Updates

UPDATE #1:

My Dad is about the same. Well, sort of. He's not worse overall, and he was a bit better for a few weeks, and now he's a bit worse again. He feels just well enough to be crabby that he's not feeling better, and to realize how much vitality he's lost with this last bout. Ironically, it was probably easier on him when he was sleeping 20 hours a day. He's not gaining back any of the lost weight, but his fluid levels are under better control than they were. So, mixed bag.

UPDATE #2:

My kidney function seems to have stablized at 24%, for now. Fall blood work showed no change since May 2010, which is an unprecedented run. My doc thinks I may have another year or two before needing a transplant at this rate. So, mixed bag, again -- no need for imminent surgery, but another 1-2 years before I can start to feel better.

UPDATE #3:

I decided to give ballet another try tomorrow. Pray for me and my crampy feet.

UPDATE #4:

We have raised $9,868 for PKD research this year. Holy crap!!! If we reach $10,000 by 12/31, I get a different plaque than the one they give you for not quite reaching $10,000. (Just saying!)

UPDATE #5:

It turns out that I'm a big old hypocrite. After all my bleeding-heart waffling over the recent job applicant who turned out to be a registered sex offender, I found myself in knee-jerk reactionary mode a few weeks ago when a close relative of my neighborhood pedophile reached out to me, olive branch extended. I have nothing but sympathy for (most of) his family, I hasten to add, but no patience whatsoever with anything that smells like a defense of this man's character or a tale of redemption for his past sins. Fuck 'im.

Zoinks!

Holy cats and kittens, y'all. Our first-ever virtual auction for PKD raised over $1,200! Beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you all so much for participating, and lots of love and kisses with tongue to those who donated, linked, tweeted, Facebooked, inflated bids and otherwise cheered me on.

Go spread some love on these folks, would you? Without them, it wouldn't have happened.

Twining Vine Designs
Woulda Coulda Shoulda
Chookooloonks
Mominatrix
Joshilyn Jackson
A Year of Slow Cooking
Dorie Greenspan
Soul Source Massage
Dream Jam Band
Coles Whalen
Seth Glier
Jen Foster

And two lucky winners have not responded to my fulfillment emails -- if you are one of the below, please email me at rwellsfischer (at) hotmail (dot) com so we can get you your prizes! If I don't make contact with them by the end of the weekend, I'll move down to the next highest bid on both items (the Olive Garden gift card and the book "My China").

kbaguthrie (at) comcast (dot) net

blueeyes371 (at) gmail (dot) com

Total money raised thus far for 2010 is $6,200. Un-freakin-believable.

Look what we did!

Tequila and cupcakes for everyone.

Undone

I was fine until Garrick told me, over the phone, that he had prepared a "nice tomato salad" for my dinner and it would be waiting for me on the counter when I got home.

Dad's back in the hospital, severely dehydrated and in a very weakened state. I've been sitting by his bedside the last few evenings trying to not come completely unglued, but tomorrow I'll be at the Swarthmore sidewalk sale, raising money for PKD research via baked goods and tie dyed T-shirts.

Come and say hi, won't you?

Winnah!

Thanks to all who participated in the necklace promotion/giveaway! Magpie, you gone and won yourself a necklace. Shoot me an email with your preference of single or double (see right-hand sidebar for pics) and your mailing address, and we'll get your necklace right out to you.

Also, please to mark your calendars for the next phase of my nervous breakdown our first-ever virtual auction for PKD, which will run from September 19 - October 6 (ish), with auction offerings changing every few days. We've got signed cookbooks, CDs, jewelry, baked goods, restaurant gift cards, a signed Flyers hockey stick... something for everyone! So come on by and get an early start on your holiday shopping.

Or, you know, just send tequila.

Here We Go

The PKD awareness/fundraising jewelry sale is live! Are these not gorge?

Double Kidney ($40, of which $25 will be donated to the PKD Foundation):

Single Kidney ($32; $20 of which will be donated to the PKD Foundation):

Leigh of TwiningVines Designs is the talented mastermind behind this project, and I can't thank her enough. She is donating her time and covering only her materials costs in the pricing structure. Aren't I lucky to have such a friend?

***

We're trying to get these links posted as may places as we can, so I'm going to make this a little interesting. Blog, Tweet or Facebook the links and I'll enter you in a random drawing to receive the necklace of your choice as a gift from me. Win-win! Leave a comment on this post by midnight on September 10 to tell me where you posted the links, and include a valid email address to be entered into the drawing.

Smoochies!

I Have the Best Friends

My friend Leigh is a jewelry designer who hand-fabricates the most beautiful items (some of which I've posted here before). And when the PKD fundraising madness descended again, she made the most incredible offer.

She'd like to design and sell a PKD awareness necklace (kidney-shaped!), with net proceeds from all purchases going to the PKD Foundation.

(Pause here to stand in amazement at such thoughtful generosity and sniff a little bit.)

Leigh's been working on some prototypes, and we'd both love some input. Leave comments, please! And if you're buying birthday gifts or doing early holiday shopping, make with the clicky and go visit Leigh's shop for lots of affordable gorgeousness.



Hammered Silver




Silver with Hammered Copper Backing





Double Silver





Smooth Silver


Which one/s do you like best?....

It's That Time Again....

The PKD Foundation has announced dates for the fall 2010 annual fundraising walks, and my page is up. Feel free to make with the clicky to read my annual plea and support our fundraising efforts this year.

In years past, I've gone a bit over the top with fundraising auctions and cabaret nights.... this year is going to be very different. Between the demands of my new job and my worsening health, we are not (at this point) planning to have a big event. So I'm looking for ideas and suggestions for lower-impact ways we can leverage our fundraising this year. Do you think baking and/or cake decorating classes would generate interest? Yard sales? Garden tomatoes? I'm low on inspiration and hoping to get some ideas in the comments....

2009 PKD Fundraising Wrap-Up

Holy crap, y'all. In a recession, no less.

Total raised: $9,025

$5,300 from the auction/cabaret
$39 from Garrick's cookie sale
$159 from our spring yard sale
$3,527 from direct donations

Look what we all accomplished!! Amazing. Cookies and milk on me.

Lame Event Report

Oh my word, peeps. What a week, what an event. I am wrung out like a paper towel in a TV commercial -- the one that falls apart after one usage, not the the hefty turbo one that can wipe up the gallon of spilled cranberry juice and keep on ticking. I am spent. I am blotto. I have fallen and I can't quite get up....

I couldn't write a blow-by-blow if I tried, but merciful heavens, it was such a relief going into this project feeling so well supported by friends. In addition to Rachel and Marj and Nancy and Kristin and Emily and my mother-in-law providing all of the refreshments (bless you ladies a million times over!), Leslie and Nancy spent hours helping us set everything up at the theatre between Thursday night and Friday afternoon. I literally could not have gotten this done without them. And having Ellen at the check-in table was a godsend.

With the exception of a few bobbles at the auction check out table, everything went very smoothly. People seemed to have fun at the auction, and the "splitting" of the evening into two events seemed to work -- some folks felt free to stay just for the auction; some folks arrived as the auction was closing to attend just the cabaret; and a bunch of die-hards stayed for both events. The cabaret was terrific, with great performances from Michael and Cindy and Claudia and Teddie and Joe and Donna and Liz.

The only real drawback was that combining the events make it a very late evening, finishing up around 11:30. But we made fabulous money -- over $5,300 between the two events, which was more than I'd dared to hope. (Last year the two events raised $5,100 between them.) Which brings our total raised, at one day prior to the walk, to $8,630.

Which is unbelievable. You are all unbelievable. Hugs and chocolate truffles for everyone.

I can haz nap now?

BOOYA!

Holy frock.

We have over $8,000 worth of items in our auction pool this year.

That's $1,000 HIGHER than last year.

Can I get a HELLZA YEAH?

(See you Friday, I hope!)

Problems That Still Need Solving

• My new progressive lenses are still killing me, 2.5 weeks later. How am I going to be able to see clearly again without wanting to claw my eyeballs out by 2pm each day?
• Neutrogena seems to have stopped making my very favorite lip product ever, and I am bitter. MoistureShine Tinted Lip Balm, I will miss you. Your MoistureShine Lip Sheers, Lipsticks, and Glosses are just not the same thing.
• Health insurance reform. Seriously. Our corporate renewals just came in with premium increases of twenty-frocking-percent. The company can't afford to absorb such a huge increase, so we will once again be shaving benefits to keep costs "contained", which really means we're passing yet more expense along to the employees (yours truly included) in the way of higher co-pays. Frack.
  
• How am I going to pick up 10 long folding tables from the local synagogue for our October 2 fundraising event? (Or, more precisely, how many long folding tables can I fit in my mother's Honda Civic hatchback at one time, and do I have enough bungee cords?)
• I am a 42-year-old woman and I still get pimples. Fa chrissakes.
• Polycystic Kidney Disease. We're up to $2600 raised so far this year, which is amazing, given the givens. Thank you all so much.

Tidbits

I had my first panic dream about my October 2 PKD fundraising event last night. In the dream, the event was starting in just a few hours and I had not yet solved the problem of where to get extra tables and linens, had not yet set up the space, had not yet created bid sheets for all of the auction items, and had no idea what to wear. In my dream, the event was taking place in my gone-but-not-forgotten friend John's workshop space, and in my dream we not only had to set up for the auction, but also for a full sit-down dinner.

It's no wonder I woke up a little crabby and panicked. I'm going to have to work hard to avoid accidentally stuffing a container full of left-over cupcakes in my face today.

***

I managed to get through the first week of school without posting about my kids, which I believe should settle the question of whether or not I'm a mommy blogger once and for all, don't you? The short version is that Garrick has started middle school and the sky has not (yet) fallen. He seems to be adjusting well, for the moment, and I haven't (yet) gotten any calls from his homeroom teacher, which bodes well. He's even getting interested in extra-curriculars (which is unheard of), signing up for fencing club and accepting his pal's invitation to check out a Boy Scouts' meeting this week. I hesitate to breathe this thought out loud, but it's just possible that Garrick is growing up a bit...

***

I had a special order this week for cupcakes for a baby shower. Yum yum.










































***

I'm actually in decent shape with regard to donations for the silent auction. We gots:

• theatre tickets
• restaurant gift certificates
• massage
• life coaching
• acupuncture
• singing lessons
• art works
• jewelry
• a beach house
• foodie items
• SAT coaching
• marketing consulting
• tickets to cultural institutions
• baking lessons
  

and more. Hope some people show up to bid on all the goodies. And that I have enough tables for everything. (Anyone have folding tables I can borrow?)

Wait, there's something in my eye....

I don't have time for a real post, but wanted to shout a huge THANK YOU from the rooftops for everyone's responses to my plea. Y'all renew my faith in human kind, you really do. It was so energizing to see your comments and emails pouring in that I actually got some momentum of my own going, and made a few dozen requests for auction items the other day. (Day job? What day job?)

I feel like I'm finally on track, and it's thanks to all of you.

Smoochies!

I'm Really Bad at This Part

I suck at asking for help, I really do. I've tried drafting this post three different times now, and I suck so much at asking for help that it just wouldn't get written. Damn Monday mornings, anyway.

(I'm pretty good at asking for money, just not very good at asking for help. Just to clarify.)

But I'm really going to need some help, and so I'm just going to take some meds bite my cuticles to buggery start drinking suck it up and ask.

Michael and I are planning a fundraising evening for PKD on October 2. There will be a silent auction, there will be raffle prizes, there will be refreshments, there will be a cabaret performance. It's going to be a really exhausting fun time, and we'll hopefully raise a few thousand dollars for PKD research. Which, you know, almost makes driving myself crazy worthwhile.

But I am going to need help on the evening of the event, making sure things run smoothly. I'm going to need help soliciting donations of stuff to auction, and I'm going to need help making (or getting donated) refreshments. I'm going to need help spreading the word and getting people to attend the event.

(I'm going to need help keeping my sanity, but I won't put that on YOUR shoulders. Heavens, no. That's Michael's burden job.)

If you'd like to and can help, leave me a comment or send me an email telling me how, and I will tear up with gratitude and feel slightly unworthy of such generosity. I may also give you big smoochies next time I see you (you've been warned).

And if you can't help with October 2 but would like to help with the effort, you can do so here. Same smoochie warning applies.

Mwah! in advance.

My Weekend in Numbers

Number of dear friends who came over for dinner on Saturday: 2
Pounds of leftovers in the fridge: roughly 4 tons

Number of frozen, overripe bananas I found in the freezer on Sunday: 12
Number of banana muffins I therefore baked: 48

Number days it took to sell 34 of the Sweet Pleasures mousse cups at the Co-Op: 4
Number of mousse cups that sold before I'd even completed this morning's delivery: 2

Number of eggs I have to separate to make one batch of chocolate mousse: 14
Quantity of egg white currently residing in my freezer: roughly a gallon

Number of (recyclable!) plastic clamshells full of meringues that sold in 4 days: 18
How annoying it is to make meringues when humidity is at 90%: infinity

Number of dirty dishes in the sink: eleventy-billion

***

How much money we've raised so far for this year's PKD walk: $1,458


WOOT!

Shrapnel

I don't know whether I'm coming or going these days. Maybe both at the same time? A lot's been going on.


LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

I turned 42 a few weeks back. I was really feeling very low-key about the whole thing, but Michael and the boys sneaked around behind my back and bought me lots of cool gifts, like a bottle of tequila and a Zen Stone. Mine is just like this, but bright red. (Michael obviously knew better than to buy me a pink one.) Isn't it the cutest? And he pre-loaded it with some great tunes.








I also received a big package of Shamwows, proving definitively that I married the right man.


THE LAST WORD ABOUT MY HEALTH

I'm so frocking tired of thinking about my health. Part of the reason I haven't been posting is that anytime I open my brain all that comes out is "Ifeellikecrap mykidneysarefailing I'mtiredasshit mykidneyshurt wahwahwahwahwah." SO, I hereby declare a moratorium on posts about my health, unless there's something really new to report.

(The current bullet is: my kidney function is at 32%; I have no anemia or thyroid issues that would otherwise explain my pervasive fatigue and lack of stamina; I feel some degree of pain most days; my nephrologist thinks we'll start talking transplant in 1-2 years or when function is at around 25%; I am extremely lucky in that I have family members who are willing and able to donate a kidney to me. If you have questions I'll be happy to answer them in comments or by email, but I'm DONE posting about my frocking kidneys. For now.)


BUT WE CAN STILL TALK ABOUT PKD -- MY BLOG, MY RULES!

I finally mustered the energy to put up a fundraising page for the October 2009 PKD walk. I'm expecting it to be a really tough year for fundraising, so support at any level would be most appreciated. Clicky here or at the top of the right-hand sidebar if you feel so inclined. We will also be having a silent auction/cabaret fundraising event on October 2, so mark them calendars...


WHAT HAPPENS IN FELLS POINT STAYS IN FELLS POINT I SHALL NOW BLAB TO THE INTERNET

My glorious friend Maureen and I finally got our collective crap together after 5 months' stalling planning and ran away for the weekend to Baltimore. We stayed right on the water, across from the building where they filmed "Homicide: Life on the Street". See?




































Cool, right? We shopped, spa'd, drank beer and ate crabs. And we spent an hilarious evening at the Cat's Eye Pub making fun of with the whitest man in America.
























I am protecting his identity for his own good -- he had less rhythm than an elephant on crack and was under the delusion that he looks like Mike Schmidt. (In his dreams!) But he did endear himself to me by asking Maureen whether she and I were "together." Bless her quick-witted Irish heart, she answered "Well, we're together this evening!" I love messing with clueless, rhythm-less drunks.

The Cat's Eye Pub is fun not only for its excellent bartender and its ridiculously rhythm-less white guys, it's also a great place to pick up a Fells Point Boyfriend. Meet Omar.



















I was drunk by then struck dumb by the size of his biceps. And look how talented he is!




































A man of many parts, is Omar. Call me, doll-face.

The closest I got to baking all weekend was the Domino Sugar sign.




































Thanks for running away with me, Maureen. I needed that.

SAVE THE DATE!

We have finally secured a date for a PKD fundraising event to be held at the Players Club of Swarthmore this fall. Mark your calendars for Friday, October 2 for silent auction, cabaret performance, raffle baskets, and lots of other hijinx.

Also, if you're local and out running errands tomorrow morning, swing by the Swarthmore Co-Op and sample some goodies from the Sweet Pleasures product line (including some new offerings!). I'll be there offering tastings from 10am until 1pm, or while supplies last.

Sunday, I plan to be in a coma.

Smoochies!

We Can Help. Please Help.

I had trouble sleeping last night -- I was thinking of Gwen.

I don't remember how I found her blog, months ago, but she's someone I keep coming back to. She's lived through unimaginable grief -- the loss of a baby -- and has written honestly and with courage about how that tragedy has affected her life.

And two weeks ago, she wrote for the first time about being severely beaten by her husband. And this month she found the strength to finally throw him out.

So yesterday, when she received a 48-hour shut-off notice from the electric company with $800 past due owing -- money that her waste of a husband said that he had paid -- it nearly undid her.

And I said to myself, self, if 40 of us blogger folks could each send her $10, she'd be half-way there, and she and her two kids will not have to deal with the additional trauma and fear of losing their electricity on top of everything else they've been through.

So I successfully nudged her to set up a PayPal account.

I know it's presumptuous of me to ask, but if each of you dear friends could send a few dollars her way, it would make a huge difference. Here is the link.

And hug your families today.

UPDATE (Friday, 9:50AM EST): The PayPal link is being buggy (again). I have contacted Gwen to ask for a corrected link and will update this post as soon as I hear from her; please check back later!

UPDATE (Saturday, 9:55AM EST): Gwen's site is back up and live, and the link on her site is working. I have also updated the link above, which should now be working. THANK YOU ALL!

Holy Crap.

Take a look over there on the right. We've raised $10,601 this year for PKD research. For realz.

Can I get a BOOYA?!

Christmas cookies on me.

Check This

They're taking down the fundraising pages in about a week, so take a peek while it's still there for the peeking:

We've raised over $10,000!

Who would have believed it possible? Here's how it breaks down:

Cookie Sales (2 spring events): $490
Cabaret (September): $1,935
Auction (October): $3,626
Yard Sale (October): $40
Direct Donations (July-October): $3,991

Total Raised: $10,082

Thank you all so much for the encouragement and support. It's incredible what we can accomplish, working together.