Making a Difference

According to GivingUSA, more than $300 billion was raised last year in charitable donations. Even in times of economic uncertainty, individuals find time to volunteer and raise money and awareness to charities that are close to their hearts. I have to admit, the holidays came and went and somehow, life got in the way of me sticking to my goal of one charitable act a month. I plan to start up again this year and hope to stick to it this time. In the meantime, I have some co-workers who are doing amazing things this year and wanted to share it with all of you, in the hopes that you can show them your support. Their causes span across the board, yet they all have one goal, finding a cure.

Walk Now For Autism Speaks
Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disorder in the U.S affecting one in every 110 children and 1 in every 70 boys. Every 15 minutes,a new family will hear the words, "your child has autism." My co-worker Andres will be participating in the walk on Sunday, June 5. To join in the fight and help Andres reach his goal of $1,000, please visit his donation page.

Team in Training
My co-worker Dave is a mentor and coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. The group's mission is to fund groundbreaking research for blood cancers, such as Leukemia, Lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Myeloma. He asks for support in his fundraising efforts as part of the summer session and build-up toward their team event, a 100-mile cycling race in Lake Tahoe on June 5, 2011. To help Dave reach his goal of $5,000, please visit his fundraising page.

MS Coast the Coast & The Bike Ride for Amy
My co-worker Ben is involved in a couple of charity bike rides this spring. The first one, an 85-mile MS Coast the Coast is on May 21 for the National Multiple Scerosis Foundation, and the second, on June 5, is the Bike Ride for Amy in support of The Amy Feiman Behar Foundation for Cancer Prevention. The foundation was formed by Ben's friend who's wife, Amy, passed away in her 40's of breast cancer. The foundation raises money so that woman in Central New Jersey without health insurance can get mammograms. To date, the foundation has provided more than 1,000 mammograms. To find out more about these charities, or to support Ben on his rides, please visit MS Coast the Coast or Bike Ride for Amy.

Revlon Run/Walk for Women
My co-worker Margaret will be participating in this walk on April 30, 2011. Since 1994, the funds raised in the EIF Revlon Run/Walks in LA and New York have together distributed over $60 million for cancer research, treatment, counseling and outreach programs. Thanks in part to these funds, new treatments are being developed, lives are being saved and hope is gaining ground. To help Margaret reach her goal of $1,500, click on her name on the Ma Feeney's Kids page.

Something Worthwhile

Do you ever sit around and wonder, "What good am I contributing in this life?" I have an amazing husband, a wonderful place to call home, an adopted puppy who is the light of my life and wonderful family and friends, but day after day, I find myself pondering that very question.

I spend the majority of my time working for "the man" and making money for a company just like most of us. I make my donations to the charities that are close to my heart, I never walk past a child asking to support their team at the grocery store, but I still feel that I could be doing more.

So I decided to set a challenge for myself. Beginning in September with Brian's Run, I will do something once a month that will directly benefit a charity or someone less fortunate than me. This can be anything from doing a 5k Walk, to volunteering at a soup kitchen, or sending a gift to a little girl who otherwise wouldn't have believed in Santa.

These tasks are so simple, yet so easily overlooked. Some people are much more fortunate than others, and are able to donate lots of money or lots of time. While that is a blessing, it is also not a reason to sit back or make excuses that "others can handle it." It's time I stop pondering this question and instead, do something about it.

So I ask you...are you ready to take this challenge with me?

Notes Left Behind

This post is a little out of the ordinary for me and for once, (insert gasp here) won't be about the crazy antics of my work environment. Don't worry, I will still be posting the best gems that my crazy co-workers have to offer.

Today, I'd like to discuss a book that I'm currently reading, Notes Left Behind by Brooke & Keith Desserich. This nonfiction book takes your heart on a journey through sadness, happiness, hope and despair. It is the story of the Desserich's daughter, Elena, and her battle with pediatric brain cancer. Brooke & Keith chronicled their journey from the day that Elena was diagnosed through all of the trials and tribulations in the form of a daily journal entry. Their main goal was to be able to have an outlet and a story for their youngest daughter, Gracie, so that she may one day be able to understand this emotional journey that her family was on.

While any sickness or disease pulls at the heartstrings, it is ever more prevalent when it is concerning a child. While this book is truly a diary of the challenges they faced, it's purpose is much more meaningful; that every single moment you take a breath is a moment to be cherished.

How often do we roll our eyes when we have to go to a family party? How many times do we opt to sit and stalk facebook while our loved ones are running an errand or in another room? How many times have you thought to reach out to a long-lost friend, but felt too uncomfortable or awkward to actually pursue it?

The Desserich's would give anything to have one more moment with their Elena. One more laugh from a tickle-fest, one more pout for having to eat her vegetables, one more cry for her younger sister stealing her toy, one more smile as she fell asleep in the crook of her father's arms. They understood that it's not just the little things or the big things that make up life's great moments; its the everything in between as well.

I urge you all to take a moment and reflect on your life. Are there things that you wish you did or still want to do? Don't waste a moment! Don't have regrets.

Chances are infinite, but one thing that's not... is time.

FML

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in a while. Some of the things that happen hear just can't even be put into words, so I have to save it for the time when people who don't work here may actually still get it.

I was fully engaged in a facebook stalking sesh when I realized it was already 12:40! (EEK I usually eat at 12, my stomach didn't even remind me!) So I went up and joined my co-workers for lunch. Approximately 10 minutes later, my favorite intern walks in. I haven't seen much of him lately because he has been working mornings at our vault, which is at another location in Manhattan and the second lunch crew enjoys baiting him in conversation rather than doing what we do (IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE!) so he thankfully chose to eat with them from now on.

For some reason he chooses to engage in coversation with me, which went down like this:

Intern: "Laura, I can't do any of the work you gave me because I will be at the Vault for the entire week next week." (Yes, he now calls me Laura)

Me: "Ugh, I don't think I approved that!" (I said jokingly)

Intern: "You don't get to approve anything...That's why you sit in a cublicle!"

Exit stage left.

Really? Did that intern just completely tell me off? And why is it that he is 100% right. FML.

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

I'm working on a presentation for work that requires me to provide a listing of states that we are approved to accept Medicaid in. So, after putting on my marketing cap, I thought it would be visually stimulating to get a handy dandy blank map from istockphoto and have our graphic guy color inthe 23 states. I sent him over the list, and he got to work.

A few hours later, the presentation is done and I send it off to my boss.

Later in the day, my boss calls me over and whispers "Umm, these are not the correct states. Can you print out a blank map and color them in for him, while I go cry?"

Yikes. So I ran back to my cubicle, printed out the blank version of the map, got my list of states and started coloring. I was astonished that a grown man would get this wrong (the reason I didn't double-check his work and simply imported it into my presentation). But then I got to Wyoming. Wyoming. Now where the heck is that pesky state!? Then came Missouri. Hmm, tricky. After about two more I gave up, googled a map of the US and copied the correct states.

After I was finished, I enrolled in Kindergarten for the Fall semester.

What's in a Name Anyway?

Our lovely intern was telling a co-worker about the HUGE project that "Trish" gave him, when my other co-worker overheard and kindly told him, "Her name is Laura. Not Trish." To which our intern replied, "Oh."

I walk into work this morning and am greeted with a sunshiny "Good Morning Trish!" before he scurries off in the opposite direction. Confused, but not utterly baffled, I continue to put my lunch in the fridge upstairs. Upon returning to my desk, my boss pulls me aside and asks if I gave the new intern a project the other day. To which I replied, "Yes, why?" My boss then proceeds to inform me of their earlier conversation that went something like this:

Intern: "I'm working on this HUGE project that Trish gave me."
Boss: "Trish? I think you mean Laura, the girl from marketing?"
Intern: "Why does everyone keep calling her Laura when her name is Trish!?"
Boss: "Because her name is Laura."
Intern: "OK"

30 minutes later.

Intern: "Hey Trish, when do you need this project finished by?"
Me: "Me? I'm LAURA."
Intern: (Giggles) "OK..."

I'm no longer certain what my name is.

Lunch Tales Round 2

Today was another exhilirating lunch. I sat outside for the first 30 minutes and thought that this might be one of those rare, uneventful days, but alas, I thought too soon.

As soon as I went inside to join the girls, our dear intern came froliking into the kitchen with his half-eaten shrimp lomein. Turning to us, he proudly proclaimed "I went to prom on Thursday!" We all tried to avoid eye contact, but unfortunately, I was born with a heart, pesky little thing, and I was left to dry, all alone for the rest of the conversation which went a little something like this:

Intern: "I went to prom Thursday night!"

Me: (Looks around the room for help, sighs, then responds) "Did you have a nice time?"

Intern: "No. She doesn't get along with the Jericho kids and they made fun of her, so we left."

**Insert heart-wrenching awwww here**

Me: (Tender voice) "Aww, that's not nice. Did you tell her she looked pretty?"

Intern: "YES! She did. She was wearing a pink skirt, and do you know that Megan Fox? Well she has a tattoo that says 'We will all laugh at gilded butterflies', so she wrote it on her back in marker."

Me: (A huge cartoon-style question mark appears sprouting from the top right corner of my head. Confused, I have to think fast) "Oh, yeah. That's nice."

Intern: "Hey do you guys watch Twilight? I heard that the main character girl is terrible. My friends told me that in one scene, the two main guys are fighting over her and she is just standing there screaming "No, No" with her hands in her hair."

Me: (Quickly losing interest) "Yeah, I've seen it."

The intern soon realizes he has to get back to work and exits stage left. We all breath a sigh of relief. Then, in dramatic fashion, the kitchen door swings open. Looking at me, the intern exclaims:

"Hey Trish, the project you gave me is going to take me all summer. Thanks a lot!!!"

Door slams shut, intern exits.

No, my name is not Trish.