We're Off!!

Today the rugby team leaves at 5 to go to the North Carolina State Rugby Tournament! Ironically, it's held in Danville, VA... but lucky for us, that's only about 50 minutes away. We'll play two games tomorrow and one or two games on Sunday.

State Tournament is always a great time- I love seeing all of the other teams... we've gotten to know a lot of the girls from Wake Forest and Duke.

Wish us luck... we have all but two players going so hopefully we do decently!! (and no one ends up like this!) ---

Me and Mariah, go back like...

My friend Mariah, who I've been friends with since around the age of 11, graduated from UD last May and embarked on an amazing journey to Los Angeles, where she is currently trying to find a job in the crazy world of entertainment. I am so impressed with her bravery - I don't know that I could pick up and move somewhere brand new like that! She's had some pretty awesome experiences AND celebrity run-ins, and she chronicles it all on her blog: True Life: I'm An Adult? Go check it out!! And let her know if you stopped by :)

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the WORLD SERIES again!! I am ecstatic and can't wait for tomorrow night - Game 1 of the series, in NYC. It's Broad St. vs. Broadway!!

LET'S GO PHILS!!

Update

Jessie, Haley, me, Chelsea. Myrtle Beach Oct. 09

It's October 19th and so far this month, I have only made 3 posts. It's not that I'm too busy to write...frankly, my life is just extremely mundane right now. Every day feels like a cycle. Wake up, go to class, babysit, go to practice, do massive amounts of homework, go to sleep. Wake up and repeat.

I was able to get away for a few days and go to Myrtle Beach with some friends last weekend. It was so nice, the weather was gorgeous - around 90 and sunny every day. This past weekend, my mom, Kelsey, and Carlos came down to visit. They got to see us play Duke on Saturday (we kicked butt... we won 45-20! I scored a try but also sprained my ankle pretty badly.) It was great to see them, but it made me miss home and miss being around my mom. I teared up on and off today while they were driving home.

You might recall that I failed Statistics last semester. Never in my life have I failed a class. My GPA took a hard hit, and I cried when I found out. I am retaking it this semester and studying EXTREMELY hard. I mean, re-reading the textbook over and over, finding extra problems online just to practice, etc. I just took my second exam last Thursday. We got the grades back on Friday... I got a 95. The second highest in the class. I was in shock when I saw it... because that meant I only got 1 question wrong on the exam. So far my exam scores in that class are both As... hopefully I can keep it up!

The weather has become unbearably cold here. The weather we're experiencing in NC now is usually how it feels in January, not October. NC is known for it's looong drawn out summer. Usually it's cooling off a little by now, but definitely not in the 40s! However, the high for Tues - Thurs of this week are supposed to be 74, 76, and 75... we'll see. I hope so, I could go for a few more days of shorts and no winter coat!

The Phillies blasted the Dodgers tonight, 11-0. I have a feeling it's going to be a Yankees/Phillies World Series. Lindsey - who would you root for!?

I should get some sleep. To everyone who reads this who I haven't called back in days or weeks, I'm sorry!! I promise phone calls soon... I love you all!

PS. 3 songs to download:

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Say Hey (good for dancing in the car)

Antje Duvekot - Merry Go Round (stunning lyrics, beautiful melody)

John Mayer - Free Fallin' (An interesting twist on a favorite song of mine)

Two things

1. The Phillies are in the NLCS!! Watching the game tonight was crazy... it was so up and down. We won 8-6, but we need to play a little more solid in my opinion. But, a win is a win!

2. TOMORROW my mom and Kels and Carlos will arive in Greensboro!!!! I can't wait to see them!! I'm so excited, and they'll get to see a rugby game because we're playing Duke University on Saturday.

"Inside all of us is a wild thing"

This preview gave me the chills when I saw it over the summer. I absolutely cannot wait to see this!!

What about the GOLD?

Sometimes I get exasperated with the general public.

It's hard for me to understand how someone can be shown the injustice of something, and not care enough to try to change it or do something about it. Tonight I was on Facebook and noticed that there were pink ribbons everywhere. There are applications where people give pink ribbons, there are pink ribbons that you can give as gifts (the only color ribbon available for gifts). Yesterday much of the NFL was sporting pink sweatbands or shoe laces in honor of the month. So far since last Thursday, I've counted FIFTY-TWO pink ribbons on food products, on bags, on the sides of buses, and on websites.

I know and understand that pretty much everyone has known someone that has had Breast Cancer, and that fewer people have known someone with Pediatric Cancer. I also want to make it clear that I also support Breast Cancer Awareness. My grandmother beat Breast Cancer, and a member of my family is currently battling it. I support them, and all of the people I've known (which, when I just counted offhand, was 14) who have had the disease.

However, it still makes me angry that October completely overshadows September before it even gets there! It's not like Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month has to follow Breast Cancer Awareness Month and deal with the "leftover Pink-ness" ... no, people just get so excited for October that they start decorating/raising awareness early.

But. What about the kids? What about the ones who have cancer who are also trying to get through second grade, sixth grade, high school? What about the infants who don't understand anything except for the pain? What about the toddlers who have spent almost as many days in the hospital as they have out of it? What about the parents who not only have to worry about their child in the present day, but worry about the later side effects of treatment, such as hearing loss, infertility, and secondary cancers - IF their child even survives?

I'm not trying to compare Pediatric Cancer to Breast Cancer or say that either one is more important than the other. However, it makes me angry-sad-frustrated when Pediatric Cancer gets so little "coverage" and Breast Cancer gets so incredibly much. Why is it so lop-sided?

One answer might be the number of diagnoses. It is estimated that every year, 10,700 children will be diagnosed with a form of pediatric cancer. It is estimated that over 192,000 women will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer each year (ACS). That's almost 20 times the amount of Breast Cancer cases as Ped. Cancer cases.

But, does that mean it should overshadow these kids' fights? Does it mean any less attention should be paid to the fact that these children are being given (some) therapies that haven't been updated in decades? Does it mean any less attention should be paid to the fact that Pediatric Cancer research is funded almost as much by grassroots efforts and private donations as it is from money from our government? Does it mean these kids deserve the attention any less, just because they are a smaller group?

No. In my opinion, it does not.

Am I just crazy?

Happy 500th.

This is my 500th posting to One Safe Place. In a little over a month, I will have had this blog for 3 full years.

I can't believe it's October 1st...the semester is a third of the way over. I think I don't really realize it because of the 4 classes I'm taking, 3 of them don't have exams, just papers and assignments. The weather here is perfect to me - jeans weather, but not sweater weather.

I just finished a book I picked up a few weeks ago. Columbine by Dave Cullen is a comprehensive look at what happened at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999... What could have been done better, how it could have (or never could have) been prevented, myths that still exist today about certain things that happened (for example, there was a Trench Coat Mafia... but the two killers were never in it. They were also rarely picked on by "the jocks"... in fact, they did most of the picking themselves.) The book was extremely informative, and actually helped me to look at the event from a sociological perspective.

October 1st may bring Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month to a close, but it doesn't mean we have to slow down our efforts!! This Sunday, I will be holding a lanyard workshop for my rugby team. We are also planning an Alex's Lemonade Stand for later in the month. Just yesterday I went to throw out some old Freeze-Ice popsicles in the freezer and noticed on the box that there was a gold ribbon and "Pediatric Cancer" written underneath... it's the first time I've ever seen a gold ribbon on a food product!