The goal is in sight

THANK YOU so much for your support along the Team in Training journey to this point.

My goal is to raise at least $4,100 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I am SO CLOSE. According to my handy-dandy spreadsheet, I'm up to $3,900.

I could not have come this far without your help and support - whether it was a monetary donation, a thumbs-up to a Facebook post, or just asking "Hey, how's the training going?"

Knowing that there are that many people out there who are behind me is really pushing me to continue without becoming discouraged.

Each time someone asks how the training is going, it keeps me honest. It gets me out of bed at 5 a.m. to head to the gym. It keeps me running up those darn hills even at mile 16 or 17.

I've attached a photo of my training partner, Mitzi, and I. It was taken just after our long run last Saturday - 18 miles! We're still smiling, and it's because of you!

My efforts for Team in Training have become even more important just in the last few weeks. I will wear the name Lynsey Fitzgerald on the back of my racing singlet in memory of a 2008 Blue Valley High graduate who passed away three weeks ago after a years-long battle with Leukemia. Lynsey was known around BVHS for her love of students and teachers and her BV Tiger spirit. Her will to be at school even when she was in horrible pain is an inspiration to us all.

Again, I truly appreciate your willingness to support LLS research, programs and patients even in these economic times.

If you haven't donated yet, you still can. Visit my website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/mid/rnrseatl09/jchittum

I promise I haven't died

I've just been really busy, that's all. And, now I've gone and gotten you all excited that there's actually a new post, and it won't really be that long.

I spent part of last week in Phoenix for the National High School Journalism Convention, and I have tons of cool photos to post from that, as well as a trip to Minneapolis the week before that. I will do it this week.

When I got home yesterday, I headed straight to Panera to do some grading with Betsy. For some reason, I get more done there than I do at home. Adam was working at the Home Depot (or, the Dee-POT, as I call it) when I got back in town, so Betsy and I passed the time until he got home.

Adam and I ate at the "sushi train" restaurant - not really called that but it's what we call it. Shawnee-ites will know it as Sakura at 75th and Nieman. We loved it last time we went, but this time it was too close to closing time. The same pieces of sushi that no one wanted kept coming around on the train. Lesson learned - go earlier in the day if you're going to be eating sushi off of a train that circles a bar.

Then, of course we had school today. Stayed til 5 to get some stuff done, and then I HAD to get a run in. Only did that once while in Phoenix, and we go 18 this weekend. Yikes.

Check back with me later this week for photos and more. Kickball practice Thursday and the season starts next week, so that oughta be some good blog fodder...

For now, bedtime!

Spreading the news

Most of you have probably already seen this because you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, but here's the link to the web version of the Shawnee Dispatch story about my work for Team in Training.

You can read the story (and see the photo of Mitzi and I running) here.

This last week, I made it over the $3,000 mark! Can't believe it. Garage sale this weekend at our place - donate items that you don't want anymore, or come and shop!

Dave's got questions, I've got answers - El Guapo's season preview

Reigning Kansas City Kickball champs El Guapo are making spring season preparations. Fans and players are confident going into spring's games, but some worry that the team's reputation as the dominators will put a target on their backs.

The chances for an El-Guapo tres-peat (or, three-peat for the uninitiated) have really inspired the league's lesser teams to bring out the big guns against the handsome juggernaut.

"We know they all want to beat us," Manager Mike said. "That just means we'll play our Mariachi music a little louder and wear our sombreros a little bigger. We're not afraid to use intimidation techniques."

Manager Dave worries that El Guapo's star closer, Jill Chittum, might not be able to live up to expectations set by her perfomance in last season's championship games.

"We worry a little bit about her mental toughness going into those clutch situations," Dave said. "We know she can do it, but she lets the nerves really get to her."

The team looks to capitalize on Catcher Travis's catlike reflexes from behind the plate to keep up the defensive performance.

"Defense wins when it comes to kickball," Dave said. "But, it's still pretty damn sweet to blast a three-run homer out to deep center field."

Other teams in the league have compared El Guapo to a junkyard dog.

"They might not be pretty, they're quite the ragtag bunch," one opponent said. "But they'll kick anybody's ass who tries to step on their turf. You gotta watch out for El Guapo."

Spring Break

Wow, I really thought I would have written a few blog posts during break. Not working on school stuff, not on newspaper or yearbook deadlines, time to blog, right?

Well, not so much.

I've been doing lots of work around the house - general organizing and spring cleaning, cleaning up the yard (raked a lot today). Mitzi and I hit the Shawnee St. Pat's parade and the KC St. Pat's parade to sell beads for Team in Training. We did pretty well at both - sold all the beads she ordered, and didn't have to deal with drunk a$$holes, so that was nice.

Betsy came over Monday night and we shot some photos of stuff to put on eBay. I've got three items out there right now - hopefully they'll sell so I'll have some more donation money for Team in Training.

I got to have lunch with two out of town friends - Candice and her boyfriend on Monday, and Sharon on Wednesday. It's nice to a.) be able to see friends from out of town, and b.) get to go out to lunch!

Mitzi and I will be having a benefit garage sale on April 3 and 4, here at the homestead. If you're here in town, and you've done a little spring cleaning, we'd happily take your cast-offs off your hands! Consider it de-cluttering for a great cause...

I can't believe it's already Friday night of break. This week FLEW by. We didn't do anything special, just tons of little tasks and catching up on home stuff that gets sloughed off during school days.

Our group training is tomorrow morning at Longview Lake. Eight miles. Then, we've got our Silent Auction/Benefit Dinner at Red Robin on 95th and Metcalf. Hopefully tons of people can be there, and we'll get some good traffic. I'll be there a little early, handing out flyers to diners so we can get the 10 percent donation from Red Robin for their food bills.

I'm headed to Wichita tomorrow right after training - it's L's birthday party time again. The trip was supposed to be longer, but I couldn't get everything done before today. So, it'll be a quick down and backer.

I probably have no blog readers left since I'm not regularly updating, but if you're out there:

Ask me some questions. I need some writing prompts so I can get back in the blogging state of mind. You ask, I'll answer...

I service society by rocking.

We rocked it like a trio of 16-year-old goof balls last night. Adam's allergies have him pretty much out of commission (can we just decide - hot or cold weather?), so he had dinner with us, but then took medicine and went to bed.

The girls came over, and we hit three Shawnee locations: McDonald's (needed the Red Box), Blockbuster (only for the candy) and Little Caesar's ($5 pepperoni pizza). So, basically, for about four hours of entertainment, we spent $6 (pizza and Red Box) - Betsy had a gift card to Blockbuster, so the candy was free for us.

The great thing about Red Box is that you can reserve your movie online. The crappy thing about Red Box is that once you've reserved your movie online, you will still get stuck behind some idiot who is browsing the box for 10 minutes.

FOLKS! Look online, then go pick up your chosen movie. Or, let the smart people go ahead of you.

I'm telling you what - I wish I would have invented Red Box - when I got to McD's there were four people waiting in front of me to get movies. It's obviously a decent business model.

We chose "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." I grabbed the movie, and we headed across the intersection to Blockbuster. Grabbed Twizzlers, Peanut Butter Whoppers, Sour Patch, and a six-pack of Diet Coke. Yes, I see the irony in that statement.

The 16-year-old jokester behind the counter was quite impressed with our purchases. Wonder what his internal monologue was concerning the "old ladies" who were buying nothing but candy and Diet Coke on Saturday night. I don't think I've been inside that Blockbuster in 15 years. I was like a flea market in there - tons of random junk for sale, and a whole table full of DVDs - marked four for $20. As Adam says, Blockbuster is so 20th century.

Then, we crossed the intersection one more time to pick up the pizza. I guess Shawnee Mission Parkway and Quivira is like the nexus of the universe - you can get movies, pizza and candy all within 100 yards of one another. Perfect for a Saturday night in.

Once we returned with the pizza, we finished watching "School of Rock" on TBS before we started "N and N." Yep, we own "School of Rock" on DVD, yet every time it's on TV, we drop everything and watch it - commercials notwithstanding.

I enjoyed Nick and Norah, though I'm glad we only spent $1 to see it. It's definitely the kind of movie that my friends and I would have seen over and over and over and over in high school. We would have wanted to be those kids, and have that night out on the town, with all that "cool" stuff happening.

Well, except for the drunk girl throwing up everywhere.

I'm pretty sure I would have had a huge crush on Michael Cera, too, at that age. It's just how we rolled back then.

I'm just not that into

...movies where single female characters make conscious decisions to pursue, sleep with and break up the marriages of males in the film.

We saw "He's Just Not that Into You" tonight at Town Center. It was a good chick flick for a Saturday night of light entertainment, but not sure I would pay $10 again to see it. We rarely go to movies during prime time of the weekend, so the talking/moving around and general rudeness of the teen population was a bit disappointing.

They're so good during the day at school - why do some of them turn into jerks while out in public?

I thought the film itself was just interesting enough to keep my attention, but overall, the story and characters were a bit thin - they were more like general stereotypes than well-developed individuals.

•••

Mitzi and I ran all over town today, not with our feet (unfortunately) but in the car. The plan was to get up, head to the high school, run laps around the halls. The athletes do this all the time when the weather is bad.

We got there, and I had everything I need EXCEPT my running shoes. Kinda needed those to get a 10-mile run done.

So, we went back to Mitzi's got cleaned up, and headed out to drum up donations for the silent auction. People must have felt sorry for us, since we were out driving and trudging through the three inches of snow on the ground.

We got a bunch of gift cards to local bars, and for a spa day - it was a great day all around for fundraising. Hopefully the items will draw some bids at the auction.

We spent about four hours soliciting donations today, so I'm glad we had some success. It's really hard to do when you have doors slammed in your face.

If you're in the KC area - join us at Red Robin on Monday, March 23 from 5-10 p.m. They'll be items up for bid, and 10 percent of food and drink purchases will be donated to Team in Training - get a great meal for a great cause!

The bad news about today was that because I'm an idiot and forgot my shoes, we did not get the run in. We've switched our Sunday rest day and Saturday long run day. So, you can find me on the stinkin' treadmill at Gold's Gym for about two hours tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too crowded.