Give me some of your money?

I guess asking for all your money was a bit ambitious. How about just $10? My goal for The Big Climb is to find 50 people to donate $10 each. How about it?

If you hate me (and who can blame you these days) will you consider donating to my teammate Betsy instead? She's also training hard and raising money. Check it out. Please?

Remember that time you staged a sit-in to save the baby Pandas and I pledged 5 dollars for every hour you sat on that cold sidewalk? Or how about the time you biked from Seattle to Billings to raise money for Diabetes research and I sponsored you by buying all your bike shorts? What about that one time I saved all your puppies from the crazy lady with the big hair? What? That was a Disney movie? Oh, yeah - disregard that last one.

The money you pledge will fund vital research to cure Leukemia and Lymphoma. It will also provide a better quality of life for cancer patients and their families. Please consider donating to this good cause. I promise this is the last time I'll ask.

Thank you!

Give me all your money

I'm unabashedly and blatantly asking you to give me money. It's for a good cause, I promise.

Betsy and I are participating in The Big Climb on March 22nd. We're climbing all 69 flights of stairs to the top of the Columbia Tower. It's 1311 steps and 788 feet of vertical elevation. My dad told me he doesn't think I can do it. Coming from my dad this is pretty harsh. I've decided not only to do it but to raise 500 dollars to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Help me out, I won't forget it. I'll owe you one. Do it for the kids.

Click here to donate and thank you. 

Let's talk about what matters: inaugural fashion

I hated Michelle Obama's "gold" dress. I tried to like it all day but I just couldn't. I don't know if it didn't read well on video or pictures but I thought the color was not flattering on her at all. There was also something about her gloves and shoes that was not right. What do you think?

On the other hand, Jill Biden showed up and said, "Stand back bitches. I've got my f' me boots on and I mean business. PS, my legs are hella skinny"

In my opinion (and I would like to hear if you disagree), little what's her name Obama stole the show in her orange and pink ensemble. Bravo, little Obama. Pick a dog already.

Somewhere in Texas a village got its idiot back

My Abuelo is the cutest

I almost started crying today at work when I opened an email from my dad with this picture of my gramps. Abuelo is in his mid 90s and still going strong. He lives in Mexico so I don't get to see him very often but I get weekly updates from my dad and manage to keep tabs on him. Abuelo has become really good friends with a nun named Patty. She comes to his retirement home and they watch movies and she reads to him. I think they also go out for coffee and maybe lunch sometimes too. I haven't met her yet but she sounds great and she's been such a good friend to him. In the picture he's holding squirrels that she brought him from Orlando. I could not resist posting this pic. I had to show you the world's cutest grandpa.

The road to recovery

A few weeks ago we finally found out what's wrong with Lola. Turns out she is none of the following:

1. Perfectly fine and very fit

2. Suffering from Avian Tuberculosis 

3. Afflicted with Addison's Disease

4. Battling Intestinal Cancer

5. Allergic to her food

6. Emitting gasses due to Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Thankfully none of those things caused her stunning 7 pound weight loss or chronic diarrhea. We found out she has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. Basically her Pancreas has stopped working. It isn't producing the enzymes necessary to digest food. Therefore, everything she ate was just passing through her. She was literally starving to death. So it made sense that she was trying to eat anything she could find, including cigarette butts, apple cores and (sorry) her own shit. 

The solution is simple, we just add a powdered enzyme to her food every day. Unfortunately this stuff smells like baby vomit, sour milk and provolone cheese ground in a pile of shit, eaten by a beaver, shat out and rotting in the woods for 3 weeks. Imagine my excitement to own the world's cuddliest dog. 

We are really glad to be able to easily treat her condition and we'd much rather deal with the smell than the disease's ugly symptoms. She's gained about a pound and a half and you can't see the outline of her ribs or her gaunt face (complete with recessed eye sockets). 

All is well in Lola land and we are so relieved.  Now if we could only train her to stop hogging the bed...

Carolina's 1st birthday

Today is Carolina's first birthday. I can't believe a year has passed already. It seems like just last week Ana and I were contemplating if her water really had broken and heading to the hospital to be sure. We've had a great year getting to know Carolina and I can't wait to see what the future brings for her. Happy Birthday Little Chicken!!

Babies!

On December 28th Dan's cousin Richard and his wife Kristen welcomed their adorable baby boy Kellen Anthony. We met him yesterday and he is the sweetest little thing. He has perfectly round ears and beautiful little face. He's super cute.

This morning my friend Lisa gave birth to Ms. Dahlia Ru. I haven't seen pictures of her yet but I'll bet she's beautiful like her mom and dad. I'll post a picture as soon as I get one.

Congrats to the new parents!

New year, old news

I probably should be posting my resolutions or telling you about my fab New Year's Eve but I have some things to tell you about December of last year. Is that weird that we can call it last year although it was just a few days ago? Time, what a tricky little illusion. I find that posting events and thoughts in list form is satisfying. So, without further rambling, here is the scoop:

1. On December 11th my dad turned 60 and my sister married Mike in the living room of my parent's house. It was all very strange and wonderful. My family has taken to doing weird things with short notice. I am learning to accept this.

2. On December 17th Dan turned 29 and I neglected to write him a happy birthday post. But I bought him Guitar Hero World Tour which is way better than a blog post. It is sweet. You should come over and play in our band, Balsac and Turtle. Yes, it's the weirdest band name ever but it's growing on me. It came about because Dan's band name on the old Guitar Hero was Balsac and I wanted the new band name to be The Turtleheads. Balsac and the Turtleheads takes up too many characters so we had to compromise. Isn't compromise what marriage is all about?

3. I spent December 21st-27th in the warm suns of Mexico. Pictures to follow.

4. Josh and Betsy dog sat Lola while we were gone. I know they did a good job because she showed zero emotion when we picked her up. There might have been a little tail wag but we're not sure. I think she even misses them. Like Big Head Todd says, it's bittersweet.

December was quite eventful and we're looking forward to a quiet January. I will post some pics of all this madness so check back in the next couple of days.
Until then, I wish you all a very happy 2009. I hope the upcoming year is full of laughter and cheese. What else do you need?