Fundraise, Touchdown, and Sleepover

We had a full social agenda last night.

We attended a carnival at DSU! It was a fundraiser to help cover the medical expenses of a friend of mine who works at DSU. She is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, and the department in which she teaches and numerous other groups on campus (student organizations, departmental clubs, etc.) organized a night of food and fun-'n'-games to raise money to help cover the expenses of her frequent travels out of state for medical appointments. The King Pavilion on campus was the center of the carnival with numerous games and food booths set up on the surrounding grounds.

We bought $40 worth of tickets and then took the girls from booth to booth where they

1. got their faces painted,
   
2. had their fortunes told,
3. played musical rugs,
4. had their photo taken with DSU's mascot, Buster Blue Hawk,
5. fished for toys,
6. threw balls at the target of a dunking booth (and sent my own departmental chair into the water--a colleague then told me, "Don't expect a raise."),
7. jousted with oversized padded sticks in a gigantic inflated boxing ring,
8. threw footballs into a hole cut out of plywood,
9. played a ring toss game,
10. did a cake walk, and
11. tossed footballs into hula hoops lying at various distances (the farther the target, the better the prize).

We ate supper from the taco-in-a-bag booth and admired the bake sale table but didn't buy any goodies (although Susan had donated a couple pans' worth of bars to the cause). We listened to music provided throughout the night by students from the Music Department and by a local DJ service. Some agriculture students had a chicken there so that people could play chicken bingo: pay so many tickets to select a number from a grid underneath the chicken and then hope that the chicken poops on your number so that you win the prize. We didn't play that. There was a great turnout; I hope that they ended up raising a ton of money for my friend.

Suzanna had a friend (Brittany) sleep over last night, so Brittany came home with the girls after school and accompanied us to the carnival. Hillary was invited to sleep over at her friend Ava's for a birthday party, so after the carnival, Susan dropped Hillary off at Ava's house. Susan also dropped Abigail off at her friend Hannah's house for a sleepover last night. Then Susan came home to get Suzanna, Brittany, and me, and we all went to the DHS homecoming football game at DSU's Whitney Stadium. Hannah's parents brought Hannah and Abigail to the game, too, and Susan and I ended up sitting right behind them in the stands. Brittany and Suzanna joined their friends down in the front; they were wearing T-shirts upon which they had written a letter each so that, when they stood side-by-side, they spelled out "D-H-S-!"

Afterward Suzanna and Brittany got into their pajamas and hunkered down beneath blankets to watch a movie. They slept in pretty late this morning. Susan and I tried to, too, but a telemarketer had other plans for us in the wee hours of the morning. By now both Abigail and Hillary are home again, and they've shared stories of all the fun they had at their friends' homes. It was a pretty fun way to start the weekend.

Pirates of the Cure

(Precious kittens, you may like to refresh your memories by reading these before proceeding.)

What flamingos and pirates have in common, I don't know. Peg legs, maybe? Garish garb? Anyhoo, my friend and colleague Steph and her sister, Jenny, like to raise money for the American Cancer Society, and two ways that they've been doing it have been "pinking" people's lawns with pirate flamingos for a ransom (you'll know what that means if you clicked the link above) and participating in the annual Relay for Life in Dickinson at DSU's Whitney Stadium. In advance of the Relay, they sell luminaria for people to honor their loved ones who battled cancer, and they collect donations to turn in on behalf of their team; at the Relay, they set up a tent (among the others lining the track) with pirate-themed games for kids, enter a male in the Mr. Relay contest*, and walk the track all night.

They also invite our family to walk as part of their team. We're leaving early tomorrow for a vacation (keep your eye on Pensive? No, Just Thinking in upcoming days for all the details), so we knew we couldn't stay at the stadium long, but we did put in a couple hours and a few laps around the track. We saw many people we know--some stationed at tents around the stadium, some walking the track as part of teams, and some attending just to show their support, get some exercise, and patronize the fundraising booths.

The Mobergs posing with the team banner, which says, "Pirates of the Cure: On the Hunt for a Cure." I think Steph and Jenny thought of the pirate theme when the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were just out and popular. Notice Hillary's hook on her right hand and Suzanna's smile despite her otherwise intimidating pirate accessories. Below note how the girls and I got into character with those same pirate items, courtesy Steph and Jenny:

And here we are starting off the relay. The girls were the official banner carriers for our team. Those white T-shirts have this year's Relay for Life logo on them; white means that we are official participants in the relay.

Before participants in white T-shirts get their turn walking the track, however, the people in purple Relay for Life T-shirts start it all off with a couple laps, one all by themselves and one joined by their families. Purple means a cancer survivor. With each step, they were greeted with applause from nearby onlookers lining both sides of the track and seated in the stadium bleachers. The saddest sight was seeing parents pushing a stroller with a purple T-shirt-clad toddler inside.

Here's a luminary in honor of my friend and colleague; she battled cancer earlier this year and was devastated to learn in recent weeks that it has returned. She's currently undergoing more treatments and could use your prayers.

Neither Susan nor I made this luminary, but spotting it brought tears to our eyes because it could have represented either of us.

*The Mr. Relay contest requires each participating team to force some poor schlub into women's wear, makeup, and a wig, and then to send that temporary transvestite around the stadium seeking donations from others in attendance. The winner is the she-male who turns in the most money. There might even be accolades for being the most "beautiful" contestant, too . . . I don't know. This year Steph's new husband played the role. For his sake, I'm posting no photographic evidence!