A New Race

First off, I have to post these pictures for you! They aren't the clearest photos, for sure, as it was taken using the cell phone belonging to Kurt's former TSS aide. This was the day she went with Mandy and Kurtis for one of his doctor appointments -I think it was the one in Altoona with the allergist. Anyway, after the appointment, they stopped someplace to eat and if nothing else, this photo does show why we tend to call Kurtis "Messy Marvin" -frequently! Judging by how much of whatever he was eating that he has smeared all around his mouth, across his face and down the front of his shirt, it's amazing the boy gets any nourishment at all inside him, isn't it?



And also, a little story -a short one -about Kurtis tonight. Mandy was trying to get Maya to listen to her and she was being her pretty normal self -bull-headed and not listening. Mandy had just given Maya an edict which, if not followed would result in her having to sit in time out on the stair step. She had been talking quite firmly to Maya and as she finished her little speech, Kurtis came into the living room and said -using his own loud, very firm voice -"NOW!" It was a totally appropriate word at the time and also, is one that Mandy and I do often use when trying to get Maya to move it and do something!

OH, and one other little story too -yesterday morning (meaning Tuesday, not Wednesday here), when Maya came downstairs, she had her arms full -clean underwear, socks and a pretty little dress. Actually a very dressy little dress -one she got for Christmas and which is intended to special occasions, church and the like.

I asked her what she was going to do with that dress and she said she was going to wear that to school yesterday. Well, no way was that gonna happen since the dress is for special occasions ya know, plus the fact that Tuesday, the temperatures were very low here. Definitely too cold for her to be going out to school wearing a dressy outfit and no covering on her legs -or arms either, as it is short sleeved.

So I told her that no way was she wearing that dress as it was way too cold and she needed to wear slacks and a sweater. Of course, Maya -being Maya and having to ask those infernal questions all the time asked me "Why?"

And I told her, "Because you'll freeze your ass of if you wear that outfit."

Although she usually doesn't pick up on some of the words I use that can often be a bit colorful, to say the least, you know yesterday she decided she was going to repeat that line at every opportunity. So Mandy and I had to tell her that wasn't a word that little girls are allowed to say -old big girls -VERY big girls -and old ones at that! Remarkably, after giving her that explanation, she dropped the whole thing and didn't repeat it at all after that.

I know -Grammy's gonna get her mouth washed out with lava soap if she isn't more careful, isn't she?

Ok -moving along to the actual point of my post today.

It's that time of year again to get set up here -and geared up -for this year's Autism 2.5K Walk and 5K Race that will be held in State College on April 4th. (That's the first Saturday in April.) My kids and I will be participating again in this event and I will be posting more about it in the near future.

I'll be e-mailing friends, family -you name it -to request donations to our team too. I'm hoping we can get as much response -maybe even more -this year than we did last year too. I'll have to fill out the forms for our team in the next week or so as well as get the paperwork done to request that our team receive matching funds too from Thrivent -the Lutheran Social Services Agency that has been a sponsor of our team the past two years.

This year though, I seriously was thinking of not participating though in this walk because I don't particularly like the way the donation thing is being set up.

The first year we participated in this event, if anyone wished to make an online donation to the Autism site, they could do so with a minimum donation of $10. Last year, the format was set up that the minimum online donation one could make was $15 and this year, they have it set that the minimum is now up to $20.00. (You can mail a donation to the Autism organization at their home address in Los Angeles in any amount whatsoever, but for online donations, it won't accept less than a $20 donation.

Frankly, I don't like this at all because -for openers -the economy may have hit people who would like to donate but just can't afford to drop $20 towards a chartiable and very worthy cause like the Autism Foundation. I just don't feel it is in the overall best interests of any charitable organization to be that specific as to how much anyone should donate.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to ask any of you -my blogger friends -if you would like to help our team, to show your support for us and for the Autism Foundation as well - if you would consider becoming a branch of our team and to put a can up at your work place or on your blog indicating that you are taking donations for Kurt and Maya's Team. That way, if people want to give 50 cents or a buck -or if they feel they can afford to give more -it would be open that way to those who show their support to our team and to you then too by being a member of our team.

If you would like to participate with us in this manner, please let me know as soon as possible so I can make arrangements in my files to denote which of my blogger buddies are working with our team in this manner and then, to be able to track the amounts each blogger team has collected for the cause. (I have to account for all donations made to our team to Thrivent in order to show them how much we collected to be eligible to receive any matching funds from them.

Last year, the methods used by the Autism Foundation to notify me of donations made did not always give me the full information about many donors -just a name sometimes but no e-mail addresses (unlike the data they provided to us two years ago when I received notices of who made a donation, the amount and also, the person's full name and e-mail address. It made it very easy for me then to send out e-mail "thank yous" to those who supported us. Last year, only those who donated after reading about our team via my blog and whose e-mail addresses I have on my address book could I send a thank you message to so, if you donated and I didn't thank you, it was because of this issue and my not having an e-mail address for you in my address book.

Please think about this if you will and if you are willing to serve as a member of Kurt and Maya's team -through the blogosphere -let me know and I will log you in as a team member then when I set up our donation account with the Autism Foundation. And, also -if any of you reading this are in the central Pennsylvania region and would like to participate with us -to walk with our team in person (or virtually, via your blogsite) if y ou register with our team before March 15th, the fee is $15.00 per person. After the 15th of March, to register to walk with us, the fee is then $20 per person. (And each walker (in person) receives a tee shirt too then denoting that you particpated in this event!

I hope this idea I have to gather more participants and support of our team is one that would allow those who don't feel they can afford to give $20 to our team but who would still like to participate and back us by providing a means of smaller donations.

Please let me know as soon as possible by e-mailing me (my e-mail address is on my profile) and here's hoping our team has another banner year for support of our efforts!