Simple Joy Sunday

Finding the simple joys each week...

Being reamed out for stupid shit by the evil boss lady this week motivated me to look into my union's work program again. I also had a dream where a friend of mine asked me "What about the soap opera?" What that translated to in my conscious mind was "You've always worked in theatre, how about trying tv?" It's something to look into...

A work friend brought me a jalapeno plant that he grew for me. All he did was stick a pepper in soil. The plant's beautiful!

Scott & I decided that since there is absolutely nothing going on at work for the next couple of weeks, that we'd take some of our vacation time. It was pretty much a last minute decision so I lost out on the looking forward to taking the time off bit, but it's such a relief knowing that I don't have to go to work next week. I don't know if we're going to be able to run away at all, but we are planning on getting some stuff done around the house and maybe even some relaxing.

As always, check out more Simple Joy Sundays over at Cool Zebras. What were some of your joys this week?

Hey Pink Warriors! Come get some armor (really chain maille jewelry).
All proceeds to benefit my fundraising for The 3 Day!

The 3 Day: Weeks Sixteen & Seventeen Progress Report

A couple of fun things...
~The other night at work, the guy that's in charge of our retail department walked into my office and said "There's only one left and it needs to go to a good home" and proceeded to hand me a Pink Ribbon Sisterhood luggage tag. It's so cute and so sweet of him to think of giving it to me. It will undoubtedly be on my duffel bag for the event.

~The 3 Day is offering a gift card giveaway for both me and you when you register for the walk. We'll each receive a $35 gift card to use on 3 Day gear at Shop3Day.com™. So, if you've been thinking about signing up, here's how to take advantage of the special offer:
1. Register online at The3Day.org, over the phone at 800-996-3DAY, or at a Get Started Meeting.
2. Enter the discount code BRINGAFRIEND in the online registration form.
3. When the registration form asks for the ID# of the friend who referred you, enter this Participant ID: 4897011


Training
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to go for a five mile training walk in the middle of the day in Florida summer heat. It wasn't the best plan, but I got through it. I saw a snake on that walk and I stood in someone's sprinkler for a minute. =)

I did another five mile walk, but did it in the evening this time. That made a world of difference! I was feeling pretty tired when I started out, but my energy seemed to pick up as I continued on.

Yesterday, I did my first six mile walk and miracle of miracles, had very little foot pain or discomfort while I was out!!! The bunions that I never knew I had (found out about them for the first time when I went to the podiatrist) were hurting but I'm not sure there's anything I can do about that. I'm also concerned if I'm making them worse. After 4 miles, I stopped by the house to have a little snack (ice cold oranges are amazing!! and some chips for the salt), refill my liquids, to use the bathroom, and of course stretch. The only other issue I had was at about mile 5 when I started to feel hot spots on my little toes and on the bottom of the balls. I stopped back by the house to change my socks, put on bandages, and reapply Body Glide. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and try shoe shopping again so I can start wearing my moisture wicking socks (they don't fit in my current shoes with the orthotics). Shoe shopping has been such a horrible experience that I have been trying to avoid it. 6 miles!!! Woohoo!!! Oh! And I did it in a hour and thirty five minutes!

The past couple of weeks, my cross training consisted of a few five mile bike rides around my neighborhood. Tonight, I can't wait to go home to do some yoga; after yesterday's six mile walk (and cleaning two bathrooms!!) I need it.

Oh, and more good news: insurance approved four more physical therapy sessions. Seems like an arbitrary number since they aren't paying for any of it (I have to reach an insane deductible before they chip in anything) but it's better than nothing. I was actually so tired and so relaxed at PT this past week, that I actually started to fall asleep on the table. All of this PT actually is a lot of work and it's costing money, but I'm getting better (six miles!) and I really do enjoy going there.

Something that just occurred to me recently: come October, I'll be walking the equivalent of 2 1/2 marathons when I do this event!! I hadn't thought about it like that before. Saying it that way, it does sound kind of crazy. lol.


Fundraising
Things have been fairly quiet on the fundraising front lately. I have one donation that I'm hoping to see in the next week, so that's good. After this insane week at work, I should get more Pink Warrior stuff made. I'll be sending out a newsletter to my Athena's Armoury subscribers about the new line, so if you want to be included leave a comment below with your e-mail addy. I'm also planning on sending out an e-mail to friends, family, & co-workers that may not be following my blog just letting them know how things are going so far.

Mileage to date on training walks: 72
Goal: $2,300
Achieved: $2,054 or 89%
Remaining: $246
Countdown: 131 days until the event!

If you're enjoying keeping track of my progress, please consider supporting me in my effort to eradicate breast cancer. No amount is too little or too much. Thank you!!

Hey Pink Warriors! Come get some armor (really chain maille jewelry).
All proceeds to benefit my fundraising for The 3 Day!

Simple Joy Sunday

Obviously I'm still trying to get into the swing of things with my blogging. Between house guests and work getting extremely stressful (yes, threats of layoffs. again.), it's pretty much fallen by the wayside. I'm trying to fix that....

Finding the simple joys each week...

Driving home from work late one night, I got to watch an amazing light show compliments of Mother Nature. The lightening was gorgeous and so bright that it was blinding.

Scott & I went to check out the new A-Team movie this week. It was so much fun. You kind of have to turn off your brain at the door, but if you're an old school fan like I am, you'll have a blast.

In the middle of mowing the lawn the other day, Scott called me outside. There was an adorable tortoise wandering through the yard! Of course I wanted to play with it, but I refrained. I kind of just hung out watching it for a bit. He stuck out his head and checked me out. I tried to run inside for my camera, but by the time I got back he was gone. So cute!

I spent some time tending to my herbs. They were in much need of attention, but I also really enjoy it. I'm moving my mint and lemon balm (member of the mint family) to the side of the house where they will get more shade. I'm hoping that will help because the poor mint plant in particular is not doing well. Actually, I thought of planting an entire mint garden on that side of the house. The soil there stays pretty moist and it doesn't get much sun because of my neighbor's tree, so it might be the perfect mint environment. We'll see.

I also decided to do a little herbal experiment. My lemongrass is growing like crazy so I wanted to do something with it. I took some of it and some rosemary and put it into a pint jar with some white vinegar. In theory, in a few weeks I should have some herbal deodorant. Finger crossed!! I would love for it to work.

In playing with my herbs I discovered a frog living in my yarrow. Actually, he may be a toad (he was rather warty). I think it's adorable that I have this little guy living in my herb garden!! Plus, he'll help take care of some bugs. The next day, I went out to water my herbs and didn't see him. The yarrow was looking a little dry, so I watered it fairly liberally. Then, out of nowhere, the dirt exploded and the toad popped out and was hanging by the edge of the pot. I felt so bad! I wasn't trying to drown the poor little guy!! I had no idea that he was completely buried in the soil. lol. Later that night, he was burrowed in the lemongrass.

Thanks to my boss being a dipshit and the possibility of layoffs, I've felt stressed out beyond belief this week. Actually, I'm feeling like I'm on the verge of panic attacks like last summer when they laid off 20 people. Not good. I thought this would be a good time for me to start taking my herbal nerve tonic infusion again. I'm so happy that I have something that I can turn to that will help me feel better. I have to start doing more yoga, too. That's also an amazing solace for me.

As always, check out more Simple Joy Sundays over at Cool Zebras. What were some of your joys this week?

Hey Pink Warriors! Come get some armor (really chain maille jewelry).
All proceeds to benefit my fundraising for The 3 Day!

The 3 Day: Weeks Fourteen & Fifteen Progress Report

I've been a little MIA from the blog and most of the internet for that matter for the past couple of weeks. Not too terribly much has happened, though, so there won't be too much to catch you up on. Let's see what we've got....


Training
I'm continuing to go to physical therapy once a week, do my stretching & strengthening exercises daily, as well as icing daily. Tara, my physical therapist told me to go for two miles and if it felt okay to continue on a bit longer for three. And I did!! There was some discomfort, but no pain. The next walk that she wanted me to do, she said to do three miles and again if it felt good to go for four. I was a little wary to try four: that's further than I had gone before I was injured. Around the second mile of that walk, I wasn't sure I was going to make it: I felt a bit stiff and a little sore. But I pushed through it. I did a full four miles!! I'm just thrilled that I made it! I made good time, too: four miles in one hour and five minutes. As soon as I got home I stretched and my honey made me an ice water foot bath. That felt amazing!! I was worried about stiffness later on, so I then did a hot foot bath, too. I took a couple of anti-inflammatories when I got home and used some Biofreeze when I went to bed. The next day: the tootsies weren't perfect, but they were feeling okay. Big smiles.

Aside from these walks, my usual walking at work, and maybe a quick run into a grocery store I really have not been on my feet at all (walking or standing) for the past 2-3 months. I went on two marathon shopping trips with my mom in these past couple of weeks and was miserable. I was on my feet for way too long and was hurting pretty bad the next day. I'm clearly not ready to be doing anything like that yet.

Also, I went to the podiatrist for a follow up. Talk about a waste of time and money. He basically said "keep doing what you're doing." Thanks. I'm so glad I spent an hour of my life and $100 on that.


Fundraising
I'm so glad that I got the bulk of my fundraising done early!! Somehow I knew that once it came time to training that I was going to need to focus all of my energy on that. I had that feeling even before I got injured. I'm still hoping to do another market or craft fair or something. I have some Pink Ribbon accessories that I'd love to be able to sell, plans for Pink Ribbon sugar cookies, and of course I want to continue to raise awareness.

I've had a few sales from my Pink Warrior Collection on Etsy but no bites from Artfire yet. I'm hoping to get some new pieces made next week when we get my mom moved out of my house. I'm really excited about making a few dream catchers for the collection! I'm also thinking about a charm bracelet and maybe a candle holder.

Speaking of my Pink Warrior stuff... check out this very sweet video of fellow 3 Day walker Kristen (follow her on twitter @kscincotta or her blog). Can you see the little bit of pink dangling from her ears?? Those are the Pink Warrior Earrings that she bought from me! Thanks to the generosity of Rebeca of Blue Buddha Boutique, ALL proceeds from the purchase of those earrings and every single piece of Pink Warrior Chain Maille goes directly to my fundraising. I've never seen such an amazing customer appreciation video. Thank you so much, Kristen!

Mileage to date on training walks: 56
Goal: $2,300
Achieved: $2,054 or 89%
Remaining: $246
Countdown: 144 days until the event!

If you're enjoying keeping track of my progress, please consider supporting me in my effort to eradicate breast cancer. No amount is too little or too much. Thank you!!