Millions of Letters and stuffed animals

So what's new? I sent a million letters today- OK, I exaggerate, but it felt like a million letters- even though I still have a lot more to send. And what are these letters? To potential anniversary event sponsors. I have contacted almost all of last year's sponsors and I'm reaching out to new sponsors as well. There's not a ton of news to report yet- we have one platinum sponsor confirmed and another sponsor I spoke today said he is definitely on board- he's just not sure what sponsorship level yet. The anniversary event sponsors and calendar sponsors are priority #1 this week. Next week, I need to start reaching out to the police and fire departments for calendar participants- I can't believe how fast the year goes and we are already almost at photo time.

I was thinking recently about stuffed animals (go figure!) and my relationship to them as a child. People say to me occasionally- 'oh you must have loved stuffed animals as a kid.' I always respond, 'not really'- but that isn't necessarily true, I did have a few favorites. As a child I loved my little farm animals, toy cars, building blocks, tea set, dollhouse and barbies. I don't remember my first stuffed animal. I do remember my parents (mom actually) buying me a oversized brown teddy bear for Christmas when I was about 5 years old, it was almost as big as me and I had never owned anything that large. It had a bright green ribbon with silver stars on it- I named it Maples and I was very fond of it. We still have it in the attic today.

When I was little I used to be scared of the dark. I don't remember how old I was- maybe 4 years old- I was sleeping in a room that had extra furniture in it that was covered by sheets, it scared me a lot. Someone had given me a small toy soldier with dangling arms and legs and I remember clutching it as tight as possible as I lay in bed, thinking that it would keep me safe.

What else do I remember about stuffed animals? I had a stuffed animal cat- named Pisacane Kitten- even though it is a full grown cat. I had a fox that used to scare me, so I would have mom lock it away. We still have them both in the attic. I still have a small stuffed animal on my bookshelf that I've had since I was about 12 years old or so- it is a sheep. I remember the night that my grandfather died when I was 14and I went to my bed, absolutely devastated. Even though it was expected, it was still terrible. I remember curling up in bed and I held the little sheep close to me and sobbed. It didn't make me feel any better, but I was alone and just needed something to hold.

Anyways, I need to go and catch up on a few things- emails to be specific, write my list for tomorrow and I do want to read for a bit, I'm still on that book that my sis gave me for Christmas. It's not that I'm a horrendously slow reader- just that I don't set aside the time. I do have a few more stuffed animal stories from childhood, talk about that next time. For those who read my blog- thank you! I always think it's awesome when people actually read it! So until next time..