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
Saturday, August 21, 2004 Walk this way, talk this way, walk this way, just gimme a kiss....
Captain's blog: Day 2
5:30am - I wake up with my nose completely freezing and overall, just being incredibly cold. This is quickly explained by examining the bottom of my sleeping bag to find that it's sopping wet. Which would explain why the inside of my sleeping bag and my pants are wet too. It's interesting that I didn't notice it at all when I was sleeping. But I sure as shit noticed the woman in the tent next to us snoring like a buzzsaw all night. Don't even get me started.
5:35am - When I get up to walk to the bathroom, I put on my flip flops and discover that I can hardly walk. My insteps are screaming in pain, and every step takes me a while to determine what exactly is the best way to minimize this. I don't come up with anything that works. At this point, I'm concerned.
6:00am - Kelly's boyfriend Todd is visiting camp, and wakes us up by singing "The Good Morning Song" outside of Suzy and my tent. A morning serenade is always a good way to start things off. I don't know if everyone in the tents around us are awake yet, but they sure are now.
6:15am - Suzy and I are getting ready in the tent, and trying to put on makeup in the dark, which is a little tricky. We joke that we're going to come out looking like clowns, at which point, I hum some circus music, which causes giggling fits.
7:15am - The two best things that I packed? My second pair of tennis shoes and plastic bags to wrap all of the wet crap in. I put on my brand new pair of tennis shoes, which are the exact same ones as the other ones I have. I am ecstatic that the ankle support in these shoes all but eliminates the horrible pain in my insteps. I'm so thrilled and amazed that I would have jumped for joy. But the impact on my feet may have made me cry. Suzy is having some severe pain in her Achilles tendons, Kelly's knee is beginning to bother her, and Michelle is having hip pain. But we're all going to soldier on.
7:30am - We're all packed and ready to get going. Who would have thought that it takes like 2 hours to eat breakfast and pack your stuff up? Serious thanks to Todd for helping take the tents down. I think that would have pissed Suzy and I off more than putting it up.
7:45am - Kelly brought with her something pretty wonderful. They're these little cards that say, "I Believe In You," on the front and on the inside they have an inspirational quote on them. Every morning before we start and everyday at lunch, we all get a round of cards. Some of mine include, "There is more inside you than you think," and, "When the defining moment comes, either you define the moment, or the moment defines you." Suzy had my favorite one though with, "When you think you're going through hell, keep going."
7:55am - We start out for Day 2. The weather could not be any more polar opposite than yesterday. It's sunny and about 70 degrees. It's pleasant and pretty, and in spite of our aches and pains, we are all in pretty good spirits. The route starts from camp and goes down E. Hines Drive through Livonia into Northville. It's scenic with a gorgeous park, trees, lakes, trails. So beautiful and completely different than the day before.
9:00am - While Shelly is telling us a story about someone she knows joking about her walking, she totally trips over a bump in the trail. Perfect timing. It's kind of an extended stumble. Suzy and Kelly valiantly put out their arms to catch her when she falls, even though they're a good 5 feet behind her and Shelly's falling forward away from them. We instantly all start laughing at her, just like good, supportive friends do.
9:10am - We're still laughing about Shelly's trip.
10:00am - Pit Stop. There are 4 Pit Stops throughout the day and 2 Grab-&-Gos, and each one has a different theme. There's the "Cruisin'for a Cure", Mardi Gras, the hippies, the tropical one playing Beach Boys music. This one is the Shrek pit stop sponsored by AOL. And because AOL is fucking cool, you can see the photo that they took of us here. They give out all kinds of fun stuff at the stops, and we pretty much get excited about everything. Especially the stickers. Ahhh the enjoyment of something as simple as stickers.
10:15am - After leaving the Pit Stop, Kelly and Shelly decide to entertain by singing. I think everyone comes up with this idea at some point during the three days. Except Shelly and Kelly are goofing around with the songs they're doing, mostly the full Grease soundtrack. I laugh really hard everytime they get to, "I get ill from one cigarette," accompanied by the cough. We know all the words to "Xanadu." The women walking around us say how much they enjoy it and how entertaining we are.
11:00am - I'm still blown away by how amazing and nice everyone along the route is. They have cheering stations for family and friends to come, and when you go by it, you thank every single person there for coming out. It means so so so much to have people clapping for you, even if they don't know you. And everytime someone says, "Thank you for walking," it makes me want to cry. And the volunteer crew are wonderful. They have such energy that you need so badly when you think that things are starting to hurt. There is one woman who we see usually 3 times a day. And she comes in her van at certain spots. We call her the dancing lady. Because she has music pouring out of her van, and all she does is dance, and give us high fives. Her energy is infectious, and she is wonderful to see. Everyone looks forward to her.
11:30pm - At this stop, it is the first time I notice that there are people sprawled out EVERYWHERE fixing their feet. Re-band-aid-ing blisters, re-taping toes, wrapping ankles. Miles are starting to wreak havoc on the peds. I can feel it too for sure, but I have not lost any toenails and the blisters have stayed away so far. We have all surely taken more Motrin than is recommended on the bottle though for sure.
11:45pm - Still considering what we're going to have for lunch. Praying for pizza.
12:15pm - Lunch. When you get close to the lunch stop, you can hear the cow bell they're ringing before you get there. You would never believe that a cow bell could sound better than the the most beautiful sounds you've ever heard. The crew members at lunch have great aprons and chef hats on. The one woman's apron says, "Check Out My Melons."
1:45pm - The best pick-me-up for the day came in the form of our sisters, Laura and Amy, and our niece Emily waiting for us at our stop after lunch. Suzy and I were looking forward to it all day, and to see them waiting there with flowers and hugs was more than we could have asked for. Shelly's boyfriend Graham met up at that stop too, and we were all so happy to see people we knew and get that boost of support. I wanted to just stay in the grass and keep chatting with them in the sunshine, and forget that the bottoms of my feet were starting to get some odd tingly sensations in them. It was definitely my favorite part of the day.
2:00pm - After we passed through cutie downtown Northville, the route got decidedly more suburban. We are walking on the path on the side of some pretty major roads with lots of traffic. When our crew cars would drive by honking for us, we would always always wave. And whenever other passerbys would do the same, we would also always wave. It kind of became reflexive. I have a feeling it's going to take me a while to not wave when people honk at me, even if they're flicking me off when they honk.
3:00pm - We judge good Pit Stops based on the dilution of the Gatorade. Darker and more sugary? Gooooooddddd.
3:15pm- We passed a cheering station on Haggerty and 8 Mile Road that was just loaded with people with signs and bubbles and streamers and clapping and cheering. Made me forget how horrible my feet feel for just a few moments.
3:30pm - We've talked to quite a few people along the way today. Finding out why they were walking, where they were from, and if they've done a 3-Day walk before. One woman was from Ohio. A couple of women did the walk 2 years ago saying that it was miserably hot, like 90 degrees hot. I can't even imagine being miserable from the heat too. But I give them credit for, even after that experience, to come back and do it again.
4:00pm - I still haven't decided what to eat on Sunday night when we're done.
4:30pm - Last pit stop for the day. The last leg was really really hard. It seemed longer than we thought it was going to be. And we all got kind of quiet for a while. At the stops now, all I want to do it sit down, because it seems that every moment that I'm not on my feet is heaven. But another Smucker's Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich has my engine going again. Plus, there were family members there with two of the cutest puppies I've ever seen that were ShihTzu Maltese mixes. I kept saying that if I could steal one of them, it would make the last 2 miles for the day much easier. It seems like people coming into this stop have pained expressions on their faces. More than normal. A friend of ours, Danielle, comes into the stop and looks like she's hurting very badly. Kelly gives her one of the "I Believe in You" cards, and her thanks seem so genuine and heartfelt. I hope that it helped.
4:45pm - We're questioning whether, in the last couple miles of the day, there's any distinction between whining and bitching. Because we're all pretty unhappy. And even though there isn't the proper tone for a whine, our complaining could probably be considered whining. I keep focused on the finish trying not to think about my feet. We bring out the Book of Questions again and end up sharing good drinking stories to help the time pass.
5:20pm - Day 2 is finally done!!! Another 21 miles done!!!! Although we find out later that people who have the foot pedometers have different mileage than what is provided on our route cards. As in both Friday and Saturday were closer to 23 miles than 20-21.
5:30pm - I love the boy scouts, because they have set-up everones tents and put our luggage inside. I make a promise to myself to hug every boy scout that I see from now on.
6:00pm - Suzy and I head straight to the showers, even though it is strongly advised not to do so, because the steam and humidity makes passing out very likely if you haven't cooled down or eaten dinner. And sure enough, one of the girls waiting in line has keeled over. She seems ok, but they take her to the medical tent anyway.
6:45pm – When I’m coming out of the Port-a-Pot, I mention out loud that when I get home, I’m going to forget how to flush the toilet. The guy next to us starts laughing rather uncontrollably.
7:00pm - We all agree that it's hard to explain the kind of aches and pains we have. Because there are parts of our bodies that we never even knew could hurt the way they do. And even though my feet hurt, it's such a strange kind of feeling. Like a tingly itchy feeling, so much so that it hurts to touch them. But once I start massaging them, they feel so much better.
7:15pm - Oh yeah, and I have the sexiest sock tan line ever.
8:30pm - Time for bed. We have apparently missed the fact that they brought 65 pizzas from Papa Romanos to the dining tent. After all of our praying for pizza, we friggin' missed it. It's only supposed to be 47 degrees tonight, so Suzy is sleeping with 6 layers of clothing on. Not kidding here. I think I am again asleep before my head hits the pillow. In spite of the fact that our tent smells like ass.
