two dolla

what the walk is really like

I have some photos and I have some stories, but I’ll start off my summary of this year’s 3 Day Walk with a video I took during the morning of the 2nd day. It’s 45 seconds long, so we maybe covered 1/16th of a mile during that time. We walked 60 miles, and this is what it’s like:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM8sNkiD6MU[/youtube]

You can watch it on repeat for about 8 hours a day for 3 days straight, and it’ll be like you’re right there during the whole walk. Seriously.

As soon as I can walk without grimacing and flex my calves without wincing, I’ll stop going to bed at 10:30 and have some actual content for you to read about. Until then, thank you for your donations and for helping me the 2007 Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk yet another successful effort in finding a cure for breast cancer. This year, the Twin Cities walk alone raised over $6.5 million.

Thank you.

we’re off shortly

I’m not dressed, but everything else is packed up and ready to head on out of here.

If you want to text us good luck during the walk, feel free. If you call, I won’t be able to answer it without stopping, and I’m sure I’m not going to want to stop. Here’s my # six-one-two, four-one-four, two-seven-four-nine. And don’t forget to tell me who you are, because I don’t have everyone’s phone number. Duh.

THANK YOU for all of your support and incredible generosity! You all help make this so awesome every single year!

so you can cheer

Twenty-four hours from now, I’ll be at least 15-miles into our 60-mile walk. Jenni and I will probably be giddy at this point, or into our not-talking just-wanna-get-to-camp phase, which is scary and you probably don’t want to see it. It’s possible we could also be in the “Our friends are so fucking awesome!” phase, because that’s a lot of our conversation during the walk.

I had an idea that I wanted to post something all heartfelt before starting off on the walk tomorrow morning, but work’s got me running in circles and there’s still laundry to be done if I plan on wearing a shirt during The 3 Day.

Here’s a list that Jenni posted on our team website of locations you can cheer us on. The cheering stations are seriously one of our most favorite parts of all, and you’ll see why if you show up to one. And here’s the information for Closing Ceremonies.

And if you happen to drive by and see a bunch of people walking with somewhat haggard looks on their faces, honk and wave – for just a brief moment, it’ll make them forget they have miles and miles ahead of them.

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a fine forecast indeed

During the 2005 3 Day Walk, we walked in a lot of rain, slept on gym floors, and finished the walk with temperatures so hot we were laying on piles of ice at each pit stop.

Last year, the weather was beautiful – in the 80s, maybe? Enough to sweat a lot, but not enough to cause a lot of random heat strokes. And, you know, that’s a good thing.

This year’s weather forecast for the weekend I’ll spend walking 60 miles? Looking mighty fine!

I’m more than happy with this forecast!

i love archives

A year ago today:

Just a few days until we do it all over again…

in 12 hours, my head will be shaved

Today is Head Shaving Day. Yikes!

Our Send-Off Party/Silent Auction starts at 7pm tonight at Hubert’s Bar & Grill in downtown Minneapolis. If you can make it, you’ll get to witness The Great Head Shaving Incident of 2007. If you can’t make it, I imagine there will be more than enough pictures, and perhaps some video, if you’re lucky.

In the meantime, please pop over and check out the items we have available in our silent auction. If you see something you like and don’t live nearby or can’t make it to Hubert’s tonight, I’m sure we can make arrangements!

the kindness of strangers when it comes to boobs

For the most part, the people that donated things and ended up winning things at the Boob Ha Ha were people I’d never met. Hey, strangers like boobs.

Barbara, from knittingpassion.com, has just thrown down a challenge of her own:

Here’s what I will promise to do – for each and EVERY dollar (up to $100) that any of you will donate to put Wendy over the top . . . I will match it. You donate $1 and I will give $1. My cap at this point is $100 – so if one person antes up the entire $100, that will be the end of it – but, HEY, you can up the ante yourself, you see. If you REALLY want to make a difference, write about it at YOUR site and offer to match funds up to whatever amount you can afford.

So far, there’s been $15 thrown in, all of which Barbara will match. (Ironic that my company doesn’t do donation matching, but strangers from the Internet do, no?)

Man, I love the internet. And thanks so much, Barbara!!

when i’m nervous i can’t stay on topic

I love my tattoos so much. My latest one is currently entering scab over and itch phase, which I absolutely hate, but I’m good at ignoring it.

I’m torn between my next tattoo idea, mainly because I don’t know where to put it. I just know if I win one of these tattoo gift certificates that were donated from Steady Tattoo in Minneapolis, it’ll probably spur my decision along a little more quickly.

Hey, have you checked out the goods we have up for auction? The auction ends on Thursday, and hell yes, we’ll ship most of it! Just probably not the cakes.

Speaking of fundraisers, things aren’t going so well at work. My Work BFF™ just told me I should treat work like I’m fundraising (for myself instead of The 3 Day), and I’ll do just fine. I kind of love that kid a lot, and not because she just went to buy me lunch today because I didn’t have cash and didn’t want to leave my desk.

I had the most bizarre IM conversation today and I don’t even understand where it was going, regardless of how many times I’ve went back to read it.

our final fundraiser – a big silent auction

Our team has met our $30,000 fundraising goal, so we upped it to $35,000. It seemed like the logical thing to do. We’re currently in 13th place out of over 610 teams that have registered for the Twin Cities 3 Day. How amazing is all of that?

We have one final fundraiser that’s going on right now!

There’s some really awesome stuff to check out!! And please pass this link on to everyone you know, because everyone’s sure to find something they just absolutely positively cannot live without.

man i need some boom boom sticks

Our pancake breakfast was a success this morning. Matt, Jenni, Katie, and I spent a lot of time standing outside of a shopping mall with large posters, encouraging mall-walkers and shoppers alike that they needed some tasty pancakes (and bacon) to start out their day. Our efforts harassing the public brought in at least a dozen strangers, including a St. Louis Park police officer, who was the nicest guy ever. At least when it comes to breakfast. We tried to convince him not to arrest people that day, but I’m not so sure we were successful.

While waving homemade signs in the air, we decided we needed something for the entire team to wear during the walk. Nobody wants to wear the same type or color t-shirt, and we really want to be noticed as a team for three days. So, we came up with an idea for our newest promotional products – visors. While that site doesn’t really have a reasonable way for us to order 20 visors without spending half a paycheck, they do have some even more interesting items that would be hilarious (and awesome) for next year.

Who wouldn’t want to come to a fundraiser to get a 2 Ounce Acrylic Shot Glass or Team Boobylicious Boom Boom Sticks?

If my hypothetical wallet (it’s hypothetical, because I don’t carry one) was overflowing with money, there’s a good chance I’d have hundreds of Hand Clappers and 16 Inch #1 Hands filling my apartment, all with my name on it. That may be self centered, but it may also be extremely awesome.