hello, lovely

I AM FREAKING THE FREAK OUT!

HOLY CRAP!

Tomorrow marks Day 1 of the Breast Cancer 3-Day. I am SO HAPPY that I made my goal, because I am FREAKING OUT right now. SERIOUSLY.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning, and of the 2.5 hours I have been awake, I think I have spent 1.5 of those hours so close to the verge of tears that I could feel my eyes stinging.

I hope I’ve packed everything. I hope I have everything. I have to stick my air mattress pump in the bag still because I had to exchange it. It was missing the little nozzle thing. I also can’t find my travel toothbrush, which I found by ACCIDENT two days ago but has gone missing again.

I hope I can sleep tonight. I hope I wake up in time to get to the Park & Ride so we can catch our limo (!) to the Cow Palace, where Opening Ceremonies is being held. I hope I survive Day 1 and am able to walk Day 2. I hope I survive Day 2 and am able to walk Day 3. I hope I survive Day 3. I hope I’m drinking enough water. I need to check my blister kit in my pack and make sure I have enough moleskin.

I need to find my Manda hat in case my Koolhaas hat is not finished. I need to make sure my new pink hat is ready to go. I need to check and re-check again.

I need to calm down.

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* post from work

CONGRATS TO TERESA AND ALEX!!!! They found out (a while ago, actually. I just realized I never posted. BAD, AUNTIE MANDA!) that they are expecting their 2nd child!!

CONGRATS TO APRIL AND JOHN!!! THey ALSO, like literally just this minute (give or take a couple of hours), found out that THEY are also expecting their 2nd child!!

Plus, Stacy’s sister & significant other are expecting their first child any second now…

AND my friend Annise is expecting!

And remind me to bring my OWN water with me when I come visit next time (which is looking like it’s going to be my birthday instead of Thanksgiving or Christmas, which works because it looks like I’m going to have to spend a lot of time in Dallas come spring! … ).

YAY BABIES!!! I better get knitting…..

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Team Unraveled had their LAST TRAINING WALK this evening!! It went well and we celebrated by eating Mexican food at Alberto’s afterward. We have a Pasta Feed planned for Thursday, but it looks like I will be packing tomorrow night. I can’t believe how much crap I have to take with me. We’re camping right on the Bay, and it’s always cold and foggy there, so I have to pack tons of layers, not to mention the sleeping bag and all that stuff. Wow.

The team has all made their $2200 (some have been very fortunate enough to raise even MORE! Woohoo!), and I’m SO happy about that! Now we can all just focus on walking and having a good time.

I probably won’t have time to post anymore before the event, so I guess I’ll see you on the flipside. When I come back, I’ll be able to say I walked approximately 500 miles in about 5 months!!

Here’s a photo of me on a break on our last SF/big training walk… we were hanging outside of Taylor’s near the Ferry Building.

$300 away from my fundraising goal!!!! I am overwhelmed by all of the support, and I couldn’t have done this without you.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and supported me. I can almost stop stressing & I can start having fun!

*happy dance*!!!!

BTW, I apologize for the severe absence as of late. Literally all I’ve been doing is walking and working and napping and knitting and just trying to get through the training. We have 3 more training walks scheduled (5-6 mile walk on Wednesday, a 10-12 mile walk on Saturday, then a 4-5 miler next Tuesday, and we’re done until two days later when we start the event) plus a Team bbq, and then we’re done for two days until we start the event next Friday. NEXT FRIDAY! I can’t freaking believe it.

We’re having a fundraiser today at Chevy’s in Pleasanton, so if you’re in the area come eat some great Mexican food. You need a flier for it to count towards us, but if you need one, let me know.

Here is where we think we’ll be calling home for two nights in a couple of weeks:

Just picture it filled with pink tents.

And because I can, here is a picture of two of my teammates, who we jokingly call Heather and Heather:

This is a picture of them on the rare occasion that they are NOT dressed exactly alike.

so, we walked 17 miles today. it was supposed to be 20, but since we were behind the group on the second go-round, the route support ladies (WHO. ARE. AWESOME. I walked with a couple of them on one of the training walks before they did the Avon walk back in July (if we did the Avon walk, we’d be done by now. I try not to think about it)) were supposed to give us a ride to catch up with the rest of the walkers. we made a wrong turn somewhere though & couldn’t find them so we ended up getting dropped off at the first break and walking from there, essentially cutting out 3 miles of walking.

During our walk, we walked passed what is supposedly Robin Williams’ house (it’s kind of ugly, but that was the landmark I used to know where to turn.. lol), and I almost got hit in the head with a golf ball, and we did part of a route that we’ve done before so I actually knew where I was going and how long it should take. it RULED.

Tomorrow, we’re walking a mostly tried & true route on one of the trails near home, but we’re walking 15 miles. Pray that I make it & that it’s over as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Also, please take a moment to send in your donation! Thank you!

for the record, it is 12:33am pdt on monday august 4th. i SHOULD be asleep, but thankfully i get to sleep in on mondays.

what am i doing? listening to bowling for soup and knitting on a present for someone.

i do have some exciting news - I’ve made it to the halfway point in my 3-day fundraising!!! please make a donation! there’s still time left, and every little bit helps. also, if you knit (or if you just want to win some yarn?), i’m having a contest. check out the details on my knitting blog.

also, i apologize for the lack of being around. any free time i have seems to be taken up by walking, especially on the weekends. all i do, it seems, is walk anymore. i’m looking forward to the event, but i’m REALLY looking forward to the day when we all get our lives back. i will miss getting to see parts of the city that i wouldn’t normally get to see though.

(First off, a very happy (belated) anniversary to Mellypie & Joshypie!)

So, I’m FREE!!
I’m taking off work today, and we’re going to take the ferry into San Francisco and spend the day there. Then tomorrow? I get to sort of do the whole thing all over again for a training walk. 20 miles tomorrow, from somewhere in SF to Tiburon. Can you even imagine? I believe I’m going to die. But this will at least give us an idea of what one of the days is going to be like. LOL

Last weekend was a short weekend. The girls and I took Saturday off and headed up to Dixon to go to Lambtown, which is a fiber festival (think yarn and spinning fiber, not like.. Metamucil, which is what one of the ladies at work thought when I told her about it. ahah) that’s held every year in July.

I didn’t get very many good pics, but here’s one of a very huge bunny:

I also learned how to spin my own yarn on a spindle. It’s very… beginner-y, but I like it.

I want a spinning wheel now, but that won’t be happening anytime soon.

I don’t remember which blog I stole this from… I was reading in bloglines, and I just copy/pasted to an email so I’d remember to fill it out. I forgot to note the blog where I saw it! Sorry!

1. One book that made you laugh: Any books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich make me laugh OUT LOUD… even if I’m in public. lol
2. One book that made you cry: Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson and Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
3. One book that you loved as a child: My favorite kids’ book is Go Dog Go! As an older child, I was a fan of the Nancy Drew series, and I read a TON of the Babysitter’s Club books.
4. One book you’ve read more than once: I don’t like to re-read books.. whenever I do, I remember what happens, and then I stop reading it.
5. One book you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: I’m not really embarrassed to admit that I love books. I am a sucker for cheesy romance novels, and I loved VC Andrews books through the Ruby series.
6. One book you hated: Animal Farm. It’s the only book I’ve ever thrown away.
7. One book that scared you: The Shining was kinda freaky. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski was also kind of scary to me because it was just so odd. I don’t think I ever finished it, though.
8. One book that bored you: Every book I had to read in high school except the Great Gatsby. The Outlander also bored me until I started listening to it in audiobook form… now I’m excited.
9. One book that made you happy: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, even though the series is done.
10. One book that made you miserable: I don’t think I’ve ever had a book make me miserable..
11. One book that you weren’t brave enough to read: Most of the books by Stephen King. lol I don’t know why.
12. One book character you’ve fallen in love with: I have three! Roarke from the “In Death” series, Edward from the Twilight Series (and i am NOT afraid to admit it!), and Jean Claude from the Anita Blake series… I have a thing for vampires (except Roarke)… and series. lol
13. The last book you read: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer… the new one comes out in a couple of weeks, and I don’t want to ruin the magic of the last one by reading something in between.
14. The next book you hope to read: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer and The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Whoa, for some reason all my comment emails were going to my spam filter. If you commented on the last couple entries and did not get a response from me, that’s why! I replied in the comments before I realized what happened.

I got the order confirmation for my iPhone. I thought it was the shipping confirmation, and I was like, “DUDE! THAT WAS FAST!” lol. Oh well. I. Can’t. Wait!

The Photo Friday theme last week was “The Office”. I happened to have my camera with me on Friday, and I took pics of my office supplies at my desk. I forgot to upload it Friday because Joe and I went to see a movie right after work, and I just didn’t think about it. Here’s a photo mosaic of something other than yarn.

1. Pens, 2. Phone, 3. Stapler Remover, 4. Paper Clips

MY BOYS!!!!!

This is my pal Damian Giglio, and he has a video. I guess it’s a promo video, but it made me smile… and if you figure in the fact that I walked 26 miles this weekend & can barely move a muscle, I have to share it with you. I LOVE THIS GUY!! And if you’re ever in Dallas or Denton or wherever else he may be playing, check him out, and tell him Manda said hi!!!

I miss you, hun!!!!!!!