Yay Team!

Kraig made a great discovery the other day ... on our 3-Day participant page, there's a list of "Top Teams" in terms of fundraising.

Look closely ... on the far left side ... look at the list of teams .... see it? zoom a little ...

It's Save the Toucans!

That's right ... with $7,281 raised for the Michigan 3-Day for the Cure, our team is on the Top 10 list for the event right now! We're at 53% of our goal (raising $13,800), and among the top 10 in Michigan ...

Coming from a team of two from last year to having six people this year has been a ton of fun. It's really different, but it's the little things like this that are just so exciting.

I don't know how long we'll stay on the list -- there are teams with dozens of people that walk in the 3-Day -- but we're there right now. And that's exciting. I'm so proud to be part of a great group of people who are doing wonderful things and really making a difference in the effort to fight breast cancer.

One down, 23 to go ...

I realize that in the "real world," 24 weeks equates to six months, which is half a year. Which is a long time. In my pink bubble, however, 24 weeks starts the countdown ... and it flies by.

Some background: Having a "successful" 3-Day event (which means no blisters, no injuries, no whining) requires training. When Julie & Jenn were considering whether to walk this year, we talked about what sort of commitment it was. I couldn't say it enough: The fundraising isn't hard. It's not easy, but it's not hard. But the training ... that's hard. And yet I think it's the single most important piece of having a good experience.

The training isn't hard because of the actual, physical walking. That's probably the easy part. Training is hard because it's a lot of time. You have to make the time to walk four days a week. And some weeks, that's hours of walking. It's hard to adjust an already busy schedule to fit in walking, and it can be stressful. For example, "walking days" are Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Emma has gymnastics on Thursday, which makes it nearly impossible to walk on Thursday night (it's only a 45-minute class, which isn't enough time to get to the gym and back, and it's not enough time to walk the neighborhood by the gym). Yet it isn't warm enough in the morning yet to go out early. Argh, you get the idea.

But the training is also where I found joy in the 3-Day. I loved having the structure that forced me to exercise. I loved walking with Stef and chatting along the way. I loved getting outside and seeing the bunnies and deer. I loved meeting new people on training walks and learning more about them and why they walk. I loved training.

So this past week, when the email popped into my inbox to let me know that my "Personal Trainer" was ready to go, it made me smile. Getting my Daily Mile account all set up made me smile (you can see my tally of training miles on the right side of the blog). And gearing up to go walk this week made me smile.

Now if we can just get it to be a little less windy, walking outside will make me smile.

And that was a really long way of explaining: One down, 23 to go.

Yay for Euchre, pizza, friends and fun!

Some of the Toucans: Kraig, Stef, Greg & Jen

Our first "Team Toucan" fundraiser, a euchre tournament, was a huge success, and from what we heard, a lot of fun. We raised more than $1,400 for the 3-Day for the Cure, and importantly, had a great evening hanging out with friends and family who are so supportive of what we're trying to do.

The evening wouldn't have been possible without the wonderful space we had -- the clubhouse was donated by a local apartment complex. As I said that night, you have to follow the bouncing ball: Keith's mom suggested the space after hosting a baby shower there with Keith's cousin, Crystal, who is married to Don. Don's deceased brother's widow's husband's daughter runs the clubhouse. Doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you get there: Thank you, Don, Crystal, Kay & Debbie!

A quick but heartfelt thanks to Jet's Pizza and Buscemi's for donating the pizzas. (And to Brian & Nicole for arranging some of that for us!)

Finally, thank you so much to everyone who came to play! From our family to our camping friends, to school/neighborhood pals to long-time friends, they turned out in full force, even with friends and family of their own. We met several new people, and had a great time that night.

As Stefanie said, Thank you for opening your hearts, and your wallets, to something so dear to us. We do the walking, but we couldn't do it without you.

xoxo

And the panic sets in ...

Not for the first time, I'm sure, but the panic has set in.

We have our first 'official' team fundraiser this weekend, our Euchre Tournament, with 50 players registered. And so, I panic. Will everyone show up? Will they arrive on time? Will we have all our material? I know it'll all work out just fine ... we had a blast last year, and by all measures we should have a great time this year. The forecast looks fine (we had a snowstorm last year), the RSVP count is relatively firm (there's still room if you want to get in!), and the location is perfect (a donated clubhouse).

And Monday starts our 24-week training period. I cannot believe it's here already. I just don't feel ready yet. I'm super swamped at work. I haven't been very good about getting to the gym the past two weeks. (OK, three, if I have to be honest.) And the weather's still pretty iffy most days. On the other hand, the structured regimen of the training schedule will "force" me to get to the gym instead of making up a lame excuse. And the first month's pretty tame, with a lot of 3-mile walks, which are really easy to do on the treadmill. And the weather's truly been amazing this winter, so maybe I can get outside for a brief jaunt.

Oh yeah, and we're walking with a team this year.. there are six of us, four of whom have never walked. Do they have the info they need? Are they doing ok with their training? What am I missing? I have to keep in mind that although they haven't walked before, Stef's husband has been through the walk twice with her, so he's totally aware of what he's getting in to. And our other three teammates are incredibly intelligent, self-sufficient and motivated people... they'll do just great. They're already kicking butt in fundraising!

So I guess I've talked myself out of complete panic. Now it's just partial panic. . .