More Stuff and 2012

Gina had her 3rd chemo on Wednesday.  Half way to surgery, 1/4 of the way done with chemo.  She was in good spirits when I saw her, although she said that she had not slept well the night before.  She also had an exam by Dr. Link on this visit, and he confirmed that the tumor was shrinking,  which is what they had anticipated (and we had hoped!).  Good news.

I received more fundraising goodies today, in anticipation of our upcoming fundraisers at the Farmer's Market.  I also ordered a banner for our fundraisers.  There is a local company that offers a 2X4 banner for free for first time customers!

On the fundraising front, my good and talented Janna finished 20 pairs of earrings for me to sell (I gave her the findings to make these just 2 days ago!!) and 2 women I work with promptly bought a pair each :)  And in a ridiculously amazing show of support, my friend and co-worker Vannessa, who took one of my fundraising cans YESTERDAY, returned it to me full TODAY!

When I got home with my full can of coins, the first thing Jack was struck by was it's weight, so he promptly weighed it.  Four pounds 7.8 oz.!  Then he wanted to count the coins.  $57.73!  Wow.

To Janna, Marisa, Celena, and Vannessa, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

On a final note, I have already started looking forward to next year.  The Susan G. Komen 3-Day just announced the dates and opened up registration for next year's events.  Without a doubt, I knew I would be walking in San Diego again next year, and my hope is that Gina will be walking by my side.  But I also wanted to do more.  So today, I registered to be a part of the Crew in the San Francisco walk.  Each 3-Day event depends on hundreds of Crew and volunteers to do everything from setting up camp, marking the route, feeding and caring for the walkers, to simple things like hauling gear and stocking the pit stops.  I want to experience this side of the walk, and give my support to others who are walking.  When I am done with this post, I will be trying to figure out what assignment I will be requesting, but I am leaning towards working a pit stop, where you offer support, encouragement, food and hydration to the walkers.  I'll keep you posted :)  And if there is anyone reading this who thinks Crewing is something you might be interested in, all you have to do is pay a registration fee of $90 ($55 if you get a promo code and register before December).  Fundraising by Crew is encouraged but not required.  And as far as travel expenses, the Crew tent camps with the walkers, so that cuts down on your costs!!

Hope you are all well.

Lisa

 Labeling the fundraising cans

 Cool bangle bracelets

 Visors

 Lanyards

 Stickers

 4 and 8" magnets

 Double ring necklace

Earrings

Gratitude

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but we were on a family vacation to Kauai.  For those of you that don't know, I usually go in October by myself (I meet my mom over there, and my aunts and grandma live there), but this year we decided that we should all go together, since the boys haven't been in 5 years.

We all wore our tie t-shirts to the airport, so there was no mistaking that we belonged together :)

At first, Spencer didn't want to take a picture, but then he changed his mind.

As I anticipated, we all had a great time.  And, as always, my grandma was a joy to be around.  She just turned 93, and she is as coherent and active as I have always known her to be!  I feel so blessed to still have her around, and especially to be able to share her with Seth and the boys.

Since we've been back, I've had 3 chocolate orders to fill.  I have been, and will continue to be, using all of the money I make on my etsy site to pay for fundraising goodies and to sponsor our team.  Speaking of fundraising, here are a couple of things that arrived yesterday:

These are just a couple of the things that we will be having at our fundraisers.  I haven't decided yet if we will put a specific price on each item, or if we will group them, saying, "if you donate $5, you can choose on of these items, if you donate $10, you can choose one of these items," etc., etc.

I have also started labeling the donation cans.  We will be giving these away to anyone who wants one, and all they have to do is fill it up with their spare change.  When it's full, I will pick it up and process the coins!  I already have several friends who have ideas about where they can distribute these :)  This is a super simple way to support us!  

And finally, check out these necklaces I made.  I was inspired by some fancier ones I saw online (that I thought were too expensive for what they were!) and then found a tutorial for how to make these.  Can you guess what the pendants are made of?  Washers from the hardware store!  How cool is that?  And even cooler is the fact that since I am making these myself, I can stamp them with any word, phrase, or name I want!

I am so thrilled with these I went to OSH and bought more washers and a 3 lb hammer today.  More pics soon!

Gina update:  Chemo #3 is tomorrow.  Halfway to surgery.  Her reaction to the last chemo lasted a little longer than the first time, but I think that is to be expected.  Mostly fatigue and body aches.  Her hair is gone, but bald is beautiful, baby!!

Until next time,

Lisa

PS:  I sent out my first "official" fundraising letter to friends and family today, and received two donations within hours!  One was from Jack's Grandpa Bill and Nana Irene (who are going to meet us in San Diego for the walk!) and the other was from some regular guests at Kincaid's who I saw yesterday and who told me, "we're in!"  Wow.  Blessed.  Thank you.

Logos, Baby!

Well, it's official, we have team logos!  Unable to choose just one, I asked Patrick if we could keep two.  Here they are!

Awesome, right?!  These are going to look so cool on shirts!!

In other news, it was about time for me to start thinking about getting a haircut.  My hair grows like wild fire, and I cannot stand to have it looking shaggy.  After a little bit of trepidation (and the comfort of having a 10 day vacation coming up if something went wrong), I got a #2 guard for our hair clippers and decided I was going to have the boys shave my head for me.

Spencer was a little cautious at first, but then did a few passes with the clippers.  Seth finished up.  Contrary to what my skull feels like, it doesn't look too mishapen ;)  Anyway, I love it, and am totally happy that I will be able to do my own hair cuts for awhile!  PS:  Sorry, Mom!

I've Got Mail! & Pictures!

The first exciting thing that happened today was that Patrick emailed me the first round of Team Tough Titty logos!  And as luck would have it, I happened to be at Gina's when I got the email on my phone, so we printed them up at her house.  They are SO COOL it's gonna be hard to choose!

When I got home, I had three boxes waiting for me!  Yay, mail!  Especially in these days of email, it's very rare to get something in the snail mail that you actually want, and I still get excited to open up "fun" boxes and mail! Anyway, arriving unexpectedly quickly were the silicone bracelets, temporary tattoos, and business cards that I ordered.  This is the first of the promotional stuff that I will be buying for fundraising over the next couple of months.

And the kicker for today was that Gina's parents donated to our team, putting me over the 1K mark!  WOW!  I can't wait to watch that number grow with every fundraiser!!  The funny thing about this is that the donation was from Kim and Dia Lam, and I didn't recognize the first names, so I called Gina.  When she told me that it was her parents, I realized that after knowing them for over 20 years, I did not know their first names!  We ALL call them Mr. and Mrs. Lam!  Ha!!  I think I'm gonna start calling them by their first names now :)

Well, I'm off to work, but here are some pictures for you:

These are the logos that Patrick came up with.  I will pick one from here to go forward with.

 Pink bracelets!

 Temporary tattoos!

My new cards!

 More shirts by Sean!

A Very Full Day!

Over the last week, my childhood bestie, Sean, has been making tie dye t-shirt samples featuring the SKG logo and our team name on them.  He sent me a couple of cell phone pictures, but was really keeping his activities a bit of a secret from me.

When I told him that I was going to be down his way in San Diego for a SKG "Get Started Meeting" today and that I hoped we could meet up, he told me that he actually had a job up this way starting today!  What a coincidence!  What a bummer!

And although he was originally planning on driving out this morning, he ended up driving out last night so that he could get the shirts to me in time for my drive down to San Diego.  What a doll.

So here is how my morning went:  Up at 6:30.  Get ready.  Head over to Sean's parents' house to pick up the shirts, which he left on the porch for me.  Go home and go through shirts & other pieces--OVER 50 of them, ALL DIFFERENT!  Have the boys try them on and take pictures.  Choose some to take to Gina's chemo appointment today.  Take pictures of them.  Head to Orange County for chemo appointment.

I got to the clinic just after 9:00.  Before heading in, I walked over to Dolly's Donuts, which I will be doing EVERY chemo treatment, because they have delicious French crullers--very hard to find these days!  I got a dozen donuts to share with the chemo room people.  Who doesn't love donuts?

Today was Gina's husband Steven's first visit with her for chemo.  Gina has a port in her arm now (and still has a gnarly bruise from having recently had it put in), but apparently it still hurts to put the IV in.  Steven did not do well watching the nurse insert the needle into the port ;)

At the clinic store, where I was buying Seth a pink ribbon pin to wear at work, I asked the owner if she could tell me where she gets her merchandise, as I have been having a tough time finding pink ribbon products priced low enough to be able to re-sell them at a profit.  I'm so glad I asked, because the website she gave me has most of the things I want to buy for our fundraisers, and all at great prices!  Score!

After a few hours, I headed home to nap.  I left home for San Diego at 2:30.  I got there about 2 1/2 hours later.

The library where the meeting was held was DIRECTLY next to an Ikea, so I did a little shopping to kill some time since I was early. I found some really cool picture frames that will work great for signs at my fundraisers, and they were only 99 cents each!  Score again!

I also followed up with some fundraising contacts, and it looks like we're just about confirmed for 3 days of fundraising at Torrance Farmer's markets and also confirmed for a fundraiser at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse!!  Score, score!

Of course, all of the volunteers at the meeting were super cool.  The speaker was great, and was very welcoming.  The best part of the meeting, though, was meeting other walkers.  When the speaker asked for people to share their stories, I talked about Gina, and I cried.  I also agreed with the other walkers that while joining the walk started out being about giving to others, it had very quickly turned into ME feeling like I am getting so much out of it.  The kindness being shown to me because of what I am in turn trying to do for others is overwhelming.

By 7:45 pm, I was headed back home.  I was enjoying my music and dancing in the car so much that I actually missed the 405 split and ended up taking the 5 all the way to downtown LA!  Oh well.

When I got home, Seth got up to greet me and rub my feet :)  Oh, and my $10 per pair walking socks had arrived while I was gone.  Can't wait to try them.

Well, it's late.  Here are a few pics from this morning.  I will post more when I have more time.  It's been a long day, but I couldn't be more pleased with how it went!

XOXO
Lisa

The Kindness of Others

On Sunday I did another training walk, and this time I was a bit over ambitious!  Because work was gonna be a zoo (due to the holiday weekend), I drove my car down to park it by work in the morning.  From there I walked 6 miles to Rolling Hills Plaza to have lunch at Veggie Grill.  After lunch, I  wasn't sure if I'd make it back home in time for a nap before work, so I ended up taking a bus for about a mile and a half to get me a little closer to home!  Once I got home, I literally had time for a 40 min nap before getting up, getting ready and heading off to work.  I had done exactly 8 miles.  By the end of my shift that night, I was pooped!  But it was a great day!

On the fundraising front, a couple more cool things have happened.  The awesome graphic artist who did my Pirates and Princesses logo a couple of years ago, Patrick O'Neal (www.onealink.com) agreed to do our Team Tough Titty logo for FREE!!  Also, Seth went to the Wilson Park Farmer's Market, and they are going to let us put up a fundraising booth, also for FREE!  And lastly, BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, where my friend's hubby is a senior manager, is going to host a fundraiser for us!  15% of all sales (minus liquor and tax) on our fundraising night will be donated to the cause!!  DATES FOR THESE EVENTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

Oh wait, I forgot another one!  The company whose face paints I love to use (www.wolfefx.com) is donating face painting kits and glitter so I can do face painting at our fundraisers!! Woo Hoo!!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Patrick O'Neal
Mary Lou Weiss
Mike Walsh
Shelli Fresco Farber

THANK YOU!!

Training

I took my second training walk on Thursday.  I walked from home to Seth's restaurant, just over 3 miles.  We have been having gorgeous weather (with a nice breeze), so that has been helpful.

When I got to Restaurant Christine, I actually ran in to one of the regular guests from Kincaid's.  She was having lunch with a friend and we ended up chatting quite a bit.  Before I left, she gave me her card and told me that she would support any fundraisers I have.

At one point, one of the bussers came up to me and was commenting and complimenting my hair in Spanish.  I could also see the kitchen guys peeking out of the kitchen to look at me.  I asked Seth, "you didn't tell them did you?"  He hadn't :)

Team TT also got 2 more donations on Thursday!  Oh, and I got my new shoes in the mail (AFTER I got home from my walk).

Yesterday, I ordered 200 pink silicone bracelets that sat THINK PINK!  We will use these as giveaways, as part of promotions, and also sell them.  I also bought 100 coin banks that I plan in decorating and using as fundraising tools.  We will be asking friends, as well as some businesses, to collect their loose change in them for a month, and then we will pick them up.  It's an easy way for people to get involved with minimal effort.

Today, Saturday, I had to go to a work meeting, but also did another training walk.  This time I got to wear my new shoes and use a new app i installed on my iPhone that uses GPS to track my actual mileage.  I did 5 miles :)  The only difficulty I had was that the insoles of my shoes were killing my arches, so I asked Seth to drive and meet me, bringing the original insoles to me.  I was fine after that.

On the fundraising front, my good friend Matthew, who always seems to say "yes" without hesitation, agreed to hold a pancake breakfast at his restaurant to help us raise donations for our walk.  I am super excited to plan it!!  Next on the agenda are a few more restaurant fundraisers, and a couple of BBQs.

Gina is having her 2nd chemo in a few days.  I will also be driving down to San Diego that day for a "Get Started Meeting" for the walk.  I can't wait to meet some fellow walkers!

I hope you all are well and enjoying your holiday weekend!!

Lisa