charmed me

"A flower for Suzie!   Mom look!!  A flower for Suzie!!"

We, of course, spent some time in the sun today.  It was an awesome "Take THAT!" to the ice/snow that froze my car door shut the other morning...

I like our property- about 2/3 an acre with a portion fenced off for the kids to scamper.  Garret spends most of his time dashing from tree to tree to "inspect" it with a few taps and giggles.  Brenda is either digging holes in the mud or reenacting pirate/storm trooper/wizard wars on the trampoline.  Suzie's happy to play any which way as long as there's a buddy with her.  It's a quiet, safe oasis that while requiring an annoying amount of maintenance, takes care of my little family swimmingly.

I live a charmed life that smells of toasty bacon.  (Really it does.  I'm cooking some up for Garret right now...)  And while I admitted in my last post that I am not driven to put much energy into politics, I hope that over the years I'll take this charmed life and use it to benefit others.  I'm not sure how.  I spent the evening reading articles about the LRA in Africa and now I'm dreaming of becoming a photojournalist for 3rd world country charities.  ...Some day.  (We are a media-driven society and good pictures/videos can be SO powerful.)  But by golly, I'm sitting here all jittery wishing I could do something important, and little me in my little life feels a bit powerless.  You know the feeling.  So I wonder, what are my strengths?  Well, I can run.  I can goof off on photoshop pretty good.  I can play a little Gershwin on the piano.  I can do that pat-the-head-rub-the-belly-and-switch thing without hesitation.  ...How do I put these to use?

So little me has an idea...

What if I were to run as much as my little legs and little life allowed me to for one month and tracked every mile?  (I'm kinda doing that already with another marathon approaching, but anyway...)  I could gather pledges like a walkathon for each mile.  Then, at the end of the decided month I send the money I raise to a charity?  (I promise the charity will not be the send-Lindsay-on-a-cruise charity.  ...Though that one deserves some hearty consideration.)

Any feedback?  Any suggestions on a charity?  African refugees?  Haiti relief?  Autism research?  (I won't ask for pledges until a charity is chosen.)  Oh I'm getting excited.  Anyone want to join me?  Am I being silly?  Silly enough to make this work?  I gotta get the word out, maybe make a blog...   

Watch out world!  I'm making a difference!!!

This is just for backup...