Sparks and Butterflies...

But aside from that, she's still completely normal

And Away We Go

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Welcome to Blogathon 2009! 6am is a little dark in my neck of the woods. And a weeeee bit early for me these days.

Let’s go over this one more time. Blogathon is a charitable endeavor. The point is for bloggers to write for 24 hours today, every half hour 6am-6am, in order to raise money for charity. My charity is Fisher House – and you can read more here. Please donate! I’d love to raise more for them! As of this writing, I’ve raised $125 in pledges, and Blogathon as a whole has raised $27,571.93 for all their chosen charities. Not as good as previous years, but we’re all feeling the pinch this year it seems.

As for any kind of theme? I haven’t come up with one. So… I’m just going to see what comes.

By the way, I’d like to thank my husband. He’s taking over today so I can do this, and then again tomorrow so I can sleep. He’s not a blogger, nor does he read blogs. But he understands that I love it and am part of a community, and therefore he supports me in it. I love that about him. So, welcome!

Juggling

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** Don’t forget, Blogathon is coming! Please pledge! I’ll be blogging 24 hours a day for Fisher House on Saturday. You can read my post about it here.**
I feel like I’m juggling a lot. I have a lot going on in life – online and off, and I just don’t want to drop any balls.

Poe might maybe potentially have a job. We’ll see. This is good. I’ve got to get him out of this house.

The kids are doing well. They’re taking swimming lessons at the local Y, because they just didn’t want to listen to us when we’re in a pool – too much going on. But now, they’re getting good basics, so I’m happy.

Another brief mention on Joseph. We’ve started him on medication. It was a long time coming, and we finally came to the conclusion that the benefits finally seriously outweighed the risks. That’s all I’ll say on that – I don’t feel comfortable mentioning which one here (that’s a first!) but so far, we’re pleased. He had the opportunity to make seriously wrong choices, and for the first time, he didn’t.

Saturday is coming fast. I’m wondering if I should create some kind of theme for the Blogathon? I don’t know. I haven’t got much in the way of pledges. A flat $55. But that’s more than Fisher House would have had, right? I’m hoping to garner more interest, but it’s hard since BlogHer is happening at the same time, and everyone’s interested in that instead.

What I Am Doing Instead of BlogHer

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I was really disappointed when I realized I couldn’t attend BlogHer this year. I have a business to network about, a blog to network about, things to learn, and friends to drink with see. And when Poe first lost his job (5 months and counting ago,) I thought, “Hey! I can still use our tax refund money to get myself to Chicago!” And then we needed to use that money to live off of, and I realized it’s just not going to be part of my reality this year. And I’m feeling rather… mature about it. If you consider stamping my foot mature. I decided I needed to actually do something instead of being bitter.

Enter… The Blogathon! I did the Blogathon three years ago. It was a good experience. Rough – but good. I decided to do it again. And I’m going to need your help.

Blogathon is just like the other ‘thons you may have done in school, where you got sponsored so much money per lap/pin etc. On July 25th, I’m going to be blogging every half hour for 24 hours – 6am-6am Pacific. Just think about that for a moment. Having to come up with 48 separate blog posts within 24 hours. It’s a challenge. I’m up to it.

So what? Why? Blogathon participants are blogging for charity. People pledge to sponsor them for the Blogger’s chosen charity. They either pledge for each post the blogger does (watch out, though – remember 48 posts are anticipated!) or just pledge a set amount. How it works is – you sign up to pledge, and after the ‘thon’s over, Blogathon tells you how the blogger did, and what they “owe” to the blogger’s charity. You’re then given a link to the chosen charity’s donation page. The Blogathon folks, and the blogging folks, never see your money, because you’re giving it straight to the charity.

I picked the same one I picked 3 years ago, Fisher House. Imagine your loved one is in the service. They sustain an illness or injury, and they’re in a base medical facility. Civilian family and friends (including spouses) are pretty much on their own to get there and visit and stay and be supportive through their treatment, surgeries, therapies. Fisher House provides no cost housing and support to those family members while their enlisted family member (husband? Sister? Mom?) gets their medical attention, and then they don’t have to worry about hotels, or hotel costs. It’s a temporary housing facility for these families.

My husband is a former Marine. He was out before I met him. But I’ve imagined that was not the case. I’ve attempted to put myself in the shoes of these families. It wasn’t pretty.

I’m asking you to pledge your support. $1 a post? $5 flat pledge? Whatever you can give. I don’t have any money to give in our current circumstances. I used to both be a blogger AND a pledger, and I’m not able to do that this year. But I can give my time! And so I am. I’m taking my angst and doing something with it. Will you please help me?

Here are some links to get you started:
Blogathon Main Page
My Blogathon Pledge Page -You do have to create an account with them. But don’t worry, this is run by long time bloggers who hate spam.
Fisher House Home Page
More about Fisher House
More About the Houses

And then follow along on July 25th! Maybe even spread the word AT BlogHer for me? You can pledge up to 48 hours after the event! And, maybe stop by? It’ll be mighty lonely around 4am on 7/26.

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