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....

Time Marches On....

It's March! Spring is slowly creeping into the air. I heard a rumor that while we are supposed to get almost an inch of snow tonight (nothing compared to what we've had this year), it is supposed to hit the 60's later this week!!! I am tired of looking at gray skies and bare trees. Even with my pollen allergies, I am longing for spring.

We have a lot going on with CJSTUF this month. First of all, I announced in the last blog post that we are holding an online Pampered Chef sale for CJSTUF until March 20th. Susan Ferguson is hosting the show and Jessica Pittman is the Pampered Chef consultant. 15% of sales will go to CJSTUF. You can order online by going to the link above (www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasapron). Enter CJSTUF as the host.

Of course, at the end of the month (March 27th) we will have the Monument Ave. 10K. We are already getting some donations trickling in from runners. Keep up the great work. I understand there may be some special prizes for those that bring in $$$!! Even if you can't run (or walk), come on out to cheer on Team CJ.

Speaking of Team CJ...I am excited to announce that we received the TEAM CJ race shirts yesterday. Drum roll please...

Front of the shirt

Back of the shirt

If you can't tell from the pictures (sorry, not the highest quality pic), the shirts are light purple. Everyone running and raising money for TEAM CJ will get a shirt. If you are cheering for TEAM CJ at the race, you can have a shirt for $8. Any extra shirts will be available for a minimum donation of $10. We will let you know when we have shirts available.

We have more merchandise in the works and on the way. The board has been very busy working on designs, pricing, etc. and we hope to have the CJSTUFF (online store) up and running by April. (Fingers crossed). Special thanks to Madison Fairburn for the t-shirt designs.

Roger has been busy shuttling back and forth from MCV helping to care for our friends, the Berry Family. Wesley had a brain surgery last week. He is still in the hospital and on the mend. We have had some generous people donate meals and Roger has been helping with the coordination of that effort.

I think that the pervasive sadness has reared its ugly head this week for both me and for Roger. We are settling into our new life and new routine and it is both heartbreaking and surreal (there's that word again). We were having dinner last night and talking about Charlotte and the entire experience. Again. There are times when it seems like a dream. A nightmare. Something that happened a long time ago, in another lifetime. Sometimes I think that if I didn't have the pictures, videos, and other memorabilia to remind me, I would wonder if I didn't just dream her existence. Her life on this earth was so short and yet strangely full and complete. It amazes me when I think of all the lives that she touched with her grace, beauty, and charm.

There I go waxing poetic again. I feel like I'm repeating myself and if I do, I apologize.

Anyway, this weekend I have the opportunity for a much-needed retreat. Thanks to some friends, I am headed off to a cabin in the woods for some rest BUT I actually have a very focused task. Many of you have mentioned putting our experience into book form. Not far into this process Roger and I agreed that we wanted to do this and the constant support and encouragement from our rabid fans have convinced us to move forward with the effort. Thanks to our blogs and some more work I have done over the past year, the bulk of the memoir is actually complete. I need to find some time to sit, without distraction of email and work, and actually flesh out the rest of the book.

I am not sure what we will do in terms of publishing. I know that we could always self-publish (go-getters that we are, what's one more thing on the to-do list?). We have also been talking very informally with a local publisher in Richmond but that's about the extent of our progress in this effort. If anyone in our network has resources or connections in the publishing world and you think they might be interested in our story, please have them contact Roger or me directly.

So I am going to a non-profit leadership class at VCU on Friday and then I will be retreating to the woods until Sunday evening (no Henry David Thoreau references, please). Much thanks to Roger for covering my shifts at the store on Friday and Saturday. We have a full weekend of parties and classes at RNR and he has agreed to take that on so I can be distraction free.

Ok, so I will close this now. I just got a call from Roger that he just finished a post himself so you will get 2 for the price of 1 today. Hopefully we weren't too repetitively redundant.

Lots of goings-on

So, where to start? A lot of announcements, it seems.

First of all, if you're not busy this afternoon/evening (Wednesday, 3/24), head on over to Chilis at Virginia Center and eat (or drink) for ReeseStrong. 20% of your meal cost will go to ReeseStrong when you present a flyer. Flyers will be available at the restaurant and are also available at Romp n' Roll. Roger and I had a lovely lunch over there and got to see some of our favorite families as well!

ASK has some events coming up soon too, including the ASK walk on April 24th. If you're not busy racing in other events, this is a fun thing to do. They featured Charlotte on their posters and flyers this year. We are honored.

Things are rolling along on the CJSTUF front as well. We are getting ready to redo our website so watch for changes (coming soon!!!). We have had many requests from home-based businesses that want to raise money for CJSTUF so we have decided to select one to two home-based businesses per month that will raise funds for CJSTUF. Hopefully that will help spread the wealth a little.

Our first featured business is Pampered Chef. Jessica Cole is the sales representative in charge of the party and it will be hosted by Sue Ferguson. The actual party will be on 3/16 at about 7 PM. I will post more information soon if you would like to RSVP; however, you do not need to be present to help. 15% of all sales from this party will go to CJSTUF. You can go online to www.pamperedchef.biz/jessicasapron and type in CJSTUF. I will have some mini catalogs and order forms at Romp n' Roll soon (probably by next week) in case anyone wants to place an order directly from me. I'm hoping to attend the party itself. If you've never attended a Pampered Chef party, you would be in for a treat. The food is usually FABULOUS and I always come away with a great new cooking tip (or two!).

Finally, tomorrow is the big (drum roll) reveal from the Thumbs Up Ball. The MOMS Club of Mechanicsville (Cool Spring Chapter) will be coming by Romp n' Roll at about 3 PM to present the proceeds from the Valentine's Weekend Fundraiser. If you're in the area, stop on by to check the results. I promise we will post news on the blog and Facebook soon after.

I think that's it for now. Yucky weather seems to be moving in to Richmond so Open Gym is hoppin' today; however, I don't think we'll get tons of snow. Just wet goop!

Stay warm and dry...Rachel

Insurance Hilarity...And a day tinged with sadness.

Ok, so you may think from the title that I am going to wax poetic again about health insurance.

NO!

The only thing I have to say about the health insurance front is that I think we are (mostly) done with medical bills from Charlotte. I did get one last bill from MCV for some leftover doctors visits. I had been round and round with Humana and MCV and I think they billed it incorrectly. Supposedly it was fixed but then I got another bill....

The upshot of all of this is...I will pay the bleepin' bill. In the grand perspective of things, it's nothing. Charlotte racked up over $700,000 (yes, those zeroes are correct!) in medical expenses last year and I think we paid for less than 10% of that out of pocket so I'm not going to nickel and dime the insurance company any more.

As a small aside, Roger and I have been most impressed by those in the medical community who have followed our story and contacted us in the last few weeks "just to see how we are doing". We have received cards and phone calls from my OB-Gyn, Charlotte's pediatrician (Dr. Weber who made the initial diagnosis), many of the staff from MCV including those who never even worked directly with us, people from our health insurance....the list goes on. It just feels good to be more than a number in their eyes. I know from working in health care that sometimes you have to do your job with a certain lack of emotion. If you get too caught up in it, you will go crazy or burn out (and I never even worked in a field with life or death situations like emergent medicine or oncology). That being said, it is so touching to know that these people didn't just look at Charlotte (and us) as just another cancer family. Or, hopefully, we are just another cancer family and this is how they treat everyone. These people deserve all the support, respect, and praise we can give them. It's a tough job!

Ok, I'm getting distracted. Back to the insurance story. I had to make some phone calls about a general liability policy for the Foundation. During one of my calls, I spoke with the man who answered the phone (the agent) and told him what I was looking for. He started asking very probing questions about the Foundation. What is it for? Who will it help? Do you and/or the members of your Board have any experience with nonprofit organziations (Um, yes sir. A combination of at least 50 years experience just in nonprofits alone. Not to mention the years of experience in organizational management and general quality business practices.)

The interrogation continued: What do you do for a living? What is your background? What does your husband do for a living? What is his background?

Are you getting the picture?

Then the questions got a little more inane. Actually, they weren't even questions but statements:

Him: Well, you know, it takes a lot of money to start a foundation like that.
Me: Um, yes sir. I am aware of that. It's all part of the plan.

And then it got interesting...

Him: So how did you decide to start this Foundation?
Me: Well, my daughter was very sick last year and when she passed away we decided to start a Foundation in her honor.
Him: Your daughter died?
Me: Yes, sir.
Him: That's TERRIBLE!
Me: Yes, sir.
Him: No, I mean, when a child dies that's just about the worst thing in the world!
Me: Yes, I can pretty much agree with you there.
Him: How old was she?
Me: She was four years old.
Him: Are you kidding me? That's just terrible. Horrible. That's just so sad.
Me: [Truly at a loss for words. I mean, really. Am I supposed to be comforting HIM???] Um, yes sir.

Fortunately, the conversation kind of shifted at this point. We talked coverage needs and policy parameters. All that objective stuff. He got a few more points of information from me, including my date of birth and Roger's date of birth just in case the underwriter needed it. At this point he says. Hmmm....you sound a lot younger on the phone. I suppose I will take that as a compliment. I guess I sounded like a young kid just starting a Foundation "for kicks and giggles" until he realized how old I really was.

So there's your amusement for the day.

I need some amusement. As I mentioned before, the emotions have been riding high lately. It's very difficult to explain because I'm obviously not incapacitated by grief. It's like a low-riding hum. I just cry a lot. At silly, small things. I miss her. I miss going to the store and filling my cart with Macaroli and chocolate milk and anything princessy. I go to the Hallmark store and see cards that say "Happy Birthday Mom" and it makes me cry. And it's not even my birthday! I just realize that I won't get one of those. At least for a while. That's when the emptiness hits. Nobody bother me in May, please. I will be a MESS. I can already tell.

Fortunately, I have wonderful friends who take very good care of me. Well, us. People still bring us meals every once in a while. I've gone out a few times for drinks with friends. I get care packages in the mail (Amy, you're the BEST!). It all helps in small ways. It doesn't take away the sadness but it helps me cope...and sometimes I can forget.

Changing subjects, I just got a freelance gig with VOPA: The Virginia Office For Protection and Advocacy. Someone in their office got my name from the presentation that I did in Lynchburg last fall on Augmentative Communication and they have brought me in as an EXPERT to consult with them on some issues with adults in state facilities. Yes, the word EXPERT is actually listed as my title in the contract. I find that highly amusing. The project will be about 3 months with meetings, site visits, and some collaborative training so I think it will be interesting as well as a good way for me to keep my professional chops up.

The most interesting part about this to me is that I met with them WAY back in November. It was right after Charlotte's condition was deemed terminal. I went to the meeting not knowing where it would go and I never told them about Charlotte. They asked for a proposal and we traded emails back and forth after the meeting. I let them know that I would be away for a few weeks for vacation and then, of course, the holidays happened. When I talked with Roger about it, he advised me to just take it one step at a time. If they wanted me to do something and I wasn't able, I could just tell them at that point. So I didn't say anything. The holidays came and went. I didn't hear anything and by the end of January I just assumed that they had decided to go in another direction. Sure enough, I got a call last week from their office saying that they apologized for the delay but they were still interested and wanted me to come in to review and sign the contract. So whaddaya know?

My final topic for the day (you're getting a nice novella today, aren't you?) revolves around fundraisers. Some of you have contacted us about using your business as a fundraiser for CJSTUF (Usborne books, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, etc.). I know that some of these are already in the works but I think I may have lost a few emails.

First of all, if you contacted me or Roger and we never got back to you, please contact us again.

Our friend Erin is going to do an Usborne books sale at Romp n' Roll on March 11th. More details to follow.

Also, our friend Susan Ferguson is hosting a Pampered Chef party at her house on March 16th with Jessica Pittman as the consultant. Jessica is a Romp n' Roll mom and also works under Marie Snyder who has always been my Pampered Chef consultant. (PS Happy Birthday Marie!).

Finally, one of the Moms Clubs will be hosting the Book Sale at Romp n' Roll again on May 6th. They did a used book sale in December to benefit CJSTUF while we were at Disney. I think this one will be even bigger and better!

All of these events will benefit CJSTUF.

We will get more details out to everyone once I have official details like times, etc. We will add them to the events calendar. Again, if you have an business or organization that would like to raise funds for us, please go for it and let us know. We will be happy to help promote it in any way that we can. Please also know that the Foundation isn't going anywhere. If you need to wait to hold a fundraiser until we reach nonprofit status (goal: by July!), that's ok. We will always have the need for fundraisers and I don't want people to get burned out on asking for money in CJSTUF's name in the first six months or year. It's like a marathon...you 'gotta pace yourself.

Ok, the carpal tunnel is kickin' in so I am really going to wrap this up.
Spring is coming. I can feel it in the air. Let's just get through the rest of February!