I've noticed that now that I'm going to have more time in my weeks and days with my new job, I'm searching for ways to fill it. Not that that's difficult. Cleaning my house (and keeping it that way) would be a big start...but hey, you do what you gotta do. One of the big things I'm throwing myself into is forms of charity work.
Charity work for me is a way to honor my sons. To give their life meaning and let their legacy live on. To make sure they aren't forgotten.
The March of Dimes is the first big thing coming up. My team is amazing. We're almost halfway to our goal of $5,000 and through the generosity of so many of my friends, I have exceeded my personal goal of $1,000. I really wanted to do a couple of fundraisers for our team besides just collect donations, but the ideas I had ended up being too time consuming to plan and too expensive to execute with what time I had to figure it out. But next year I am DEFINITELY going to execute those ideas because I have them already thought out! :) Thank you to ALL of our friends and famiyl that have donated to our team. It means SO much to us for you to honor and remember our sons with us. I can't WAIT until the event so I can post all the pictures of our team of more than THIRTY-FIVE people here!!
I recently joined a couple of groups on Facebook that exchange ideas of bereavement items. I really wanted to honor my boys' birthday with memory boxes donated to the ICN where they were treated. I will still do this, but I also want to do things like Teeny Tears diapers (Thank you, Jana at Keeping up with the Kimmels for introducing me to it!) and other items so that there is a good selection for bereaved parents to choose from. Clothing and items to take pictures of their children in. Of course, I do need to touch base back with the ICN again on creating a bereavement plan though because of my frustration with the inconsistencies. So next up on my list is planning a Saturday with family and friends to sew diapers, crochet, and just enjoy company remembering my babies and making items for future angel babies.
All during this, I'm training for the half marathon. I've already created our team! They have a 5k and 10k walk/run, too, but I really, really want to run that half marathon. Right now I can't even run a 5k, so I've got some work cut out for me. But this is my goal. If I don't hit it, that's okay, but I really want to. Reach for the moon, because even if you miss, you will be among the stars. I know that what I'm doing, at the very least, is getting ME healthier. It's making me a better person. It's a good stress reliever, energizer, and motivator in my life. And my amazing husband has been pushing me and helping me, too. He's pretty awesome. :) I'm working on helping us eat better, too. I recently found PCOS Diva as recommended by a friend and she talks a lot about gluten free. For the most part, we have eliminated processed food, so the next step is working toward gluten free. Once I'm there, maybe I'll go full blown Paleo, but I'm hesitant to give up my dairy products. Hehe!
Let's see, what else...I'm looking into volunteering in many other ways, too. I'm hoping to help out with other March of Dimes events that happen throughout the year since March for Babies isn't the only thing! I'm currently helping out with our local Fireman's Muster, too. That charity event is to honor a classmate of mine that passed away from cancer last year. I'm looking forward to that event being a fun-filled day! I've also got some ideas in my head for some other events to help raise money for the NICU, but I won't discuss those yet until I have worked them through. All-in-all, it's shaping up to be a busy year. All the better to make this adoption waiting period fly by though, right?!
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