Exciting updates from the fund-raising front!

We have unveiled our new website, please come check it out for updates on our Projects. C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket <<http://cumforts.blogspot.com>>

• Our facebook page
• Updates
• Projects List
• Projects Gallery
• Nominate an Honoree for a Project
• Donate to a Commissioned Project

C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket gets a nod on the LLS blog - "Mission: Possible" - check out Jessica's guest blog post!

Events: **All proceeds and commissioned Projects donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!**

• • • • • • Upcoming: Saturday, May 21st - 7am to 3pm - Community Garage Sale, 400 block of 31st Avenue, San Mateo (between Alameda de las Pulgas and Isabella Avenue). Proceeds of all sales at 412 31st Avenue will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
• • • • • • • Upcoming: Sunday, May 22nd - 7am to 12pm - Community Garage Sale, 400 block of 31st Avenue, San Mateo (between Alameda de las Pulgas and Isabella Avenue). Proceeds of all sales at 412 31st Avenue will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

We have also opened up our new Mighty Bites! website, http://mightybites.blogspot.com.

stay tuned! stay healthy! rawr!

Exciting updates from the fund-raising front!

We have unveiled our new website, please come check it out for updates on our Projects. C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket <<http://cumforts.blogspot.com>>

• Our facebook page
• Updates
• Projects List
• Projects Gallery
• Nominate an Honoree for a Project
• Donate to a Commissioned Project

C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket gets a nod on the LLS blog - "Mission: Possible" - check out Jessica's guest blog post!

Events: **All proceeds and commissioned Projects donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!**

• • • • Upcoming: Sunday, April 17th - Flex Your {Heart} Muscle: give hope & get fit! Hosted by Mad Dawg School of Fitness; join us for instructional crocheting events & CrossFit Fundamentals Bootcamp class.
• • • • Upcoming: Wednesday, April 20th - Flex Your {Heart} Muscle: give hope & get fit! Hosted by FITCLUB Performance; join us for a CrossTraining Seminar & Workout
• • • • Upcoming: Friday, April 22nd - "Write Thru the Night" - Raising awareness and funds through an all-night letter writing campaign. An evening full of activities and celebration! This event will take place locally in Foster City, CA and at a dozen remote locations (Chico, Santa Barbara, Davis, Santa Maria, Los Angeles, Vallejo, San Francisco, Modesto, and more!)

We have also opened up our new Mighty Bites! website, http://mightybites.blogspot.com.

stay tuned! stay healthy! rawr!

This morning I had to look up the word "generous" in the thesaurus. Had I been sitting at home at my desk, (which, I'm not going to lie, is hidden under a mile-high pile of clean clothes because I just have not found the time to put them in my closet) I would have cracked open the desk-top thesaurus that I have had since I was 7-years old. This thesaurus has been through a lot - more than a dozen moves up-and-down the California coastline; sitting on more than 20 different desktops and under at least two separate wobbling desk and/or chair legs; alternating between covered in dust and hidden away in dark corners; riddled with dog-eared pages and 4th-grade scribbles.

Though this thesaurus has seen neglected days, there was a time when this particular thesaurus reigned supreme. When I was a wee-tot, I was thirsty for ways to best express myself: certain repetitive statements would not suffice. And while playing "office" at my best friend Jenn's kitchen table one afternoon, I fell in love with her dictionary-thesaurus desk set. So much so that I begged my parents for a matching set. I must have been a good kid (or a spoiled one, some argue - but I like to think that I deserved it!), because my parents were generous enough to appease my pleas. Jenn and I played office much more efficiently with our matching desk-sets for the next few years.

At home, I read that thesaurus cover-to-cover, pouring over words that are the same, similar and different from one another. I was enthralled in the world of words and tried to absorb as much from the yellowing pages of the thesaurus as I could. As I grew older, and found less time to and importance in discover the meaning of words, the pages became less enticing and the thesaurus found a permanent place amongst the rest of the books on the shelf. I continued to make the effort to pack it up and find a home for it everywhere I have had a desk to place it on. But, sadly, the thesaurus has had to wait patiently for its opportunity to be important once again.

And now, a moment for it to shine as it did in days of old: I climbed over the pile of winter sweaters and scarves, and searched the messy desktop for my brittle little thesaurus. In it, I found this:

gen·er·ous [jen-er-uhs] - adjective

Definition: giving, big-hearted

• Synonyms: acceptable, altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, big, bounteous, bountiful, charitable, considerate, easy, equitable, excellent, fair, free, good, greathearted, helpful, high-minded, honest, honorable, hospitable, just, kind, kindhearted, kindly, lavish, liberal, lofty, loose, magnanimous, moderate, munificent, noble, open-handed, philanthropic, prodigal, profuse, reasonable, soft-touch, thoughtful, tolerant, ungrudging, unselfish, unsparing, unstinting, willing
• Antonyms: greedy, mean, miserly, selfish, stingy

Definition: plentiful, large in number

• Synonyms: abounding, abundant, affluent, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, copious, crawling with, cup runs over with, dime a dozen, eco-rich, exuberant, filled, full, galore, handsome, heavy, large, lavish, liberal, luxuriant, mucho, no end, no end in sight, overflowing, plenteous, plenty, profuse, rich, stinking with, unstinting, wealthy
• Antonyms: depleted, lacking, rare, scarce, sparse, wanting

In the past few weeks, GeeTEAM has received generous donations pouring in from all over, supporting C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket, Project Matt, Mighty Bites!, Team in Training, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Donations so generous, that Project Matt jumped from 36% commissioned to 85% commissioned in less than a week! (That means a lot of catching up for me, crocheting Donor Medallions like a mad-woman!)

More importantly, the support has rung-out resounding support of my individual efforts, to do what one person can to eliminate the devastating effect that blood cancer currently has on those affected by the disease. My generous family, friends and fans have been more than generous - they have been ample, bounteous, kind, & magnanimous by giving with their whole-hearts to support the cause. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the support... if I look long enough in this old, dusty thesaurus, perhaps I can find the words.

stay tuned!

• • Ashley DeWolfe - We battled our opponents bravely on the soccer field together as tikes, and now we are joining together, as big kids, take down blood cancer! Thanks for the support, Ash! I am really looking forward to working with you to pull together an awesome fundraiser for C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket. stay tuned!
• • Michelle Dondono - Fundraising Guru and Inspiration Wizard, Michelle is the backbone behind the GeeTEAM effort, with her email reminders, helpful tips and encouraging words. Thank you for all of your help Michelle, GeeTEAM, C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket, and Mighty Bites! would not be successful without your help! You're the best! Did I mention she just joined the ranks of Mighty Bites! Troop 17 - introducing our Troop 17 Mighty Mom - tadah!
• • Joan Greve - A MDSF Firebreather, CrossFit Games 2011 competitor, and Olympic weightlifter, Joan is my inspiration for what it means to be a strong woman. Thank you for your phenomenal example and for your support!
• • Suzanne O'Brien - My buddy Suzanne is working to raise money for her own cause, but was generous enough to make a donation to Project Matt - thank you Suz! I am proud to be your friend, good luck with your fundraising!

I am touched by the generosity that our family, friends and fans have extended by joining GeeTEAM and contributing to Project Matt! Thank you so very much for your support.

stay tuned!

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” -George Sheehan

We all have little ideas that occur to us while we hustle/bustle about our busy days. Unfortunately, these little ideas often get scratched onto a scrap of paper, onto the back of our hands, or made into a "mental note" - and are then promptly lost in the fray. We all have greater intentions that often get suffocated under the weight of our daily responsibilities.

I don’t know that I believe we were “meant to be” anything specifically, but we all want to make the world a better place. We all want to mean something to other people. What that looks like differs for all of us, and sometimes it changes from one day, one month, and one year to the next.

But it’s up to us all individually to wake up every day and decide that those intentions are what really matter. It’s not the money, approval, acclaim, or anything else that might distract us from what we believe to be true. What matters is who we want to be, and what we do about it today.

I want to be someone who cares. I want to be someone who chooses not to cause myself pain but isn’t afraid of hurting if it’s the price of loving fully. I want to be someone who does what I believe is right, even when it’s hard. Today, I will, in action and with all my heart.

Today, I would like to encourage you (and by you, I mean you!) to invest in your little ideas by recognizing their potential to become big actions. Who do you want to be–and what will you do about it today?

stay tuned!