3 Days, 60 Miles and $86 Million

I walked the walk this past weekend and have the blistered feet to prove it. It's hard to believe that all those months of training and fundraising are over. It was an amazing event. I have never experienced anything else like it.

Imagine more than 3,200 women and men dressed in pink (including a lifetime of wonderfully bizarre pink and breast-related accessories) pounding the pavement of the neighborhoods and city streets. Along with the walkers was the unstoppable crew. They were out there every day with us, helping us cross busy streets, cheering us on, feeding us,

giving us water, helping us fix our blisters and aching bodies and basically keeping us all going. Their outfits were even more outrageous than ours.

One of my favorites: The Texas Cowbelles. These two women dressed themselves and their convertible VW bug like cows. They drove up and down the route honking their horn and cheering. They'd stop along the route and do the same. They also lined the entire route with cow jokes. My personal favorite: Why do cows use bells?.......Because their horns don't work! My other favorite was the crewman who was part of the motorcycle gang. Not only was he decked out, but his motorcycle sported a pair of tatas over its headlight. Hilarious.

We started out before the crack of dawn on Friday. We walked a little more than 20 miles until we got to Marymoor Park, our camp for the event. Thousands of pink tents scattered the park along with a circus-like tent, shower trucks and little shops for us to use and peruse (one of the sponsors set up a spot for us to sit and use cool foot massaging machines). The second day we walked a big loop around Redmond and Kirkland. I actually cut the second day a little short. My feet developed some pretty monstrous blisters (I have pictures but I'll save you from that nastiness. I'll just show you the pic of my taped feet) - they were so awesome that my team members and I even named them. The biggest one was Henry VIII. Sadly for him, he was beheaded (lanced)....twice. The last day we were bussed over to Seattle and walked from the UW campus to Green Lake, down to the water/Gasworks Park and then around the city until we made it to Seattle Center. Coming into the end of the course was unreal. People lined the sidewalks and cheered us all across the finish line. When we finally walked into the stadium for closing ceremonies, the place was packed! Thousands of people were in the stands applauding. Felt like a rock star or something.

Even more memorable than the rock star vibes were the people I met over the weekend. I walked a couple miles with a woman who's fighting her second battle with breast cancer - she had a mastectomy 21 days ago and was still there walking with us. One woman completed the entire first day on crutches. A family whose mother had walked the 3-Day for years decided to take up her mantle after she passed away from breast cancer in May. One group we lovingly dubbed the "Whoop Whoops" (because of a contagious cheer they shouted with pride - it included hand movements too)....I ended up walking at about the same pace and they did. It was a group of friends who rallied around an inspiring woman (a breast cancer survivor). Many of them flew into Seattle specifically to walk with (and for) her. They kept me going for miles. And my new friend Makida who happens to live down here near me. She and I met up as we walked and really found a great kinship. So many great, kind, motivated people all focused on one goal....to find a cure and an end to breast cancer.

Thanks to everyone who supported me in this event....whether through funds, letters, e-mails, text messages or in person (thanks dad!). I literally could not have done it without you.

Now, as my feet heal up and my muscles relax I'm trying to decide if I'm going to join the crew next year (there's a crew that dresses up like pirates -- yarrrrr) or if I'll hit the pavement for a full 60 miles. Good times.

Bald Eagles at Nisqually

Who says training has to be spent on a treadmill staring at other sweaty gym-goers? My teammate Blanche and I walked a 5.3 mile loop around the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge yesterday. Not only was the sun out (hopefully ushering in the Summer), but we spotted numerous bald eagles, a mega-flock of sparrows (like something out of Hitchcock's brain) and views only the Puget Sound can give. I got a little sun and feel motivated to keep up the walking this week!Tonight it's cross-training on the water (rowing on the Sound) but I'll take to the trails tomorrow for more walking.

Don't forget to donate! ;)

Thank you

It's been a tough couple of days trying to juggle packing, moving things to storage, moving things to the house, the job with the Festival, the online job..... I'm exhausted and was feeling rather mopey this morning as the movers shuffled our life together out the door in boxes. BUT I had some amazing phone calls today from people who helped cheer me up. For that and more, THANK YOU.

OK, back to work. No rest...yet.

Anyone else trapped in a movie today?

There's something strange in the air today. If I were living in a horror film, it'd be like the calm before the monsters attacked.... It's grey today and somehow the sounds of the city seem muffled by the grey, as if it's closing in on the city. People are acting strange on the streets....very strange. (there was a woman screaming in the streets today, which by itself wouldn't be too strange, but with the odd feeling in the air, her ranting about the visions and people in her head made it feel like David Lynch was running the show) Wonder what the deal is.

I'm going with a friend to see Indiana Jones tonight. I was shocked and not a little dismayed when I learned that two of my other friends have not seen ANY of the older Indiana Jones movies. Seriously. Did they live under a rock? And more importantly, can I help them see the error of their ways? Really, how have they made it all these years without the memories of cringing when the Ark melted the Nazis, or when the priest of that crazy cult pulled out the other guy's heart, or when Indy chooses "wisely" with the Holy Grail...? *sigh*

That's all for now. I'll let you know if I meet any purple people eaters on my way home.

Found the light at the end of the tunnel

So, basically, I've been enveloped in my job for the last 2 months. It's been quite an experience. Some fun, some confounding, some interesting....mostly time consuming. It's always interesting to come into a job and be an outside voice asking for efficiency and change. I think the comment i got most in answer to my questions was "Well, that's just the way we do it. It's the way we've always done it." It's amazing how afraid of change some people are. Grow a backbone people. Thank God for my assistant Vincent. We have worked really well as a team and it's been great to have at least one other person on the same page, who is able to laugh and who despises office drama as much as I do.

Anyway. The sun is shining in Seattle and I'm signing up for sculling classes. Miss rowing (did some in Boston on the Charles River - rumor was if you fell in the water you'd either grow a third arm or lose a limb) so I'm going to get back into it starting in July (the job will be over by then).

I'm also getting ready to move. My Soldier is going away and I'm going to housesit for one of the guys he works with. I'm really, really going to miss our water view and going to miss being in walking distance from grocery store, coffee shop, video store.... sigh. It all balances out with the money we'll be saving from not paying rent. Think we're going to start packing up this weekend.

Oh, and a little bus drama for all you who read my last blog entry. I was waiting at my Seattle stop and these 2 guys started beating on each other. It didn't last too long, but it was kinda bizarre.

Anyway. Need to get one more thing done so i can go home. :)

Satan in his pocket

I ride the bus to work every day. A short ride to the center of town, then a long ride up I-5 to Seattle where I catch my 3rd bus, a short jaunt to work. It really isn't as bad as it may sound. I kinda like it actually. One of the best parts? People watching.

Today I was waiting for my local bus in Seattle and saw this older guy walk by, just minding his own business. I looked at his shirtfront and noticed the strangest thing peeking out of his pocket. Where some might stash pens, their ID card or gum, this guy had a small paperback book with a plain cover except for the word "Satan" written in huge letters across the front. Who knows, maybe it was his ID card.

On the flip side, yesterday I was waiting at the same stop and saw a cool random act of kindness. A woman got off one bus and started walking down the sidewalk, when she put her bag over her shoulder, her bus transfer fell on the ground. A man (who looked like any other homeless guy) looked from the transfer to her and picked up the ticket. Instead of pocketing the transfer, he walked after the woman and tapped her on the shoulder (almost scared her to death). He handed her the transfer - she looked shocked - turned and walked back the other way. I later saw that same women catch her next bus.

The bus rocks.

Saltines make me happy

Such a small thing, but they make me and my tummy happy. The Easter Bunny brought me a box on Sunday. Yum.

Getting used to the new job. Trying to head off panic modes and a deadline crisis before it happens, but am finding it tough to get info from other people. Makes me want to do it myself, but I must learn to play nicely with others I suppose.

So happy to have friends to hang out with again - it's been a while since that happened. Next stop, dinner and a movie.

Wish John were home *sigh*.

Dream a little dream

I had the strangest dream last night.

I dreamed that I died (or actually I think I was already dead at the beginning of the dream) and then hundreds of years later I came back to life. I wasn't reincarnated, wasn't a zombie....I was me. And I was joined by 3 other friends who had also come back to life.

We were in some small town with old, wooden buildings. We found an old meeting hall (that was being used by the Red Cross for storage) to stay in.

And we were on a quest....but we weren't sure what it was. It was coming to us as we were making our way through the town and interacting with people. Seems like we were there to save them or something.

It was a bit like a live action Dungeons and Dragons game, but without the cool elves, rogues or sorcerers. And without magic. Or cool costumes. Or dragons. Or dungeons, come to think of it.

Leap Day

So i feel like I should do something special on Leap Day. Like somehow I should embrace that 24-hour period since we only get to enjoy it in its entirety every four years.

But what to do..... Eat frogs legs? Not likely. Maybe try something new. Not sure.

I love where I live

I decided to take a walk today instead of go to the gym. Here's one reason I love where I live:

The second reason I love where I live today: The Tacoma Film Club. I met with about 25 other men and women tonight at a local bookstore. We talked about three films, laughed and even argued. Everyone was so welcoming. Can't believe I haven't joined them before and can't wait to meet up with them again.

I also had an amazing view of the lunar eclipse tonight. Thank you cloudless night. Even though I've seen an eclipse before, I'm always amazed by it.

What're your thoughts?

So.
I may soon have the opportunity to find a job/adventure that could be anywhere and really could be anything....and could last for about a year. Honestly, I would like it to pay me some cash and it'd be nice if I felt like I was helping people while I'm doing it. I have a few ideas..... but I'm wondering what you would suggest that I do?

(for those in UT - we already know that's one idea. let's think outside the bubble....er box)

Talk to me people.

A caucus virgin no more

For the first time in years, the WA primary vote counts. It's amazing how excited people get when they realize their voice can be heard. Thanks to it, thousands of people showed up to caucus today. We overwhelmed the caucus locations. Many, including myself, had never been to a caucus before and didn't know what to expect.

It really was amazing. Neighbors came together, sat down and actually discussed issues that face our country and that are important to them. We talked about health care, the war in Iraq, poverty, electability of the candidates.... People are so excited for change. So passionate about being a part of that change. An older gentleman who I met today said he hadn't seen anything like it since JFK.

We were given 2 chances to voice who we wanted to choose for our precint's candidate. After the debating and the tallying, our overwhelming support went to Barack Obama. After the vote, we elected delegates to represent our precint at the county level and perhaps all the way up to the national convention. Somehow, I was elected as one of those people. I'm actually really excited about being an active part of the election process. It's an amazing feeling.

I wish that all the states had something like this. Something where people can feel like they've had a chance to voice their opinion at the very least. It also brings a certain sense of community. Something I haven't felt for a very long time.

Here's what it looked like today:

Emotional Intelligence

Do I have any?
Not so sure.

I've always known that I had a weak understanding of my own emotions - to the point that I sometimes couldn't name what I was feeling. Sometimes it was as if I was a 2 year old trying to put words to things. Now that I'm beginning to understand why I've been a slow learner, I wonder if an ol' dog can learn new tricks. Can I really get in touch with my emotions to the point where I can not only recognize my own emotions, but realize the impact they have on others AND choose to interact certain ways so I impact people emotionally in ways that I consciously choose? Seems like a lot. And seems like something I should have learned a while ago. BUT I suppose we all learn certain things in our own time and better to learn late than never.

Let's hope my brain doesn't implode.

Can it be?

I realized last night that my birthday is this week. The big 31. Funny how when I was a kid I'd count the days to my birthday and have week-long celebrations. ok, so I did that in college too. Still, now I barely even remembered it was coming up! What's up with that?

Think if the weather's good I want to go up to my favorite beach/park in Seattle and have a bonfire. Roast marshmallows. Have s'mores. Maybe go out for sushi. Go dancing. Finish off the night with a movie and popcorn at home. Although, there is a monster truck rally in town that day. Never been to one of those. Might make for a memorable birthday. Seriously.

Gave my resume a serious overhaul last week. Now I'm on the job hunt again. Think I'll go for something I actually care about this time instead of a job I take because I can do it or because it's there. Might mean I don't go for a straight writing job, but I think I'm ready for a change.

Was talking with my mom last night. She's had 3 or 4 big things break in her life over the past month and is convinced it's the Universe trying to tell her something. She might be right. Do you think the Universe talks to us in ways like that?

Am I Really Old Enough to Have "Old Friends"?

I have issues with using the term "old friend" because I think both my friend and I would agree that we're not OLD. *sigh*

Anyhow, as I was making our Christmas card list this week I realized there were some friends I wanted to add to my list that I couldn't because time and distance and inconsistency had lost their addresses. No working e-mail address, no working phone numbers....Nada. I've been thinking a lot about mending relationships as I've been reading Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." So I decided to do my own investigative work and try and reconnect with some of my favorite people who I miss.

I'm constantly amazing (and frightened) by how easy it is to find information online. But in this case, I was so excited to find at least one of the people I've been missing. A couple are still eluding me, but I haven't given up hope yet. There's always that Christmas miracle.

It might sound a bit morbid, but death has been on my mind a lot lately. Not my own. But the idea that life is short and that people are always gone too soon. We realized this all too viscerally last year when we lost 7 of our family and friends. Now I feel this deep need to let others know what they mean to me - to not allow life's complications & frustrations get in the way of loving people and letting people know what they mean to me. There's not always time for a second chance or to tell someone later or to wait for an argument to clear. And not being able to tell that person when it's too late is almost worse than the death itself.

Anyway, I'm so excited to find my friends and share life with them again.

money makes the world go around

So. I finally finished and turned in my paper for my economics class. Who knew that you had to write a paper in economics. Go figure. It was about the South Korean economy and ended up being much longer than I'd expected. Still, after learning so much about it I must say I'm impressed with the little country. Can you believe that in the mid-50s the country was poverty-stricken, had basically no infrastructure and was almost completely dependant on foreign aid? Now their cell phones are in millions of American hands and they have one of the largest ship-building industries in the world. Crazy.

Anyway. I've moved on to the next chapter in the book and have just learned that I didn't know what money was. There's actually a definition of money in my book. Check it out: Money is a highly liquid financial asset that's generally accepted in exchange for other goods, is used as a reference in valuing other goods and can be stored as wealth. Whatever happened to just calling them bucks, clams or smackaroos?

Camo couch

What to wear when you're trying to avoid

doing chores around the house.

It was Swell

I went and saw an amazing concert this week.
If you haven't seen the movie Once than you need to. It's about an Irish musician and the connections he makes through his music. It's a simple film, but the music is really powerful. The musicians, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, are now touring with their small acoustic band and performing music from the movie as well as new music they've produced on a new CD.


There were no sets, no crazy light shows and no costume changes. It was a pianist, guitarist/lead singer, bass player, cello and violin. I have never been to a show where I felt so connected to the music and the musicians. They took requests from the thousand+ audience, let a guy who e-mailed their MySpace page propose to his girlfriend on stage, told stories, told jokes....it was awesome. Their band is called The Swell Season. Listen to their music at The Swell Season's MySpace page.
Enjoy!

Seeing red

I dyed my hair back to red today. Have really missed it. Not sure the color I picked is red enough actually. You can barely see the red. Not that I want fire engine red hair or anything, but still. I also painted my nails red today. Been a while since I did that. Both are in an effort to reclaim girlie-ness. Have sort of ignored my female side as of late. Time to bring it back. Truly, red heads have more fun.

Dots not feathers

Feeling a bit Indian tonight. Went and saw the Darjeling Limited after walking down by the shore. Liked the movie. Even though it's about 3 brothers who try and find an emotional connection after their father dies, I found a lot of funny similarities between them and me and my 2 sisters. I suppose we all have our roles to play. Finished the night out with some Indian food (my all time favorite: samosas. although the coconut ice cream we had for dessert was pretty tasty).

Overall it's been a good weekend. Good conversations. Emotional connections. Good times.

Now onto this week.....