Rock 'N Roll Up Your Sleeve Blood Drive | Venus' Passing

There are very few things in this world that I can honestly say I HATE.
Of those few things [probably a list of like, 6 things total, if that?], I'm pretty sure needles are like 2-4 of those. I had an experience as a 5th grader with a nurse tech who should never have been left unsupervised, as she tried for nearly 40 unfruitful minutes to poke her way into a vein in one of my arms before spending another half hour on my other arm - to no avail. I was a whopping 10ish years old at the time, but it still makes me wince at the thought of a needle in my arm.

Seriously.

i survived! :)

I said that to let you all know that these blood drive things are always a mental challenge for me. I attribute my final ceding to this process, as always, to my college RA Becky, who planted the 'blood drive seed' in my brain; she all but mandated these things for her floor whenever we were eligible to participate. Before UC, I'd only been able to partake in one blood drive, mostly because I was bordering on the weight requirement but more importantly sat far below the regulated iron level. I've got stability certainly on that first factor now, but the latter is also under control, so I am more than willing to donate when I can.

That time came around again tonight at the Towerview blood drive [many thanks to Cathy, as always for her hand in facilitating this event with us and the American Red Cross. I feel it especially imperative that I get myself to these things now that I've been reminded I have a rare blood type, too. O pos., friends.

Oh, and tonight was also the much-hyped passing of Venus between our earth and the sun. This is one of the phenomenons that goes under-appreciated, I feel, since it's not going to happen again for a really long time [i.e., not again this century].

venus, yenno, just passing through

^ Yeah, I know it just looks like a little spec, but that's a planet crossing over. Look it up if you don't believe me. The last picture that I found was from 2004. Pretty cool, I think :) 

Joe heads back to Atlanta tomorrow for work, and I'm due to be back up early, too. I'm crossing my fingers for no residual bruises from the needle sticks. Ciao! 

xo | cmd

Towerview Blood Drive, Take 2 : Honoring Mr. Bob

Yay, blood drives! Everytime I attend or participate in one of these things, it flashes me back to college, when my RA [and now one of my finest friends, I might add!] encouraged her dorm girls to find our way to the annual on-campus Hoxworth drives. By encourage, I mean that she all but dragged us by the hair to go. Luckily, I was introduced to blood drives in high school, so it wasn't an entirely foreign concept, but it did give us all grins to watch some of the snootier gals lose their minds over the very idea of it all.

In any case, I'm a huge proponent of blood drives, and now that I'm in the Missouri territory, I've joined the ranks of American Red Cross donors, complete with a membership card and all. Woo! :)

Back in August, we donated at our first Towerview blood drive; today was the second go 'round, and this time for a cause very close to our hearts. Today's drive was dedicated to honor Mr. Bob, who is still showing us all how to show honest praise in the face of a trying situation. He is such an incredible man, and I was proud to be a part of today if for no other reason than to honor him and Ms. Isla.

Here's til next time!

xo | cmd

Towerview Baptist Blood Drive



american red cross | [haiti campaign poster]

I don't want to admit that the last time I donated blood was actually back in 2008, before I got pregnant. Prior to that, I was a frequent visitor at Hoxworth, either on my own or for UC during my tenure there. [Huge thank you to one of my favorite mentors, my former R.A. Becky Heine for encouraging us to make blood drives a habitual thing].

An abridged version of my diatribe on donating blood: I think that, if you are of good health physically able, you should be donating blood. It's one of the easiest ways to provide community service, and aside from your time, it doesn't require much legwork on your part. I started doing blood drives in high school and I've been doing them whenever I can. Of the 20-30 times I've donated, I've received three letters stating my contribution was used for a life-saving transfusion. That's more than enough for me.



the dills | towerview baptist blood drive



Get out there and save someone's life. :)

Anywho, we had a great time, and for some reaon, Alex & Adam convinced Joe that the top competition time for donating couldn't be beat, so his goal in giving was to get the fastest time. He did. I'm pretty sure that's not really healthy, but he's still walking with us so I'm sure one time was probably ok. Haha.

Sydni even got to play in the nursery with her favorite little friends while mama and daddy donated. It was a pretty  nice family outing.

A million thanks to Cathie and Adam for coordinating all of this, and Lara for photo-documenting the event, and for all the volunteers who gave their time and resources to be there and help out.

We're looking forward to the next drive!

xo | cmd