I Love CRACK!

Okay, no. Not THAT. But I did go out and buy me one of them fancy BlackBerry Pearls this weekend . . . aka the "Crackberry"

It's pretty cool. I need to spend some time getting to know it a bit, but I do have to say I've answered some emails already on it and the typing part - not so bad. I could get good at it!

It's another attempt to get myself organized. I'm on the go a lot and often have a few different balls in the air at once, so being able to take care of business when away from my home computer will be good. I have some recruitment meetings this week for my Team in Training group and soon will have a whole new crew of mentees to coach along! I'm thinking Facebook would be a nice way to keep the group together - I can post important dates - motivational messages - get the group to collaborate on fundraising. I hope I can convince them to use technology!

Back to my new crack habit - it has a camera with a FLASH (my Razr did not). Here's a picture I took of the beautiful white roses my wonderful friend - and running partner - gave me Friday for my birthday:

awwwwww - aren't they gorgeous?

Oh - and my new toy - it's PINK. As was my Razr. I was NEVER a pink kind of girl! I abhorred it. Avoided it like the plague! And now I'm buying major appliances in pink! (Is a phone an appliance?)

I'm not sure about this new girl-y phase . . . maybe now that I feel my girlhood slipping away, I'm trying to hold onto it with girl-y things?! Maybe. Or maybe I just have less to prove!

My brain is full.

I'm back home from a trip to Alexandria and DC. MAN, do I miss my puppies when I'm gone!!

I'll post more with some photos - but I have to unpack and get ready for BOOT CAMP tomorrow morning - which is at 5:30 tomorrow (or 2:30 am in DC time) - EEEEK.

Highlights:

• Fabulous weather
  
• Things in bloom
  
• Smart people, great ideas at convention
  
• New friends, fun nights out
  
• Totally cool treating myself to a night out alone

Lowlights:

• Brain full - kind of hurts
  
• Mean beeotch at airport who didn't want me to touch her doggie
  
• Cool things I learned - I still don't think I have the staff/time to implement

Some preview pics I took from my cell phone:

Does my butt look better yet?

Seriously, boot camp this week is a bitch. Our first week we were pushed a bit by Amanda - but Richelle is our instructor for the REST of the sessions and she kicks our {BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP}!!

I love it.

What ANNA did while I was sweating away at Boot Camp!!! How irritated does she look that I interrupted her snooze for a photo?? tee hee!

Disappointed?

Every once in a while I'll check out the stats for Charity Chicks. I use a free stats program and don't save logs, so I'm limited in information but it's fun to watch traffic spike when I send an email out or do any marketing.

And I learn stuff - for instance, making event photo album links were not a waste of time - many visitors spend quite a bit of time thumbing through them. I mean before I get into anything, I always want to know what the events were like and who was there. Plus, we've had some good times and have good memories!

My favorite stats are when the entry point comes from a search. Most of them were NOT looking to volunteer. Or at least volunteer in the same terms I'm talkin about. Could I get interesting traffic because my site/organization has the word "Chicks" in it? Probably. Does it help that my intro page says something about "girls who give it up for cheap"? Oh yeah, I'm sure THAT might mislead to what they might find. How disappointing to land and see that it's girls doing . . . well, nothing but good.

Anyway. I'm marketing for an event right now and the hits are comin - mostly from people on my email list. But not all. I got one hit this week from a Yahoo search for "chicks who dig old men" (tee hee). They read the front page and actually checked out our events page before leaving. I guess they still had hope our events might include a shuffleboard night?

I mean, I've considered older men, but how would Yahoo know that??

Life isn't going to wait for you to be "ready" - you've got to always be ready to live your life!

That's my new credo. It's kind of silly, I know - but it is something I struggle with. I'm addictive by nature and I have the typical addict mentality . . . I'll quit after I [insert excuse/goal]. I'll fix that when I [insert excuse/goal]. I go through phases where I "hide out" from life and focus on other things. I'm in a never-ending struggle of balance. I'll focus on a work project so much that I'm too tired to take care of my personal life. But heck, sometimes working is so much easier than REAL life . . . !!

I've let myself go. :-( In the past two years, I've put on almost 20 pounds and I've been waiting for a "good time" to deal with it. I'll eat better NEXT week, I'll go back to the gym NEXT month, blah, blah, blah.

Now all this stuff is coming up. I run into a cute boy - I'm asked to be on the news - I'm going to a fun event and need to dip into the skinny side of my closet . . . . AND I'M NOT READY!! Dammit. See where the credo comes in?

It's been a year and a half since I ran the marathon in Greece, which was a HUGE life goal and a HUGE accomplishment for me. It should have reminded me that I can do anything - an attitude I kept alive, right? But no - small injury - big work project - and I let it all go. All that training? I'm back to square one.

But I'm back on the CHANGE path. I started a fitness boot camp on Monday - 3 days a week, 5:30 am for four weeks.

And LIFE wants me to change, too! I had a doctor threaten surgery earlier this year but have decided to handle it myself through better health.

I entered the lottery for the always-full Nike Women's Marathon in October. I said that if I'm meant to run again, my name will be drawn. And the chances were pretty slim. Guess what news I got yesterday? Looks like I'm spending my summer on the canal again this year.

I've got some SERIOUS pounds to shed if my poor knees and feet are going to carry me for another 26.2, plus the hundreds of training miles.

Look out LIFE, I'm getting READY again!

News Whore :-)

Look, ma . . . I'm on TV!!!! Of course this picture is courtesy of MY MOM - who couldn't resist.

This is me helping promote the 15th Annual Make A Difference Serve-A-Thon. I'm still recruiting for Team Charity Chicks. Sean, the newscaster interviewing me was on my team 6 years ago and will be joining again this year with his lovely wife. Yea, team!