Carol: End of the Line

[The following article was first published as The End of the Line on Technorati.]

I returned home exhausted from the 3-day for the Cure 60 mile walk. I along with the other three members of my team--the Pink Me Out team--walked every inch of the course, and yes, we have the sore feet to prove it.

According to The Dallas Morning News, there were more than 2,700 walkers who participated in the Susan G. Komen walk to battle cancer. Organizers told us Dallas alone raised  $7 million. All in all, I suppose you can put a big check mark in the win-win column.

In my 3-day journey, I discovered lots of things (including Thing 1 who posed for pictures at one of the pit stops). And while I found Thing 1 rather amusing, it's really the other things that were more interesting and/or surprising. Things like…

•How well an event like this runs… It's well-orchestrated, well-planned and well-done--except for whoever thought it was a good idea to throw in some steps on the last day.

•My teammates and I were surprised at the number of participants who don't actually walk the entire course instead opting for a ride in the sweep van to the next pit stop or a bus back to camp. No judgments here. I do understand why some cannot complete the course. It was difficult to do. We just figured our level of being uncomfortable didn't come close to what cancer patients face.

•I was amazed at the generosity of some people. The people who I least expected to donate for us to walk donated a lot. The people who I thought would donate or who I thought would donated substantially didn't. I'm still surprised that our team did not get one donation from anyone on the Internet as a result of this or any other blog posting made. (But then, I'm still waiting for Oprah to read my book and "discover" me. Ah, if only wishes were horses, beggars would ride…")

•I learned I can technically "rough" it. I survived frigid  temperatures in a tent with wet hair (no electricity for blow dryers). I succumbed to three days of portable toilets (except for that one incident when I hobbled into a Starbucks for coffee and running water).

But most importantly, I learned firsthand that life as a participant beats life as a spectator. Hands--make that feet--down.

Carol: Four Weeks to Go & Thinking About a Guy I Don't Know

[This article was first published as Four Weeks To Go and Thinking About a Guy I Don't Know on Technorati.]

(Writer's note: I've been busy putting together the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival which will appear here on Wednesday. So instead of posting my usual witty observations, I'm posting my update on my 3-day for the Cure training. Jeepers Creepers, it's in four weeks. If you haven't donated and want to still donate for the cure, my BFF Jennifer still needs a bit more in order to walk. Remember I need her for that whole camping thing. Otherwise, I'll be sleeping on the ground being eaten alive by bears. OK, so maybe bears is a teensy weensy bit of exaggeration.  How about eaten alive by coyotes? Armadillos? OK, chiggers then… So have a little pity and go here to donate to my BFF Jennifer, but before you do make sure you read the post below…] 

Lately I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about a guy I don't know. On Oct. 8, he walked the walk--you know the one, the 3-day for the Cure. 

In April, I read a column by Leonard Pitts about his decision to participate in the Susan G. Komen 60-mile walk for the cure. Inspired by his words, I decided instead of donating money for his walk, I would walk the walk as well and signed up for the 3-day for the Cure in Dallas on Nov. 5.

Ever since I began this undertaking, Mr. Pitts has floated in and out of my thoughts. Admittedly, sometimes those thoughts weren't very warm and fuzzy especially when my walking buddies and I braved 100-plus degree heat to train.

Other times I wondered/worried whether Mr. Pitts had trouble getting his donations. I shouldn't have worried so much about him. While my team  struggled to raise our $2,300 each, his readers donated more than $27,000. I can only chalk it up to the difference between a well-known, professional syndicated columnist and team of high school teachers.

Still, I am just as proud of the quarters raised by our high school students as I am of the outpouring of generosity of Mr. Pitts' readers. In some ways, I am even more proud of the fledgling Pink Panther Club formed just a month ago to increase breast cancer awareness at our school--all a result of our upcoming walk which in an odd way traces the start of its journey back to Mr. Pitts.

I always tell my journalism students that we often don't know how our words touch others or even if they do.

I checked on Mr. Pitts' recent columns to see what sort of update he had related to the 3-day for the Cure.  Again, he had a particularly poignant piece writing that  "…life is an understanding: We're all going to the same destination. The only difference is in what you choose to see along the way."

But I would have to add something to that observation because it's not just what you choose to see along the way, it's also who you touch along the way.

So because Mr. Pitts unknowingly touched my life, I will spend this weekend wondering and worrying how this stranger fared on his 60-mile walk.

Carol: Week 14--Trying to Stay Out of the Heat & Hot Water

[Article first published as Week 14--Trying to Stay Out of the Heat and Hot Water on Technorati.]  

With temperatures soaring into the triple digits, and last month setting heat records across the country, wanting to walk more than a few feet can present quite a challenge.

Still, I've managed to keep my training schedule for the 3-day for the Cure, walking at least two miles a day and up to four or five miles when I can. I've also managed to squeeze in a hot yoga class although we probably could have just yoged outside in the 100 degree plus temps and gotten the same results.

Despite highs predicted at 104 degrees for Friday, I, along with my two walking buddies, plan to brave the heat and squeeze in a long 9-plus mile walk around White Rock Lake before school starts.

With my summer winding down and the start of school just a few weeks away, I've been trying to cram in all the things that I can't seem to find time for during the school year. That, of course, includes what I like to refer to as "preventative maintenance."  So since I'm walking the walk and raising money to fight breast  cancer, I thought I better schedule my yearly mammogram.

When I called for an appointment, I discovered I hadn't had a mammogram in several years--four years to be exact. Embarrassing, I know. I guess when I thought about getting one, life got in the way and I thought I had actually had one. Dumb, I know. I guess I'm part of that group of women--an estimated one-fifth between 50 and 74 years old--who fell behind on getting mammograms, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

My training buddies were mortified that I had let four years go by. Needless to say, I scheduled my appointment speedy quick and I'm in the clear.

At least (for now), I'm back on track and out of hot water with my walking buddies.  Now, if I can just get out of this heat.

Carol: Week 4: Random Acts of Kindness

Before I launch into how I'm doing, let's all give Joel a big "Hip, Hip Hooray!" for updating us on his progress. Great job!

[The following article was first published as Week 4: Random Acts of Kindness Erase Cyberspace Disappointment on Technorati.] 

With new shoes, a nifty little hip pack to hold my water and a new resolve, Week four of my training and fund-raising for the 3-day for the Cure started off well despite my disappointment in the lack of cyberspace donations.

I thought my little bit of whining in last week's post would have encouraged someone to cough up a buck or two in my direction. But, no siree, Missy. Still zero, zilch, nadda, and it didn't get any better this week.  I might as well have waited for Mark Cuban to knock on my front door offering his pocket change.

That's OK, though. Something better happened.

Kathy Seago, one of the teachers at my school, gave her classes a 24-hour Random Act of Kindness challenge –- to ask 21 people for a quarter and to donate whatever they raised to me for my walk.

Each class came to my room with their money dropping it into a big jar. When all was said and done, the kiddos had raised $400.90 for me in 24-hours.

With all the recent news about kids bullying other kids, kids sneaking inappropriate content into yearbooks, or posts about other kids slugging it out on videos, too many people often forget about all the good kids out there.

Not me. Thanks to those kids, I'm now at 72 percent of my goal--with just another $641.10 to go.  I think I probably have that 10 cents on the floorboard of my trusty mini-van.

As for the other $641, we'll just have to wait and see what the next week will bring. 

[If you would like to donate so that I may participate in the 3-day for the Cure 60-mile walk, you can do so by going here.]

[For those keeping track: Walked only 8.7 miles this week due to bad weather & storms (visit my other blog for those details). Attended three yoga classes.]

Carol: Week 3--Social Networking & Fundraising

(The following post first appeared in my column at technorati.com as Week 3: Failing at Social Networking. Yes, I am walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 day for the Cure walk. If you can find it in your heart to help sponsor me, please click on the 3-day for the Cure logo.)  

Week 3 of my training for the 3-day for the Cure ended without much fanfare and with just a sliver of disappointment. OK, make that more of a pie sized wedge of disappointment.

Disappointment--not with my training (although my job this week interfered with that. I only logged 5.5 miles and one yoga class)--but rather disappointment in the marvels of technology. Or, specifically in my case, the lack of marvels for me.

I'm three weeks into this fundraising/trolling for $2,300 so I can participate in the 60 mile walk to help fight breast cancer, and I have yet to receive even a one dollar donation from a stranger in cyberspace. I have raised 37 percent of the required amount.

I'm not sure why I'm such a failure at this. Apparently, I don't know what I'm doing. I came to that little epiphany  after the world went all atwitter about twitter erasing followers to cure a program bug. I think I have like nine followers.

My luck with Facebook is equally abysmal. I was certain my funny chicken photograph on my "Get Richie On Oprah & Save the Chicken!" fan page would generate thousands of fans for my book. Instead, the chicken page hasn't even hit a hundred. So much for counting one's chickens before they hatch.

Others don't seem to have that difficulty.  Even four self-described nerds living off pizza raised $10,000 in donations in 12 days to launch their business endeavor. The Internet is filled with such success stories.  Just not me.

Apparently though, I'm not the only one disappointed with the Internet.

My Sunday newspaper — yep, I still love the printed version of my news--carried a big opinion piece with a screaming headline, "The Internet's False Promises." (And they weren't talkin' about Al Gore either.) I'd include the link here, but my newspaper, like me, apparently isn't technologically savvy enough to get all its posts online.

I guess I'll have to keep at it the old fashioned way.

Carol: Week 2--Bliss Me Not

(The following post first appeared in my column at technorati.com Yes, I am walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 day for the Cure walk. If you can find it in your heart to help sponsor me, please click on the 3-day for the Cure logo on the right or simply click here.)


Part of the training for the 3-day for the Cure walk includes the catch-all "cross training" category. Lucky for me, the nifty little Walker's Manual considers yoga as cross training.
My yoga, however, isn't anything like the yoga mentioned in a recent article in The New York Times where people plunk down a couple of hundred dollars just for the correct attire or  take a Yoga Caribbean vacation for six thousand smackeroos. (Geewillikers, I have to practice my deep calming breath just thinking about it.)

I'm more like the "Yoga to the People" featured in the article where "this yoga is for everyone" (good), where "there will be no correct clothes" (even better) or where it seems to be OK for "the mighty and the meek, bones that creak" (best).

On May 15, yoga hits the Washington mall, marking the fifth anniversary of DC Yoga Week.  I wonder how many creaky bones will show up for that.

Although the NY Times article noted that the number of people taking yoga has dropped from 16.5 million in 2004 to 15.8 million, spending on yoga classes and yoga stuff has almost doubled from $2.95 billion to $5.7 billion.

Even without all the designer yoga frills, I know I've thrown money into that billion dollar pool on a yoga mat ($15),  pants ($20) and top ($18). (Of course, that pool probably doesn't include the billions spent on pedicures for pretty yoga toes. But if it did, I'd have to confess to another 40 buckeroos for pink toes with daisies.


And speaking of pink, let's do a ferret's on crack speedy quick update on my Pink Me Out progress for the cure…For Week 2, I walked 11.3 miles, just a tad under the suggested 12-mile goal, and for my cross training, I attended an hour power yoga session. So far, I've raised $408 of the required $2,300. If you're feeling generous, you can donate here.

Carol: Week 1--The Training Begins

(The following post first appeared in my column “On the Outside Looking In” at technorati.com Yes, I am walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 day for the Cure walk. If you can find it in your heart to help sponsor me, please click on the 3-day for the Cure logo on the right or simply click here.) 


Seven percent.

So far that's all I've raised on my journey for the required $2,300 sponsorship necessary to participate in the Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure, 60-mile walk.

Of course, it's only been three days since I started this, but patience and me fit together about as well as me and a pair of purple spandex pants. 

Like most things that I do, I went full steam into this becoming a participant thing. I created my fund raising page, emailed everyone in my address book and downloaded and read all 58 pages of my "Walker Handbook." 

That's when I discovered on page 43 that I'll be "camping out."

As in a tent. Now, my idea of "camping out" pretty much has been booking a hotel room with those nifty soft Egyptian cotton sheets. The closest I've ever gotten to camping out was spending the night in an RV at the Cotton Bowl for a Rolling Stones concert.

Page 56 of the manual really got my attention because not only will I be sleeping in a tent, I have to set up the tent. I shared this little piece of information with my husband, and let's just say that if he were a rolling-your-eyes-kind-of-guy, well, his eyes would be permanently stuck up inside his head. 

Undaunted by the camping news, I official kicked off Week 1 of my training with a 2.2 mile walk to the gas station to buy a lottery ticket. It will be a tough week to get all the recommended training in if I don't win the lottery because I have several teaching commitments that will interfere. 

Still, I will not be a Negative Nancy. Naysayer or Ninnyhammer like one person was.  Someone actually posted a comment that they didn't "understand why anyone wants to fund raise money to fight against cancer… These sorts of charity events seem to be designed to make the participants feel better, but what do they really do about the disease? Almost nothing."

Jeez Louise. I guess tell that to the almost 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and let's see what they think about such events. 

And if participating in an event makes me feel better, well, what in the Sam Hill is wrong with that?

Carol: Pink Me Up by Pinking Me Out!

(The following post first appeared in my column “On the Outside Looking In” at technorati.com Yes, I am walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 day for the Cure walk.  This post tells why and provides a link at the bottom for those of you who can find it in your heart to help sponsor me.) 

I spent a few weeks mulling it over. I spent a few days talking myself into it. I spent less than 10 minutes filling out all the requisite forms. Basic stuff like name, address and a promise to waive liability. In the second it took to click my mouse and hand over the $90 registration fee, I moved myself from the realm of an observer into the world of a hopeful participant.

There’s no backing out now. I am officially registered for the Susan G. Komen-3 day for the Cure, 60-mile walk. Of course, I still have to raise the $2,300 before I can participate in the November event. Right now I have nadda, zilch, zero sponsors. (Baby steps, my dears, baby steps.)

I picked the 3-day walk for the Cure as my first activity to launch “On the Outside Looking In.” Or, rather, I decided to launch “On the Outside Looking In” as a way to force me to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk.

I suppose it was a combination of things that pushed me. One of my teacher hall monitoring buddies is walking the walk. (Gee, I thought, isn’t that great.) I read a rather poignant piece from Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts about the loss of his mom and why he was finally walking the walk. (Wow, I thought, what a great column.) I have colleagues who have stared this killer in the face and survived (What amazing women they are, I said.).

And then, I ran into a colleague at the state high school journalism convention. I hadn’t seen her in months. We stood in the empty hallway. She with her ball cap on, light sensitive eyes and hope for the future and me with only my guilt for not knowing she was in an all-out fight against breast cancer.

It nagged at me for weeks… how I had become so wrapped up in my life that I hadn’t heard about her battle for her life.

I am no stranger to cancer. In less than three years, I buried both parents. My mother lost her battle against lung cancer and my father lost his fight against prostate cancer. There have been others as well.

Still, my self-absorption with my life tugged at me. I hope to make up for that with the 3-Day for the Cure walk. My walk will be a different walk. I walk to apologize to Lori for not knowing, and I walk to celebrate her life. I walk with joy for all those sisters who survived their battle with breast cancer. And yes, as odd as it seems, I walk with joy for those sisters who fought the fight, but lost because I believe we honor them by remembering how much they enriched our lives.

And finally, I walk with joy simply and thankfully because I can.

(To help me on my way, please consider making a donation, so that I will qualify for the walk. Donations can be made by going to www.the3day.org, click on "Donate," select “search for a team” and then input my team name, Pink Me Out or you can simply click here and it should take you right there.)

Carol: Pink Me Out

[In honor of the lack of the Chubby Brits who failed to rise up to the occasion and participate in this little fitness challenge, here's Yo Mum's So Fat Joke #8… "Your mum's so fat that even God couldn't lift her spirts…"] 

Here's a brief update on my progress… I continue to do yoga attending classes at least three times a week. Although I am getting better at it, I still fall over, can't grab my ankles for the bow pose,  and my revolved triangle pose doesn't look anything like this picture.

Such is my life. I read a post  about losing weight that had a gajillion retweets. I don't know what all the fuss was about. It  basically covered what we all know (exercise, cut calories by 25 percent and eat some fish oil). OK, so maybe, I didn't know about the fish oil thing, but I seriously doubt that's going to drop a ton of pounds.

Instead, I rather preferred the chocolate study story. You can read about my take on that here.

But now I have rambled so let me get back on task. I decided I needed an extra push. You know, to sort of jump start my engines. So-o-o-o-o-o-o I signed up for the Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure 60 mile walk. It's a great cause and I might even lose a few pounds along the way.

I need sponsors though. I have to raise $2,300 in order to be able to participate in the November walk. So if you could find it in your heart to make a donation, please go to www.the3day.org, click on "Donate," select “search for a team” and then input my team name, Pink Me Out.) 

I'll keep you posted on how my training and donations are going.