This is the desert in April

Ah, spring. The grass is finally starting to sprout and turn green. The storm clouds are forming and hail is starting to fall...

Um, wait a minute. Did you just say hail? Hail? As in ice, falling from the sky.




Yes. That would be hail. On my newly green patch of grass. In the desert southwest. In April. (Don't ask why we have a patch of grass in our yard when we live in the desert. It blows my mind too.)

Of course, it is expected to be back in the 90s before the weekend.

Wow. Some kind of weather we're having, isn't it?

I can't believe I just wrote a whole post about the weather.

But, dude, seriously, hail in April in Las Vegas. How often does that happen?

The Great Blizzard of January 2011

OK, maybe not such a great blizzard. Certainly my East Coast friends will be mocking these paltry centimeters of snow. But, hey! Snow in Vegas! How often does that happen?!

Here's my back yard with a blanket of snow.


Look what I came home to! A cute little snow person and a cute little person!

Today is World AIDS Day

Over the last 15 years I have lost 3 friends and colleagues to AIDS. Today’s post in observance of World AIDS Day is dedicated to these talented and funny men who touched my life and the lives of so many others around them.

The purpose of World AIDS Day is to help increase awareness, fight prejudice, and improve education to strengthen the struggle against HIV/AIDS. Progress has been made towards providing access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in this country, but greater commitment is needed around the world if the goal of universal access is to be achieved around the world.

Here are a few U.S. resources I found.

HIV/AIDS Prevention and Service Provider Locator: This is a widget provided by AIDS.gov that allows people to search for testing services, housing providers, health centers and other service providers near your current location. To get this widget and put it on your site, click here.

While you are at the AIDS.gov site, check out their HIV/AIDS 101 site to learn the basics and then link to the CDC to view their facts sheets.

For all you local folks in southern Nevada, Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) has a variety of opportunities for involvement. Check out their list of community partners who will be donating 10% of their sales to AFAN today during the times listed. You can also download their Holiday Toy Drive form and donate new unwrapped toys for children affected by HIV/AIDS. I signed up this morning to sponsor two children and am awaiting their “wish lists”.

What will you do?

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Did you know that October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month? Did you know that October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day?

On September 28, 2006, House Resolution # 222 was passed in the House of Representatives supporting the goals and ideals of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. The entire transcription from the US House of Representatives can be found on the official web site of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, http://october15th.com.

This is the time of year when local miscarriage support groups hold their annual Walks to Remember or other awareness activities. The link above contains information for many events around the country, but I noticed the local Walk is missing. So here's the information that I have:

Saturday, October 16
Children's Memorial Park
corner of Gowan and N. Rainbow
12:00 noon to 2:00pm
sponsored by Resolve Through Sharing (RTS)

This is a family event, any living children are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

SchmoopyBoy typically goes down for his nap during the time of the walk (figures) so I'll probably just go the first hour, depending on how he appears to be feeling.

For anyone in the area that is interested, RTS also holds a monthly support group meeting at Sunrise Hospital on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. You can get more information here. I went to the September meeting. I will confess I was unimpressed with the facilitator. I'll probably go one more time to give her another chance, but if I see the same things I saw last time I'm quite sure I will not be returning again. We'll see.

*******************************
This post is part of a series I am writing for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month that I am calling PILAM 2010. I will be writing about pregnancy loss periodically throughout the month of October. As posts are added to the series I will add the links on all applicable posts.

My intro to PILAM 2010 is October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and includes resources in the Las Vegas area.

For reasons on why I am writing about pregnancy loss, see Why I write about miscarriage.

For ideas on ways to commemorate Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance Day, see What Can You Do.

A poem commemorating Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is posted for October 15, 2010

My post October 15th weekend wrap-up is at Picture Thursday.