Wishes Do Come True!

Hope. Strength. Joy.

The purpose of the Make a Wish Foundation is to provide hope, strength, and joy to kids with life threatening or debilitating illnesses. I have been really lucky to have aligned myself with this awesome organization for the last 3 years. Over the weekend we started a new chapter in San Joaquin County history. Our first Make a Wish radiothon!

For the better part of two days we took over the airwaves of Kat Country 103 in Modesto. I heard stories that made me weep and met tons of amazingly strong wish kids and their families who have been through hell and back. Lauren is 18 and in remission from Leukemia. She is gorgeous and had her wish granted live on air. She left for New York City on Monday and gets to spend 4 fabulous days shopping, sightseeing, and living it up on Broadway! I met Diego who has osteo-something-or-other, a type of cancer that has affected his growth and bone development His wish? Hot wheels! Then there's Gianna who actually gave her wish to the family of the little boy whose donated liver made it possible for her to live. And these are only a few of the stories!

After all was said and done we raised over $90,000, had 10 calls from prospective volunteers, heard from a mom who wants to fundraise at her child's school, had a business offer to sponsor a wish, and got tons of awareness around the Central Valley! I feel so fortunate to have found an organization that I am passionate about and where I can see firsthand what my work is doing. In fact, this Saturday I will be taking 8-year-old Isaac on a shopping spree to Toys R' Us. So you see, wishes do come true!

(Oh, and I got to spend the weekend hanging out with Kitty Cougar. She rocks!)

www.makeawish.org

Ridiculous Optimism

I like to consider myself a happy and optimistic person. I usually take things in stride and find delight in simple things. Unfortunately though, I've noticed that when things happen that don't fit with my plans, my perception tends to skew on the negative. I also get strangely passive aggressive and become highly cynical. Weird. Part of me does it because it's funnier than just passively accepting something that I can't change.

A good friend bought me an awesome book for my birthday. It's called "Before You Leap: A frog's-eye view of life's greatest lessons" and is "written" by my hero, one Kermit T. Frog. Here are a few pearls of wisdom that caused me to stop and re-adjust my attitude.

"I believe that we form our own lives, that we create our own reality and that everything works out for the best. I know I drive some people crazy with what seems to be ridiculous optimism, but it has always worked for me."

"Life is great. But without the bad times, we wouldn't know the difference."

and my favorite . . .
"Always be happy. When people are in a bad mood, the last thing they want to do is hang around with happy people." :)

The world would be a better place if we all thought like Kermit!

Why do they do that?

I don't understand when restaurant servers take mental notes of my order. Am I supposed to be impressed? When you are the type of person that has a lot of variables to their order, you want the server taking copious notes.

Never having worked in the food service industry, perhaps I am unaware of the strategy or reasoning behind this practice.

Please enlighten me.

Ch-Ch-Changes

I've decided that I really like change as long as I like the change that is occurring.

Other than that, change sucks.

Bad Blogger

Well, I have come to the conclusion that I am a bad blogger. I love to read other blogs, but have a very difficult time sitting down and committing to my own.

So, for anyone out there who actually checks in on my blog on a semi-regular basis. SORRY! I'll try to update a little more regularly from now on!