DH and I got back in a little while ago. We’d been out at our church working with the committee for our angel tree. We’re gone to the local schools and the schools where our folks teach, and gotten the counselors and social workers to get us the names, needs and wishes of a family who needs some help. Its sobering to see lists of christmas wishes for folks that are for nothing but a shirt and a pair of pants, and nothing else. One family needs a washer and a dryer, as well as a a twin bed. It is a reminder that as far as things go, we are very well off. We have plenty to eat, we have nice clothes to wear, we have a nice house to live in, we have health insurance that covers us when we are sick. Yeah, there are things we want, but our needs are indeed taken care of.

As we were on our way back home, there was a motorcyclist broken down on the side of the road. DH saw him, and asked if we could see if they needed any help. So we turned around and stopped. There were 2 guys working on the bike. One had his truck pulled up behind it with the headlights on so he and bike’s owner could see what they were doing. DH got out of the car and walked over to see if they needed any help. He ended up holding lights and offering suggestions and support until they decided that they had done as much as they could on the side of the road and loaded up the motorcycle in the back of the truck. I didn’t have a problem with DH helping out. He’s received enough help when he’s been broken down on the side of the road. He was just paying that help forward.

Tonight the Kickball Allstars played the Tragic City Rollers in a rematch from May. The Kickball Allstars were playing for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society again and the Tragic City Rollers were playing for Birmingham Rape Response. Even thought the temperatures were in the mid 50’s F, water balloons and silly string were represented in abundance. It was just as much fun as the game in August.

The ending score was 9-8, with the Tragic City Rollers coming from behind to defeat the valiant efforts of the Kickball Allstars. Afterparty was at Bottletree Cafe.

Here’s a link to one of my favorite sites, ThinkGeek. They are offering a ladies shirt with a Monty Python quote. Its late, but during the month of October, they will donate $1.00 of the proceeds from the sales of this shirt to the Susan G Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.

I got around to adding a link to the Breast Cancer Site today. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is only fitting that I go ahead on and have that on my blog. Please take the time and click on the link. You can help fund mammograms for women who can’t afford to get one. It doesn’t cost you anything but a bit of time and bandwidth. There are a number of charity causes that you can help fund in addition to the Breast Cancer Site, so go and give some folks a hand today.

Last night was a charity kickball game here in Birmingham. The local kickball “league” challenged the staff of the restaurant where the after parties are held to a match. The game started at 7:00 PM and was refereed by Chuck Geiss. Rojo, the restaurant, was raising money for Sharrif Simmons. The Kickball Allstars were raising money for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.

Now kickball is usually an excuse to play in the park and have social time with folks. The charity matches are evidently no different. Given the heat, everyone was very glad the games wasn’t starting until 7PM. There were water balloons o’ plenty being heaved at at all and sundry on the field. The cups were present on the field and coolers are required gear. If you haven’t noticed, the game is only part of the attraction of kickball here in Birmingham. The players pay $10.00 to play the game, and the spectators are asked for donations as well at the charity games. The money from the players and the spectator donations are kept separate and the winning team’s charity receives the larger of the collections, and the losing team’s charity receives the smaller of the collections.

In the end, the valiant efforts of the Kickball Allstars was not enough to fend off the efforts of Rojo. So Sharrif Simmons will receive the larger of the monies raised. I have no idea how much was actually raised, but I know Sharrif Simmons is thankful for for any help he receives. He was robbed and shot in May of this year, and has had several surgeries. He will need more before he is well and, like many other artists, he is without health insurance. He has a long way to go yet. Check out the myspace page that is helping Sharrif out and give what you can.

My thanks to the Terminal and their timely reminder about kickball. Otherwise I would have stayed home last night and been a veg.