Change of seasons

We woke this morning to the sound of raindrops against the window.  I haven't heard a better sound in WEEKS.  Here in Richmond, we have gone almost a month without any significant rainfall and with the regional water restrictions, we have had to water CJ's Butterfly Bush sparingly.  This has been a great year for the butterfly garden.  Our yard was visited by many butterflies and bumblebees.  I have seen butterflies everywhere this summer.  I know some of that is just the power of suggestion.  It's like when you buy a new car and all of a sudden you see how many people on the road drive the same, exact car.  They were always there.  You just didn't notice. 

Now I cherish those butterfly visits.  A few weeks ago, I was working the front desk at Romp n' Roll and a small monarch flew right up to the front door, perched on the glass for a few minutes, and gently opened and closed her wings.  She stayed there for what seemed like a long time and then flew away again.  It's moments like those that are gentle reminders of CJ's presence in our lives.

How many butterflies have you seen this summer?

Now that fall is upon us, we are preparing for the change that is to come.  Roger and I both spent some time in the yard yesterday, chopping wood for the winter wood pile and clearing out the window boxes and pots on the back deck. You can definitely feel the change that is coming in the air.

On that note, let me share some news and announcements to bring you up to speed on all the CJSTUF...stuff. 

This week is your last opportunity to get a copy of childrens book Richmond Rocks at Romp n' Roll-Mechanicsville.  The autographed hardback books are $15.70 (tax included) and 30% of the proceeds will go back to CJSTUF.  We can accept cash, check, or credit cards for the books at Romp n' Roll. 





With October right around the corner, we have another Business of the Month to feature:

Madison Fairburn of M. Chase Photography is hosting family photo sessions on October 16th at Pole Green Park to benefit CJSTUF.  This is a perfect opportunity to schedule your family portraits for upcoming holiday pictures.  If that date doesn't work for you or you want a different setting for your portraits, contact her and schedule CJ's Storybook Package any time between October and March.  25% of the proceeds will benefit our organization. 

Doris Hassell of Arbonne skin care will also be a featured business for October.  We will give you more details about opportunities to give back to CJSTUF through Arbonne soon.

The Double Marathon Challenge continues!  Roger has been running quite a bit lately.  His weekly totals are around 35-40 miles at this point.  Two weeks from today, he will be running the Chicago Marathon.  Six weeks from yesterday, he will be running the Richmond Marathon.  For anyone curious about our pledge totals, you can visit our Double Marathon page.  If anyone has been collecting pledges for the UM or VT teams, please begin to turn them in to us.  The University of Miami fans (or non-Hokie fans?) have been leading the charge almost 2:1.  We have received a little over $5000 in pledges and Roger's goal is $10,000 by the November 13th Richmond Marathon. 

Coming Soon in November: 
First, we will be holding an online auction for about 20 unique jewelry pieces that have been created exclusively for CJSTUF by Crystal Paintbrush artist Sarah Blankenship.  The collection will include necklaces, earrings, pins, and bracelets that have been designed with pink, purple, and white semiprecious stones and beads. The butterfly is a prominent theme in many of the pieces.  We are planning for the online auction to take place on eBay during the first two weeks in November.  On that note, we are now registered through eBay Giving Works.  If you are selling items on eBay and want to give a portion of your proceeds to our organization, it's easy through this program.  Simply follow the links to set up your sale.  A portion of the proceeds from the sale (whatever you decide) will automatically be donated to us and you will receive a listing credit for your item. 

Mark your calendars for Saturday November 20th.  From 9 AM-12 PM, the Henry Clay Elementary school parking lot in Ashland will be the site of Citations for CJ.  This will be a fun, easy way to give back to our organization and we are hoping to attract some publicity for the Foundation with this unique event.  More information to come soon. 

There always seems to be more news to report.  Thanks for continuing to follow our blog and website as well as our many musings on Facebook. 

Many Upcoming Events: Please mark your calendars

A few updates are in order:

First of all, we have our "clerical" volunteers lined up so thanks to those of you who expressed interest in helping. Don't worry...there will be more to do as time goes on.

The website relaunch is taking a little longer than expected so I wanted to make sure some important events and announcements made it onto your calendars.

The Mu Phi Epsilon chapter (music fraternity) at Randolph-Macon is hosting a concert to benefit CJSTUF on Thursday, April 15th from 6-8:30 PM at the college in the Alumni Gym. Tickets are $5 each. There are five groups performing and they are featuring a wide variety of genres: jazz, rock, gospel, acoustic, and bluegrass. We have a few tickets available at Romp n' Roll and I think others will be available at the door.

Megan Blake and her friends are organizing a Kid Stuff Sale (gently used kid gear, kids clothes, maternity clothes, etc.) at St. Thomas' Church (3602 Hawthorne Ave in Richmond). Proceeds will be donated to a number of local organizations and CJSTUF is one of the benificiaries. There is a sip-n-shop on Friday 4/16 from 5-8 PM. For $10, you can get refreshments and first pick at the goodies. The regular sale is Saturday 4/17 from 8 am-1 pm.

Saturday 4/24 is the ASK Fun Run/5K at Short Pump Town Center. This is not a CSJTUF fundraiser or event but our good friends at ReeseStrong will have quite the team. Roger is running in this event. Come on out to support the crowd if you're available.

Have we talked about the Cow Drop yet? The 3rd Annual chick-fil-a Cow Drop is on Saturday May 8th. If you've never been before, the event is held at the Hanover Airport. There is a family fun day from 11 AM-3 PM with face painting, moonbounces, vendors, food, and kid's games. Around 1:30 PM, an airplane loaded with hundreds of little plush COWS will fly overhead and drop the animals from the sky. Those landing closest to a predetermined target will win FABULOUS prizes. Over 20 great prizes will be given including a Disney Family Vacation, a Romp n' Roll birthday party, a year of movie passes from Regal Cinemas, and MORE.

All Cow Drop tickets bought at the Virginia Center Chick-fil-A locations benefit CJSTUF. Tickets are just $10 each and include a coupon for a free milkshake. You don't have to be present on the day of the Cow Drop to win either.

On Tuesday 4/27...there will be a mini-concert and promotion for the Chick-Fil-A Cow Drop at the Virginia Center Chick-Fil-A from 6-6:45 PM. Silly Bus will be playing a small concert as a preview of the Cow Drop event on May 8th and this will be a great opportunity to buy your Cow Drop tickets. This is also Kids Eat Free night at Chick-Fil-A so bring the kids for an evening of fun.

I think that takes you through the month of April (and even into a little bit of May). With Romp n' Roll moving to Mechanicsville, we won't have too much going on CJSTUF-wise during May.

If you haven't been on Facebook lately, Roger started a fan page JUST for the Butterfly Bush (CJ's butterfly bush). He is taking daily pictures and posting them. The page reached over 200 fans in about a day and many of them were not already fans of CJSTUF. Gotta love viral marketing.

I think I will close for now. Happy weekend, everyone.

Rest, Reflection, and....Retirement?

I think the theme of my life lately is: I'm tired. Roger and I are working a LOT. Between....

1. The regular running of the business (usually unto itself a 60 hour per week endeavor....a few glitches this week had me working about 18 hours more than usual)
2. Moving the business to Mechanicsville (No, we don't have a moving date. Yes, we would love your assistance when we finally know when we are moving. Yes, we are excited about the move but it is CRAZY stressful right now.) I'll be much happier when the permit is finally approved by the county and work may continue as usual.
3. Continuing to work on CJSTUF matters. Thanks to everyone who has sent in their donations this week. Still working on final tallies as donations trickle in. We are also getting ready to launch version 2.0 of the website (it will look GREAT) and are working on our nonprofit filing status.

Speaking of CJSTUF, we do have need for ONE volunteer to help Meredith with some clerical/secretary duties (mainly help addressing thank you notes). If you have some interest in this, email me. First person to do so wins the prize!

Aside from all of that, there is the "normal" business of laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, regular exercise...oh yeah...a LIFE. There hasn't been much effort on the domestic side lately as Roger and I are both burning candles at both ends. Just nobody come over for a visit any time soon. Or do so with low expectations.

The approach of yet another holiday and the emotions rear their ugly head. It's not that Easter holds any kind of sentimentality for me related to Charlotte. It's just another holiday where everyone is happy and excited and celebrating and I'm...not. I'm just not feeling it and to pretend that I am would only make it worse. In fact, I don't think it is the holiday itself that is the problem. It is all the extra fluff that goes on in the name of the holiday that makes me a little crazy. Even before losing Charlotte, I have always had a general issue with things that people do in the name of a holiday (especially a religious holiday) that really just speaks to the base nature of our secular consumerism. Or something that is done out of "obligation"...because we always do it that way.

Example: Roger overheard a few people "complaining" about the number of Easter Egg Hunts that they were taking their kids to over the last week or so. Why complain? If you don't want to do something, don't do it. There's nothing inherently Christian about egg hunts anyway. They really delve back into the pagan fertility rituals of Spring and were just adopted by Christians along the way...possibly as a way of appeasing and/or assimilating new converts to the faith.

Along with that, I have no patience for Chreasters. What is a Chreaster, you might ask? Well, some of you may have your own name for these folks. They're the ones who show up at church only on Christmas and Easter...or at other such times as they feel "obligated" to attend church. It's not just about attending or not attending services either. Chreasters also celebrate holidays (mainly Christmas and Easter) for the sole purpose of acquiring more stuff for themselves or for others. The focus is not on How Will I Use Lent and Easter to Help Me Grow Spiritually This Year? but What Is Going Into My Kid's Easter Basket This Year?

These are the people that go WAY overboard with the Easter baskets and the Santa presents and the gifts to anyone and everyone without delving into the true reason for the season. These are the people who find any excuse to get drunk on Mardi Gras but don't really give up anything for Lent. (Lent...what's that?? Oh, yeah, I gave up chocolate for Lent once. I mean I tried.). Interestingly, both seasons leading up to the biggest celebrations in the Christian calendar (Easter and Christmas) are periods for sacrifice and reflection (Advent and Lent) but to look at our society's focus on the acquisition of materials for Easter baskets and Christmas presents, you'd never realize that. I think because it is SO overblown by our commercial culture I do everything I can in my mind to rear back against it.

Now I'm not so righteous or holy as to advocate that everyone should go to church every week. I know that sometimes I just don't go. And for many different reasons. My spirituality is a very important part of my life and it's very personal. I know people who are incredibly spiritual and never (or rarely) set foot in a church. That's not what this is about. I'm sure there are also a variety of reasons why some people only show up for church on these dates and I want to make it clear: I am not judging your decision. Last year was the first year that I could ever remember that I didn't go to Easter service and it just felt strange to me. I'm certainly used to the Chreaster crowd year after year and I have nothing against anyone personally who follows this habit.

It's more the idea that having a Happy Easter has nothing to do with the size of your basket or the number of egg hunts you attended or the pictures you took with the Easter Bunny (again...a pagan symbol) in your new outfits. These secular acts don't make you a part of a circle of faith. To me, Easter is about realizing the grace that the Holy Trinity creates in our lives through the sacrifice that Jesus made. It's remembering that grace every day as we live our lives and finding some time to reflect on how we can use that grace to make us better people. This actually starts to get into Pentecost and all that the Trinity entails but that's a Sunday School lesson for another day. It's all connected.

There is another part in all this and maybe it speaks to the reason why I now have little patience for things that never used to bother me. I am starting to understand the point of view of retired individuals. Now, again, without generalizing too much, I know from conversations that I have had with friends and family and from general observations in life that people who are retired have a distinct view on the world. They have worked the 9-5 jobs, they have spent their time in the "rat race" and they have now made a conscious decision to leave that way of life for another. Some people spend their retirement on the golf course, others travel, others continue to "work" but in different capacities (maybe more volunteer endeavors or a part time job in their chosen field). The thing that I notice about individuals who are now retired is that they finally realize what truly matters in life. It's not about doing things out of obligation or because society says so. You realize at a certain point that you are only going to have a finite amount of time left on this Earth and doing things out of obligation or duty is just a waste of time. While I'm nowhere close to the point that I can retire from my job, sometimes I think that maybe I've been forced into early retirement from Parenthood and that gives me a whole new perspective on the world.

Which brings us to How I Spent My Easter Holiday. We planted Charlotte. The butterfly bush that was a gift from the Glass family was delivered this week so this morning, Roger and I took the seedling, her ashes, and the biodegradable urn, and planted Charlotte in the sunniest spot we have in the yard. We plan to add a few more plants to the bed. Haven't decided yet whether it will be more butterfly plants or a few daisies. It was a beautiful day and it felt good to be out in the garden working with our hands. You can see more of the pictures here.

May your Easter journey allow you to find the true peace that passes all understanding.