Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Moving at the speed of good behavior

Good morning! Yesterday was so fast paced that neither the kiddos (nor myself) had the time to misbehave. Sydney, Graham and Ainsley are all spending the majority of their time outside of the house with Miss Claudia. It is her last week with us and she is trying to go out with a bang (or, in this case, without giving the kids much of a chance to be up to their normal tricks) It is amazing how quickly her time with us went. It is hard to believe that summer is nearly over. Next week we will be going on a Dungan family vacation and, almost as soon as we get back, the rugrats will be back at school. Yep, the end of summer is on our heels.

Yesterday the kiddos were treated to a morning of Chuck E. Cheese. From eye witness reports, I understand that they had a blast. Additionally, they were so busy running around they had no time to get into trouble with each other. THat was followed by lunch and a nap and the next thing we knew we were eating dinner and heading out to another event. In the evening we had one of our first back to school parties. The SCS Kindergarten and Pre-K classes threw a shindig at Jumping Party. As you might expect there were about 100 four and five year old miniature goobers running around in all out chaos. Graham and Sydney had great fun seeing many of their friends from the year before. This was Ainsley's inaugural bash and there wasn't anyone in her age group that she really knew. None the less, she had great fun following her brother and sister around. That was, until, she foundcaught the eye of an older man. Unfortunately, the love of Ainsley's life, Zackary Rodgers, was not there. The good news was that his older brother Jeremy was. This was almost as good as the real thing. Ainsley decided to spend the remainder of her time chasing and hollering after him. Nothing was funnier that watching her call after him "Germy, Germy!!" I was laughing so hard I didn't have the heart to correct her. None the less, they all had great fun. By the time we arrived home, everyone was ready for a quick bath and bed. It was a complete and well-behaved day for them. That is the trick. Keep them too busy for badness.

Today will be more of the same for them. I will be off to the Tarrant County Appraisal District to fight against yet another 10% increase in property values and it's corresponding increase in taxes. I am amazed. Every year since the day we moved in (10 years ago) they have raised our property value by 10%.

Who knew the housing market was so good?

It isn't, lets hope I can prove my point.

Well, there you have it. I am off to a day of mixed purpose.

2 comments:

Dennis Pyritz, RN said...

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Anonymous said...

Dear Friends of CNCF and Lunch for Life,

Neuroblastoma Cancer. Two words feared by the medical community and by the parents of children stricken with this disease.

Passion. A word that describes the feeling and desire of the medical community and the parents of children stricken with this disease to find a cure for it. A feeling or desire not just held by one person but by thousands. Passion and the desire to make a difference led directly to the creation of the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF) in 2000. Our mission and commitment, almost ten years later, remains steadfast.

Over the last few days Mark Dungan has taken it upon himself to publicly shout from the rooftops about the failings of CNCF, his role in Lunch for Life (LFL) and his passion to find a cure.

As President of CNCF, I feel it important to make one public statement about his discussions. I would like to state several facts you as neuroblastoma families, donors, corporations, sponsors and partners need to know.

1. Mark Dungan was dismissed as a full time paid employee several months ago.

2. CNCF legally owns the trademark for Lunch for Life and the gold ribbon fork logo. It is a CNCF program and many of the promotional materials to support it were funded by CNCF. The $750,000 requested sale price of the trademark of LFL to Mark Dungan would be used to fulfill the mission of CNCF in funding research, educating the parents about the disease and increasing public awareness about neuroblastoma. These are very similar goals of Mark Dungan’s new foundation and those he supported as a member of the CNCF board of directors prior to his release.

3. CNCF remains committed to its mission of finding a cure for neuroblastoma through family involvement as well as corporate and community partnerships, sponsorships and grants.

4. CNCF continues to support families by offering resources and hosting its Annual Educational Conference that brings hundreds of families from all over the world together with leading neuroblastoma medical experts to provide the latest information on current and innovative research studies and treatments and to offer emotional support for these families throughout their neuroblastoma journey.

5. CNCF paid Mark Dungan an annual salary of $85,000 per year to manage the CNCF and Lunch for Life websites amongst other dual duties and responsibilities.

6. Per Mr. Dungan’s words: “So, for the last few months, I have been doing everything I can to reason with CNCF. I have been patiently trying to resolve these issues so that every penny of your generous donations will continue to go where they are needed – to fund research.” Mr. Dungan took the CNCF Website down/offline twice in the past few months which was counterproductive to the discussions CNCF had with him.


So as not to waste time and resources there will be no further public statements by the CNCF on this topic. We have a job to do and are passionately committed to achieving our mission. Thank you for your time and your continued support. Together, we will find a cure for neuroblastoma through research, education and awareness.