Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Everyone Deserves a Lifetime
I'm not sure where to begin in writing about the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I can't believe it's already over! It really flew by (though Past-Walk-in-Progress-Salwa disagrees vehemently), and kind of already seems like a somewhat-distant memory.
The walking was a lot harder than I expected. My longest set of training walks were 18 miles on Sat/15 miles on Sun, and although I knew rationally that 20+ miles, followed by 20+ miles, followed by the remainder would be more challenging, I thought maybe the regular pit stops would mitigate the added mileage. And on the first and third days, I think they did. Day 2, however, was another story.
I was pretty sore and utterly exhausted at the end of the 22 miles on Day 1 (we're talking an 8:15PM bed-time, literally), but I slept like a baby on a cloud and awoke the next day feeling fairly refreshed, all things considered. So the first 5 or so miles of Day 2 felt fine. Then my foot muscles seemed to recall that they didn't actually want to continue being utilized in this manner, and began to throb in protest. Things went slowly downhill as the pain accumulated like little hot zones in my feet. My knees, quads, ankles, and arches joined in the chorus of complaints, sometimes harmonizing, sometimes howling in discord, each vying for my attention.
By mile 14 (of 23), each step was more miserable than the last, until it was all I could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm pretty sure the last 3 miles were modeled after one of those nightmarish, ever-receding hallways whose end the protagonist can never reach. Except the protagonist was also walking on small daggers, business-side up. But reach it we (finally, finally) did, and it was with utter gratitude that I hobbled into camp, into our tent, and collapsed onto my sleeping bag. I stayed there for about an hour, feet tingling as they slowly made their way back to their new baseline, before heading over to the food tent, where I wolfed down about twice as much food as I normally eat.
Day 3 was much easier for me. I'm sure part of it had to do with the fact that we only had 17 miles to walk (pause. do the math. resume.), the fact that it was the last day of walking, and the fact that it was cooler outside. Other than that I don't know why it was physically easier. Don't get me wrong - I was still tired, still sore, and my feet still barked, but it was nowhere nearly as bad as the previous day. Maybe my foot muscles became conditioned? Regardless of the reason, I was grateful.
Steph was a great walking partner. Despite having trained at least as much as I did, she developed blisters on both feet by the end of the first day, and had some arch problems as well. Did she want to quit? Hell yes. Did she? No way. Instead, she walked on blistered feet for another two days. I know how much pain I was in, so I can't even imagine adding blister and severe arch pain to that. She was definitely a trooper, and I admire her perseverance! Stay tuned to her blog for her post-walk update...
Although the physical pain of the walk is still fresh in mind, what I will really remember down the road is the people who cheered us on. The amount of support we were shown was simply overwhelming, and made all the difference in the world. The crew members were fantastic - they encouraged us, entertained us, high-fived us, directed traffic for us, fed us, helped us put up and take down our tents, hauled our gear, answered questions, and always had a smile on their faces.
The cheering stations were utterly incredible; our path was lined with people who clapped for us, cheered for us, blew horns and kazoos and shook cowbells, dressed up in booby-themed costumes, held up signs, misted us with cool water, handed out treats and cold beverages, took our garbage, and high-fived us as we passed. I've never been high-fived so often in my life. People whose houses were on our route came out and cheered for us as well, often armed with treats or signs too. Countless cars, trucks, bikes, and semis passing us on the road honked their support, often accompanied by a waving arm outside the window.
We had a contingency of miscellaneous, memorable people who followed our route and showed up at different spots to help keep us going: a woman in a pinkly-decorated red Bug, a man in a truck with a sign that read "firefighters love cancer fighters," a man with a pink cowboy hat and pink lawn chair who played much-welcomed music on his boombox for us, a gang of manly motorcycle riders decked out in black & white & pink camouflaged shirts, a woman who would shout humorous encouragement into the narrow end of an orange cone, two women who dressed up in pink furry hats and danced as we passed them.
And then there was Jody's Couch. When I first saw this plush, red, little slice of heaven on the corner of Summit and Something, its owner standing near it and urging walkers to take a load off, I thought, "What a GREAT idea! That is so sweet of that man to haul his couch all the way out to the corner for us to rest on!" I passed him smiling, commented to Steph, walked on, and thought of other things. Imagine my surprise when I saw the couch again, miles down the route! He had actually transported this heavy-looking beast to another location, to give walkers yet another chance at resting our weary feet. (This time I did not decline). It didn't end there. I saw him and the couch at several locations on each of the 3 days. I learned later that his wife, Jody, had lost her battle with breast cancer a few years earlier. Although he had originally planned on getting rid of the couch - a favorite of hers - he instead decided to dedicate it to his late wife, and support the walkers in her name.
As I have mentioned before, I am fortunate enough not to personally know anyone who has been touched by this disease. So as much time, effort, and brain-power as I have spent on fund-raising and training for the 3-Day, I was still a little distanced from the cause itself.
That changed with the 3-Day walk. It changed when I passed through the first cheering station, and I first heard the words, "thank you so much for walking." The speaker's eyes gazed straight into mine, and I was struck by the sincerity of his gratitude. That's when it really dawned on me, that I didn't raise money for a faceless cause. I didn't walk hundreds of miles over several months to participate in an interesting lark of a challenge.
I did this for that man who first thanked me, and for the many others who followed. I did this for the woman who held up a sign reading, "thanks to your efforts, I'm a 2x survivor." I did this for the child who drew a picture of her grandmother in chalk on the sidewalk, with a caption reading, "my grandmother is still alive because of you." I did this for the men, often overlooked, who make up 2% of breast cancer cases. I did this for your family, for my family, and for the children I will one day have. I did this for those who could not walk, and so that some day, we might not have to.
So here I sit, the evening after. I'm utterly exhausted. I could have gone to bed 2 hours ago, but I had to get this down first.
The walk is over, but I won't forget the difference we made. The Twin Cities Breast Cancer Walk boasts 3,200 walkers and $7.3 million raised. I am so proud to have been a part of that.
A huge thanks to everyone who donated - it was you who made my participation possible, and helped me raise $2970 (!!); to my parents, who drove straight from a camping trip to a cheering station to lend their support; to Jake, who showed up on not one but all three days, and has been incredibly supportive from the day I registered; and last, but very much not least, to Steph, for undertaking this whole journey with me, and for making sure we crossed that finish line together!
The walking was a lot harder than I expected. My longest set of training walks were 18 miles on Sat/15 miles on Sun, and although I knew rationally that 20+ miles, followed by 20+ miles, followed by the remainder would be more challenging, I thought maybe the regular pit stops would mitigate the added mileage. And on the first and third days, I think they did. Day 2, however, was another story.
I was pretty sore and utterly exhausted at the end of the 22 miles on Day 1 (we're talking an 8:15PM bed-time, literally), but I slept like a baby on a cloud and awoke the next day feeling fairly refreshed, all things considered. So the first 5 or so miles of Day 2 felt fine. Then my foot muscles seemed to recall that they didn't actually want to continue being utilized in this manner, and began to throb in protest. Things went slowly downhill as the pain accumulated like little hot zones in my feet. My knees, quads, ankles, and arches joined in the chorus of complaints, sometimes harmonizing, sometimes howling in discord, each vying for my attention.
By mile 14 (of 23), each step was more miserable than the last, until it was all I could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm pretty sure the last 3 miles were modeled after one of those nightmarish, ever-receding hallways whose end the protagonist can never reach. Except the protagonist was also walking on small daggers, business-side up. But reach it we (finally, finally) did, and it was with utter gratitude that I hobbled into camp, into our tent, and collapsed onto my sleeping bag. I stayed there for about an hour, feet tingling as they slowly made their way back to their new baseline, before heading over to the food tent, where I wolfed down about twice as much food as I normally eat.
Day 3 was much easier for me. I'm sure part of it had to do with the fact that we only had 17 miles to walk (pause. do the math. resume.), the fact that it was the last day of walking, and the fact that it was cooler outside. Other than that I don't know why it was physically easier. Don't get me wrong - I was still tired, still sore, and my feet still barked, but it was nowhere nearly as bad as the previous day. Maybe my foot muscles became conditioned? Regardless of the reason, I was grateful.
Steph was a great walking partner. Despite having trained at least as much as I did, she developed blisters on both feet by the end of the first day, and had some arch problems as well. Did she want to quit? Hell yes. Did she? No way. Instead, she walked on blistered feet for another two days. I know how much pain I was in, so I can't even imagine adding blister and severe arch pain to that. She was definitely a trooper, and I admire her perseverance! Stay tuned to her blog for her post-walk update...
Although the physical pain of the walk is still fresh in mind, what I will really remember down the road is the people who cheered us on. The amount of support we were shown was simply overwhelming, and made all the difference in the world. The crew members were fantastic - they encouraged us, entertained us, high-fived us, directed traffic for us, fed us, helped us put up and take down our tents, hauled our gear, answered questions, and always had a smile on their faces.
The cheering stations were utterly incredible; our path was lined with people who clapped for us, cheered for us, blew horns and kazoos and shook cowbells, dressed up in booby-themed costumes, held up signs, misted us with cool water, handed out treats and cold beverages, took our garbage, and high-fived us as we passed. I've never been high-fived so often in my life. People whose houses were on our route came out and cheered for us as well, often armed with treats or signs too. Countless cars, trucks, bikes, and semis passing us on the road honked their support, often accompanied by a waving arm outside the window.
We had a contingency of miscellaneous, memorable people who followed our route and showed up at different spots to help keep us going: a woman in a pinkly-decorated red Bug, a man in a truck with a sign that read "firefighters love cancer fighters," a man with a pink cowboy hat and pink lawn chair who played much-welcomed music on his boombox for us, a gang of manly motorcycle riders decked out in black & white & pink camouflaged shirts, a woman who would shout humorous encouragement into the narrow end of an orange cone, two women who dressed up in pink furry hats and danced as we passed them.
And then there was Jody's Couch. When I first saw this plush, red, little slice of heaven on the corner of Summit and Something, its owner standing near it and urging walkers to take a load off, I thought, "What a GREAT idea! That is so sweet of that man to haul his couch all the way out to the corner for us to rest on!" I passed him smiling, commented to Steph, walked on, and thought of other things. Imagine my surprise when I saw the couch again, miles down the route! He had actually transported this heavy-looking beast to another location, to give walkers yet another chance at resting our weary feet. (This time I did not decline). It didn't end there. I saw him and the couch at several locations on each of the 3 days. I learned later that his wife, Jody, had lost her battle with breast cancer a few years earlier. Although he had originally planned on getting rid of the couch - a favorite of hers - he instead decided to dedicate it to his late wife, and support the walkers in her name.
As I have mentioned before, I am fortunate enough not to personally know anyone who has been touched by this disease. So as much time, effort, and brain-power as I have spent on fund-raising and training for the 3-Day, I was still a little distanced from the cause itself.
That changed with the 3-Day walk. It changed when I passed through the first cheering station, and I first heard the words, "thank you so much for walking." The speaker's eyes gazed straight into mine, and I was struck by the sincerity of his gratitude. That's when it really dawned on me, that I didn't raise money for a faceless cause. I didn't walk hundreds of miles over several months to participate in an interesting lark of a challenge.
I did this for that man who first thanked me, and for the many others who followed. I did this for the woman who held up a sign reading, "thanks to your efforts, I'm a 2x survivor." I did this for the child who drew a picture of her grandmother in chalk on the sidewalk, with a caption reading, "my grandmother is still alive because of you." I did this for the men, often overlooked, who make up 2% of breast cancer cases. I did this for your family, for my family, and for the children I will one day have. I did this for those who could not walk, and so that some day, we might not have to.
So here I sit, the evening after. I'm utterly exhausted. I could have gone to bed 2 hours ago, but I had to get this down first.
The walk is over, but I won't forget the difference we made. The Twin Cities Breast Cancer Walk boasts 3,200 walkers and $7.3 million raised. I am so proud to have been a part of that.
A huge thanks to everyone who donated - it was you who made my participation possible, and helped me raise $2970 (!!); to my parents, who drove straight from a camping trip to a cheering station to lend their support; to Jake, who showed up on not one but all three days, and has been incredibly supportive from the day I registered; and last, but very much not least, to Steph, for undertaking this whole journey with me, and for making sure we crossed that finish line together!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Too Late to Shoot for $3000?
Last night I reached $2900 in fund-raising!! The big event starts tomorrow (tomorrow!!!!!)...I wonder if it's too late to reach $3000?
It's only $100 away. That's a drop in the bucket, right?
Actually, come to think of it, it's only $80 away. Cyndy, my future ma-in-law (YAY!) was nice enough to bring some rubber duckies to the hospital where she works to sell them, and has sold another round of them.
So there's only $80 left to reach $3000.
Hm...
It's only $100 away. That's a drop in the bucket, right?
Actually, come to think of it, it's only $80 away. Cyndy, my future ma-in-law (YAY!) was nice enough to bring some rubber duckies to the hospital where she works to sell them, and has sold another round of them.
So there's only $80 left to reach $3000.
Hm...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Shorts yesterday...
...mock turtleneck today! Packing for the 3-Day will be interesting :P
There was a race of some sort going on at the lakes this morning. Some random musings/tidbits from today's walk:
Tidbit: Saw a man wearing a shirt with the tags still attached. There's no possible way he couldn't have known they were there, because they were attached near his arm-pit and brushed his arm with every step he took.
Tidbit: It smelled like french fries for a good chunk of the way around Lake Harriet. Don't quite know why.
Musing: A woman walking in the opposite direction of the race-runners cheered them on. By waving two cowbells at them. If I had been running the race, I might have punched her.
Tidusing: I cheated.
As I alluded to in my first sentence, it was cold this morning, so I dressed for it. What I did not dress for was the rain. When it started, I peeked through the trees to see how far away I was from the Lake Harriet Bandshell, and saw the turrets almost directly across from where I was.
Great. It wasn't pouring, but this was no sprinkle, so I was going to get soaked at this pace.
So I started running.
Whoops.
I hadn't run since I tore my meniscus earlier this year, and had actually pretty much decided to get my cardio exercise elsewhere. It's just really hard on my body, and I'm not sure it's worth it.
But man, did it feel good to run. And it got me home faster! Not exactly part of the WALK training regimen, but whatcha gonna do. It rained off and on for awhile, and I did run-walk intervals, until I realized that my knee was bothering me quite a bit. (Again/already? Really? Sigh.)
Can't wait to start hitting Crossfit (and/or kickboxing!!) again!
Till then, it's back to walking for me :)
There was a race of some sort going on at the lakes this morning. Some random musings/tidbits from today's walk:
Tidbit: Saw a man wearing a shirt with the tags still attached. There's no possible way he couldn't have known they were there, because they were attached near his arm-pit and brushed his arm with every step he took.
Tidbit: It smelled like french fries for a good chunk of the way around Lake Harriet. Don't quite know why.
Musing: A woman walking in the opposite direction of the race-runners cheered them on. By waving two cowbells at them. If I had been running the race, I might have punched her.
Tidusing: I cheated.
As I alluded to in my first sentence, it was cold this morning, so I dressed for it. What I did not dress for was the rain. When it started, I peeked through the trees to see how far away I was from the Lake Harriet Bandshell, and saw the turrets almost directly across from where I was.
Great. It wasn't pouring, but this was no sprinkle, so I was going to get soaked at this pace.
So I started running.
Whoops.
I hadn't run since I tore my meniscus earlier this year, and had actually pretty much decided to get my cardio exercise elsewhere. It's just really hard on my body, and I'm not sure it's worth it.
But man, did it feel good to run. And it got me home faster! Not exactly part of the WALK training regimen, but whatcha gonna do. It rained off and on for awhile, and I did run-walk intervals, until I realized that my knee was bothering me quite a bit. (Again/already? Really? Sigh.)
Can't wait to start hitting Crossfit (and/or kickboxing!!) again!
Till then, it's back to walking for me :)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Counting Down...
Two weeks from today, the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk will begin! Actually, exactly 2 weeks from right now I'll probably be in the middle of a 20-24 mile walk - I've heard the 60 miles isn't split quite evenly over the 3 days. I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! While I would never say that the fundraising was easy, I am still a little surprised - and gratified - that I was able to raise that much money in a couple of months! Tomorrow I'll be walking 18 miles for the second time during training - just a small taste of what the 3-day will be like...let the count-down begin...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
18 miles...
Yesterday I walked 18 miles - my longest training walk to date (and the longest scheduled! Wohooo)! I planned my route so that I could stop at home for a lunch break, which I think helped. Jake was so sweet and went out and got me food for lunch so that I wouldn't have to refuel on a frozen meal, or cereal, or condiments :)
Today I walked 14-15 miles and I'm not gonna lie - that last 5 miles was not easy, and I'm really damn tired now. I'm so glad I'm putting the time into training though, because I'm confident that it'll make the 3-day easier. I'm rooting for no blisters! Here are before and after pictures from Saturday...
Before...
After...
PS - Notice anything different about me? ;)
Today I walked 14-15 miles and I'm not gonna lie - that last 5 miles was not easy, and I'm really damn tired now. I'm so glad I'm putting the time into training though, because I'm confident that it'll make the 3-day easier. I'm rooting for no blisters! Here are before and after pictures from Saturday...
Before...
After...
PS - Notice anything different about me? ;)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Ha!
I followed up Saturday's 17-mile walk (I think I was taking shorter, more fatigued strides than I had when I set up my pedometer, so ignore what I said about it actually being 18 miles, and I take back my character-filled comment about google maps) with a nice 13-mile stroll on Sunday.
While I wouldn't say it was easy-breezy, it wasn't horrible. I was definitely sore, definitely tired, but it was definitely doable. (Side note: it was extra nice to have Jake as company yesterday - he rollerbladed alongside me the whole way!)
What's more is that I think if I had to, I could've walked another long distance today. Which is pretty key, since the 3-Day is aptly named for the number of days we'll be spending walking :). So that's really nice to know!
While I wouldn't say it was easy-breezy, it wasn't horrible. I was definitely sore, definitely tired, but it was definitely doable. (Side note: it was extra nice to have Jake as company yesterday - he rollerbladed alongside me the whole way!)
What's more is that I think if I had to, I could've walked another long distance today. Which is pretty key, since the 3-Day is aptly named for the number of days we'll be spending walking :). So that's really nice to know!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
It hurts.
You know when in a movie, people are talking, then it cuts to a scene where Person A is strangling or karate-kicking Person B, and then it cuts back to A & B talking pleasantly, because the violent scene we just saw was all in A's head?
Today, around mile 16 of what would turn out to be an 18-mile walk (instead of 17; @#*@ lying sack of $a%&* google-maps *P$240ng), I didn't even have the energy to imagine that I had the energy to knock that smug jerk off of his skateboard and ride away on it myself, basking in the minimal leg muscle use it took to propel myself. Or - ooh - better yet, find some way to harness the man and make him pull me home.
This isn't what I intended to write.
I intended to write a piece called "breaks," which would discuss how I tend to be a plow-through-it type of girl. In it, I would site the example of when I lived in Madison and made the 4-hour Madison <--> Twin Cities drive regularly, and for the longest time I refused to stop along the way (causing me to dehydrate in an effort to avoid needing to pee, resulting in massive headaches by the time I got to my destination). I would talk about the day I decided to take advantage the rest-stop about halfway there, and how much I enjoyed stretching my legs, and how much better it made the last 2 hours.
Then I would relate that to how I decided for the first time to take breaks on my long walks. Today I had a 30-min lunch break, and even occasionally stopped and sat on a park bench by the lakes. Blah blah blah.
But my legs are twitching, and my brain's on Do-Not-Disturb, and my fingers are doing the dancing. So instead of writing those pleasantries, I write this: OWWWWWWWWWWWW.
It hurts.
Around Lake 1, I watched the people frolicking in the water with only minor jealousy. It was hot out. I'll bet that felt nice. But I had a walk to finish. Around Lake 2, I luxuriated in the shade of the trees. I discovered that the fountain didn't spout metallic-water-of-nastiness. I sat for a moment in the enclosed rest area, sharing the space with some bridesmaids who for some reason were afraid of the two birds flying above us. (They had very pretty green dresses, though). Around Lake 3, my legs started to protest in earnest. They'd had enough of this crap, and they demanded that I stop. I did, for a short break or two, which renewed them briefly.
But eventually, that wasn't enough. It started with the skateboard, whose owner was so boorish as not to heed my silent plea for his wheels. Then there was the nice commemoration boulder with a smooth, flat, inviting side. After that, I stared longingly at every bench I passed. And when I was finally back on the well-trafficked main road to my place, at every car. Sweet, sweet cars. With their selfish, inconsiderate, no-good drivers who zipped on by me instead of stopping and offering a random stranger who was probably making a slightly snarly face at them a ride.
Jerk-faces.
Part of me thinks I should start doing the during-the-week shorter walks too. The rest of me thinks that part of me should be summarily shot and dumped in the woods.
("You want to take the thing that's making you hurt and do it MORE? Are you out of your MIND?!"
"Well what if doing it more frequently makes the longer ones easier? What if-"
SMACK.)
Anyway, I have a super-sexy tan-line now. Around my ankles.
Try to contain your jealousy.
Today, around mile 16 of what would turn out to be an 18-mile walk (instead of 17; @#*@ lying sack of $a%&* google-maps *P$240ng), I didn't even have the energy to imagine that I had the energy to knock that smug jerk off of his skateboard and ride away on it myself, basking in the minimal leg muscle use it took to propel myself. Or - ooh - better yet, find some way to harness the man and make him pull me home.
This isn't what I intended to write.
I intended to write a piece called "breaks," which would discuss how I tend to be a plow-through-it type of girl. In it, I would site the example of when I lived in Madison and made the 4-hour Madison <--> Twin Cities drive regularly, and for the longest time I refused to stop along the way (causing me to dehydrate in an effort to avoid needing to pee, resulting in massive headaches by the time I got to my destination). I would talk about the day I decided to take advantage the rest-stop about halfway there, and how much I enjoyed stretching my legs, and how much better it made the last 2 hours.
Then I would relate that to how I decided for the first time to take breaks on my long walks. Today I had a 30-min lunch break, and even occasionally stopped and sat on a park bench by the lakes. Blah blah blah.
But my legs are twitching, and my brain's on Do-Not-Disturb, and my fingers are doing the dancing. So instead of writing those pleasantries, I write this: OWWWWWWWWWWWW.
It hurts.
Around Lake 1, I watched the people frolicking in the water with only minor jealousy. It was hot out. I'll bet that felt nice. But I had a walk to finish. Around Lake 2, I luxuriated in the shade of the trees. I discovered that the fountain didn't spout metallic-water-of-nastiness. I sat for a moment in the enclosed rest area, sharing the space with some bridesmaids who for some reason were afraid of the two birds flying above us. (They had very pretty green dresses, though). Around Lake 3, my legs started to protest in earnest. They'd had enough of this crap, and they demanded that I stop. I did, for a short break or two, which renewed them briefly.
But eventually, that wasn't enough. It started with the skateboard, whose owner was so boorish as not to heed my silent plea for his wheels. Then there was the nice commemoration boulder with a smooth, flat, inviting side. After that, I stared longingly at every bench I passed. And when I was finally back on the well-trafficked main road to my place, at every car. Sweet, sweet cars. With their selfish, inconsiderate, no-good drivers who zipped on by me instead of stopping and offering a random stranger who was probably making a slightly snarly face at them a ride.
Jerk-faces.
Part of me thinks I should start doing the during-the-week shorter walks too. The rest of me thinks that part of me should be summarily shot and dumped in the woods.
("You want to take the thing that's making you hurt and do it MORE? Are you out of your MIND?!"
"Well what if doing it more frequently makes the longer ones easier? What if-"
SMACK.)
Anyway, I have a super-sexy tan-line now. Around my ankles.
Try to contain your jealousy.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thanks, Mom!!!!
This week I sold baklava at work again. LOTS of baklava.
I had no time whatsoever to help make this batch, so my mom offered to do it. I don't know if any of you are aware of what goes into the baklava-making process, but it's a lot of time and effort, even for a seasoned expert like my mom.
This time around, I gave people the option of pre-ordering plates of baklava (major kudos to Jake for that idea), and I got 17 orders!!! So my mom, who had kindly agreed to making a pan or two before the orders were in, ended up making FOUR pans of baklava, and one pan of another delicious dessert called conaffa, which at the last minute she generously offered to donate for the sale as well.
After packaging up the 17 plates, I still had some baklava leftover to sell by the piece along with the conaffa. So I set up a station upstairs in the lunchroom, added a pond of rubber duckies, and $180 later, all but a few ducks were gone!!
Thank you to everyone who bought my mom's delicious desserts or my cute little rubber duckies, thanks again to Jake for coming up with the great idea to offer pre-ordering, and A HUGE THANK-YOU TO MY MOM for taking the time and effort to make all the tasty goodness that sold so well!
I had no time whatsoever to help make this batch, so my mom offered to do it. I don't know if any of you are aware of what goes into the baklava-making process, but it's a lot of time and effort, even for a seasoned expert like my mom.
This time around, I gave people the option of pre-ordering plates of baklava (major kudos to Jake for that idea), and I got 17 orders!!! So my mom, who had kindly agreed to making a pan or two before the orders were in, ended up making FOUR pans of baklava, and one pan of another delicious dessert called conaffa, which at the last minute she generously offered to donate for the sale as well.
After packaging up the 17 plates, I still had some baklava leftover to sell by the piece along with the conaffa. So I set up a station upstairs in the lunchroom, added a pond of rubber duckies, and $180 later, all but a few ducks were gone!!
Thank you to everyone who bought my mom's delicious desserts or my cute little rubber duckies, thanks again to Jake for coming up with the great idea to offer pre-ordering, and A HUGE THANK-YOU TO MY MOM for taking the time and effort to make all the tasty goodness that sold so well!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Bowling for Boobies - a HUGE SUCCESS!!!
If you even skim this blog, then you're well aware that we held a bowling fundraiser last Thursday. I'm afraid I gave the outcome away in the title, but who cares! It went really, really well. People came, made merry, bowled, bid on silent auction items (all of which sold!), and generally had a great time. All in all we made a total of $662!! Incidentally, this puts both Steph and I over the minimum required to participate in the walk, so we're both relieved :)
Special thank-yous:
Park Tavern - for letting us use lanes and shoes free of charge, and even discounting the pizza we bought for everyone! They were extremely nice, too.
Trader Joe's, Future Concepts Spa & Salon, Caribou Coffee, Noodles & Co., Harvest Moon, Natalie, and Jake - for donating gift certificates or items for the silent auction
Jessica - for being acting cashier for a good chunk of the night
EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO SUPPORT US - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
And now, some pictures.
Kat, Katy & I
Zack, Carrie, Matt & Mike
Virginia, Jeremy, Amanda, Chris
Thumbs up for boobies! And bowling! (me & Ryan)
Me and Shanda!
The group from afar
Silent auction & duckie adoption
Chillin
Mike & Matt
Just to document my awesome comeback. Also, Ryan's subsequent high score doesn't count.
Bowling fun
Me, Shanda, Tammy & Steph at the end of the night!
Friday, August 1, 2008
To Reimburse Myself, Or Not...
So, Bowling for Boobies was SO fun (despite my exhaustion), and a HUGE success! I will give this topic its own post as soon as I upload the pictures from my camera, but right now I'm considering something else...
Aside from gear and shoes, I have spent a couple of small-to-medium chunks of money on various merchandise for fundraisers. Jake and I bought pop, water, and snacks for the first garage sale. I didn't reimburse myself for that stuff and won't now, either - I brought some to the Walmart fundraiser, and will bring it to the next garage sale, and maybe just give the rest away. I got the stuff at Costco so I didn't spend too much on it.
However, Steph and I bought some 3-day merchandise to sell, and split the cost. It wasn't terribly cheap, so I'm debating recouping the cost. After last night, I've officially exceeded the minimum to participate (WOOHOO!!!!), and it wouldn't really affect my donations too much to pay myself back and donate only the profits. And it would make my wallet happy.
Hm. Thinky thinky.
Aside from gear and shoes, I have spent a couple of small-to-medium chunks of money on various merchandise for fundraisers. Jake and I bought pop, water, and snacks for the first garage sale. I didn't reimburse myself for that stuff and won't now, either - I brought some to the Walmart fundraiser, and will bring it to the next garage sale, and maybe just give the rest away. I got the stuff at Costco so I didn't spend too much on it.
However, Steph and I bought some 3-day merchandise to sell, and split the cost. It wasn't terribly cheap, so I'm debating recouping the cost. After last night, I've officially exceeded the minimum to participate (WOOHOO!!!!), and it wouldn't really affect my donations too much to pay myself back and donate only the profits. And it would make my wallet happy.
Hm. Thinky thinky.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Bowling for Boobies this Thursday!
Our Bowling Fundraiser is coming up in two days, and I'm really excited for it! As I may have mentioned 1 or 4 trillion times, absolutely everyone is invited. Even if you haven't RSVPed and want to show up, please do - the more, the merrier!
Because the Park Tavern is so cool, they're charging us $0.00 for shoes & lanes, so 100% of what you pay goes towards our fundraising efforts. Additionally, we're holding a silent auction with such cool items as a gift certificate to my favorite spa, a gift bag from Trader Joe's, some cool Caribou mugs, and more!
Here are the details again. We hope to see you there!
Where: Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, MN
When: Thursday July 31, 6pm
What: BOWLING!!! For a suggested donation of only $20, you'll get free snacks, free shoe rental, and free bowling all night! Remember, you could easily spend $20 on a couple of games and shoes anyways; this way ALL the money goes towards a great cause!
Who: You, your sweetie-pie shmookums, your kids, your best friend, your arch-nemesis, your neighbor, that guy at the bus stop you always say hello to in the mornings...you're all invited!
Because the Park Tavern is so cool, they're charging us $0.00 for shoes & lanes, so 100% of what you pay goes towards our fundraising efforts. Additionally, we're holding a silent auction with such cool items as a gift certificate to my favorite spa, a gift bag from Trader Joe's, some cool Caribou mugs, and more!
Here are the details again. We hope to see you there!
Where: Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, MN
When: Thursday July 31, 6pm
What: BOWLING!!! For a suggested donation of only $20, you'll get free snacks, free shoe rental, and free bowling all night! Remember, you could easily spend $20 on a couple of games and shoes anyways; this way ALL the money goes towards a great cause!
Who: You, your sweetie-pie shmookums, your kids, your best friend, your arch-nemesis, your neighbor, that guy at the bus stop you always say hello to in the mornings...you're all invited!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Walmart Fundraiser
Steph and I spent a good chunk of this weekend sitting outside the Eden Prairie Walmart, selling pink ribbon merchandise. I have to say, I had pretty high expectations for sales (from what I'd read on the 3-day message boards), and unfortunately, we pulled in a lot less than I thought we would.
However, we both walked away with a nice chunk of change and a greater appreciation for the efforts entailed in fund-raising. I think we each privately vowed never to blow off someone who is trying to raise money for a cause like this! We had plenty of very nice people approach us and make donations (some asking for nothing in return), and thank us for what we are doing.
Here are some pictures from the event, including some shots of our merchandise. We do have some of everything left over, so if you're interested in making a donation/purchase, let me know!
On Saturday, a sudden rainstorm blew in. Luckily there was an overhang outside the store, so we just moved everything about 10 feet back, and stayed mostly dry!
Duckies watching the rain...
Steph
Me
Pink ribbon rubber duckies in their pool
They're really cute, and were a great hit!
People also really liked the assorted yellow rubber duckies.
Pink ribbon post-it pads
Pink rubber bracelets: Faith, Hope, Strength, and Survivor
I've started dabbling in acrylic painting, and painted a few 4x4 canvases. One sold, four to go!
Today we had a visit from Jessica and her friend! Here she is picking out triplets.
Thanks for coming down, we really appreciate the support!!
However, we both walked away with a nice chunk of change and a greater appreciation for the efforts entailed in fund-raising. I think we each privately vowed never to blow off someone who is trying to raise money for a cause like this! We had plenty of very nice people approach us and make donations (some asking for nothing in return), and thank us for what we are doing.
Here are some pictures from the event, including some shots of our merchandise. We do have some of everything left over, so if you're interested in making a donation/purchase, let me know!
On Saturday, a sudden rainstorm blew in. Luckily there was an overhang outside the store, so we just moved everything about 10 feet back, and stayed mostly dry!
Duckies watching the rain...
Steph
Me
Pink ribbon rubber duckies in their pool
They're really cute, and were a great hit!
People also really liked the assorted yellow rubber duckies.
Pink ribbon post-it pads
Pink rubber bracelets: Faith, Hope, Strength, and Survivor
I've started dabbling in acrylic painting, and painted a few 4x4 canvases. One sold, four to go!
Today we had a visit from Jessica and her friend! Here she is picking out triplets.
Thanks for coming down, we really appreciate the support!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Upcoming Fundraisers
Steph and I have two fundraisers coming up that we're both really excited about!
Where: Eden Prairie Walmart
When: Saturday July 19th, 1pm-ish
What: After breezing through a 7am, 14-mile walk, Steph and I will be sitting outside the Walmart in Eden Prairie selling pink ribbon merchandise and cold beverages, and soliciting donations. If you're in the area, please stop on by!
Where: Park Tavern
When: Thursday July 31, 6pm
What: BOWLING!!! For a suggested donation of only $20, you'll get free snacks, free shoe rental, and free bowling all night! Remember, you could easily spend $20 on a couple of games and shoes anyways; this way ALL the money goes towards a great cause! Additionally, we're gathering some great items (like a $50 spa gift certificate, Trader Joe's goodies, and more!) and will be auctioning them off.
Who: YOU! If you've gotten an evite for this, please RSVP - feel free to bring anyone you please! If you didn't get an evite, you are reading this so you are invited! Please leave a comment if you plan on attending so we can get an accurate head-count.
I will definitely post updates to let everyone know how these fundraisers go!
Where: Eden Prairie Walmart
When: Saturday July 19th, 1pm-ish
What: After breezing through a 7am, 14-mile walk, Steph and I will be sitting outside the Walmart in Eden Prairie selling pink ribbon merchandise and cold beverages, and soliciting donations. If you're in the area, please stop on by!
Where: Park Tavern
When: Thursday July 31, 6pm
What: BOWLING!!! For a suggested donation of only $20, you'll get free snacks, free shoe rental, and free bowling all night! Remember, you could easily spend $20 on a couple of games and shoes anyways; this way ALL the money goes towards a great cause! Additionally, we're gathering some great items (like a $50 spa gift certificate, Trader Joe's goodies, and more!) and will be auctioning them off.
Who: YOU! If you've gotten an evite for this, please RSVP - feel free to bring anyone you please! If you didn't get an evite, you are reading this so you are invited! Please leave a comment if you plan on attending so we can get an accurate head-count.
I will definitely post updates to let everyone know how these fundraisers go!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Vacation!! (er...training update)
Last weekend we got back from a wonderful vacation to Glacier National Park in MT! Given that we spent about 17 or 18 hours in the car each way, and a good bit of time driving around there, I'm happy that we still logged at least 37 miles of hiking for the trip. It was a pretty active vacation, so I'm not too worried about having gotten behind on my training, even if I didn't quite get all the miles in!
I think the best part of it was that we were there over my birthday (I'm 27, folks!) and we did our absolute favorite hike on that day, to Iceberg Lake. I like the concept of doing something special on one's birthday, and I would say this sure as heck qualified!
The mountains were just beautiful. We got weather ranging from 55/rainy to 95/sunny, hiked over all sorts of terrain (plains, fields, rocky, creek-filled, snow-covered), went white-water rafting (nowhere near as cool as the river we did in Costa Rica, but that's ok), saw some wildlife (moose, deer, a toad, cows - yes, cows - mountain goats, a marmot, prairie dogs, elk from a distance, and a large, black spider in the snow, which just didn't seem natural) and generally just had a fabulous time!
Here are a few pictures from the trip:
Day 1 in Glacier National Park!
Gorgeous mountains
From the Going-to-the-Sun Road
On the Iceberg Lake Trail
By Iceberg Lake!
I think the best part of it was that we were there over my birthday (I'm 27, folks!) and we did our absolute favorite hike on that day, to Iceberg Lake. I like the concept of doing something special on one's birthday, and I would say this sure as heck qualified!
The mountains were just beautiful. We got weather ranging from 55/rainy to 95/sunny, hiked over all sorts of terrain (plains, fields, rocky, creek-filled, snow-covered), went white-water rafting (nowhere near as cool as the river we did in Costa Rica, but that's ok), saw some wildlife (moose, deer, a toad, cows - yes, cows - mountain goats, a marmot, prairie dogs, elk from a distance, and a large, black spider in the snow, which just didn't seem natural) and generally just had a fabulous time!
Here are a few pictures from the trip:
Day 1 in Glacier National Park!
Gorgeous mountains
From the Going-to-the-Sun Road
On the Iceberg Lake Trail
By Iceberg Lake!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
My Legs are Considering Leaving Me
Girl pulls on her workout shorts, then her socks, then her shoes.
Legs: Oh. We're doing that thing again, aren't we?
Girl: Yep! You pumped?
Legs: (pause) Not really. How far are we going this time?
Girl: 13 miles.
Legs: Yikes. The longest we've done is 10.
Girl: I know! Isn't it exciting?
Legs: Whatever.
At 1.5 miles
Legs: Our feet kind of hurt.
Girl: Don't worry, we're just getting warmed up. It'll go away.
Legs: Well...ok.
At 5 miles
Girl: How's it going down there?
Legs: Ok, we guess. Our muscles are warm and we've found a rhythm, so that's good. We're a little tired though. I mean, we know it's only been 5 miles, but we haven't done this in awhile.
Girl: What about Iceberg Lake? That was 10 miles AND up a mountain.
Legs: Yeah, but that was over a week ago. And a few days later we sat in a car for 17 hours, so...
At 6.5 miles
Legs: Good God. We're only halfway there?!
Girl: You're not really the glass-half-full kind, are you?
Legs: We're tiiiiiiiired.
Girl: You're whiiiiining. That's not going to get us there faster, so quit.
At 9 miles
Girl hangs up the phone.
Legs: HI! HELLO! WE'RE STILL HERE!!
Girl: Oh - you again. I'd forgotten about you.
Legs: We know. That's why we're saying hello. Because you seem to have gotten distracted from what we've been trying to tell you: OW OW OW. THIS FREAKING HURTS.
Girl: Yeah, yeah. I hear ya.
Legs: No, we don't think you do. We. Are. Tired. We're sore, and its so super-special that you're giving us constant water and energy snacks and all, but nothing is a substitute for NOT WALKING. Give us a freaking break! Literally!
Girl: No. We're training. We've only gone 9 miles and have 4 to go, which is nothing next to the 60 we're slated for in September.
Legs: 60 MILES?! [expletives] Why the [expletive] would you something so [expletive expletive expletive] stupid?!?!?!
Girl: To fight breast cancer! We've had this conversation before! Sometimes I swear you have no brains...
Legs: What's a breast?
Girl: (sighs) Never mind. Just trust me: it's for a good cause.
Legs mutter to themselves.
At 12 miles
Legs: We're sorry we got mad.
Girl: It's ok.
Legs: We're just tired.
Girl: I know.
Legs: Only 1 mile to go though, right?
Girl slowly looks around.
Girl: Uh...
Legs: Right?
Girl: Hold on a sec.
Girl shakes her head.
Girl: (to herself) Did I miss the turn-off?
Legs: Did you WHAT?
At 12.55 miles
Girl hangs up the phone.
Girl: Ok. I have a plan.
Legs: Does that plan get us home in 0.45 miles?
Girl: Well, no.
Legs stay sullenly silent.
Girl: But it'll be faster than going all the way around this lake twice.
Legs still silent.
Girl: Look, I'm sorry, all right? I zoned out. I didn't mean to miss the turn. Do you think I wanted to walk longer than 13 miles?
Legs: (curtly) It's fine.
Girl: No, it's not fine! You're tired! I didn't bring extra snacks! I only have a third of a bottle of water left! We're totally unprepared to walk longer!
Legs: (sigh) It's ok. We're tired, but it's not like we can't do this. We don't need more snacks or water, really. We'll be fine; don't worry.
At 13.5 miles
Legs: How are we doing?
Girl: We're doing ok. I know where we are, so that's good.
Legs: I'll bet we're not far. We're tired...oh, sorry. We know you know. Can't help talking about it though.
Girl: I know. It's ok, I'm tired too.
Stomach: Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhear your conversation, and would like to take a moment of your time to make an announcement, if I may.
Girl: (tiredly) What is it?
Stomach: GURGLE!! GARBELTY-GOO! GARGLEY EMPTY GOORRRGLY HUNGRY GEAROODL SPORTS BEANS ALREADY PROCESSED GARGLE GARGLE BIG JUICY BURGER GARGLE GEEGLE GOORGY-GROG!!!!!
Legs: Pipe down up there! Don't you know she's tired? She doesn't need your two cents!
Stomach: (sniffs) Grumblies.
At 14.5 miles
Girl: Look guys! There's the building! We're there!
Legs: We're not climbing any stairs.
Girl: What are stairs? We're going to step into a magical box and push a magical button that will take us all the way to the 3rd floor without a vertical step on your part! Oh glorious day!
Girl enters the apartment
Girl: We're home!!!!
Legs: HURRAY!! Now sit down and never move again.
Stomach: Get thee to a kitchen, woman, and fill me with foodstuffs!!
Girl: Sorry, stomach, the floor's closer. Peace out.
And that's the story of how I accidentally walked 14.5 miles, my longest training walk to date.
For the record, I did take the stairs - but only b/c they were closer than the elevator.
I would also like to thank Veronica for fixing me a salad when I got home!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Did you get a Thank-You??
Shortly after posting this, I did in fact go through and send out thank-you emails to everyone who'd made a donation. Since then, I've stayed caught up and have sent out emails as the donations have come in. However, a friend of mine said something to make me think she hadn't gotten my email...and now I'm worried they're not going out properly.
If you donated, did you get a thank-you email from me??
If you donated, did you get a thank-you email from me??
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
It's NOT a fanny pack! (aka WALKING GEAR)
Last Saturday I went to a shoe clinic at Marathon Sports in Edina, and it was fantastic. I'd bought running shoes from them before, so I knew they'd do a good job, and they did not disappoint. The owner, John, ran the clinic and was super-nice and very helpful. Because I sat in the front (like a good little student), he ended up being the one to fit me for a pair of shoes. He didn't rush me, had me try on about 4 or 5 pairs, offered advice along the way, and made sure I was totally comfortable with the ones I liked best.
I plan on alternating between the new pair and my old running shoes, which he looked at and said are still perfectly viable. (I wouldn't have believed him otherwise, b/c I retired them as running shoes and have been doing my walks in them for awhile now with no trouble at all).
Here's what I ended up with, and no, I didn't pick them b/c they have pink in them!
Almost (or just?) as important as the shoes are the socks. Again, I've worn their socks for running and loved them, so I bought another pack (even after they gave us each a free pair).
Now, when I first registered for the walk, I said to myself, Self, we're NOT getting a fanny pack. We will find another way to transport water and food on long walks, because we'll be darned if we're going to walk around looking like we came out of the 1980s.
I thought maybe a mini-sling bag would do. Ha. One short walk on a hot day and I knew that wasn't going to fly. I'm not going to chafe for fashion! So at Marathon Sports I picked up a great hydration waist pack and tested it out (w/my own water bottle) on my 10 mile walk. I loved how comfortably it wore, but unfortunately, it didn't have pockets large enough to hold anything but my keys. I know I'll want to take my camera on some walks, and especially on the 3-Day Walk itself. So it must go back.
I bought this to replace it and will test it out this Saturday (again w/my own water bottle). Please note that as it's seated on my back, it is NOT a fanny pack. Thank you.
As lovely as the weather has been thus far this spring (that's highly sarcastic for the non-MN folk), I thought it best to be prepared in the event of rain. I haven't been able to bring myself to wear these yet, but if it's pouring on a long walk day then I surely will.
My rain pants:
But anyone who's lived in MN knows how out of whack our seasons are these days, so I need to be prepared for hot weather too.
With that in mind, I bought this:
But wait! you cry. What kind of sense does it make to wear a skirt on long walks? Has she no sense of practicality?!
Ah, but look again:
I wore this skort on my long walk last Saturday, and LOVED it.
As I may have mentioned once or twice, last Saturday I walked 10 miles. This was my longest walk yet, and I anticipated being utterly useless afterwards. However, I felt great the whole way, and wasn't even particularly tired afterwards! The next day's 6-mile walk was another story. I hated every minute of it. My energy was low, and I was exhausted and crabby during and after the walk. Besides the fact that my legs were sore to begin with on Sunday, the other difference was that on Saturday I drank water throughout the walk, and also had some Jelly Belly Sports Beans when I felt myself getting a little tired. On Sunday I did neither of these things. Turns out that even 6 miles is long enough to warrant water and/or food! Lesson learned!
Here are some sports snacks I bought to try:
Hopefully now I'm all set with the basics! Bring on the long walks...
I plan on alternating between the new pair and my old running shoes, which he looked at and said are still perfectly viable. (I wouldn't have believed him otherwise, b/c I retired them as running shoes and have been doing my walks in them for awhile now with no trouble at all).
Here's what I ended up with, and no, I didn't pick them b/c they have pink in them!
Almost (or just?) as important as the shoes are the socks. Again, I've worn their socks for running and loved them, so I bought another pack (even after they gave us each a free pair).
Now, when I first registered for the walk, I said to myself, Self, we're NOT getting a fanny pack. We will find another way to transport water and food on long walks, because we'll be darned if we're going to walk around looking like we came out of the 1980s.
I thought maybe a mini-sling bag would do. Ha. One short walk on a hot day and I knew that wasn't going to fly. I'm not going to chafe for fashion! So at Marathon Sports I picked up a great hydration waist pack and tested it out (w/my own water bottle) on my 10 mile walk. I loved how comfortably it wore, but unfortunately, it didn't have pockets large enough to hold anything but my keys. I know I'll want to take my camera on some walks, and especially on the 3-Day Walk itself. So it must go back.
I bought this to replace it and will test it out this Saturday (again w/my own water bottle). Please note that as it's seated on my back, it is NOT a fanny pack. Thank you.
As lovely as the weather has been thus far this spring (that's highly sarcastic for the non-MN folk), I thought it best to be prepared in the event of rain. I haven't been able to bring myself to wear these yet, but if it's pouring on a long walk day then I surely will.
My rain pants:
But anyone who's lived in MN knows how out of whack our seasons are these days, so I need to be prepared for hot weather too.
With that in mind, I bought this:
But wait! you cry. What kind of sense does it make to wear a skirt on long walks? Has she no sense of practicality?!
Ah, but look again:
I wore this skort on my long walk last Saturday, and LOVED it.
As I may have mentioned once or twice, last Saturday I walked 10 miles. This was my longest walk yet, and I anticipated being utterly useless afterwards. However, I felt great the whole way, and wasn't even particularly tired afterwards! The next day's 6-mile walk was another story. I hated every minute of it. My energy was low, and I was exhausted and crabby during and after the walk. Besides the fact that my legs were sore to begin with on Sunday, the other difference was that on Saturday I drank water throughout the walk, and also had some Jelly Belly Sports Beans when I felt myself getting a little tired. On Sunday I did neither of these things. Turns out that even 6 miles is long enough to warrant water and/or food! Lesson learned!
Here are some sports snacks I bought to try:
Hopefully now I'm all set with the basics! Bring on the long walks...
Monday, June 16, 2008
"Triple Negative"
I came across this article on a rare form of breast cancer called triple negative.
Read on...
http://us.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/06/16/hm.triple.neg.breast.cancer/index.html
Read on...
http://us.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/06/16/hm.triple.neg.breast.cancer/index.html
Friday, June 13, 2008
Planz
That's right, folks, I am officially over my mini-panic and back into the realm of excitement.
Because Team Rack Attack gots planz. Oh yes.
What's that? You want to know more? Well, ok!
One idea I had was to host a bowling party, and instead of making people pay to bowl and rent shoes, have a suggested minimum participation fee. Obviously that's contingent on getting a bowling alley to donate lanes, because let's face it, if I could eat that fee, I wouldn't be so worried about getting donations!
A few years back, I helped my friend Kim fund-raise for her Team-in-Training marathon, which benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I remember spending some time on the phone with the manager/owner of a local bowling alley, explaining to him what a nice thing it would be for him to give up a few lanes for this great cause. It took some gentle persuasion to get him to agree, but agree he did, and if I remember right, it was a great success.
So now that I live in the Twin Cities (oh so much bigger and more impersonal), I fully expected to have to call up multiple bowling alleys till I found one that wouldn't laugh me off the phone, and then sweet-talk them into donating a few lanes on some obscure night that wouldn't cost them too much business. Can't say I was looking forward to it.
Enter Park Tavern in Saint Louis Park.
Steph and I had planned on dining and strategizing there yesterday, so I was checking out their website. That's where I saw it. They actually have a POLICY on fundraising, which is basically this:
"Wanna host a fundraiser here? Ok."
That's it. No cajoling necessary. Free lanes and shoes for all.
Todd, the very nice man behind the desk, was not only extremely friendly and accommodating, but actually shared a few tips with us from a fundraiser they held for a staff member who got - and beat - breast cancer. (They raised $12,000 - yes, that's the right number of zeroes. Inspiring!!)
Needless to say, Steph and I are pumped for this event!
Stay tuned for more details, because if you're reading this, you're invited. I don't care if you live in Alaska, or have never met me. You're invited.
Because Team Rack Attack gots planz. Oh yes.
What's that? You want to know more? Well, ok!
One idea I had was to host a bowling party, and instead of making people pay to bowl and rent shoes, have a suggested minimum participation fee. Obviously that's contingent on getting a bowling alley to donate lanes, because let's face it, if I could eat that fee, I wouldn't be so worried about getting donations!
A few years back, I helped my friend Kim fund-raise for her Team-in-Training marathon, which benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I remember spending some time on the phone with the manager/owner of a local bowling alley, explaining to him what a nice thing it would be for him to give up a few lanes for this great cause. It took some gentle persuasion to get him to agree, but agree he did, and if I remember right, it was a great success.
So now that I live in the Twin Cities (oh so much bigger and more impersonal), I fully expected to have to call up multiple bowling alleys till I found one that wouldn't laugh me off the phone, and then sweet-talk them into donating a few lanes on some obscure night that wouldn't cost them too much business. Can't say I was looking forward to it.
Enter Park Tavern in Saint Louis Park.
Steph and I had planned on dining and strategizing there yesterday, so I was checking out their website. That's where I saw it. They actually have a POLICY on fundraising, which is basically this:
"Wanna host a fundraiser here? Ok."
That's it. No cajoling necessary. Free lanes and shoes for all.
Todd, the very nice man behind the desk, was not only extremely friendly and accommodating, but actually shared a few tips with us from a fundraiser they held for a staff member who got - and beat - breast cancer. (They raised $12,000 - yes, that's the right number of zeroes. Inspiring!!)
Needless to say, Steph and I are pumped for this event!
Stay tuned for more details, because if you're reading this, you're invited. I don't care if you live in Alaska, or have never met me. You're invited.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Mini-Panic
It's going to be fine. I know it is.
But when I think about the amount of money I still have to raise ($1050 to meet the minimum to walk, $1350 to make goal), and the fact that I don't have any more fundraising events planned as of just yet, and the fact that I have plans (ranging from tentative to concrete) for all but one weekend from now until August, I can't help but feel a small twinge of panic.
It almost - almost - makes me want to run to my 3-Day page and send out a reminder email to everyone on my list, mentioning casually that although 3 months and 8 days might seem like plenty of time to get their donation in, it's not, in fact it's hardly any time at all and seeing the number on my little donation thermometer thingy stay stagnant for so long is kind of freaking me out so FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD WON'T YOU PLEASE GO TO MY PAGE AND DONATE RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE?!?!??!?
Deep breath.
But I won't do that of course, because it's fine. The most recent donation was made 9 days ago, which I suppose isn't that long, is it? And I do have $1150 so far, most of which was raised in about a month, which is kind of a lot, isn't it? And I'm meeting with Steph tomorrow (yay!) to plan some mutual fundraising events, and I'm sure we'll find a way to schedule them sooner rather than later, won't we?
I'm a glass-half-full kinda girl, most of the time.
It's going to be fine.
But when I think about the amount of money I still have to raise ($1050 to meet the minimum to walk, $1350 to make goal), and the fact that I don't have any more fundraising events planned as of just yet, and the fact that I have plans (ranging from tentative to concrete) for all but one weekend from now until August, I can't help but feel a small twinge of panic.
It almost - almost - makes me want to run to my 3-Day page and send out a reminder email to everyone on my list, mentioning casually that although 3 months and 8 days might seem like plenty of time to get their donation in, it's not, in fact it's hardly any time at all and seeing the number on my little donation thermometer thingy stay stagnant for so long is kind of freaking me out so FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD WON'T YOU PLEASE GO TO MY PAGE AND DONATE RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE?!?!??!?
Deep breath.
But I won't do that of course, because it's fine. The most recent donation was made 9 days ago, which I suppose isn't that long, is it? And I do have $1150 so far, most of which was raised in about a month, which is kind of a lot, isn't it? And I'm meeting with Steph tomorrow (yay!) to plan some mutual fundraising events, and I'm sure we'll find a way to schedule them sooner rather than later, won't we?
I'm a glass-half-full kinda girl, most of the time.
It's going to be fine.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Thank-You Letters
When I first started getting donations, I envisioned waiting until I reached my goal before sending out thank-you emails. I'm not really sure why that is, and as the money kept rolling in (almost half-way there as of today!), I started feeling uncomfortable with my decision. I don't want people to feel like their donations are going unnoticed and unappreciated, when the case is very much the opposite!
So I've decided I need to start sending out thank-you emails as I recieve notice of the donations. I haven't had time to catch up yet, but I am going to start working on that soon.
So if you've donated and haven't heard from me - THANK YOU! I promise I'll get you a "real" thank-you letter soon.
If you haven't donated because you've heard from someone who has that I'm a real ingrate who can't even be bothered to send a thank-you note, rest assured that that's not the case, and donate away ;)
So I've decided I need to start sending out thank-you emails as I recieve notice of the donations. I haven't had time to catch up yet, but I am going to start working on that soon.
So if you've donated and haven't heard from me - THANK YOU! I promise I'll get you a "real" thank-you letter soon.
If you haven't donated because you've heard from someone who has that I'm a real ingrate who can't even be bothered to send a thank-you note, rest assured that that's not the case, and donate away ;)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Today's Walk Sighting
A tall man wearing black dress pants and a long-sleeved white dress shirt.
And wrist guards.
Roller-blading.
And wrist guards.
Roller-blading.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Getting Lost
As great as Gmaps is, it does have one siginificant drawback: it doesn't know everything.
For example, it doesn't know that some streets have different names depending on where you are. So when you're walking around Lake Calhoun and are looking for Lake Harriet Parkway so you can hop over to that lake and complete the 7-mile loop you carefully planned out for yourself, you end up missing it completely. Because the street is not called Lake Harriet Parkway at that point. It's called William Berry Parkway. Naturally. So instead, you end up walking around Lake of the Isles, because fortunately you've found and used the secret canal under the bridge connecting those two lakes before (not labelled on gmaps, incidentally).
It also doesn't know whether a lake is completely walk-around-able. (There's gotta be a better word for that, but it's eluding me). So, even though I had a nagging feeling that there's a reason I never ran all the way around Cedar Lake back when I was running, I still set out in that direction. I walked around part of it, and then the walking path just stopped. I'm pretty sure that what I ended up on was the Cedar Lake Bike Trail. Oops.
I decided that the sensible thing to do, since I had no way to track the miles I'd walked, would be to walk out about an hour and then turn around and follow the same path home. (A 3mph pace - fairly conservative for me since I'm generally a fast walker - would give me 6 miles roundtrip).
It was a genius plan, and as I began walking back, I congratulated myself smugly until I noticed a house I hadn't seen on the way out.
'Huh. That's odd,' I thought.
'Must've zoned out,' I concluded.
Till I saw a street I was sure I hadn't crossed before. I stopped, scratched my head, shrugged, and decided to turn.
Even now, looking at a map, I'm not sure how I ended up back at the Lake of the Isles. I wandered through neighborhoods, counting on my very vague inner compass to tell me which way to turn. I sometimes went down streets that curved back in on themselves, but I'm pretty sure I never went in the "wrong" direction. (Hey, that's a feat for me). I don't know how far out of my way I went, but at least I got my 6 miles in!
Aside: The weather people had been promising rain for that day, and it was so muggy out that I wished it would. I wore a baseball hat, and the hat/humidity combo did lovely things for my hair.
See?
For example, it doesn't know that some streets have different names depending on where you are. So when you're walking around Lake Calhoun and are looking for Lake Harriet Parkway so you can hop over to that lake and complete the 7-mile loop you carefully planned out for yourself, you end up missing it completely. Because the street is not called Lake Harriet Parkway at that point. It's called William Berry Parkway. Naturally. So instead, you end up walking around Lake of the Isles, because fortunately you've found and used the secret canal under the bridge connecting those two lakes before (not labelled on gmaps, incidentally).
It also doesn't know whether a lake is completely walk-around-able. (There's gotta be a better word for that, but it's eluding me). So, even though I had a nagging feeling that there's a reason I never ran all the way around Cedar Lake back when I was running, I still set out in that direction. I walked around part of it, and then the walking path just stopped. I'm pretty sure that what I ended up on was the Cedar Lake Bike Trail. Oops.
I decided that the sensible thing to do, since I had no way to track the miles I'd walked, would be to walk out about an hour and then turn around and follow the same path home. (A 3mph pace - fairly conservative for me since I'm generally a fast walker - would give me 6 miles roundtrip).
It was a genius plan, and as I began walking back, I congratulated myself smugly until I noticed a house I hadn't seen on the way out.
'Huh. That's odd,' I thought.
'Must've zoned out,' I concluded.
Till I saw a street I was sure I hadn't crossed before. I stopped, scratched my head, shrugged, and decided to turn.
Even now, looking at a map, I'm not sure how I ended up back at the Lake of the Isles. I wandered through neighborhoods, counting on my very vague inner compass to tell me which way to turn. I sometimes went down streets that curved back in on themselves, but I'm pretty sure I never went in the "wrong" direction. (Hey, that's a feat for me). I don't know how far out of my way I went, but at least I got my 6 miles in!
Aside: The weather people had been promising rain for that day, and it was so muggy out that I wished it would. I wore a baseball hat, and the hat/humidity combo did lovely things for my hair.
See?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Baklava Sale
For those of you who don't know, I'm Egyptian (by blood; American-Egyptian by nationality), and my mom makes the best baklava you'll ever taste. Yes, baklava is originally a Greek dessert, but Egyptians have adapted it and made it their own, and my mom's is simply amazing.
Last weekend, I finally made the time to sit down and learn the family secret. We even got my brother to help! It was a lot of fun, and though I know what I need to do differently next time, it turned out pretty well for my first try!
The next day I took the two batches of baklava to work and placed plates strategically around the office area, and a full pan in the lunchroom. I posted signs and envelopes or boxes with each batch, explaining that there was a suggested donation and that all the money was going towards my fund-raising efforts for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It was interesting to see which locations yielded the best sales, and when it wasn't all gone by ~4pm, I adjusted accordingly the following day.
At the end of the second day, there were only a few pieces left, and I collected about $100, not including those who chose to go online to donate!!
Thanks to everyone who donated and I'm glad you liked the baklava! Next time it'll probably be free as usual ;)
Hard at work in the kitchen
Sultan joins me :)
The finished product...yum!
In the lunchroom
A closer look at the sign
Last weekend, I finally made the time to sit down and learn the family secret. We even got my brother to help! It was a lot of fun, and though I know what I need to do differently next time, it turned out pretty well for my first try!
The next day I took the two batches of baklava to work and placed plates strategically around the office area, and a full pan in the lunchroom. I posted signs and envelopes or boxes with each batch, explaining that there was a suggested donation and that all the money was going towards my fund-raising efforts for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It was interesting to see which locations yielded the best sales, and when it wasn't all gone by ~4pm, I adjusted accordingly the following day.
At the end of the second day, there were only a few pieces left, and I collected about $100, not including those who chose to go online to donate!!
Thanks to everyone who donated and I'm glad you liked the baklava! Next time it'll probably be free as usual ;)
Hard at work in the kitchen
Sultan joins me :)
The finished product...yum!
In the lunchroom
A closer look at the sign
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Garage Sale Success!
Yesterday I held my first fund-raising event for the 3-Day: a garage sale! Actually, there are a few typos in that sentence; I/me really turned out to be we/our, for all the help I got from Jake.
The day got off to a rough start when I started it at 4 AM, about two hours earlier than I’d intended on waking up. After a coffee stop (at which I declined a drink, for some reason denying myself the caffeine I sorely needed) and a long, construction-prompted detour, we arrived at the Andersons’ and began to set up shop.
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m normally a very outgoing, friendly, people-person, but you wouldn’t have known it for that first hour or two. As we were still setting up, people started trickling over, asking such foolish questions as, “how much for that item?” or, “how’s it going?” My exhausted brain couldn’t seem to put any energy into being amicable when it was channeling all it had into putting things on tables, which suddenly seemed like a task worthy of a team of rocket scientists. Poor Jake had the misfortune to (rightfully) suggest lowering the prices during that first hour or so, and got a sullen glare from me for his trouble.
It was obvious that of the two of us, he was much more fit for company, so he started doling out the friendly greetings and smiles while I ran around getting things set out, putting up my signs, and finishing up pricing. Eventually I sat down, drank the orange juice Jake bought me, and let the sugar work its magic.
We were out there pretty much all day, and (once I de-zombie-ified) had a fantastic time! Even after I perked up and began having normal interactions with people, Jake remained the go-to guy all day. The cliché might just be true in this case: I couldn’t have done it without him! (Or at least done it as well).
Our efforts paid off; we raised about $200 yesterday! This morning we took the books/media that didn’t sell to Half-Priced books and garnered in another $20 – so all in all, this event raised 10% of the minimum goal :)
I have to say, I was a little surprised that more people weren’t interested in the fact that the money was going to a great cause (so Matt, Ryan, and Mike: you were right). Several people asked about the walk, but only a few offered more money because it was going towards breast cancer research. However, Jake tells me that when I was off getting us lunch, a man came by with his daughter and said that he was so glad to see that I was walking the 3-Day and fund-raising for it; evidently his wife had passed away from breast cancer.
I want to extend thanks to:
Natalie and Jordan for the use of their property, both to sell and on which to host the garage sale;
My mom and Dennis, for the loan of their truck and card tables;
Marie and my coworkers for being so great about donating items for me to sell;
And of course, my amazing boyfriend Jake for taking as much ownership of the event as he did – his help was immeasurable and he was great company besides!
Here are some pictures...
The signs I made. The rectangular black bars turned into arrows once we - no, Jake - figured out where to put them. (Oh yeah, another thanks to Jake for rigging up a creative sign-holder doohicky)
A closer look at the explanation
The sales team
Jake valiantly protects the books when it starts to sprinkle
Natalie on deck!
We're giants! With flowers.
PS - Thanks to those who voted on how to price things. We ended up pricing some stuff, and left some wiggle room for ourselves on certain items so we could name a price based on how interested they seemed. It seemed to work well!
The day got off to a rough start when I started it at 4 AM, about two hours earlier than I’d intended on waking up. After a coffee stop (at which I declined a drink, for some reason denying myself the caffeine I sorely needed) and a long, construction-prompted detour, we arrived at the Andersons’ and began to set up shop.
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m normally a very outgoing, friendly, people-person, but you wouldn’t have known it for that first hour or two. As we were still setting up, people started trickling over, asking such foolish questions as, “how much for that item?” or, “how’s it going?” My exhausted brain couldn’t seem to put any energy into being amicable when it was channeling all it had into putting things on tables, which suddenly seemed like a task worthy of a team of rocket scientists. Poor Jake had the misfortune to (rightfully) suggest lowering the prices during that first hour or so, and got a sullen glare from me for his trouble.
It was obvious that of the two of us, he was much more fit for company, so he started doling out the friendly greetings and smiles while I ran around getting things set out, putting up my signs, and finishing up pricing. Eventually I sat down, drank the orange juice Jake bought me, and let the sugar work its magic.
We were out there pretty much all day, and (once I de-zombie-ified) had a fantastic time! Even after I perked up and began having normal interactions with people, Jake remained the go-to guy all day. The cliché might just be true in this case: I couldn’t have done it without him! (Or at least done it as well).
Our efforts paid off; we raised about $200 yesterday! This morning we took the books/media that didn’t sell to Half-Priced books and garnered in another $20 – so all in all, this event raised 10% of the minimum goal :)
I have to say, I was a little surprised that more people weren’t interested in the fact that the money was going to a great cause (so Matt, Ryan, and Mike: you were right). Several people asked about the walk, but only a few offered more money because it was going towards breast cancer research. However, Jake tells me that when I was off getting us lunch, a man came by with his daughter and said that he was so glad to see that I was walking the 3-Day and fund-raising for it; evidently his wife had passed away from breast cancer.
I want to extend thanks to:
Natalie and Jordan for the use of their property, both to sell and on which to host the garage sale;
My mom and Dennis, for the loan of their truck and card tables;
Marie and my coworkers for being so great about donating items for me to sell;
And of course, my amazing boyfriend Jake for taking as much ownership of the event as he did – his help was immeasurable and he was great company besides!
Here are some pictures...
The signs I made. The rectangular black bars turned into arrows once we - no, Jake - figured out where to put them. (Oh yeah, another thanks to Jake for rigging up a creative sign-holder doohicky)
A closer look at the explanation
The sales team
Jake valiantly protects the books when it starts to sprinkle
Natalie on deck!
We're giants! With flowers.
PS - Thanks to those who voted on how to price things. We ended up pricing some stuff, and left some wiggle room for ourselves on certain items so we could name a price based on how interested they seemed. It seemed to work well!
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