It was 9 months in the making. Let’s go back to January.

Last year my niece Kim convinced me to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer with her. While I was successful in completing all 39.3 miles (that’s a marathon the first day and a half marathon the 2nd), I did not sign up at the event to do a repeat. It’s very hard to conceive doing the event again while the blisters are still fresh on your feet.

Danny wasn’t so convinced I shouldn’t repeat. He kept me walking all winter, putting his feet where his mouth is (now isn’t that a visual). By February, I had decided to sign up again. I talked to Kim and found out she had already done so as well. Feb. is also when I took Danny on his first 7 mile walk.

By April, I half heartedly answered an email I received from Avon. Someone in Anaheim needed a walker buddy. I took the plunge and asked which end of town she lived on. Too bad, Patrice lived on the West end of town, over 10 miles away from me. Her daughter Tiffany has asked her to do the walk. At 22, Tiffany didn’t have much training she needed to do. Patrice knew at many..cough, cough…years older, needed to do more. I suggested a place for us to meet and she was wiling to make it happen.

Patrice never complained about the drive or the walk. Sure she got out of whack a couple of times, but it never stopped her. (She did keep the chiropractor busy though.) She was always on time and never questioned the distances I made her walk. She put herself in my hands and followed my grand plan.

By May it was down to fundraising. Danny’s plan was to ask Tony to do a wine tasting. One evening and 24 guests later, and my goal was made. Add in some additional wonderful friends and I raised $2,000 for this good cause.

August brought us to the dreaded 20 mile walk. Once again Patrice proved herself to be a trooper. We picked up Kim midway through and then walked her back and dropped her off. Total miles were 20.25. Do one 20 mile walk. Check. Done.

The time flew by and the next thing you know it was time to rock and roll. Long Beach here we come. Kim ended up riding in with Danny and me. She was meeting up with her “podcast” friend, Heather. So they know each other, but have never met. I knew Heather was 6′1″. I knew Patrice is 5′9″. I knew I was in trouble.

Since we kept a good pace and made it the lunch stop at 10:30, we grabbed lunch and waited to eat until we met up with Danny, Rick, Luke, Lani, TJ, Elyse, Keith, Diane and M at mile 14. We ate, re-lubed, adjusted what needed adjusting and took off again. That stop made the rest of the day possible. That and Danny running out to greet us every 5 miles or so. Thank you all so much! Especially the guy in the pink wig.

26.2 miles, 1 sunburn, 3 blisters and ??? hours later, Patrice, Tiffany and I crossed the finish line in the top 3rd. Heather and Kim did the half marathon the first day. Good job girls.

Day 2 came up too fast. I know I can recover from a 14 mile walk and walk the next day. In this case, I was still sore the next morning. Kim had chewed her feet up again, but she still got on the bus, and started the walk with us. She was doubtful she would be able to finish tho and Heather announced she was sticking with me. Kim told her I’d make sure she finished. Little did I know that at her height, and Patrice’s height that Tiffany and I would have to jog in between to keep up with them. No, no, no, you guys can’t walk together. Tall girl with short girl only. That’s better.

Kim stayed with her friend Barbara (who finished with me last year while she was pregnant) to cheer us on. I got to see and hold little Sophia. I was so busy kissing her I had to run to catch up with the girls. It was worth it tho.

We came in very early – about 12:30. Too early to stay to see Patrick Dempsey. We had to run home because I needed to nap before celebrating Danny’s birthday.

I did not sign up at the event to do a repeat. It’s very hard to conceive doing the event again while the blisters are still fresh on your feet. Hmmm, Santa Barbara in 2010? Only if you sign up.

This is the date we took a red eye out to NY to start an adventure. Only a few days before we had to say a tearful goodbye to Nick, Ashley and Hayden as they packed up and moved back to Macomb, IL. Nick took a new job as an Asst. Director of Student Activities for Greek Life (sorry Nick if I messed up your title). Ashley would be starting a new job at the school as well, but at that time her title was not determined yet. I’ve just posted a few pictures of Hayden that Nick has been kind enough to keep sending. We video conferenced earlier so we got to see them “in person”. Other than a rainy 4th, they are all doing ok.

So we set out on a red eye for NY. We spent the first part of Thurs getting rained on ourselves. When it cleared up, we took a cab to Bella Luna to have dinner with Uncle David, Aunt Anita, Fern and Rob. I haven’t seen Fern or Rob in years so it was fun to catch up. The next day Rob was on a plane for Singapore for a 6 months stint. The problem was though that David and Laurie weren’t traveling into the city until Friday. This meant having a 2nd dinner with David, Laurie, Lea and Casey on Friday night. We had seen David and Laurie at Nick and Ash’s wedding 2 years ago, but it had a more years since we had seen the girls. Another enjoyable dinner catching up with family.

By Saturday we boarded our ship bound for Grand Turk, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Bermuda. 2 ports we had been to and 2 we hadn’t. Had some rough weather sailing down and our “swim with the stingray” excursion was canceled. (Too bad that was the only excursion we had planned.) We did some good shopping on Puerto Rico though and really enjoyed Bermuda, where we took a ferry over to the capital city of Hamilton. We then took a bus around to Horseshoe beach. Too bad thousands of other tourists did the same thing that day. We had a tight channel to get out of in Bermuda and while playing bingo, we thought the ship was going to turn over. Even the bingo board slid across the floor as many people panicked. No cause for alarm – guess they had everything under control.

After 12 long days, we made our way home. After all, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…

Before I go, a big thanks to Elyse for taking a new family picture. Thanks also to TJ for using it as a new banner for our site!

I’m posting new pics. Some are Elyse’s Flickr, but they’re just too cute not to post here.

Getting ready to go see Fleetwood Mac with Karen and Cliff, Carol and Don.

I know you all got the email: Nick and Ashley are moving back to Macomb. Guess we’ll be using iChat a lot more again.

Luke and Lani are finishing up 11th grade. Lani went to prom last weekend, mostly because all her friends are seniors. Elyse took some beautiful pictures of Hayden and Ethan. Check them out if you have access.

Gotta go!

I can’t believe that spring break is over. We just returned from Nuevo Vallarta last night. Little Hayden is sleeping peacefully in his carrier right now and starting this coming week, we’ll be watching him on Weds and Fridays. Also can’t believe he’s 3 months old now. He’s so beautiful. Will try and post vacation and baby pics after this.

Avon 2 Day walk is in Sept. Danny and I have been walking already. I also have a new walker buddy. Patrice and I will meet up again in another week – after Kayleen’s visit this coming weekend. Wine Tasting – my first fundraiser – is May 9th. The following weekend is Phil Fiandaca’s wedding. Before you know it, school will be out and we’ll be flying back to NY for 2 days followed by a Caribbean cruise to Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, St. Thomas and Bermuda. Luke and Lani will officially be senior’s by then. That’s a wow! Hopefully I’ll post new stuff before then.