Contest Overload and Time for a Good Deed

Drumroll please... just kidding- I may need a day to get all the entries tallied! Really you guys, what an overwhelming response- but it's a fun problem to have.
While I'm filling in the spreadsheet, checking linked posts, and writing names on way too many tiny pieces of paper to fill up a giant bowl so my talented children can draw 3 winners tonight... (long sentence, take a breath, make mental note to use a random number generator next time!) this would be a good time to do a good deed.

Many of you know Valerie (of shoeless val) from her blog- for those of you that don't, now's your chance to 'meet' her. Valerie is a knitter, a spinner, a recent award-winning designer (yay Val!), and more importantly- a mother, a wonderful mother. Her little PeeWee, who just turned 2, is a cancer survivor. She was born with a tumor in her abdomen; she received chemo between the precious infant ages of 1 and 5 months to shrink the tumor and treat the metastases in her legs. "The chemo and subsequent tumor removal surgery did the trick and she is now, blessedly, cancer-free." You can read more at her blog, including how PeeWee's illness was the inspiration for her Presto Chango design.

Cancer is an insidious illness- my family has dealt with its fair share- well, it's not really fair, is it? A grandmother and 2 aunts is not fair, but like moms everwhere learn to ask- 'who said life was fair?' It's not, and neither is cancer. 2 friends in the past couple years, both too young for colon cancer, got colon cancer. A dear homeschooling mother of 11, just recently had her sweet little 4 year old (who reminds me so very much of my Gracie) lose a lung due to cancer. And just a week or so ago, a dear friend from church found out her 5 year old nephew was diagnosed with cancer. That's just too much cancer...

A couple weeks ago I saw an interview with Alex's parents in a story about how they are carrying on their little girl's mission to raise money for research for childhood cancer. What a great story! They've kept the lemonade stands going strong and have raised over $10 million for pediatric cancer research.

Valerie's family has joined the lemonade stand brigade, and is hosting their 2nd annual stand on June 9th if you happen to be in their area. If, like me, you happen to live a world away, you can help now by going to their virtual lemonade stand, which is already up and running. Their fundraising goal is $1,000- while that is a fabulous goal, I'd like to see the top blown off of her goal! There is a very large world of knitters out there (as evidenced by the overwhelming contest response!) and I know that most of you can afford a small gift for a good cause- I mean really, you'd drop $21.50 in an instant for your favorite colorway of a single skein of Cherry Tree Hill, right? One skein... how about refraining from buying just one skein of yarn this week and making a donation in that amount for this wonderful cause.

Please, please, please, mention this family's Lemonade Stand on your blog- you can reach readers I can't (I mean, not everyone reads this blog... yet... he he he...) Stop by and make a donation, any amount will help, it all adds up! You will feel good about it! I just did it, now you can do it to!

Okay, back to the contest entries- I'll try to announce by midnight... (this could take me all day...)
Happy knitting-
ali