Amy Volume's BIRTHDAY WISH - Year 4!
Help me celebrate my birthday by giving a gift to a child receiving in patient treatment at CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario). All proceeds go directly to CHEO’s Child Life department who provide kids with wonderful and much needed distractions in many forms: books, toys, craft kits and other forms of entertainment.
I’m turning 36 on April 25th (woah!) - help me celebrate by buying a gift for a kid receiving in patient treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, aka CHEO! All money raised goes to CHEO’s Child Life fund and you can learn more about the fund by CLICKING HERE.
Launched in 2019, we’ve raised $5,000.00 and I”m hoping to add another $2,500.00 in 2022. This is a mighty ambitious goal but, as long as I have a birthday, I’ll keep trying to provide entertainment and levity to those who deserve it most: kids in hospital.
This cause is very important to me. I am a CHEO kid. I spend a lot of my childhood in hospital, diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at eighteen months (1988) it was Sick Kids in Toronto until CHEO built their own Rheumatology Clinic (which I believe is the Infectious Diseases clinic in today’s terms).
As you can imagine, I missed a lot of school - never did make it on to any teams (sporting, social or otherwise) - in fact, I missed my own highschool graduation due to joint fusion surgery.
When you’re little and in need of a smile, CHEO’s Child Life department delivers. Please consider giving a gift to a child to help me celebrate my birthday. This fundraising effort is ongoing, year round. If you cannot donate at this time, there is no pressure! There are no deadlines! I just ‘get loud’ about it every April because that’s when I celebrate my birthday.
Help me celebrate by making a financial donation OR by buying a gift from my Wish List (will be delivered to my work address and brought to CHEO by me):
The photo above this text is of me delivering gifts & money to CHEO. This was my first year buggin’ you for donations. If you consider the average gift costing $25, to date, we have collectively given over 200 gifts to kids (aged 0-18) receiving in patient treatment at CHEO.
Spring is Near
The first day of spring is tomorrow. That’s also my daughters birthday (she’s turning five)! I’ll be sharing her birth story on social media, as is tradition with both of my kids. Such a special season!
We’ll be removing some COVID restrictions this week. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when people shed their masks and start to ‘get back to normal’ in terms of public habits and social behaviours.
Lots to look forward to with the warmer weather. Will probably be getting my motorcycle out this week. I sold Suzi Suzuki last fall and bought a 2022 Triumph Street Twin (Bonneville). It’s a bigger bike and I’m excited to have my first warm weather ride with it. Lots of moto-social stuff on the go, too.
Excited to eventually get up to the cottage and open things up. We’ll be hosting only repeat guests and are fully booked (again). We’ve been very lucky on the ‘good guests’ front. So much so, that I’ve decided to stop accepting rental inquiries indefinitely. It took a while to get into this groove but now that I’m here, there’s no going back.
If you’re reading this and you were able to contribute to my Dry Feb fundraiser: THANK YOU! We raised over $2,000.00 for the Canadian Cancer Society. It was a long month with some unexpected twists and turns making total sobriety impossible for me, so YES, I had two cheat days. Oh well! We still did a good things and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.
It’s a new month and we’re getting back to whatever post-COVID normal life will be and that is something worth celebrating all on it’s own.
DryFeb: Day 21
Living in downtown Ottawa, it sure feels longer than 21 days of DryFeb. Things have settled down in the capital but there is tension. People are tired. People are on edge. It’s been a hectic start to 2022, to be honest.
I used a vacation day to have Friday off, giving me an extra long weekend with the family. I pressed pause on DryFeb and had a couple drinks on the weekend. I’m back to it now, though. I’m proud of making it eighteen days without a drop of alcohol. :-) I am also looking forward to getting back into the alcohol-free routine. I definitely sleep better and feel better, overall, when I’m not consuming any alcohol.
I also am not a super-huge lover of anything in ‘finite’ terms; like never having a drink again! or never giving up <insert item I like here>… life isn’t black and white and sometimes my comfort zone is just doing what I want to do (within reason) and not really worrying too much about it.
Balance! I guess that’s what some might say, ‘balance’. DryFeb is going well from our fundraising perspective. Started with 50$ and our team has now raised just shy of 1.700$. I’m excited to embrace our final (full) week, back in alcohol-free mode. Here’s hoping we can raise even more for our friends at the Canadian Cancer Society!!
If you’re hoping to donate (you will get an official tax receipt) there is still time. Here is the link to give:
DryFeb: Day 15
Happy Dry Valentine’s Day to you! Well, I’m a day late but better late than never.
Thank you for donating to the DryFeb cause. This money raised by us not drinking will help Canadians living with cancer through the Canadian Cancer Society. A noble cause on its own BUT I have noticed some selfish perks to being alcohol free:
no hangovers or lingering foggy brain (Just the regular life induced type)
weight loss (i am down 2.1 lbs and it’s been 15 days, like, woah.)
healthier habits are emerging (eating better, sleeping better, saving money)
Are you doing DryFeb? How is it going for you? You can comment on this post below or in the comments section wherever this gets posted (to social media).
I do have a holiday coming up this weekend (using a vacation day + the STAT holiday) and I am considering having some alcoholic beverages… maybe I’ll feel less guilty about it if we reach our team goal of $2,000… we’re almost there!
It’s been strange times in the capital and being alcohol free during this two week period has been a blessing but WOW, I SURE DO MISS BEERS and/or GIN!
Hope you are doing well right now - Dry or Not. We’re almost there! We can do it! And if we hit pause: that’s okay.
DryFeb: Day 2
No, don’t worry, I will NOT be posting/pushing blogs every day!! I just had to share a funny thought I had which maybe you will relate to.
Yesterday was Chinese New Year and we (as a fam) typically celebrate all the happy events/holidays of various cultures and all religions by educating ourselves and supporting a local business by hosting an epic feast.
We didn’t do that last night and the kids were asking, “why?” I didn’t have a great answer other than, “it’s a school night”. So we will be doing a little feast on Friday to ring in the Lunar New Year.
My daughter’s skating lessons (which heavily involve me skating with her and holding her up) start across down at 9AM on Saturday… so how relieved am I knowing there is ZERO chance of me being hungover?! Yes! I’m feeling very good about being alcohol-free, although I know this is only the beginning.
If you want to try DryFeb, join the team! Share your thoughts, experiences or observations, too.
Quick fundraising update:
