Well, what a difference 2 days make

Ok, in 48 hours a whole bunch of wonderful people have helped raise almost $1000!!!
WOW! I know, right!
Some folks are even linking me up to there blogs and websites! very exciting

The Folks @ BrokenSea Audio Productions have very graciously started spreading the word about the event and charity - AND they've even built me a page on their website!

Who are these guys - well, as someone you know, I've delved into the fun world of Audio Dramas and finally putting my voice and smart ass wit to some good constructive use. BrokenSea is one of the production groups I've have the pleasure of working with. They are a keen group of audio drama fanatics who create podcast and free download stories in audio format.Included in our line up is original fantasy, sci-fi, horror, drama, comedy and fan-works and audio versions of great films (like Planet of the Apes and Logans Run). You can hear me on Johnny Quest, Body Slam Alley and a soon to be released project.

Donation update $2040

Yeah!
Yesterday I did something bold and decided to email everyone in my contact list about the event and the fund raising. I was on a mission.
And it succeeded - close to $800 in donations yesterday =)

It was a bitter sweet day though b/c while fund raising for a blood cancer charity, we lost our family pooch to blood cancer. (there is a post below about it).

SO - what path does that put me on?
The search to raise $2160 in 2 weeks and this weekend, to spend some time iwth the nephews who asking "where's clevie?"

Family's best friend

Tonight, our family had to say good bye to our family's best friend Cleveland. He would have been 13 in a few weeks. This morning he was fine but by mid day he wouldn't drink or walk much and then he wouldn't move.

Turns out he had an acute hemangiosarcoma on his kidney and it was bleeding into his belly. At that point, even with treatment he wouldn't have much more than a month or so.

he was a really great pooch, and always hogged the bed and always pounced on you when you opened the front door and would just love on you to no end.

I'm gonna miss my moochie.

1001!

I hit $1001 in donations on Saturday - HOORAY!

I also hit the nebulizer again - it was a rough morning.
It was cold and dry and we were up in the mountains again - so beautiful.
But for someone with asthma, cold and dry air can be like breathing sandpaper.
I was very careful, watched my breathing, kept hydrating like crazy, made sure my core was warm, i had a balaclava on, kept my head warm. But conditions were just right to set off a lovely attack. It took a while to recover and I had some great people around to help.

I still get really embarrassed when that happens - I'm pretty independent and stubborn, I know. So to be put in a position like that - i just don't want to be a bother, I don't want to disrupt anything or anyone's plans. It didn't help that I've hit a stress level that I'm not comfortable with, in life and in work - there is a lot going on and I worry: needing the new car, refinancing of the condo, taking on a little part time job for extra cash, 3 back to back weeks of big work events, raising the $5000, a very limited response to my 240 letters asking for donations, training for the ride. When the asthma attack hit - I was so mad that it happened, so mad I couldn't control it, so mad that it has to be this f***ing hard. This long laundry list of shit in my head of what I couldn't do just kept going through my head and fueling the anger, that really wasn't anger, it was more of a disappointment.
I had a moment, in short. A moment where i wish it wouldn't be so hard.
But if I didn't have to work for it - it wouldn't be worth it.
just like the quote i put on my donation letter:

There are too many people praying for mountains of difficulty to be removed, when what they really need is courage to climb them.

After a little lung treatment and a little rest at home, I got on my trainer that night and finished the last 40 miles - thank GOD i had a bunch of movies to watch.

I'll be back on the bike this week and next Saturday I'll do it again - I'll go and ride. I will keep asking friends, family, strangers to help support the L&LS. I'm not going to give up on the charity, on the event or myself.
I'm not giving up.
www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/Garcia
donate big
donate often
=)

officially flipping out

So I have $825 in donations
min. I need to have $4200 by november 7
yeah
i'm flipping out
I sent 170 letter
120 emails
45 phone calls
825 dollars (which $135 i put in)

officially flipping out - it'll be ok, but I'm very worried

MERMANIA!!

So, I've been having little bouts of insomnia (my refi is about to close, so I'm little nervous, it happens)
Tonight, I'm awake, writing donation letters and all I want to do is drink hot cocoa and play my Ethel Merman CD's
I really don't know why
I love Ethel - she was bright and fun and loud and a hoot.

Sometimes, when i don't want to clean the house, but I have to b/c my mom is coming over and I can't have a dusty house for Gema... Digressing - sorry.
Sometimes, when I don't want to clean the house, I put on my fav pair of shoes (platform ruby red patent leather 4 inch heels), a pretty Doris Day-like scarf my hair and play Ethel Merman at 11 on my stereo (11 is one louder than 10). I Sing at the top of my lungs and the house cleaning is so much more fun. Try it some time - it's great fun - but you have to get your own fabu shoes.

hmmmm... I wonder if I'm a drag queen trapped in a woman's body....oh well

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUU'LL BEEEEEEEEEE SWELL!
YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUU"LL BE GREAT!
GONNA HAVE THE HOLD WORLD ON A PLATE!

$800!

WOOHOO!
$4200 away from my goal
$3400 away from my minimum
=)

Oh, was that out loud?

Have you ever had that dream where you are back in school and you get to say all the things you wish you had but didn't because either you feared the wrath of nuns or you were only 10 and not that clever?
This weekend as the 50th anniversary celebration of my church and it's elementary school. It's a cute school and a nice parish and my parents "highly encouraged" me to go and represent. A little back ground: I hated grade school, I hated catholic school, of my class of 40 student I only really liked 4 or 5 people. I was quiet and odd and picked on (not to mention puberty was oh so kind to me in the eighth grade). In retrospect, I was more afraid of speaking up than getting picked on.
The events:
At one of the festivities, I had a chance to see some old teachers who I loved and some classmates. Ok, I'll admit, I was hoping all the pretty people where fat and all the mean people had suffered teasing of their own. AND I made sure I looked fab - fab shoes, fab suit and with all the cycling lately, my curvy curves are brilliant and my legs are buff. The event was at the school, which was so fun to see. I was so happy to connect with one person, who I remember being really spirited and sunny - her whole family is lovely.
I bumped into one of the boys who'd cut the end of my ponytail off (aboutan inch, but still).
Hi, you're Soandso, right? We were in the same class.
"Hmm, I'm barely remembering you"
you um...cut my hair in the fifth grade and sprinkled it on my desk.
"oh... OH... oh... damn"
yeah, it grew back so that's good
"oh... man... I'm so sorry, I guess I was dick back then"
yeah...so, how's the family?
We actually had a really nice chat and a good laugh about it.

At the big family picnic the next day, I saw a few more folks and I realized the difference between nature and nurture. Nurture - a human learns from around them and grows; Nature - born rotten.
For 4 particular women I went to school with: Nature.
Seriously, after all these years to behave that way still - very cold, very snobby. Not sure why but I was polite and being social and chatting within this group of women. I had a church freind with me (who did not attend school with us). During this volley back and forth of their lives and how they were talking about people, I figured ok, they haven't changed, get over it and then....
"Oh, you're not married? you don't have kids? wow, you're missing out. Well... you never seemed the type to be married with children, you know."
(b/c that is so determinable at age 12)
[the Maternal Four all a giggle]
[sweet voice, big grin] Wow, you know, you have not changed at all.
"oh, thank you!"
[said quietly] Yeah...you're still kind of rude and mean - you'd think motherhood would soften folks, but I guess not everyone.
"Well, I'm just saying you're not lucky enough to enjoy kids at our age"
Yeah...I guess I am missing out... I actually can't have children so... I compensate with shopping benders at Tiffany's and trips to Latin America.... yeah... so, You look like you're about have another? That is so great! Boy or Girl?
[silence]
what?
[silence]
Church Friend [trying to keep her laughter locked in]"No Kids, huh, well at least your boobs won't be droopy and your ass won't hit the back of your knees, right?... ooo Beer Truck is here"

good times, good times I was thrilled to reconnect with one person who i really did like - she's great, I'm looking forward to getting to know her again. It was good weekend. OH yeah, and it was my birthday yesterday and I rode 65.8 miles in 5.5 hours A good day indeed

There are too many people praying for mountains of difficulty to be removed, when what they really need is courage to climb them.

-- Unknown.

In 2004 and 2005 I put my body through, well, to be blunt and figurative, a wall – one day with 100 miles of mountains at high altitudes. I also raised over $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I had a lot of help with that part.
Together – that saved a life. I didn’t even need a cape or shiny tights to do it.

How? How does a bike ride save a life?
That $10,000 funded research, paid medical bills, housed a family, train nurses in patient care, trained doctors in emerging treatments for a specific blood cancer, taught a wellness class. By doing all that, it left someone unburdened so they could focus on one thing: survive cancer.

Why? Why do I care? Why is this important to me?
About 3 years ago, I was talking to my boss about a cycling friend who had been diagnosed with Leukemia, and mentioned another person I knew surviving uterine cancer. Then I remembered a former coworker also surviving Lymphoma. He paused and said, ‘Wow, you know a lot of people with cancer.” I said, “No I don’t, it’s that a LOT of people have some type of cancer.” One in Five people will develop some form of cancer – that is the national average. My asthma issues aside, I count myself very lucky – being in that group of four. I can’t get complacent about it – I am well and strong and I need to give back. I need to help.

Who? Who are these One in Five?
A cycling friend who in 2003 had her life turned over by cancer. A fun little boy who should be worrying about missing an episode of Sponge Bob Squarepants instead of losing his hair. A mother of a friend who was so beautiful in life and now in spirit. An odd sales associate at my local sporting goods store who embraces everyday with really strange jokes and a huge smile. A business man who is client of my mom’s, he battles every year and still puts up a mean fight over the price of dry cleaning. That’s who.

What? What can I do?
Well I tell you what I can’t do – I can’t go to the future and locate the formula for the cure. I can’t perform magic to make cancer disappear. I can’t develop an intergalactic faster‐than‐light‐warp‐wave communication device to locate medically advanced life forms and ask them for a cure. What I can do is ride a bicycle. I can put myself through a day of sore muscles, tired lungs, aching limbs – just one day. I can ask you for support. One day can save one Life. Yeah, I can do that.

When?
November 17, 2007, it will be me, my bike and 109 miles in Tucson, Arizona. That day my teammates and I will participate in a moving memorial and celebration, each of us raising $5000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This will not be easy, this will not be a walk in the park ‐ this is what I can do. This is what I will do. Every mile ridden, every dollar raised...it’s all worth it if it saves a life. You can do this with me. When someone asks you, “What’d you do this weekend?” you can say, “I saved a life.”

Thanks so much for you time and your support!

Would you like miles with your donation? ask me how =)

http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/Garcia

$665!

Not Bad - getting there =)
I'll have pictures up soon from training rides and of my fellow teammates =)
Only $3535 to reach my minimum
Only $4335 to read my goal!