Beary Busy

So I feel like Im at a point where I am stretching myself thin again.  I have a habit of not being able to say no and over extending myself.  After this week I will start orientating at Lurie Children's and that will trump these volunteer opportunities I've been extending myself to.  Not that I don't want to do good out in the community but there is only so much a lady can do.  From here on out I am narrowing my focus:  School, Work, Bear Necessities, and SNA.  That is more than enough to keep me busy.  Before then there are a few obligations that I was happy to volunteer to fulfill.  

Yesterday I worked a Flu Vaccine Clinic at Rush.  I probably gave 180 IM injections to students, doctors and staff and that's no hyperbole. I had a ton of fun and loved prepping that vaccines, giving the patient a quick hello and then a shot and then having most of them tell me that was the most painless shot they even had.  Now I'm not going to lie, some flinched and said ouch, but I attribute that to their sensitivity not my skills  ;o)  One lady was petrified of shots and insisted that I tell her when I was going to stick her.  I was like okay I'll give  you a 1-2-3 count.  The anticipation of the shot is the worst so I stuck her on 2 and was pretty much done by 3.  She said that this time wasn't bad at all.  Come Sunday I will be working the medic tents for the Chicago Marathon but after that, I am done with the volunteer work. 

Bear Necessities has had a lot of stuff going on in the past month and I've loved being a part of every minutes of it.  I am a member of the service committee, which focuses on events for the families and children that are faced with pediatric cancer.  Late September we had our Annual Teddy Bear Ball at Lincoln Park Zoo.  We rent out the pavilion and give families a chance to relax and enjoy time with each other in a non-stressful environment.  It was our biggest year yet with 35 families and over 100 people.  There was a face painter, games, a DJ and a plethora of crafts.  I of course woo-d all with my crafty abilities.  One kid was making a web out of pipe cleaners so I made him a spider.  He thought it was the coolest and kept finding me to teach him and make more.  By the end of the day he had a mom spider, a dad spider and a ladybug wrapped up in the web for their dinner.  The kid was a hot mess, shoes untied, hardly wore his jacket and had snot running down his nose continually, but is was a day not in the hospital and I could see in his mom's face how happy she was that that day he was able to just be a kid.  All the kids were all full of energy and had a blast.  This year was exceptionally special because we also gave away laptops to children that won a contest when they wrote about their story.  I can't wait for next year with anticipation that it will just get bigger and better.

laptop winners

These kids were so cute.  The little girl was adamant about
getting a bulldog face painting.

The spider kid

A huge success

You should have seen this girls excitement when the DJ
instantly played her Taylor Swift request.

We also just had the 18th annual 5K run/walk out in Algonquin.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and the perfect temperature.  I of course walked opted to walk it and my friend Brook brought her dog Clementine along for the hike.  I came in 26th in my bracket, which happened to be 500th overall.  I like to look at it as I beat over 100 people.  I was very disappointed when they only gave out metals to the runners and not the walkers since I anticipated adding to my collection, but I quickly got over it.  There was a pancake breakfast to follow and touching speeches from children and parents.  There was a team that walked in honor of their 9 year old son Jake who passed away 5 months ago.  They raised over $3,000 for Bear Necessities.  I remembered this kid from our public service announcement because when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up he replied, "a good dad" which I thought was the sweetest thing ever (give the link a click).  It was hard to fight back the tears as his mom gave her speech.  It was another amazing Bear Necessities event and it is unfortunate that this is the last year they are doing it.  It pulled in over 600 people this year and it's great to reach out to the suburban crowd, but the volunteers are just burnt out.  I am hoping aux. board can pick it up in some fashion.

You won't find me in this picture.  I was way in the back.

Jake's parents representing Team Jake

Next wednesday we are having Oktobearfest.  I am really looking forward to it and hope it pulls in a big crowd.  I have spread the word and hope everyone who says they're coming does to make this another successful event.  If you aren't busy and want to come on out to the Bird's Nest I guarantee it will be a good time!