On a different note: I've been planning for some time to have a special dinner party; the invites just arrived today in the mail, ones with little pink ribbons printed on them...

Did you know:

• Globally, in 2002, approximately 203,500 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer (one every three minutes), and approximately 39,600 women will die from breast cancer (one every thirteen minutes).
• Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40-59. It is the leading cancer site among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths.

(excerpted from http://www.cookforthecure.com)

An office I worked in, with 30 women on staff, had two women who had breast cancer and survived after radical mastectomies and one woman who died -- inside a 7-year period.  The cancer victims were more than 50 years old, but the rest of the staff were not.  A third were under 30 year of age.  This means the chances are still pretty good at least one or more women in the remainder will get breast cancer in their life time.

These are mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers -- real faces, real people.  Real women, just down the hall or a phone call away, suffering the defacement of their bodies through surgery and chemotherapy, the pain and uncertainty, rehab and prosthetics, hair loss and patchy-ness as it regrows, the long term prognosis probably quite good, but possibly quite bad. 

It's a very good chance your own life will be impacted, either by the cancer itself or by the impact on a woman you know.  It's pretty personal.

That's why the Cook for the Cure fundraising initiative appeals to me, and why I've been planning a dinner party.  I've known too many affected women already, lost a friend I loved dearly to this, know that my loved ones and I will be affected yet again by this disease.  I want to do something constructive about it.  And I like to do more than write a check, because it is so personal.

Kitchen Aid is co-sponsoring this initiative (details at the site) -- they'll send you a cool little Home Dinner Party Kit for free, consisting of a book of recipes, helpful hints, information about gathering and submitting donations as well as dinner invitations.  The invitations help you ask your dinner invitees for a donation and explain the reason for the party. 

Hey, I'd probably have a dinner party with friends and family anyhow sometime during the month.  Why not a make this an even more special occasion, I'm thinking.  I'll ask my friends and family to donate the amount they'd pay for a nice dinner out, and I'll throw a home-cooked Italian feast here.  It should be a blast!

Yeah, the invites will have pretty pink bows.  So what?  And this is a disease that overwhelming afflicts women.  So what?  if a cure is found for this particular cancer, cures for all other cancers are right behind it based on research from this effort.  And if a woman you know and love is better educated, practices better self-assessment because of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's initiatives, you'll benefit too.

Check it out at the site, send for a kit.  Sure, the initiative is for the month of October, but the reason goes on well beyond.  Have a party next month, before the holidays begin; or what the heck, have a holiday dinner party AND a fundraiser at the same time. 

Psst...if it comes up and dear hubby asks...I'd rather my spouse sent them a check than get me a present or a bad dinner anyhow...ugh, please, not another ugly whateverthatthingis!  not another dreadful meal at our neighborhood Cafe Dyspepsia!

5:41:43 PM    comment []

Going to be a slow blogging day here.  Officially dragging my wagon, the Muse is standing me up because I'm so whipped.  Was up waaaayyyy too late last night, trying to sift through small business stuff.  Here's just one site I've been working on, serves as an example of the data saturation I'm approaching.  Imagine trying to to through every single one of these (77+) links for the information pertinent to your situation...<eyes rolling back in my head>

5:33:08 PM    comment []