Atlanta 3Day 2008 - A Few Photos

Top Left: We ran into Richard at the Barnes and Noble, so he became a part of our first picture. Here are Karyn, Maureen, her husband, Richard, and I after we have changed socks before going 2 miles. We had been dropped off by Nick at 6:30 a.m. and it was almost 8:30 til we started walking after the very moving Opening Ceremonies.

Top Right: Finding your bag at the end of Day One at the Relocation Spot. It is organized - though I know it doesn't appear so.

< Early start to Day Two - chilly but DRY!



< Cheerleaders welcoming us into a Day Two Pit Stop. Pit Stops offer snacks including fruit, peanuts, string cheese, animal crackers to name a few things to keep you going while walking. Also drinks of water or gatorade. Additionally, medical folk are at Pit Stops to patch you up if you need patching. And of course, you can see the porta potties!

$8.3 Million from Atlanta for Susan G. Komen Foundation

Thank you to all my supporters - with your help the Atlanta 3Day 2008 raised over $8.3 MILLION!!! You are fantastic!

I wanted to throw a few sentences on here, but give me time - I have pictures coming! And lots of stories! But for those of you who have been with me in heart and in spirit every step of those miles I want to tell you that I made it without a blister - without much sleep - but without a blister!

We had a rainy start on Friday, our sleeping was relocated to an abandoned set of offices and it was rough - but we finished on Sunday. Maureen suffered with a blister, but we all three made it with clasped hands over our heads as we went over the finish!

Thank you, and I love you. Good night. Sleep tight! XXOOXX

Tomorrow Atlanta, Next Year - Philadelphia!

I am almost packed - waiting for the final shirt to come out of the dryer. One of my friends from the Noon Mass, Kathleen, has given me a fantastic grey shirt with a pink shoelace transfer and words that say "Breast Foot Forward" - is that not the best? I'm going to wear it tomorrow, under my rain jacket, unfortunately.

Please keep praying that the rain passes through swiftly - there have been two good changes so far - the chance of thundershowers has disappeared and the total rainfall has dropped to an inch at most. So the prayers are working!

So, at work today I got another check from a parishioner, and online Laurie and Tom sent more monies. Maureen told me to hold my checks from the mail, and go sign up over the weekend to do Philadelphia in 2009 - after two minutes of thought, I agreed. I talked to my friend in NY, Jody, who will be a five year survivor next year - and she is thinking she will walk with us - and maybe her sister, too. Anybody else up for it? We will have a great time and make money for a great cause - a full lifetime for our daughters, nieces, cousins, grandcousins, and granddaughters!

Don't forget to look for me on the webcam - it's on the 3Day in Three Days post. Off to bed...next post will be post walk! Love you all!

$2620 Closer to Finding a Cure to Breast Cancer!

I have some more checks to send in - thanks to Jody and Al, Jen and Paul, Nick and Teresa - and I have to say thank you so much to my supporters - I just know when we unlock one of these cancers we will unlock so many more.

Tink and I did our final training walk today - Tink was not in as meditative a mood as I was. This morning I received an email from one of our Training Leaders. This year Karyn, Maureen, and I did our own walking but in 2006 we did many walks with this woman, Karin Thomas, and she is very special. She walks every year in Atlanta and crewed in Washington, DC this year.

Karin's email contained snippets from emails she had received. In between complaints about the impending rain and folks not wanting to use a porta-potty for a weekend were profound messages from women who were grateful for those same things. Know why? Because they were post chemo - or are in chemo and allowed to walk part of each of the three upcoming days. And they are grateful to be able to put one foot in front of the other among thousands of us who are walking to find the cure. This Friday marks the 34th anniversary of the day we lost my Aunt Marge. You better believe she is on my mind and in my heart.

Atlanta 3Day 2008 in 3 DAYS!

The weatherman is calling for a 70% chance of rain on Friday! Pray for a very windy Wednesday night into Thursday that blows the rain through here as fast as possible! I tried every which way to post the route map here, even scanned the darned thing, but it refuses to cooperate. It's either too big or too small. I do have one goodie for you ~

Check This Out:
For the most up-to-date information while I'm walking check here: Supporter Info webpage there is even a webcam!

Now I'm off to pack up all my stuff in ziplock bags inside garbage bags inside my duffle bag. Oh joy - not!

Thank you again, you are awesome!!!

Palin Watches the FlyBoys Lose Opener

The boys lost 4-3 to the Rangers, but it sounds as though Palin did a bit better than expected. You can go here to read the story. Sounds as though Biron had a shaky start, and was pulled after two weak goals, and then the Flyers shared in some of the booing Palin received until they woke up midway through the second. Ah, well, better luck next time.

I watched the online video from the Flyers site and you can see an Obama sign but you can also see people cheering. The Hockey Mom who won is there to drop the puck with Sarah Palin, and Piper and Willow are with her, too. Oh, and if you go watch, Gomez is from Alaska, I'm sure that's why she kissed his cheek and not our Mike Richards.

3DAY update: The weather here is beautiful for walking. We did 15 yesterday with a breakfast and an extra potty stop in under 5 hours. Yay, US! Today Tink and I already have 5.5 in before Mass, we'll finish later.

Hockey Starts Tonight!

GO FLYERSSS!!!

Flyers open the season tonight against the Rangers with their new captain, Mike Richards. The Flyers ran a contest for the Ultimate Hockey Mom culminating this evening with the top Mom winning spa treatments and gift certificates worth about $5,000. In conjunction with this, Mr. Snider invited Sarah Palin to drop the first ceremonial puck.

Jen sent me this article on Yahoo about how they think the Philly fans will handle Governor Palin. I hope they disappoint the writer and bloggers in the article. Philly is known for - shall we say - vociferous fans (to put it mildly), and I hope they do the classy thing and realize that she IS a Hockey Mom from Alaska tonight. I know, I can dream!

3Day and Moldable Insoles

I'm now past my goal! We are $2300 closer to finding the cure so that no other girl or boy has to grow up without a mom due to this insidious disease - cancer. Thank you to all my donors!

I said in a previous blog that I would share my insoles with you - and what I wear are the Dean Karnazes Signature Insoles. You heat them in a 200 degree oven until the sensor turns black, put them in your sneakers, and stand still for two minutes. At 15 days to go to the 3Day I am still blister free. Yay! P.S. they are cheaper at REI than they are on the website.

One last 15/10 weekend coming up. That means I walk 15 miles on Saturday and 10 on Sunday, do homework, go to Mass, and not much else!

Life is not so stress free in America at the moment. Take deep breaths, make time to thank the Lord for your blessings, and hug your partner, your children, and don't forget the dog! (Tink typed that last part - I swear!)