3-Day Walk Update

Just want to let you know I have raised $1185.00 to date and walked or run for training almost 200 miles. I have several people who have promised donations and so I am definitely on my way to reaching my $2,200.00 mimimum goal and hopefully still reach my ultimate goal of $3,000.00! There are 59 days now until the event and my friends Jessica and Melissa and I are getting so excited. I made cool shirts for us. Jessica got us all matching pink fanny packs and we have a flag that matches our shirt for our tent site..... I'll keep more frequent posts as I get closer! If you still would like to donate, please use the link here on my blog and thank you for all of your support!

My Catch at Bethany Beach, Delaware

For the first time since I was 16, I went fishing. Surf fishing to be exact at Bethany Beach, DE last weekend. I went with Steve, my boyfriend of 6 weeks and he did all the casting, but I baited my own hooks, took off the King fish Steve caught, cut up the bait and finally caught a 4-ft Thrasher shark, about 30 pounds maybe! What fun that was!!!!!!

Update on my "3-Day Walk" training/fundraising...

I want to thank everyone who has sponsored me so far! I've raised $850.00 to date and logged over 90 minles in walking for my training. I'm a little behind in my training distance, but keeping plenty busy with physical hard work in the yard, and at work. I don't count all the miles I walk on the busy days... Anyway, I am very happy with the response so far and I'll keep you posted...

Meet our new puppy Tucker

We got Tucker on Saturday May 10th from a local Human Society at an open adoption outside Walmart. The boys said, "let's just go look mommy..." Well, one "look" and I fell in love. I tried to justify adopting him as an "early birthday present for Tyler" but truth be told, I'm just done house training the one dog, I might as well keep on with another...and he is so darn cute! Sorry, don't have an answer to your question, "what is he?" We aren't sure, some mix, maybe shepard, maybe husky, not really sure.

He is 9 weeks old and 7 pounds. Lily is not quite sure yet what to think of him, but I'm sure in time they will be the best of friends. He plays for a few minutes and sleeps for a few hours... So, now we are 2 cats, 2 dogs and 3 barn cats (I think - never see much of them...) Okay, okay, maybe we have enough now.

Meet My Little Center

Introducing Ryan as center on his flag football team, the Tennessee Titans. He has joined the Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association, composed of boys from all over the Youngstown area, not just his school. All the teams have NFL team names and they get NFL jerseys for their team. Kinda Kool!

They had their first scrimmage last night and his first game will be this Sunday @ 4:30 p.m. We are so proud of him and what is best is that he is loving it!

Ryan Turns 10!!!

My little Ryan isn't so little anymore... He is now 10 and 4'10". I took him, Tyler and Ryan's best friend in school, Scott, to Chuck E. Cheese on the Sunday before his birthday. For those of you who aren't mothers of little ones, that is a place with pizza, arcade, games and animated mice and other animals to bring joy and an empty pocket book to your life... We all had a great time though and there are a few pics attached. Then on his actual birthday, I surprised him with a new bike! More pics attached too. Enjoy!!!!

Update for the 3-day Walk in August for Breast Cancer

Just wanted to share some exciting things happening in regards to the 3-Day walk I'm participating in August...

I've got a team started now - there are three of us. My friend Jessica decided on Sunday evening to join me and we are thinking hard of a team name. This evening another lady work with, Melissa, heard that we are walking and she has signed up too!

I've got my first $100 in donations from 3 donors and I have challenged myself even more - I've upped my goal to $3000.00!!!!! I know I can do it...I'm 3% of the way there now and I have 24 weeks til my walk. Hope you can help out!

Also, Jessica came up with a great idea and we are going to do this: as people sponsor us, if they would like us to commemorate a loved one (either in honor or memory) we will add their names to pink t-shirts that we will wear on our journey. We will in essence carry all these people on our backs through the 3-day walk. So, get online, make a donation, email with a name and I'll carry them with me in August!

I've started my training and just before the snow storm of last weekend I took my first 2-mile walk in the cool sunshine. I'm off to Cleveland this Saturday for a 3-mile kick-off walk to start my 24-week training plan!

Please visit www.the3-day.org for more information!

3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer - August 2008

I wanted to share that I will be participating this year in the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I'll be walking in August in Cleveland on Aug 22-24th - a total of 60 miles over 3 days' time. Please help to sponsor me by going to http://08.the3day.org/. Click on "Donate Now" and then enter my name and state of Ohio to search for my own sponsor webpage. All donations are tax-deductible and I'd appreciate your help with this event. I'm starting now to train and prepare for this event. I have a personal goal to raise at least $2,500.00. I hope you will help me on the way.

Story to Share on Attitude

My best friend, Leslie, sent me this little story in an email and I loved it so much I wanted to post it here to share with all of you...

Attitude

Author unknown

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

“Well,” she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today!”So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

“H-M-M,” she said, “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today!”So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

“Well,” she said, “today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony tail.” So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head.

“YEA!” she exclaimed, “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly…..

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Our 107 year old "New" Home

This is our new house! I took possesion the day after Thanksgiving and the boys moved in with me on the following Monday. I spent my first weekend getting Ryan's room painted - ceiling to floor... It was white with pink sponging and now is his school colors: Maroon walls with a Gold stripe through the middle and white. I also painted his furniture to match. He loves it! We are settled for the most part and are only 2 miles away from their father, so it makes for easy house hopping for the evenings I work. We have a whole acre lot on the corner in the center of our little town of Greenford (although our address is Salem - go figure). We have a barn too that is equally as large as the house. We are planning a big "Barn Painting" party over Memorial Day weekend in conjunction with Tyler's 12th birthday and any and all are welcome to come join us! Bring a tent, camper, sleeping bag and a paintbrush... I have lots of other projects that I'm starting a list for - you know me... Anyway, thought I should share a pic or two... Enjoy!

Getting through a tough day...

Remember the poem about how much our mother's know depending on how old we are? Well thank God I'm at the age where I KNOW my mother still knows more than I. She came to my rescue with such great advice a couple of weeks ago...so I thought I'd share. I was having a "sad" day, as I do every now and then, but this was an exceptionally sadder day than most and she shared with me the best advice: "go do something fun with your kids. They will make you laugh and smile and you will find that you will quickly get out of your "sad" funk." Well, those weren't her exact words, but they give you the idea. So, I did just that and the three of us made a cake from scratch and we ALL had fun and guess what, my "sad" day was no longer sad! Thank goodness for my mom! Hope you enjoy the pic of the kids...