First and foremost, I was to thank each of you who so generously supported my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). For those who weren’t able to help financially, I still want to say thank you for your moral support and tremendous encouragement during my training. I just simply can’t thank you all enough!

Now, on to the report … My race training plan didn’t go exactly as planned. I battled a couple of minor injuries early on in the training, but the real kicker came when I developed a pinched nerve in my back about a month ago which dramatically affected my ability to train. Despite the injury, I decided I still wanted to go ahead and attempt the race since I’d put in all the months of training and fundraising.

Things started off pretty well. I was feeling strong and was maintaining a decent pace. Unfortunately, I started having back spasms about 2.25 miles into the course. I finally had to call Uncle and stop at the medical tent at mile 3.5, but said they weren’t really equipped to do much at that point in the race. It seemed like they were pretty much handling smaller things like people who forget sunscreen or were having allergy issues, etc.

The next stop for me was at the medical tent at mile 7 where I was checked over by the sports medicine guy there. At that point, he told me I was pretty done for the day and put me on a shuttle that took me to the main medical facility at the finish line area. Once there, I was given some Tylenol and hooked up with a massage therapist who gave me a sports massage to loosen up my back which helped tremendously. Even though I didn’t “officially” finish the race, I still got a medal which was really nice. (Thank you, and you know who you are. )

Even though I wasn’t able to finish the full 13.1 miles, I was still pleased that I got out there and gave it a try despite my back issues. The Team in Training experience was absolutely amazing, and I’m so thankful that I did this. I really can’t say enough wonderful things about this organization. If you have ever thought about participating, just do it!!! It’s worth every bit of training and fundraising effort.

Speaking of fundraising, between the 13 of us on Team Shrinking Jeans, we raised $43,695 for LLS. Overall, the approximate 4000 Team in Training participants at the San Diego race raised over $12 million for LLS!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from race day that I thought you might enjoy seeing:

At the Inspiration Dinner with Coach Joe

At the starting line yelling “Goooooooo TEAM!”

Starting line madness – it was over an hour before my corral started

A sea of purple Team in Training shirts

My motivation – my dad & coach John, one of the local TNT coaches

Everyone’s motivation – the Mission Mile of honor boards

At the finish line showing off our bling

Thanks again so much for your support! Until next time …

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For the stitched piece, she made me one of the gorgeous Blackbird Designs stockings. I love these little stockings so much, but the finishing on them completely intimidates me. Joan’s finishing is absolutely impeccable though! It’s stunning.

She also sent along several goodies for me, including another gorgeous project bag she made. The fabric strip is a country style sewing theme and is absolutely adorable. I love it! Given how many WIPs I have, new project bags are always a welcome sight.

She also included a beaded scissor fob kit. I’ve only attempted to make one fob in the past, so having a kit is great since I don’t have a lot of necessary supplies for fob making. It’s great having some written instructions, too! I can’t wait to give it a try.

Next was a beautiful little pincushion chart called “Ole Pincushion” from Theresa at Shakespeare’s Peddler. It’s designed to fit into an old zinc Ball jar lid, which Joan also included! I was over the moon when I saw the lid. It immediately took me back to wonderful childhood memories of my Gran doing her summer canning using old Ball jars.

Speaking of antiques, she also sent me some beautiful little mother of pearl buttons that she said she picked up in her antiquing adventures. Given how many biscornus I stitch, one can never have enough buttons, and antique ones are just that much more special.

As you can see, she spoiled me quite nicely with this exchange. Thanks again so very much for everything, Joan!

I want to close this post by thanking several of my readers who have donated to my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Way back in January, I signed up with Team in Training to do a half marathon. More importantly than the race though, I signed up to raise money for LLS as a way to honor my dad who is now a 20+ year lymphoma survivor. With your help, I’ve managed to raise over $2500 for blood cancer research & support. I can’t thank you all enough!!

The half marathon will be taking place this weekend on Sunday, June 6. As I’m out on the course, I’ll definitely be thinking of my supporters, my dad, and all those still living with cancer. Hopefully the day will come soon that no one has to go through the battle of fighting these cancers.

The importance of this battle was brought home in such a personal way to those of us in the OCIE training group. During the course of this training process, one of our coaches, who was also a lymphoma survivor of several years, was diagnosed with a recurrence of his cancer. He immediately started the whole chemo process, and we hope he will be cancer-free again as quickly as possible! Coach John won’t be out there with us on the course this weekend, but he will definitely be in all of our hearts & thoughts.

Until next time …

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For the next two weeks over at the Sisterhood, we are having a Team Shrinking Jeans Bash! What is this Bash I speak of, you might be asking? It’s a HUGE party with door prizes worth hundreds of dollars and an awesome Grand Prize of $400 cash! Yes, cash!

What is Team Shrinking Jeans anyway? Well, a group of 16 Sisters and one Brother are training to either run or walk the San Diego Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) program. Through TNT, Team Shrinking Jeans will be training for the race AND raising nearly $50,000(!) for LLS. Isn’t that incredible?!!

You can read more about our fantabulous team here. You can also find out why each of us is doing this here.

How can you join the Bash? Simple! Donate to Team Shrinking Jeans through our secure online team fundraising page. For every $5 you donate, you’ll be entered to win one of over 30 fabulous door prizes. If you donate $25 or more, not only will you get 5 chances to win door prizes, but you’ll also be entered to win the granddaddy of all prizes: CASH!

Did you know?

• Every four minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
• An estimated 139,860 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2009. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma account for 9.5 percent of the 1,479,350 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year*.
• Overall incidence rates per 100,000 population for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are almost identical for data reported in 2008 and 2009 [{leukemia 12.2, 2009 vs.12.3, 2008}; (NHL, 19.5, each year); (Hodgkin lymphoma, 2.8, each year); (myeloma, 5.6, each year)].
• Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 53,240 people in the United States this year. These blood cancers will account for nearly 9.5 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2009 based on the 562,340 total cancer-related deaths.
• Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 146 people each day, or more than six people every hour.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. In general, the likelihood of dying from most types of leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma decreased from 1996 to 2005 (the most recent data available).
• In addition to their amazing work with blood cancers, LLS also does research in the areas of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS.

  *Facts and statistics from Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma Facts 2009-2010, June 2009.

Those are some pretty eye-opening statistics, huh?

So head on over and join in the Bash! Check out the fabulous prizes, make a donation, and be sure to check in every day during our two-week bash for Happy Hour!

Until next time …

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**tap tap tap** Is this thing still on?

Sorry for the long delay since my last update. During the five weeks that have passed, I’ve been out of town for a week, worked like a mad woman for a couple of weeks, and have been training for my upcoming half marathon. I can’t believe I’m already in week 6 of my training!! With everything that’s been going on, I just didn’t have the “oomph” to update my blogs, too.

I have definitely been on a bit of a stitching slump since the start of the year, but I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things. Of course, part of that is due to some new stash acquisition. Some of it I purchased myself thanks to the birthday discount from Drema at Needlecraft Corner, and some I received as birthday gifts from stitchy friends.

Given that I haven’t really updated my blog this year, this will be quite a list. As always, you can click any of the images to see a larger version. Here goes:

Left: Garden of Eerie by Plum Street Samplers
Right: A Quaker Halloween Sampler by Cherished Stitches

Snow Garden by Blackbird Designs
Fabric: 30-count Creme Brulee by R&R Reproductions
Fibers: GAST & WDW

I have one last picture that I’ve been meaning to share for a while, but since I haven’t updated my blog, it never happened. A while back I was the fortunate winner of a beautiful fob in a drawing on Anne’s blog. She sent me this beauty. Thank you so much, Anne!!

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll try not to go so long until the next updated. ;)

Oh, before I go though, I should give an update about the winner of my donation incentive drawing. The winner was Darla who graciously told me to take the $50 and apply it toward my fundraising in lieu of giving her a gift card. Thanks so much, Darla!!

I also want to thank all of you who have made donations. I really appreciate it so much! With your help, I’ve already raised nearly $1500!! If you haven’t donated yet and would like to, please visit my fundraising page.

Until next time …

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The reality has finally arrived. It’s time to start training for the Rock ‘n Roll San Diego half marathon in which I’ll be participating on Sunday, June 6.

Today was the kickoff meeting for the local Team in Training (TNT) group with which I’ll be training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Even though the rest of Team Shrinking Jeans will be doing the VTNT (Virtual Team in Training) program, I’m actually training with the local group here in southern California since there is one available.

So, this week I’ll be doing three training walks. If this were a normal training week, I would be four training walks. However, since I’m participating in the Surf City 5k next Sunday, the coach recommended that I not participate in the group training on Saturday. I’ll still head down to meet up with the team and take part in the training clinic they will be presenting.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What on earth is this woman thinking by signing up for a half marathon?!” Well, it’s actually a couple of things. As I mentioned earlier, I’m doing this event with several other ladies from the online community Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I love the idea of us all training together for this event even though we are spread out all across the country. It’s going to be so great meeting all of them on race weekend!

The second reason, which is more important to me personally, is the fact that this past year marked the 20th anniversary of my dad being in remission from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). I remember all too well the pain & struggles he went through during his courses of chemo. Not only would I never want him to have to go through that again, but I hope for the day when NO ONE has to hear their doctor utter the word “cancer” to them as a diagnosis.

How does LLS help in this cause? When LLS was founded in 1949, the survival rate of children diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) was less than 3%. But with today’s advancements funded through organizations like LLS, the survival rate (PDF) has increased to nearly 90%! But the battle is still not won. Every four minutes, another person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Sadder still, every ten minutes, someone dies.

Since it’s inception, LLS has invested over $680 million in the fight against blood cancers, with more than $69 million of that being invested in fiscal year 2009 alone! I’m excited to work with TNT because 75% of the funds spent by LLS go directly to fund research, patient services, and education programs.

Now I know you may be thinking that I’ve lost my mind (which may very well be true ), but my challenge of walking 13.1 miles is NOTHING compared to the daily challenges of those dealing with leukemia or other types of cancer. Won’t you please join me in this fight by contributing to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? If you would prefer to donate by check rather than online, just drop me an email and I can provide information on how to donate via snail mail. Also, please remember that all donations are tax-deductible, too.

Even though the race isn’t until June, my goal is to have as much of my fundraising as possible completed by March 1st. By doing that, I can then focus all of my attention on training to prepare for my half marathon rather than having to divide my attention between training and fundraising. I will be doing the physical part, but I ask for your generous financial support and encouragement for this endeavor. Every little bit counts, and together we can all make a big difference in the lives of so many.

I know most of you who read this blog are friends of mine from the online stitching community. We all know that we have far more stash than we’ll ever know what do to with in a lifetime. I want to challenge each of you to please donate (at least) an amount equal to the cost of a chart & fibers. Stitch from your stash this month, and instead put that money toward a good cause in helping find a cure for people with these cancers, especially the young children battling leukemia.

I’ve also been blessed over the past several years of blogging to have received many wonderful birthday presents from my fellow stitchers. As you may be aware, my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks (Feb. 17). This year, I want to ask all of you to instead make a donation as a birthday gift to me.

So, now that I’ve thrown out these challenges to you, here’s a little added incentive. For all donations received between January 31 and February 17 of at least $25, I will draw the name of one (1) winner to receive a $50 gift card/gift certificate to either Amazon, the online stitching shop of their choice, or, if they prefer, I will donate the $50 back to TNT to go toward the cause. The winner will be announced on Thursday, February 18.

Until next time …

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