Does anybody read these?

Maternal Urges, Gift Ideas and Charity Fundraisers...

Song of the day: "Squeeze Me In" by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. Another oldie, but goodie, off Garth's Scarecrow CD. I've always loved this song, but I was out jogging the other day and listening to it on my mp3 player. It got added because I could relate to it right now. And besides, Garth and Trisha are a very cool couple and it's nice that they are finally getting married. I'm also very glad that Trisha has a new CD, Jasper County, coming out on Tuesday. She's been my favorite singer for as long as she's been releasing CDs, so I'll probably grab a copy as soon as I can this week! I'm just wondering how long Garth will stay retired...

On to charity fundraisers. Since I traipsed into the nonprofit fundraising world a few years ago I am always fascinated with what groups come up with to raise money. When I was at Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America we hosted a Veterans Day fundraiser that was THE place to be on Veterans Day. I worked hard on it, and it was an amazing success. I just hope they keep up the tradition. I'm watching the movie Calendar Girls right now. That was also a clever idea for a fundraiser, and I remember when there was worldwide media on that calendar. It also raised a lot of money for cancer patients, so that made it an even better thing.

Speaking of really great fundraisers going on right now, The First Amendment Project is doing something really cool, and I think it will raise LOTS of money for them. They have 16 top authors auctioning off your name being mentioned in their next book. Stephen King is one of them; the lucky top bidder on his prize will be killed in his next book "Cell." Some others include Amy Tan, John Grisham, Nora Roberts and Lemony Snicket. It's a nifty idea. I can't afford it, but if it's your thing (or if you're curious like I was) check it out online at: http://www.thefirstamendment.org/auction.html.

So I went to a Longaberger party today. Won some cool candles and stole a little basket from my mom. Got some great gift ideas (for me and for a couple of weddings I have coming up). Might need to rob a bank to pay for all of it.

Oh, and last but not least: the maternal urges. I'm not getting any younger. And all my friends and cousins getting married, having babies, looking cute with their families doesn't help at all. Anyhow, I went to my cousin's son's (not sure what that makes him to me -- second cousin? first cousin, once removed?) 4th birthday party today. It was cute. Lots of adorable little kids and a few heathens. So the maternal urges came, then another kid popped a balloon, spilled something or hid under a table and they went away. We'll see. Maybe someday...

I'm going to go watch the Colts. Yay Peyton! Still having fun with the blog. Thought I'd lose interest by now...

posted by Laura at 6:20 PM