Walking 40 Miles for Boobies

Last weekend was the Avon 40 Mile Breast Cancer Walk. I raised nearly $2200 (thank you for helping, hubby) for the cause and I actually managed to finish the entire walk without having to take a sweep van! I admit, though, that the last 13 miles were sheer will power.... I started the first mile that morning saying to myself, "If I can make it one more mile...." which turned into "If I can make it to lunch at mile 10, (mile 10 of the second day, which was actually mile 36) I can finish..." I made it to lunch and despite having severely painful and swollen feet, I finished the damned walk. :)

A HUGE kudos to Steve, because he was soooo helpful!! He cheered us along the way, met me at tent city at the end of Day 1 and helped me get my tent set up, blew up my blow-up mattress pad and just basically did all he could to make my life easier that night. He rocks. :)

This is a pic of me by my one of the tents we stayed in on Saturday night. Part of the experience is the camping - we all slept in these two man tents. They actually were pretty cool, and "tent city" is always neato. :)


We started out early Saturday morning, with a group of about 2800 people trying to get moving. It takes a while and it took us nearly 4 hours to go just 9 miles! But it was fun and emotional and motivating. The first day we did 26.2 miles (a marathon) and walked from 7 am until 6 pm. It HURT. Normally walking that far would take about 6-8 hours, so you can understand how the sheer size of the group slowed us down.

Second day we got up and finished the last 13 miles. Like I said... I finished on sheer willpower... but I finished regardless.

As soon as we stopped, I pulled off my shoes and they were hurting and itching - so of course I was rubbing and massaging them. They immediately started to swell, which I expected and didn't think much about.... until they became SO swollen that I could NOT walk on them any longer! In fact, Steve and I went into the famous Fab Dogs hot dog place on our way home and I had to gimp into that place like a handicapped person. Everyone was staring at me! But I wasn't missing that chili dog, dammit....

Anyway, I did a good thing and I'm proud to have finished. :)


This is a pic of me with my friend, Cathy, who has survived breast cancer - she did this walk to celebrate her 5th year of being cancer-free. I met her on the bus on the way to the event, and we walked the entire walk together. She was amazing. :)

These things tend to make a person emotional. I cried at opening ceremony, I cried during the walk, I cried when my feet were hurting so badly that I thought I wouldn't finish, I cried when I saw Steve along the way cheering me on, I cried at the end when I saw Steve waiting for me at the finish line.... it goes on and on. But I made it.

Cathy asked me why I was walking, and if I had personal experience with breast cancer. I told her no, and found myself saying what I know to be true and what I believe... and what many, many others have used as their response.

Why did I walk?

Because I can.

Wine Train

Sooo... after camping for a few days up in Eureka, we headed down to wine country. It was a blast! Stayed in a very cute B&B and spent an evening on the Napa Wine Train. The wine was great, the food fantastic, and getting a little bit drunk on the train and hanging out the window was my all time favorite. :)


We had a fabulous meal which, for me, included the famed foie gras - something I'd never had before. Now that I've had it - I'll be having it again. It was absolutely delicious!



The train was cool, but it did move along at a snail's pace. It was about a 3 hour ride through the vineyards, so the scenery was awesome! But we almost immediately wished we had taken some dramamine. No worries, though... wine fixes everything. :)

We had our own little seat in the dome car which was cool. The views were fantastic!

And, of course, I couldn't finish up without a pic of a farmhouse amongst the vineyards.

Simply beautiful.

Trying to keep up

Uggg. So I just haven't had the wherewithall to blog lately. Not a bad thing; I've been doing this for at least 5-6 years and sometimes I just don't feel like it. But, I like to keep my family and friends up to date with what we're up to, so I thought I'd post exactly that: an update. :)

Let's see... we went to Northern CA in August to go camping in the Redwoods with my best girlfriends. It was fantastic, as always. Those trees... those trees... what is it about them? I find myself walking amongst them, feeling like my life is insignificant and small at best - but that's a good thing, as it is - in a way - a connection to my creator in that I realize there is something bigger and more important out there than me. I still don't know what that means, but it's a sense of calm that feels good. (and not to get off on that tangent, but don't need no stinking church or stupid pastor or whoever to teach you that when you experience it in nature.)




I think this pretty much says it all! Steinbeck had it right.

We also spent a fair amount of time with our friends, just hanging out around the campfire. Can't beat two days of relaxation when you are forced to shut down and stop worrying about the world. Great food, great friends, peace and love are pretty much what defined the weekend!



It was much needed R&R, cause surviving the CA economy right now is a challenge. It's not just the business aspect; it's the emotional aspect. We've seen good clients come and go because of jobs lost, failed marriages, foreclosures... and say what you want, but day after day of bad news does take it's toll on you after a while.

So a dose of Redwoods was just what we needed. :)