturday I ran seven (7) miles.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

OK. So I didn't run all of the seven miles. But as Charlie said, I successfully propelled myself in one direction for a total of seven miles without stopping. I don't know what surprised me more. The fact that I was able to propel myself in one direction for seven miles without stopping, or seeing the look of disbelief when I told my husband that I had successfully completed the seven-mile course.

He was stunned. He thought that I'd only make it three or four miles, at most.

And I in turn was stunned that he was stunned.

Why wouldn't I make it seven miles?

Did I not give birth to triplets? Did I not breastfeed triplets? Did I not get triplets to sleep through the night when they were three-months-old? Did I not successfully potty train triplets?

Yes, so maybe that last one took me a year longer than it should have, but if there is one thing I possess it's stamina. I'm sure this marathon will be the same way. I very well may be among the last to finish, but I will get there.

Sunday, while Charlie went for his seven-mile run pushing the boys in a stroller, I stretched my legs out by going for a five-mile walk while pushing the girls in a stroller. And after taking off a day on Monday, yesterday, I ran on a treadmill at the YMCA.

I like running on a treadmill because I like knowing the exact distance I cover. But I don't like running on a treadmill because it is terribly boring and my feet fall asleep even faster then when I'm on the road. Still, it was getting late by the time I was able to run yesterday and I felt safer running inside than outdoors in the dark.

I had only run on a treadmill two times, previously. The first time, I stumbled and inadvertently disconnected the magnetic safety piece that shuts the treadmill off. In doing so, the track came to an almost instant stop and I pitched forward and landed on my knees. The second time, I disconnected the magnetic safety piece five times and had to restart my run, losing all record of the total time, distance covered and calories burned.

Yesterday when I was running, I decided to not affix the leash for the magnetic safety piece to my body and instead, left it dangling over the back of the treadmill. Surely I wouldn't fall on the treadmill. And besides, I didn't want to run the risk of losing all my data should it become accidentally disconnected.

At some point around three miles, I could feel my feet start to go completely numb. And it seems that when your feet go numb on a treadmill you become a little unstable. I was about to slow my pace from 5.5 to 2.5 and step on to the side rails, when suddenly my numb feet which weren't being picked up high enough to take a step, snagged on the track.

If my magnetic safety piece had been intact, I would have just tripped and stopped.

But because the track was still moving at 5.5, I pitched forward before falling backwards and then was whipped off the treadmill. The rest is kind of a blur although I do remember seeing my feet at eye level as I flew through the air.

I landed on the ground with a THUD a solid seven feet behind the treadmill I had been on and the woman who was on the treadmill next to me, looked back with her mouth wide open and asked, "OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OK?!" The gym staff who were working in the glass enclosed office came running out and tried to help me up.

But I jumped up off the ground and feeling only slightly embarrassed quickly shot out, "OH YES! I'm sure I'm fine! I ... I ... I have a little problem with my feet. They like to take a nap whenever I run. But oh yeah, I'm totally good! I'm actually training for a marathon. And look at that, I made it three whole miles before getting hurled in to space!! WOO-HOO!!"

Now that I've almost broken body parts twice while running on a treadmill, I've decided to stick with running on surface streets. I much prefer running outside while pushing the children in their stroller. Especially if my run involves a stop at Target where I can pick up a fun-pack of M&Ms.

As you can see, I am so hard core. (And just as I wrote that sentence, I suddenly understand why my husband was amazed that I was able to complete seven miles.) What?! Eating candy isn't something you should do while you run? But why not?!

So what's in you and how are you doing with your goals?

i'm at a loss

We live in an area of the country where we can take our children swimming, in an outdoor pool, any day of the year. Except for those days the pool requires shock treatment because someone *forgot* to put their baby in a swim diaper.

No, it was not me.

Or Charlie.

Or any of our children for that matter.

For the past four days, we have spent the majority of our time floating in the pool on boogie boards. This is winter in Southern California. This is February.

Recently, we were approached with an opportunity to move. It would happen in a few months, after our marathon. But it would take us out of California and put us elsewhere in the country. Somewhere it is unlikely we could float on boogie boards in the middle of February. Or enjoy an average annual temperature of 65 degrees.

I really don't know what is more difficult.

Making a decision over what the best thing is for our family and where our future will be ... or, watching this video, while sipping a cup of Earl Grey, and not having hot tea shoot out my nose.

Ooga. Chakka. Hooga. Hooga. Ooga. Chakka.



What's with the dogs? And the angels?

I am so confused.

(edited to add: The sound of moving, much like the song in this video, sounds really nice to me. But when I try to envision moving and leaving our home for the past 12 years ... when I try to imagine what our lives would be like outside of California ... I feel queasy, like I'm standing on the seat of a moving motorcycle. Maybe I just need to throw on my bear suit and take a bite out of the fish that is life?)

the global community

I think that one of the most amazing things about the internet is that you have the ability to meet so many people that you might never actually meet. Every time you sit down and fire up that plastic computer, you enter in to worlds that are similar - or vastly different - from your own.

You might meet people that live on the other side of the world, or you might meet people that live just down the street. You might meet people who are leading lives that you could never imagine. Or perhaps they are in a similar place in their lives, to your own. Or perhaps they are making their way through places you've already been and you can only offer words of support and encouragement.

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a fellow blogger that happens to live in San Diego. He is the father of three-year-old girl-boy twins, and although we've never met, I know that he lives within my neighborhood.

Along with 3,000,000 other people.

The point of his note was to ask for help.

Matthew is the Director of a local YMCA and February is the month that they have their annual fundraising drive. Normally, he would be ahead of the curve with his fundraising efforts, but in mid-January, his wife suffered a psychotic breakdown due to severe depression.

During her breakdown, she purchased plane tickets for herself and the twins to fly away, without her husband's knowledge. But for whatever reason, at the very last minute, she didn't go through with her plans and instead, abandoned her children at the airport and drove home. She called 911 to tell them that her three-year-olds were at the airport and while one police car went to pick up the children - another went to pick her up.

The father was notified shortly after the police picked up the twins and he was reunited with them within hours. Luckily they were safe and while clearly traumatized, they have been doing better and better each day. His wife, meanwhile, is now in a psychiatric hospital and they have no idea if and when she will be well enough to leave.

This story absolutely rocked me.

I immediately felt such compassion for the mother. Having read their family blog, I know how much this mother loves her children. But having raised three-year-old multiples myself, I also know the kind of emotional and mental toll three-year-old multiples can take on your psyche. Charlie joked that my plan to drop our three-year-olds in Mexico was because I wanted to immerse them in a second language.

But really?

I just wanted quiet and the absolute cessation of responsibility. I very clearly remember feeling like I cannot take this anymore and if someone doesn't step in, I am seriously going to lose my mind. Thankfully, THANK YOU GOD, we had ice cream in the house that day. And thankfully, things are so much easier for me now. Sure, there are crazy moments, but by and large, four-years-old is a whole lot better than three-years-old. Not once in the past 96-hours have I even once considered auctioning our kids off on eBay.

See, I joke. But this parenting gig is damn tough work.

Suffice to say, the life of this family has been completely turned upside down. The father has transitioned to a single parent role overnight and while he did have some help from family for the first week and a half, he is now on his own with the two children. And in the midst of trying to care for his two small children and run the house and stay connected with his recovering wife, he has a YMCA to run.

A YMCA that is located a stone's throw from the Mexican/U.S border.

The YMCA that he directs is situated in a low-income community that is comprised of many families struggling to achieve the American dream. It provides childcare to hundreds of families, much of it at a free or reduced-cost. This year in particular has been an especially challenging one because requests for financial assistance have risen almost 200% over last year and they are struggling to keep up their pledge of never turning anyone away due to an inability to pay.

When Matthew sent out a plea for help, people that he has never met, immediately stepped up. Bloggers from all over the country offered various services that he could offer on an auction that is being hosted to benefit the Border View YMCA.

Here's a link to the auction page, if you are interested in checking it out and perhaps helping this worthwhile cause.

I had considered making one of my scarves for the auction, but seeing as it took me begging for people to bid $1.00 on one of my handknit creations, I decided that my best contribution would be a donation directly to the program.

Anyway. This global community warms my heart. If not for this global community, I never would have met Deana. Who tomorrow, will be boarding a plane with her husband, Jack and flying to MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas.

From Jack's update earlier this evening, "We're extremely hopeful these doctors see something new, and Wednesday's visit is much more than an initial consultation -- I have no intention of leaving that hospital without Deana being admitted to the Lymphoma unit. Deana's treatment --whatever the experts deem--needs to resume immediately her doctor advised us this afternoon. We have no time to waste."

As I was reading through the various comments that were left for Deana on her CaringBridge website, I noticed that a Facebook Support Group that was founded for Deana on Friday, has recruited almost 800 members, a mere three days later. That is over 700 people, from around the world, that are praying for a woman that many of those people have never met. And that doesn't even include the people that are praying for her that aren't on Facebook. The scores of people that are holding this family in their hearts and wishing for a miracle.

There is a lot of pain and sadness in this world.

But it truly makes my heart jump with joy when I see firsthand, the potential that people have for good. Don't doubt it for a moment. Life really is beautiful.