$$$ TO FIGHT CANCER

This is my friend Bucket...she walks marathons! I know she walks because it's great exercise (and I LOVE walking with her, but am still struggling at 5 miles), but she also walks to raise money to help in the fight against cancer.

Bucket is having a raffle to help her reach her commitment, and has collected an amazing assortment of scrapbooking supplies! Please go to her website to donate:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/give2thebucket and donate at least $5. For each $5 you donate you will be entered once. Donate $20 and your name will be entered 4 times, it’s that easy and all the money goes toward a good cause.

All donations must be made between March 31 and April 9th. Winner will be chosen on April 9th 8:00 pm Pacific Time. Winner will be contacted by email or go to http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/give2thebucket after 9:00 pm on April 9th and the winner will be posted on the website.

Anyone can enter and your donation is greatly appreciated.

The following items are in this raffle collection:
2 Scarlet Lime Scrapbooking kits: February and March main kits; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist 6 colors: Periwinkle, Cherub Pink, Sea Glass, Patina, Graphite, and Pink Ink; Maya Road Chipboard: Microchips Motif Buttons Neutrals, Fresh Chipboard Hearts and Bird Coaster Album; Bohemia Embossed Chipboard “Bliss” Shapes; Me & My Big Ideas – Glitter Chipboard-Dark Pink; Teresa Collins New Scrapbooking paper lines of Damask, Journal-it, Bella Girl, and Boardwalk; Making Memories 9x9 Coral Mini Album;7 Gypsies Seal Stamp4 mini composition books (3.5” x 4.25”); Thickers: Roller Rink and Platforms; Foo-a-la Savannah Glitter Chip Alphabet; Heidi Swapp Chipboard Kits: 3 Rectangles Grass-White, Jet-White, Icee-jet & 1 Circles Pink-Brown; Queen & Co Felt Fusion: Football-brown, Basketball-orange, Vehicles-red, Vine-black, Eggs-pink, Vine-green, Soccer-black, and Fish-blue; Queen & Co Felt Board – Bold Black and Pure Purple; The Craft Collection Adhesive Roller refill; Glitz Frosting – Yellow & Red; Bazzill Cardstock Strips- Chablis, Rio, and North Sea; 1 Team in Training T-shirt & a Scrapstrong bracelet.

Even if you don't scrapbook, please help Bucket reach her goal!

Thanks so much, and may none of you ever need to benefit from this fundraising! Love and hugs!

Today...

This is not actually the photo I was looking for...and FYI: that's Buster my Chi-jack russell with his chin resting on Marley, my lump-o-dog-poodle! But this will have to do as I send prayers and hugs to my darling friend and her family, who are pondering a home without a dog very soon. Though I haven't known him long, I loved him the minute I saw him and even more every time I pick him up! Thank you for sharing your little man with me, and thanks to him for the years of joy he has brought to your lives. Kiss him and love on him every minute you can...and then treat him to chocolate and give him the kindest gift of all. Know that I will be crying along with you, and that he knows he is loved. And please do believe that all dogs do go to heaven. xo

What Do You Want?

This was the question I asked Ian when he showed up at my work today with "sliders" from TJ's for lunch (the new TJ's at Ventura & Alhama opened today), and a bag that looked like it came from Scrapbook Safari.

He said, "I brought you lunch", and then he said, "I met Dawn and Vera"...how cute is that? Dawn helped Ian pick out some of the new pieces from teresa collins...she knows me, though she made a reference to 2-per and 3-per and Ian thought it was alien-speak! And he stayed for 10 min to visit, before running off to his OTHER home.

You know this melted my heart, and in the same breath made me wonder what the heck he had done, or what the heck he wanted... SERIOUSLY, if you've met Ian you know what I mean! But for today, or at least for the moment...my son has warmed my heart to the deepest level. I do love him always, though liking him is on a situational basis!

BTW: if interested, SS has all of the new Teresa Collins lines, and they're gorgeous! At CHA, I decided it ALL was coming home with me!

The First of Three...

I just got home from the Linkin Park concert, the first of my three concerts for this week. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Linkin Park? They are definitely in my top 3 or 4, but actually in my top 2! And every time I see them in concert, I love them just a little more! And even with Chester having been really sick the past few days, they were rock solid!

Tonight was special, because Ian and I took his best friend Pavlo to the show...his first big concert ever! It's so funny to think of a kid going to his first big show at 18, when Ian started at about 3, but I guess it depends on the entertainment tastes of the parents! And anyway, last summer-ish my sis and I took Mary, who is 23, to her first show.

The best was Ian...a group of guys next to us tried to start a mosh pit, so Ian took me by the shoulders and moved me to his other side; he stood firm, with arms crossed waiting for one of them to give him a reason to fight. He was so protective, and was constantly watching me to make sure no one bumped me...for as much of a shit as he has been, he does have a few positive qualities.

Thank you to both boys for being funny and protective and for talking about EVERYTHING in front of me...and by the way, girls don't really like being called those things...

L.A. Olympics 1984, and what comes after...

I have no photos for this one, because the thing that motivated me to blog was the end of something that happened in a different life, although it was definitely my life.

My sweet cousin Bethy called me tonight and said, "I have something weird to tell you, and you need to know that if you ask questions my answers will all be...I don't know." She told me, "Jon S_____ was found dead last night at the Beverly Hills Hotel."

He was the son of my dad's younger brother's oldest friend. He was 50 years old. We met during the Los Angeles Olympics, and had a brief and wild thing. It was the 80's and life was about the party...the never-ending party. It ended when I realized he was battling addictions and that living 3000 miles apart wasn't working for either of us, and that any woman in his life would always live in the shadow of his deceased mom. And sadly, I respected my almost-husband's request to not speak to Jon...this is a regret.

When I think of Jon, I think of the Beverly Hills Hotel. I think of the first night we met, at Morton's, and being instantly so comfortable we were sharing food. I think of the champagne bar that was in BH, that we used to frequent, but which I can't remember the name of. I think of Bruce Springsteen. I think of the most lovely NY restaurants and bars and after-hours clubs. I think of the Quilted Giraffe. I think of excess. I think of how different his life would have been if his mother hadn't died of cancer so many years ago. When I think of Jon, I remember good times...I remember sadness at the end, and I will always remember what a special man he was.

My heart goes out to the family, and to all who knew and loved Jon. However, he is now with his mother, and will truly rest in peace.