I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that everyone was able to be with family and/or friends and relax and really remember why we celebrate Thanksgiving in the first place. I know I did. I am so grateful for my Mom and my family. It was a great day and we're doing it all over again on Sunday with my brothers and their families who could not be with us yesterday. It's always nice to spread the holiday out over several days.
As we all know, today is Black Friday and I would rather get root canal or (fill in the blank with a painful and unpleasant experience) than go shopping today! There is not one single thing on this earth that, even if given away for free, could get me to go out shopping on Black Friday. To me, it's like the worst idea in the world. But I know a lot of families have been doing it for years and it's a fun tradition that I just don't understand. If so, I hope you have fun. For those of you with IC, I hope you pace yourself, have an ICA Restroom Access card that you can use to get to a bathroom when you find the lines are long. Don't feel you have to spend the entire day out there like some shopping warrior. If you were after a few special things that were on special early, then go get them and go home. There's plenty of time to finish your Christmas shopping. As someone who worked two jobs for 3+ years, one of which was in a department store, I can assure you, there WILL be more sales. Today is a huge marketing ploy and, especially in this recovering economy, the stores will continue to offer deals the closer we get to Christmas.
I just hope all my IC friends can enjoy today, whatever your plans are. Remember not to overdo and send yourself into a flare. No deal on some gift is worth sending you into a flare. I know all I want for Christmas is time with my family and those I love. I have told everyone and will tell them again, that I want NOTHING for Christmas except a donation to my personal IC Fundraising Campaign. That is the greatest gift I could receive. So think about going to the ICA website and using their Fundraising tool to set up your own Fundraising Campaign and ask friends and family to make a donation to your Campaign. You'll get a web link and all they have to do is go to your page and make a donation. You'll get a list of names from the ICA so you know who to thank and you'll save your friends and family from figuring out what to get you, or save them from all the crowds at the mall. And they'll be directly helping you and all your IC friends. I'll post a link to the ICA page where you can set up your own Fundraising page.
Check out the links and think about making this your Christmas gift to yourself and everyone in the IC Community. You'll save your friends and family from having to stand in long lines, figure out what you'd like and possibly give you one more thing you don't need. All I have done to communicate about my Campaign is to use email and Facebook to let everyone know that I don't want presents and explain that what I really want is a donation to my Campaign. I provide a little information about IC and a link to the ICA website so people that might not know a lot can read about it. So far, since I set my page up last year, I have raised close to $2,000 that has gone directly to the "Imagine No IC" Campaign which funds research only and no money goes to administrative costs. You can specify this when you set up your page.
https://www.ichelp.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1072
http://www.ichelp.org/document.doc?id=275
http://www.ichelp.org/Page.aspx?pid=1060
I hope everyone will give this serious consideration. So many of us talk about the need for funding and research and we have the ability to make an impact on these issues ourselves!
So on Black Friday, think about what you can do for yourself and your friends in the IC Community. Instead of shopping and standing in long lines, enduring crowds, why not set up your own IC Fundraising Campaign and help make this Christmas more meaningful to you and everyone suffering with IC! I hope we get more people involved in this fantastic fundraising idea for the ICA!
Here's a link to my personal fundraising page, so you can see what they look like once the ICA gets your form and sets up your page.
https://www.ichelp.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=1113
Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy yourself, take care of yourself and give yourself permission to not take on more than you can handle. Enjoy the holidays. It's not about stuff; remember it's about family and time together.
Let the holidays begin!
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