Believe

No we did not go snowboarding today, but yes we ARE dressed for the snow. Today was our second training hike in 4 weeks to train for our Yosemite hike. We've had 2 rain-outs (even though last week turned out to be dry after all) so the coach decided that this week was a rain or shine training day. As the rain gods would have it, it was rain. Luckily the rain did not last the entire hike, but it was pouring when we arrived at 7:15 this morning, and lasted for almost half of our time on the trail. It was definitely a testament to the importance of the right type of gear. I was lucky enough to own a very waterproof snowboarding jacket and pair of boots. Stacy...not so much. Her boots kept her feet nice and dry, although the rest of her outfit was a different story. The snow jacket she bought at Wal-Mart must only be water repellent if no water touches it, and as for her pants...well let’s just say that we will be buying her a darker color and the one good thing about her jacket was its length. Poor Stacy! This was the type of day all of our parents have used as an example of how they had to hike 9 miles in the rain uphill both ways to get anywhere back in their day. It is now 2010 and we can now reply to our parents; "ME TOO"!

Each week, Stacy and I seem to meet new people from our team on the trail and this week I had an interesting conversation with a person I met. We were talking about how the training was the easy part of this whole adventure (did I mention we went 9 miles in the rain and wind over some steep hills?) and that the hard part was the fundraising. In fact, it seems like all our spare time lately has been devoted to Team in Training fundraising. We have been working hard to accumulate monetary donations, corporate sponsorships, and items that we will be selling raffle tickets for at a fundraising party we are planning. My hiking partner was a little more optimistic than I as she kept telling me to "BELIEVE". I told her that I "believe" that my hard work will pay off, but it will take a lot of effort on our part. When we got home, we chanted believe as we opened up our mail box and sure enough, there was a donation envelope inside. When we opened it, it turned out that a very special person had been collecting for us at her job. There was a generous stack of checks inside that put us at about 1/3 of our donation minimum goal! All we had to do was believe...and work hard! At this point I would like to thank each and every person who has donated to us, or plans to donate to us soon, no matter how big or small!

Here's the point. We believe that A CURE FOR CANCER WILL BE FOUND! We believe that WE WILL MAKE OUR DONATION GOAL ($8000)! We believe that WE WILL REACH THE TOP OF HALF DOME! We believe that the only way to get both of these things is through determination and hard work. Having worked in the service industry for many years, and currently as a teacher, I know that many hands make light work. If you are reading this, then you own a couple of those hands. Thank you for your support! Each donation we receive (no matter how big or small) helps us get that much closer to a cure. Thank you for your support! If you would like to help make light work of finding a cure for cancer, you can donate to Team Lost Dogs (Stacy and me) by clicking on the title of this blog; Believe!

Thank you,
Phil