Fight Heart Disease and Stroke

Unfortunately, too many of us have a loved one affected by heart disease or stroke.  To help stop this, I will be walking in this year's Heart Walk benefiting the American Heart Association. This is the third year that I have participated and strongly support this cause. I have set a personal goal to raise funds that are needed for critical heart disease and stroke research and education.

You can help me raise funds and protect those you love by making a donation online.  Click on the link below  or on the icon on the left side of the page to visit my personal donation site where you can make a secure online donation.  The American Heart Association's online fundraising website has a minimum donation amount of $25.00.  If you prefer a smaller amount, you can do so by sending a check directly to me.

Your donation will make a difference in the fight against our nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers-heart disease and stroke.  Thank you for your support!!

If you are interested in participating in the Dallas Heart Walk, it will be held at Victory Park in downtown on September 10th.

LolaLand Creations: 250 Facebook Fan Giveaway

Head over to my dear friend Laura's blog today and enter her giveaway for a super cute crocheted baby headband (there's an adult one too if you don't have a baby!) 


LolaLand Creations: 250 Facebook Fan Giveaway:

Check out her Facebook page and see all the adorable handmade products! 
I mean seriously! How cute is this?!

Go visit her and tell her I sent you!

Go Red!

In 2004, the American Heart Association (AHA) faced a challenge. Cardiovascular disease claimed the lives of nearly 500,000 American women each year, yet women were not paying attention. In fact, many even dismissed it as an “older man’s disease.” To dispel the myths and raise awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of women, the American Heart Association created Go Red For Women – a passionate, emotional, social initiative designed to empower women to take charge of their heart health. (www.goredforwomen.org)

The American Heart Association's National Go RED for Women day is this Friday, February 4th. Wear RED and show your support for the fight against heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States. Go HERE to make donations, sign up for the Go RED movement, take the Heart Check Up, get heart healthy recipes, and much more!

More people like Gray

The following are excerpts from an email conversation I was privy to earlier this morning:

All;

This morning on the way to work, out in the country, Gray happened upon a car that had left the road, and was upside down in a swampy area a few miles from his (Gray's) house; the water was deep enough that all he could see were the back tires of the car sticking out of the water. A few other cars had stopped, but the emergency vehicles had not yet arrived. the man who had been driving the submerged car was on the road, frantic, and bloody from trying to beat open the windshield of the car to rescue his 2-3 year old daughter who was strapped in her car seat; now upside down and under water. It was 40 degrees this morning here in Dallas at 6:00 and at least that cold there in Raleigh. After dunking into the brackish and black water, trying, and determining that all of the car doors were jammed, Gray convinced a few of the spectator men to help to try to turn the car over, right side up. It took several tries, and they were able to do so just as the emergency vehicles arrived.

It is unclear yet if the toddler has survived or not. From what he knows, Gray estimates she was under water for most of 30 minutes. Gray remembered to throw his cell phone into the car before going into the water, but his wallet and insulin pump are waterlogged and not working, respectively. Gray went home to shower and change afterwords, and he is in the office now. I have asked him to call his doctor, not only about the insulin pump, but to also see about a general antibiotic from whatever might be living in that nasty water, and for any potential lagging body ache and aftershock.

Please keep all involved in your thoughts and prayers.

We are proud of you Gray!

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Wow. How scary and heroic….I wonder what happened to the girl….will he be able to find out?

­______________________________________________________________________

He said he would find out later today.

Gray's dad was a firefighter, and Gray was a volunteer one while in college.

He says he was mostly shocked and appalled by the number of people unwilling to do anything except stand there and watch, or just drive by.......

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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!

A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.

Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!

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You are the Man, Gray! Hope all are OK and words don’t even say enough.

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Gray,

You are my Hero!!

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Thanks, I'm clearly Hero for sure. To a point I felt so helpless. But I couldn't just pass by and not help...it could have easily been my family.

The little girl was under very long. The girl and dad were taken to Duke... Please pray for that family...

-Gray

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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!

A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.

Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!

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Not Awesome enough…

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8576281/

-Gray

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Gray

I am proud to know you. You did what you could to save the child; most folks would not have taken the initiative that you took to get her out of the water. You are a brave man. You are in my prayers for peace as is the family you tried to help. Rest easy my friend, I understand you’re hurt.

______________________________________________________________________

Excellent words, Carl. Thank you and I think you speak for all of us.

One of the things Gray told me was that the majority of bystanders either just kept on driving, or would only stand and watch. He had to cajole the few who finally did go into the water with him to try to turn the car over.

It takes a very strong person to be willing to try to help others at their own expense.

You did good gray, and we are all so sorry for the tragic ending....

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

....

I don't know about you, but I've had all day to reflect on this, and it has just made me sick to my stomach. A sweet little girl died because not enough people would help her frantic, bloody father to try to get her out of the upturned car. If the world had more people like Gray, there may have been a happier ending to this story. Please remember this the next time you see someone who needs help. You could save a life. We all owe it to each other as human beings.

Freedom to Read

“Everything I know about life, I’ve learned by reading banned books.” This is a quote on a pin my mom has in her kitchen. I love it because it’s so true!

This week (Sept 26 - Oct2) is National Banned Books Week, sponsored in part by the American Library Association, which celebrates the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. The movement started in 1982 because of the sudden increase in the number of challenges of books being reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom. Since 1982 alone, more than one thousand books have been challenged. Books are challenged because of many reasons including: sexual content; violence; profanity and slang; offensive portrayals of racial or religious groups; positive portrayals of homosexuals; etc. The range of challenged books includes new novels examining contemporary issues to beloved American classics. While many ideas in these books may be unorthodox or unpopular, it is important in our free society to ensure their availability for all who wish to read and access them.

Some people may think challenging or banning books was a thing of the past and doesn’t affect our literature today. However, in 2009, two of the most challenged titles included the Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer (for being sexually explicit and its religious viewpoint) and My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult (for sexism, homosexuality, offensive language, drugs, suicide, and violence)

In support of this week, I started reading 1984 because I haven't read it yet, and I plan to reread The Catcher in the Rye. This is a list of 74 of the most popular challenged and/or banned classics. I’ve highlighted the ones I’ve read (23). I've seen movies for 9 others, but I don't think that counts, does it?! How many have you read?

1984, by George Orwell
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Blubber, by Judy Blume
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer
Carrie, by Stephen King
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
Christine, by Stephen King
Confessions, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo, by Stephen King
Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
Decameron, by Boccaccio
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
Forever, by Judy Blume
Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Grendel, by John Champlin Gardner
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
How to Eat Fried Worms, by Thomas Rockwell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
Impressions, edited by Jack Booth
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
My Friend Flicka, by Mary O'Hara
Native Son, by Richard Wright
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
Silas Marner, by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
The Living Bible, by William C. Bower
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare
The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
The Shining, by Stephen King
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
Then Again, Maybe I Won't, by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare
Ulysses, by James Joyce

Dallas Heart Walk 2010

It's that time again!

On September 11th I'm going to once again participate in the Heart Walk sponsored by the American Heart Association to raise money and awareness for heart disease and stroke. This disease has not only affected my family, but hundreds of others as well. My personal goal is to raise $400 for the cause. By making a donation, you can help increase funds for research and education to stop heart disease. Please visit my webpage to make a donation and learn more about heart disease.

Thank you for your support!!

Let's Hygge

My brother has been involved for the past 2 years with an organization called Children’s International Summer Village (CISV). They are a global group of volunteers who create cultural diversity experiences through educational programs. They operate on the belief that peace is possible through friendship and that the real difference can be made by starting with children. The organization was created after World War II by Dr. Doris Allen as an initiative to build and maintain peace. The first summer village took place in 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio with delegates from 8 countries. Today they have chapters in over 60 countries around the world and host around 180 programs a year. Since its inception, more than 190,000 people have participated in over 5,000 international activities. The Summer Village program is the cornerstone of the organization’s education philosophy and is reserved for 11 year olds. It is a unique 4 week international camp where children (delegates) from 10 to 12 other countries participate in educational, cultural, and sporting activities with emphasis on “cooperative global and intercultural living.” Each delegation is made up of 2 boys and 2 girls with an adult leader and is coordinated by a staff of Junior Counselors ages 16-17 years. (cisv.org) The USA chapter's website is here: http://www.cisvusa.org/

Last year Eric took 4 kids to Prague. This year, he is in Denmark with 4 new kids. He absolutely loves it, maybe more so than the kids! The camp this year has a blog site where they are posting pictures and accounts of their daily activities, so I have added it to my blog roll and will post it here in case any of you are curious. It sounds like a really fun opportunity and I am considering applying for next year!

This is the camp’s blog: http://letshyggevillage.blogspot.com/

And in case you're wondering what the heck "hygge" means:

Hygge -
One of the fundamental aspects of Danish culture is "hygge", which, although translated as "coziness" is more akin to "tranquility". Hygge is a complete absence of anything annoying, irritating, or emotionally overwhelming, and the presence of and pleasure from comforting, gentle, and soothing things. Hygge is often associated with family and close friends. (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Denmark )

So yes, let's hygge. :-)

Save Our Coast

This post was borrowed from my friend Danielle's blog, "Doggerel and Prose". Thanks Danielle for showing us an awesome way that we can help out the folks in the Gulf!

Here in Austin, we truly have an amazing community that genuinely cares about others. There is a company here in Austin (also has stores in Baton Rouge and New Orleans) called Storyville; they sell unique locally designed T-shirts. They have started a new line and will give $5 of the profits for each T-shirt sold to the gulf coast fisherman and their families that have been affected by the BP oil spill. You can purchase these T-shirts at the store or order them online!

Product Description

For years to come, the Gulf Coast will be feeling the effects of the BP Oil Spill. Giving to charities such as the Greater New Orleans Foundation can, in a small way, help speed up the Gulf Coast's recovery and, in the meanwhile, provide aide to victims of the oil spill.
For every "Save Our Coast" shirt sold, Storyville will make a donation to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. One hundred percent of all donations to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund will be granted to organizations working tirelessly in the effected areas. The Oil Spill Fund's focus is to help fishermen and their families in the following Louisiana parishes: Plaquemines, St. Bernard, lower Jefferson, Terrebonne and Lafourche.

"Save Our Coast Burnout" is printed on a dirty water-colored, 50% polyester, 50% rayon Alternative Apparel Topango Heather Burnout Crew top with black ink. The top is made of a burnout material, which means that it is a super sheer fabric that has been put through an extensive process to reveal years of weathering. Therefore, no two tops are exactly the same. This top is only available in the unisex cut. If you'd like to see an Alternative Apparel sizing chart, click here and refer to the "women's size chart." This Storyville Original was created by Natalie Naquin Harvey and is modeled by Alicia Schulz and Fredy Garcia. To see more Storyville Originals, click here.

"Save Our Coast Tee" is printed on a 100% cotton, American Apparel blue tee shirt printed with white, navy and dark red ink. This Storyville Original was created by Sara Silvestri and is modeled by Alicia Schulz and Fredy Garcia. The t-shirt is available in both the unisex and female-specific cut (go here for sizing charts). To see more Storyville Originals, click here.

GO RED!

It's here again! The American Heart Association's National Go RED for Women day is Friday, February 5th. Wear RED and show your support for the fight against heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States. Go HERE to make donations, sign up for the Go RED movement, take the Heart CheckUp, get heart healthy recipies, and much more!

Dallas Heart Walk

This weekend I'm participating in the Start! Heart Walk sponsored by the American Heart Association to raise money and awareness for heart disease and stroke, the #1 and #3 killers in America. As some of you know, this disease has affected my family with the passing of my Grandpa a few years ago. My personal goal is to raise $375 for the cause. By making a donation, you can help increase funds for research and education to stop heart disease.

Please visit my webpage to make a donation and learn more about heart disease.


Click Here to Donate

Thanks for your support!!