25% achieved!!! THANK YOU :)

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I’m excited to announce that as of today, you have helped me achieve over 25% of my overall fundraising goal. The interim goal of 25%, due by Nov. 4, is $950. I have now collected $990 towards helping advance blood cancer research and patient care. Thank you so much!

Here are some other ways you can help:

• Send positive healing energy and/or prayers to leukemia patients Alivia Laird (10 months old) and Jill Traweek, and their families. Both Alivia and Jill are family of friends of mine.
• Come to a fundraising Spa Party on Saturday, October 18 in Bothell. More details to come.
• Ask businesses you frequent to donate merchandise, services or gift cards for our Spa Party door prizes and silent auction. Email me at jennyegner@yahoo.com for details.
• Buy one of my shirts or other items proclaiming “Life’s too short to sit on your (couch)” from Cafe Press. Partial proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
• Pass along links to this blog to your friends or post on your Facebook or MySpace page.
• Ask your employer if they match donations. Email me for a matching donation form (jennyegner@yahoo.com)

And of course…

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Life’s Too Short to Sit on Your…

More colors and styles available

Introducing my limited edition line of T-shirts, stickers and onesies, to help remind you to LIVE LIFE while you’ve got it! Browse styles and buy at http://www.cafepress.com/jennyTNT

Every sale of these items generates a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I created these designs as a very personal project. I joined Team in Training in order to get up off my couch and start living again. I’ve been dealing with some tough stuff in my life by sitting in front of the TV, and really NOT dealing with life at all. This is truly not fair – not fair to myself, and not fair to all the people who would dearly love to get up off the couch or out of bed and live life – but because their bodies are busy fighting cancer or other nastiness, they can’t.

I hope you like these designs and will consider buying something for yourself and for gifts … only 100 shopping days left till Christmas! BROWSE AND BUY NOW

I’m sweaty

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Yep, I’m back in the saddle, and so is Manny. I went to Saturday’s group practice at Golden Gardens which was 70 minutes! At one hour I couldn’t believe it. I was really okay! At 70 minutes I could have gone another 10. But I didn’t 🙂

Today when I got home from work I found yet another check in the mail, this one from my cousins Jerry and Karen Crabb. I can’t tell you the thrill I get when I receive a check or an email about an online donation. It is so inspiring to me. Spurred on by the latest total, I took Manny out for a half-hour walk/run. Well, I took him for 20 minutes and then dropped him off at home and did another 10 minutes alone. And now I’m sweaty and I feel good. And now I have to do laundry.

I am working on designs for some T-shirts to sell as a fundraiser, so check back later this week! They are going to be cool. Everyone will want one for Christmas.

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Introducing Skip

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Skip is a 63-year-old man from the Seattle area. He was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. He is a Team in Training “Honored Teammate.” He brings lots of food to Team in Training practices, and he loves to hang out, laugh and chat with the staff, volunteers and runners.

When I introduced myself to Skip at a recent practice (next to the bagel table), he said he was feeling pretty crummy. He’d had chemo earlier in the week and had spent a couple of days in the hospital recovering from it. He’s in “wait and see” mode with the cancer right now. He looked hearty and seemed to be standing for an hour or so with no problem, and chatting away. In my limited experience, he looked GREAT for a cancer patient.

I asked him how he got involved in Team in Training. He told me that he has two adult daughters. After he was diagnosed, one of them decided to run the Seattle Marathon with Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Then his other daughter who lives out of state ran the Vancouver B.C. marathon.

Skip reminded me of my dad when he was telling me about his daughters. He got choked up, especially when telling me about his daughter who is “not very athletic,” and how proud he was of her for doing this.

Skip told me that Team in Training has meant so much to him over the past two years. He said, “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” There was a brief silence. And then he added, “Except a cure for my leukemia.”

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(Grant Falk, 14, from Brier, is also an Honored Teammate. Track his cancer treatment progress on his blog.)

We’re on the mend

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I’m excited to report that I only have about $200 left to raise to make my Nov. 4 fundraising goal! If you’re doing the math and it doesn’t compute, that’s because I have committed to contributing another $75 myself. I am currently at 18% of my TOTAL fundraising goal ($3,800 by January 5). 

Photo Credit: Zoonie / Cait Hurley (http://www.flickr.com/people/zoonie/)

I had a molar extracted last Saturday. Sunday morning I woke up to find that the Tooth Fairy had stopped by in the night and donated $150! (With a little help from Heleana, Mary and Mike.)

After the tooth extraction, I was admonished not to exercise for a few days, and I responded by spending eight hours cleaning the house. My body then said, “oh, yeah? Well, take this!” and gave me a cold. So I was forced to lie in bed and watch Little House and Touched by an Angel. I am now feeling better and am back at work.

I have been soaking Manny’s paws (yes, it’s true) and shoving antibiotics down his slimy throat and it seems to be working. His feet look lots better and he’s my bouncy boy again.

I’m excited to get back out there and really break in my new shoes. Manny is excited to join me – for about a mile. Then he’s excited to go home to his couch.

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10% to goal!!!

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As of today, thanks to all my donors but especially my friend Michelle who put me over the top, I am over 10% to my fundraising goal! Woo hoo! Let’s keep it going, folks!

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Tough Week

Photo by Obo-Bobolina/Hannah Webster from Creative Commons

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I’ve had a difficult week. Without getting too TMI on you, the problem at home that originally prompted me to get off my a** and start living again … kind of blew up over the last couple of weeks. Now, this is actually a good thing because it means that there is movement and growth. But it also means some big changes and I’m pretty exhausted, both physically and emotionally. My husband has gone to San Francisco as a part of this … thing … and will not be coming home until after the 1st of the year. I already miss him a lot.

I’ve been sleeping a lot this week and have not worked out since Sunday. Now, you donors of mine, never fear! I have given myself a week to be a puddle and I’m starting my workouts again bright and early tomorrow morning. My list of donors is slowly growing and I cannot face that list of happy names too much longer if I’m not doing my training. I’ve also got Tona and Ruth at work who are also training, and who will not stand for laziness.

If you want to help motivate me even more, please go ahead and add your name to my donor list by following the “DONATE” link and supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Thanks!!!

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Fundraising Update

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As of 8/19/08, I have raised $300, which is approximately 8% to my fundraising goal. I need to raise $700 more by Nov. 4 to stay in the program. Thanks in advance!

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First group practice: Humility and Pride

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I went to my first Team In Training group practice on Saturday at Magnuson Park. There were about 50 people there, at all kinds of fitness levels. It was hot and my work buddies did not show up which disappointed me. The leaders gave us the route and told us to go at our own pace for 25 minutes, then turn around and come back, so we all ended up back at the start at about the same time.

Our Honored Teammates, the local people who are currently going through treatment, weren’t able to come. Skip, a man in his 60s who I’ve heard loves to come and bring food to the runners, had a chemo treatment earlier in the week and was still feeling too cruddy to come out. Grant, a 14-year old from Brier, has recently come home from the hospital and isn’t quite ready yet to come to a practice. Hopefully he will come soon. Grant and his family have a great blog about his cancer experience, where you can follow his progress.

My humility at this practice came from just feeling so huffy and puffy and slow. I wasn’t the slowest, but I was definitely towards the back. My pride came from the fact that here I am, completely out of shape, and I’m undertaking this. I know this practice was a much bigger effort for those of us towards the back of the pack than those fleetfeet at the front. So I’m proud of getting out there. Every person who donates gives me that much more motivation.

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Honoring Loved Ones

If you would like to make a contribution in honor of someone you know who is fighting a blood related cancer, or in memory of someone who has lost their battle to it, email me (jennyegner@yahoo.com), or post their name in the Comments when you contribute, and I will write their name on my race jersey.

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