SuNDay BLooDy SuNDay, PaRT VIII FiNaL

Happy Sunday Everyone! Let's get straight to the task at hand!

Good Sunday Morning Peeps! And here we are, it's been EIGHT WEEKS of Manic Mommy donations and it's the final Sunday Bloody Sunday posting and why not start it off with a Feisty Irish Wench!

Trish is not only a universal donor, meaning EVERYONE can have her blood, she is also an alum to Manic Mommy's blood drive, although one year she was unable to donate because she "fell" pregnant (I hate that phrase!), with her FOURTH child! But now, she's back to donating and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her selfless gift. Plus, after this donation, she got pizza AND a nap. Sounds pretty good, yeah? Thank you, my Feisty Irish Wench! And how can you NOT love a girl with a name like THAT? Go check out her blog and thank her for SAVING THREE LIVES!

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And here we have Mike, from California, who I met through a writer friend via Twitter and Facebook, who says it simple and true: "Finally dragged my ass in to do it...sorry for the delay, wuz about to go three weeks ago and I got the flu and had to take antibiotics... Anyway....thanks for inspiring me...I used to go all the time and then it fell off my priority list...they told me today it had been since 1998!!!! Holy cow... I'm back to giving!!"

Hey Mike! Thanks so much for going back and giving! You can bet you'll be reminded now EVERY EIGHT WEEKS cuz those vampires at the blood bank will be calling you all of the time now! Isn't it a great feeling to give! Keep it up, and glad you're feeling better too! And how on earth did our friend Jenna NOT know I was holding THIS blood drive for the past TWO MONTHS?!?! She says she's going to go donate on Monday! To anyone reading this, if you donate Monday, I will STILL qualify you for the contest if you get me a photo on Monday!

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Next up is Brenda from St. Louis who is working on her SEVENTH GALLON of BLOOD (she's been keeping track since 1985 when she got married but donated before many times in college but didn't keep track then!). Brenda and her husband were in the Army for over 20 years and just retired ... CONGRATULATIONS BRENDA AND HUBBY! She says they gave blood everywhere they were stationed and their three children who are old enough to donate do too. Their youngest is 11, but plans to donate when she is old enough. I LOVE that Brenda! I tell my three kids ALL OF THE TIME that when they turn 16, I am taking them each to get their driver's license and then right after that, THEY will drive me to the blood center where we will donate blood together on that day! (In fact I told them that TODAY when they were with me as I donated.) I agree when Brenda says, "I think everyone who is eligible should try and donate." Amen Sister! And thank you and your family for being such advocates and for all the donations you have made! And you look GREAT doing it! (Love that you are wearing RED!)

Also, thanks Brenda for finding me on my friend Dawn's blog!

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Up next is my pal Kristabella, who has been Full of Snark since 1977! She is also an alum Manic Mommy donor and a former blogger blind date of mine! Cabbies all over Chicago adore her and bartenders fear her! Check out her blog to learn more about what makes Kristabella "One cat shy of Crazy Cat Lady" and when you do, thank her for saving THREE lives with her beautiful pint of blood!

Speaking of Crazy Cat Lady, her kitty got into the festivities too -- Here's Simba, supporting the cause!

Thanks Kristin, for the awesomeness that is you and for your blood!

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 Everyone say hi to Alum donor Michelle! This is Michelle's third year donating, and FINALLY, FINALLY, they decide they will let her have her photo taken IN THE CHAIR! For some reason, the people at her location didn't approve of photos there, but today, they said YES! And lucky thing too, because doesn't Michelle look glorious! She's had a rough go of it too; as a regular 8-week donor, when the Manic Mommy drive came about, Michelle was all set to donate in January, but when she went, her iron was low. Flu season crept in, work schedules and travel got in the way, and knowing this was the last week of the drive, she kicked the iron into gear and went in today ready to go! Her iron: 14.8. She was good to go and I am so happy to have her on the books! You can congratulate her yourself over at her blog, Honest & Truly. And yes, if you must, you can even yell at her for not being happy about having to eat a Snickers bar so early in the morning. But thank her for saving lives first, will ya?

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Last but NOT least, we've got my pal Carlos. Did I ever tell you about Carlos? Well, Carlos is my buddy from high school so I've known him forever. We were buds. This is how much of a buddy we were. Yes, Carlos, I'm telling THAT story. So, I'm a junior in high school and I was only allowed to shave my legs just past my knees, DON'T ASK ME WHY. Also, don't ask me why I obeyed my mother's dumb rule. So, at a basketball game in high school, I'm sitting next to Carlos and he goes, "Steph, you got more hair on your legs than I do!" So, after that game I went home and shaved my legs ALL THE WAY UP TO KINGDOM COME and probably told my mom that it was so stupid that she said I could only shave just past my knee, and thank God for Carlos to tell it to me straight cuz I was so embarrassed my whole life walking around with those hairy upper thighs. THEY WERE HAIRY!

But, that's not the point of this post. The point is that Carlos is just THAT good of a friend. He will tell you what you need to hear without hurting your feelings. And 24 years later, he's still that good of a friend. He makes a promise; he keeps it. He told me he would donate blood, he was there. He also told me early in the blood drive that he would donate some money toward prizes, and as he promised, he gave me that money today. So THANK YOU my Friend Carlos! You are the best! Because of Carlos, I can give away some more fun prizes!

Our little guys, shown in the picture below (Jason, next to Carlos; and my Tukey, making a face behind Carlos) played against each other in basketball Saturday morning. Not saying who won! Afterwards, we all went to the Heartland Blood Center and donated blood.

Our kids ate about 16 bags of chips, a case of pop, and 42 packs of brownies while we were donating, and Carlos donated first. He was bragging it up about how fast he was bleeding and when he was done, he said he finished in at 5 minutes and 33 seconds. I was like, "Wow, that's good. There's no way I'll beat that." But yeah, I like a challenge right? So, when I got stabbed, my wonderful phlemotogmotogist (I like to spell it THAT way!) said I was going pretty fast. So I told Carlos, "Wait, I might beat you." And so, the race was on! Of course, we did have to stop to pose for a picture. Here are my darling children hamming it up behind me as I "speed-bleed."

And when I was done, my time was checked, and Boo-Yeah! Timed in at 5 minutes and 25 seconds! I beat you Carlos! But actually, we BOTH won because we ROCKED at saving lives today! All of us here did, so pat yourselves on the back and congratulations for jobs well done!

When I was done donating, my needle-sticker-lady asked me how I was feeling. I told her I was feeling "Euphoric" because I truly was. That's really the feeling I get after I donate blood. It's just an amazing feeling coming away from doing something so good and so pure, to know that this is a gift I give freely of myself, and that it saves lives. That's all it does - IT.SAVES.LIVES. It can't be any more simple or more clear than that.

Just amazing.

And doing this drive is amazing. I connect with wonderful people. I hope I inspire some people to continue to donate every eight weeks. I will be sharing info in the coming days/week about the prize drawing. Every one of you (aside from family and my neighbors) will be entered to win the grand prize, which is a Southwest Airline ticket, and other prizes such as Target gift cards, Starbucks and a great Suave Beauty Basket. And it's all because of the generous donation of the selfless gift of your blood.

It might be too late to get in on the prizes, but it's NEVER too late to start donating blood. You'll be amazed at how it might change your life. This is the third year I've hosted this Virtual Blog for Blood Drive and it gives me a great sense of joy when I click on my email and get a photo of one of you sitting in that chair. Take a look back at the photos from each Sunday where the donors have been featured... Every single person has a brilliant smile.

Why?

Because they are saving lives.

What could be more amazing than that?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Thank you all. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And those families who will never know you personally, whose lives you have saved, you have to know they would thank you too, if they knew who you were. So thank yourselves, for an amazing job.

And don't forget, when your eight weeks is up, give again!

P.S. Check out next post to see if my lucky numbers paid off!