As you can see, on an individual basis, we have a pretty good way to go. Each member of Team Nova, other than myself, has a goal of $200. Scott has had several donations over the last couple of days (Thanks 30+!) And Kassi will probably meet hers because her principal has decided to support her/us by having a hat day* for Team Nova.
A day or 2 before the deadline, I'll email Laurie and have her redistribute my funds into the kids' slots so that they atleast have enough to get an AHA Heart Walk t-shirt.
I think I have the sponsors it's going to take to get the tshirts. I'm still waiting to hear from Kim about the details, but she volunteered to take care of that for me because she had family members interested in putting ads on the shirts and one of them was willing to do the footwork with a local printer who could offer a better price. They'll look just like the Cafepress ones, but I won't be paying $15 a shirt. I'm anxious to see them, and of course, any that are left over will be for sale. I'll let you know what the final details are with that.
Kara, the AHA media rep called today. Looks like Charlotte Weekly is going to do a story on Nova and Team Nova and our involvement in the Heart Walk. That'll come out on September 15th, the day before the Walk. Pretty cool. Hopefully it will stir up some donations, and of course, awareness. Maybe it'll bring some people (haha I typed pwople, and had to stop and laugh for 5 minutes about it. No, it isn't all that funny, but hey, I laugh when I can) out on the 17th to get involved and to learn some things about cardiac issues, and CHD in particular (let me near them, they'll learn, like it or not!) I'm nervous all over again about this new story, but it won't be as in-depth as the other, so I'm not quite so nervous. I think.
Speaking of the other article, well, I think I'm getting nervouser and nervouser frankly. I know that she wants to tell our family's story, but I really thought it was going to be totally in context of CHD and Alexis and Nova. I've come to find out that it will include things that, in my mind anyway, just don't need to be included. One of those things is my husband's prison stint during my pregnancy with Terra, which came about because of something he did during the time that I was giving birth to and losing Alexis. He did something stupid, and did so because circumstances made him feel as though it was his only choice. It's in the past, and we aren't proud of the whole event, and I'm not really very interested in seeing it in the paper. Scott doesn't seem to be as bothered by it as I am, I guess he's come to the conclusion that it's just a repercussion of his actions that he has to face up to. I feel badly for him though, mostly because I think his motivation at the time was that he just wanted to protect me from going through more stuff than I was already coping with at the time.
So there's that, so no one will be surprised.
I had been having a hard time getting ahold of the man that I met at the Heart Walk Kickoff - the one who mentioned Little Hearts and the CHD awareness tent. I found out why - he's getting married the day of the Walk, and the woman who I'm supposed to talk with about my/our part in running it hasn't contacted me yet. The clock is ticking, I have no idea what we're going to be responsible for, and I've got people waiting to find out what I'm going to need them to do. Grrr, frustrating.
Tommy has gotten proof that the wench is really pregnant, but I still don't know if I believe it's his. Seems fishy, but I'm trying (trying) to with hold any judgment until things are sure one way or another. It's a boy, by the way. A boy that, if it's Tommy's, was conceived less than a month after Nova died. I'm struggling with it, still.
Speaking of Tommy, he has decided to go back to highschool, based on our ability to get him into Sun Valley. He enrolled today, starts in the morning. We'll see how this goes. I'm thrilled that he's going, but trying not to get too emotionally attached to the idea, in case he changes his mind, or decides to drop out again.
Speaking of school, how do schools expect a person to purchase a calculator that costs $118.00? No, not one, TWO of them (because I now have 2 highschoolers!) After taxes and shit, we're talking about $250 worth of calculators!
That shit is A-B-S-U-R-D.
Our trip to NY is obviously cancelled. No van, no trip. I'm very disappointed. There were a lot of people we were going to meet while we were making this trip. Of course, I'm sure Scott and his family are more disappointed than I am, so I won't whine.
Frankly I want to whine. I feel whiney, and restless, and not very good at sharing. As of tomorrow, 4 of my 5 kids will be out of the house. It'll be just Terra and I, and it's going to be ugly, because she's already throwing fits about them going to school. She wants them to stay home, wait, no... Better yet, she'll go with them!
*sigh*
In 2 days I've had 2 conversations about Christmas. I'm dreading Christmas in a way I've never dreaded it before, and I've always been a little Scrooge-ish...
Shutting up now. Sorry for the extended absence of blabber.
*A hat day is a day when the students are allowed to "break" the no hat rule and wear a hat all day, if they pay a dollar (or 2, I'm not sure) for the privilege. Very cool of the school, and I met the principal last night at Kassi's orientation - she's awesome and I'm really looking forward to getting involved with the schools that the kids are now in, because her attitude is the norm for these school. I even joined the PTO for goodness sakes!
TI-83 Plus, or did they have to get the TI-84? This year we have two in college, one in high school, and one in junior high (advanced math, and that means a Big Fat Expensive Calculator, and they can't all share because their schedules don't allow for it.) I can't imagine having to do this shit on a budget.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the cost of the AAA batteries they'll go through before it's all over, I'm thinking, what the hell happened to the WAY less expensive and just as accurate slide rules we got by with in the 70s?
What's going to happen when the Sun explodes and the Internet implodes and there's no more electricity and nobody remembers how to use a fucking slide rule???
As for the prison thing, I hear you. My son, my daughter, my sister, my step-father have all been to jail. My former brother in law was in prison during my niece's first two years of life. No, it's not something we're inspired to brag about, but what happened happened, and it was an anomally -- a response to unusual, extenuating, trying, frightening, circumstances; a response that ultimately had to be atoned for, because it was an illegal response.
I understand.
Their mistakes do not diminish our love for them. Their taking responsibility, their ownership of what they did and what the consequences were, and learning to live with the memory of it as part of the history that made them into the fine people that they are today -- that's admirable, in my book. A person's history may be a little bit gritty, but if he's bothered to learn from his history, he's a better person, not a "tainted" person. You're not tainted by association, nor are the kids.
He's lived and he's made mistakes and he's learned from those mistakes and he's loved and he's been loved in return, and that's what it's all about.
Elbows out, back straight, head held high. You're an honest person, and honest people are hard to come by.
As for Christmas, I was pretty much just hoping to get through Halloween before having to think about "gimme-gimme" season. Ugh. Can we make a pact not to discuss it for another six weeks, at least? Ugh, ugh, ugh!