help someone – treacle.net

21
Mar
2014

Moms Unite – Have a Gray Run

categories: help someone, mommy, running

It’s pretty obvious, if you spend any length of time around me in person or virtually, that I’m a Mom. Kids are important to me – my kids, the welfare of my friends’ children, the welfare of kids I don’t know. I feel like my community of moms has been one of the best supports I’ve ever had. We have wisdom, tears, laughter, shared frustration … everything you need to make it through the job and joy of shepherding the little creatures we love.

I feel the same about the running community. Just like with moms around the world, people can get all judgey about “not doing it right” (whatever), but for the most part runners look after each other. They mentor, they laugh, they train, they sweat, they go through hardship for each other and urge each other on to WIN — whatever WINNING means for that particular runner.

This is Gray.

Gray is not my son. His mom Courtney is a family friend, but we’ve never met in person. She’s a runner, and Gray is a fighter. In December, when Gray was three months old, he was diagnosed with Congenital Nephrotic Syndrome. You can read more about Gray’s story here, but I’ll sum up by saying that this is a life-threatening condition that won’t go away. The treatment for Gray is removal of the malfunctioning kidneys and eventual kidney transplant. This tiny boy had both kidneys removed in January, and is now growing stronger so he can have a kidney transplant when he’s around 22 pounds (probably when he’s 2).

His mom is a fighter too, and she’s a runner. She’s a mom of three boys, and she’s dedicated to keeping all of her family in a good, healthy place as they go on this journey together. And as I mentioned, moms and runners know how to support each other in the face of challenges, right?

So here’s what we’re doing: I’m organizing a virtual race weekend for Gray called Have a Gray Run. The weekend of May 16 – 18, we’re going to run, walk, bike, stroll, elliptical 5Ks and 10Ks across the world to show support for Gray. There will be prizes, there are t-shirts you can order, and there will be (I hope) a flood of pictures and Facebook posts to show Gray and his mom (and his whole family!) how much love and support they have.

Join us! Read about registration here, or let me know if you have a question!

22
Feb
2014

So for this year …

categories: erin is ..., family, help someone, rambling, thinking

Long time, no post! Life has been hectic since … well, Christmas? Witness the Christmas cards still sitting on my desk, waiting to be mailed.Oh yes, really. I’ll get to that later though …

I spent a lot of time thinking after I wrote my post about being youer than you. I’ve felt for a few years – mainly at work, somewhat at home – that I’m not really being me. It’s not an uncommon thing, I think, for newer wives and mothers to feel that way. I mean, it feels like every few years you go through an adjustment and maturity process that makes you do that questioning of self anyway. That’s why we have so many great coming-of-age and finding-yourself novels, movies, etc. I went from established single woman to fiancee, wife, and mother in two years. Then we added two more kids, I changed jobs in the middle of that, and I work in an area where some forms of blazing personal expression that makes you stand out (purple hair, nose ring, visible tattoos) isn’t totally cool on the job. (My perception, anyway.) So somewhere along the way I felt like a lot of “me” got shackled, forgotten, grown out of, or otherwise left along the roadside because there wasn’t time, energy, or benefit to my career.

It just ended up making me sad. Sad and frustrated. And kind of angry. I’m done with that. I’m done with forgetting who I am at heart in favor of meeting someone else’s expectations that I haven’t totally bought into.

That doesn’t mean that I’m rejecting these wonderful roles and jobs that I have now — on the contrary! I want to go back to being the Me who got into them in the first place.

Be Me

I want to have fun.

I want to be creative. I want to knit and scrapbook and write and make things with my kids. (And try to not freak at the mess.)

I want to laugh at things that I like, even if they’re silly and frivolous. I like Disney princesses, and I like young adult fiction, and I like cartoon movies.

I want to wear my Tinkerbell or Christmas socks any time of year, any day of the week, and not worry about someone thinking they’re not “executive” enough.

I want to keep my focus and priority on my family and friends, not on my job. If that means I never go beyond where I am now, so be it.

I want to help more. There are so many people I know who are going through tough things, and I want to help however I can. I’ll start running with Charity Miles, look for ways to support friends, and keep buying one extra bag of groceries for the food pantry whenever I can. I’m trying to figure out how to host a virtual 5K/10K for a friend’s infant son who needs a kidney transplant.

I want to be more of the me that God intended me to be, and less of the me that I was letting my circumstances make me. I think I’ll need to start small because my brain can’t handle much more than that. 🙂

03
Jan
2014

A week until Disney!

categories: erin is ..., help someone, running

IN ONE WEEK I’LL BE AT DISNEY WORLD!!

By this time I hope I will have happily finished my first 10K, the Inaugural Minnie 10K, with my friend Jenn.

In honor of the one week countdown, I’m posting another set of Disney running costume ideas.Edit to clarify: these are ideas for OTHERS, not me. I’m still going as Sofia. 🙂 Three different options in purple, two sets of my beloved Mizuno shoes, all in honor of my daughter’s first viewing of “Reason-punzel” … aka Rapunzel in Tangled.

But first – one more request for Homes For Our Troops! I’m running the Minnie 10K as a fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops. This charity raises money to provide specially adapted homes for severely injured Veterans. So many of my friends and family have served in the armed forces, and I am excited to run for this group. It’s a real honor. I met my fundraising goal of $500, but I’m hoping to get close to my next goal of $750! If you can donate $5 or $10, would you think about it?

And now … Reasonpunzel!

Tangled Laces by dormousie featuring Moving Comfort

26
Nov
2013

Kind of Goofy

categories: erin is ..., help someone, running

Yesterday I had a “goofy” idea for Thanksgiving day. Will and I had talked about doing a Turkey Trot locally but never signed up for one. We wanted to do a 10K, but the local 10Ks say to not bring jogging strollers. I was kind of bummed about that because I started running (five years ago) with the Jingle Bell Run as my first race. It was a 5K, though, so I can understand a more competitive 10K not wanting to have a clogged course.

ANYWAY.

I asked Will if he’d do a 10K with me as a virtual Turkey Trot on Thursday morning! It’s a little goofy to get up on a day you don’t have to get up so you can go run 6 miles. It’s goofy to drag your husband and possibly the kids along with you, right? Well, he’s also goofy and that’s why I love him.

But here’s the better part:

We’re going to run our virtual 10K as a fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops! They’re the charity I’m running for in January at Disney, and they’re about to kick off Twelve Days of Homes in December. They’ll turn over the keys to new, adapted house to 12 of the veterans they’ve been working with!

So what do you say? Before you dig into Turkey, “sponsor” my Turkey Trot with a $5 or $10 pledge to Homes For Our Troops?

Also: I’m no longer in the top 10 for fundraising. Can’t have that, you guys! (I may be just a little bit competitive.)

Also the second … a while ago, the kids were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse the other day (one of Jude’s new favorites!) and dancing around to the “Hot Dog” song. Full disclosure: I was dancing to the “Hot Dog” song too. I particularly like the Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse moves.

ANYWAY.

I saw Goofy being – well – goofy, and I had to make another running costume. Don’t worry! I’m still going to be Sofia the First at the WDW 10K in January! I just had to make this one.