$30,000 and counting

We've surpassed the $30,000 mark! Check it out!

Congratulations Shalini, Kay, Abby, Lilly, Liz, Oriana, Lucy, Meredith, Annie, Alison, and Amber... and me!

Let's begin the countdown... 5 days to go!

Blame Liz!

Here's some inside scoop:

When times get tough with training or fundraising, the ladies at NARAL Pro-Choice America liked to target their frustration on one person. Named Liz (last name withheld). Because she's the reason we signed up for this walk in the first place. And she's the reason Amber will now dye her hair pink. And she's the reason I have a permanent blister running the length of my heel. And she's the reason Lucy's knee hurts. And she's the reason Shalini's knee is effed up. And she's the reason we're all in a mild debt (walking isn't cheap!). I could go on, but I won't. You get the point.

No! Blame Liz!

But, Liz is also the reason our team was able to raise $27,372.04 AND COUNTING... so yeah. We blame Liz, but really we're thanking her.

Thank you Liz!

The Oasis

Wow. I've never been so happy as I was at 1:30 on Saturday. At around mile 12 of our 20 mile walk, there it was: Liz's parents house.

The "moderate" incline to get to this Oasis was about as moderate as John McCain- which is to say, not moderate at all. But it was well worth the short hike.

A bathroom, water, Gatorade, sunscreen, and more awaited us. Let's talk for a moment about the spread: hummus, bread, olives, pita chips, fruit salad, sandwich fixins'. It was pure heaven.

Thank you so much Laura Stone and Ezra Levine.

Getting back on the road was another story, but somehow we managed to pry ourselves away. Once again, my post-walk state makes me an evangelist for those special blister band-aids. I love them!

Super Long Saturday Walk!!

Before this past Saturday, the farthest I had walked was 11 miles. We met on Saturday morning at 9:30 (ish) in Dupont Circle, fanny packs and all, and headed out towards Virginia. We were thrilled to have a new walker, Diana Schrimpf, to keep us entertained. We were doing great until we hit the Tidal Basin and the 14th Street Bridge and had no idea how to get Virginia (see, Virginia's crazy!). Finally, after a couple of phone calls to Heather Sullivan, we made it down south. The bridge was a loud and scary, but we made it because we are tough.

Once we crossed into Virginia, we only had about 6 miles left to get to our halfway point!! We stopped near some flag-football games (or rugby to some people) and stretched out our already aching legs. YIKES STRIPES!!

Anyway...so we hopped onto the trail that would take us by the beautiful river and onto Old Town Alexandria. Right before the airport we heard canons. No joke, we heard canons. I suppose it could have been other loud booming noises, perhaps associated with the nearby planes, but I suspect it was actually an approaching pirate ship. Seems more likely to me anyway.

Blah blah blah...we get to Old Town. We ate a yummy and very necessary lunch at La Madeleine. It was hard to get back out there after our lunch break, but we felt nourished, hydrated, relieved (bathroom-style) and icy-hotted. Additionally, we were in Virginia, we had to get out.

On the walk home, we were a little bit more separate, achy and wet because of the icnreasing rain. We all made it home and to work on Monday. I'd say, all in all, a great walk!

better late than never

Look Amber, I'm blogging!! I have been meaning to blog about our 16 mile walk last Sunday since...ok Sunday. So here we go....

When Amber told me the route, I was pretty much convinced we would be walking until Tuesday afternoon. But, alas, she was right on the money with the mileage.

We started our stroll along Rock Creek Parkway (which I'm vetoing from here on out) all the way to the Capital Crescent Trail. I suggested walking along the canal which was a great idea, until the trail ran out. But don't worry, the helpful construction folks posted a sign reading "use other side." Except the "other side" was across the canal. Oh snap! We climbed over the fence, walked dangerously close to lots of traffic, and ended up back on the trail. Good times.

Fast forward through 7 miles of the Capital Crescent trail. Other than seeing lots of springer spaniels, nothing much to report.

We stopped in Bethesda, where I was highly dismayed by their lack of passover options. Even the amazing bagel place was closed for Amber and Shalini's long awaited PB & J. Re-energized from our snacks, we made amazing time back to Connecticut Ave. Despite Amber's haiku to the L2 we did make it all the way back to Cleveland Park.

Stay tuned for info on our 27 miles of walking this weekend!

Haiku

At the end of our 15 mile walk on Sunday, I composed this Haiku about the L2 bus line. The L2 bus route ran right alongside us for approximately the last 3 miles of the walk. It was so tempting when it went by. Luckily, when the moment of truth came, my fellow walkers were there to keep me going.

L2 I love you
Please come and get me right now
I want a ride home

I invite the other walkers to submit their poems.

Sister Study Opportunity

A message from Sister Study: WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER to help us recruit women just like you! The Sister Study needs a total of 50,000 women by the end of 2007. We currently have 33,000 women enrolled in the study which means we need to recruit 17,000 more women by the end of this year. Our most successful method of recruitment is through word of mouth, so this is where you can play a pivotal role today.

Through your personal participation in the Sister Study, you are making a tremendous contribution to breast cancer research. But we have another important request. Please forward this email to other women, friends and family members who may be interested. Or give them a call or a brochure about the study (call 1-877-474-7837 for brochures). If each current participant in the Sister Study helps us recruit one other woman this year, we will reach our goal and complete our recruitment phase on time! Remember, breast cancer affects women from every walk of life, so we need women of all backgrounds, occupations, and ethnic groups to join.

For women who have received this email from a Sister Study member :

You may be eligible to join the Sister Study if -
Ø Your sister (living, deceased), related to you by blood, had breast cancer
Ø You are between 35 and 74 years old
Ø You have never had breast cancer yourself
Ø You live in the U.S. or Puerto Rico

To join today or learn more about the Sister Study, visit the web site http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=jpnhc5bab.0.dtl8c5bab.ecmkb5bab.11645&ts=S0231&p=http://www.sisterstudy.org/ in English or http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=jpnhc5bab.0.etl8c5bab.ecmkb5bab.11645&ts=S0231&p=http://www.estudiodehermanas.org/ in Spanish. You may also call 1-877-4SISTER (877-474-7837), English and Spanish. All study materials are available in Spanish. Deaf/Hard of Hearing call 1-866-TTY-4SIS (866-889-4747).

picture pages, picture pages

Many of you have asked to see our pictures, so here are some more of them...

(the NARAL Pro-Choice America crew)

(Lucy, Meredith, Amber, and Shalini... with a tray of ab-fab baked goods)



(Amber's hair so far... reflecting the NARAL Pro-Choice America fundraising total)

Things are heating up as we're about 4 weeks out... stay tuned for more information!