Sunday, June 08, 2008

Sunday after Relay

Oh my goodness.....I feel like I am 90 today. After getting 20 min of sleep last night and walking on and off through the day and evening and then from 1am to 5am this morning. I feel like a train wreak.

Jon helped me all day Friday getting ready for Relay and doing all sorts of outside stuff like washing the car and packing the trailer. I worked, did all sorts of running around to get ready, and then when I was caught up on work I was able to get my house cleaned really well for the first time in 2 weeks.
We were up bright and early on Saturday to take the camper out to the event center. We got there at about 8:30am so we were able to park super close so it was really convenient. After dropping the camper off we came home so the kids weren't hanging out there all day and I left to get some last minute things at Wal Mart and head back to start setting up at about 11am. Jenn met me there with a bunch of decorations for our campsite and then Wendy and Annette came and help us get the rest of the stuff set up. I was kinda bummed because they screwed up all of the campsites. We raised a bunch of money last year so we were one of the first few in line to choose campsites. When we got there they somehow had changed things around because of the way they ended up having to change our spots. So instead of being right on the side walk by the track we were in the middle of everyone and not in our "primo" spot I signed up for. That was disappointing but we still had a great time. I was able to see a lot of people that I had gone through treatment with and just people in town that I haven't seen for awhile. My friend Dana that I went through treatment with was the honorary chair and speaker before the luminaria ceremony. She was truly inspirational and a true survivor in all aspects of the word. Her speech touched everyone in attendance. Here is a picture of me with my family right after the survivor lap.
Here is one of the "line" of the survivors and then Dana and I doing the "strong man" pose with the other survivors. Can you believe how far the line of us goes out? There were so many of us. I think I was the only rebel that decided not to wear my purple survivor shirt and where my team's hooters shirt instead.
Here is one of my brother and sisters that came to support our team and walk for Relay.

Here is one of me with Olivia and Alex and our hooters shirts Abbey made for us.
Here is one of most of the chicks on our team. What a good looking group of ladies!
They had bands there most of the day and night. We all took time to get our groove on a time or two....
Alyssa's girls should be on So You Think You Can Dance! Jon even humored me with a little country swing...

Here is some more snap shots from Relay....
Here are some of our luminaria ceremony with the luminaria I made for some of my friends that I went through treatment with.
The actual luminaria ceremony I think was a complete flop. They had problems with the sound and I think the DJ just picked random songs to play until the Relay Chair told him to just shut it off. Then he decided to walk off the stage and take a smoke break. Um HELLO! Besides the actual rule of there being no smoking allowed at the event, it was offensive to probably ever person in attendance. What an idiot! Last year they had a picture of each of the bags on the slide show so we could all see the pictures and messages everyone put on it and this year they did these really generic slides with names on them. They also left each slide up there for 7 seconds and the "In Memory" slide show took over an hour, just reading the names and then they didn't even have everyone sit and watch the "In honor" slide show names. I wasn't very impressed with that part of the evening.
Here is me with the Luminaria that had my name on it...


Jon got sick on Saturday and was so stuffed up and sick so I sent him home around midnight to sleep at home. We had a good time just hanging out as girlfriends for the night. My girlfriend Jenn and I walked from 1am to 5am and had a chance to visit with a guy we went to high school with. It was fun to catch up and just get to visit. But it was really hard and was raining most of the time. By the time we were done walking my jeans were soaked up to my calf and my shoes and socks were both soaked too.
The track this year was not level so we were walking up and down hills the whole time. It was hard work, but a great experience. Like I said earlier I feel like I am 90 today. Jon and I got the trailer home a little after 9 and my mom was nice enough to keep my kids most of the day. We both slept from 10 this morning until about 3pm. It is only 9 now and I think I am going to go to bed. My entire body hurts every time I move and my feet feel like they are going to fall off. Do you think that is possible?!? Relay is always an emotional experience and it was fun to be able to experience it with my family and friends. Thanks guys as always for your unconditional love and support. You all mean more to me than you will ever know!!

5 comments:

mickeydee said...

Great job! I love all the pics and it looks like it was a great success. Lots of support. Hope your feet feel better soon :)

Jer said...

LOVE the hooters shirts!! It was so fun to read about the relay. I admire all the effort you put into it and I'm glad it was a good experience for you.

Janna said...

I just want you to know that you are such an inspiration to me. I don't know if you know but I just lost my dad to cancer. And I too walked in the Relay out here the day after his funeral! I too was as touched as you were by this experience. I wasn't able to make it as long as you did though. You rock! I walked from 8-1 and I was dying! So I could only imagine going all night! I love you dearly! Let's get together for lunch or something when I come out. YAY! :) LOVE YOU!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for walking on my behalf. It looked like alot of fun and I am sorry I missed it this year.
debbie

Jna4sander said...

Hey Girl! What a time, there was NO place I would rather be than with you in the rain in the middle of the night!! I am feeling "human" again, so it's all good! I did look super hot though with ice packs ace bandaged to my knees!! (Visualize that!!)

Love you so much chica!!
Jenn