Saturday, March 19, 2011

Cookie Marathon

 We have an awesome church with some of the best people I have met. Ethan really loves his Sunday School class and group of friends.  My friend Karen suggested we get our boys together along with a couple of other boys and take on baking most of the cookies needed for the Open Shelter Meal that our congregation is serving this week.
So last Sunday all of the moms brought batches of cookie dough and put our boys to work. Bake they did, a total of 16 dozen cookies in about an hour and a half! Pretty good if you ask me. They had a great time together and how awesome to provide such an important part of the meal, dessert!
After they popped the cookies in the freezer they headed out for a quick basketball game.
Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Peace Ladies! We need to do that again!







Cookie Walk

 In the spirit of tradition, the Girl Scout Council organized a cookie walk for the girls to do much like the beginning of Girl Scout Cookie Sales 80 years ago. When girls first started selling cookies they would bake and package cookies in their own kitchens with their moms and then go and sell them door to door.
Time have changed with the product but Girl Scouts still go selling door to door. With next year being the 100th birthday of Girl Scouts it seemed like a great year to go back to the old traditions.

The girls decorated their wagons and loaded them up with tons of cookies. Then we hit the streets! It was definitely a success! We sold around 50 boxes in an hour and most importantly the girls had a blast. We hope to do this next year when Girl Scouts is officially 100 years old!


 Sarah was our walking billboard.


 Sales were good!

 Love this sign, "we're irresistible"!

The Cookie Mobile!

Audubon Center

 Last week the Juniors earned their Wildlife Badge at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. What a new little gem in Columbus! I had never been before and only 2 of the girls in the troop had gone before, so it was very neat to check it out as a group.
The girls started out by drawing an animal or something from nature that represented themselves in some way. What a creative bunch of girls! Faith P. drew a cat since they are adventurous and she likes to travel and is adventuresome. Lily drew a lily pad, Rebekah did a koala since she loves them, and we had quite a few horses.
We learned all about birds and conservation. I was surprised with how much the girls knew already! After we finished learning about the different bird calls we headed outside with our binoculars and started observing and recording our observations.
After the bird walk we headed back in and the girls got to sink their hands into some yuck! Mud from the river which they were to sort through and look for any living creatures. When given the opportunity to actually play in mud many girls did everything to not get dirty! Others were all about getting their hands muddy!
We also celebrated Jessie's birthday with her, she drew a cake for our quilt of pictures. A very fun afternoon, beautiful weather, and good friends, made a successful meeting.



















Thursday, March 10, 2011

Legislators Love Cookies!

Paige, Mackenzie, and Lindy with Governor Kasich

We had the awesome opportunity to sell Girl Scout cookies at the State House. The girls were busy all throughout the lunch hour making sales. We had a special customer, Governor Kasich, who stopped by and gave them a donation. Fist bumping all the girls he sat down for a quick photo op. The girls were thrilled!
They had a quick lesson in government when one customer asked where they lived. She then explained that she is one of the State Representatives from Cleveland. Then she made all the people in her group support Girl Scouts and buy cookies!
Sales were great but the memories were unforgettable!


Monday, March 7, 2011

Evening with the Stars

 What a special night! I was very honored to be asked to present awards at Lifeline of Ohio's annual awards ceremony. I admit it was so much fun to have a wonderful reason to get dressed up! I have not had a semi formal event since before my surgery so being able to enjoy the experience made it all the more special.
Being the awesome husband that he is, Bill insisted on shopping for a new dress with me. We had a great date day at Easton having lunch and shopping last month. Not many husbands would help a wife look for a dress and wait patiently while she tried them all on. I also left with two since we couldn't decide and I have been told that I will want to have the other dress for an upcoming night out. I am not complaining!
 Lifeline has a way of  making you feel like a star! I had a special green chair to sit in during the dinner portion of the evening signifying I had been touched by donation.
Bill and I had the privilege of sitting with the OR Staff of MedCental in Mansfield, one of the many hospital recognized during the evening. I had such a great time meeting all the nurses who are often involved in the process of organ donation on the donor side. What a great group of people who are so special in what they do. It was also nice to reminisce and "talk shop" about my old days of nursing.
One of the guests that was sitting with us had also had spinal fusion surgery. While I was giving my presentation about my story, I spoke of how it took 2 years before I fully realized that I was a tissue recipient.  While I was speaking this man's wife leaned over to Bill and said, "it took you two years but it took us six, we just realized it tonight". Even in a room of medical professionals the education about tissue donation continues. Although most patients are told they will be using bone for the surgery, most just don't make the connection about it coming from an organ donor. In my case, I was so consumed with getting through the surgery that I could think of nothing else.
Many people were recipients of awards Saturday night. I was so excited to be able to present the 2010 awards for the Clinical Educator, Hospital Liaison, and Nurse of the Year. These individuals were awarded for going above and beyond in promoting organ donation, taking care of donors and working with Lifeline.
The Nurse of the Year was from Riverside and Riverside was also the Hospital of the Year which is a very special place for me. I worked as a tech there while in nursing school and then as a nurse after graduating. Riverside is an awesome hospital and I was thrilled they received  that recognition.  I worked with some amazing people there and it will always have a special place in my heart. I was also on the patient side when I had my spinal fusion at Riverside and received fabulous care. It definitely helped my high anxiety level being in my "home" hospital.
I meant to get more pictures during the evening but time got away from me and I was way to busy chatting. I even saw one of my nurse managers from a position I had at Grant Medical Center. I had not seen her in almost 15 years! Bill did get my picture in the  "official" green chair before we left for our personal "after party" at Hyde Park where we had another dessert and drinks and talked for two hours! Thank goodness for an awesome son who can hold down the fort with his aunt!


I am really looking forward to April 2nd when I will be sitting in the chair for the 1pm hour to help represent "not letting another chair go empty" for the 24 hours of Hope, Remembrance and Celebration. Join us as we celebrate the blessing that tissue donation is for so many people and honor the donors who are everyone's heroes.



The video below is the part of the presentation that tells my story.


Sunday, March 6, 2011

World Thinking Day

Last week both the Juniors and the Daisies Saturday morning at World Thinking Day. Every year Girl Scouts has a day world wide for all Girl Scouts to learn about other girls around the world. Our event allowed us to "travel" to seven countries around the world where girls don't have the same freedoms that we do.
Girls had the opportunity to learn about girls in Ghana, Bolivia, Yemen and others and see what Girl Scouts do in those countries but also how girls live. They saw how many don't have choices about what they are allowed to do as far as education and freedoms. Through games, stories, and activities we had a fun filled morning with lessons they will remember.