My Huge Endeavor

Hello everyone - this blog is a bit different than my previous blogs. In THIS blog, I'm actually looking for your help and support. I am reaching out via blog to you because next August I will be embarking on an amazing journey...the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I am joining one of my closest friends - Amy McMahon - for three days and an extremely challenging walk. Our team, "ChrisTiNA's Crew," (the capital letters being a Fantasy Football team name that Amy and I have had for years as well as being appropriate to this situation) is dedicating this astonishing experience to our loved ones that have been touched by breast cancer...a grandmother, mother-in-law and our friend Christina. At the age of 42 with a husband and two young daughters (ages 12 and 9), Christina was diagnosed with breast cancer. While she has just embarked on her journey fighting her battle, we are inspired by her positive attitude and unwavering spirit. We want to dedicate these 60 miles to our loved ones and yours - those who have been diagnosed, those who are undergoing treatment, those who are survivors and those who have lost their battle against breast cancer.

August 20-22, 2010 we will walk 60 miles across the Twin Cities. In addition to the physical challenge, we each need to raise $2300 to participate in this amazing journey. I am committed to the cause - the 60 miles and raising the money. I am asking for your help with a donation in this fight against cancer. Even $5 helps this cause immensely to please do not feel that any donation is too small. This is truly a team effort - and please know that we all can make a difference in every way.

You can either donate online or by sending me a check. If you choose to donate online, go to www.the3day.org. Click DONATE, select the 2010 Twin Cities event, enter my name and my individual webpage will come up for you to donate. Or, you can send me a check made out to the Breast Cancer 3-Day and I will fill out the donation form and send it in for you. Please let us know who you would like to dedicate these wonderful three days and sixty miles to - we will keep your loved ones in our thought and prayers. If there is some sort of memento you would like us to carry with us or pin to our shirts or hats, please let us know. We are walking in dedication to all those that donate and have been affected by breast cancer in any way and we would love to show our support to your loved ones in any way we can.

Thank you so much for joining us in this journey. I will be updating on how my training is going (the training actually scares me more than the fundraising ironically) and again after I have completed the walk. Thank you so much in advance for your support.

For those that read me and don't know me personally, please comment your email address and will forward my mailing address to you if you choose to donate by sending a check.

In summation, one of the catchphrases of the 3-Day last year was this:

FIGHT LIKE A GIRL!

Love it. Gonna do it!!!!

A Oldie but Goodie

Had to jump on Myspace today for the first time in forever to get an address for someone. As I did that, I decided to peruse my old blog that I used to keep on there. I found the following and it made me laugh out loud so I had to repost it here. Hope you get a giggle, guffaw, chortle or laugh out of it.

So yesterday I was at work and our internet was down. This happens frequently and we have a little routine we do to get it back up. Completely power down the computers, unhook the cable modem, wait and few minutes and boot everything back up. It usually works but this particular time, it wasn't. So I get on the horn to Charter Communications to find out what the deal is. I can't function without the internet for a number of reasons - but I actually do need it to do my job - seriously!!!! I hear a recording of how they're aware there is an outage in our area and technicians are working feverishly to repair it - yadda yadda yadda - and I hang up. After another hour or two, I decide to call and actually ask someone if they know how much longer it will be. So I punch 0 repeatedly to talk to a real person and finally get Damian on the phone. I describe my problem politely, inform him that I'm not trying to be a pest but that it's hard to run a business without the internet and did he have any idea when service would be restored. The following is our conversation from that point:

D(amian): Let me check that for you. Hey - did you know that you're calling Canada. Yeah - we're in Canada. We've got 10 mgs up here so it's really fast.

T(ami): Ummm. . okay. Cool.

D: Yeah - you're in the States. I don't know much about your 52 states. We only have provinces up here.

T: Yes - less to remember. That makes it easier.

D: So pop quiz. WOuld you say you are in the western, eastern or central portion of America. (this was after I had already told him I was in MN AND gave him my zip code).

T: We're in MN. So central.

D: (long pause) Minnesota Nebraska? Are you in Nebraska?

T: Noooo. . .we are in MN. Central but northern central. Minnesota and Nebraska are both their own state. We are directly south of you guys. Like if we drive north, we hit Canada. Lake Superior???

D: Ohhhh. . .okay. I'll figure it out. Hold on - okay, it says there's an outage but just gives me this code as to the reason why. I don't know what the code means. Do you want the code?

T: No thanks - I won't know that that means either. Thank you for your "help" though. Have fun in Canada.


SO Charter COmmunication is apparently not hiring brain surgeons - or even earthworm dissectors. Sheesh!

Okay - and if anyone from Canada happens to read this and decides to get pissed - I'm not ripping on Canadians. I'm ripping on one Canadian. If he would have been from American, I would have ripped on him. SOme people should just not work in customer service. THat is all.

I should probably say, though, that I"m not entirely certain as to how many provinces there are - so possibly I should just keep my mouth shut on all this huh?


This blog was dated December 15, 2006. Since the time of posting, I now TOTALLY know that there are 16 provinces. ...or 15...17???

To quote Wisegeek.com, "Canada is a vast country, with expansive land and many cities and towns and cultures. It is the world's second-largest country in terms of land mass. It is a relatively young country, however, the country being formed only in 1867. There are ten Canadian provinces and three territories that together make up the country as a whole."

...and all my Canadian friends to the North now sigh in disgust at my ignorance.

Can I get a WOOT WOOT!

A Very Proud Mommy

So my last post was all about the junk we've been dealing with over the month of October. Woe is me, life sucks, I need something good, yadda yadda yadda.

I got something good. I got one week of being an incredibly proud parent.

Okay...that doesn't really sound right. I'm ALWAYS proud...well, maybe not always, but definitely more than one week's worth.

Anyway....

Big A had a banner week last week. She's growing up very quickly and her accomplishments are really starting to show that. She had three in one week...three accomplishments. Pretty good ones, too.

1) In the fall her school does a gift wrap fundraiser every year. Some of you may know it, seen it, have done it. Little gift wrap elementary sales kids are generally all over the place in September and October. Big A sold her product (well...mostly I did actually but shhhh!) and when going to her school last week to pick up her products, we were told she was the top salesperson in the whole third grade. Awesome! Now personally - I didn't really think she sold a WHOLE lot but she sold a decent amount. Never did I think it would win her the "most stuff sold" prize. But it did. She won a party at the Water Park of America for herself and seven of her friends. Pretty awesome prize...even though the thought of taking eight 3rd graders to a water park is a bit horrific. Although now the word has gotten out and Big A is getting requests from girls that she's not even that good of friends with. She's suddenly a "Wanted Woman" and thusly, I have decided the party will not happen in 2009...hopefully causing a few people to forget about and taking some pressure off of her.

2) She declared last week that she wanted to run for Student Council. 3rd grade is the year. She had to write a speech and then get up and give her speech in class the next day. Okay...my child is NOT someone who wants to draw attention to herself in school. In other words, I NEVER thought she'd want to get up in front of the class and do this. And it was voluntary. But I was proven wrong - she was going to do it and she was determined to do it well. She wrote her speech, typed it all by herself, had it edited by yours truly, and printed it. She practiced her eye contact and not reading directly off the paper. She used her "big" voice.

She ended up getting third - which means she's an alternate. I'm so proud of her. She did something I couldn't picture her doing and she's pretty dang proud of herself as well.

3) She got her first trophy at bowling this week. I had a suspicion she'd be getting one. She's been bowling MUCH better lately, and on Halloween they had a tournament. Last Saturday, they had the awards ceremony and Big A walked away with her first trophy!!! See...last year she was the only one on her team that did NOT get one...and she was really, really bummed. So to say she was ecstatic over this one was a bit of an understatement. She was pumped. She's still carrying it around with her at home.

So good things do happen....and they didn't make me more money, or makemy job easier, or magically produce groceries in my fridge without me having to go get them....but they made an 8 year old beam, and a mom and a dad well up with pride. Even small accomplishments to some are huge for others....and I'm a very proud mommy. It's the little things...it's all about perspective.....and it all works in the end.

Good stuff...keep on coming.