Busy, busy...

Well, I have been working on finishing things. Ha! The computer is completely switched around, but I will never be done with all of my little projects. I have eliminated some of the paper monster that threatened to consume my desk.

For my one friend who noticed, the Bravenet map is gone because no one was putting flags on it!! Oh well. S'ok.

I've got a school dance to do this weekend and it is not going well --not enough tickets moving so far-- so I'll be busy with that this week. (Method of driving me crazy, #4,852 -- staple your check to your ticket order form. I love that. Really.)

Yesterday I took part in a March of Dimes walkathon. My sister ( a NICU nurse) and I walked with an acquaintance of mine, her husband, and their baby. I can't post a picture of their little girl here, for various reasons, mainly it's not my kid, but this child is truly very pretty. I believe her father is Korean -- she's got his face (exotic eyes in particular), and long flowing brown hair from her mother. She is going to be a drop-down gorgeous woman someday. (I said that to her father, phrased more like "she's going to be so beautiful when she grows up" and he said "I think she's pretty now." WTF? I was trying to compliment him and he was all stuffy with me. Wierd. Whatever. I guess my complimenting skills fell far short of my intentions.)

My sister is an awesome nurse and did a fab-u-lous job taking care of this little bitty baby when she was in the NICU. To know that she was once a tiny little three pound baby, and now she is a healthy, normal toddler, (and SMART, this kid is 21 months and can READ the names of colors and animals)... well, that's what it's all about, people. It's amazing what they can do for preemies.

It was a good walk - about an hour through a wonderful park with a pond, some natural wetlands, some woods, and so on. Sorry people in Erik's neck of the woods, but it was sunny and sort of warm (a little windy). Go on, hate me because I have good weather. Ha ha!

My sister made a scrapbook for another friend. Two years ago, this woman had twins, but lost one after the baby lived a very short life, all of it in the NICU. The Mom had asked my sister to take some of her photos and make a memory book of the baby. (She saw the bereavement books my sister has been making over the past year for the hospital to give to families who lose their child. They include handprints, footprints, locks of hair, photos of baby in bereavement gowns that are handmade and donated, notes from doctors and nurses who care for the baby, and so on.) I saw the book my sister made for this lady, and I was practically in tears reading it. It's beautiful, with all sorts of elaborately designed papers, poems, notes that the Mom had written on the backs of the photos, and of course the photos of the tiny little baby, who was so very ill. The captions were about the short life of the baby, the medical challenges she faced, and the experiences of her family (ex: big brother on his birthday seeing the baby sister for the first time, the baby's baptism, and so on) My sister wrote an emotional note to the family - she had cared for this baby too.

So anyway, after the walk my sister gave the friend her book and we went inside the check-in area so that she could look through it indoors. I fully expected this woman to sob while looking through this book. I was a little nervous about being present for such a heartbreaking, private moment but I didn't really figure out how to politely vanish, and truly neither of them seemed to mind that I was present. It was so different from what I expected. I'm not going to do very well describing it, but here goes. She was so thrilled to have such a beautiful book of her daughter. Each time she turned the page, it was another special photo, and memories that are important for her to hold on to. I was touched by how happy it made her, to have this special piece of art honoring the life of her little girl. She couldn't wait to show her family - it really was gorgeous and they were all delighted too. I am 100% positive that this book will be a cherished family keepsake for years and years to come.

I am so proud of my sister!!