I think that song will be in my head for a little bit.  Unfortunately that is the only verse/stanza of the song that I know, but it is appropriate.  Yesterday at around 8:30am Steve Junk and I started our journey across Cook Strait.  As one of our swimming friends reminded us, our boat name was Tongaroa, the god of the New Zealand seas and it looked as if he was going to smile on us for our journey.

First let me thank our wonderful crew because without them this wouldn't be possible.  Philip Rush has the difficult job of organizing and scheduling all the swims.  On top of that he is the main crew for the entire swim.  He monitors the swimmers, talks with the support boat, the whole shebang.   Then there was Mike who also was in the R.I.B.  (I call it a dingy, but it seems sturdier).  He was there for the whole swim driving the RIB, which can't be easy with the relatively slow speed and the wind and waves bouncing you about.  Then there are the support boat captains, Barney and Chris.  They monitored the swim from afar, made my food and somehow managed to pass it off to Mike and Philip in the RIB.  What coordination.  We were also joined by Paul in another RIB towards the end of our swim.  I can't believe that in that rough sea that he took an RIB out to meet us.  He did mention that it sounded like a good idea on the phone, but the actual trip wasn't the best idea.  I believe he said "I can check that off my list of things never to do".  As you can see, for a swimmer to be successful it takes a whole team (including the team back home) for a swim even to get off dry land.  I can't thank all these people enough for making my dreams come true.

Ok Tongaroa was smiling on us for the first part of the journey.  The seas were calm and quite warm.  Steve and I were keeping a good distance as well as staying relatively together.  Looked like we were in for a great day.  Then the 2hr 15 minute feeding arrived.  And Steve looked up and said "the seas are just gorgeous and flat".  In my head I was screaming "NOOOOOOOOOO".  Ok so besides the toe nail polish tradition, I also have the superstition that you don't tempt the gods.  Tawhirimatea, the wind god, decided it was time for us to learn a little about his power.  The seas started to get a little lumpy.

Steve thrives in choppy seas.  He just bulldozes his way through and was pretty much off like a shot.  I on the other hand spent some time cursing Steve and getting knocked about.  I couldn't catch a rhythm mainly because I was trying to force it too much.  I was supposed to keep up or be relatively close to Steve during the swim and I was falling quite a bit behind.  At the next feeding, Philip told me to stop forcing it and find a rhythm.  I tried and failed.  Again I just kept slipping further and further behind Steve.  Remember he loves choppy seas and sees it as a great big playground.  For this 30 minutes, I was working on my speech to Philip for our next feeding.  Again this distracted me too much.  I came up to the boat at the next feeding and said "Ok, I'm really trying to keep up here, but I just can't keep that pace.  I can't find my rhythm."  Philip looked at me and said "Don't worry about Steve.  You do your own swimming.  Find your rhythm and we have got it under control."    Ahhh that calmed me down and I got on with business.  I stopped thinking, got on with swimming and surprisingly once I stopped forcing it I was keeping better pace. 

Tawhirimatea didn't just stop with lumpy seas.  The god cranked up the wind to 15-17 knots and it wasn't causing rollers.  It was a short break causing a lot of chop and some white caps.   But with my head screwed on straight (finally) and Steve enjoying the play time, we kept making progress to the finish.  Nothing much of consequence happened for the next few hours as we continued to swim, feed, swim, feed.  The sun was out which created a warming sensation on the back and the water was a really nice temperature.  There was no real sea life to speak of, but I really was hoping for the dolphins that Philip and Mike talked about.  Just a few odd jellies and some kelp and that was it.

We reached halfway at just over 4 hours.   I wasn't quite sure yet if we were going to have a successful swim as I know that the winds had the chance to pick up even more.  (Note:  They were coming from our left side, but I still don't know what direction that is.  Southwesterly maybe).  Now Steve thought we would have a 9 hour swim.  Philip thought maybe a 7-8 hour swim.  I was a little less optimistic and was thinking 10.  That seems to be my magic number for channel swims.  I didn't think this one would be any different.

Another 2 hours passed and my shoulder was starting to bother me.  I began to really focus on stroke entry, pull through and recovery.  This seemed to help, plus it really got me out of my head even more. I felt like I was on autopilot except when I was slapped out of it with a mouthful of salt water.  I little choking and coughing and then back into it. 

At the 6 hour feeding, Philip had us look to the finish.  It did seem really close.  I said so like another 3 hours.  He replied maybe 2, as we had picked up our pace and were really doing well.  In my head, I still planned for 6 more feedings.  The feedings were every 30 minutes.  I know I know, I'm not exactly the optimist, but I like to plan for the worst so that I can keep my head in the game.   Philip also pointed out where we should focus our swim to as they were having trouble keeping the RIB with us due to the lumpy seas.  I love that description Lumpy.  It makes it seem like the seas are mashed potatoes and it really covers a lot of variables.  I don't know what constitutes lumpy seas and when does it move to rough?  Maybe for swimmers it is always lumpy.

After the 6hr feeding, I stopped taking in my carbo fuel.  I just couldn't stomach it anymore and things weren't moving as they should.  I also didn't want to start puking, as I haven't on a swim yet and I wasn't about to start.  I switched to a straight electrolyte at my feedings and took on some ibuprofen tablets to help my shoulder.   All systems seemed to want to continue forward.  (FYI – Steve was still there plugging away as well.  I don't exactly know his mindset, but he seemed happy at our feedings.  I didn't see much of him past 2 hours after the seas became lumpy).   Around this time, Paul showed up in the other RIB.

Another 30 minutes later and the sea temperature dropped.  I began to think about Catalina and how the temperature drops there as well near the finish.  It was a nice reference point.  Another feeding and we kept chugging and chipping away at the distance to the South Island. 

On the last feeding, Philip said that we only had 30 minutes left of swimming.  I wasn't so sure.  Sure the cliffs of the South Island looked close, but they had looked close for the last 2 hours and they didn't seem to be getting any closer.  I was cautiously optimistic and thought "Right 30 minutes, I'm going to really have to work."  I hit a rhythm and just got going.  The seas hadn't changed, but I was on the move.  Steve unfortunately started to feel the effects of the colder temperature (skinny man ).  Me I was still fairly insulated.  Steve started to drop back, but again Philip gave me every indication that we were ok to be split in this manner.  Also Paul came out with the other RIB to be with Steve.  Apparently the decision had been made to allow us to split, so that I wouldn't get cold and Steve could continue his pace. 

During this last 30 minutes (I really think it was 45) I kept seeing Philip hold his hands up indicating distance and that we were close.  I of course would pop my head up and look…nope not any closer by my standards.  I finally asked him if he was sure.  He replied with 300 meters to go.  Ok 300 meters, I can do that.  I put my head down and kept going what I hoped was forward as the waves seemed to bump me in every direction.  After what I assumed was 300 meters, I looked up again.  Reply 100 meters to go.  Head down keep moving forward.  I expected to eventually see the sea floor rise up to meet me to signal the end or that I was getting close.  In Cook Strait this doesn't happen.  All of the sudden there is the cliff in front of you.  Philip and Mike guided me in to where the waves were breaking less.  I would gradually ride a wave forward then tread water then rode the last wave forward and touched the cliff.  I had done it. 

Mike and Philip hauled me into the RIB like a dead whale and then I had the chance to see Steve.  He was just behind me and would finish in the next few minutes.  I wanted to go over, but Philip wisely advised me that I should get back to the boat and start to warm up.  It was great to see Steve finish and touch the cliff as well.  We were the first 2 swimmers of the season to finish Cook Strait.  Our times were just over 8 hours, but I don't have the official ones yet. 

Back on the boat and warm, I spent the time out on the back due to my stomach's needs to empty.  I didn't want to mess up the boat.  Surprisingly I didn't throw up like I normally do, which probably had to do with the fact that I hadn't really eaten anything for over 2 hours.  Mind you I didn't feel great.  However, I had a good time talking with Philip, Mike and Paul. 

So that is the story of the Cook Strait swim.   As for the morning after, I'm sore, sunburnt and quite happy.  I think a big breakfast is in order!

The rest of Steve and my time here will be exploring some local vineyards, relaxing and maybe having a few short paddles in the harbour. 

Steve and I didn't have to wait long for the weather to cooperate.  It looks like we will have a chance to swim tomorrow.  Our new local friend, Donna, told us about the NZ sea god Tangaroa.  We are going to say hello and thank you especially if the weather forecast true.  And hopefully the wind god Tawhirimatea will take the day off as they have been busy this season.

Philip stopped by this afternoon and we had a really good chat and of course everything is "good as gold."   His preliminary outlook was that Monday looked good, but he wanted to talk with the skipper and get back to us around 8pm tonight.  He rang at 8pm and gave us the thumbs up.  We are being picked up at 5:30am tomorrow with the swim starting at 8:30…if the weather holds true.  Apparently the weather can change as quickly as it takes for Steve to pack for his swim.  After getting the call and once I was finally able to move again, Steve appeared out of his room and announced he was ready to go.  I had just got my legs beneath me to start moving.  I think he will definitely keep me on an even keel.  We are going to be swimming from the North island to the South island. 

As for updates of the swim, I'm sorry that there will not be ongoing updates during the swim as Steve and I will be getting down to business, but I promise to update as soon as I can.

No official Cook Strait swim today, but we (Steve and I) did receive a phone call from Philip Rush last night.  Tomorrow, Monday, may be the day.  If not on Day 2, it looks good for Day 3.  However, in the 2 days that I've been in New Zealand particularly Wellington I've found the weather to be particularly unpredictable.  While this is relatively new to me everyone else says "You didn't know that".  Plus the winds can come from nowhere. 

We went to Te Papa for a quick look around and found the Maori heritage section.  In which we found a lot of the ceremonial instruments.  I quickly found the one that is meant to bring calm winds and continued to press the button over and over again so that the sound would play.  I of course am hoping that this brings the weather that we need.  It is a gourd flute thing.  Apparently the story behind it is that this god was upset at 2 brothers fighting, so she grabbed one of them and smothered him to her chest.  The muffled sound of his cries are apparently what this gourd is supposed to echo.  I thought it an odd story and I may have read the plaque wrong as we did go to the museum 30 minutes before closing.  We were doing a quick tour to see what we wanted to come back to.  I'll clarify the story and get back to you on this one.   I still think that the gourd music will help.

Yesterday on the beach, we met some local swimmers.  We got to talking and found out that there is a local open water swim today.  Donna even offered to pick us up and drive us over.   We of course accepted.  Steve and I may not be swimming Cook Strait today, but we are participating in the Eastbourne Wharf to Wharf swim which should be a lot of fun.  I should get going though as we are being picked up in 30 minutes and I don't want to be late

Post more soon.

I think that the answer lies somewhere in "Both".  It is 03/03 by my internal clock, but my friend's calendar says that it is 03/04.  After a long 14 hour flight, I've arrived safely in Sydney for a small layover to catch up with friends.  I got to my friend's flat where she advised me "Call me when you feel normal again".  I thought I was in pretty good shape as I had a row to myself on the plane and spent time dozing in and out.  However, my friend is very wise.  I took a much needed shower and then promptly fell asleep on her lovely guest bed.  I've just awoken and I can't say that I feel normal, but really what marathon swimmer can say they are "normal".  But I feel much better and I think the plane funk has been washed down the drain.  I'm looking forward to what is going to be a too short afternoon with my friend before heading out early tomorrow to get to New Zealand. 

As for Cook Strait, the organizer has said that the water is downright tropical, but a little rough.  We will have to see. 

Today is the birthday of Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss).  In honor of him, I'll do my very best with an ode.

Today I leave on a jet.
On to another adventure wet.

19 miles in Cook Strait
I hope the sharks don't think me bait

Weather currently has a typhoon
Which I hope is over very soon.

Tide dates set for March 7th – 13th
Then flight back home on the 15th.

Nails painted in color Summer Sea
The toes are happy as can be.

I will not eat green eggs and ham
I will not eat them Sam I am.

Instead I'll feed on Perpetuem
Which doesn't always make me think YUM.

But it is the fuel I need
To bring me lots of speed.

With so many people around the world cheering
I don't think there is need for fearing.

Friends in heart and mind
will help me through those tough binds.

Should tides and weather cooperate
We will be able to celebrate!

That's the best I got.
Dr. Seuss I am not.

I can't believe that the time has come for me to get ready to board the plane on another swimming adventure.  I'm 3 days away from hauling loads of gear to another country and hoping that the TSA agents don't wonder about all the carbo fuel, vitamins and other food items that I take with me.  Thankfully I don't think that I have to take my boat hook extender or my feeding basket, which I think cause the most questions from the security agents. 

These next few days will be spent finishing packing, rechecking packing, rechecking packing and did I say rechecking packing?  I think that this is when I become a little OCD.  I'm always afraid that I'll forget that one item that is important to my swim that of course I wouln't be able to find anywhere else.  Usually this doesn't happen as I'm not swimming in the middle of nowhere, but it seems to be my main concern.  Then after rechecking all my items I have to figure out how to get it to fit in the least amount of bags, but with the ability for me to still be able to lift them.  My goal this time is to pack in one large suitcase and perhaps 2 carry-ons.  I'll keep you posted on how it is all going.

Also I'm in research mode of twitter to see how this may work for people to get updates while the swim is going on.

I have a superstition.  It started before my first English Channel swim.  I can't exactly remember how it started, but it did and I actually have a lot of fun with it.  It is getting close for me to choose my fun toe nail polish.  I have a few options coming into play.  Two colors that I'm considering are "Summer Sea" and "Berry Fast", but I will check the store to see if there is another contender.  Now my superstition doesn't run along the lines of the the color of the nail polish.  It has to do with the name of the nail polish.  Granted this causes some very crazy looks when I'm at the nail salon as I pick up every single color, quickly turn it over and hope that the name speaks to me and what I have coming up in my swim.  Picking a color has taken upwards of 15 minutes and the pedicurists are stumped as to help me pick a color. 

So the next week, I'll be contemplating the toe color as that is a fun and crucial part of my swim.  If you happen to have any great ideas on nail polish colors for any of my upcoming seasons swims, please pass them along.

Two weeks to go and Cook Strait is right around the corner.  In fact I think it is a Ferrari that is trying to break the land speed record.  I can't believe that there are only two weeks before I'm on a plane to New Zealand.  While I sit here shaking my head dumbfounded wondering where the time went, I realize that I'm ready for the next swimming adventure and the start of my 2010 swim season.

This adventure will be a little different.  Perhaps you remember me talking about Steve "Mr. C" Junk from the Lake Taupo Relay challenge.  Over the past year, he has become a great swimming friend.  Our relationship is based on a shared love of sarcasm, quick wit (mostly his) and water.  He has always wanted to swim Cook Strait, so we thought why don't we take the opportunity to swim it together.  Now some believe that this would be considered an assisted swim, but I don't believe that is the case.  Steve and I will be swimming in the same body of water at the same time, but we have to cut our own water and we will each experience our own challenges.  What will help is having someone there to wait tensely for the weather to cooperate and then to have a great celebration at the end of the swim. 

In addition to having Steve there in New Zealand, two of my most dear friends are coming down as well.  I know that they will be there to either see us off at the start of the swim or they will be there at the finish.  Either way it will be great to have friendly faces from Oregon there cheering us on.

Now for the facts of the swim:

Cook Strait is considered the English Channel of New Zealand or maybe the English Channel is the Cook Strait of England.  Either way it is another channel to swim with it's own challenges.  It is 16 nautical miles, which equates to about 18.5 miles.  The wind and currents are supposed to be highly unpredictable, and the water temp can range from 12 – 17 degrees within a few hours as Steve likes to point out.  I get the impression that Steve likes to check the water temp, I prefer the blissful ignorance until I get there.  As for marine life, there are jellyfish, which I had a great introduction to while swimming in Monterey Bay.  Then there are the big fish with the big teeth.  One is 6 swims sees one of these fish.  I'm hoping to be one of the other 5.  Then if we happen to be one of the lucky swims, I hope that they are more interested in Steve as I think he could totally take the big fish.  On the Cook Strait website there is the helpful FAQ page.  I think my favorite question and answer is as follows: "What is the most difficult part of the swim?"  Answer: "Getting across Cook Strait and finishing"  Yep well that would be difficult.  Thus far only 74 swims by 64 swimmers from 8 countries have made the crossing successfully.  I would say that these numbers do point to the fact that "getting across and finishing" is very challenging. 

I'm not exactly sure if or how I will post updates of the swim, if the weather cooperates, as my usual crew will not be joining me on this trip.  They have some of their own amazing adventures planned this year and you can bet I'll be cheering them on as they have helped me.  However, IF I find a way to update this site or twitter or some other technology that I'll have to learn, I'll definitely keep everyone posted.

Now I suppose I should get down to the business of PACKING! Yikes.   

Three years ago I would have never imagined that I'd be using my swimming to raise money for breast cancer research.  Then of course in my typical type A personality trait, I had to set myself a fundraising goal.  I first considered $10,000.  I thought it sounded like a good round number and one that was definitely in reach.  However, part of setting goals is to push yourself beyond what you think your limit may be.  $10,000 was a nice goal, but I don't think it really pushed me outside my comfort goal.  What number really seemed audacious, one that I wasn't sure that I could reach…$50,000.  Yes, that seemed way out there for me. 

After I set this number, I started talking with my parents about it.  Did they think I could do it?  They thought it was a tough challenge and they really wanted me to think about whether I could really focus on fundraising, swimming, work and friends.  I thought about it and mainly I thought well this will be a challenge and isn't this is what it is about.  Besides this was for a really good cause and my mom had just been diagnosed.  My grandmother had passed away from the disease.  My aunt had successfully fought the disease and I spent a year as a lab technician doing breast cancer research.  I knew countless of other strong women, families and friends that had been touched by this disease.  Yep, this is what I wanted.  And I wanted to partner with the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.  This was where I worked as a lab technician doing breast cancer research.  I knew first hand the care they provided their patients and the tenacity that they had to find a cure.  Plus, they had another patient that was dear to me, my mother. 

Then became the challenge of actually fundraising.  I thought about a swim-a-thon, but that seemed out of my reach for now.  I began to focus on the fact that maybe people would donate to breast cancer research if I continued my swimming goals.  My mom thought this was a good idea, so we started planning.  Let's start with a letter to all the people we know.  Thus the 1st annual Macyswim was born.  That first year together with the help of so many generous people, we raised $5000.  Hmm, a good amount and I started to realize that it may take me 10 years to reach the $50,000 goal, but 10 years of swimming didn't seem so bad to me.

The 2nd annual Macyswim included my goal of the triple English Channel attempt.  Now the 2nd annual Macyswim for a Cure didn't quite go as planned, as you've read in previous posts.  However, the fundraising took a major move forward.  At the end of the swim year, we had raised the total to $20,000. 

When I began to think about the 3rd annual Macyswim for a Cure, I thought that maybe just maybe this was too much for me to take on.  Maybe my goal was too high.  Besides I was trying to figure out how to fundraise without the help of my mom.  My dad assured me that if I wanted to take a break from fundraising that everyone would still support me.  Heck raising $20k pretty much alone was an amazing thing and I should be proud of that and that my mom would be proud of it too.  But I had set a goal, I had to sit down and see if I was ready to put it on hold and focus more internally.  Ultimately I thought about my aunts, my mom's sisters, they don't get to take a break and decide whether they wanted to fight cancer.  There wasn't an option for me and they had the courage to continue on.  If they can do it, then so can I.  I started with the 3rd annual Macyswim for a Cure letter.  Again I've sent it out to all the people my family, my mom, friends.  Pretty much any one that I had a snail mail address.  Now rather than my mom helping me write the letter, stuff envelopes, and all the fundraising help.  I enlisted the help of my father.  He spent a whole Sunday stuffing envelopes.  He didn't even watch one football game.  YEA DAD!

Thank you to all that have donated so far.  And I've found that people have been doing some amazing things for me in the process.  First there are the monetary donations, which in these economic times mean so much to me.  Even the small $5 donations are helping move us closer to the $50k mark.  Secondly, people have become so creative.  I've received wonderful motivational messages returned to me in the envelope provided.  These notes help me to realize that I did make the right decision to continue fundraising.  And lastly, I had a friend who received my letter and she showed up at my house with a cooler food of homemade single serving meals.  She knew that my mother constantly traveled to Portland to spend a weekend cooking and ensuring that I had good nutrition to help achieve my goals.  My friend stuffed my freezer.  And I have to say that her chicken pot pie is delicious.  God I love butter! 

If you didn't receive a letter don't worry, you can still donate.  Just visit my donation page and it is all set up for you.  I intend to continue swimming until $50k is raised, so we are in this together and we are almost halfway to our goal. 

I’ve never done a holiday letter ever.  I get them.  I really enjoy them, but I’ve never sent one myself.  I couldn’t exactly figure out what to say.  For the past 4 years, my life has pretty much revolved around swimming and work.  I get a new plant every now and again and I kill one or two by accident, but that is about it.  Plus then there is the blog which pretty much updates anyone that wants to read it.   Then the light bulb went off, a blog holiday letter!  So here it is the first installment.

This past year has been a tumultuous one to say the least.  It started off with a bang as I traveled down to participate in the Triple Lake Taupo Relay crossing.  It was the race that wasn’t really a race.  A team of 5 men swimming alongside (against) a 6 person female team.  We finished less than 5 minutes apart which in a 60+ mile, 33 hour event is more than amazing.  Mostly I remember the laughter and new friendships that have continued to blossom over this past year.  Unknown to me at the time, we apparently set a new Guinness World Record with this swim too.  YEA US!

The rest of the winter months were spent in my normal routine; sleep, workout, work, eat, sleep and repeat.  There was a new plant, which quickly became an old plant.  But other than that not much was going on. 

I was in a peak training weekend the weekend of May 15-17, 2009.  My task was to swim 3 x 10hr swims.  One on Friday, one Saturday and the remaining 10 hrs on Sunday.  I made it through the Friday swim very well.  Except that I was so tired that I didn’t take my normal evening call with my mom.  She left me the best message.  She was there cheering into the phone “ONE DOWN BABY!  WAY TO GO!  KEEP IT UP! YOU CAN DO IT!”.  As I smiled and laughed to myself, I pressed the delete button and promptly went back to my afternoon of resting, eating, and sleeping.  The next morning I woke up early and my friend came to help kayak as I swam 6 hours outside at Hagg Lake and then transferred back into town to finish up in a pool due to the cold water temperature.  Another friend was waiting for me at the pool, I thought it odd, but thought maybe she too was here to cheer me on.  Unfortunately no, she was there to tell me to call home.  I did and my dad gave me probably the hardest news he has ever had to do “Your mother died in her sleep.  It was peaceful and it was quick”   Life from that point on for me became measured in the Before Death and After Death. 

I’m sure that at that point I didn’t know how to process things, so I kept on swimming and moving towards my goal of completing a triple crossing of the English Channel.  As many of you have followed, I completed a solo crossing of the Channel on June 30, 2009.  My crew provided the heart that I needed to make it that far and I can’t thank them enough.  Then after that swim, I did go back to my beginning of Pennock Island.  I did have fun, but fun felt so much more different these days.  It didn’t last as long and it is only recently that I began to understand why.

My parents aren’t just my parents.  My mom and dad are/were great.  They are my team members and my cheerleaders.  I spoke to my mom every day and I mean EVERY day.  She made it possible for me to have a dual life where I worked a full time job and swam full time.   She was the person that drafted my fundraising letter for the past 3 years.  She has written countless sponsorship letters which resulted in many of my sponsorships.   She created a sponsorship video to include with letters to businesses, which was an amazing feat for my non-technical mom.  She would fly out to Portland every 6 – 12 weeks and spend the weekend cooking and ensuring that my freezer was full of single serve home cooked meals.  She also cleaned, did laundry, decorated and made my home feel more like home.   My dad is my travel agent and helps me make financial decisions, mostly helps me say yes when a unique opportunity comes my way and helps me figure out how to stretch my money to make it happen.

And now After Death, I’m trying to figure out how to get all this Mom stuff done.  For those of you that are wondering, yes I do know how to cook.  Yes, I can do laundry and clean.  Yes, I can write letters and fundraise and talk to potential sponsors, but my mom made all of these things easier.  She helped to carry my load.  But mostly…I miss our everyday talks.  Sure I still talk to her, but she just doesn’t quite talk back.  I miss that, even when we were getting on each others nerves.  I miss that last phone call of the day.  I wish that we could still talk.  I wish I still had that voice mail from the last night. 

But I do have a lot to be thankful for this past year, my friends from all over have been incredible.  They provide the joke when I need the laughter, the shoulder when I need to cry, and often have provided that last phone call/text of the day. 

I have accomplished some great swims, met some amazing people and I continue to have a job that is challenging in a mostly positive way.  I have welcomed a new nephew into the fold which brings my cool auntie status up to 5 nephews and 1 neice. 

On the fundraising front, we have raised over $18,000 for Macyswim for a Cure – In honor of Dr. Kathleen Macy.  We are almost to the halfway mark of our $50,000 goal.  Watch for upcoming posts on new ways to donate.

I have learned that my mother gave me the skills to move forward.  I may not be able to recreate her beef stew or soup, but she gave me so many other gifts.  Now it is just uncovering those deeply engrained skills and putting them to work.  And it starts by me making it successfully out of bed each day.

I hope that all of you that follow this blog had a wonderful year, where you challenged yourself to move outside your comfort zone.  That you cherished your loved ones and made new memories.  And I hope above all that you laughed and loved to your fullest.

Happy New Year.