Life continues to move forward at lightning speed right now. So much going on with all of the cancer fundraising events that we volunteer for during spring. Exciting stuff!! A little exhausting, but for an awesome cause!!!!
The press conference the other day went well. The whole process was interesting to watch, and it was super nice to be able to meet some of the members of Team LAPD and the other honorary teammates. It was great getting to see the new LAPD Headquarters. I love the fact that the LAPD took time to publicly highlight two important upcoming events: Team LAPD's endeavor to raise $35,000 for blood cancer research via Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the 2011 LAFD/LAPD St. Baldrick's Foundation Event. What I do not like is that despite the fact that there were four extremely brave little kids (3 who have been fighting leukemia and 1 who donated marrow to save her brother's life) standing there before the press for what may have been an hour, after Commander Villegas spoke about Team LAPD and the honored teammates, he asked if the press had any questions and all you could hear was SILENCE. Crickets chirping perhaps. Then, at the end of the conference when Chief Beck asked if the press had any additional questions, the first and only thing that the reporters cared to ask about was RODNEY KING. Okay, yes, it was the 20th anniversary of the infamous incident and I'm not trying to downplay it, but let's not gloss over the fact that Rodney King isn't exactly some kind of upstanding hero or citizen. He has a LOOOOOONG arrest record that started long before the "infamous incident" and that has continued since. As a matter of fact, he was arrested the night before the 20th anniversary for running another red light and driving without a license. When he was stopped, he was with his girlfriend, who happened to be one of the JURORS on his trial. This guy has been stopped & arrested for myriads of bad things, such as: (before "the incident") beating his wife , robbery, battery and assault with a deadly weapon; (after "the incident") hitting his wife with his car, running red lights, DUI's, slamming his car into a house while failing to yield to police officers while he was drunk, engaging in sex with a prostitute in an alley while he was still married, beating his wife some more, injuring one of his kids & her mother and vandalizing their property, indecent exposure and being under the influence of hard drugs. ...And the reporters were ONLY interested in reporting about Rodney King. Really? I checked the news online that evening and could not find O N E thing about Team LAPD, Team LAPD's honorary teammates (the kids), or the LAFD/LAPD St. Baldrick's Event. Really, reporters? That makes me sick. All they want to report about and focus on is negative shit. ALLLLL the time. Just like when I contacted a certain reporter at the Daily News a few years ago to ask him to write a story about everything that the LAPD and our community has done to support us while Ryan has been battling cancer. He asked me to email him the details and I sent several pages worth, and I did not even get the courtesy of a reply.
In any case, I would like to share and invite you all (in So. Cal.) to a special dinner event that is happening next Wednesday, March 9, 2011, from 4 pm until 10 pm: it is Team LAPD for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Night at ALL Chili's restaurants located in Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. It is also valid at the Chili's restaurant in Simi Valley.
You must take a copy of the flyer (pictured below) and Chili's will donate 15% of your total bill. Please support leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research by taking the night off from cooking and eating at your local Chili's restaurant.
Ryan had fun at the press conference until he started to crash & burn. Our kid is just NOT a morning person, especially since relapse & transplant. He likes to sleep in until 10 or 10:30 am; sometimes later. Half way through the conference, he started tuning out and getting aggravated. He was ready to go home. The whole thing was a bit too much for him. He's not a social butterfly. Plus, his transplant and all the extended hospitalizations are still quite recent and he's just starting to reintegrate and catch up on his socialization skills again. It was fun, though, and we thank Team LAPD, Sgt. Grasso and Chief Beck for inviting us and for being really kind hosts. Thank you Team LAPD for the generous (ginormous is more like it!) gift baskets that you gave to Ryan and the other honored teammates, and thank you Chief Beck for Ryan's gift bag. Ryan really loved everything and has been running around the house with his toys and begging us to bathe him so he can play with the gigantic toy ship in the tub.
...Okay, so today I noticed that I lost a couple of "Facebook fans" according to the little "Become a Fan" thingie on my sidebar. I wonder if it was because I was in a really funky mood the eve before Ryan's four year anniversary and I let it all hang out in all it's glory? I was a total cranky-pants downer for a change, instead of my usual upbeat, optimistic self. I let it all hang out on a public blog for a couple of reasons: 1) I write this blog for myself and my family, so that we have a record of all that we have gone through, lest we ever forget, and it comes in handy when I forget when certain treatments and other things occurred; 2) I write it to honestly update family & friends; 3) I try to be true in the event that other pediatric cancer families ever stumble upon our blog because I hope that my rants will reassure them that they are not alone when they feel like they are losing their mind or like no one else understands them, and 4) I want non-pediatric cancer families to be able to get a realistic glimpse of what it's like to be a pediatric cancer family because I want people to be angry enough to band together & try to find a cure for it. ASAP. So I can't really say that I'm completely sorry that I had a pity party the other night and may have driven some people away. I wasn't being a drama queen, I was just being honest with my feelings. C'est la vie, right?
Before I sign off for the night, I just want to mention that this weekend is a big GIRL SCOUT COOKIE WEEKEND, and I'd like to put in a plug for the cookies because everyone of those cookies "has a mission: TO HELP GIRLS DO GREAT THINGS." Please click here to find out where your local Girl Scout troop will be and go out and help girls do great things while treating yourself or a loved one to some yummy cookies.
Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! Thanks for stopping by.
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