Spring Has Sprung

On Friday night, I volunteered at the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life," registering participants in the ACS's third Cancer Prevention Study. This is the first time that North Texas has been included in a CPS. Like the first two studies (begun in 1950 and 1980), CPS3 will track participants over two decades in an attempt to draw conclusions as to how lifestyle factors make you more or less likely to develop cancer. Today, we accept as fact that second-hand smoke and obesity are connected to certain types of cancer, but we only know these things because of the CPS program. Thus - as the child of two cancer survivors - I felt privileged both to have the opportunity to help with the registration campaign and to get to sign up as a participant. The commitment is such a simple one - an initial blood sample and a survey in the mail every other year. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy . . . .

We got up early on Saturday morning and stopped by the TCU Athletic Department's annual "garage sale." We were looking for tennis racquets (not sure why - we have six or seven between the four of us) and other sporting equipment, but by the time we got to the stadium all that was left were football and baseball jerseys and other apparel items. Saw a lot of grown men buying used football jerseys and wondered - what do they do with them? Wear them to games? If you don't have an actual connection to the team (either played at TCU or have a player as a family member), isn't that kind of - well, silly? I did think about getting one to use as a table runner if we ever get our act together and start tailgating.

Then we went to Yoko Donuts (formerly Yoko Sushi and Donuts - two food items you don't often see on the same menu, and you don't see them on the same menu at Yoko anymore, either!), which may have the best glazed donuts I have ever tasted. Between mouthfuls, the kids shared their career aspirations with us. Connor wants to be an Air Force pilot/cryptozoologist/Lego designer (apparently simultaneously). Parker wants to be a superhero - specifically, the Blue Beetle. I admire him for going with a less obvious choice - less obvious means less competition, right? His choice also evidences a certain maturity in terms of recognizing his own limitations: becoming Superman was out of the question, since (unless Parnell has been keeping something from me for the last fifteen years) neither of his parents hails from Krypton way, but any mortal, I am advised, can become Blue Beetle. You just need to find yourself a magic scarab (or, apparently, the scarab has to find you).

Saturday afternoon I met with some Junior Woman's Club folks to discuss plans for our May home tour. Our club is housed in Margaret Meacham Hall, one of the most beautiful historic homes in Fort Worth. Very few people have been inside it, and we are hoping that they will be willing to pay $8 per head to tour the home and learn about its history. (At one point in time it was a funeral home, which makes me think that we're missing an opportunity -"Mimosas at the Haunted Mansion," the ultimate girls' night out fright house experience?) We'll be asking local antiques dealers to stage various rooms as they would have existed in the house's heyday. Hopefully, the event will be a big success and will transition into an annual event.

Finally, today was the JWC Easter tea. In keeping with this year's art theme, the tea was styled as "A Tour of the Easter Bunny's Private Collection." Loved, loved, LOVED the table decor (egg cartons as paint palettes!) and the giant egg "masterpieces" on the front lawn. Got a great picture of Parker between Warhol's Marilyn and a Picass-egg. But the "Scream" egg was my favorite!