April 12-13, 2008, Houston, TX, 800 (?) walkers, raised $1.9m

I cannot believe that I just completed the first walk of 2008. It has been such a busy time since my last walk in Nov. and much of that time was spent 'preparing' for this season! I have had so much support from people encouraging and helping me to reach my personal fundraising goal of $1m, including the Youtube link that my friend created to help get the word out there! I still think it is funny that I have a Youtube link! The link is on the website. At this writing I have about $67,000 to go. As far as my personal goal to reach 100 long distance walks for breast cancer, the Houston walk was number 86! I completed those 40 miles and have 14 walks to go! It really is a very personally challenging year with all the excitement that a personal challenge has with it. We left a week early because we went to the Final Four basketball tournament in San Antonio TX. That was Bob's birthday gift (from last Sept.!) from me. That turned out to be even more exciting than we anticipated because it really was a great final game. Boo-hoo UCLA didn't quite cut it and that is my alma mater, but nevertheless, it was all great. We actually were able to spend time with our friends, the Danko's, who now live in Georgetown, TX, and some time with Dr. Deb Douglas and her fiancé. I walked 9 walks with her on the 3Day a few years ago and she has written a fabulous book about survivors and long distance walks---"Foot Soldiers". Check it out. It is a great read. And we are finally done celebrating Bob's birthday, just in time for me to start celebrating mine which is coming up.

The day before the walk we were shopping in the Galleria adjacent to our hotel. Somehow we made a personal connection with a perfume saleslady, Clara, and she was so excited with what I am doing for breast cancer. She took my card and fundraising letter-----------Actually, at the airport, leaving Houston, I met a lady, Sharon, who is a survivor and also took my card and fundraising letter and she also seemed excited about what I was doing for the cause. Those little experiences are always such pluses for me and I always leave them feeling good. Occasionally, I actually get a donation from those encounters.

The weather in Houston before the walk was very humid and hot, but Sat and Sun were really quite delightful--probably in the 70's and no humidity. Yea for that! The humidity usually does me in! This was Houston's first walk. There were probably about 800 walkers and they raised $1.9. Much of the route was through some lovely residential and it is always fun walking in a new city. We walked through the medical center area of Houston. Oh my goodness. What a medical campus of so many hospitals and treatment centers. It was thrilling to even walk through there. There is a new spokesperson, Eloise, for the Avon Walks. She is a young survivor and very enthused about what she is doing. I am sure she will do a great job.

It was especially nice seeing old friends, walkers, crew, and staff. I spent time walking with Theresa from Chicago. She was with Margot, a childhood friend, and this was their first time seeing each other in many years. That was the same story for Martha and her childhood friend, Deb. None of them had seen each other, and then spent those 2 days reconnecting. Who would have thought the Avon Walk would provide that opportunity? Anyway, back to Theresa.....she has been in touch with me for several months and is doing 4 walks this year. I think that is really great because she has 2 small children at home, and for most, that is a hard act to juggle. Congratulations Theresa! I look forward to seeing you again in DC.

I spent most of Sun. with Lisa Spodak. She did all of the walks a couple of years ago and she wanted to support the new walk in Houston. She will also be participating in NY. Lisa does part of her fundraising by getting signatures of the 'famous' on teddy bears and then auctioning them off. She really does a great job of that. We had lots of laughs, though it was mostly at the airport where it took all 3 (Bob, Lisa and me) of us as a team to get bags checked, get through security, and get to the President's Room of Continental (thanks to Lisa)-----we very much behaved like we were 'dumb and dumber'; however we did finally get everything in order. And I suppose by the end of the day on Sun., a few laughs were definitely needed.

It is 11:00 am on Mon after the walk and I am pain free! That means my hip joints, my feet, my back, my muscles are fine. That is my test of how I am doing, after the walk. I am always monitoring that, and always have a concern about how much the body can be 'pushed'. So, I am a happy camper!

Thank you for coming to my journal and joining me in my ONE HUNDRED WALKS/ONE MILLION DOLLAR journey.

If you want to see more check out my Youtube link on the mission statement of my website.

 Hugs,

Barbara Jo

Team California
"I walk because I can't walk away"