Category Archives: Friends

Friends

Help the Machinski Family

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Welcome John Chow Readers

Please visit this link for the information on how to participate. The post below is about the family I have been trying to help.

I was contacted by my High School a couple of days back to participate in a phone-a-thon. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that I am not the class liaison any longer. Not a big deal. I let them know and they told me that I should get in touch with a former classmate about the 15 year reunion. So I did and now I am helping with the reunion. It was pretty crazy planning it 5 years ago and I wasn’t quite sure that I wanted to get back into the fray. But when Allie told me about why she is planning it I had to jump in with both feet.

Another former classmate of mine Becky is having a very difficult time. She has three beautiful kids and a great husband. Becky had cancer and it is currently in remission. Now her husband has cancer and their health insurance provider will not cover them any longer. The constant doctor’s appointments and treatments for both Becky and Mike have taken a toll on their finances. And Mike’s cancer is pretty bad. Becky and Mike keep a journal on Mike’s battle with cancer and through reading the entries I can see that they are staying positive and trying everything they can to beat this disease. It has been a long battle with Cancer for the Machinski Family that began in 1999. So for nearly ten years the threat of cancer has been hanging over the heads of the Machinski Family. I’ve been reading the journal and can see the love that the family has for each other and that has made them so very strong in this fight. But some financial support would go a long way to help ease some of their worries so they can concentrate on fighting Mike’s cancer.

What does this have to do with the reunion. Well, since Allie took the job of planning the reunion she is going to also set it up as an opportunity to raise some money for Becky and her family. We are looking into the possibility of a silent auction during the reunion and using donated items for the prizes in the auction. Already between Allie and I we have come up with quite a few items but we need even more to make this a decent silent auction. That is beginning to shape up nicely however, the reunion is going to be around Thanksgiving and Becky’s family needs help now. Donations can be made through the Family Journal and you can also help Becky out by making a purchase of jewelry from Becky’s online store. The site is called Hope Creations. I am adding a permanent link to my sidebar to the site. Becky makes handcrafted jewelry and sells it at her store in Palmerton, Pennsylvania but if you cannot make it there you can still shop at Hope Creations Online. You can also help by sending a direct donation to the Machinski family at this address.

Mike Machinski
70 Ridgeview Drive
Lehighton, Pa 18235

Visit Hope Creations Online

If you would like to make a donation for the silent auction for the 15 year reunion please contact me. Thanks.

Food, Friends, Photo-A-Day

Love Me some Crème Brûlée

Yay for Creme Brulee

Photo-A-Day #539

Tonight Allison and I went to dinner at Andy and Rondi’s place. They are back from their honeymoon and have broken out many of the great wedding gifts that they received (you got a jump on us by about a year on that one). The photo above is Andy’s new toy. A Butane torch (Affiliate Link) for Crème Brûlée. But I am getting ahead of myself.

On my way home from work I stopped by the Big Apple (because I was avoiding the giant cluster that is 495 between exits 17 and 14) and picked up some fresh baked donuts for Andy. He was excited to get some of the tasty treats. I was excited because Andy not only made Burritos for dinner but scallops wrapped in bacon for an appetizer. My favorite appetizer ever.

Dinner was delicious. We had a “Burritotastic!!” meal. Yep, Andy made a fine spread of Burrito fixings and we made our own Burritos while at the table. It was a fun and relaxed meal. After dinner and before Crème Brûlée we played some trivia games on DVD that I got from Target for $2.48 each on clearance. Gotta love Target’s clearances they are insane. One game was called Gender Wars – Girls vs. Guys (Affiliate Link) and the other one was Pop Culture Trivia (Affiliate Link). Both games were set up exactly the same except in the Girls vs. Guys one the two teams were Girls and Guys instead of Team 1 and Team 2. The game was entertaining and deemed worth the $2.48 but not $3.00.

Then it was time for Crème Brûlée (Affiliate Link). Andy has been practicing making Crème Brûlée since he and Rondi have been home from their honeymoon (we got to see some nice underwater pictures from their scuba adventures too). And that practice paid off. I think it was a fantastic and creamy Crème Brûlée that I have not tasted the equal of yet. Derek will have to stop saying that I make a fantastic Crème Brûlée and give that honor to Andy. I got Crème Brûlée Butane Torch envy too (And I know I had a whole set and returned it for some work shirt, it is my own fault, but I do have cool gadget envy.). After the awesome Crème Brûlée (And the sugar on top made that perfect ‘snap’ or ‘crack’ when you put the spoon through it, Alton would be proud. Anyway after that we played Catch Phrase (Affiliate Link) and were stunned at each other’s descriptions of their given words. We played three rounds. Rondi and I vs. Andy and Allison, Andy and I vs. Rondi and Allison, and Allison and I vs. Rondi and Andy. Good time and a fun game.

We had a great time and so much fun. Once we can get out wedding stuff out of the front hall and have some room we will have to do up a fun meal and game night. Bring the Butane Torch.