I often wonder if I am the only one in this life to find
myself trapped in clichés, the current one being, “The Holidays are a Tough Time of Year.” I always think about that
exchange between Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, where Sally says in simple annoyance, “Yup. A
lot of suicides.” Ha! I don’t know why I find that to be so funny. Is there
something wrong with me?
I actually love the holidays because I get to see friends and family. (Two weeks off from work doesn't hurt either.) But the frenzy of activity, and the number of things that don’t
get checked off my To Do List, send my stress level to uncomfortable heights. I
find it all enjoyable when I remember, (and here comes the next cliché) that it’s
all about giving, and gratitude, and love, in all of its beautiful, strange and
often messy forms.
With the giving portion in mind, it is once again time for
Nathan Bransford’s Heifer International Fundraising event! For every comment
you leave on this blog post between now and Christmas Day, I’ll donate $2 to
Heifer International. Super easy! Head over to Nathan’s blog as well to see who else is
participating and leave them comments to raise even more money.
Giving, people. Giving! (It will make you feel good. I
promise.)
Update 12/26: Thank you for all the comments, everyone! With 17 comments, plus a few from Facebook and Twitter, I made a $40 donation to Heifer. I went for sheep this time because right now with all the cold and snow, I am really appreciating wool! We sponsored 1/3 of a sheep. Nice work, you guys!
Happy Holidays & Happy Running!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Gretchen! Our kids have done fundraisers for Heifer before too. It's a great organization. So ... what can I say to make this comment less boring ... hmmmm .... well, we're in Kauai, and with all the wild chickens and roosters wandering around, we've been rehashing "why did the chicken" jokes, such as, Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide. Why did the crab cross the beach? To get to the other tide. Clearly, I've had too much sun and surf today, as my brain is turning to mush. Have a very merry and snowy Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Gretchen, Happy Holidays, and thanks for being you!
ReplyDeleteA very Merry Christmas to you and Andrew! We missed you two at our place on Saturday was a full house of 20 fam and friends - had fun and ate too much, took a 2 mile walk and had a very entertaining ornament exchange. This year Buff and I adopted a family currently in "transitional housing" (had been out of work and homeless, now found employment and will soon relocate to their own apartment) and we bought them much needed coats. A 2yr old boy, 13 yr old girl and both a Mom and Dad.Others here at the Marina bought the the family other items they really needed.Giving to others does indeed feel good. We didn't buy ourselves anything fancy or pricey, just a few items for fun. We decided we didn't need it. Love to u both and hope you get a lot of comments here!!
ReplyDeleteHooray for Heifer! Thank you for participating!
ReplyDeleteYou're a star for doing this! Love the Heifers! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays Gretchen! See you out there:)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteFa la la la la! You are awesome for doing this!
ReplyDeleteI'm told that if I leave enough comments, a goat will fall from the sky. I'm not sure if it's supposed to have wings or not.
ReplyDeleteI love Heifer - thank you!!
ReplyDeleteAaah, a walker meets a runner! I'd like to be a runner as well... ;) Great cause and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHeifer is such an awesome organization, thank you so much for doing this! Merry Christmas and goats RULE!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so sweet :) Love your blog. Long time lurker who wants to get into ultra running.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this, Gretchen! Have a great Holiday! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice gesture, Gretchen.
ReplyDeleteIt's after Christmas, but I'll leave this comment just in case you decide to count it. :-)
ReplyDelete