Special Treats

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This morning, I would like to extend a special treat to our Donors, Friends & Fans. I was happy to find a special message from Matt, our Honoree and first blanket recipient.

From: Matt
To: All C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket Donors

 

PROJECT MATT is 100% Commissioned!

C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket is proud to announce that PROJECT MATT is now 100% commissioned!

 
On the evening of March 24, 2011, we received our final donation for PROJECT MATT - bringing our grand total of $1000.00 raised in honor of Matt Mingus for Team in Training - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Our donors have commissioned 100 Donor Medallions to assembled for a blanket for Matt, which we are working furiously to complete! To celebrate, I snuggled up in my bed on a stormy evening to complete 41 Donor Medallions, meaning there are 59 Donor Medallions in my queue to complete. But when they are completed, we will have a huge labor-of-love to deliver to Matt and his family!

Donors, thank you all for your support. Your generous hearts are the life-blood of this project, and it is your example that I look to find the motivation I need to keep working on this project!

I would like to take this time to recognize those who I have not had an opportunity to thank yet:

• Courtney Gee - I am grateful the support from my little sister! Thank you for finding the funds to make a monetary donation, even though you are a "starving" college student. Now that I have taught you how to make these Medallions, I hope that you can contribute by sending me a few "Courtney-crafted" Medallions from sunny Santa Barbara to include in one of our Projects!
• Pat & Gerry Hing - A big, big hug goes out to my grandparents, Pat & Gerry, the owners/operators of Hing Accountancy Corp. in San Mateo (best CPAs in town!). They taught me the importance of giving and sharing, and I am grateful to continually have their love and support in everything that I do. Thank you PawPaw and GoongGoong!
• Alison Hench - A soon-to-be Doctor of Osteopathy, and one of the coolest people I know, Alison sent C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket her love from her study-cubby at Touro University. Thank you to my KGD sister, my role model, and my pal Alison for your contribution & loves - the world is a better place because YOU are in it!
• Anna Ye - Easily one of the smartest people I know, Anna sent us her love from her research-cubicle at the University of Califonia, Davis. Thank you to my KGD sister and goofball buddy Anna for your support - I miss you terribly and I hope I will see you soon when I am in Davis in April!

To all of our current and future Donors, thank you for becoming GeeTEAM teammates! You make all of this possible and I am forever grateful!

Now that we have completed our first C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket project, it is time to move on to our next projects...

We are now accepting Nominations for our next Project, and are looking to our Community to nominate Honorees (blood cancer patients & survivors) to receive a commissioned C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket Project. Our goal for this season is to complete five blankets - each representing $1000 raised for LLS. Please take some time to consider how blood cancer has touched your life: perhaps you have a relative, friend, coworker, or acquaitence who is a blood cancer patient or survivor. Take this time to fill out a quick survey to nominate an Honoree for a Project!

We will announce our upcoming projects soon!
stay tuned!

Generosity is synonymous to...

This morning I had to look up the word "generous" in the thesaurus. Had I been sitting at home at my desk, (which, I'm not going to lie, is hidden under a mile-high pile of clean clothes because I just have not found the time to put them in my closet) I would have cracked open the desk-top thesaurus that I have had since I was 7-years old. This thesaurus has been through a lot - more than a dozen moves up-and-down the California coastline; sitting on more than 20 different desktops and under at least two separate wobbling desk and/or chair legs; alternating between covered in dust and hidden away in dark corners; riddled with dog-eared pages and 4th-grade scribbles.

Though this thesaurus has seen neglected days, there was a time when this particular thesaurus reigned supreme. When I was a wee-tot, I was thirsty for ways to best express myself: certain repetitive statements would not suffice. And while playing "office" at my best friend Jenn's kitchen table one afternoon, I fell in love with her dictionary-thesaurus desk set. So much so that I begged my parents for a matching set. I must have been a good kid (or a spoiled one, some argue - but I like to think that I deserved it!), because my parents were generous enough to appease my pleas. Jenn and I played office much more efficiently with our matching desk-sets for the next few years.

At home, I read that thesaurus cover-to-cover, pouring over words that are the same, similar and different from one another. I was enthralled in the world of words and tried to absorb as much from the yellowing pages of the thesaurus as I could. As I grew older, and found less time to and importance in discover the meaning of words, the pages became less enticing and the thesaurus found a permanent place amongst the rest of the books on the shelf. I continued to make the effort to pack it up and find a home for it everywhere I have had a desk to place it on. But, sadly, the thesaurus has had to wait patiently for its opportunity to be important once again.

And now, a moment for it to shine as it did in days of old: I climbed over the pile of winter sweaters and scarves, and searched the messy desktop for my brittle little thesaurus. In it, I found this:

gen·er·ous  [jen-er-uhs] - adjective 

Definition:  giving, big-hearted

• Synonyms:  acceptable, altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, big, bounteous, bountiful, charitable, considerate, easy, equitable, excellent, fair, free, good, greathearted, helpful, high-minded, honest, honorable, hospitable, just, kind, kindhearted, kindly, lavish, liberal, lofty, loose, magnanimous, moderate, munificent, noble, open-handed, philanthropic, prodigal, profuse, reasonable, soft-touch, thoughtful, tolerant, ungrudging, unselfish, unsparing, unstinting, willing 
• Antonyms:  greedy, mean, miserly, selfish, stingy 

Definition:  plentiful, large in number

• Synonyms:  abounding, abundant, affluent, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, copious, crawling with, cup runs over with, dime a dozen, eco-rich, exuberant, filled, full, galore, handsome, heavy, large, lavish, liberal, luxuriant, mucho, no end, no end in sight, overflowing, plenteous, plenty, profuse, rich, stinking with, unstinting, wealthy 
• Antonyms:  depleted, lacking, rare, scarce, sparse, wanting

In the past few weeks, GeeTEAM has received generous donations pouring in from all over, supporting C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket, Project Matt, Mighty Bites!, Team in Training, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Donations so generous, that Project Matt jumped from 36% commissioned to 85% commissioned in less than a week! (That means a lot of catching up for me, crocheting Donor Medallions like a mad-woman!)

More importantly, the support has rung-out resounding support of my individual efforts, to do what one person can to eliminate the devastating effect that blood cancer currently has on those affected by the disease. My generous family, friends and fans have been more than generous - they have been ample, bounteous, kind, & magnanimous by giving with their whole-hearts to support the cause. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the support... if I look long enough in this old, dusty thesaurus, perhaps I can find the words.

stay tuned!

Our thanks go out to...

• Ashley DeWolfe - We battled our opponents bravely on the soccer field together as tikes, and now we are joining together, as big kids, take down blood cancer! Thanks for the support, Ash! I am really looking forward to working with you to pull together an awesome fundraiser for C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket. stay tuned!
• Michelle Dondono - Fundraising Guru and Inspiration Wizard, Michelle is the backbone behind the GeeTEAM effort, with her email reminders, helpful tips and encouraging words. Thank you for all of your help Michelle, GeeTEAM, C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket, and Mighty Bites! would not be successful without your help! You're the best! Did I mention she just joined the ranks of Mighty Bites! Troop 17 - introducing our Troop 17 Mighty Mom - tadah!
• Joan Greve - A MDSF Firebreather, CrossFit Games 2011 competitor, and Olympic weightlifter, Joan is my inspiration for what it means to be a strong woman. Thank you for your phenomenal example and for your support!
• Suzanne O'Brien - My buddy Suzanne is working to raise money for her own cause, but was generous enough to make a donation to Project Matt - thank you Suz! I am proud to be your friend, good luck with your fundraising!

I am touched by the generosity that our family, friends and fans have extended by joining GeeTEAM and contributing to Project Matt! Thank you so very much for your support.

Mighty! big thanks to...

• Dustin Schaefer - A killer CrossFitter with a pretty cool phone, Dustin ordered two (2) Baker's Dozen of our delicious Loco Cocoa Mighty Bites! - they will be ready for pick up Monday at MDSF. If you like them, Dustin, you should consider joining the ranks of Mighty Bites! Troop 17, and encourage others to try our "mighty simple. mighty delicious." treats! Thank you for your generous donation to the LLS, all three of your Donation Medallions have been commissioned - and will be completed soon. Look out for photos of them here!

Many thanks for "Contributing Unlimited Means For Research, Treatment, and Support!" - welcome to GeeTEAM!

On the Shelf, and Other Hair-Raising Tales

I look back on yesterday afternoon and think about how I could have used the event to raise some money for Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...

But yesterday afternoon was an opportunity for me to mark a lot of changes in my life. I have made a significant effort to affect how I approach the world - I am growing up! I am actively working on how I choose to spend my time, how I treat myself and others, and how I give and take. I am shifting my point-of-reference to be more inclusive and adjusting my perceptions to be bathed in love, hope, and compassion. I expect more effort from myself, and the people around me, but without pressure of quantifiable success - there is real quality in a genuine attempt at change, no matter how small. And quality always trumps quantity.

And to celebrate all of this change, I decided to cut my hair. Not a really huge decision, plenty of people cut their hair - there is an entire industry involved with cutting of hair (I should know, I have a very talented and wonderful Uncle who is a hair-genius!). But I have not cut my hair since... June 2010? And even then, it was a trim. I am, and always have been, terrified of cutting my tresses. Not because I am afraid of scissors, nor because I fear that cutting off a single strand would be equivalent to cutting off a limb. Not because my hair is how I identify myself, or how the world identifies me. Not because long hair is more manageable (because it is not!), nor because I particularly like having long hair (because, while I like it, I don't NEED it). When it comes down to it, I am usually a "hung jury" of one when it comes to cutting my hair.

"But, where does the terror play in, Jess?," you might be asking. I am terrified of cutting my hair because, when I do consider cutting my hair, I cannot justify one way or another actually doing it or not doing it, and I look to the guidance of others. But this is a terrible way to make a decision - especially since it is my head and I have to wear the aforementioned poor decision everyday (that's rain, hail, sleet or snow, people!). So paralyzed by my indecision, and my inability to trust in the opinions of those I trust most, I have always just put off making the decision until a later date.


Me, Pre-"chop"



And while the shelved decision waited patiently, collecting dust, my hair grew - and grew - and grew. I noticed this last week that my locks started to become unmanageable: getting in my way while I worked with my neck injury, getting stuck in zippers and sleeves (yes, I said sleeves), super heavy and just plain all-over-the-place. So, I casually mentioned the idea of cutting it to my significant otro, and made an early morning decision yesterday to just schedule a trim at Terry Demarco's Barberia in Foster City, with my hair lady (and I have only been to see this hair lady, like, twice in the last 5 years!), Mimi.

I walked into the salon, which is a very comfortable place to get your hair cut (a lot of really good energy), only to run into my buddy Marielle, who is the sweetest person you will ever meet and has always had hair to the floor for as long as I have known her! I told her I was looking for a change, that I wanted my hair to kind of reflect all of the change in my life, and she pointed out that Barberia is a Lock-of-Love-participating salon. And the stars were aligned!

If I was looking for something to tip the scales, for a reason to "go big or go home," I had found it. And then the decision was easy!

"All off, Mimi - take it all!"

http://www.locksoflove.org/

For those of you that do not know a lot about Locks of Love, it is a national non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children (persons under 21) suffering from long-term hair loss from any diagnosis. These hair prosthetics are made from donations (like mine) and given to children (all over the US and Canada) to restore their self-esteem and confidence as they face the world. The donation requirements are pretty straight-forward, and if you qualify, I recommend that you do try a new hair-do!

The Barberia Team was really fantastic, and I truly enjoyed my hair-care experience. Mimi gave me a fabulous new 'do (which I am trying to get used to). Amy took plenty of photos pre- and post-cut, even one where I am holding all hair (which, I made me feel kind of creepy, but I was more than happy to do!). If you are interested in donating, and local to the Bay Area, I recommend going to Terry Demarco's Barberia, or ask your hair-people if they participate in the Locks of Love program. 

Did I mention that it was FREE?? Super-surprise bonus! Just another reason to do it - get a fabulous haircut/style/coif by the best!

I am very fortunate that I could participate in the program, help out a little girl/boy who needs my long hair much more than I do, and further commit myself to my cause - to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! If you are looking for some change, and you want to do something good for someone else, consider contributing your hair to Locks of Love, or make a monetary donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through GeeTEAM!

Thanks again to Mimi, the Barberia Team, and Locks of Love! Check out some pics below of my new 'do - let me know if you like it!

stay tuned!

That is my hair, not my decision, on the shelf!

Shock and "Aww..."!

Still in the chair and with a lot less hair.

The Otro and Me, deciding if we like it.

"It could be worse!"
(P.S. "You really need to return that book.")

We like it. (And we had to take a nice picture
so that people think that we like each other.)

Big Thanks to...

• Mike, a fellow crossfitter from Mad Dawg School of Fitness. Thank you for your donation and the tips from your wife's experience with Team in Training. Go TEAM!
• Marla Wong, my long-time friend and ya-ya sista! Many thanks for your generous donation, and best of luck kicking kung-fu butt with your staff and butterfly knives ... please don't hurt yourself! And I promise you can buy lunch next time <3

Thank you both for contributing to Project Matt - be sure to fill out your Commission form, if you have not already done so!

Project Matt update: 35% Complete
Fundraising Goal update: $355.00, 7.1% and climbing!
stay tuned!

Thank you, thank you!

• Freedom Santos! I received your note in the mail today and your donation is greatly appreciated. I would like to post a copy of the letter if you don't mind, it was really touching.
• Philip Levi - Personal Trainer Extraordinaire at Equinox San Mateo. Your generous donation has not gone unnoticed! Thanks for showing up big with your statement-making red sunglasses.
• Susan & Saul Jimenez, owners of Mad Dawg School of Fitness in Redwood City & honorary GeeTeam Coaches - Saul and Susan have been a tremendous source of support and inspiration in my training (and recent recovery from my injury). These people are certified great people! Thank you again for all of your support.
• Jasmine Sarangelo, my "firebreathing" cross-fit role model! I look forward to training beside you and for all of your insider tips on how to "see" Alaska.
• Mat Holzman, another cross-fitter who has generously donated to LLS. I will be sure to bring some Bee Gees to MDSF for the next workout!
• Jason Feudale, another fantastic coach at Mad Dawg! Thank you for kicking my butt during Bootcamp, and for your donation to the cause.

A millions "Thanks!" to you all - look out for the "Medallion Commission Form," coming soon to your inbox!

Special Thanks to...

• Phil "Peach" Lasat for your generous donation! You, my dear man, are the first to commission a Donor Medallion for our first C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket. Look out for the "order form," coming soon!
• Anonymous, the funds contributed are greatly appreciated. An "Anonymous" Donor Medallion will be inserted into our first C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket.