Hometown: The Roch, MI (aka. The Crotch, aka. Crotchscratcher, aka. Crotchmolester, aka. Rochester)
Currently Living: Clawson, MI
Height: 5'8
Weight: Ha ha, yeah right
Favorite Color: Blue (preferably navy)
Profession: Researcher
Favorite Nickname: Trick, Sloan
Favorite Drinks:Vodka Tonic, Guinness, Diet Dr. Pepper, Dirty Martinis, red wine
Favorite TV Show: Friends, Sex & The City, Project Runway, The Amazing Race, Iron Chef America
Least Favorite TV Show: A Baby Story, I Love Lucy, Martha Stewart, Everybody Loves Raymond, every hour long drama
Favorite Books: The History of Love, Beloved, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Fight Club, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The of Being, SurUnbearable Lightness vivor, Empire Falls, The Corrections, The Bell Jar
Favorite Movies: Little Miss Sunshine, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Wordplay, American Beauty, Life is Beautiful, Amelie, Breakfast Club, Singin In The Rain, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sleeping Beauty, Dancer in the Dark, Duets, The Virgin Suicides, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Austin Powers I, II & III, My Best Friends Wedding, Moulin Rouge, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, The Shining, Gone With The Wind, Bridget Jones' Diary, Chicago, Love Actually
Guilty Pleasure Movies: Xanadu, Dirty Dancing, Overboard, Groundhog Day, Steel Magnolias, 10 Things I Hate About You, Bond movies, Footloose, Clue, Murder By Death, High Spirits, A Cinderella Story
What I Do Too Much: Check email, crossword puzzles, complain about my job to friends and family,
Obsessions: sushi, Indian food, ranch dressing, toenail polish, song lyrics, hands, awards shows, symmetry, avocados, maps, dreams, This American Life, the display in my car that tracks my MPG
Pet Peeves: loud eaters, slurping, gulping, arrogance, snoring, bad grammar, repetition, late mergers, ripping cardboard, the word "chunky", intolerance, couples in a restaurant sitting on the same side of a booth, pop-up ads, privacy manager, men that drive without shirts on, being foolish, unfairly jumping to conclusions, being made fun of, cat-calling, people who type too hard
Greatest Fear: crossing bridges
Relaxing Activites: late night drives to sing by myself, headstands, hot baths,
Wish I Was: Ansel Adams, Jenifer Aniston, in love, living alone
Prized Possessions: ring from my grandparents, flower pot of my Grandma's, electric blanket (temporarily broken), tongue scraper, my bed
Craziest Thing Ever Done: getting a tattoo, strip Jenga
Things I Eventually Want To Do: skydive, buy a guitar, learn how to play the aforementioned guitar, take flying lessons, travel to France, write a novel, learn how to play the harp, tap dancing lessons, run a marathon
4:00am - Wake up time. If we were smart, we would have gotten to sleep far earlier than we planned. But it was kind of tough with Shelly, Suzy and I in one room, laughing and giggling like we were little girls. Except when I was a little girl, the laughing wasn't a result of making fun of how boyfriends snore, resulting in multiple repititions of a tricky whistle-snore. Or about male body parts as ethnic foods (English ass, Swedish meatballs, Polish sausage), which brought about multiple repetitions of the phrase, "That's a SPICY MEAT-A-BALL" said in a faux Italian accent.
4:05-4:30am - I think Amy's husband might hate us now for setting off the fire alarm upstairs at least 4 times from our steamy hot showers.
4:30am - Because Amy is one of the best sisters ever, not only did she agree to house 4 crazy walkers for the night and drive us at the ass-crack of dawn, but she even got up and made us pancakes. It was heaven.
5:00am - Frantic packing goes into over-drive, because of course we're late. Even waking up at 4am doesn't help.
5:40am - Arrival at Eastern Michigan University for the Opening Ceremonies. I am already amazed at the level of organization involved in this undertaking. They have everything working like a well-oiled machine, as far as where you need to be, where to take your luggage, where your tent's going to be, what the route for the day is going to be etc. And there are so many wonderful, helpful, friendly crew members too.
6:15am - Opening Ceremonies are supposed to start at 6:30am, so we're standing, waiting in a large enclosed area in front of a stage. They have huge blue signs next to the stage that say, "I Walk Because I Believe." Shelly ran into her boyfriend's co-worker's daughter (got that?), Michelle. Michelle was doing the walk by herself, to which we informed her, "Not anymore you're not." And here's the remarkable story about Michelle. She has been cancer free for 1 year. She had ovarian cancer, had a full hysterectomy, and chemo for 6 months. When it was all said and done, she had over $100,000 in bills and was beginning to get sued by the insurance companies, so she had to file for bankrupcy. And, she's only 27 years old. That would be like me being diagnosed right now and having to deal with all of that in the next 2 years. Inspirational? I'd say so. Amazing? Absolutely. And to think that there are probably hundreds of people here with stories not that much different. I'm really happy to be here and be alive and am ready to walk to make a difference.
6:30am - The woman standing next to us has the name of the person she's walking for on her back. Her date of death is August 2004. (note: I'm crying just typing that).
6:50am - Opening Ceremonies started late. We were informed that there were over 1,600 of us walking and that we raised over 4.4 million dollars for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Can you believe that 1,600 motivated individuals can make that much of a difference? I'm beginning to think that motivated individuals can do just about anything. After walking 60 miles, is there really going to be anything that seems that hard? Other than walking 100 miles. During the ceremony, they pointed out that over the course of the weekend, in the US, 328 people will die of breast cancer. That would be like 20% of the walkers dying over the weekend. The thing that all of the speakers say when they get up the podium is, "I'm walking 60 miles because I believe in a world without breast cancer." It can be defeated.
7:30am - Shelly, Kelly, Suzy, Michelle, and I are pretty much the last people through the crowd to start, because we were towards the back. Oh well. Walk not a race.
8am - It's completely overcast this morning. But that's a good thing, because that means I'm not frying in the sun, and it's nice and cool. I don't do so well in sweltering heat. Especially since I'm not allowed to complain about it. The motto of the weekend is "NO WHINING." People even have pins on their fanny packs that say that. Instead of the fanny pack, I opted for a small backpack. Which turned out to be a good choice. It's not bugging me at all, and there's a perfect side pocket for my water bottle.
8:30am - Throughout the entire route, they have crew members constantly monitoring us. They have multiple white vans decorated that just drive the route to make sure if anyone needs help, that they'll be there. Each van is a different theme. There's a superhero one with an inflatable Hulk on the front. There's a "Magic Bus", and the crew member in it has an afro and big peace sign earrings. And then there are the motorcyclists. They are constantly monitoring the route too, and they are, hands down, one of my favorite things about the entire weekend. Because they all have a Pink Panther stuffed animal on the bike, which are so damn cute. Who doesn't love a pink stuffed animal on a Harley???? And when they drive by, they'll have the Pink Panther wave. And one of the Pink Panthers has a top hat and tux on. When we asked one of the bikers how they got involved, he said that everyone had their own reasons for being there. His was that his mother and sister had breast cancer. He also said that the Pink Panthers were to make us smile (which they most certainly did), and to make us 'think pink'.
9am - Every intersection we come to has police officers stopping traffic for us. It's a pretty cool feeling. Plus, the police officers have pink ribbons on their uniforms and on their squad cars. I wanted to hug them for being so wonderful. I think every single person walking by thanked them.
10amish - They have stops approximately every 3 miles. Either Pit Stops or Grab-&-Gos. To refill your water, grab some snacks, and pee. Or as the crew members announce over the blowhorn, "2, 4, 6, 8, Eat, Pee, Hydrate!" You'd be amazed at how much you look forward to just a little pause in the walking. It re-energizes you beyond belief to keep going. I have a feeling I'm going to get really sick of peeing in Port-a-Johns by the end of the weekend. We all mention that they're remarkably clean though. Kelly thinks it's because it's almost all women here. She doesn't get any argument.
10:15am - We bring out the Book Of Questions that I brought with me. It's just a book of thought-provoking, conversational questions. It was very useful for this stretch of walk, which is through parts of Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. We come across questions like, "Do you think the world will be a better or worse place in 100 years?" and "If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one ability or quality, what would it be?" To which, my answer is, "I would be able to fly," not considering that perhaps the question refers to qualities that a person can actually acquire. I mention that I was considering invisibility too. Everyone makes fun of me about this, and someone starts singing R. Kelly's, "I Beleive I Can Fly." The women in front of us mention that they're loving the questions, our answers, and are coming up with their own answers too. Score 1 for the Book Of Questions.
10:20am - We have been discussing, at least a million times, how much it's going to suck setting up our tents when we get back to camp. We're expecting it to be pretty funny since we all have no idea what we're doing. And we're expecting to have meltdowns at that point too.
10:45am - This is roughly the time that it is asked, "I wonder what we're having for lunch." We all think that pizza would be bliss right now.
10:55am - The question, "I wonder what we're having for lunch," has probably come up a couple more times now.
11am - The question, "What am I going to eat on Sunday night when I get home," comes up too.
11:10am - The question, "What am I going to eat on Sunday night when I get home," has probably come up about 10 more times by now.
11:15am - At the Grab-&-Go at Pfizer, they have popsicles. Holy crap, an orange popsicle has never tasted so friggin' good. Even more so when they have bad jokes on the popsicle stick. I'm always a sucker for bad jokes. I've told my cotton ball joke to a couple people I don't know by now too.
12:15pm - We arrive at lunch. It's not pizza, but I've never been so happy to see a chicken sandwich. I've also never been so happy to sit in the grass and take my tennis shoes off for a while. Miles down: 10.1, 49.9 to go. And yes, you do get a little manic about every little tenth of a mile.
12:40pm - So I've discovered that I walk weird. I roll my ankles inward, more so on my right foot than my left. The shoes I'm wearing were the ones I bought back in May, and between running and walking, they already have quite a few miles on them (probably 150 or so), so they're pretty worn in and the ankles aren't that supportive. The sides of my arches are beginning to feel like my ankles are sprained. Or that someone's stabbing them. I'm trying to concentrate on rolling my foot the other way, and trying to minimize the shooting pains that are now ever-present with every single step. And I have to walk 10 more miles like this? I mean, I have to walk 50 more miles like this? It's going to be a long 3 days.
1pm - At this Pit Stop, it has started to rain. It was drizzling for a while, but now it's a pretty continuous, steady rain. I have Suzy's red hooded jacket on, and everyone else has multi-colored ponchos. Someone passing us told us we look like jelly beans.
1:30pm - The rain was tolerable for a while, but it's starting to suck. We're walking on the side of Ann Arbor-Plymouth Road, which has a lot of farmland around. It's starting to make us nervous though, to have cars driving by on wet pavement. Walking on the shoulder is making my feet scream out in pain at me.
1:35pm - The Pink Panther with the top hat and tux now has a rain slicker on. The motorcyclists are still out in the rain driving by, honking at us, and cheering us on at every step.
2:00pm - I haven't talked to anyone for the last hour or so. My insteps hurt so bad, that I don't think what's going to come out of my mouth will be that pleasant. Plus with this hood on, I can't really hear anything anyway. Our spirits are definitely getting sucked out of us.
2:15pm - At this Pit Stop, my spirits were fully restored by a Smucker's Peanut Butter and Jelly sanwich thing. Salty peanut butter never tasted so good. My shoes and socks are soaking wet by now, and the rain just keeps on coming without any pause or hesitation or consideration for our suffering. Whenever one of us mentions that this sucks, one of us will say, "Yeah, it would suck to have breast cancer wouldn't it?" Complaining comes to a screeching halt.
3:45pm - Still non-stop raining. Our final leg for the day was supposed to be about 1.8 miles. But it was probably a mile longer than that. When we thought we were done and the crew member told us we had another mile to Plymouth Salem High School, I thought Suzy was going to start crying.
4:30pm - Day 1 is done!!!!!! Hurray!!! 20.2 miles down!! We board busses to get shipped to our camp site in Livonia. I think? I have no idea where we are or where we're going. I'm just so so so happy to be sitting on a nice bus cushion. Our crew member on our bus informs us that all of the tents are set up for us with our luggage in them. There is no other piece of information that could have made me happier right now.
5:00pm - So everyone else's tents in the entire camp are set up but our section. As predicted, we all have a few meltdowns. They have our luggage laid out and covered by tarps, except, whenever anyone goes to look for their luggage, they have to lift the tarps, so anyone's stuff on the outer edge gets a big spill of water on their bag and sleeping bag. Shelly and Kelly's stuff is soaking wet. Suzy and I get our tent up without too much trouble, except the tarp we brought to put under the tent doesn't seem to be helping all that much. And we seem to mysteriously keep getting water inside our tent. It's still raining by the way too.
6:00pm - I've never been so happy to eat a pasta dinner in my whole life. I have no idea if the food was any good or if I was just ravenous. The glorious beauty of hot chocolate makes me want to cry right now.
7:00pm - It's finally stopped raining by now. Suzy and I go to shower, which are actually showers in big semi trucks. Have you ever showered in a truck before? It's an interesting experience. They warned us this morning that while you were waiting for the showers, not to complain, because the person in front of you may be a survivor or may have lost her daughter. This is incredibly hard to remember considering that the last thing you want to be is on your feet, standing, waiting in line.
8:00pm - My feet are in some serious world of pain. Rolling my ankles back and forth to stretch them out feels better than any orgasm. I'm mentioning that I would put out for a foot massage right now. I'm 100% not kidding. I would do just about anything for a foot rub right now, as long as it could be done while my feet were still being rubbed.
8:45pm - We all go to sleep, forgoing the activities going on, including karaoke, which we can still hear from our tent. Who really does karaoke when they're sober? I think I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.
