I So Didn't Even Want To Eat That Snickers Bar

And really, how often in life do you say that statement? Snickers are one of the few candies I actually will eat, and I don't think I'd had one since Halloween. I ate it this morning though, and it was almost torture to eat it. What a waste.

The good news is that it was completely worth it. (You're scratching your heads now, aren't you?)

See, Manic Mommy is having a virtual blood drive. This is the third year she's done it, and I think it's pretty awesome of her. She's encouraging people to donate blood, which is worthwhile all on its own. As an added inducement, she's gotten prizes donated for those people who donate blood from January 1 to February 28 and email her picture proof of the donation. For more details, read here.

I've participated the last two years that she's held it, since I'm a regular blood donor already. And no, I haven't won any prizes (yet!). I have two main reasons that I donate blood.

When my grandfather was ill before he died, he used gallons of blood. While the transfusions kept him alive, nothing was enough to return him to health - but without donations, no one has a chance. He was a regular blood donor, but I don't think even his massive quantities of blood made up for what he used. I'm helping to replenish what he needed.

I also have O negative blood, which is the universal donor. When there is an emergency and they don't have time to type someone's blood, O neg is what they need to use, so it's most in demand, as well as being in the veins of something like four percent of the population. As a regular donor, they like my good clean O neg, and it is bagged separately for use with babies who need it. Seeing that neonatal sticker on my blood each time and knowing that I'm able to give hope to families who otherwise wouldn't have it - there's no way I'm going to stop donating.

So did you notice that today is February 26 and the contest started January 1?

Yeah... me, too. Sadly, I'm not posting this now because I managed to donate twice in the timeframe (which is doable, every eight weeks get back out there!).

I tried donating early in January but was declined because my iron was low. Then I got sick. Then I was busy with work. My iron was low again. Work. I went to Florida for Disney's Social Media Moms conference. Work. I got sick. Work.

I knew that today was my last chance, so I've been preparing all week. Somehow, I needed to get my iron up to where it normally is. Until December, I'd been donating every eight weeks or so for years.

When I've donated before, their suggestions for getting your iron up were to eat chocolate covered raisins and Snickers bars. So yep, that's what I ate for breakfast. Of course, I didn't actually have chocolate covered raisins, but I did have raisins and chocolate chips, so I had a nice half cup of that. And then the Snickers bar that I ate on my way to the donation. That much chocolate that early in the morning is not fun. Apparently, I'm no longer eighteen, as I think at some point that would have appealed to me.

When I got there, they offered to test my iron for me before doing the rest of the paperwork to avoid wasting time for both of us. As I sat down, I asked how long it takes for the iron to metabolize. Oh, two to three hours, she told me. Great. So that junk I just ate to get my iron up within the last hour wasn't even going to make a difference. Whee.

She stuck my fingers for the sample and put it into the neat-o machine that gives the iron readings. Annnnnd... 14.8. For me, that's super high. And well above the 12.5 needed (I usually hover in the high 12s and low 13s). Yay, I could donate blood!

Apparently it was the quinoa and spinach that I had for dinner last night. Go fig. And yes, I will be posting the "recipe" for this, since even the wee ones ate it and loved it - to the point that Mister Man asked if he could have spinach and quinoa for breakfast this morning.

So how about you? Have you donated blood lately? Can you go donate blood still for Manic?