Rachel of Madchen Studios totally rocks my socks. We got maternity, newborn, and family portraits done by her and they were fantastic {see some of ‘em here}! And every time I read her blog I’m just awed by her skill. Well, Rachel read about my fund raising efforts to benefit the MS Society. And guess what, guys. She’s donating her time and talents for an auction! You should be excited. You should be REALLY excited. Here’s the details:
Auction Item A {for locals only, you must live in or be willing to travel to Medicine Hat, Alberta to bid on this item}:
Portrait Session which includes:

• 10 retouched images on a CD printable to 4x6
• online proofing and sharing gallery
• copyright release for portraits

That’s an approximate value of $300! Though, let’s be honest, good portrait photography is truly priceless. And Rachel isn’t just good, she’s amazing!
Auction Item B {for non-locals only}:
45 Minute Question & Answer Session via Skype, phone, or webinar on the subject of your choice:

• photography
• business
• marketing
• how to use your camera
• how to take better portraits of your kids with or without professional equipment

Rachel’s a wonderful photographer, so learning from her is learning from the best. Seriously. If you don’t believe she’s an incredible photographer just check our her online galleries.
So, now that I’ve got you all excited about the items for auction let me explain how the auction will work.

• You have until the 15th to place your bids.
• To make a bid just leave a comment with your e-mail address, which item you are bidding on and the dollar amount of your bid.
• Keep an eye on the comments. If you get outbid you are more than welcome to bid again.
• On Saturday, the 15th I will close comments and the highest bidders win! I will contact the winners as well as announcing them in a blog post.
• The winner{s} will be required to make a donation in the amount of their winning bid via my fund raising page. They will have until Monday morning {the 17th} to make the donation, at which time the second highest bidder will be declared the winning bidder.

Are you guys stoked? I’m stoked! This is a fantastic opportunity to get awesome photography/training and help a really great cause! So…
GET BIDDING! :)

 

It’s almost time.
I try to participate in the MS Walk every year, in honor of my mother. It’s a cause that matters greatly to me. And I would love your help.
This year I’m hoping to raise at least $1,000. If all 328 of my Blogger followers gave just $4 that would be more than enough. See? Even small donations can make a big difference! So, if you’re able, please consider sponsoring me. Not able to donate? That’s OK. You can still help me out by blogging, tweeting, and sharing on Facebook. Any help at all will mean a lot to me, and to the MS Society.
I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me about the MS Walk a few more times between now and the date of my local walk. Consider this a “kick-off” post.
And, just FYI, I will make a blog signature for anyone who donates $10 dollars or more and provides a valid e-mail address in their online donation form. You’ll have to select the “name and amount” option to receive your free signature. Or, if you donate $15 dollars or more you can choose between a free signature or one month of advertising space on Domestic Dork {provide an e-mail address and select “name and amount”}. And everyone who donates {again, you’ll need to provide an e-mail address in the form”} has the option of being added to an “Honor Blog Roll.” The blog roll will be left in my sidebar for 3 months and then left indefinitely on the blog page {see the “blogs” button in my menu on the left}.
Thanks for reading this, and thanks in advance and from the bottom of my heart for any donations and/or help spreading the word.

All right guys, here's the deal. My brain is fried. Whether it's just her 3 month growth spurt, early teething, or something else, Lucy has been pretty high-needs the last week or so. I'm too tired to be all thoughtful and articulate. So I'm giving you this Time article from 2007 for this week's MS Monday.

I'm hoping to reveal the raffle prizes and rules next Monday, so be sure to check in again.

And of course here is the MS Walk donation page.

Well, dear readers, it's MS Monday! Bet you thought I had forgotten seeing as this post is coming pretty late in the day. I didn't forget. I was in Calgary for some immigration stuff. I'll write more about that later. But I will say this...I'm beat!

Today for MS Monday I want to give you a preview of things to come:

There will be a very cool raffle to raise funds for the MS Walk.*

Anyone who donates can have their name (or a screen name) added to the "Dust Bunny Honor Roll" with a link to their blog or another website of their choice.*

There is a Facebook Group already up and running.

I also want to spend a moment discussing signs/symptoms and diagnosis of MS.

The symptoms of MS are varied and numerous. They can include pain, spasticity, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, partial paralysis, vision problems, and even dementia (though rarely). For a more thorough look at the very, very long list of possible symptoms visit here or here.

MS is not an easy disease to diagnose. Unfortunately it isn't as simple as doing a blood test and getting a positive. Getting a diagnosis requires answering a lot of questions about one's medical history, and undergoing lots of tests (such as neurological and vision tests). Then, after all that, an MRI is usually used to confirm the diagnosis. For a look at the current criteria used to make a diagnosis see this Wikipedia entry on the McDonald Criteria.

MS diagnoses are almost as mysterious as the disease itself which researchers are still trying to find the cause and cure for. To help fund the ongoing research and to help those affected by an MS diagnosis click here.

*These perks will be retroactive for those who have already made donations.