It pretty much took a stick of dynamite to get me out of bed this morning.... I just couldn't wake up. The reason I just couldn't get up was because I just couldn't get any sleep, and when I finally did it was time to get up. Life is cruel sometimes.

I haven't been sleeping well over the last 5 or 6 days, in fact. I am getting severely stressed about money again and am starting to get a sinking feeling that the answer I get from the financial aid offices about the funding for my trip isn't going to be as good as I had hoped. The more I look at the cost of this the more I wonder just how I figured this was going to work..... I will be spending hundreds of dollars before I even set foot on the plane (I need everything from luggage to supplies). Oy, I must be crazy. Or desperate.... because I actually agreed to be part of a 2 hour focus group on Thursday night because it pays $100. Yup, I'm doing it for the money, and it goes towards the fundraising efforts. Ten more focus groups and I can almost afford a plane ticket!! lol

Anyway, all this fussing about money and constant calculating and recalculating in my head has resulted in little sleep for me over the last week or so. I just can't seem to shut it off long enough to get some rest... hell, even when I do I'm dreaming about it! I guess it would help if I ACTUALLY GOT AN ANSWER about my aid application.
I'm just sayin'.

But I have a couple of heroes that remind me that hope springs eternal. One is Sarah over at "Life at Full Volume" who has posted a great story about receiving the bracelets I sent and even posted a picture of the kids wearing them. It's actually a great story so I encourage you to check it out.

The other hero is my new friend down under in Australia, Daniel, who ordered not one but TWO bracelets yesterday! I have really enjoyed our new found friendship (spawned when he wrote a bunch of Jewish bloggers and asked them to fill out a survey for a paper he's writing) and greatly appreciate his support on this. Thanks Daniel! That brings the count up to 96 bracelets sold.... so close to 100... so close!!

In completely unrelated topics:

1) the inbox of my Gmail account is completely empty. I finally cleared it all up, answered everyone I owed a reply to and filed the rest. This is the first it has been empty in at least 8 or 9 months. I'm feeling really quite pleased with myself. I simply can't stand it when my inbox gets cluttered.

2) at the Pride Parade on Sunday I got suckered into trying a sample of a beverage that I have always been curious to try, called SoBe. It's one of them there trendy "healthy energy drink" type of deals. I say that I was suckered because it wasn't until it was already in my hand and on it's way to my lips when I found out the flavour was "Cherry Courage". Being the polite Canadian I am I dutifully drank it despite the fact that I have a hate in my heart for cherry flavoured food products. No doubt my face indicated my inner hate; I never have been very good at hiding my displeasure.

3) I had a gas attendant at a station ask me yesterday if I "dyed my hair that way" (in order to make it as grey as it is. for those who have no idea what the deal is with my hair go here, though I have to say I think my hair is even more grey since I took that pic). This is not the first time someone has asked if I dye my hair like this... yeah, coz someone would choose WHITE highlights for their hair. And that same person would go to the trouble of pulling out individual hairs...one at a time... to dye them. *sigh* Why must people be so dumb?