Caleb's Crew!!

This weekend is the 14th Annual Stride and Ride in Mission Bay/Crown Point. I'm typically not a fundraising type of person. I've wanted to do the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk, but don't do it because of the fundraising. I hate asking people for money. I feel rude. But...when a cause is this close to me I simply can't NOT fundraise. If you were to meet Caleb you'd feel the same too. Caleb is such a sweet little guy and so so smart. He's 4 years old and already able to sound out most words and read them. He's not only reading books, but he reads street signs and other things he see too. I'm lucky enough to know him, and I know many of the people that I ask to help me with my fundraising efforts haven't and may not (due to distance) get to meet him. This makes it even harder to convince people that he IS worth it. He is worth whatever little bit they may be able to afford to donate.

Caleb loves to give hugs so he can run his hands through your hair.
Caleb loves his Wii and iTouch
Caleb loves ice cream

Caleb would love to walk all on his own.

I've copied a piece of Amy's blog (Caleb's mom) so anyone that is here can immediately read why I'm fundraising for Caleb's Crew, and why YOU should donate if you haven't already.

***A couple of days ago Caleb was sitting on the couch when he asked, seemingly out of the blue, "Mommy, when I get older and bigger I won't have Muscular Dystrophy any more?"

My heart was immediately in my throat, along with a flood of possible answers, and questions of my own. How do I possibly convey to a 4-year old that this is not something he will outgrow, that he will have likely MD for the rest of his life unless by some miracle there is a cure... How do I possibly express this while still giving him hope that anything is possible and that life is still worth cherishing, despite the challenges he will face... How do I look into his bright eyes and tell him that because his body doesn't produce ONE STINKING PROTEIN, his muscles will never work the same as other people's and he very likely won't live to be an old man?!

The flood of questions, answers and emotions coursed through me in mere seconds. Before I knew it, Caleb was talking about Lego Star Wars, without me being able to say a single thing. I knew this was a vital conversation that we needed to have, so I brought him back to it.

"Caleb, you asked a very important question about Muscular Dystrophy, and it's time to talk about it."

"What, mom?"

"Well you asked if you wouldn't have Muscular Dystrophy when you get older and bigger. But Muscular Dystrophy is part of your body, and it's something that you'll always have, even when you're bigger. So you'll always need some help with things like walking, and will need to use things like walkers or wheelchairs to get around."

"Mom, I think when I get bigger I won't even use a walker."

"Oh really. What will you use, then?"

"I think I'll just use my legs and feet and walk all by myself."

As the tears welled up, the only response that seemed remotely close to being correct was, "I sure hope you're right, Caleb."

I know this is just the beginning of questions we will have to answer for our amazing and insightful little boy. God willing, some day he won't be so little any more when we have to give him more answers. We may not always have the right answers, but all we can prepare ourselves for is to try our best to find the delicate balance of helping our son face his reality while maintaing hope and joy for his future.***

Now...don't YOU want to donate and help Caleb achieve his goal of walking with just his legs and feet all by himself???


(ps...Amy, I hope you don't mind that I stole from you!!!)


Click here to donate!!!

Showers, showers, more showers, and a walk

So begins my crazy weekends!

Last weekend I went to Theresa's bridal shower! It was so good to see her! Theresa was one of my very best friends while in Chico and she now lives in Alabama! What?!?!? Bama?!? But, at least her family is still here so she makes an appearance here and there. I hadn't realized it but it had been about year and a half since I saw her last...way too long! I loved being able to celebrate with her for her upcoming wedding! Now, I just need to decide...date or dateless to her wedding in Vegas? I don't want to be the lone single person...but hey, they say one of the top places to meet people is at weddings. But...are they gonna live in Bama? That just won't work! Hmmmm...decisions?!?! I'm pretty sure I'll be solo-ing it! But...who knows?!!?!

This coming up weekend is the MDA Stride and Ride! I'm super excited about it and yeah, if you haven't donated and would like to just click here! And, if you would like to read more about my favorite Caleb ever please just click here Hopefully I made those links work right?!?!

The weekend after next, I'll be going to a baby shower for a sorority sister in Orange County. I can't wait to see all the girls. I think I'll also be going to an event the night before with another sorority sister...that is actually being hosted by a Delta Chi alum that we went to school with in Chico.

I think I have a weekend off after that...and then...San Diego Mud Run!! I just decided to sign up for this, and luckily was able to talk Brook into it! We currently have a team of 3, but we need one more! Brook would like another guy, as we now have 1 guy and 2 girls. I can't wait to get all muddy! Mud is fun! I tried to recruit Trevor, but he'll be in NYC that weekend...although is more than willing to play in the mud for practice! It seems that a lot of people I know 'want' to do it but have other plans that weekend...bummer! I've wanted to do a Mud Run for a long time, and am totally excited about doing it! I just hope the rest of my team realizes that I'm in it for fun...not to win!

AND...somewhere in the mix...Baby Eli Barrett is going to make his appearance! I hope he decides to come on a weekday :-)

Copying Kaysie-Weekend Wrap up

I thought I'd copy Kaysie today and do a weekend wrap up...seeing as I had a 4 day weekend I figured that it would be a good time to do it.

I loved having Friday off, I'm so used to having a Monday off for a holiday but it's just totally different when it's a Friday. Judi is officially on maternity leave so she came up for some hang out time before the baby comes. We had a yummy French Toast breakfast down at Tip Top...but had to hurry back to meet the AT&T guy so I could switch to U-verse (which ps...my phone is still all static!!) The poor AT&T guy probably thought we were wacko...but Judi needed belly pics so I did the best I could to be creative and get some good shots. Thankfully Trevor agreed to get some later this week as well, his will be amazing!! After the AT&T guy finally left (it took him about 2-3 hours!) Judi and I went on a mission to find me a new bedding set. If you know me you know that when I decide I want something...I don't have much patience to wait for it...so I decided I wanted a new comforter/duvet and needed to have one right then! Of course I couldn't find what I wanted (I already had the exact thing in mind) and we ended up calling it a day without anything new bought! Oh well. Thankfully I was able to buy the one wanted on Overstock and am now just waiting for delivery...I'll post a pic when I get it! By the end of the shopping scavenger hunt it was just about time for my hair appointment...have I mentioned that LOVE getting my hair done?!?! Julia (my hairdresser) is amazing, the salon has a great punk feel to it, and she serves me wine while I'm there! I really like how it turned out...an am loving that my hair is finally getting longer! Julia did an amazing color job and I'm loving my bangs too. A little later Friday night a friend got into town to visit and we hit up Norte's...my favorite! After a few margi's, and a shot of patron we went down by the beach for a little bit and then followed it all up with a nice glass of wine back at my place. For not working I felt like I had a pretty busy day! :-)

Saturday~Not too much went on Saturday. My friend and I went to Swami's for breakfast/lunch and it was finally nice enough to put the top down. Love it! My friend had a few errands to run (which he did while I stayed home)and needed to catch up on sleep (napped until almost 6pm) so really didn't do anything else until dinner. Kinda a bummer seeing as it was an amazing day and it would have been great to be outside. Ended the night with pizza and watching a movie at home. Overall kind of a boring day...I did do some weeding and officially filed my taxes. So entertaining I know! Although during the 'nap' time I was able to make plans for the next day with some other friends. Which I had somewhat forgotten was Valentines Day (not a huge fan of V-day).

Sunday~My friend took off in the morning and I relaxed and did some clean up until dog school. Surprisingly Katy and Hurley are doing a good job at school and I think Hurley in general will be pretty easy to train. He really seems to want to be good...he just forgets sometimes. After dog school I went and hung out with Katie, a sorority sister that was in town, for a couple of hours. It'd been a few weeks since we'd hung out so it was a good catch up session. I then had to get home for my evening plans with my friend Tom. Okay...so I'm really not a Valentines Day fan...single or not. But, when you aren't expecting anything the little things really mean a lot. Tom showed up with not only flowers for me, but with homemade candies too! I was totally surprised and very appreciative! I was expecting us to have an anti-valentine night. It ended up being really nice...we made and ate dinner...super yummy! Watched The Proposal (one of my favorites) and had plenty of wine! It ended up being a really nice Valentines night. I really appreciated the thought and consideration that Tom put into the evening. Consideration is key!

Monday~Started of the day with a 4 mile training with Brook. It was so hot out! I know it's going to just get warmer but I really wasn't expecting it today! I actually ended up with a little sunburn! Time to bring on the color!!! Trevor and I ended the evening with going down to Ponto Beach. He went for a run while I read on the beach...and got to see a whale go by while I sat there! Amazing! We stayed right to the end of the sunset, which was also amazing! Such a pretty night!

U-verse

So I just switched my cable, internet and phone over to U-verse. Has anyone out there tried this? So far...the Internet part is great...I mean...it works so not much else there. The cable...is taking some getting used to but I'm pretty sure I'll learn to love it! It's very Tivo-esque and I can program to record shows from my phone or computers...awesome! I can now record up to 4 shows at one time and can watch from any TV in my house...again awesome. But the whole system is taking some time. Now...phone. So far...lame! They just set it all up yesterday...for like 3 hours! The installation guy (very nice guy) had me check the phone...and it worked fine. But of course...that evening when I attempted to talk on it it was just tons of static...like lots and lots! I could hear but was seriously awful! I tried again today and still static. After spending 2 hours on 'online chat help' and moving my phone all over the place to see if we could fix it (which it seems to work fine if I plug in directly into their box...but not the wall)I now have to hang out here on Monday from 12-4 for them to come try to fix it again...'please note that the technician can arrive anytime within those 4 hours and the repair can take up to 2 hours'...great! As if I haven't spent enough time on it already. Oh well...hopefully I've enticed Trevor to come hang with me during my 'jail' time.

I'm boring...

So It's official...I'm boring! I know I can update this with day to day happenings, but really...who cares to read that?!?! I'll try to make this interesting...but no promises!

I guess my last update was officially a while ago now, I'm really not good at these New Years resolutions. But...in all fairness I've had a really busy couple of weeks. I've sat down a few times to update, but literally end up deleting because I'm so tired that I'm not making sense.

Since my last update I hosted a baby shower for my friend Judi (well...technically co-hosted...Lina and I make a great pair!!). The shower was super fun but made for an exhausting weekend. I didn't realize when I started the planning that the date that Judi picked was the same date as the Carlsbad Marathon, which runs on my cross street, so I was little concerned about roads being opened for the big day. I also ended up having a few friends running in the marathon and really wanted to go out and support them...but also had to plan, decorate, and be totally ready for the shower that same day! In the middle of all the shower planning I made a super cool (I think) sign for my friends running. (I know when I've done the 1/2's it really is motivating to see people you know out there-even for us walkers!)





So yeah, party decorating, game preparing, and sign making...makes for a very long night! No matter though...I was up at 6:15, bundled up in my beanie, scarf, hoodie, etc...ready to cheer and clap for Beth and Matt...and to have a Red Bull ready for Matt to drink. (uhm...Gross!) I was able to stick around to see Beth and Matt run past mile 6 and 12 and then I hightailed it home to start more party planning and decorating.





The shower was fabulous. We had a great group of girl and Lina and I finished decorating and setting up literally as the first people walked in the door. While everyone has the 'typical' shower game I do think that we had a fun and unique game of memory. The game is of course what you would expect but with 'labor and delivery' pictures to match...which a specific candy bar for the matches. See the picture! I think that the shower was a hit and can't wait for Baby Barrett to arrive! (Which is a month away!!)



I'm not sure why this picture insists on uploading sideways, it's not sideways anywhere else?!!? And it blogger wont' let me rotate it...suggestions??




After the shower I got to hang out with Trevor, who just moved back to the states. I hadn't seen him in about a year and a half and even then it was only for a week while I was in Spain visiting. It was so good to see him and catch up. I know before I said I was excited and terrified, but the terrified part is gone! We talked a lot that night...about when he left and how I was a disaster. There were lots of tears (partially wine induced!!)but it was great to get it all out and have that conversation. We've continued the conversation a few times now and I have to say I feel really good about our current relationship...friends! I've realized what he probably knew all along...we aren't meant to be together...we are too different in so many ways. I consider him one of my best friends and hope that I always will...but really and truly I know that's all it can be. Our life goals and expectations are just so different. I'm super glad he's back and that I get to spend some more time with him before he moves on to other places...which I know he will...as will I. But...we'll always have our fun times and a great bond. I love him with my whole heart...but I now know that I'm not in love with him. Whew...it was good to realize that!

Besides all of that I've just been really busy at work and trying to make the most out of the time that I'm not working. I was able to go to Tuesday Night Trivia this week (it had been a long time) which was fun (a bit of auditory overload due to where we were sitting...but oh well) although I probably should have stayed home to do more work so I wasn't so freaked out on Wednesday trying to get things done! (I'm a procrastinator...but not as much as I have been this week!!) Finally yesterday things slowed down a little and I was able to recruit my friend Tom to go to Happy Hour with me...after getting my nails done of course! I was able to sit over chips, salsa, margaritas, and even a shot of patron while catching up on life. We even managed a walk on the beach after. Man I love being down by the water!

Here's to a good weekend...hanging with Trevor tonight hopefully and brunch or lunch with Allison tomorrow...followed by a training session for my upcoming 1/2 on Sunday with Brook...and maybe a Home Depot trip during Superbowl...the absolute best time to hit that store!