25%

Did I say 10%? Whoohooooo! We are at 25+% as of this morning, many many thanks to all those sending in donations, every little bit helps and I appreciate it more than you can possibly know. Today I got a nice donation from fellow "Birds of a Feather" Lisa who has asked me to donate 1 mile to her friend Charlie who suffers from Crohns. I'll gladly do so and be thinking of Charlie and all the other IBD sufferers out there as I run 13.1 miles on Dec 6th.

I'm also tickled pink to have my first registration form in hand from Bitzie from Chester, thank you Bitzie for sending in your reg form and check for the Guts and Ghouls 5K on October 31st.

Team Challenge had a 3 mile group training run this morning at Creve Couer Lake, I didn't make it, it was rainy and foggy here at five thirty a.m. and I just couldn't bring myself to drive one and a half hours to run 3 miles. I know I'm missing getting to know my team mates, but I just hate to drive in bad weather to unfamiliar territory I hope my team mates will be forgiving.

Next Saturday the 12th I'll be running in the Popeye 5K in Chester hope to see some smiling familiar faces there who will want to take my registration forms and pass them along to ALL their running buddies! Also planning on signing up for a 5K in St Louis for September 27th in support of Ovarian Cancer Research.

10%

Ten Percent! That's the first goal you strive for with Weight Watchers, just losing 10% of your body weight makes a difference and gets you on your way to a healthier you! I'm remember how excited I was to get that 10% charm at WW meeting. So today I'm celebrating being 10% toward my $4000 fundraising goal for CCFA! Thanks to those who have made online donations and sent them in the mail your generosity is very much appreciated.

This weeks training schedule called for a 3 mile run monday (done) 3 mile run Wed (missed) but will run 3 miles this evening and then 2 mile run Friday. Group practice for a 3 mile run at Creve Couer Park Saturday, looking forward to getting to know fellow team members.

The Guts and Ghouls 5K is starting to get rolling the event is listed on Facebook with some interest being shown and also reg forms have been printed out and are ready to be posted. Oh almost forgot, selling "Celebrating Home" products until Sept 21st, candles, dip mixes, bread cookie and muffin mixes etc. Candles are 10 oz and are really nice smelling and long burning.

Guts and Ghouls 5K

Save the date event details and registration forms coming very soon!

Kick Off Event

Team Challenge held it's kick off party at the Forest Park Visitors Center Thursday evening. Thank you Tyler (Mal Mals great boyfriend) for the use of his Garmin to get me there and home, those that know me know I don't like to drive in St. Louis but I made it to and from just fine. The event was very well organized with information stations set up througout and plenty of helpful smiling people wearing Team Challenge Orange! Keeping with the Las Vegas feel we were given cards at each station to make a poker hand for later, yeah I didn't win anything but that's ok! They even fed us bbq, chips and guacamole and cake!!

I got to meet Karen and Jillian (our honored team mates who both suffer from IBD's) had pictures taken with those two special gals and will post them here when I get them. I'm not sure exactly how many people were there but it seemed like quite a few to me, quite an eclectic group in age range and physical ability I was so glad to see I was not the oldest (maybe LOL) or the least "runner like"

I got to meet Coach Davis who seems like a very nice guy and I hope to learn lots about running from him in the coming months. Today was the first practice and it was a 1 mile time trial, I did not make it today but plan to time myself this evening and e-mail Coach Davis with the results. We have a training schedule for the week and then a 3 mile run next Saturday morning.

Mama T's Training Partner

Meet Joel..............Mama T's training partner. We "test drove" a new jogging stroller last night to the tune of two miles. I thought it went well, Joel was less than impressed though with being held in a recling position, perhaps he needs to grow into it a bit more LOL.

Tomorrow night is the Kick Off Party for Team Challenge at the Visitors Center in Forest Park, I'm excited to meet the rest of my team mates as well as the trainers. Saturday is our first official training day, again at Forest Park, guess I'd better hone up on my driving skills in the City huh?

I'm thankful to those of you who have contributed to my fundraising page online THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. If you would be so kind as to just keep that going, send my link to your e-mail contacts and ask people to forward it on to theirs, we all fw fw fw silly things everyday so lets forward Mama T's Race for a Cause and see if we can meet my fundraising goal of $4000!!!!!

Still in the planning stages for the 1st annual "Guts and Ghouls 5k fun run/walk" planned for Sparta on October 31st, we'll have a 5k run/walk a 1 mile kids dash, medals for top finishers, and prizes for best "ghoul" costumes as well as attendance prizes, if anyone reading this would like to donate at the Corporate level $200 will get your business name on the race t-shirt or any monetary donation will be gladly accepted to pay for the cost of the race. Also looking for donations for attendance prizes. I'll be going door to door in the business community soon asking for your help to make this race a success and hopefully a yearly event to bring runners together for fun and a good cause.

Update on fundraising. I spoke with Spartas Mayor Link yesterday and got the go ahead to host a 5k fun run/walk in Sparta on October the 31st. I'm in the process of rounding up corporate sponsors and donations for attendance prizes. So stay tuned for upcoming news about the first annual "GUTS AND GHOULS 5K" to benefit the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)

As far as training goes I ran 3.1 miles last night which is 5k, I felt really good and as I was running I saw a partial rainbow, that makes three beautiful rainbows I've seen in the past week and I'm choosing to believe that's a positive sign that this Team Challenge is something I'm meant to do!

Thursday August 13th. Informational meeting at Toolens Running Start in O'Fallon. Got to meet Rhonda Sciarra the contact person for Team Challenge and the organizer of our team. Met Coach Carrie and her little boy Henry who is a corker! We were handed out information packets and watched a short video detailing CCFA and their mission as well as learned a little about the honored members of our team, Karen who I've not met but understand has had quite a difficult time with her illness and Jillian who I've also not met but I understand she's 10 and is fighting IBD also. I hope to meet both these inspiring people very soon and learn their stories and share with them mine. There were 5 of us at the meeting all seemed nice people, some were put off immediately by the daunting task of actually training each weekend, but I feel like their hearts were in the right place and perhaps even if they don't actively participate in the challenge they will support others of us who are. A couple of others were on the fence and I hope they made the decision to jump on board. Rhonda told me today that they signed up 8 more team members Saturday, THAT'S AWESOME.

After reading through my packet and wrapping my head around this fundraising campaign oh and yeah the training for a 13.1 mile run (don't even think that part has registered yet LOL) I've set up my fundraising page, look for my link on this blog. And I've sent out my intial e-mail requests for support and donations.

In the works will be an awesome quilt raffle, with a quilt donated by my lifelong friend Becky Jones Purcll, she makes gorgeous quilts. At this time Becky is fighting her own battle with IBD and is having surgery this week which will hopefully alleviate her pain and allow her to lead a normal life again. So keep Becky in your thoughts and prayers and more on the beautiful quilt later.

I'll also soon be taking orders for Mama T's awesome Texas Sheet Cake and Pumpkin rolls, you know you love them.........you just wont be able to get them for free for the next few months haha.,

Next on the agenda is to........run, oh yeah I'd better get out and run a few times before the first group training session hadn't I?

Mama T's Race for a Cause

You'll never guess what I've done!!!! I've signed on the dotted line to train for and run a HALF MARATHON! What the heck? The furthest I've run to date has been 5.45 miles, what was I thinking that I could run 13 miles, I'm almost 48 years old for heavens sake!

I've recently gotten back into running this Summer I had done the coolrunning Couch to 5k program a few years ago when I was losing weight on Weight Watchers and I found that I LIKED running, I know, who could believe that right? So the first 5k I did this Summer was a challenge my WW Birds of a Feather friends and myself challenged ourselves to do. It was the Mascoutah Meltdown on July 4th to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes foundation. It was a great event organized by Brandy Pickell and all her helpers. BUT it was a horrible day weatherwise, pouring rain, I mean buckets of rain, thunder lightening the whole bit. I nearly turned around and went home.







BUT I DIDN'T I finished the race with a new friend Laurie who turned out to be a fellow WW Lifetimer. I also won a great attendance prize.








When I got home and went through my bag o' goodies from the race I saw a flyer that grabbed my attention. It was a flyer for Team Challenge, a group that TRAINS you to run/walk a half marathon, TRAINS you!!! AND in turn you raise $$$$ for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)

Hmmmmmm I could get professional training to run a half marathon, I could travel to Las Vegas on Dec 6th to run in the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon. But most of all I COULD do something positive to help raise money for a great cause.

I have Ulcerative Colitis, have had for years, used to think I just had a wonky belly, you know runs in the family kinda thing. Sister has IBS, Dad always said he couldn't lace up his football britches till last minute just in case he had to make a dash for the restroom before game time. I always had nervous belly problems had to watch what I ate, scoped out the location of every public restroom EVERYWHERE, had numerous "near misses" and some out and out embarassing moments. Finally I got to Dr Feldman who did a colonoscopy and diagnosed me with UC. I was shocked when he told me I have a DISEASE an INCURABLE autoimmune disease. I was put on medication that I take daily, twelve pills daily, and as long as I take my meds I stay pretty much in remission with few flares. But I'm still at increased risk for colon cancer from the ulcers in my colon.

I'm going to use my blog to journal my experience with Team Challenge. I hope you'll follow me and comment and encourage!

Grandkids Grandkids and more Grandkids!

I haven't blogged anything lately, most people keep up with me on facebook but decided today to add a few pics of the grandkids and what's going on in their lives. Tori is seven and in second grade, she loves the outdoors, skating, jump roping, 4 wheeler riding, fishing , bike riding anything active, she's also very girly and loves PINK PINK and more PINK! Joel is seven and a half months old and is doing very well, he's rolling front to back and back to front, trying to crawl, working on sitting balance and has 4 teeth. He is perpetually happy and the absolute joy of our lives.

Guess who finally got her ears piecred? She's been talking about doing it for awhile but was too scared it would hurt. She told Gary she had 1 carat diamonds!!! Whoohoo lucky girl.

Tori and her Grandpa Gary went mushroom hunting at Toris house last week and they made a haul! Gary told her she had to "sniff" out the shrooms like a little truffle hunting piggie so she was all about it!

Tori in the middle with the red headband swinging her imaginary lasso singing Yippee Ki.................something or other for a Cabaret Kids performance at the nursing home.

Playing outside in his Rainforest Bouncer, loves having his toes bare!

Joel sitting up pretty well in the high chair that Gary built when Tori was a baby. He's not sitting independently yet but he's close.

Joel needed a walker and of course it had to be a "Jeep" like his Mommys!

Tori and Joel had their pictures taken for an American Cancer Society fundraiser. So here are their "Puttin on the Ritz" pics. Tori is Miss Photogenic and Joel was simply swimming in his little baby tux, but gotta love both their sweet little toes peeking out.

2009

It has been awhile.......................life has been topsy turvy at our house. You would not think that one 6lb 10oz boy would so turn our world upside down! It is a joyful world though, Joel continues to thrive and grow like a bad weed, lighting up our life with smiles and interesting "conversation" Our lives have settled into somewhat of a routine with Cassie back to work as an EMT in Swansea. Our upstairs remodel is almost done so that means we have our living room back and Cassie and Joel have their own space, sort of, we've made the family room up there into a Wii station and Gary's discovered he likes it!! So we'll all be spending time up there "playing."

My plan for 2009 is to work on ME, I had reached my WW goal weight in March of 2006 losing 63 lbs, I ran my first 5k in Dec of 2007, and then.................I completely fell off the wagon and have regained 30 lbs, I'm not exercising and my eating habits are ridiculous. I have exuded so much time and energy worrying and praying and planning and did I mention worrying over the last year that I've let my health deteriorate and I'm not doing anyone a favor by letting that happen. I've been inspired by several of my fellow bloggers just by reading their posts and their individual journeys so it's time to get this MaMa back in shape!