The Dow fell 416 points today! I guess I'll be postponing that retirement after all.
Money is always on the back of my mind these days--how to keep it, how to make it, how to spend it. For a while there I was worried I was going to have to put in more than I expected towards my fundraising. With a week left until final funds I was still $800 short of my minimum. My goal was to get within $200 of the minimum and pay the rest as if I was covering my registration and hotel. Thanks to the generosity of friends, though, I was able to make my minimum and even exceed it.
As part of Team in Training, I find fundraising to be the toughest aspect, moreso than twenty mile runs. It's also why I'm a part of the program. I have to remind myself that TNT is not simply a social group (but it can be), it's a group of people working together to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fulfill its mission. With that said, though, it's still tough to ask your friends and family to donate, especially if you're like me, someone who doesn't like to ask others for things. If I want something, I get it myself. Heck, if they'd let me, I would fry my own burgers at Burger King.
So, I have to chastise myself often for neglecting the important part of TNT and getting caught up in the camaraderie and good times. We are there to fight cancer--and have fun doing so. If I do the math, though, after attending various fundraisers, donating directly to someone's efforts, buying fundraising shirts, etc, I've probably put in hundreds of dollars towards the cause. Too bad I can't claim all of those as tax deductions. I'm not complaining. Quite the opposite. I wish I had more money to contribute not just to LLS but to other organizations I care about. Maybe some day I'll be rich enough to have a building at UCLA named after me. But if the Dow keeps falling like it did today, I doubt it will be any time soon.
With regards to running, I'm taking the day off. I skipped the gym today and instead got my haircut and met a friend for lunch. I've got a massage scheduled later and then it's off to Dave and Buster's for the SGV Send-off Dinner.
It's quite fitting that the song playing while I write this is LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" from his/their upcoming album, Sound of Silver, with its bouncy chorus declaring "if I could see all my friends tonight." Well, tonight, I am!
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