Your To-Do List for the Week!

This is a busy week for CJSTUF and I am sure many of you will be involved.

Here's a handy to-do list to help make sure you don't miss a thing!

1. Attend Alice in Wonderland at Randolph-Macon College. Remaining available showtimes are Friday (tonight) at 8 PM and Saturday 2 PM and 8 PM. The Saturday performances benefit CJSTUF and donations will also be taken at the door. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for kids. It's a very family friendly show! Call the box office at 752-7316 to reserve your spot.
2. Finish collecting your pledges for the Monument Ave. 10K. Pledges can be mailed to PO Box 854, Ashland, VA 23005. Please have all checks made out to CJSTUF. If you do not bundle your pledges together or if someone is sending pledges separately, please have them indicate your name in the memo line so we know that you get the credit!
3. Pick up your TEAM CJ T-shirt. T-shirts are available for FREE to those collecting pledges and running/cheering for TEAM CJ. If you are not collecting pledges but you are running or cheering, T-shirts are $8 ($10 for XXL). If you are not participating in the 10K but you would like a T-shirt we are requesting a minimum donation of $10 per shirt. T-shirts can be picked up at Romp n' Roll (Virginia Center) beginning at 9 AM on Monday 3/22. They will also be available for pick up when you...
4. Bring your family to the Carbo Cram Event on March 26th from 6:00-8:00 PM. You can RSVP HERE to give us an idea of how many people to expect. Location information, etc. is included on the invitation. If you cannot attend the event but want to donate needed materials (food, paper products, etc.), please deliver those to Romp n' Roll by Friday March 26th at NOON. There is a list of needed materials on the invitation as well. If you would like to help with setup or cooking, please be at Shady Grove Methodist Church (Mechanicsville) by 5:30 PM. Based on current RSVPs, I think we are most in need of spaghetti sauce (jars-non-meat), paper products, beverages (tea and punch), and condiments like salad dressing and parmesan cheese. This is a very informal community event so it should be a lot of fun (and maybe even a little bit crazy!!). Finally, don't forget to pick up your 10K race packet at the Arthur Ashe center so that you can be ready bright and early for the...
5. Monument Ave 10K race. March 27th. Be THERE or Be SQUARE! Runners should plan to meet at the starting line around 8 AM. Roger will be trying to orchestrate a group picture. Please wear your TEAM CJ shirts and/or pink and purple. If you are CHEERING, please email our cheering CAPTAIN Meredith Hayes so she knows to expect you. She can let you know if you need to bring anything. The more the merrier! Cheer team members will be meeting near the Arthur Ashe monument (corner of Monument Ave. and Roseneath Rd.). Look for parking off of Monument Ave in that area. Cheer team should be in place by 8:30 AM. Please wear PINK, PURPLE, Butterfly wings, bring Butterfly Mylar balloons, etc. Please do NOT bring pledges with you to the race as we may not have secure storage space.
6. Recover from the race on March 28th and 29th! Please submit any final pledges during the last week of March. Again, pledges can be mailed to PO Box 854, Ashland, VA 23005 or can be dropped off at Romp n' Roll.

I think that oughtta do it. As usual, if you have any questions you can contact Roger or Rachel directly. Thanks for your continued support!

A very busy week

This is turning out to be a VERY busy week for CJSTUF.

Tonight is the Pampered Chef party for CJSTUF. 15% of all sales will go to the foundation. I understand we already have some online orders (yay! thanks!). If you would like to attend the party tonight it will be at the home of Susan Ferguson (713 Center St. in Ashland). We will be making some yummy desserts that you don't want to miss! (Chocolate??? Of course!) I want everyone to know that I am sacrificing watching LOST live tonight so that I can go to this party. That will give you a sense of my priorities (hee hee!!)

If you want to get an online order in because you are out of town or can't make the party, go to www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasapron Be sure to enter CJSTUF as the host.

The rest of the week will be filled with the CJSTUF Board meeting (tomorrow) and Emily Arnold's presentation of Alice in Wonderland at Randolph-Macon College. Sales of tickets from the Saturday shows (2 PM and 8 PM) will go to CJSTUF and I understand they will be collecting donations at the door as well. You can call 752-7316 (the RMC box office) to reserve tickets.

Finally, we are still planning the Carbo-Cram Pre-10K Spaghetti Dinner. We have created an EVITE for the event here. Please click on the link if you plan to ATTEND, HELP in any way (cook, setup, cleanup, child care, etc.), or SUPPLY donations of food. Enter your name and email address (and number of people attending) to RSVP. We are using these RSVPs to help us know what we need and how many to expect. When you RSVP, there is a drop-down box that says please select something to bring. You can indicate there what you will be doing to help OR you can type it in the comments section.

Donations of food (nonperishable) can be brought to Romp n' Roll (Virginia Center) by Thursday 3/25 (we're open till 7:30 that evening) OR you can bring it to the event if you are planning to help with setup (about 5:30 PM). This will be a very simple meal (spaghetti, sauce, salad, bread) with drinks, dressings, and parmesan cheese also needed. We are hoping to have about 60-100 people. Families of runners are welcome! Team CJ T-shirts will be distributed at this meal so you will want to be there.

Ok, I think that about sums it up for now. More events on the way in April and May so stay tuned. I am sure that we will have many updates after the board meeting!

Two Upcoming Events for CJSTUF

March is turning out to be a busy month, indeed!

If we needed any more proof that spring is on its way, check out this picture from my front yard this morning!






Roger's last blog highlighted the Monument Ave 10K details, so if you need more info on that, please go back one post...

The Pampered Chef Fundraiser for CJSTUF ends on March 20th.

15% of all sales will go to CJSTUF.

If you are interested in attending the actual party on March 16th (7 PM), email me ASAP.

Just to show you how important this event is, I am willing to miss LOST to go to a Pampered Chef party. Those of you who know me understand that is sacrifice.

If you can't make the party but want to order some fabulous Pampered Chef goodies, go to www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasapron and enter CJSTUF as the host.

The other event next week is at Randolph-Macon College. Romp n' Roll's own Emily Arnold will be presenting her senior project: the drama production Alice in Wonderland. The performances are Thursday March 17-Sunday March 21; however, proceeds from the 2 PM and 8 PM shows on Saturday March 20th will benefit CJSTUF! We are grateful to Emily and the drama department at RMC for making this possible. I understand that the play is very family friendly. I also understand that the 2 PM show on Saturday is filling quickly! Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for kids. Call 804-752-7316 for reservations.

As if that weren't enough action for the foundation, our regular board meeting is next Wednesday. Our board members have been very busy in their respective committees planning the next stage of CJSTUF so keep on the lookout for news and new things including rollout of:

• a redesign of our website
• the application process for our financial assistance program for families in need
• upcoming fundraising opportunities for the year, including CJSTUF merchandise!!

That's all folks....

Charlotte is still here, sort of.

She's reacting less and less to questions and her breathing goes through these periods of slowdown and then it comes back up. I'm sure this will increase.

Nurse Cathy checked her out today. She said CJ's heart rate is slowing and her body is to the point where it won't take any food/water and wouldn't know what to do with it if it had some. Her blood pressure is very good which means she's in no distress or pain. Cathy confirmed for us that Charlotte would probably pass within the next few days. There will be noticable additions to the website when that happens so that everyone will know without having to read the blog because who knows what shape we'll be in?

Charlotte and I have a certain way of holding hands that I think she got from watching the movie, Wall-E. The concept of holding hands and interlocking fingers became a major theme and Charlotte developed this way of wanting to hold hands with me. I'll assume she did that with others but I'm not sure. Yesterday, she initiated that with me which made my day.

I quite possibly heard her last words the other day as well. I may have already mentioned this but at one point, she actually opened her eyes and said, "Daddy?" (preparing to tell me a plot point from one of her books or videos the way she had done so many times in the last few months)

Just about falling off the chair, I sputtered out something like, "Yes dear?" or "yeah, Baby?" or "Charlotte?" or something like that. I was pretty flustered by hearing her little voice which was raspy from dryness and lack of use.

"Marianna (I think) put on her crown and ..." didn't understand the rest. I asked her to say it again but the moment was gone. Haven't heard her speak since then except to grunt "Mm Hmm" (yes) once when we asked her if she wanted some chocolate milk.

The reading vigil continues and it's become so much more than I ever imagined. I came up with the concept to have voices filling Charlotte's last few days with stories because books/words are her favorite thing in the world. Since she couldn't manipulate the books very well anymore and I knew we weren't going to be able to read to her all day so I figured we'd get other people to help.

What has happened is people from all over, some we've never met before, have come in/Skyped in at all hours of the day and night. Some of you have brought your children and have used the opportunity as a very healthy way to introduce them to the concept of death. Some of you have sent in recordings or videos of yourselves reading stories and the energy of this house has remained. The only thing missing is a Skype from Holland. (Let us know when you're available Karin. Needs to be soon.)

The food, which has become healthier (mostly), keeps coming in and the wine bottles have been multiplying. Rachel and I are determined to bring our physical selves (fat tubs of goo) back up to the level of our spiritual selves (growing ever more peaceful).

I helped with Winter Camp at Romp n' Roll this morning which was great. It was a total parade of cuteness and it was so nice to feel the warmth of the kids when they saw me. Next week we start back big time and I think I'll be taking over some of Rachel's classes for a little while. I think Samantha, Annette, and Emily (who have taken over the lion's share of work at Romp n' Roll) can't give up the responsibility and extra hours fast enough!

Speaking of Emily, she's gone and done a very cool thing. She is a student at Randolph-Macon College in the Drama Dept. and is directing the upcoming production of Alice In Wonderland. She has coordinated with Prof. Joe Mattys to donate all ticket sales to Charlotte's fund!

So go see it! :-) It runs March 17-20, 2010 at the Black Box Theater on R-MC's campus. Tickets are $5. Can't beat it with a stick! I'm thinking we might pick one of those nights to be CJSTUF Night Out At The Black Box. We'll let you know. Call(804) 752-7316 to reserve your tickets. It's a small venue and large crowds are expected every night.

Here's another thing coming up for runners/walkers. For anyone who wants to use the races for fund raising, we will have registrations available for the Ukrop's (What are they going to call it next year?) Monument Ave 10K in March and then more for the Suntrust Richmond Marathon, McDonald's Half Marathon, and HCAVA 8K in November. All those interested in participating who raise $500 or more in pledges will receive their 10K registration free. Not sure what the limit will be for the Nov races.

For the 10K, we will have pledge forms available very soon or you can make your own. Make sure all checks are made out to Charlotte or CJSTUF. For the November races, we hope to be a little more technically advanced. We're working on our own race accesories and everything.

Please let me know if you're interested in participating and what race(s) you want to be in. I'll be doing the 10K, the Richmond Marathon, and probably a few other races during the year. I even want to try the very questionable act of running the Chicago Marathon in October as well.

That's all for now.