Crazy Busy *AND AMAZING* Week...

Wow, what a week! A week ago yesterday, I had the pleasure of volunteering at the Craig D. Tifford Foundation gala, which honored the Lance Armstrong Foundation's CEO, Doug Ulman. I had the opportunity to steal a few minutes of Doug's time (YES, there is a photo of the two of us... somewhere... I don't know where at the moment - trying to get a copy from the foundation!) I had the chance to tell him about what we, LIVESTRONG of Fairfield/Westchester are trying to achieve, and he was very happy to hear about it!

On Halloween, my son, in an effort to contribute towards the $25,000 goal for 2010, chose to collect money and sell LIVESTRONG bracelets in lieu of Trick or Treating. Well, we are $69 ahead of the game, now, as a result! (That's him, dressed as Lance Armstrong, selling his wares at the Pound Ridge Fire Department Halloween party!)

Then, on Sunday, we went to the NYC Marathon to cheer on members of TEAM LIVESTRONG - a group of 252 runners from all over the world that ran in order to raise money for LIVESTRONG. Of course, as you can see by the obnoxiously large, but effective banner, we were there cheering on Jose "Cheo" Biton, an old and dear friend of mine from my Young Judaea years, who is almost at his $3,500 goal! Cheo was running in honor of both his parents, who survived cancer.

As you can also see, we weren't alone! Many of the LIVESTRONG crew, including Doug (second from the right, in the grey jacket, behind the woman with the yellow LIVESTRONG sign and grey hat), Collen Wilson (with the pig tails and grey hat) were there to cheer on fellow runners. (Yes, that's me, on the far left with my daughter. I agree - I should have been wearing the hat - my hair looks like a cross between the old Malibu Barbie with the awful highlights from the 80s and Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction". Never leave home with your hair wet!)

So, a second chance to catch up with Doug, some of the other staffers from LIVESTRONG, and the chance to introduce the kids to their "heros". Not to mention, watch Cheo and others run for a great cause.

On top of that, we now have commitments from more artists to donate items to our gala, including Carol Rosen, noted sculptress and artist, Aaron Bigio, an artisan bike decorator and rack builder from Boston, and Marie Olmedo, a photographer sending us a piece from Europe!

What a week!