Cutting my Curls to raise Cash for Cancer

I received an email from a long-time friend recently.

And it wasn't good news.

One of her good friend's two-year-old daughter has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphblastic Leukaemia.

The little girl's prognosis is good, but she is still facing two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy and all sorts of other horrendous testing and surgeries.

Understandably, her mother feels devastated and helpless.

But - given she can't do much else - this brave woman is taking part in the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave.

As the mother of a four-month-old baby girl, this story touched my heart.

I don't have a lot of money to donate to the cause. But, I do have hair. And, I know a lot of people.

Therefore, I am also going to shave off my precious locks. I'm going to sponsor myself $5 for doing so. And, I am requesting that each of you also donate $5 to the cause.

My goal is to raise $2000, so I need 399 people (plus myself) to donate $5. And, if I can manage that, then my participation has been worthwhile.

D-day is May 3, at a time and place to be determined.

Please click on the following link to sponsor me. The process is simple.

http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/booradleyrows

Today, 31 Australians will get the news they have blood cancer. Your donation will help the Leukaemia Foundation to fund its important work – providing practical and emotional support to people with blood cancer, as well as investing millions in research.

Every cloud has a silver lining

It's been a good few years since my last post. But I am picking up where I left off.

I stopped blogging because life got in the way. Actually, that's not true. I stopped because I thought no-one gave a rat's arse about what I had to say. To a large degree, I still think that's the case.

But, rather than worry about who is or who is not going to read my posts, I thought I'd just get on with writing one.

A fair bit has changed since my last post.

I am getting married in two weeks. And we have a four-month-old baby girl.

Marley, our little bundle of joy, is actually the reason I am resurrecting this blog. She is a very 'windy' baby, and there are days when I just cannot put her down. She wants to be up over my shoulder, or sitting in the baby bjorn sling. I guess the upright position aides digestion.

It used to frustrate me that I couldn't lie her down during the day, because it would be virtually impossible to get through my to-do list.

But thankfully I was able to turn a seemingly negative situation into a positive. Because while there's lots of things I can't do with a baby constantly strapped to me, there are a few things I can do, such as, (a) admire, bond with, and comfort my baby (b) write this blog, and, (c) go for long walks, with a 7kg baby strapped to me to add resistance.

Take home message: every cloud has a silver lining!