Fun...it really is!

For those that know me (Janelle) well, it is likely hard to really believe that I could say this in all sincerity, but it's true: I enjoy and look forward to donating blood every 8 weeks and felt really disappointed when colds kept us from doing so on Nora's second birthday! And I found myself looking forward to it from the time we made a new appointment until Thursday afternoon when we found ourselves on the 3rd floor of the Cancer Center at RMH. This time we were joined by wonderful friends, which made the experience even more fun and meaningful.











Of course, when I do something I like to do it "right" (meaning I have very strong perfectionistic tendencies). For example, I'd like to give every 8 weeks to the day. :) And this time when I saw "we need platelets" posted in the room, I asked about it. I would be a well suited donor of platelets if I have the time to do so (it takes longer and you can do it every two weeks). Of course you don't have to do it every two weeks but if I could I would likely feel very compelled to do so. I was watching one woman on the machine that is used for that kind of donation enjoying reading a book and I had all kinds of ideas about actually getting some reading done if I would have 1-2 hours hooked up to a machine every 2 weeks. Kind of sad that that is what it might take for me to carve out enough time to finish a book on organizational leadership that Jason bought for me at the Bioneers Conference.

In general there is something about being at RMH (a place that holds many memories for us in relation to both of our children) and doing something that I'm choosing to do on behalf of others and that is also helping me to grow in ways unimaginable a few years ago that is extremely life-giving for me (no pun intended - though it is amazing how often when we give of ourselves, we find that we are enriched just as much if not more). It's wonderful to hardly feel faint at all anymore and I no longer jump even for the finger stick. :)

Having Kali along is really special too. She loves it! There are toys, stuffed animals, cool colored folding chairs (that don't fold), and lots of little packaged snacks. And she is treated kindly and is finally completely at ease that there is no chance they will stick her by accident so that fear has been erased, enabling her to fully relax. This past time the new thing was to play with the little happy stuffed "blood drops" and have them do cheerleading dances for us.

We'll be heading that way again sometime mid-January. We are happy to expand our group and fill up the room!! And I should mention that I even got an "upgrade" on my bandaging. This time I not only got purple for Kali, but the guy knew how to do bows, too. :)