37 Things: Donate Blood

This was a fairly simple and easy thing to do on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38.

However, sometimes the easiest things to do are also the easiest things to skip.

Today was a busy day.  My husband Trevor was running in his fourth (yes, fourth!) half marathon.  I had to drop him off at the start of the race and pick him up at the end.  In the middle of it I found time to run 4 miles myself.  Then I dropped him off at the house to shower and collapse and went with some friends to "Woofstock", a dog adoption fair at the University of Puget Sound.  I saw lots of cute dogs but since Trevor wasn't with me, I couldn't take one home.  Then I went down to the Proctor Arts Fest to see our friend Antoinette who had a henna booth set up.  On the way to her booth I saw the mobile blood donation bus and thought, "This is it.  This is when I am going to finally donate some blood."

I had to fill out some paperwork since it was my first time donating in Tacoma.  They had to check my iron level, my pulse, my temperature, and my blood pressure.  Everything checked out so they were able to take blood.  It was a little crowded on the bus but I felt like a jerk because it was so easy to do and I really had no excuse.  I am not afraid of needles or blood so this is pretty easy for me.  Turns out you can only donate once every 60 days, so I can't donate again until November.  And I am ready to get another tattoo and was wondering about what happens when you have a new tattoo.  But it turns out in the state of Washington that as long as you go to a licensed tattoo parlor, you can donate without any wait period.

Now I really have no excuses!  As a treat, I had Antoinette henna some lovely chrysanthemums on my arm.   And then I had the chance to see my friend Dan sing in the Total Experience Music Choir.  And I ate a corn dog!  It was a fabulous day.