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Monday, April 27, 2009

The Wind from my Sails

I think I am finally feeling a little better -at least I'm not breaking down in tears during my morning runs. I swear - the passing of little Maddie really did a number on me. I still think of her and Heather and Mike every day yet I haven't been able to bring myself to mail the card I have for them. I will do it today though - it's been long enough.

On a completely different note, something happened the other day that really caught me off guard. You see, I really like Facebook and I spend a little bit of time on it almost everyday. Not a lot of time, but time nonetheless. And I usually do it while I'm at work. Well, the other day I'm checking email and low and behold there's a friend request from none other than my boss. I stared at it for a couple of seconds and then I actually looked around my office - like maybe he somewhere nearby, spying on me. I work alone folks and I actually looked around my office. What a dork.

Anyway, I wasn't really surprised to see his friend request waiting in my inbox. After all, I've heard the man snore before, I've even seen him in his jammies. Yeah, you read that right - but it's not what you think. His wife is one of my best friends, their son is The Captain's best buddy, and outside of the office we're all good friends. We know more about the other person than is probably appropriate for a professional relationship - but then again, this isn't your typical boss/employee relationship. They hired me for the position because I was a friend and they wanted someone they could trust, someone they didn't have to worry about. I fit the bill I guess so for that last three years I have worked for my best friend and her husband.

So anyway, after a couple of seconds I clicked "accept" and he joined the ranks of my "friends", most of which I know from elementary school, high school, college, and grad school. Now I have my boss on there too, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. My Facebook page was the one thing, besides this blog, that my immediate circle of friends didn't know about - until now it seems. I'm not sure what I'm more bummed about - that I am going to have to stop updating my Facebook during work hours or what.

In any event - I would love to hear about your Facebook stories. Have you "friended" someone you didn't want to? Have you "unfriended" anyone? Do you have any ex's on your page? Just curious.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Can you help?

Okay - I know I'm probably acting a lot like the cousin or relative who never calls or writes or visits and who always forgets your kid's birthday and I'm really sorry if that's how it seems because those people are definitely annoying. But I wouldn't be giving 100% toward my cause if I left this stone unturned so here goes.

I'm raising money for the March of Dimes March for Babies this year and I need your help. As you probably already know, the March of Dimes' mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Every year in the United States, a staggering 525,000 babies are born to soon - some of them are no bigger than a deck of cards. No one knows the causes of nearly half of all premature births and no one is working harder than the March of Dimes to find the answer.

I gave birth to two healthy, full term babies and for that blessing I am eternally grateful. But I have friends who lost their babies. Some gave birth to medically fragile babies and could only stand by and watch helplessly as their baby fought for its' life. I can only imagine the heartache and suffering they endured.

I support the March of Dimes because I want to support my friends. I support the March of Dimes because I believe ALL babies deserve a healthy start in life. I support the March of Dimes because I don't want my sons to experience the loss of a child. I support the March of Dimes because no mother should ever have to go home without her baby.

For more information on the March of Dimes, visit www.marchofdimes.com. You can make a donation on their homepage or by clicking the widget on my page. Thank you in advance!

UPDATE ON 4/21/09

I've been away from blogging for a while. Keeping up with work, the kids and all the extras just left little time for me to write on my own blog, let along catch up on reading some of my favorites. So it was a complete and utter shock to discover that one of my favorite blogging couples recently lost their beautiful baby girl, Maddie. I still can't wrap my mind around the whole thing and I still can't stop crying. My husband doesn't blog and so consequently, he just doesn't "get it". He keeps asking how I can be so upset about the passing of a little girl that I never even knew. But I did "know" her and I did "know" her parents, Heather and Mike. When you read someones blog for almost a year and they share their life's ups and downs with you and you SEE into their world.....well, it is like you "know" them. You realize that they are cool as hell and you start to care about them, start to root for them. And when something like this happens, your heart breaks into a million pieces.

Maddie was born a little over 11 weeks early and spent 68 days in the NICU. To say she had a rough start to me is an understatement. But she pulled through it all and was the absolute light of her parents' lives. Little angels like Maddie are why I support the March of Dimes. If she had been born healthy and full-term she would still be here -she wouldn't have had the struggles she did. So please click on The Spohrs are Multiplying in my blogroll section, or visit remembermaddie.com and make a donation to the March of Dimes in her memory.