Finding my Groove...

So after a crazy and overwhelming week this last week did not start out a whole lot better. In short my Great-Aunt died, she was 97, and the sister to my Grandmother who just celebrated her 99th birthday.  So yeah, kind of a bummer.  Both of her siblings are gone now, I just hope she is in no hurry to join them. I would really like to celebrate her 100th birthday with her next summer.  Anyway, my brother did not get the job he was hoping for.  Another bummer.  I wish I had some kind of great connection or a string I could pull for him....Then my poor kids were crazy monsters all week due to the fact that they were out of school and feeling cooped up for the last couple of weeks. Between my work schedule, my husbands schedule, my kids,  and doing all the training walks I am just trying to figure out how to balance life.  So overall kind of a tough week mentally again.  

Me posing for the camera
before tackling another hill.

But now onto the good stuff... My Mother-In-Law finished radiation treatment! YEAH! Now we just pray that breast cancer (or any cancer) never comes back! And more good news...I have sort of managed to find some type of groove.  Somehow my schedule and my family's schedule is working. The kids started camp this week so they are a little more like monkeys and less like crazy monsters.  My husband has been faithfully doing the walks with me. It has been really great to get out spend time,walk with him, and just talk and clear our minds.  We are pushing the kids in strollers. Not always the favorite past time of my 5 year old, but she manages. Us on the other hand, well our shoulders and backs end up a little sore. Along with our calves, thighs, and our butts... I guess you could say that we are literally walking our butts off to find a cure for breast cancer. But hey, my feet still feel great in my awesome shoes and I am ready to tackle this week's 14 miles! :o) 

                                          

Feeling Overwhelmed...

It has been quite a week. Last week was the 24 week out mark, or my first official week of training.  Overall looking back it was an incredibly overwhelming week, both good and bad. Mostly good, but still emotionally draining. Last Tuesday my daughter promoted from preschool! My baby girl is going to be a kindergartner!  What the heck? Where did the time go? It was a great day we enjoyed very much, but man how the time does fly. At least my son is still in preschool! After her promotion my husband and I took the kids out in strollers for a 3 mile walk. It was nice to get out there and be a family. My son fell asleep, and my daughter just talked the whole time and sang all her promotion songs. It was very sweet.  Later that day I received an incredibly generous donation for my 3-Day Walk. Wow! Still amazed. I knew they would be my big donors, but I had no idea how generous they would be. Same day another friend I haven't really spoken to in a while donated too. Wow, it is just amazing how generous everyone has been and how many people's lives have been touched by some form of cancer. Sad, really.

Wednesday was back to work and then Thursday another 3 miles. We took the kids out again in the strollers. Did a really gnarly hilly walk. Fun, but man I was sore the next day! Especially from pushing a little umbrella stroller with a 40lb kid in it! Thursday afternoon I see on Facebook my brother has changed his profile picture to a picture of our family dog. We got Khan (she was a chow-lab mix) back in 1997 so she wasn't technically a childhood dog, but certainly my young adulthood, lick the tears from my face dog.  So uh-oh, got to love Facebook to tell you bad news. Called my Mom, yep, Khan passed away that morning. Ugh. Sad.

Friday my Grandmother turned 99! Wish we could have been with her to celebrate. Our plan is to be with her next year for #100!  Other than that, the weekend was relatively uneventful.  (Thank God!) We pushed the kids in the strollers for my 3-mile walks Saturday and Sunday.  My husband has been a real trooper so far walking with me.  Think he'll be willing to do the 18/15 mile back to backs? Ha! We shall see...

And now today, I finally got around to signing up my daughter for kindergarten. Again, where does the time go? I am afraid that if I blink she'll be a teenager, she already acts like one!  Then this afternoon I am poking around on the 3day website and realize I have another donation. What? Another one? Wait, what I am at 87%? HUH? Yes, I was incredibly surprised! Another big donation! This time from my step-sister! Who- Hoo! Thanks again Jess! Wow, just $300 more to be able to participate! Looks like I am going to have to raise my goal! I am thinking I'll shoot for at least $2500 now. Wow, such generosity, and so much love... very Overwhelming... in a good sense of course. So a big week, 12 miles walked and a lot of donations.  And now tomorrow will be here before I know it, and another 3 mile training walk.  13 miles for the week.  I am just so happy to know how much love and support I have through this journey. It gives me Hope.

P.S. My Mother-In-Law is looking forward to being finished with radiation. This is her last week! And God willing, never again!

Training has Officially Started!

Alright, so I didn't get around to writing about Saturday's kick off training walk. Oh well. Here is what you have eagerly been checking my blog for...  :o)  By the way, sad but true side note, I have no pink in my wardrobe! Anyway, Kick-off started at 7am that morning. I was not exactly as bright eyed and bushy tailed as I would have liked to have been.  It was a little intimidating not really knowing anyone there.  I do have a little shy bone in my body that sneaks up on me every once in a while.  But I did see a few familiar faces. Mostly people I had met at the shoe clinic or the Susan G. Komen Ambassadors that spoke at the Get Started meeting I attended back in March.  So first there was a very short little speech from the kick off coordinators and our local weatherman Matt Baylow.  Funny to see him in a pastel pink sweatshirt minus all of his on camera make-up. :o) We all made him promise us that the 3-Day weekend would be nothing but sunshine and comfortable walking weather. (Last year's event was a soggy, rainy mess!)  Then a brief talk from our walk leader and off we went down the beautiful coast line of San Diego.

Listening to the training walk leader give his safety spiel before heading out.

It was funny to see a line of mostly pink and black walkers. There were about 30 of us! Lots of people honked their horns and were happy to see us out there beating breast cancer!   I ended up chatting with another first time 3-Dayer. She was so nice. :o) We were both certainly glad to have someone to talk to!

So how did I feel at the end of 3 miles? And of course how did my shoes work out? Great! The shoes were fantastic! My body the next day...not so much. I was actually sore. My poor shins hurt and so did my shoulder. :( Lesson learned... stretch more! Before and after! And don't carry a water bottle in my hands! Use a pack of some kind! Overall a great day and a great way to start training for the 3-Day!

Time keeps on tickin....

So Wow! Where on Earth did the month of May go? How can it already be June? 170 days until the big walk. How much training have I done so far? A big fat zero! My pretty shoes- still sitting in the box along with the new socks still in their wrappers. :( Ok, so what is my lame excuse? Well May was just a super busy month! Not to mention,  I have been sick, and so has my husband and my poor kids too. We are all finally feeling better and it sure is a good thing too! This Saturday is the official 24 week training kick off! I will finally do my first little 3 miler! Yeah! I am actually really looking forward to it. It will be nice to FINALLY give my shoes a test walk. Not to mention get out there and meet some other 3-day walkers! I'll try to get my butt in gear and write about the event later that evening. I am sure you will want to know all about how I survived 3 miles in my exciting shoes. :o)

Well in other news.... May has turned out to be a relatively productive month.  I finally met one of my other teammates. Well, more like I re-met her. She is great and will be a lot of fun to walk with.  Our team is the BC Bandits, so we are starting to think of costume ideas and tent decorations too.  I am sure we will come up with something fantastic and of course pink!
  
On the fundraising front, I have some how managed to raise $588! That puts me at 26% of my goal. Still a long way to go but a great start! I  have a lot of unanswered donation letters out there so we will see what happens.  I have scheduled a date for my first fundraiser too.  I am going to host a Stella & Dot  party in July!  Once I get the details squared away I will be sure to post the link here and of course on the Susan G. Komen 3-day message boards.  They have very cute jewelry which sells itself! Should be fun. Now the question is do I have it at home or try and do it out somewhere around town?  I have a month to figure it all out thank God! I am sure it will be a great event!  It would be nice to hurry up and meet my fundraising goals. I would LOVE a chance to just focus on training!
  
So to end on a very personal note- my Mother-in-Law is responding very well to her radiation treatments. She is over half way done! Tiredness is settling in a bit, but she certainly has high spirits and a great outlook on life! Let's hope this is it!