Back to the Future

First off: Thanks. Secondly: You're invited.

"Wha...", you ask? "Isn't that usually the other way around?"

You're right. Normally you get invited to something and them comes the thanks. But, that presupposes that I am normal, or think linearly. And we both know that isn't true.

Thank You
The thank you is to McCormick and Schmick's, the Somerset Inn, and Mortons for hosting the progressive dinner this year. The food was sublime, and the event was a huge success.

Forty-five of our closest friends joined us on Sunday for the 3-stop tour. It truly was a wonderful melange of friends, food, and...well...fun.

While I really appreciate everyone that came out, I have to give a special thank you to Eric and Matt at CORE Partners. They have made it a point to attend every progressive dinner since the very first one. I can't thank them enough for their support.

I also want to thank my friends that came out to the RoseBowl last Saturday for a night of bowling. Being left-handed and Irish, I don't have any genetic predisposition for bowling...and it showed that night. I'm just thankful that noone had a video camera!

You're Invited
Raising the funds is a challenge, especially in this economy. In these tough economic times, I am looking to be creative in my fundraising ways. So, what if I paired one of my favorite pasttimes with a fundraiser? Whadda ya know, we figured a way to put something together.

On March 11th, from 5 pm until 7 pm, the San Marino Club is hosting a Pasta Dinner as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Yes, I know the 11th is a Wednesday...how else do you think we were able to get such a good price?!?

The $10 ticket includes pasta, salad, roll, and soft drinks. Tickets for kids 12 and under are $5 each. This is more my kind of event...I mean, really, me and food! Do you have to ask more?!?

As an added bonus, Sheila Taormina will be at the event. Sheila is the only woman to compete in four Olympics in three different disciplines:
1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta, Swimming
2000 Olympic Games, Sydney, Triathlon
2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Triathlon
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, Modern Pentathlon.
She took Gold in the 1996 Olympics, and was the 2004 Triathlon World Champion.

Meeting Sheila, alone, is worth the price of admission!

My teammates and I are also putting the final touches on a raffle for that night. Hopefully, I can put out a list of the raffle items in next week's blog.

If you’d like to buy a ticket in advance, drop me a line. If you’d rather make a “game day” decision, that works too.

Well I'm off to swim 2 miles tonight...it is so hard to stay motivated in the Winter. But the thought of seeing my friends on the 11th really makes a difference.

Learning the Alphabet

My mom has a voracious appetite for reading. The woman is always surrounded by books. I swear she buys them in bulk.

It was no different when we were growing up. For a while, I thought she had a printing press in our basement. Or she had sequestered Dr. Seuss in an abandoned warehouse until he turned over at least 3 copies of each of his works to her!

I feel for my mom. I especially feel for her affliction. Not that her reading habit causes her pain. Rather, the affliction that none of her sons took to her vocation (I really can't call it a hobby).

Don't get me wrong. I like reading. I even kept a favorite childhood book to pass on to my kids. But I just don't share that same passion for books.

While that passion may not be there, I really enjoyed having those books around when I was a kid.

So, our house is populated with kid's books. We have the Disney series, especially if it has a princess in the story. We have the Boxcar Kids series. Joe really likes the Michigan Thrillers books.

And, of course, Dr. Seuss. Joe and Alaina each have their own preferred story. But Norah doesn't seem to take a liking to them. Not yet, at least.

That's okay. But we really want her to start learning the alphabet. So, Elisha went out to the store and bought Alphabet Flashcards. And she came up with a game for Norah to play with the Flashcards. The cards and the game are a hit, and Norah is doing wonderfully well learning her alphabet.

But, one night, while we were playing the Flashcard game, I became a little suspicious of the company that developed the cards. You see, each card has a series of pictures that represent the letter in the alphabet. The idea is not too dissimilar from Dr. Seuss' ABC Book (think: Aunt Annie's Alligator).

For the most part, the pictures and the messages are nondescript. Until we got to the letter "J".

But there my daughter was, clutching the card in her hand, when I first noticed it. The pictures, and the words, laid out in a perfect series...Jungle...Juice...Jug!

I started having flashbacks to my undergraduate days. My head started spinning. I started to ask myself, "How do I get that card away from her? How do I protect my innocent little daughter?"

Maybe there's an opportunity here to slip in some of my childhood books and stories. Maybe I can preserve her childhood, at least for a moment.

I started to get excited. I almost went in to a panic. Then I remembered the stories from my childhood.

"There's a Wocket in my Pocket"? Really? "Puff the Magic Dragon"? Seriously? Who am I fooling?

I left the room, laughing.

Later that night after the kids went to bed, I went to the kitchen, mixed up a batch of Jungle Juice, grabbed my iPod, and spent the rest of the night listening to the Stones.

Feelin' Stronger Every Day

I was a little worried when I read the training schedule for this week. In particular, the bike and the run training: Three 90 minute sessions on the bike, and a 10-mile and 8-mile run.

In case you didn't know this: I DON'T LIKE RUNNING!

Surprisingly, though, it is going fine. I completed the 10-mile run, and felt pretty good about it. And, with the adjustments to my bike, it is a lot easier to spend that kind of time in the saddle. (This is where I say thanks to the good people at Fraser Bike...wow.)

Don't get me wrong...I still have a long way to go before I'm ready. A really long way.

But I was really happy with how I feel at this point. Maybe I'm finally beginning to get in to the groove. Maybe Peter Cetera is channeling through me, " I do believe in you, And I know you believe in me."

Yikes. That's kinda creepy.

Actually, I think my body finally gave in and said (in a strange Brooklyn-ish kind of way), "You're serious about this?!? Okay, then." Followed by an almost imperceptible, "The best thing to happen to you, the worst thing that happened to me."

Dang it Peter! Get out of my head!

Then again, I still have an 8-mile run to do...Let's hope that goes alright, too..."You know I'm alright now."

I mean it! No more Chicago tunes!

Ski Weekend

We went skiing this past weekend.

No we're really not a ski-type family. We've gone for a ski weekend once a year for the past three years. I don't think anyone could mistake us as mogul-monsters or snowboard-snobs.

But it's fun.

Joe and Alaina take off down the slopes with their friends. And, for the most part, play it safe. Norah and I hit the towrope, while Elisha tried to keep the baby entertained. I definitely got the better assignment.

But for some reason, I'm sore. Still, today as I write this, my muscles are telling me to "cool it."

Maybe its from pulling Norah up the slope on the towrope? Naw, couldn't be that.

Could it be from having to carry her down the slopes, giving her the impression that she was skiing? Can't imagine that would have anything to do with it.

What about getting in the car right after skiing for the drive home, spending 3 hours in the back seat, keeping the baby entertained? Please.

None of those reasons sound even remotely plausible.

And they won't sound plausible again next year, will they? No one said I was very bright.

After all, if I were, would I agree to take on raising $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in THIS ECONOMY? Two years ago, at this point in my fundraising effort, I was within $400 of my goal. This time around? Oh, well, let's see...yep...I still need to raise $3,000.

Yikes!

Thanks aren't enough for the friends and family that have helped me to this point. Quite honestly, I don't know where I'd be without you. Well...that's not entirely true...I know where I'd be...I would need to raise $5,000, and even more stressed out!

Maybe my muscle aches are a metophor for the financial aches and pains that we're all facing. Do you think there's a tow rope big enough to pull us out of this financial valley? I sure hope so.

I remember something Franklin Roosevelt once said, “We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”

There is hope for this economy. Just as there is hope for a cure. If enough of us grab the towrope and pull to the top, we'll see the horizon.

Kids of Steel

I spent a little time reminiscing recently. A very smart friend of mine told me that I should try it from time to time.

It is refreshing. Cathartic, in a way.

So, as I prepared to spend some time reflecting, I thought it would be fun to go through some pictures from the past year. And I came across this picture of Norah from the Windsor Star.

I started laughing to myself and smiling.

She was racing in the Kids of Steel triathlon last summer when the photographer captured this image of the two of us. It was on the front page of their online edition.

It really was a special moment, and a special day. She was so excited to enter "her triathlon."

As the race neared, she started to get more and more nervous. She asked if I could do the race with her. You can see in the picture where my shorts are wet from the *ahem* swim.

She was so proud of herself that day. She completed a triathlon. And I think that's what I like about this sport.

Sure, there are folks that enter triathlons with a goal of competing. But for so many more of us, it is about completing. There's a sense of pride and accomplishment in that.

I may not find myself on the podium at the end of the day. Let me rephrase that: I will never find myself on the podium at the end of the day.

But, like Norah, I did it. I completed a triathlon. And that little success can never be taken away.

Likewise, our small effort to help raise funds for LLS will never get our name on any fancy building. But it will lead toward a cure, one day. And no one can take that away.

Crawl Before You Run

"Running comes last." In every event I've been, that is the one truism.

Oh, sure, there was Steelhead last summer. The event coordinators cancelled the swim and replaced it with a run. Not that I'm complaining (well, maybe a little). With the waves they were that day, it was the right decision.

While the race started with a run, it also ended with a run. I never thought I'd like a bike ride more than I did that day! Did I ever tell you how much I hate running?

In case you missed it: I HATE RUNNING.

But running is part of the event. And it comes last.

Funny how that works in life too. The running comes last.

Before you run, you have to walk. Before you walk, you have to learn to crawl.

So simple. So true. So beautiful. "So what?," you say incredulously. "Why are you waxing poetic?"

I don't blame you. But I hope you'll forgive me. See, Keira started crawling this week. And it is the most precious thing to see. She was grinning from ear to ear as she made her way across the floor to "mama."

Will she crawl to me? Not unless I have a bottle in my hand. But, then again, therein lies another truism (for another day).

As I watched her this week, I remember milestones for the other children: Joe's first steps, Alaina's first plie, Norah's first tackle.

"Wait, I think you got that backward. Isn't Norah a girl?," you ask. Yeah, you're right, Norah is a girl. And a tough one at that. Frankly, I'd love to talk about her first graceful...well...anything.

That said, they are all so beautiful, and graceful, in their own way. And they are growing up so fast. I just hope I remember these days. Especially as I get older, and my "running days" are replaced by "crawling days."

Hmmm...I guess the running doesn't come last, after all.

Spin It To Win It

I don't know that I've really talked much about the fundraising side of this crazy train. I shared the story about Camille Claudil (which, by the way, I have it narrowed down to 4 people...maybe...I think...oh shoot). But other than that...

So how's it going?
Thanks to your generosity, we have raised over $1,300 in petitioned donations. "Wait a minute! Aren't all donations petitioned donations?," you ask. Well, yes, they pretty much are.

Really, I don't know of many occasions where a donation comes unsolicited. There is the story about S.S. Kresge making an unannounced visit to UM-Dearborn.

As the story goes: the "old man" visited the campus early in the school's infancy. Mr. Kresge walked in to the Chancellor's office and asked if the school needed anything. Not knowing who he was, the Chancellor politely said no...and, what d'ya know, UM-Dearborn is the only public university in Michigan that doesn't bear Mr. Kresge's name on its library.

An urban legend? I don't know. But it does illustrate the point that not too many folks come knocking unannounced. Still I feel awkward calling the gifts by any other name.

"Solicited?" I suppose. But it just sounds too tawdry.

"Cajoled?" Too sneeky.

"Begged?" Too desperate. Hmmm...well...maybe I shouldn't rule that one out.

Creativity rules
"Murphy,' you say. "Tell me that you're not just hitting your friends up for money." And, you are right to ask that of me. Times are really tight. And while I really do appreciate every dime you have given, we can't make our goal (yes, our goal. you are part of my team) through petitioned donations alone.

So, my teammates and I have been a little creative. We've come up with a series of "FUN"draisers, where we try to create a fun night out that will also bring in a few pennies.

Our first "FUN"draiser, a Spin-a-Thon, was this past weekend. "A what?," you ask. "A Spin-a-Thon?"

Yes, a Spin-a-Thon. We invited a bunch of our friends and other cycling ne'er-do-wells to join us for 3 hours of a spinning class at Beverly Hills Club.

"Wait, I thought you said that these were supposed to be fun, Murphy. You know, you are really off your rockers. I'm beginning to think your weight loss was all from your head."

I know. It might not be what most of us consider fun. Three years ago, I would have "urped" at the idea.

But, really, we're trying to be creative. "So, did it work?" Good question.

You'd be happy to know that it was well attended. And as a team, we raised a few coins. And that, in the end, is what matters.

If Spin-a-Thons aren't your gig, I am working on a couple of other "FUN"draisers. Our next event is a Bowl-a-Thon, scheduled for February 21st. RoseBowl Lanes is hosting us that evening. RoseBowl Lanes is on Groesbeck in Roseville. Tickets are $25/person, and includes bowling (obviously), pizza and soda pop. I'll post more information on the Bowl-a-Thon once we get the flyer together.

It also looks like the Progressive Dinner Party will take place again. And I am finalizing the details on a Spaghetti Dinner.

These events are more my speed. And hopefully yours too. So, maybe we'll see you at a "FUN"draiser???