Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Why didn't someone tell me?

FRIENDS.

That awkward moment when you realize you've been shaving in all the wrong places.

The car.
Your closet.
The parking lot behind your daughter's school.
The grocery. Isle #4.
The kitchen. While dinner cools to a simmer.
The Olive Garden. Over the sink near the wall.
The rock show. In the middle of the crowd.
Your front yard.

All this time, I've been doing it wrong. Why didn't someone tell me it's not cool to whip out a razor in the Pac Sun dressing room?
Friends don't let friends shave in all the wrong places.

Candyland. OUT.

Friday, January 6, 2012

In which my jaw falls to the floor at the kindness of [not so strange]ers

So here's the thing...

When I posted last week, in all my humility, I never thought in a billion years how far that post would go. I'd hoped, prayed, pleaded to the sky to receive just a few dollars. I knew the blogging community was a-freakin-mazing but OMG I am speechless. Completely speechless. Overwhelmed. Grateful. Humbled. I've tried typing this post twelve times but nothing sounds right. Nothing's good enough. I want to say THANK YOU but those eight letters are so insignificant compared to the temporary stability you've provided for my family. Thank you pretty much sucks. I need a better, more impressive phrase to show you what you mean to me.

Like...AREYOUFREAKINGKIDDINGMETHANKYOU!!!!!!!

That's more like it.

But the best part...the best part is the inbox full of personal letters telling me it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to need a hand, I've been there. You've told me of being so broke, you learned how to stretch your oatmeal into cooked patties (yuck). You're still reeling, still dealing with the premature birth of your baby (at 25 weeks) and you have medical bills of your own. But you still want to help. You emailed me about the devastating earthquakes in New Zealand when your newborn grandson was simply trying to survive after a difficult pregnancy and unimaginable complications thereafter, all while fleeting for safety from the falling rubble and concrete.

You cried to me about your infertility, your poverty. Told me you used to self-injure, too. Said your house is being taken and your life is in shambles but you felt compelled to act. You donated your last dollar. Sent diapers, formula and books for my babies. Books for me. Thanked me for simply telling my story, for being brave, courageous, a heroine. I don't see that, but you do. You believe in me, even when I don't. You care about me, even when I don't. You care about my family, even though you don't know them. You came to me with words of encouragement, words of hope, words that have been like gold to me. You've shown me it gets better and that we are in this together.

"TOGETHER WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL," you tell me. And I always sort of knew it but never had this kind of good fortune to really feel it. That's not to say good things haven't happened to me, because I'm extremely blessed, but financially...this is beyond anything I could have asked for.

Because of you, my family can eat. And eat. And eat.
Because of you, I have my wedding rings back.
And they will not leave me again. Ever.
Because of you, baby S has formula and diapers.
He can poop forever if he wants (I think he will)
Because of you, our electricity will stay on.
Because of you, child #1 will not be kicked out of school.
In fact, she's paid through the end of February.
Because of you, our car will not be taken.
Unless someone steals it.
Because of you, we are not broken anymore.
WE ARE NOT BROKEN ANYMORE.

While the storm hasn't completely passed, you've provided my family with an umbrella...a chance to stay dry for awhile. Things are still showing up in the mail, through UPS and Fed Ex. It's like Christmas every single day. My heart is so full. I've been smiling for a week-and-a-half. Played with offspring #1 a little longer each day. I breathed in sweet baby S a little more. Hugged my husband a little bit tighter. My kids can see how much lighter I feel, how much easier it is...to breathe. Because you've pulled the weight off our...off of MY shoulders. Instead of being preoccupied with how I'm going to get through it, I've been released...

Released by you.

Now, some numbers for you, as of Thursday, January 12th, though I don't feel it appropriate to say exactly how many donors (a lot!), how much money was raised both online and through the mail (more than I ever imagined possible...) or how much of that Paypal ate in fees (grrr).

200+ emails (I'm still responding)
I've never spoken to about 90% of you
1 CHUCK SAMBUCHINO!
70+ new blogger friends
Countless links back to me (THANK YOU)


You don't [physically] know me, but you still care. I am closer to you than my a-hole cat. You know everything. No secrets. You tell me your life story, I tell you mine. You have my back, I wax yours (if you need that kind of thing). I will most definitely pay these debts forward when someone else is in need.

It would be my pleasure.

I want to hug each one of you for an awkward amount of time. To those of you with no email attached to your blog comment, please know I'm so thankful. I will spend the next three years personally thanking each of you through your Paypal addresses. Please be patient as I get organized. If you've requested a query or MS crit, please forward them my way, though it still won't be enough to ever repay you. If you've declined those offers but change your mind in the future, I'll still be here, as thankful as ever. To Chuck's donors, I'll forward your emails to him, and he'll be in touch.

Now, someone get me an agent so I can sell my book to pay you back, thank you in the acknowledgments, and/or become a best-selling author who will brag about how cool you are.

One more thing: If you haven't seen it already, this is me:
http://www.dearnewmom.com/2012/01/pregnancy-after-loss/

Also, I have a great friend who is donating a percentage of all Scentsy sales to my family as well. If you love this stuff, please order through her. If you've never tried it--PLEASE DO!

https://cyndiswafford.scentsy.us/Buy?partyId=68086171


You all are our angels. 2012 is looking up. Now, hopefully, we can save enough money to buy a house in the coming months. So baby S will no longer live behind a small curtain next to our bed. It's like a claustrophobic jail cell. So offspring #1 can paint her walls purple as she's always wished. She loves purple.  So we can have a bedroom door. We have NO DOOR. So we can finally have a place that's ours. Our family now complete, we need a place that's ours. With all the things your generous donations have paid, this might actually happen. Before, it was just a dream...

I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for helping me, so I can help my babies.
Thank you.


With so much love,


<3


Candylandandfamily. OUT.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Lower than a rapper's pants

Those of you who know, I wear many hats. Too many.

One of them, I'll refer to it as my "bonnet," caused a monumental shift in Candyland...land...a few months back. In September, my employee position at "bonnet" was changed into an independent contracting position with fewer hours and instead of bi-weekly pay, I now receive direct deposit a month and a half ahead. In other words, I will work the end of December through [approx] January 23rd, but won't get a check until the very end of February. And so on.

With the recent birth of Baby S, things have gotten even harder. From pregnancy, he's been a needy baby. It started with the loss of fluid near his head causing me to be in and out of the hospital (= monumental bills piling up), then he died at birth. Thankfully was brought back to us but it was not without issues. He's had problems with different formulas and medications which they attribute to reflux. After we got our sweet Sully home from the hospital, his condition has only worsened.

It's been a pain in the arse. But moreso, I feel bad for him.
We've been in and out of the doctor's office and hospital for testing, he's been on different medications and formulas and even to the chiropractor. And because of his spitting up and projectile vomiting, the poor baby feels as though he's hungry all the time, therefore, we're going through formula like it's toilet paper. I don't know if that makes sense but we're going through a crapload. Haha. I made a funny.

Also, when a baby S eats, the end result is a pee-filled or dirty diaper. Thank BERT an old friend gave us boxes of diapers back in July or we'd be using whatever t-shirt we could pin up on the kid right about now.

The loss of pay, along with Baby S's problems have had a dramatic effect/affect/effect/affect/whatever on our finances. In fact, this Christmas was the lowest we've ever been. Despite my dear husband working as much as he could and me doing the same with 2 jobs (they BOTH pay monthly...) and raising two kids, the only way we could give them a Christmas at all was by doing the unthinkable. No, not that (no one would pay for this anyway). I've gotten loans on all my jewelry, including my beloved wedding band. It stings to be in such a position. Waiting for tax time so we can get a refund to pay everyone off, popping anxiety meds every time a bill comes, wondering where our next meal will come from...

We just can't get ahead after all that's happened.

I'm telling you this because I've nowhere else to turn. I don't consider you bloggers or even friends. You're family. Everything I've gone through, you've been there with me. You've been there for me after two miscarriages, for every New Medicine post-bliss ramble, but mostly, the times in between. When I felt as though no one was listening, there you were.

But this is different. I need something else. Any other time, YOU KNOW I'd happily raise money for the women of Ghana, or the AFSP and TWLOHA. I'd even give you my marrow. Just ask. Seriously.
 I have no money, but if you ask me for a dollar, I'll dig through my cushions, count my change, until I find one to give you. I debated doing this but I'm so desperate right now, I have nothing to lose. We owe so many people...people who can take our car, kick child #1 out of school, turn off our electricity, garnish our wages...we're sinking.

I'm here to strike a deal.

 While I've had to stop accepting MS and queries for critique due to time, I still have the following to offer! Anyone who makes a small (miniscule, even) donation to the charity of Candyland via paypal will receive one or all of the following:

-A creepy public love letter
-The word HUG on a piece of paper that I will mail to your door
-A New Medicine sticker. Because I have a trillion.
-A humiliating picture of me posted on the web
-Admiration
-Undying love and respect
-GRATITUDE

**ALSO: Guide to Literary Agents  and Children's Writers & Illustrator's Market Editor CHUCK SAMUCHINO has come to me with a generous offer! Get your query or synopsis edited by the best in the business! He's offering his services at a discounted rate of $40, donated to me. I will then email Chuck your email address and he'll connect with you and edit within 1 week. If you need help with your query, this is a steal by a pro. Only 8 available. If you are interested, please put CHUCK somewhere in the donation notes. Email me with questions.

A little about Chuck: Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of Guide To Literary Agents and Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (both Writer's Digest Books). He is the author of the writing books Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. (2009) as well as Create a Writer Platform (Fall 2012). He is a popular presenter at writers conferences nationwide and runs the Guide to Literary Agents Blog (guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog), one of the biggest blogs in publishing.

He is also a humor book author, with his 2010 book How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack being featured in Reader's Digest, USA Todayand The New York Times. The film rights were recently optioned by Sony.**

This is post not a joke, as much as I wish it were. Donate .01 to 1,000,000. I don't care. If you choose to read and move on, I won't be offended. In fact, I'm going to move on after I post this. What a stupid post. I don't deserve a handout, and I sure don't want one. Make me work for it. That, I can do. Name your price.
Send all pennies to candaceganger@yahoo.com and sparkles will combust in front of you. If you prefer, loan me your pennies and I can pay you back when the dust settles. You help me and I promise, when you need me, I will help you.

Isn't that what family's for?

I was going to delete this post after 48 hours but with a few encouraging emails I realized...my family needs all the help we can get right now...so...48+ hours later, here I am...


Candylanddesperate. OUT.


P.S. A few people have asked for a more direct way to help out. If you prefer snail mail, email me and I'll give you my address. Also, without being a weirdo, here's a Paypal button that's easier to click on instead of search.

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Love is the movement. Rescue is possible.