Breast Cancer 3-Day, Day 1

I won't describe the whole 3-Day at once because there's too much to talk about. Today I'll tell you about Day 0 and Day 1.

Mom and I were on the 3-Day Crew. The Crew are 3-Day volunteers. We have the same job for all 3 days, and camp & eat with the walkers. We were on a Pit Stop Crew. At a Pit Stop there is food, water & Gatorade, porta-potties (my brother will be pleased to know that they were Johnny on the Spot brand), and medical (we didn't do that part, real medical professionals are also on the Crew). There are typically 5 Pit Stops each day, plus lunch.

Mom and I were on Pit Stop 1, which is 2-3 miles into the route.

Day 0 is "Crew Day." We learned all the basics of what we would need to know for the next 3 days, met our team, and had a dinner out. No pictures of that.

Friday, Day 1, was dismal. It was cold and windy and rained for 24 hours straight. Luckily the weathermen had predicted this, so Mom and I had added layers of clothing and borrowed Dad's heavy-duty ponchos. We met our Crew team at 5:00 a.m. to start setting up. Each morning we had to set up 3 big pink tents, tables, and prep food and drink (cutting oranges, bananas, and bagels; mixing Gatorade) before the walkers arrived.

Ready for action!Now might be a good time to explain our attire. Each Pit Stop has a theme. Many of the members of our Pit Stop have been together for several years, and their theme is always "Pajama Party". You'll have to take my word for it that we all have pajama pants on under our ponchos, but the sleeping caps are quite evident. To keep walkers' energy up we also have music blaring from our van.

The cool kids of the 3-Day Crew are the MotoCrew. They man the busier intersections along the route to help the packs of walkers across the street. They're a great boost to the walkers' morale.
The van behind this rider is a "Sweep Van". They cruise the route a pick up any walkers who need a lift.

Friday morning is the Opening Ceremonies (no pictures because of course we weren't there) so the walkers come in a big pack and they were HUNGRY! I also estimate that 500 of them stopped at the Starbucks that was on the route.The hydration tent. This year's Gatorade colors: red, purple, and blue (ew).
Throughout the 3 days, walkers carry flags such as this. Many are the flags for "Why We Walk..." Like "My Mother" "My Wife" "Celebrations." Others, like the one you see here, are the qualities of a 3-Day walker. I think that's what they're for. You'll see more of these in my later photos. The flags are handed out in the morning, and passed around as the day goes on. At the end of the day they're all posted at camp.It was great to see the walk from a different perspective. I missed things like these flags when I walked it, because I had a sort of a tunnel-vision, I suppose.

It rained ALL DAY on Friday. After we packed up our Pit Stop and ate our lunches, we helped out with the lunch stop. At some point in the day we heard that we were being relocated from camp into an empty office building at the end of that day's walk. So, we were able to set up "camp" on the floor of the office building, then they bussed us to camp for showers (no thanks) and dinner.

Here's the line waiting to go back to the office park after dinner. Disaster. But, we all got back to our destination eventually, and woke Saturday to what would become a beautiful day. More on Day 2 later.

We're Back

We're back from a scattered very long-weekend which involved all 3 of us spending time in Atlanta, but not spending much time together.

Updates on that to follow later in the week.

Conversations with Little Man

There was a traffic accident on Main St. yesterday and Little Man and I were sitting in the backup. A firetruck came up behind us.

Me: Do you hear the siren?
Little Man: No.
Me: It's a firetruck, can you hear it? Wee-Ooo Wee-Ooo
Little Man: No.
(at this point the firetruck was on our left)
Me: (tapping the window) Look, do you see the firetruck?
Little Man: No.
Me: It's right there, look!
Little Man: No.

Baby for Rent

I'm not saying that I won't want him back eventually, like when he's 4 or when he's 30. But today I'm considering leasing him out. Possibly to a deaf family who won't mind hearing "No" and "EEEEEEEE" all the time.

On a funny note, we went to a family-style southern restaurant for lunch today. Little Man was a holy terror, but that's not really the point of this story. We put all the foods in front of him - beans, chicken, green beans, roast beef, etc. He kept whining and lunging for my plate. I said to T., "He wants my chicken." Just out of curiosity I handed LM a fried chicken wing. He said (I'm not making this up, ask T.), "MY chicken." Then proceeded to gnaw on that chicken wing for the next 5 minutes. Must be some sort of instinctive man behavior.

These Boots Were Made For Walking

I love his "heh heh heh" when he's trying to stand up. And no, I don't know what came over Daisy.

Pumpkin Patch

I still need to get the film we took at the pumpkin farm published, but our friends gave us some pics, so here they are! I will try to hold myself back from posting them all, but this level of cuteness is hard to deny.

You have to take a tractor ride to and from the pumpkin patch:
Then you're faced with the serious job of pumpkin selection. Also you have to stop and sniff the roses, which is to say that you have to stop an look around and say to yourself, "MAN it's pretty out here. I could do this - I could live on a pumpkin farm. Honey, wanna be a farmer?"

M: "I got a good one!"I: "I'm more of a traditionalist"Little Man: "This one is just right"Photos that will not make anybody's Christmas card:
And my personal favorite: Neither of them remembers this picture being taken or who they were talking to, but I suspect it was each other.We did manage to get some nice family pictures, though.
They also had a hay maze and a hay pile for the little guys, and tractors.

Could they be any cuter?Men:

Rugged Mountain Man

A few weeks ago, you may recall that T. went canoe-camping nearby with our friend McG and another fellow. Mrs. McG sent us some photos. It is pretty where we live, don't you think?
T. floated in the kayak. Hence the spray-skirt look.

Fall Fun

I got my camera back so I have pictures from the State Fair, as well as my cousin G's wedding (Okay, one picture from the wedding). I also have some pictures from our friends' camera from our trip to the pumpkin patch.

First, State Fair:


This "livestock" is a bunch of adoptable puppies.
Baby ducks: a Fair favorite, usually they have food in the cup at the top of the slide and the ducks go up for the food and slide down into the pool. This day they were just hanging out.
Checking out a cow with Abi.
Goats
He's really into fish right now, and there's a whole hall of fish at the fair:
In the agriculture building (you know, the one with the giant pumpkins) they have what's essentially a sandbox, but filled with dried corn:
And, me and G. at his wedding. Pumpkin Patch pictures to come....

Overheard

Yesterday we went to a local pumpkin farm, where they also have a few animals you can look at, pet, and feed. A horse, a cow with her calf, some sheep, etc.

Like at the state fair, Little Man liked the animals from at least 3 ft. away. He didn't want to be close enough where they could get him.

But on the way home, T. and I were talking in the front seat and Little Man was jabbering to himself from the back. I guess he was remembering the day's events because when we stopped talking we heard from the back, "Woah, baby cow!"

It Takes 1000 Words to Make a Picture

I don't have my camera back yet, so I'm going to have to actually write something here. I'm going to try to find my old film camera (someday Little Man will see a film camera in a museum, I'm sure) for the pumpkin patch this afternoon.

Little Man is starting to put words together. Like "Mommy juice" or "Daddy shoes". He's basically mastered the use of "please," and is still getting "up" and "down" worked out, but he gets the idea. He's also starting to say his name.

I finished his Halloween costume, and will get my blood, sweat, and tears worth by taking as many pictures as possible between now and Halloween. This weekend we have a photo shoot with our little friends M. and I. (we got one of those mall-type photo places for kids in town, yay!), then next weekend I'll be at the Breast Cancer 3-Day (see link at top right!) and Little Man will have pictures with his cousins.

He's still stretching his toddler legs with the occasional tantrum, but it's nothing that can't usually be cured with a nap. He loves fish, cows, trains, and cars. He still loves Daisy and she still wants nothing to do with him.

That's all for now,
E.

Bargian Shopper

Last weekend was a busy one for us - we had several houseguests for the football game, then on Sunday those 4, Little Man, and I went out of town for a Monday wedding. LM and I were able to visit with friends, go to the State Fair, and do some shopping and dining. However, my camera snuck home with Abi and Pop, so pictures will have to wait.

I made a GREAT Goodwill purchase on Monday, though, and I took pictures on my phone to show you.Isn't it great? And since we have an eat-in kitchen with no table in it, there's plenty of room for Little Man too cook while Daddio and I cook.