No Problem!

What the hell. I'm going to do it. 43 stories, 1034 steps. Yep, I'm climbing to the top of the First Wisconsin building. (OK, technically, it's the US Bank Building now, but to me, it will always be the First Wisconsin.) Why would I do such a stupid thing? Let me, as Shakespeare says, count the ways:

1) to raise money for the American Lung Association. More about them here. We lost my father-in law to lung cancer a few years ago, so this one is near and dear.

2) to challenge myself. 1034 steps. Doesn't sound like much 'til you run 100 stairs. 1000 is a whole f-ing lot of stairs.

3) to motivate myself to get in a little better shape. Strike that - a LOT better shape. I've got a month. That means running stairs, riding the bike, and portion control. If I don't knock this body into some sort of reasonable cardiac fitness in the next month, I'll never make it to the top.

4) Kevin started a team. That's where the NO PROBLEM comes from. It's his team name. So far, he's the only one listed. I'd hate to make him climb alone. So, I'm going to climb too. Not that I think our times will be anything alike. But again... what the hell.

Points 2 and 3 are allo my own. But for point 1, I need some help. Help me out, friends, family and loyal reader. I've got a fundraising page up here. I'm targetting $200 as my first goal. If you could contribute a few bucks, I'd really appreciate the hell out of it!

(Thanks to the National Archives of the Netherlands for the use of the photo above.)

Shopping for the Food Bank

There have been a lot of layoffs in the Racine area over the past year, on top of the many layoffs in the years before that. I've been thinking about how many families in the area must be struggling to make ends meet. For the first time since TheBoy was born, we're actually making progress against our debt, and not feeling more than a moderate crunch on our budget.

So, we decided to do some shopping for the food pantry. And it was actually a lot of fun! TheGirl was put in charge of selecting items within our $50 budget. The food pantry provides a list of items they need. By the time we were done, we had half a cart full of everything from salt, pepper, ketchup and mayo to chicken noodle soup, baked beans, peanut butter, and tuna. Twenty-four items in all, for a grand total of $50.18. On the way out, we emptied the whole cart into the collection bin at the exit. What a strange feeling to spend an hour grocery shopping and head out to the car empty-handed. But it was a nice feeling, too.

TheGirl does Locks of Love

TheGirl did Locks of Love today. I'm so proud of her. Getting that much hair cut off is a scary prospect at any age. But she was committed to helping. Check out all the pics here, or visit locks of love to see if you could donate yourself (at least 10 inches, no bleached hair, etc.).

Free Rice

It's a fun little vocabulary test, plus the adviews the game generates pay for sending rice to famine-stricken regions of the world. I'm not sure that kind of aid does any good in the long run, but I do like playing vocabulary games, so what the heck.

After a couple of dozen questions, my vocab rating has stabilized at around 42-45. What does yours look like?