Friday, November 13, 2009

Just Be Grateful I Didn't Post My Attempt At A Heartwarming Retelling of The Little Match Girl

Pin It I'm still very serious about this coat project.

(Two whole days later and I'm still committed. Impressive. Let us pause while I pat myself on the back.)

As of 11:31 PM, we're up to 62 confirmed coats. WOOT!

(Hmmm.... I think you might have to be attempting 'ironically dorky' in order to make WOOT work. I am not exactly the ironic type, more of the actual type.)

(But still. Woot!)

If you're still on the fence about dropping the cash, just think - for around twenty bucks you can walk past the bell ringers this Christmas feeling fairly virtuous. It's a bargain my friends.

Think about what you waste twenty bucks on every week of your life:
  • Random crap at Target that you never intended to buy (it is impossible to leave Target without spending $100 - I think this may be a law of nature)
  • Food you will never actually eat from Costco, because it was on sale (twenty years later you will open your pantry and wonder why you thought you needed a case of trail mix) (answer: you probably didn't)
  • Cafe Rio. Again.
  • Doughnuts (just me?)
I'll put the rest of the coat drive info (including the shipping address) at the end of this post, so those who are sick of hearing about it (because they have no SOUL) can skip it.

But I'll leave you with this - one of my friends has been involved in refugee service projects before. One of the families they worked with only had ONE coat. And the four kids TOOK TURNS wearing it.

THEY TOOK TURNS.

Ack.

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Last week Fernando and I took a little trip to Primary Children's hospital so they could strap him to a table, insert an IV and catheter and scan his kidney function for 45 minutes. They had to try three different catheters before finding one that would work. So - insert catheter, withdraw catheter, insert, withdraw, insert, withdraw.

Fernando was not medicated during this procedure.

Fernando was NOT pleased.

The picture above was taken with my crappy flip cell phone camera and therefore does not allow you to see the tears rolling down his cheeks, or the "WHY, WHY, WHY would you betray me like this mother" look he kept shooting me. It was awful.

Possibly I fell apart and leaked tears all over his chubby, little baby hands for the entire 45 minute procedure. Possibly.

Later in the day, after a related test and one rather jaw dropping diaper explosion, we met with his specialist, who said that he's completely fine. His kidneys are swollen but it should clear up on its own - no surgery or medication needed. It was fantastic news.

Fernando would like to acknowledge all of the people who sent us well wishes and prayers and love (he refers to them as his vampire groupies, vain little thing) by sharing one of the gigantic smiles he just started handing out this week, but you know how those vampires are - afraid of bright lights. (Or is it mirrors that vampires are afraid of? Vampires confuse me.)

He went from moderately agreeable to completely freaked out in the space of four flashes.








Ah, well... Maybe he'll be ready for the paparazzi another day.

(Fernando promises NOTHING.)

He's been on Prevacid for a couple of weeks now, and the change in him is amazing. He still has reflux, but he's no longer in constant pain. He smiles and he coos and is generally pretty delightful. He sleeps like a two month old (as he should), but we are enjoying him so much. He is the sweetest, dearest little baby.

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Oh, hey! Look, we're talking about coats again!

(You've been biting your fingernails in anticipation, right?)














(Look at this cool graphic TJ made! Thanks TJ!)

If you'd like to get involved, just start spreading the word. Talk about it on your blog, or on Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever works for you. If you end up blogging about it, let me know. Eventually I may compile a list of the links and post it here so that people can check out what other folks are doing.

The shipping/drop-off address for donations is:

Gayane Manukyan
Att: 100 Coats for Kids Project
Refugee Center at AAU
1588 South Major Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

If you end up sending a coat, please let me know when/how many so we can keep track of our progress and so I can keep our contacts at the Refugee Services Office and AAU updated.

If you're local, and you want to donate coats but don't want to ship them, you can drop them off at the center, or you can email me, and I'll come pick them up. (Door to door service, people. Door to door. Just think - you can see me in all of my multi-chinned, non-Photoshopped glory. LUCKY, LUCKY YOU.)

This whole thing keeps making me think of A Little Princess, of the two hungry, freezing children in the attic, and of the Indian gentleman who secretly brings them warm clothing and food.

Not that we're doing anything huge. It's a small thing - an easy thing. We probably feel more virtuous for doing this kind of stuff than we really should.

In the book, Sara says, "Somehow, something always happens just before things get to the very worst. It is as if Magic did it."

And I guess that's the lucky thing for us - now and then, we get to be part of the magic.

Now go forth and get your coat mojo on.



PS: Tracy - you won! I'll email the gift card to you this morning.

42 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:33 AM

    Fernando is SOO adorable! I just want to snuggle him. Please bring him to Morocco immediately.

    Elliot, now 14 and rarely described as adorable, was a chubby cute toddler with a photographer for a dad. We have this super cool double exposure of him; in one he is poking an exploratory finger towards the big shiny thing (i.e. professional light), and in the second he is cowering back crying in fear after it went off! It's a cool shot although I actually hate to look at it because my baby! is scared and crying! This very long comment to show that even non vampire babies hate flashes.

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  2. Hey, so exciting I won. I hope my blog post helps get more coats. I don't know if I left my email address in my comment but it is:

    Tracy.justformeandyou@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  3. Aaack - you got me with The Little Princess reference - that is my totally favorite scene in all of children's literature.

    So, yeah, I'll be part of the magic. When does this end? As in, how soon do I have to cobble together a post about it?

    Cobble - where did that come from? And what the heck does it mean?

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  4. Always great to hear from you!

    I think it has to be "w0ot" with the zero in place of the first o to make it work.
    But I'm in my 40s, therefore I'm regularly reminded that I can't make anything that recent work anyway... delivery of that news is usually accompanied by eye-rolling.

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  5. Fernando is adorable w/ all of us lovely rolls! Makes you just want to pick him up & blow kisses in his neck! Not a stalker, really!

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  6. Suburban - woot! It never ends.

    Well.

    I suppose when summer comes it will be a little tardy. But other than that, anytime.

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  7. Those pics are hilarious.

    And since I can't help but meddle....I'll just remind you about that chiropractor. Randy Hayes. He's amazing....

    Way to go on the coats. Look at you and your bad bloggin'self.

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  9. Blogged about it. I love reading here, btw.

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  10. I ordered two coats and had them sent to the address...they should arrive between 11/18 and 11/21. I'll post about this on my blog as well. Your blog is awesome! Your talent for writing is huge, and I love reading!

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  11. LOVE the pictures of Fernando:) What an adorable guy.

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  12. Really I should thank you for inspiring me to press the publish button over at my place. I even did it again (as I stole your cute graphics).

    That baby of yours is the cutest baby I've seen in a long time. LOVE the "you've-got-to-be-kidding" eyes.

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  13. Andrea, Dede, Jami - EVERYONE - thank you SO much. Thank you!!!

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  14. Tracy - the gift card should be in your email inbox - let me know if you don't get it.

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  15. Fernando is the cutest baby! I am so glad that procedure is over and that everything is okay. If you guys are going to be around during Thanksgiving we would love to stop by and see you.

    I sent two coats today and they should arrive between 11/13 and 11/23.

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  16. Jessica - thank you so much! We would absolutely love to see you. We'll be here all week, so just let us know what works for you. Jake will be so excited to see Luke again (and we'll be excited to see ALL of you) :)

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  17. Fernando is such a munchkin! I don't know how you survived that! You are a strong woman!! Glad to hear he is doing great.

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  18. That is a REALLY good squishy baby.

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  19. I love that book. You got me with it if you had not already before.

    Poor Fernando and poor you! i did that very same drill with my one month old this summer, just to have it be a big, fat nothing. there is nothing worse than the "why aren't you putting a stop to this" look they give you. I get to see it on monday for immunizations. Fun...

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  20. Oooo, Fernando has such sweet little chub rolls! My heart breaks for the pain of holding a baby down while they give you the WHY? OH WHY? OH WHY?! treatment. It kills me every time. I'm glad he's okay and I'm sure you'll recover soon too.

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  21. I'm so sorry you had to hold down Fernando. Baby cries in the hospital due to sucky procedures top my never want to again list.

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  22. Parker starts his next round of hospital visits the 30th with the highlight of it all being a surgery scheduled for the 17th.

    Maybe we could schedule appointments for playdates at PCMC or something?

    Rough procedures are the worst. Hopefully your little guy will be well soon!

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  23. Fernando is adorable! And your coat project sounds wonderful. I hope you'll get to meet some of the people who will receive the coats.

    We're doing a similar clothing drive around here.

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  24. I'm glad Fernando is OK. Is that is real name?

    I want to cuddle him and squish him and mush him. Is that weird? I know it is. I just can't help it.

    No. I'm not on any lists. That I know of. You do not have to change your name and location. Seriously, I've no idea where you live and I really don't care. I just like looking. Seriously. What?! Stop looking at me that way!

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  25. Lisa - that isn't his real name, although I have taken to calling him that when he's fussy. :) I think I'm going to blog christen him Parker (his actual middle name).

    Annie - thank you! I just emailed you ;)

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  26. I love that baby. I hate that he was so sad. I love his belly. I hate that he had real, live tears. That breaks my heart.

    I'm sure not near as much as it broke yours, though.

    So glad he's perfect!

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  27. Holly and I sent 2 coats today.

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  28. I'm so glad the Prevacid (sp?) is working. It's amazing stuff. My husband takes it (they are babies enough, sometimes) and he's much happier too. Cooing and smiling and whatnot.

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  29. I'd just like to say that I deeply love your new header.

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  30. What a cute, cute, cute baby. I'm so sorry for his miserable medical procedure but HOORAY HE IS FINE!

    And also The Little Princess. I LOVED that book.

    We very carefully went through our outgrown coats and donated them to a local coat charity just today!

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  31. Anonymous1:01 AM

    It is extremely interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I would like to read more soon.

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  32. I was really happy for the opportunity to provide a coat for some child through your blog post. Thanks for all the information and research on where to shop. by entering the addresses to local shops you made it so easy to buy and mail. Gosh i hope i didn't screw it up and it makes it there.
    Thanks again for the opportunity
    Shari

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  33. What's the coat count update?

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  34. Shari - thank you so much for donating a coat. Gayanne is so thrilled about all of the coats that have been arriving. YAY!

    Annie - we're up to NINETY-FIVE!!! :)

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  35. Great post! I just put the 100 coats on my Facebook page! It is a wonderful idea and I hope it catches on.
    Thanks,
    Mike
    www.lifeinaweek.com

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  36. Sue, how many more coats do you need?

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  37. Oh! I just saw your thermometer! That's awesome. I am planning on buying one this weekend.

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  38. Sue, I sent three more coats- I know, late to the party, but better late. Three less cold kids :)

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  39. Sara - thank you SO much :) Gayanne will be so thrilled!

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  40. I know I am super late but I want to know if I can still send a couple of coats? I have two that are used but in really good conditions -- one was only worn a few times. Do you still want me to send them?

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  41. Hi Sheena - absolutely! There isn't any deadline and I know they would love it. Thank you so much :)

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