Giveaway Winner & Vacation Memories

The winner of the Scape Sunblock giveaway was #121 Patti L! Congrats, Patti. Email me at brisdon@comcast.net with your address and I’ll send it right out to you!

Now onto the good stuff. I am so glad to be out of the traveling turd RV. Don’t get me wrong. I love my family. But, I could have been in that RV with Jesus and would have gotten sick of him. If my children are close enough to me at night that I can throw a shoe and hit them, it’s too tight of quarters.

25 feet gets really small really fast 

We did make lots of memories, however.

Number of times I walked across this suspension bridge at the Royal Gorge: 1

 

Number of times I looked down between the slats at the river 1,200 ft. below wondering if that day was the day the bridge would finally collapse: 49

Number of times Ken ran into a tree and took off the passenger side mirror: 1

Number of dollars to fix the mirror: $600

Number of times I crapped in the RV: 3

Number of times we emptied the sewage and felt the warm contents moving through the hose (at least I have my Life is Good shirt on. Oh, the irony): 4

Number of miles I ran: 12

Number of mountain passes I drove over in the traveling turd (guardrails optional): 3

Number of times I threatened to put my nine year old in a time out in a camping chair with no food or water or books: 1

Number of times I actually did it: 0

Number of bottles of wine I drank: 2

Number of times I counted my blessings: 5,234

Some of my clearest and most fond memories growing up involve family vacations. My parents loved to rough it. Once we did a cross country road trip from Maryland to Montana for a month and slept in a tent the whole way. That was the trip my sleeping bag caught on fire with me in it. 

I have found that the best memories are not made when everything is perfect. They are created when things don’t go quite right, when there is some challenge involved, when we move outside of our comfort zone. Our senses hold on to those experiences with an intensity that lasts throughout the decades.

Two weeks ago a friend’s mom found out she had cancer. She died this morning. I am reminded about the brevity and preciousness of life. I am reminded to hold on and to make it a wild and memorable ride. I am reminded to never let fear stop me from doing anything. And mostly I am reminded to love.

What’s your favorite/funniest childhood vacation memory?

“Choose You” Healthy Lifestyle Giveaway!

I got an email from Liz Steinhardt on behalf of the American Cancer Society this week. ACS is  launching a new “Choose You Healthy Lifestyle” movement to encourage women to put their own health first and to make choices to help prevent cancer. 

I know I joke a lot on this blog about running, pooping and the like, but one of the real reasons I run is to stay fit and healthy. I like fighting age the old fashioned way through botox, boob job exercise, good eating, sound sleeping, laughter and an adventurous spirit.

According to the ACS, “about half of all cancer deaths could be prevented if people maintained a healthy weight through diet and regular exercise; avoided tobacco products; and got recommended cancer screening tests.”

People! That means you! If you knew you could cut your risks by 50 percent, shouldn’t you go for it? I know I am preaching to the choir here because most of you are already leading pretty damn healthy lifestyles, but is there anything you could do better? Is there anyone you could encourage to lead a healthier lifestyle?

Liz offered to send me a “Choose You Get Healthy Gift Bag”* if I would promote this movement on my blog. Hell yeah! And she said she would give me a second one to give away to one lucky reader.

I wasn’t sure what would be involved in this mystery gift bag and she didn’t specify. Would it be a coupon to Subway and a fake Bic lighter? Some tofu and a box of red wine?

Today, I got this secret gift bag via FedEx and was quite impressed by the contents:

 

• One $50 gift card to Walgreen’s (sweet, right?)
• One very cool Choose You turquoise t-shirt (I put it on my one-eyed, three legged dog for your viewing enjoyment. Better than taking a picture of it on the counter)
• One sleek Choose You 25 oz water bottle
• Two pens (one from Sprite Zero, the other “Choose You”)
• One flower hair clip (I just gave mine to my daughter; not my style unless I go to Hawaii)
• One Choose You flower pin – a symbol of ACS’s new health movement to inspire women to put their health first and to make healthy lifestyle choices to prevent cancer
• Coupon for a free Sprite Zero

Interested in getting your hands on this schwag? If so, do one or all of the following:

1. Leave me a comment telling me how you maintain a healthy lifestyle (+1)
2. Leave a second comment telling me which healthy habit you would like to adopt right now and forever more (+1)
3. Spread the word on your own blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment letting me know (+1)

Each should be a separate comment.

Remember – this giveaway is not limited to women only. Guys – you could always use the $50 to Walgreens for condoms or a jock strap. Enter for your mom, your sister, your wife, your daughter!!

I’ll pick a winner on May 27, 2010. The goods will be sent to you directly from Choose You and ACS.

Because I know you are wondering – what new healthy habit am I going to adopt??? It’s a VERY COOL one and you can do it too. It is environmentally supportive, tasty, extremely healthy, out of my comfort zone, and affordable. Think you know what it is? I will talk about it in a future blog post, so stay tuned.

Well, I’m off to the land of hoes (not the garden tool variety), no clocks/windows, porn and really nice hotels first thing Saturday morning. Yep, VEGAS baby. I am planning to run a few miles on the strip because I’ve always wanted to do this. I might do it in the nude because:

• What happens in Vegas…(if one more person says this to me, I’ll kick them in the nuts)
• Anything goes in this town. At the very least I’ll sport the cheetah skirt (and braids for Steve Q).

More next week post-Vegas, if I’m still alive.

*These gift bags are courtesy of  the American Cancer Society. I paid nothin’ for them.

Get Off the Pot

We hear it everyday. Almost so much so that it's become cliche. We disregard the the true meaning of the words:

Live each day as if it were your last

Live life to the fullest, because you never know what tomorrow may bring

Today I am stealing a link off of Steve Q's blog because the story of endurance athlete Cynthia Brochman is amazing, sad and inspiring all at once.

Just over a year ago on December 17, 2008, Cynthia (age 44) was diagnosed with cancer. She died two days ago. She was the fittest of the fittest, running a 3:01 marathon, a 1:21 half, a 37 minute 10K. Her story, however, stretches far beyond physical health. Her drive to excel, to be fast and to live on was and is courageous both in life and death.

I have never met Cynthia. In fact I had never heard of her until today. Yet, in reading her story I had this flash, this instantaneous realization, that there is no reason that couldn't be me (except for the 3:01 marathon part) or any of us. We assume we will watch our kids grow, see them get married, travel the world, hold our grand babies, run that marathon, retire to the islands, write that novel. Never assume anything.

You can read an interview with her from May 2009 for yourself:

http://runningminnesota.blogspot.com/2009/05/cynthia-brochman.html

What, if anything, are you doing to make your life exactly as you want it right now? Shit or get off the pot because the pot might not always be there. Or at the very least stop making excuses for your life not being what you want it to be and make the life you want happen. This means being selective about who you spend your time with, how you talk to the people you love, what the minutes of your day are spent doing, and where you put your mental, physical and spiritual energies. Be careful about your choices. Make each one count. I'm going to try to.