May 19, 2011: T minus 1.5 days!

Heaveno!

Man, is the momentum swingin'!  I told Angelique today, this past week has been so much fun, because throughout our grief journey there have been many weeks where it just felt like we weren't accomplishing anything with the PUCK Foundation. This week, however, it's all coming together.  That is a good feeling.

Today, the video newsletter Jim Palmer shot on Saturday with the text  2 donate campaign was sent to 10,000 people.

Today, OC Family magazine did a follow up piece promoting Bella's Birthday Bash!

Today, The text to donate campaign was included in an update news story on WFRV in Green Bay, WI, including a short piece about Bella, AND her Pilates 100 video was included in the news story!

That's a lot of publicity in one day!

We are so grateful to Jim Palmer - the newsletter guru, Jo Ashline for OC Family, Trisha Knuth - Charlie's amazing mom, and Chelly Boutott - the reporter at WFRV CBS affiliate in Green Bay!  Thank you all for sharing our story with your communities.  We are honored.



Tonight, we had a final planning party at our place.  Our friend Sara Cooper and her mom came over to help make all the gift baskets and silent auction items.  I think we have roughly 35 items!  Thank you to all that donated goods and services to the event.



I also got a call from "The Butterfly Whisperer" tonight!  This is a beautiful woman named Kimberly Parry from Ontario, Canada that heard about me through a gentleman I met at James Malinchak's event over the past weekend.  Anyway, turns out she is a monarch butterfly farmer, and she reached out to offer butterflies AND grant wishes upon butterfly releases.  She is such a beautiful soul; her generosity just poured over the phone, and we had never met!  Folks, there are GOOOOD people walking this planet.



So, here it is, the final call to action for the event on Saturday!  If you live in SoCal, or know someone who does, c'mon out, or send 'em out our way!  If you are not local, in lieu of coming and supporting us, won't you consider sharing our text 2 donate campaign with your friends and family?  If you just comment, FB, or email us letting us know you shared that with your communities, that would really be appreciated.  Remember, you can donate $5 simply by texting BELLA to 50555.  Easy, right?  I really like this campaign, because five bucks is a pretty humble amount to ask for, and it allows people to participate in funding a cure to a childhood disease without having to drop in excess of $200 and up for a typical fundraiser.

In other news, Ali's kindergarten orientation was last night!  Boy, was that surreal.  Ali starts kindergarten in the fall... where DID the time go?  The principal and two kindergarten teachers were just about the nicest people on the face of the earth, they were so sweet.  The school is within walking distance, and has before and after school care on site, so I can continue to work.  Having said that, I still signed up for the PTA and volunteered to assist in the classroom!  How can I resist?  If I was willing to spend 14 hours a day by Bella's side, I think I can hang with Ali in her school a few hours a week, right?



Ali also resumed swim lessons today.  This is her doing her Barbie in a Mermaid Tale impersonation!

Okay, gotta run; I jerked open my eyes to see that I was sleeping at my desk!  LOL.

Talk you all on Monday!  Can't wait to share how everything goes.

P.S. If you are still reading, would you drop a comment of support for the event?  We'd really appreciate hearing from you!

God night.