One Thirty Four

Breast Cancer Awareness Pillowcauses*

denisu2148 — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:48:43 +0000

For those of you who have been waiting for my breast cancer awareness pillowcauses I am pleased to offer 6 for sale. All pillowcauses are 100% cotton. They are one of a kind, are available for $20.00 each and ALL proceeds go towards my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer on September 17 and 18, 2011. Once one is gone, it is GONE.

#1 featuring pink awareness ribbon on black cuff, dark pink band, words of hope on white body.

#2 featuring pink heart doodle on cuff, pink band, words of hope on black body.

#3 featuring pink heart doodle on cuff; pink band; white, medium pink and dark pink Damask on light pink body

#4 featuring white and white paisley on cuff, pink band, dark pink awareness ribbon on light pink gingham body.

#5 featuring white on white paisley on cuff, pink band, dark pink awareness ribbon on light pink with random mini-dots body..

#6 featuring pink heart doodle on cuff, pink band, medium pink awareness ribbon on dark pink body.

#7 All flannel, romantic floral with awareness ribbon body, dark pink band, white with mini pink flowers on cuff. This is a pillowcase I made for myself. I would be willing to make ONE more for $26.00

* Pillowcases for a cause.

My Avon Walk For Breast Cancer

denisu2148 — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:33:34 +0000

Today is Monday, June 27, 2011. I have just hit the “send” button on the e-mails to our family announcing my participation in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

What follows in this post was written off and on over the past several weeks. I realize that it bounces around a bit. I apologize in advance if it is hard to follow. Thank you for walking with me over the next 80 + days as I work toward crossing something off my bucket list. I am looking forward to this journey but more than that, I am looking forward to generations that don’t have to live in fear of this disease.

Since my plan is to encourage as much of your participation as I can in my walk to end breast cancer, I intend to post frequently to keep you in the loop as to my training successes (and failures, let us hope the failures are few and far between) and planned events such as training walks and mini-fundraisers I plan to hold in Ventura County. I am hopeful that my comments will light a fire inside each of you to take some kind of action toward the cause: sending me notes of encouragement if my posts sound down, going for a training walk with me, attending one of my mini-fundraisers, buying one of my handmade “pillowcauses” (pillowcases for the cause), donating to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, or maybe even registering to walk along with me. Whatever support you can provide in whatever way you choose to make it is a great gift to me and to the cause. Most of all I ask that you keep me in your prayers. While I am excited and energized, I am scared. There are a number of reasons that this is WAY out of my comfort zone. Perhaps over the course of the next 83 days I will share some of that with you as well.

As of this writing, (6/13/11) I do not plan to announce to my extended family my participation in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer until 2 weeks from tonight (6/27/11). My reason for doing this is out of respect for my dear SIL Cyndi by allowing her to complete her Relay for Life fundraiser (6/24-25/11) without any competition from me/my cause.

I realize that if you are reading this now, it is 6/27/11 or later.
There is already so much to say in regards to my decision to take up this cause, my training and my fundraising. I have a good deal scheduled for the next 2 weeks until I officially announce to the masses the challenge that I have already made to myself.
Leading up to today I have: participated in two telephone group conferences, registered for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, started sending out e-mails to my work contacts, co-workers and some of my Facebook friends. Again, out of respect for Cyndi I have delayed announcing my walk on Facebook until after 6/27/11. I have scheduled some mini-fundraisers: An ice cream social; a lunch/game day at work and the sale of what I am calling “Pillowcauses”. I will write more about those later.
What follows are my thoughts and experiences on the dates noted.
6/13/11: I have been in training for almost a month. It has been a slow start because we travel so much and I haven’t yet found a way to “fight” for my time to train. Also we are just a few weeks away from Chelsea and her sweet little family moving to Seattle so time with them is even more precious than ever; I tend to choose it over most anything whenever possible. As of today I have 97 days to the walk and something like 14 until the last time we see them before they move. I will use the 83 days between their departure and walk day to train and enjoy what I can of the next 14 with them.

I took two walking breaks today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning break was just over a 1.5 mile walk in about 31 minutes. I am not ecstatic about the pace but it is still early and it is what it is. I am not a speed walker; I have a very short stride, which causes me to cover less ground in the same amount of time as most other people. It is frustrating for me but I read somewhere that you shouldn’t change your stride. Right or wrong that is the approach I am taking now. The Avon “experts” tell me that a 20 minutes pace is good enough to walk the marathon distance the first day. I have concerns that for me and my short attention span, walking at that slow of a pace will cause me to loose interest before I have completed the 26.2 miles the first day of the walk. I still have the option of only walking 13.1 miles each day, but that is not my goal. That is not my challenge to myself. I may have to settle for that eighty-something days from now but I don’t have to settle for that today. If I shoot for 26.2 miles on Day One I may not make it. What I do know is that if I shoot for 13.1 miles on the first day I won’t make 26.2.

6/18/11: (Saturday) I participated in a 6.9 mile training walk along the bluffs and through neighborhoods in Goleta, California. It was a lovely day. No injuries, cool cloudy skies, slight breeze; a great learning experience. One thing I learned was to NOT drink a lot before the start of a long walk. There were no restroom stops on this walk. I did manage to find one at a golf course somewhere on mile 5.5. I won’t be doing THAT again. Shoes were comfortable; I discovered clothes made of wicking material and I am in LOVE! I need to pick up a jacket or long sleeve shirt, not used to spending so much time in the sun. Felt really great at the end of the day.

6/19/11: (Sunday) Curt had a game today so I walked from the ball park to the swim park, over the freeway overpass, back to the swim park and around the perimeter walking path until the game was over and D came to pick me up. About 5.25 to 5.5 miles. Felt pretty good physically but didn’t have any music to listen to so I was VERY bored. Going to have to find ways around that. All in all I was very happy with my weekend. The best part is that so far, I am ahead of my training plan.

More later

Change

denisu2148 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:49:40 +0000

Some change is so subtle it goes unrecognized until a memory is triggered that causes us to notice the difference between then and now. Today, my trigger moment was walking into Target.
When my children were in school, it seemed as though we had a need to go to Target every day. As they matured, became independent and earned their driving privileges, I found myself going to Target less and less. If they needed something, they could go on their own. I realize now, I go to Target perhaps once every 6 weeks, maybe less.
Several years ago a developer broke ground on a very large shopping center just north of the 101 Freeway in Oxnard. Due to the economy, the construction was halted. Shells of buildings sit, waiting to be completed. One of these buildings is a ginormous multi-level Target. If it weren’t red and white I would think it was going to be an Ikea, that is how big this place is.
When I walked into our Oxnard Target today, the one that has grown old and tired – just like me, I was greeted by a sign that read “We will be closing on July 19 at 6:00 p.m. Please visit our new Target store at ….”. Change is a good thing, I guess. Mothers who find it necessary to go to Target everyday after school with their kids will have a beautiful new Target store to visit. I’ll go there too, once every 6 weeks or so, and perhaps when Chelsea and Abigail are in town visiting, for old time’s sake. A part of me is going to miss the old Target, and the memories it holds.
Our lives have earth-shaking events that change us forever – loss of loved ones, divorce, illness. Life is also full of lots and lots of little events, so small we don’t even realize their significance until one day, we walk into a Target store.

Important Announcement on the Horizon

denisu2148 — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:04:20 +0000

Good Sunday afternoon, faithful blog readers. We have been so busy since our granddaughter, Abigail was born last March. I haven’t been spending much time blogging lately. I’d like to offer that will change in July when the Sanfords move to Seattle but with so many exciting summer plans, that is a promise I doubt I would be able to keep.
One thing I do know and will deliver on is that on the evening of June 27, I will be making a huge announcement here on the blog. I hope you will all tune in on Monday, June 27th after 10:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as you possibly can to see what all the fuss is about.

Words

denisu2148 — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:47:57 +0000

I was reading another blog this morning and was struck by a phrase that was quite simple but quite important.

Our words carry hope.

In so many of our lives that sentence is missing a word. Can. Our words can carry hope.

Our words can also carry a lot of other things; anger, contempt, sadness, criticism, to name a few. But our words can also carry joy, gratitude, love, support, care, concern, enthusiasm……I could go on and on. You get the idea.

We each pick our own words to speak, write, yell, sing, whisper, mumble. We allow each of them to pass through our lips, our fingers or our pens. We can choose which words we allow to come out. Pick wisely.

What do your words carry?

Balance

denisu2148 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:39:34 +0000

I feel as though I am constantly seeking balance in my life. Just because I can (fill in the blank) doesn’t mean I should. From most perspectives we are ahead of the curve this Christmas – with making the gifts, decorating, preparing and mailing packages to out of town recipients, etc. Yet I feel as pressed for time and as rushed as always. Being finished earlier than usual is only opening slots of time in my schedule that I continue to fill with more of the same, making gifts, decorating, etc. What is it about me that causes me to try to do more than to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of good planning and labor?

God gives me what I need when I need it. The following came to me yesterday in an e-mail.

A Christmas Adaptation of
1 Corinthians 13
by Sharon Jaynes

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

The Lord gives me permission not to obsess about the details. I am hoping I can follow that advice.

Coming soon….

denisu2148 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:05:19 +0000

…..to a blog near you. Confessions of a Farmvillaholic!

Boundaries

denisu2148 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:32:51 +0000

I have always admired my nieces’ (speaking here of 2) abilities to set and adhere to boundaries. I believe it is one of the things that enables them to do what they do in their careers. Help people without becoming so attached as to be destroyed in the process; being involved without becoming enveloped; swept away to the point of being of no use to the very people they set out to help in the first place.

Boundaries are a very good thing. I think I’m going to buy me some of those some day

Broken

denisu2148 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:59:18 +0000

How broken does a dish need to be before we throw it away? Give up trying to repair it; replace it? A blemish? A chip? Broken into two pieces? Completely shattered?

What about a person? When is it okay to give up? When is it NECESSARY to give up? This is what I am struggling with today, and likely for quite some time to come. Please pray for me.

Mother of the Bride’s Prayer

denisu2148 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:56:55 +0000

Dear God,

Please forgive me, I am new at this. Please, in your own wonderful way, let our two very favorite day-of the wedding coordinators see past our attempt to hire them for what one might construe as embarassingly less than the going rate, less than their customary asking price, frankly, less than what I am certain they are worth. Let them know that deep down inside, we are cheap. Moreover, let them understand that 2 weeks ago we were taking her home from the hospital. Last week, she broke her leg jumping off a trash can, learned how to ride a crazy horse and graduated from high school. 3 days ago she went away by herself to college and yesterday, she fell in love. Please let them know that we meant no harm or disrespect, we’re just a couple of crazy kids ourselves, trying to give their baby girl a good send off. Thank you, God, Amen.