More Choices to Support the Team!

shopping

Today I was able to shop for some of the lingering items I knew my daughter and I would need to pack for the 3 Day. Thanks to many previous bloggers I was able to feel confident about what to purchase for my fanny pack. Susan Komen has a great checklist but real life examples and experiences are an added plus.

We were able to go to an outdoor store in Burlington, Wa and purchase almost everything we still needed.

We are borrowing sleeping mats and we have plastic for the tops and bottoms of the tents.

I still needed a light weight sleeping bag as the one we have today is heavy and bulky. I decided on a microlight sleeping bag that is good to 45 degrees and is very compact.

My daughter and I both needed fanny packs and water bottles. We also had to purchase ponchos, emergency blankets (according to the list, but not sure why yet), a small "camping" type mirror, some plastic travel bottles for sunscreen and both of us needed big ol' duffle bags which we found for only $18 each. HUGE ones! On the getting ready conference call - they said - we don't care how big the bag is and we prefer everything IN it instead of attached to it - so we went BIG.

We had to go to WalMart for the rest of our list - like moleskin, Neosporin, cloths pins, baby powder, water bottles, cheap wrist watches since we won't have our cell phones for time keeping, anti-friction stuff - they didn't have Bodyglide so we opted for Monistat Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder (which I read about on another blog). It was also like half the price I saw online for Bodyglide.

All together it was about $255 and this isn't a complete list. The most expensive items were MY fanny pack (about $40), the two duffle bags ($18 each), and the special high tech sleeping bag (about $40).

I also ordered the team "fight like a honey badger" T-shirts from Zazzle. Get your own!!

I'll give a full report on what goes well after the walk! Thank you fellow bloggers. I hope I can be a resource for newbies as well some day! 

most profound moment of the weekend...

Yesterday and today Team Keeping Abreast pulled off the most amazing "garage" sale and bake sale ever. We had a goal of $2,000 in fundraising and with our company match - we exceeded that goal by $40.00!

For me, the most profound moment was when I was "tagging" a facebook photo to thank everyone who had played a role and I just kept tagging and tagging. So many friends and family donated time, baked goods, sale items, spent time recruiting and advertising, came to make purchases, helped with loading up and packing up - it really humbled me to realize how many people were making contributions to help our team raise the donations needed to not only fight breast cancer but help ensure the 6 of us will be walking come September 16, 2011!

I must tell you, I am not an overly sentimental person - with strangers especially. I'm not the kind of person to GUSH about this or that or over-do sympathy (unless I really mean it) - I am genuine, but not "over the top" about all things. I try to be respectful of other's viewpoints, time and the fact that I know "they" don't care as much about "me" as I do.

Today, I surprised myself and had a most amazing moment when a customer of the sale asked if there were any breast cancer survivors on the team. There are...however some are less inclined to bring it up, so I told her, "yes, I am one of them". This woman reached toward me instinctively, without hesitation to embrace me in a hug - not one of those "oh you poor thing" hugs, but an uplifting, grateful hug. To my surprise -  I immediately warmly hugged her right back - and savored this emotional, positive connection with this stranger. I found out shortly after our embrace that her mother was also a survivor. The conversation was only momentarily about "cancer" and then we spoke of the inspiration of the 3 Day walk and gadgets and clothes at the sale. It was the most natural, comfortable and really "human" conversation.


It reminded me - we are all the same. We may be strangers, but we are all the same inside.

I. Am. Grateful. Thankful. For the experiences this weekend has brought me.

Order our official team logo on the shirt of your choice!

Fight like a Honey Badger by littlebird75
More Basic T-Shirts

All proceeds will be donated to Susan G Komen 3 Day for the Cure! Support our team. Wear our team logo to support us! It's pretty effing awesome!Wear this to the gym and see what comments arise. If you haven't seen the viral honey badger video...Google it and the logo means even more. 

Multi Family Garage Sale/ Bake Sale for Susan G Komen

The donations are flooding in for the sale we have scheduled for July 16, 2011 at the Boom City Swap-meet. All proceeds will be donated to support Susan G Komen and help our team raise the required donations to participate in the 3 day walk.

I must admit, my husband is a little frustrated because STUFF takes room and we've had to move things around and get creative to accept the donations we've received. Overall, he's been a sport about it and he's going to be very helpful come Saturday when we need to load and transport and unload everything at our vendor location.

I wanted to update folks on some of the bigger ticket items we will be selling. Remember, most everything is "Name Your Price"!

To date we have:

a working tanning bed!
a complete 15 foot outdoor pool with ladder
quad tires for a Polaris
shelving
Disney Collectibles
life vests
hip waders
a flute
small Weber grill
a nearly new full size bed frame with under-frame storage
commercial locking key box
clothes for men and women - lots of sizes
brand new in the box dog containment system
jewelry
bedding
brand new twin sized bedding
men's, women's and kids bikes
heavy duty locking 4 bike rack
newer sewing machine
books
and that's just SOME of the stuff we'll have!!

The bake sale will feature gourmet cupcakes, cookies, home made bagels, quick breads and more!

We will also have the quilt from Althea's Footwear Solutions quilt raffle to benefit Susan G Komen available for viewing and ticket purchase. Raffle tickets are only $5.00 each or 3 for $12. Quilts of this quality often sell for thousands of dollars!

Come. Join us! We'll have music, friends and fun!

Christine has raised over $2,500!

Christine has now surpassed the minimum requirement for walking in the 3 Day for the Cure through donations from family and friends as well as our company sponsored effort in May. Great job Christine! Just 5 more team members to go to make sure we can all participate in the walk! 

Half way there!

Two team members have now reached just above 50% of the fundraising goals! Most recently, Arlington Family Medicine and Dr. Lucianna donated to my fundraising efforts taking me to 52%. Christine reached that benchmark last week and the rest of the team aren't far behind! Overall we've accomplished about 40% of the goal. Great job ladies!!