Mmmmm the ice bucket challenge. It has taken awhile to come around to me, and quite frankly I was starting to wonder "if no one nominates you for the ice bucket challenge, how do you know you really exist?" And then my husband nominated me, which was briefly satisfying, but then I had to wonder, "does my husband really exist, or is he just a figment of my imagination?" But I digress... If you haven't heard of the ice bucket challenge by now, you are living under a rock. I am sure you have been challenged by now, because according to my research, I am actually the last person in the entire world to be challenged. The challenge started out as giving to any charity and rapidly became exclusive to ALS. If you don't know what ALS is yet, it is (plagiarism to follow) "a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed." To atone for what feels like a sin, I am going to make a donation to an ALS organization. If you are currently raising funds for an ALS organization as part of a charity bib for a road race, please let me know, because I like to give money via road races because a) I think charity bibs are a great fundraising strategy and b) it's helping out two entities for the price of one. My sin is redirecting my challenge to a different charity. I am currently raising money for another neurological disease that I can almost guarantee you have not heard of. This is Rett Syndrome. Rett Syndrome is (more plagiarism to follow) "a rare genetic postnatal neurological disorder that occurs almost exclusively in girls and leads to severe impairments, affecting nearly every aspect of the child’s life: their ability to speak, walk, eat, and even breathe easily. The hallmark of Rett syndrome is near constant repetitive hand movements while awake. They typically have no verbal skills, and about 50% of individuals affected do not walk." I have not personally been affected by Rett Syndrome. Unless Dexter ends up being part of an incredibly small minority, I do not currently stand to be affected by this syndrome. I am very aware that I have been blessed with an incredibly healthy and entertaining miniature human being. But my heart goes out to parents who are faced with watching their children struggle with any complications. So, I am raising money for Girl Power 2 Cure en route to my racing of the Disneyland Avenger's Half Marathon. I am pretty excited to run the Disney Avenger's Half, assuming I don't end up in the walker's corral, which is a very real fear given that I missed the cut-off to provide a verifiable entry time proving that I can run faster than 3:15 for a half-marathon. I missed the August 1st deadline because I decided to seek out a charity entry on August 6th. Anyway, here's hoping I am not with the walkers. I have a pretty great outfit picked out, and it deserves a clear pathway to the finish line. Now, that being said, here is my ice bucket challenge video. Enjoy.