Home Gym - Here I Come (Again)

It has been a while since I have taken working out at home as seriously as I did before I moved. Not sure what the deal was. Maybe not having a set schedule for a few years just totally did me in.

It made me complacient.

Throw in a couple of pregnancies, a little boy that just does not like to sleep through the night regularly and you get a bit chubby too.

Soooooooooooooo, I am going back to my old habits. My treadmill was serviced today and it seems to be running awesome. For my belated birthday gift, Bob had gotten me a little tv to post over it because it is so deathly boring walking facing a wall. I had a little tv in my garage in Poway, but it is too fat for the space I've got now. This fancy new little flat screen will be totally cool. AND it has a DVD player in it. I will be doing a LOT of Netflixing of tv shows. It should be the right amount of time to be on the treadmill every morning.

Until my tv eventually gets mounted, I will just be content listening to my IPod for the next few weeks. Katya has really loaded a bunch of new music on our shared ITunes library. It will be quite the adventure to find out what I will be listening to.


But I am not going to lie, this is going to be painful. As in seriously painful. I know I can do it, after all I woke up at 4:30 every morning for almost a year to drive across town to hit the gym and I paid $40 a month. This way, I don't have to drive so dang much, I save some cash and I don't have to haul that gym bag around every day. Let's not even get into the whole changing clothes in front of other people when you are self conscious to begin with.

So, wish me luck. I will be needing it until it becomes habit.

Eating My Way Through Seattle

I flew into Seattle early, early yesterday morning to spend some quality "girl time" with my BFF, Michelle.

Seattle is one of my all-time favorite cities to visit. There is just something magical about the water, the fog, the hilly streets, the stores.... I love it. I also especially love Pike's Market.

Every time I come into town, Michelle and I hit Pike's Market. We first head to the French bakery where we get lattes and baked goods. I got Katya a bag of her favorite bag of palmier cookies and I noshed on a chocolate croissant. We then headed to Beecher's for cheese. I love cheese. Adore cheese. Had to get some cheese. I got some frozen mac & cheese, some Flagship, smoked Flagship and aged Flagship. Good stuff. I also bought Katya her favorite, herb cheese curd. Two containers. I brought a collapsable ice chest to bring back with me in my suitcase for this stuff.

We then grabbed some fruit, some asparagus and Michelle popped for some Alaskan King Crab legs. Then I went to the magazine stand and got Katya her French Vogue and then we grabbed some cinnamon mini doughnuts and we took our haul to the truck because my arms were going to fall off from carrying all that.

I had never been to the Seattle Art Museum, so we headed down there and took a tour through the galleries. Not fabulous. I admit, the white Ford Taurus' that they had spiriling through the air with lights going through them was cool, but that was about it. The pop art displays were a bit wonky. Not to mention the ceramic toilet that had ceramic poop in it. Art.... really? On our way back to the car we stopped at some upscale chocolate shop in the Four Seasons and bought a couple of pieces of yummy dark chocolate and possibly the best chocolate covered orange peel I've ever had.

We headed to a late lunch after that (cause we didn't eat enough) in Mukilteo at Ivar's and I had some amazing clam chowder with sourdough bread. Delish.

Dinner was fruit and some fresh brioche from the bakery.

Today was three hours at the gym to pay pennance for the food yesterday. Lots of eliptical, abs class and yoga. I'm not so good at the yoga so I headed back to the eliptical for the last thirty minutes of class.

Then we had to have lunch... of course. It was some sandwiches on baguettes that Michelle bought yesterday morning. Yum.

After laying low for several hours and hitting the used book store we had to have dinner. The crab legs, steamed asparagus, leftover baguette.... waaaaaaaay yum!

We are planning our morning tomorrow to consist of more workout followed by lunch and pie on Widbey Island before I have to head to the airport at 4pm.

It's good here. I have to treadmill my little heart out all week to pay for all the yumminess here.

Sleep Deprived Mama

My little Logan has some kind of internal clock that requires him to fuss, cry, cough or do something that wakes him up between 2 and 3am almost every single morning. For him to sleep through the night is a rare, rare thing. This has been since birth.

This morning, I was in a HARD CORE deep sleep with a really vivid dream about "something" at 2:30am that I can't recall now, but after he woke me up I have stayed up. I tossed and turned and eventually almost drove Bob to the couch but I decided to relent and just get up, take a shower and start my day a mere 3 hours earlier than normal. I am going to die today.

It is one of my long work days, so not making up some sleep time while they nap.

When Logan was an infant my mom read an article that some French women had said that raising sons was harder than daughters. In many respects, boys are way easier than girls. But in terms of sleeping and being so darn "needy", they definately take the cake. Little girls will give you sass and attitude (at least the ones genetically related to me), but they sleep and like their independance.

So, as the rest of the house sleeps I sit here and type. I have lunches made, vitamins set out, notes written to Katya and Bob, checks cut for the company, and my car packed for work. I am merely waiting for the magic 4:30am hour when I can go to Starbucks and get myself a Venti Caramel Machaito or Vanilla Latte. Maybe both with how I feel right now.

Angels That Watch Over Me

Here is a big shout out to thank those angels that watch over me every day and have since I was a little girl.

I KNOW I have angels. They have protected me from great harm, they have helped me to make those decisions that can change your future for better or worse, they have made sure that I always arrive home safely and have protected me from those that would do me harm.

This fact is constantly brought up again and again when I have car problems. Last night, I pulled into my garage and all of a sudden steam started pouring out from under the hood and I heard coolant pouring onto the garage floor. Luckily, Bob was able to easily fix it with a new hose clamp and some new coolant. But it brought the fact home again just how lucky I am to have those angels. My car has never broken down when I was not a) home or b) with Bob who could fix it. Those odds just don't exist without divine intervention.

Who are my angels? I am not sure exactly, but I can venture a few guesses.

Grandpa Harold: He is my step-father's father who passed away when I was in college. We clicked upon meeting the first time and we loved spending time together. He taught me how to use a computer when I was in high school and computers were a rare thing instead of the standard. He taught me WordStar (the original word processing program) and how to program in Basic. He teased me when I got my drivers license and he drove all the way to New York to meet me at the airport when I got back from Belgium. He had no teeth, but loved to eat steak. He was a hoot. I loved him as if he was my grandfather from birth. I miss him so much and am so bummed that he never had a chance to meet my kids or be a part of my adult life.

Grandpa McClellan: My paternal grandfather who passed away a few years ago. Great man who lived an amazing life. Flew bombers in WWII and Korea, was a motorcycle cop in Long Beach, a private pilot flying charters to Catalina Island, and drove that old RV of his all over the US with my Grandma McClellan. He was quiet, but I know he loved me. If I ever needed anything I knew that he would be there for me.

Uncle Richard: My uncle died about five years ago and his death has left everyone in our family with a deep sense of loss. He was a playful, funny man with a crazy sense of fashion (Donald Duck hats and Yosemite Sam shirts) and a deep love of family.

Aunt Georgie: She was my aunt from when I was a little girl. She passed when I was five or six years old, but I have never forgotten about her. She was a powerful personality with an outspoken direct manner and a playful side.

I am just guessing at who is up there watching over me. It could be family from long ago that I never really got to know like my great grandparents. Whomever it is, I appreciate so much their help and their always making sure that if something breaks on my car, it does so in my garage. If my kids hurt themselves, it isn't serious and we are always RIGHT there, if I am faced with a big choice I usually make the right one and for that little voice that tells me what is going to happen about five minutes before it does. I have to listen to that little voice more often to make my life a bit easier.

To my angels - thanks for the help! Someday when my time comes, I promise to pass it on.

Meaningful Names

My sis-in-law, Mandee, posted a blog about a cute website that she found that has tons of baby names. It's called "What a Lovely Name" and it is a lot of fun. I especially like how they show names all decorated for use on scrapbooks or blogs. They offer all kinds of ways to change the backgrounds and colors too. Very cool.

I have no intention of having any more children, but I was interested to see what it said about our names meanings. I am a firm believer that you grow into your name.

Bob : Meaning "bright with fame". Shortening of the name Robert. Can also be given as an independent name.
Tags: American, friendly, intelligent, strong

Deborah: Deborah is a Biblical prophetess and judge who was instrumental in the victory over the Canaanites. She was also Rebekah's nurse. In Hebrew Deborah means "a bee." Nicknames for Deborah include Debbie and Deb.
Tags: athletic, funny, Hebrew, strong

Katya (I had to go with a combination since they did not have hers): Katyayani. This sis a name of the goddess Parvati.
Tags: beautiful, funny, Hindu, leader
Katherine. This name is derived from the Greek root "katharos," meaning "pure, unsullied." Tags: English, intelligent, strong, wise

Alexis: Originates from the Greek word Alexein, meaning: "to defend, to help." Tags: American, brave, fun, strong

Logan: Meaning "dweller at the little hollow". Taken from the Irish surname, a diminuitive form of the Gaelic word "lag," meaning "hollow".
Tags: American, calm, happy, independent

So according to our names, Bob will be famous. He already is in his business circle for being an extremely talented and hardworking engineer.

I am a strong woman who can conquer injustice in the world. Man, how I wish I could. However, I am a major rule follower. My view on what is right and wrong is pretty clear cut. I am a hard worker and I would like to think I am strong.

Katya will continue to become a woman who is strong, wise, a leader, and funny. She already is all those things now. I hope they are qualities that she nurtures as she continues into adulthood.

Alexis will become a helper to the world, brave, fun and strong. All excellent traits to have.

Now for Logan. He is going to be my happy, mellow, independent little dude who likes hanging out in his house. Not too shabby. Happiness is a wonderful personality trait to have.

Don't See It

I love my hubby.

Even after two babies, weight that just won't leave, age creeping up on me... he still thinks I'm hot. Really hot. Even if he doesn't mean it, he says it - which counts for EVERYTHING in my book.

The latest compliment that I have gotten from him is that he seriously thinks that I look like TinkerBell. Whenever we watch the "TinkerBell" movie, he reminds me how much he thinks I look like her.

Totally not true, but I love him for thinking I look like a cute little fairy.

Twilight

Ok, Katya and I were totally belated in our viewing of the hit "Twilight". But with good reason.

The director of "Twilight", Catherine Hardwicke, has family that lives here in Central Oregon and decided to do a screening and a Q & A afterwards. I found out from a fellow Bend blogger and immediately called the Sisters Movie House and bought Katya and I some tickets.

There was a 2-hour talk with the director where I guess she talked about where the movie was shot, how she did certain shots, technical details...etc. But that was by invitation only through the Film Oregon Alliance (I think I got that right). We didn't score any invites to that.

The talk was from 3-5pm and it said that the movie would show afterwards. So I figured (without double checking anything, dork that I am) it would start around 5:30 or 6:00pm. At 3pm Katya and I headed to Sisters and pulled up to the Sisters Movie house to grab the tickets and get the true time - 7:30pm. We were a bit early.

Not a big deal! We found a bookstore, bought some good books, went to the Sisters Coffee House and had some warm drinks and read for a couple of hours. It was so nice!

We went out to find a place to have dinner but were disappointed to learn that we couldn't get seating anywhere because of a football game called the "Civil War". It is between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon Beavers (University of Oregon and Oregon State) and it is a big deal. Some day I'll blog about the whole Duck/Beaver phenomenon that we have here, but not today.

Luckily the Sisters Movie House has warm food and we had ourselves a couple of very yummy cheeseburgers while we waited for the film.

The movie itself was really good! I was surprised somewhat because the book is always better than the movie. But I was seriously disappointed by Jacob not making more of an impact on-screen. But you do what you can when trying to film a movie. Things get cut out. But some of the sceens in the movie were amazing. Like the standing in the tree over the Columbia River Gorge. WOW

The Q&A afterwards was very interesting. I never really gave much thought to what a director of a movie did, so I learned a lot. I hope that she comes back after filming the sequel. I'd love to do this again!

Halloween

I was so not feeling the "mood" this Halloween. Not sure what my funk was, but I was not motivated to do much of anything Halloweeny. Katya was going to a football game and then movie night with some girlfriends, so she was MIA.

Lucky for me, my husband is a social butterfly and he had accepted an inviation to a family Halloween party with some friends of his. I actually had to don a witch hat and cape that I had stashed away so I could at least say I was dressed up. Bob put on a mullet wig and looked pretty funny.

Alexis was dressed up as a flower and she didn't want to take her costume off for anything. Logan was a dragon. He couldn't have cared less that he was dressed up. But he looked cute.

When we went with the whole crew trick or treating I wasn't sure how the kids would do. Alexis worked the "Trick or Treat" and often scored herself an extra candy. Which she promptly put into her mouth paper and all if she got impatient.

Logan refused to say "Trick or Treat" and instead resorted to the cute parade wave that he has going. Being a forceful guy, he would just reach in and grab no less than three pieces of candy a handful. That is skill.

Afterwards we went back to their house and noshed on BBQ meatballs and pumpkin cheesecake until bedtime. It was fun and hopefully next year I will be feeling more festive.

Mama Bought a New Pair of Shoes

Lame, I know. But I haven't bought myself a new pair of shoes (that weren't walking shoes) in forever. I did buy some sandals over the Summer, but nothing I could wear when I had the kids with me. Work only kind of stuff.

Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but I have found out to my great dismay that my post-baby feet are a full size larger than my pre-baby feet. I have some beautiful shoes that I have worked hard to purchase over the last ten years and now they don't fit. I leave them in my closet even though I can't wear them because I love them.

Yesterday running around for work stressed to me the importance of getting some new shoes. You see I have been wearing tennis shoes for months now (broken toe and all) and evidently the venting that works so well in summer isn't so great in Fall. The cold breeze that would come up froze my little toes. So, I finally just broke down and went to Macys and bought a pair of shoes.

Evidently I did good because Katya says they are cute. I like them because they:

a) have some color
b) are warm
c) are waterproof
d) go up past my ankles to keep them warm
e) are flat so I can still chase after my kids while wearing them

I still need a few more pairs of shoes, but shoes are spendy and I have skinny little boat feet that are hard to fit. I would like another pair of dressier black or brown leather boots. I saw a pair of Michael Kors that were darling but the toe box was too tight and the heel was too loose. I was sad.

Broken

I managed to do all that walking in training... I did the walk with Michelle and although our feet hurt, we did it. Then I come home and while cleaning the house on Sunday trip over the vacuum and - break my little toe.

Left foot. Baby toe. OW!

I had it confirmed via x-ray that it is indeed a fracture and the doctor says that it will be 8-10 weeks until I can start back with the walking and aerobics again. I'm bummed.

So, I hobble around the house and go to work with my slippers on and take a lot of Motrin. Man, I love that stuff. And I spend all my time with Logan trying to keep him off of my foot. For some reason he wants to badly to step on it now.

3-Day Journey: Day 3

At 4am those darn cell phone alarms went off. Let’s just say we were even less enthusiastic than we were the morning before. Lots of grumbling and groaning. We got dressed, I bandaged my feet, strapped on both knee braces, we packed our bags, rolled up the sleeping mats, folded the tarps and stuffed the sleeping bags. Then we had to tear down the tent and pack that up too. In the dark. When it was really cold. Before coffee.

We finished up and dumped everything with those insufferably perky crew members by the semi trailers that somehow appeared in the middle of the night and parked a mere 100 or so feet from us without our knowledge. We made it to the breakfast and coffee lines and then sat as far away from the other perky people as possible. Wendy found us (as she is also very similar to us in personality) and we all sat there glowering and chugging coffee while waiting for instructions to head to the school buses that rolled into camp.

Once on the bus we all sat in relative silence as everyone around us was also sore, tired, had some kind of pain somewhere and was bone cold. We had been camping in Redmond and we were heading to our new starting point at the University of Washington. We were unloaded at the arboretum and we wound our way around the university, through the center of campus (what an amazingly beautiful campus!), along the main road where the sororities and frat houses were (and during rush evidently), down through some beautiful neighborhoods and to a lake.

When we hit the lake I was dying of pain. My feet had reached an all time high in terms of pain and I had already been eating Motrin as though they were orange Tic Tacs. I think I was at 8 by this point. But the lake was a designated cheering station and there were so many people lining both sides of the walkway cheering us on. They had cookies, held signs, handed out bubble gum and Red Vines, little kids were handing out stickers to put on our hands, one person had brought home made pink walking sticks made out of pvc pipe, one person was waving tuct tape for people with blisters that needed securing, some people had little pom poms that they were waving and one old Asian woman came up and shook Michelle’s and my hands. I had no choice – I had to suck it up. But I have to tell you, by this point I was seriously considering gnawing my feet off at the ankles just to stop the pain. Those were the hardest three miles of the entire walk and I was about to cry. But then it became manageable again and after downing a Red Bull at a gas station we walked by I had more energy. Michelle suffered in silence, but even she told me later that those cheering stations really helped her through some tough spots too.

We had lunch at a really pretty place called Gas Works Park that overlooked Seattle and we could have enjoyed it more had we not just been thinking about finishing the walk. We ate in record time, hit the potty, stretched and headed back out. The rest of the walk was really pretty which helped distract us. We walked along the many piers, (we loved the cheering sections people had set up through there with the Gatorade margaritas) through downtown and over to the Aquarium. Our last pit stop was at a parking lot across from there and it was then that I had to re-tape up some spots on my feet and switched to dry socks so we could finish. Michelle grabbed another bag of pretzels (she got one at every single stop that day) and we headed out.

By this point we were two miles from the Space Needle and the Seattle Center where our finish line was. People were everywhere cheering us on. Cars and motorcycles were honking, tour buses waved at us and we kept singing that Christmas song “Just put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking across the floor...” It was our personal mantra. We heard other people saying “left, left, left right left…” We were so darn close. When we finally looked up and saw the needle it was so darn close, we were only a couple of hills away.

When we finally got to the top and headed down the drive into the Seattle Center we saw a massive crowd waiting for us. They burst out into applause and were cheering all of us on. We (even Michelle) couldn’t stop smiling. We walked by two little girls holding a huge blow up picture of their mother who was taken at the young age of 37 in 2006 by breast cancer and I almost burst into tears. They had a huge team and I saw them all weekend, but didn’t know the story until later. It broke my heart that their mother had to leave them so young. Thankfully she had a sister who is obviously honoring their mother the best way she knows how and they will be well loved. They are why we walked.

At the bottom of the walkway we were handed some pink shoelaces by one person and a cold drink by another person. We walked to the entrance of the holding area and those blessed crew members were there again cheering us on and telling us how fabulous we were. We walked through the door and down some stairs to a huge applause and blaring music. We felt like rock stars. People were smacking our hands, congratulating us, hooting for us, making us feel so wonderful. We were pumped full of adrenaline and were floating on a little cloud. We were then given a t-shirt and a pink rose (courtesy of Pro Flowers.com) and then had a picture of us taken in front of the completion sign. We found our way to a corner and sat down, exhausted but buzzed. Wendy found us again and we all waited there for a couple of hours until it was time to go into the stadium. We had somehow been one of the first people to make it to the finish line.
After a while, when all the walkers had finished or been collected, we all were lined up and sent out to the stadium where we were met with thousands of people applauding us. Man…it was overwhelming. It wasn’t until that moment when we turned around and saw the actual full 3,500 people filing in. It took forever to get everyone in. Then there was a big inspirational speech thanking our sponsors, thanking us, thanking our crew (they are the most amazing people EVER), and then there was a special time when the survivors walked in. They had all been given pink shirts to wear. Everyone had taken off one of their shoes and they held them in the air as a salute to those men (yes, men can get breast cancer) and women who had fought and survived the disease. I couldn't help but think of my my mom as everyone was saluting the survivors - I love you!

They announced that our walk alone had raised over 8.6 million dollars!!! That is a lot of money to go towards the fight. At the end of everything we collected our bags and loaded our bus back to the hotel in Bellevue. We sat there with our IPods on and I fell asleep. I have to tell you, that shower at her house felt SO GOOD! And I will not take indoor plumbing for granted again!!!

With the help of my family and friends I was able to raise $2,467.00!! I think that I still have a few corporate matches that will bring my total even higher. Thank you all so much for your support!!!

All in all, it was an honor to walk for my mother and Lynn. I feel good that we were able to do something for these most important women in our lives. We can’t be there to bring them dinner, or take them to the doctor, or just hold their hand when they don’t feel good – but we were able to do something in HONOR of them if nothing else.

We love both you beautiful and wonderful ladies!! You guys are the real rock stars.

3-Day Journey: Day 2

Our cell phone alarms woke us up at a bleary eyed 4:30am and we pulled our walking clothes on as we mumbled and stumbled our way to the porta potties, coffee and breakfast station. We both had frozen parts of our bodies overnight and our tent was covered with water from the heavy dew that covers the area every night. Let’s just say that after walking 20 miles the day before, sleeping on the ground doesn’t do much for your disposition.

We each downed three cups of coffee and had a big breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes and oatmeal we were well fueled and ready to go when the trail opened up at 6am. I think we didn’t really make the trail until 6:30 or 7am. As we trudged along mumbling to ourselves we overheard all kinds of women discussing how they were going to hit the first Starbucks that came into view. Luckily, the Cow Ladies were there to greet us as we walked by so we stopped to take a picture with them.

Along the path Michelle noticed a Panera bakery and we headed over there so she could get herself a pastry for the road and a latte. As we joined up with the rest of the walkers we came across some cute high school girls out there cheering us on from across the street and then we hit McDonalds that gave us cups of coffee, Jamba juice that gave us shots of smoothie and Starbucks that handed out doughnuts and iced tea. That really lifted our spirits since it took me a full mile to warm up my sore feet and get those tendons loosened up. (BTW, we stretched at every stinkin’ stoplight) We also came along a team shirt that had us laughing for while.

We were hurting for this walk. We made it to the second pit stop before realizing it would take everything we had to make it to lunch (the 10 mile mark). Michelle’s knee was hurting and her toe was killing her. My feet were throbbing and it felt like I had rocks in my shoes because my neuromas started swelling up. Those last 2 ½ miles were the worst. We broke out our IPods and stuffed them in our jog bras and stealthily brought the earpiece up to our ear so we could focus on music to help us through. We were not allowed to have IPods so we were totally breaking the rules by doing this.

That lunch pit stop sign was the best thing EVER! It meant we could stop and it was our planned point to stop for the day. We fully intended to save most of our energy and pain tolerance for the Sunday walk. We weren’t going to kill ourselves on Saturday. Lunch was yummy chicken wraps at a beach and then we took some nice buses back to camp.

At camp we lay down in our tents and took our shoes off to survey the damage. Michelle’s right pinkie toe was black and blue and completely swollen. Her knee was killing her and her lower back was not much better. I had a huge nickel sized blister on the side of my heel, a blister on the bottom of my big toe and one on the bottom of another toe. My plantar fasciitis was killing my feet in general and those marbles were getting more and more swollen. We put our feet up for a couple of hours before showering, ate dinner, had some cookies at the Pepperidge Farm tent and then stayed in the tent the rest of the night. Our fellow teammate, Nancy, had brought some pink tuct tape and I used some to try and keep my orthotics stuck to my insert. I believe that when my insert shifted when I was walking it caused the orthotic to rub on my heel which caused that one really bad blister.

When I hit the porta potty that night, I was greeted by this image on the inside of the door which I thought was really funny. Michelle decided to be proactive and she put the other tarp over the tent to try and keep the moisture out of our tent as well as providing some extra shade in the afternoon so we could hit the sack before 8 o’clock.

3-Day Journey: Day 1

Our alarms (we set multiple because of my wake up fiasco Thursday morning) went off at 3:15am. We silently trudged around getting dressed and throwing our non-walking clothes into bags that we would leave in Michelle’s car. I have never needed the in-room coffee maker more until that morning. The coffee tasted good even with that nasty powdered creamer. That is when you know you are tired.

We headed downstairs exactly at 4am, put our gear bags by some chairs, put our non-walking clothes in the car, grabbed our breakfast and found ourselves more coffee. We sat there eating and watching people file in with crazy headbands, matching outfits and more pink duffel bags than I thought were actually made. As we were sitting there watching all this chaos go on around us, we met this crazy lady named Wendy. It turns out her team mate bailed on her at the last minute so she informally joined our team. She had personal reasons for doing the walk as well without all the pink fanfare. We liked her immediately.

The bus pulled in and we loaded our gear on. Some really excited and pumped up people started loading on the bus as did other people more like ourselves who were sitting there wishing for a Starbucks fairy to appear. But the attitude in the bus was infectious and we all found ourselves in better moods by the time our bus pulled up to Bellevue Community College – our starting point.

It was quite the sight! People dressed up as fairies with wands and crowns, people in crazy pajamas, people with orange cones on their head and others dressed up as pirates were everywhere cheering us as we got off the bus. My bag was a little bit lopsided on the wheels and some really nice woman ran up and picked up the back part of the bag and helped me carry it to a waiting semi trailer. We had our tent assignment on our credential which had been mailed to us a few weeks earlier and it said J69, so we headed to the “J” semi trailer. These nice people dressed up with animal hats and in crazy jammies loaded our bags and we headed off to look around.
We were one of the first people there so we had time to put up a sticker to tell my mom and Kerry’s mom (Michelle’s other BFF’s mother) that we were walking for them. Then we took pictures of the lights they had everywhere with messages of encouragement and headed to the line for Starbucks as soon as they opened up. We also acquainted ourselves with the porta potties that would be our best friends for the rest of the walk.

My feet were already starting to protest so much standing, so we sat down on a curb as the rest of the walkers filed in. I heard that we had somewhere in the range of 3,500 people doing this walk. We eventually found the other two members of our team- Nancy and her sister, Lyn. Michelle worked with Nancy in San Diego and her sister, Lyn lives in Seattle. There was a big opening ceremony with lots of fanfare and encouragement, lots of cheering and inspirational music and then we were off.

The walk on the first day was not all that pretty. Our route was along a lot of busy streets that were mostly business or industrial. Not much pretty to look at. Luckily the route had these pit stops every 2-3 miles that really broke up the walk and enabled us to potty at regular intervals. Each of these pit stops had water, Gatorade, ice, pretzels, chips, granola bars, bananas, oranges, nuts and little PB&J sandwich things. There was no going hungry while doing the walk. They also provided lots of salt so that people like me who sweat, didn’t puff up like the Pillsbury Dough Girl. I ate a lot of potato chips to try and combat my puffy fingers and feet. Michelle was never without her pretzels.

Lunch at mile 10 was really yummy. Chicken breast sandwiches, sun chips, an apple and cookies. This event was so well organized everything went smoothly everywhere we went. Because walkers have to stay on sidewalks we naturally formed a long line that must have stretched out for miles. This meant that the waves of people hitting the pit stops did so in small groups. It wasn’t until the very end of the last day that I really got an idea of the true number of people that walked.

Ic must say, the best thing about walking were the people that parked themselves along the side of the road in parking lots and held up signs cheering us on, telling us thank you for walking for them/their children/parent/spouse, telling us we were heroes, handing out candy, otter pops, red vines, bubble gum and spray bottles with water spritzing us down when the temps were crawling into the 80’s. It felt so good to have people take the time out of their day to cheer on a total stranger. Those people cheering really gave me personal motivation for finishing, especially on the last day, when I was having a hard time putting one foot in front of the other because it hurt so badly.

For those people that couldn’t finish the walk at any point along the way were the sweep vans. They were decked out with themes and they patrolled alongside of us waiting for some person to show a thumbs down that they needed a ride. We had the “Peace” van. They had slogans like “Make love not blisters” on their windows and they blared 60’s and 70’s music as they drove by. And of course they wore tie dye and giant bras over their shirts. There were the “Mammogrammies” that wore mumus and grey wigs and had “Be a film star, get a mammogram” written on the back of their van. The “Dawg Patrol” that had dog costume hats and pictures of dogs all over their van. They had “Are Your Dawgs Barkin’?” on their van. The van would pick these people up and take them either to lunch or to the camp depending on the time of day. The Cow Ladies just rode alongside us every day with loud music, a moo horn and lots of clapping and encouragement. Everyone loved those lovely ladies.

We also loved all the motorcycles that belonged to our safety folks. These guys and gals had their motorcycles decked out with plastic boobs (when else would this be socially acceptable?), bras, pink teddy bears and flamingos, boas and flags. The safety folks made sure that we got across all of those more hairy intersections safely. They were awesome standing on their feet all darn day with a smile on their faces while directing weary walkers along their path. And they were there for us at the end of the walk too. But more of that later.

Michelle and I lost our other teammates along the way, but we trudged ourselves through to the very end of day 1. Our feet hurt, our knees hurt, Michelle’s back hurt and we didn’t talk at all for the last few miles since we had to concentrate on our own personal pain levels.

As we rounded the corner on the last blessed mile we walked along our camp and saw just how massive it was. What a production! HUGE white tents for our eating area and food service area, seas of pink sleeping tents, semi trucks labeled mobile showers, more rows upon rows of porta potties… it was massive. As we came to the entrance of the camp there were more crew members there cheering us on and congratulating us that we finished. We walked down the flag lined path to the sleeping area and grabbed our stuff off the ground and our tent and got everything set up.

After setting up our tent, rolling out our sleeping mats and bags we grabbed our pajamas and shower stuff and headed over to the towel tent. We had both paid for towel service so we picked up our two towels that were slightly bigger than a hand towel and washed the days grime off of ourselves. Total gym class rules in there. If you were a modest person you were in a world of hurt. But most of us are older broads with childbirth scars, cellulite on our ample thighs (despite all those training walks) and I met one that had mastectomy scars.

We grabbed our spaghetti dinner and ate as fast as possible because the dinner music that night was some opera singer that was getting on my nerves. At least sing cheesy Italian restaurant music instead of whatever the heck he was singing. From there we went to the La Croix tent (one of our sponsors) and had ourselves a nice cold sparkling water beverage and vibrated our tired feet for a while before heading back to our tent and crashing for the night. Other people went to the big tent and did karoke until lights out at 9pm. For once, Michelle was not in a karoke mood.

3-Day Journey: Day 0

I start at day zero, because that is my travel day to even get to Seattle.

My plane was scheduled to depart Bend/Redmond at 6am. I figured to be safe, I would leave the house at 4:30am and get there safely at 5am. If I got up at 3am, I could unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, make a lunch for Bob and Katya and even swing by Starbucks to get myself a nice latte before I had to head to the airport.

Things didn’t quite work out that way.

Logan woke up with a nightmare (again) at 2am. I got up and got him back to sleep. I debated on going back to bed, but figured I would benefit from that extra 30 or so minutes of sleep. Well, I opened my eyes a while later and looked at the alarm to see a red glowing 4:45 staring back at me. I had that horrid feeling of dread that you get in the pit of your stomach when you realize that you are in a really, really bad spot. I quite literally threw clothes on, grabbed my shoes, kissed a bleary eyed Bob goodbye and ran downstairs. I grabbed my purse and ran to the car. I believe that I might have exceeded the speed limit just a bit in my haste to the airport. The whole time I was talking to the Uni verse and asking for assistance with red lights.

I pulled into the airport at 5:15am grabbed my bags (lucky Bob had loaded them the night before) and what looked like it was important off of the front seat of my car (leaving the decapitated Barbie) and ran into the airport. I figured that now that I was there, it was smooth sailing. I have never had a problem at the airport in Redmond – until now. I walked in and the line for Horizon was wrapped around the wall and down to the entrance almost. And it wasn’t moving. Turns out an earlier flight had mechanical problems and 50 people had to be re-routed. Then once I was finally checked in I got to go and stand in the even LONGER security line. Once I finally got through I had to run to my plane. I made it.

Michelle picked me up at baggage claim and we headed straight to Pikes Place where we noshed on French pastry and lattes. So yum. We grabbed some extra for Friday morning (who couldn’t use a chocolate croissant?) and headed to do some last minute shopping at Target. Neither of us had clothes pins in our camping stash.

We got back to her house, re-packed our bags and double checked our packing lists to make sure we didn’t forget anything. We loaded our stuff into the car and headed to Bellevue to our hotel. It wasn’t until we were at the hotel that I realized I had forgotten our extra pastries and fruit at her house in the fridge. I almost died.

By this time we were completely nervous and just sat in the happy hour area eating chips with salsa and sipping Diet Coke watching as all these people came streaming into the hotel wearing nothing but pink. It was a pink fest. Michelle and I weren’t exactly sure what we had signed ourselves up for .

Our breakfast was going to be available at 4am and our shuttle to the event area was leaving at 4:30am so we showered and headed to bed early.

Too Much of a Good Thing

With as much zucchini bread as I make for my family (it is a favorite here), who would think that I would get totally burnt out on baking it.

I did.

You see, my Aunt Ginger's neighbor grows a garden and they gave her some zucchini out of it. They were kind of massive zucchini so Ginger gave one to me in the hopes that I could do something with it.

Check this puppy out! It was totally gynormous!

When shredded it totally filled up the 9 cup capacity of my food processor which translates to 6 loaves of zucchini bread. I was baking that bread for hours yesterday!

Three loaves went into the deep freezer, one was eaten, one is out for this weeks consumption and one went to a neighbor. Maybe I should be happy my zucchini plant turned out to be a cucumber plant.

O How My Garden Grows

In Spring as soon as the weather started warming up, I had a bug to plant a garden. Not sure why, but I just HAD to have one. I had a raised garden bed box built and I carried 10 bags of dirt down there myself and guilted others into carrying another 6. It didn't fill up the box, but I honestly didn't care. (My yard is huge and you can't easily get to the bottom level with any kind of wheeled device.)

I ran to Lowe's and bought several different plants to stick in my half filled garden box. I planted a tomato, three strawberry, six cauliflower, one cantelope and one cucumber (I thought it was a zucchini). I wasn't sure if anything would actually grow since I have heard tons of stories about how you just can't have a garden in Bend without a greenhouse. I figured this was my experiment so we would see what happened.

Well, things kind of exploded. My strawberry plants had a ton of little berries on them, but the birds ate most of them. That's ok, I'm willing to share. My cauliflower are huge, but I don't see a head of cauliflower anywhere. My tomato plant grew so big that it now covers most of the planter box. And the zucchini plant that I thought I planted turned out to be a cucumber plant and I found three huge cucumbers down there today.

That tomato plant alone has about 50 little and large tomatos on it that are in various stages of growth. There is one that is just a few days from total ripe so I can put it on Katya's sandwich for the first day of school next week.

Now I need to fill in the rest of the dirt that needs to be there and I will plan out my garden a little better next year. I'm thinking I need to spread things out a bit more. Next year - heirloom corn!!

The Host

Amazing. Awesome. Conflicting. Dramatic.

A suck you in until you have given up all hopes of sleeping or getting anything else done until you read every page of this book. And I do mean every page. Just when you think it has ended skip forward a few pages and it continues.

So amazingly good. Better than the Eclipse series in my opinion. And it took a lot for me to say that.

Get the book! Read it and let me know what you think!!

Getting Comfy

It's coming up on three years that I have lived in Bend. I moved up with Katya on July 5, 2005.

What a crazy time that was. Leaving my job at Qualcomm (hardest thing to do), selling my townhome that I paid for all by my lonesome (a lot of pride in that place), leaving my family and friends (still hurts) and leaving my birthplace (home just can't be replaced).

I spent the next three years either pregnant or with an infant.
Not earning a paycheck.
Spending every dime and then some on trying to remodel this house.
Trying to get a schedule with Katya and I to still visit family on a regular basis.
Helping Bob with his company.
Being so intensly lonely it hurt.

I often wondered again and again if I made the right decision to uproot my life in San Diego and follow Bob up here dragging Katya in tow.

After three long years I can finally say that this place is where I think I belong. At least for right now. Katya has blossomed with her teachers, sports and Campfire. She has been able to take advantage of opportunities I would not have been able to provide to her otherwise. I give her a LOT more time than I ever have before and she is such a well put together young woman I believe because of it. And where I live is so bike friendly, I feel comfortable with her riding to and from the movies, her sports practices that are on our side of town, going downtown with friends.... It is nice to be able to give her some independance.

I have been able to spend lots of time with the two little ones. It has been a crazy, tiring, messy, sleep-deprived time, but I do miss them when I don't have them. They know they are loved and adored by all. And I have a newfound respect for stay-at-home mothers.

I am even getting a circle of friends. Still casual, but so lovely to have these women in my life. And I have been able to "work" outside of the home with one of Bob's clients a couple of days a week. Not much, but enough to help my mental state of being. It is nice to have my brain working again. I think there are still a few cobwebs up there, but I intend to eradicate them as soon as possible.

So after the biggest and scariest change of my life - I think I landed on my feet. It is a good thing and I am looking forward to being here for at least another twenty years. All I can say is that this house better be finished by then! :)

Mother's Day

It is pretty funny, my idea of the perfect Mother's Day has evolved over the past 14 years.

When I was doing the working single Mom gig - all I wanted was to spend time with Katya. We'd just chill at home or go to the movies. I just wanted to spend as much time with her as I could because I was missing her all the time. But you do what you have to do and things work out. Katya and I are very close and Katya is brilliant so all that daycare didn't hurt her any.

Now that I am doing the stay at home mother gig - all I wanted for Mother's Day was some time AWAY from the kids. I got up early and fetched myself some pastries and coffee from the Village Baker (so I could get what I know I liked). So yummy and everyone enjoyed the selection that I brought home.

Then Bob got the kids all dressed (he did good 'cause they looked so CUTE) and he took them over to spend some time with his mother and his sister. Blessed silence! Katya went to work at the local soup kitchen to earn some more community service hours for school / Jr. Honor Society so I was at home all alone for the whole afternoon!

I read some of my book, I watched some of "Dead Like Me" on Netflix and spent a good hour chatting with my girlfriend. I didn't pick up toys or laundry - I just stepped over it all. I believe sloth is the proper term for my energy output for Sunday.

When Katya got back from the soup kitchen we went to lunch together before she headed out to her hurdle training at the middle school. About 7:30pm I was missing the babies and Bob and they pulled up right as Katya was dishing out the cheeseburger macaroni that she made me for dinner. I had told everyone no gifts, but the babies walked in with some flowers for me. They look lovely on the table even though Logan had "looked" a little too closely at some of the daisies and they are now laying face down since their stems have been broken. At least he can appreciate the beauty of them. Next we will work on him being able to control his exceedingly strong hands.

It was a lovely day and I woke up on Monday totally refreshed.

I sincerely hope that all you mother's out there had a great day and felt loved and appreciated.

If You Can't Beat 'Em.... Join 'Em

Meet my new phone.

I figured that since everyone else in the world is opting to text rather than talk on the phone, I should too. Especially since this will up the odds that Katya will want to continue to talk to me and send me the crazy pictures that she takes on her phone.

Now I'm cool. Can't work the phone quite yet, but I look good while I'm trying.

Oh yeah... I also have a hot red phone cover for it so it really looks like it is mine. Now I just need a cool phone charm.