Last week was the 11th anniversary of a wonderful happening in my life. The day that an amazing stray dog chose me from behind the dog "jail" holding bay "bars" and walked straight into my heart! Who knew the places we would go and the hours of laughter and honest joy he would give to me and many others. Unlike people can, and often do, dogs don't lie to us, don't deceive us, don't reserve their affection or love, they just are. The words below pretty much sums it up!

The "GOTCHA DAY"
(Thanks Marshall for coining that phrase!)
Current mood: touched

He is just my Dog.
He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive.
When I am angry, he clowns around to make me smile.
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it.
When I succeed, he brags.
Without him, I am only another woman. With him, I am all-powerful.
He is loyalty itself.

He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever — in case I need him. And I expect I will — as I always have.

He is just my dog.


Here's a video from 7 years ago:



GOOFIN' Around!

No Matter What You Do......

I will always be with you.......

This was a video montage I created on my dog's 4th Birthday (that I just found on an old external drive! Hit the motherload of files I've been looking for!)

Augey's nearly 11 now and we're still on a WILD and Crazy adventure! He comes to work with me, and loves to finish the breakfasts and the lunches of my coworkers (THANKS Joni for all the treats). He used to come along and visit with my Dad and my brother when they weren't feeling well and wow! he really lifted their spirits (as he always does mine!) We walk the neighborhood, the beach we go ZOOM ZOOM for rides in the car and the list goes on.

He's just my dog.

He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.

His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever — in case I need him. And I expect I will — as I always have.

Adopt a dog from your local shelter, you won't believe the adventure you'll begin and the life you save could very well be your own!

ENJOY!

Brayden's Battle - You can Do Something to Help!

Please read the latest from Brayden's Battle Blog: http://braydensbattle.wordpress.com/
The Dance Party Video....Watch it! We need to continue to pray for him, his parents and the battle.

Be The Match - You Can Save A Life!

Take some time this weekend....

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I spoke with my sister yesterday and she reminded me that there were some new updates this week on Brayden's progress. Please take some time this weekend and say some prayers as Brayden and his parents Jen & Drew continue their challenging journey.

Read the most current updates here

http://tinyurl.com/4osgw3p

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child?

Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog
 

Capture this FLAG! Be PRESIDENTIAL! The COMMANDER IN CHIEF!

Click the image & Capture the flag and help trigger donations for Heart Health Programs!

Then Drink a Diet Coke and Capture more flags online!
http://www.dietcoke.com/hearttruth/index.jsp?cf=true

Now, go and Enjoy the REAL THING!

Brayden's Update and Prayer Requests

Here's the latest updates from Brayden's Mom & Dad.....

1.) Keep praying for 0% cancer and NEGATIVE MRD!
2.) Keep praying for wisdom for the doctors and us in regards to the potential donor!
3.) Couple of key things to be praying for about round 3 that we are gearing up for… (a) they say this is the toughest round come prepared, but unfortunately we aren’t that prepared because you can’t prepare to see your son wiped out–and for the most part he still hasn’t been there and has responded so well to chemo (praying against long and short term side effects!).

 

Don't forget to get TESTED! Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog

A MATCH! Sort of - 1 in a Million

MUST READ Brayden's UPDATE! Drum Roll please......
 http://tinyurl.com/47qhokm

 Encouraging NEWS .....

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child?

                               
Be the Match website http://www.marrow.org/
Ways to HELP & UPDATES via Brayden's Battle Blog

What if your bone marrow donation could keep a family from losing their child? Can you imagine if you were the one that was able to save someone's life? It's a pretty powerful thought. Be the Match is a national database that matches donors with patients needing life saving bone marrow transplants. 

My sister has been helping Brayden and his family in this fight. Through prayer, volunteering at the Donor drive (See earlier post with a YouTube video she created), and also via "Brayden's Box of Love" - a collection of gift cards and donations for items they need as "extra ammunition" for the battle. As a result of Brayden’s 1st cancer diagnosis the family made a lot of lifestyle changes with organic food, clothes and many other things to simply remove any and all toxins from his body and life. Doctors believe there was a high correlation between the success of remission (of cancer) when the patients use both current medical treatment and natural lifestyle changes. 

They want you to know that to join the national registry of potential bone marrow matches is much easier than you would think. 

Potential donors must be 18 to 60, in general good health and willing to donate to any patient in need, said Paige Morrison, Be the Match spokeswoman. Participants will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and consent form, as well as submit to a cheek swab. The process should take about 10 minutes.

Be BRAYDEN's Sweetheart of a Match!

So it's Valentine's Day today and a lot of people are getting "Sweets" and "Gifts from the Heart" from their beloved .... in Anaheim there's a Sweetheart of a boy that needs a "Sweet Valentine MATCH" this February. Meet Braydon, He's 4 years old and needs the gift of a bone marrow transplant. Could you be Braydon's sweetheart of a match?

Drew Sodestrom holds a photo of his 4-year-old son Brayden, who is battling leukemia, during a bone-marrow registry drive at Richfield Community Church in Yorba Linda, Sodestrom hopes to find a bone-marrow match for his son.

• Learn more about Brayden and how to make the difference, His father Drew's blog: http://richfieldcommunitychurch.com/brayden/
• It's Easy to help join the bone-marrow registry, get a swab kit at bethematch.org. 
• BE BRAYDON'S MATCH OC Register article here 

Be a Sweetheart of a MATCH for Braydon (or someone else) by registering today...don't delay.

Check out the video my sister created for "Brayden's Be The Match Bone Marrow Drive" in Yorba Linda on Jan. 30th, 2011. 

Please know there are other drives in CA & the ongoing online drive. Brayden, of Anaheim, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in April 2009, but chemotherapy put it into remission for 20 months. Then he got sick again and was admitted to CHOC Children's in Orange for another round of chemo in December. He has finished his second 36-day "bloc" of treatment, and he was home for only five days before he returned to the hospital with a fever last Wednesday. He is tired but is in high spirits, riding his Lightning McQueen bicycle in the hospital hallways, his father Drew said. When he was first diagnosed, "We told him to kick cancer's butt," Drew said. "Then he got it again, and he said 'But I already did that.' "That was one of the most heartbreaking things for me," Drew said. "I told him, 'We have to do it again.'

Let's continue supporting Brayden & his family! Spread the word!! Thanks to everyone who came to the drive, for joining the online registry & contributing to Brayden's Box of Love.
 

Some Notes on BEING A MATCH. . .

A patient's best chance of finding a match comes from a sibling or someone else with the same ethnic background. But 70 percent of patients in need of a transplant lack a suitable relative. About 10,000 people every year are diagnosed with a disease for which their only chance is a marrow transplant from outside the family.

If there's a preliminary match, the donor is contacted for further testing. There are eight data points examined, and at least seven of the eight are needed for a transplant to occur. Contrary to popular belief, most bone-marrow donation is painless, says Paige Morrison, a Santa Ana-based spokeswoman for Be the Match. Seventy percent of cases involve a blood draw after certain stem cells are isolated, a process that takes several hours. The rest of the time a needle is used to extract the blood-cell-rich red marrow from the hip bone, an outpatient procedure in which general anesthesia is used.

From the OC Register: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/match-286258-brayden-marrow.html

HOORAY IT's a TiNy GIVEAWAY!

click here: to ENTER today!
You can win this CBTL™ Single Serve Beverage System by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®! But more importantly a chance to sign up and be a part of a team of people making a difference for kids with cancer! Make a DIFFERENCE in 2011....MAY 1st

Sign up and MAKE a Difference! THANKS @TinyOrangesOC!

The History of Sweetheart Candies

One of America’s oldest candy companies, Necco was founded in 1847 in Boston by Englishman Oliver Chase, who got the business off to a good start by inventing devices that cut candy lozenges and pulverized sugar. Necco first sold confections similar to Sweethearts, but in the shape of scallop shells. Messages written on colored paper were tucked inside the fortune cookie-style candy. Fourteen years later, Oliver’s brother Daniel designed a machine that stamped words directly on the candies with red vegetable dye. The treats became popular at weddings and were considerably larger than today’s hearts as they could accommodate wordy relationship advice such as “Married in White, you have chosen right” or “Married in Pink, he’ll take to drink.” By the early 1900s the shape of the candy had changed from shells, baseballs and horseshoes to hearts. As the little hearts grew in popularity, the missives grew shorter: “Miss You,” “Love U.”

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-History-of-Sweetheart-Candies.html#ixzz1E1CGvmL5

Evening in San Clemente

Feeling thankful and blessed for so very much. . .

Cheers with the neighbors tonight. Nice time!

Hello Twenty-Ten - Reminders of Lewis and Clark

A New Year - a New you - cliche resolutions - lah lah and all that.

My thoughts turn to Lewis & Clark with the recent turn of the calendar year and the collaboration they shared on the Expedition of their lives. If not for their endeavors we might be a country of ?? states and not 50.

The key to their journey:
href="http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/collaborate">collaborate

Confluence
As my trusted friend and mentor used their epic journey as inspiration for "The Expedition" - a collaboration of artists with varied disciplines - I find myself revisiting the principles I learned through this most unique experience quite often. How the confluence of thoughts & ideas meet with the creative projects required of me day to day, pretty much fascinates me. 

Some of the words to keep in mind as I venture into Twenty-Ten:
Preparation
Object of my mission
Discovery
Trials
Independence
Scouting
Interpretation
Perseverance
True North
Journey

Little known fact,  Meriwether Lewis discovered the Woodpecker along their way............

Woody is still my Favorite!