Today begins the start of a wonderful new opportunity for you to be charitable while doing your shopping.
Parent Bloggers is giving everyone the kick to raise money for their favourite charity in the most ingenious way...by doing what we all love...shopping. "So what does that mean, Kimba," you ask. It's sooo simple. Following
this link, shop online with any of the retailers on the site's pull down menu (you'll be surprised to find many of the big name sites on there -- Disney Store, Hallmark, Linens 'n Things, etc.) and I've set it up to that 50%...yes, 50% of the proceeds go to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
Multiple Sclerosis is an often misunderstood disease because not only does it affect every person with it differently, science still hasnt' determined exactly the cause yet. As a result, funding is often minimal to the research for a cure. Insurance companies & Medicaid won't always cover the care & treatment of individual's with MS. That's why
any funds that can go to finding a cure are so important.
You see, my mother suffers from MS. Besides being a wonderful mom to me & my many siblings, mom used to be a professional figure skater & an award winning dancer. She was full of life & vitality. A petite blonde with a pixie haircut, I don't think I ever saw my mother wear anything but spikey high heels. She was hip & fashionable and she & my father loved to travel the world. She grew up in Chicago & loved the city. When I was in college she had started stumbling, & her legs felt weak. She was eventually diagnosed with MS. The disease attacked her fast, and within a couple of years she was in a wheelchair. This physically active woman no longer had use of her legs. My father cared intensely for her, and she willingly tried anything & everything that might help (including enduring bee sting treatments...something I could never do!) Unfortunately NOTHING has helped. She does not have the sort of MS that goes into a recessive state (like Montel Williams has), but instead her is ongoing. My mother now is forced to reside in a nursing home, unable to any longer wheel herself around, or even feed herself. Mentally she is bright & alert. Physically her body is a shell that she can no longer control. It's sad & difficult to see, knowing I can't do anything for her.
Ah, but I can! And so can you! Again, please consider shopping on line through
iBakeSale, so that 50% will go to Multiple Sclerosis research. And just so you know, if you join you can set up your own funds (whether they be for a cause or the "charity begins at home" cause), though I hope you'll consider being a part of my MS group. My mom & I thank you.
Here are a few facts about MS:
Multiple Sclerosis is the most common progressive and disabling neurological condition in young adults
Approx 2.5 million people worldwide, have Multiple Sclerosis
Around 400,000 people in the United States have Multiple Sclerosis.
MS doesn't kill, but it does shorten a lifespan by an average of 7 years.
MS affects women 2:1 over men in the US, and 2:1 caucasion over other races.
The rate of developing MS is 1 in 800, meaning you probably know someone who has it or you will get it...what better reason to help find a cure?
Yar, know ye that this hear be "international talk like a pirate day! So all ye sea dogs and villanious buccaneers had best be spaken like the pie-rats that ye be! 
I love books. I love to read. I think that reading to your children is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. I think we grow as individuals by reading a variety of books. Even the challenged or banned ones. Heck, especially the challenged or banned ones!
Sarcastic enthusiasm duly noted.
I just finished watching "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. I cried. Hard. Because I've known his desperation. I've been in that situation...not knowing where my child & I were going to sleep or if we would eat the next day. I've known that pain of wanting desperately to take care of your child and feeling alone and scared...but trying to make it good for them all at the same time. My daughter slept in a large closet I called a room & put up pretty sparkly things to try to make her feel like it was here little private space. I'd send her for an overnight with her grandmother or dad so she wouldn't know I didn't have any food in the house that night. I went many days without food, so she could eat. I've gone years without new clothes so she'd have anything she needed. I've played the game of "let's only use candles tonight" so she wouldn't know the electricity had been turned off. I pulled her into bed with me, under all the blankets we had when we had no heat. It sucked, and I'm not proud of it. But that hell only lasted a year or so. But I will never be the same person because of it. 
I should have posted this yesterday, but time simply slid away from me, so here I am today! 
Too much to attempt to accomplish today.
Last night hubby & I had a lovely date night where we were able to go see the film "Becoming Jane". It was delightful! They
successfully took the facts that are known about Jane Austen's life and filled in the rest to created a lovely, enjoyable historical fiction film worth watching again & again. Add to the pleasure that the film was at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, one of the old ornate movie houses...complete with the organist playing before the film. After the film Marsha Huff, the head of the Jane Austen Society of North America did a talk back, discussing the fact from the fiction, answering questions, etc. All in all it was quite simply a lovely evening with my own Mr. Darcy.
Look what I plucked from my meager little backyard garden today! I couldn't believe it! And I have many more that should be ready in just a few days! Forgive me for being overly proud of such a minor accomplishment, but I'm hardly the "nature girl/farming" type! I can't wait to slice them up! YUM!
This is too Cool!
So the kidlet is back home after spending the summer with her father. She had a great time, saw almost every movie worth seeing this summer, went to sports camp & her first sleep-away camp experience too...which was possibly the coolest things she did. Besides the usual camp experiences, she had theatre (and received the highest advanced acting award!), photography (yes all the photos here are ones she took), canoeing & kayaking, 
and horseback riding. Not only did she get to ride, she actually learned how to STAND on a walking horse. The performer in me is amazed & thrilled...the mom part of me is glad to know after the fact! I wish I'd gone to camp as a kid, but I never had the chance. Growing up on a lake, with endless trails to explore with your friends through the woods, I guess parents just didn't see the point. Plus I went to year-round school. Perhaps they 
should have summer camp for adults? I think we need it more than the kids do! Now she's off to Art Camp all week, then learning to sail on Lake Michigan after that. Yeah...it would be nice to have summer vacation as a grown up.
It's hard to believe August is here. The summer is drawing to a close and soon enough it's back to school time. I feel I've hardly begun to enjoy the summer, and yet, time is speeding by. And with the steady ticking of time, I'm quickly realizing with each passing day we're getting older.
This past weekend was GREAT! It was like a mini-vacation since some good friends, The Gilberts, came to visit. We had soooo much fun! And it only reminded me, yet again, how much we all have in common. Their daughter was a joy!
Today begins the start of a wonderful new opportunity for you to be charitable while doing your shopping. Parent Bloggers is giving everyone the kick to raise money for their favourite charity in the most ingenious way...by doing what we all love...shopping. "So what does that mean, Kimba," you ask. It's sooo simple. Following this link, shop online with any of the retailers on the site's pull down menu (you'll be surprised to find many of the big name sites on there -- Disney Store, Hallmark, Linens 'n Things, etc.) and I've set it up to that 50%...yes, 50% of the proceeds go to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.