About 4 months after Ms. Z was born, my dad needed heart surgery to replace an aortic valve.  The surgery went well, but there were complications with the anti-coagulant therapy that resulted in my dad experiencing a ruptured spleen and significant internal bleeding.  My dad jokes that he needed "a full oil change" -- when all was said and done, it took 7 units of O positive to help save his life.

Up until that point in my life, I'd always been a little scared of giving blood -- needles and bleeding just weirded me out.  But if there's anything I got used to in the process of trying to and having a baby, it was to deal with blood draws and IVs.  So I got to thinking about it.  As I've gotten into Health IT and started working at a university with major medical center, I've spent a lot more time thinking about health care, and how I can make a difference personally.  Giving blood seemed like the perfect way to start.

In honor of my dad, I've made a long term pledge (to myself) to donate 7 units of blood.  On Friday I made my first donation, and I promise to update my progress here as I go along.  Here's a few things I learned from my first donation:

• At any given time only 38% of people in the US are eligible to give blood (i.e. they meet the health previous history requirements)
• Only 8% of people give blood
  
• Giving blood is easy and does not take a long time -- it took about 10 minutes for me to make my donation and another 15-20 to hang out after the donation while you drink some juice.
• Drink a lot of water before hand -- it will help the donation go faster and more smoothly (and you'll feel better, too!)
  
• You feel like a real hero when you're done.   
  

The Red Cross website is great at helping you find out more about your local Red Cross chapter as well as a a place to donate in your area -- most of the time you can even make an appointment so that you can do it at a time that works best for you. 

To put the incredible gift that my father received in perspective: when people donate blood, they can only donate 1 unit at a time and you have to wait at least 2 months to donate more.  There's a good chance that 7 different people contributed to what my dad received.  Although they will never know it, there are seven people in Southeastern Michigan who helped make sure that my dad is still here to watch his granddaughter grow up.

If you can donate, I'd really like to encourage to to do so. So many people need blood and when it's needed, there's no more precious gift in the world.

I passed my second 4th decade birthday uneventfully, but happily.  A small collection of thoughtful and lovely things joined my life.  Most supported my continuing love affairs with making coffee and making cookies.  There were a few things that I thought merited special comment on my blog.

The beautiful little bowls you see were hand-turned by my dad.  The inner one is walnut, the outer is cherry.  He created the dark edge on the cherry bowl with a burning technique.  Both have a beeswax finish, so they could easily be used for food, but I've decided to use them on my dresser where I will see them more often and where I will be able to touch them every day when I take off my jewelry.  One thing that is hard to convey in a picture is how smooth these bowls are.  Almost soft.  I hope I was able to capture some of their radiant quality in my picture.  The walnut bowl in particular has a deep, luminous glow.

The needles come from from a set of Darn Pretty 6" double points in the "Winter Sky" color pattern and were a gift from my beautiful little girl who is all about having socks knit for her.  These needles are as a much a joy to look at as they are to knit with.  In honor of the giver, I have cast on the first pair of socks employing a set of them for her.  She's quite enthusiastic about the potential for new socks and has been almost ecstatic when I've asked her to take off her sock so we can size them as we go.  Knitting with these needles has started to build in me an unholy desire to get  set of their interchangeable circulars.  Dyak Craft needles are hand turned and feel to me like the perfect spiritual complement to a beautiful hand made garment

Other than that, it is all good, but very busy.  Between a busy three year old and a job with an aggressive time table, I haven't been able to take as much advantage of the knitting mojo I have as I would like.  But I have managed to build my elliptical time back into my routine, so it's all good after I accept the reality of the limitations of a 24 hour day and the need for a reasonable amount of sleep.