what we did today:

Because Eric's office was closed for Veterans' Day and I happened not to be scheduled to work today, we took the children to daycare and had a day off together. It was the most time we have had alone since Jewel was born. We spent most of the day in Rome, but we did wander past this curious sign:

In case you don't have 20/20, it reads "Historic Site Meteorite Landing Circa 1998"

This is me in the hole created by said meteorite:

We had fun just toodeling around, not being interrupted by little vioces, or potty emergencies, or feeding schedules. We did just what we wanted, which renewed us, and refilled our well of patience so that we can handle the little voices, potty emergencies and feeding schedules more gracefully tonight.

We did it!

Thanks to everyone who helped us across the finish line. As much as I hyped the 3 Day Walk, I feel badly that I haven't written about the actual event. Believe it or not, the closest thing I can liken it to is natural childbirth. It left me feeling like I could do anything. My mother, Joann, and I raised over $3000 between the two of us. As a group, the Atlanta Breast Cancer 3 Day raised 8.3 Million Dollars! That much money was raised by regular people like you and me. Astounding! Friends of ours walked in the San Francsico 3 Day, which raised over 5 Million Dollars (it was the first year in that city). Can you imagine?

I made a great friend on the walk, also named Jennifer. She and I cheered eachother on, remenicsed about Atlanta hotspots of the 1990s, and played games to get eachother through the tough miles. 20 miles, three days in a row is no joke, folks. It hurt! But we did it. I can't speak for her, but I got the impression that Mom's job as 3 day crew member was at least as hard as my job as a walker.

Last minute planner that I am, I didn't bring a camera. So as soon as I get photos from other people, I will post them. It was truly an amazing event, and a great example of how regular people like us can change the world.

Never doubt yourself, or your ability to make change in the world.

felting (but not in Felton)

I've been taking stuff that looks like this:and turning it into stuff that looks like this:

A jewel in the squash

The family that hays together

.................NEWS FLASH.........................

I've exceeded my fundraising goal for the breastcancer 3 day walk! Woohoo!



This is so exciting and such a relief to me! When it's all said and walked, I'll post photos. For now I am so pleased to be able to relax a bit, and focus on the final preparations and training.

For those of you who haven't gotten around to donating, there is no need to despair. You can still donate at www.jenny3day.info or better yet go to my mother's page (she is working as part of the breast cancer 3 day crew) at http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/AtlantaEvent?px=1924214&pg=personal&fr_id=1181 and donate there.

Hoorah to everyone who donated. Your generosity has not gone unnoticed.

I've joined the army

The Army of Women, at www.armyofwomen.org

This is a partnership between women and researchers who will work together to discover the causes of breast cancer and how to prevent it.

Here is why this is important. There is only so much we can learn from animal studies (I know this from experience). Most current breast cancer research focuses on treating women who already have cancer. But wouldn't it be wonderful to find out what causes cancer in the first place so that we can prevent it from ever happening? That is what the Army of Women is trying to do. They hope to recruit ONE MILLION women willing to participate in various studies. Finding people to participate is one of the most difficult challenges many researchers face. The Army of Women will provide a large, willing pool of participants for researchers to draw from when they are doing an investigation. I've already signed up, I hope you and your friends and family members, coleagues and internet friends will too.

It is such an elegant and simple thing. You sign up as a volunteer. As new research projects come around they will send emails out looking for women with certain characteristics willing to participate. If you are interested, you let them know. It's that simple. You can do as much or as little as you want.

I've done this type of thing before for another study. It involved answering survey questions, and providing urine and blood samples. I've also donated saliva samples, cord blood samples, and breast milk samples for researchers. I'm probably a bit more gung-ho than the average Jane, but I feel these are small things I can do to help gain more insight into the bigger picture.

I'm so excited about this. I think this really is a way that we can all come together and make a difference. So, consider signing up. www.armyofwomen.org