Baby Carrot

So, I am a little behind on the updates. Sorry about that. I could say that it is because we are SUPER busy but that has become the norm so I can’t blame it in that. Um, let me think, I walked the 3Day a few weeks ago. That is a good excuse. Let’s use that one for now. Here are the pictures if you would like to check them out. I am still waiting on pitcutres from my team members. I will let you know when I have added more. There are a few great ones that I am waiting for. The walk was amazing as it was last year.

Here are my stats:
Completed miles: 52
Blisters: 2
Trips to the med tents: 0
Showers taken in a mobile trailer: 2
Conversations about boobies: Lots
Tears shed: Lots More
Total Amount raised: $6.5 million
Total number of walkers: 2,200,
The feeling that I made a difference: Indescribable.

This year was different than last so it is hard to say which one was harder. I trained harder this year so that helped me out tons. But the walk was not about me. It was about having power. Power of numbers, Power of people, Power that a difference can be made, Power of believing the there can be a world without breast cancer.

Everyone had very powerful stories about how their lives were touched by the strong hand of breast cancer. I read a story by a CNN writer who walked in Atlanta this year. She wrote about her journey during the walk. If you know anything about the 3Day you know it truly is a journey. Anyway, she said that she didn’t have a story to tell. Her life had not been touched by breast cancer she walked because she wanted to be a part of something big. She felt guilty that she hadn’t lost someone or gone through treatment herself. Now, I don’t know anyone directly that has breast cancer. so I could relate to her story. Do I feel guilty about that? No. Did I feel a little uncomfortable telling my non-story to someone who lost their mother or sister to breast cancer? A little. But I walked so that I won’t have a story. I don’t want to wait until it attacks someone that I love to do something.

On the walk we met long term survivors, newly diagnosed individuals and even some terminally ill individuals who are making their last efforts at creating a hope and a future for the next generation. Two of the walkers wore shirts that had a picture of very sweet kids on it. On the bottom it said. “We walk because they (the kids) will never hug their Grandmother.” It made my heart ache for those mothers walking for their kids. I know that they were walking in honor of their mother but also for themselves. They have those kids counting on them to help stop this disease.

There were two cheering stations each day. I think that they had them very well placed. When the day was getting long and we needed a little push there was a cheering station near. It was amazing how people cheering you on can make you feel like you can do anything. Like walk a few more miles. At one of the stations there was a lady with a sign that read, “My Mom would have thanked you.” One of my team members gave her a hug. What else can you do after reading that? My favorite cheering was Saturday morning. Branden and Garrett were there with our friends Kara, Chris and their little boy who is one of Garrett’s friends Aaron and Josh, Marietta’s boyfriend. The boys had been very busy getting ready to see us. Branden had the idea to make t-shirts. So Josh came up with a snappy slogan and they put it on the shirts. It read, “Bras aren’t the only supporters of Boobies” and yes, even Garrett had one on. Branden also thought it would be nice if we wore corsages so Josh made everyone on our team beautiful corsages and we wore them with pride the rest of the day. It was great to have a visual of the support that we had back home. Seeing my boys gave me a huge boost to get through the day. I loved it.

It was hard to get through it but I met all of my personal goals along the walk. I told my team early on that I wanted to complete a few things. I wanted to walk through all of the cheering stations, walk into camp everyday, walk out of camp everyday and walk into closing ceremonies. Whatever happened in between I was fine with. I met all of my goals. I would have liked to walk all 60 miles but I didn’t want to kill myself. Looking at my list you may not think it would be that hard to do. Some of my team members listened to their bodies and stopped walking and were not able to complete the list. I commend them for knowing when to stop. The most important thing was that we finished as a team and walked into closing together.

I was fortunate enough not to get injured and have to go to the medical tent. But others did not have the same good luck that I had. The look on their faces was heartbreaking. Knowing what those ladies went through to prepare for the walk is unreal. They thought they did everything right but their bodies told them otherwise. They were crushed. They felt like they had let their supporters down. Yes, the important thing is that we raised the money, we get that. But it is also personal. We want to walk for those who can not. We want to walk for each person that gave us money that went to our fundraisers. Can you imagine raising the money, training and then twisting your ankle and being told you can’t continue? It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. We put ourselves through a lot during the walk. We know that walking won’t find a cure, the money will. We know that walking won’t bring back the millions that have lost their lives to breast cancer but it will generate faith and hope for the families that have lost someone.

I was looking in the newspaper and ended up on the obituary section. I saw a picture of a beautiful young woman that caught my eye. I read on, she died at the age of 34 from breast cancer. She was diagnosed at 30. She left behind a loving husband and 2 young children, a boy and a girl. I look at that and think that could be me and it scares me. I said a prayer for her and her family. She is one of the people that we all walked for and didn’t even know her.

I am not going to walk next year. I need a year off to concentrate on my family. I am going to miss it. I was already talking about how much I am going to miss it while walking this year. I will however be one of the many walker stalkers that follow the walkers along and cheer my heart out for them.

I held each of you in my heart as I walked. I walked for all, so hopefully you won’t have a story to tell either.

Me: “Ouch Garrett! You threw the ball and it hit Mama’s toe. Are you sorry?”

G: “Sorry, Mama. Did it hurt?”

Me: “Yes, it did hurt.”

G: “Are you going to cry, Mama?”

Me: “No, but it still hurt”

G: “You aren’t going to cry?’’

Me: “No”

G: “If you don’t cry it didn’t hurt.”

Everyone warned me when Garrett turned two that things were going to get harder. But I have to say that on most days we have a great time. He is turning into a little man. I love it! He has a sense of humor, you can have a real conversation with him and he is filled with so much love. I was warned of the temper tantrums, the battle of wills, the potty training. All of which we have but I was not prepared of my heart melting at unsolicited kisses, Garrett telling me that he loves me and rolling on the floor laughing with him. Now don’t get me wrong we still have our bad days. I am not just saying a little disagreement here and there. Imagine sticking your head in a blender then stubbing your toe and then you might have an idea of how I feel during the bad times. But we have many more good days than bad, especially the last few days. Blame it on the cooler weather or him getting older but whatever it is it is all good.

Take last night for example. Branden was in San Francisco so it was just the two of us. We went outside after nap and replanted our ficus and played for a while. Then we came inside ate dinner and went back to play some more. To make it even better the ice cream truck came by and we each got a treat. We sat in the driveway in chairs and ate our delicious dessert and talked about airplanes and birds. After we finished his bedtime routine and he went to sleep right away. Good times.

I hope that I am not jinxing myself here but if I am, oh well. It was good while it lasted.

Today was Garrett‘s first day of preschool. Even though it is preschool, it was still hard. I’ve grown kinda attached to the little guy. I think that Meet the Teacher on Thursday really helped. He was the first one in his classroom and he walked in and started playing with a truck. I told him that I was leaving; he gave me a hug and went back to playing. I left fast before he could change his mind or a crying child walked in. I did get a little teary eyed after I left him but he made it so easy on me. I had my haircut and ran a few errands before I picked him up. He is only in school from 8:30am-11:30am just long enough. At dismissal his teacher saw me and when she let him out he was all smiles. He gave me a big hug and told me about his stickers and stamp. We had French Fries and Ice Cream for lunch. It was the first day of school and I think we earned it. His teacher by the way is named Mrs. Svajhart you pronounce it Sway-hart. So if you ask him about school he may tell you her name, he is not telling you school is way hard – Chantel. Hopefully the next few days will go as smoothly.

Vasco de Gama is our new kitty. Yes, new kitty. It is a long story but he is a member of our family now. Scooter is adjusting well. It was a rough few days for him but they both are adjusting well. Vasco is such a sweet little guy. He purrs constantly and wants love all of the time. Garrett is so good with him and they will be good buddies for a long time. Vasco likes to explore which explains his name. If you do not remember fourth grade history here is a reminder.
Branden is getting him ready for football Sundays. He will have great naps during the games. Vasco also gives great high fives.

We start school on Tuesday. I took Garrett up to meet his teacher this morning. He looked around at his classroom at the parents and kids playing, he even gave his teacher a hug. Then he looked up at me and started to cry. I made zero indication that I was going to leave him, he just knew. His teacher got down on the floor with him and started playing cars. He finally warmed up. But if that is any indication on how this is going down next week you can find me at the bar at 8:35am.

OK, I’m done being lazy. Sorry bout that

http://www.brw.net/gallery/v/vacation/cozumel07/

Okay, not really but give him time. Swimming lessons ended this week. Garrett is very sad, he ended up loving them. I knew he would once he got to know the teachers. He went for 6 weeks and made amazing progress. I am very proud of him. We were in the pool this morning and he was swimming around. He is not really moving that much in the water but he tries. He can get to the side or steps and climb out. I am happy about that. We will definitely go back to the same school next year.

We attended The Wiggles Concert today and had a wonderful time. Garrett was in awe and just sat there. He danced a little and sang the songs that he knows. He would just start laughing a clapping during the songs. It was a very good show!

I posted some of the pictures from Cozumel. They are the ones that we took with the little camera. Branden has all the ones of the wedding and most of the beach pictures on the other camera. But there are enough for you to see how amazing it was there.

Bonzai took his last kitty breath on Monday evening. He was too weak to go on. I was with him but thank goodness Garrett was already in bed. We will miss him terribly especially Scooter. We adopted both of them a few months after we were married. Scooter was 6 weeks old and Bonzai was 10 weeks old they are now 6 years old. They were our kids before we had kids, they have always been together. Since Monday night Scooter won’t let us out of his sight. It breaks my heart, he misses his brother. Bonzai was very laid back and did not get upset often. He would steal the candy canes off the Christmas tree every year. He loved to lay in a warm lap and watch football on Sundays. Bonzai was a great kitty and a great friend. Now he is chasing gazelles and elephants in the wild like he always wanted. We will meet again, until then we will keep him in our hearts.

Goodnight my Sweet Bonzai Boy. I love you.

That is where you could find me last week when we were in Cozumel. We had a wonderful time and Chantal’s wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!! I was tearing up again just looking back at the pictures. It was amazing. She is very happy and she deserves every bit of it. We are very excited that she and Dave have found each other. Of course Branden enjoyed taking pictures and they turned out great. We will get them up soon. It was nice to get away without G-Man. Branden and I enjoyed adult time but it was hard not to talk about Garrett. We did find things to talk about and watched shooting stars at night on the beach. Wanting to explore we rented a Jeep and drove around the island. We stopped along the way at shopping huts and public beaches. The best place we stopped was a little bar that had a sign out front that said ‘Mother of all Margaritas’, and yes they were. We will go back just for the drinks. We also drove into town and did a little shopping. There were three cruise ships and four ferry boats that let people off right before we got there. So there were people everywhere. We did not stay very long, I could hear my chair calling me.

Our kitty Bonzai has not been doing very well for about three weeks now. He stayed at the clinic where my mom works while we were gone. Now that we are home we are still having to force feed him. It is not fun for anyone involved, and since Branden said that the smell of the cat food makes him sick I am taking care of Bonzai. On Monday I said enough is enough and that we need serious answers. Our vet here was able to get us into a specialist on Tuesday to see if he could find out what is going on. He took biopsies and we are still waiting on the results. I am calling their office first thing in the morning to see what is going on. Neither one of us can go on like this; it is not fair to Bonzai. We will have answer soon.

Garrett is going to start school in a few weeks and I am very excited. He will have a great time. He will only be there from 8:30am – 11:30am not too long but he will be able to have a nap at home.

Miss. Lucy Jane Pottebaum made her grand entry on August 7. She is very sweet and pretty. Garrett was very happy to meet her but was happier to play with his best friend Jack. We will play with him again this week. He misses his friends.

Oh, he loves swimming lessons now and is jumping off the diving board. My heart stops each time he does it. We are starting his last week tomorrow it will be sad when it is all over. Just like anything else.