Motivation/Training.....

My motivation is waning. Outside of baking, my fundraising has hit a stand still, although there are team events planned in the future, they seem so far off and so unattainable. Along with the lack of donations, I missed the first training walk due to a pre-planned vacation, so I feel so behind and so lazy that I can't motivate myself to walk.

But, I find that writing about the accomplishments of our team, of myself, of my friends, in this blog is helping me to see that this is a PROCESS, not something that I need to accomplish all by myself and all at once. This blog reminded me that I have a TEAM - a team that plans training walks (next weekend), assists with fundraising events (future and past), and helps me climb the walls I may hit along the way - like the one I have hit this week - so willing to just say "I can't do this..." I am grateful for my team, and I don't know if I could accomplish this daunting task without their help.

I get so lost in the crappy economy, the bleak future, the things I haven't done that I forget that there are goals to reach and people to help me reach them. There are stickers to put on my ribbon, there are walks to enjoy with my newfound friends, and there are events to work! It is not about what I haven't done, but rather what I can accomplish!

So, thank you for reading this, as I don't think I could survive without the therapy session I get while writing about what I am doing!

Official Bake Sale - Success!!

Our official bake sale was held on May 1, 2010 @ Belk's Charity Event in Cartersville, GA. The bake sale raised $300.00 for the team!

This is the bake sale that I have been baking my heart out with test runs over the last three months. So, I have to show you what I donated for the sale - a pink ribbon yellow butter cake hand frosted with strawberry (pink) and cream cheese (white) frosting and two dozen strawberry cupcakes frosted with white vanilla frosting and topped with pink chocolate ribbons. Here are photos:

The bake sale also included two dozen cookies donated by Z Cakery. Please read the story behind these cookies on The Z Cakery blog here: http://z-cakery.blogspot.com/

The great thing about these cookies is that they sold like hotcakes - I sold 11 cookies between the time I picked them up and the time I dropped them off. Some of the people that bought them prior to the bake sale have placed an order for two more dozen of these cookies, so they are still selling like hotcakes! These were a big hit at work because they were wrapped individually and priced at $1.00. At the bake sale, they sold all but 2 cookies in the time allotted for the sale.

Since I didn't sell the cupcakes prior to the bake sale, I also have an order for two dozen of these as well, priced at $2.00 ($1.00 for the cupcake and $1.00 for the chocolate). It seems that I can't bring baked goods into the office without selling out!!!

My Team Made the Front Page!!!

The Sisterhood of the Pink Sneakers made the front page of the Cartersville Daily Tribune!!!






Here's how it started....I downloaded the standard Susan G. Komen press release and revised it to meet the needs of our team - adding team information, event information, and other pertinent information regarding our involvement with the 3-Day For The Cure. My team captain, Charla, then passed it on to her advertising representative at the local paper.






The week before the event, Charla was contacted for an interview, and low and behold, the resulting article was a full 1/3 of the front page of the paper, complete with full color picture from last year's walk.



We don't know if this article is a result of the press release, the advertising representative, or a combination of both, but we are so VERY happy to be so widely supported by our community!



Thank you to the Daily Tribune of Cartersville for your support!!!

A Random Haircut....

I had all this hair..... when a friend of mine approached me about a program she found on the internet: Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a non-profit wig program for cancer patients. I reviewed the website and found that while Locks of Love is focused on children, Beautiful Lengths focuses on wigs for women. Since I know so many women who have needed a wig of some sort due to various types of cancer, including breast cancer, I decided that my next haircut would be much more than a trim, it would be a donation.

A really long donation! 10 Inches!!!

So, now, thanks to Valerie at the JCPenney Salon in Hiram, GA, I am rocking a new look that means much more to me than a make over could ever mean! Thank you Dawn for pointing me towards Pantene Beautiful Lengths!!!

KUDOS to Valerie, my stylist at JCPenny in Hiram - nothing but awesome comments for my new do!! This is one of the best cuts I ever rocked!

"Props" to the Dallas Theatre's Main Street Players!

While I was in college, I discovered a love for theatre that I cannot give up. In January, my local newspaper published an article about the Main Street Players, a newly formed theatrical troupe which produces plays in Dallas, GA. This article announced auditions for shows but didn't give any specifics other than the name of the theatre's manager. Upon reading the article, I immediately did some internet research, found the theatre's website and wrote an email asking "Where do I sign up for crew?" only to get a response that pretty much said you just did. By tech week, I was assigned as properties master for the inaugaral show: Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias. I was so excited, especially since I'd been out of the theatre since I moved from California 3 years ago and after 10 years working backstage, I was homesick for it. I was then doubly excited to find out they wanted my bio for the program!! So, guess what I did? Yep, you guessed it - I added a bit at the end to announce my participation in Atlanta's 3-Day!


Ticket sales were at 300+ plus for all 4 shows, allowing me to advertise to 1,200 people over two weeks!!!


So, here's where I give "props" to the Main Street Players who not only allowed me to devote some time to my passion for theatre, but allowed me to devote their program space to a cause very near to my heart! Special thanks to Lenay Walker who also hung 3-Day posters @ the theatre for future patrons to see!


Thanks Magnolias - it was great fun! Now, onto training, training, and more training!

Training....I think?

It was such a beautiful evening last night, that my dog, Loomis (pictured at left), and I took a nice stroll through the neighborhood. I don't know how long of a walk we took, but we did walk, which is the important part. I've never really measured the route, I don't have a pedimeter, and I didn't look at the clock when we left or when we came back. I think I will drive the route tonight and see how long it was.....and report back for the next walk we take!


While I don't know how far we went, we did have an enjoyable evening talking with neighbors, interrupting basketball games, and making indoor dogs jealous - you should have heard them barking as we passed their houses! It felt so good to be out in the fresh air. All in all, we had fun even though I had to keep Loomis moving - he is such a magnet for kids! He is so outgoing and loves people so much that he wanted to stop and let everyone we came across pet him to death. I'm glad he is easy going enough to keep a pace, without too much of a fuss. As you can see from the photo, I was not dragging him along, he was leading the way. Such a good dog!

I am so glad I have such a great walking partner for the neighborhood. I'm hoping he can keep up with me for lots of training walks as they get longer and longer.

Fundraiser 1.5

Pictured at left is my second test cake fundraiser. This was a strawberry cake with pink frosting and watermelon sprinkles (closest to pink I could find). Once baked, I found the cake to be too fragile to cut into the ribbon shape as planned, so I decorated the top instead. It turned out beautifully!

I sold the cake by the slice, completely on the honor system in the employee breakroom over two days. I raised $24.00 off of this single 13 X 9 cake. While it wasn't a big fundraiser, it did raise awareness, especially within our Spanish speaking employee community. There is absolutely NO information currently available in Spanish regarding the 3-Day event, so I had a few of the bilingual workers explain what I was doing and why - the cake helped!

This was such a hit, they asked that I bake again next month. I'm going to do a different type of cake each month, with different decorations. If I can make $24.00 a month for the next 7 months, this fundraiser may clear $168.00! Not bad for a cake a month, right?

I want to thank the employees of BHI in Cartersville, GA for their support of my participation in the 3-Day event!