The Walk of the Year

We did it Timberly...Woot Woot !!  The walk is over and I am relieved. Its like this big weight lifted of our shoulders whenever we finish it.This year there just seemed to be much more pressure put on Kim and I for some reason. I am not sure is we put it on ourselves or if it was real or not. It felt real. I felt it more than anyone. Everyone else was like ...no big deal....I will worry about things the day of the walk and not a moment before...whereas I was like...OMG We haven't even planned for this and that...and probably causing all the stress for everyone else in the group. But oh well...Its just how I roll. I worry about the details. And having said that...I learned alot this year to apply to the next.
And I know that Kim , Taylor and I did our best...so what more can you do?

Kim , Taylor and I

We had been watching the weather a week prior and new we had a pretty good chance of rain the day of Timbers Walk. But what we weren't planning on is the 48 degree temperature and the high winds to boot. So if you haven't figured it out yet...It was miserable outside on this day. Putting up the tents that morning in the rain and the wind was nothing but freezing wind and cold rain. We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends who came out to help setup everything. Otherwise...I'm not sure if we would have a walk if it weren't for them. We certainly could not do it alone that's for sure.
But we managed to get set up as people started arriving around 11:30am. We had a dilemma with the tents because the pavilion was set up for the music and one tent was set up away from the pavilion and of course... had I of listened to Kim who had suggested keeping all the tents together around the Pavilion....we could have had more people covered underneath the tents. OK...so here's what I learned..... At least entertain the idea when your wife suggest something.

Some of the Walkers

Walkers

The Clowns didnt stay long because there wasnt many kids

Our Bracelets

Our Hoodies

So with it being so miserable outside alot of people did not come....but the true blues...as Kim and I call them...all came out and had a wonderful time. The true Blues are the people who Loved Timber Very much or really good friends of ours...or both. We are so Thankful for our friends....they know how to make a good time out of any situation. Mainly because they can laugh at anything. We absolutely Love our True Blues. Having said that...We actually had a pretty darn good turn out...with over 200 people showing up. Some just came and said Hi and Left, others came bought a tee shirt and Bracelet and Left. Either way we really appreciate the fact they came out on such a miserable day. And for our friends who came and walked...I hope that had a good time and at least enjoyed the Balloon launch. Which to me is my favorite part. And the best part was that it stopped raining and the wind stopped for the balloon launch.

Our Lupus Warriors

So this year we had gave away different colored beads for Lupus. White Beads for those who knew someone who has past away from Lupus. Blue if you know someone with Lupus. Orange if you HAVE Lupus. Right before the Balloon Launch I had ask everyone wearing the Orange beads to come down to the front. I introduce them to the Crowd as "Our Lupus Warriors"  and as I gave a short speech about the battle they fight everyday....the music kicked in and as I counted to three...We released the balloons.It was a beautiful sight to see.  All I saw were people crying and I had a some tears I was trying  holding back but couldn't do it fully.

An Emotional Moment

I went and gave a hug to all the Warriors. And they were all crying...every single one of them. To Me...That was Priceless....because I know how much that meant to them. It was not about being the center of attention....to them...it was about being understood. And That .,...is exactly why we do the walk every year. If Nothing else went right that day...that alone made it a success.





After the Balloon launch, Kim and I were given a wonderful Honor. The Director of the Lupus Alliance bestowed upon us a Lifetime membership with the Alliance. They gave us a Plaque, a very cool sweater and a Hat. We were very honored and thought that was a very nice gesture on the part of Lupus Alliance.

We were honored

Hugs for everyone

The walk itself was just cold...Ok I must admit...I didn't walk because my feet were freezing by then...but I went the opposite way and met up with everyone and greeted them at the finish line. I think it is important to thank each and every one for walking. Next year I hope to have an actual finish line for them to cross...I think that would be cool. If we can just improve  a little something each year we should have a Wonderful event. I have always said this and I mean it whole heartily....Its not about the money we raise....Its about raising awareness so people...like employers, friends and Family of someone with Lupus...Understands what Lupus does to a their body and why we call them Warriors.

Me and My Friends and new sponsors from Entech Staffing Solutions

A couple random thoughts of an Ianstein : )

I thought I would put just a couple of my thoughts down because so much has happened in the last couple weeks,,,and as always...I have a opinion on them all. :)

So many of you might have saw clips of the Royal Spectacle Wedding. I for one just don't get why its such a big deal. The amount of money the world spends on this wedding, in both preparation and execution....they could cure World Hunger....or end homelessness in England,I don't know but I'm sure they could do something more worthwhile. I am not a frugal person by no means...nor am I against splurging every now and then.So when I see such a waste I cant help but throw up when I see it, because it just makes me sick. However, I would like to go on record as saying that the princess is a stone cold fox...I mean she is as beautiful as a rose.

So we killed Bin Laden. I am not happy about that. I would have much rather had seen him captured alive. And I am pretty sure that we could have done that had we wanted to. So why didn't we? Was it all for political reasons? Wouldn't it have been nice to have lined up all the people who were directly effected by 9-11 and let them walk by him one by one and give him a wedgie or something? (Yeah I know that he wouldn't be standing after the first person...but you know what I mean.) It just seems like he could have played a more strategic role for us if he was still alive and behind bars. Don't get me wrong...I am not losing any sleep over his death...nor am I sad that a very bad man is gone...I just cant bring myself to rejoice in the fact that we killed someone. It doesn't seem morally right....and like I said..I don't think it was the right move that we could have made. And... I personally don't think that this changes anything on the war on terror. There are plenty of bad men that Hate America and will gladly step up and kill every one of us.

So I am really busy getting Timbers Lupus Walk ready, So my next blog will be about the Lupus walk, and I will  hopefully have pictures to go along with it. I have this week off so I don't stress out about all the stuff that needs to happen and the little time I would have had to get it all done Woot Woot !!  I Love not working.  Until next time....

Peace Out!!

 

Take me out to the Ball Game

Its a Good thing that I am not a Baseball Fanatic. I would weigh 300 hundred pounds in a matter of a few games. It seems like every game I go to, I eat at least one thing from every food vendor that is there. Yesterday was no exception, I had a kielbasa dog, Italian Sausage, roasted almonds, pretzel/w/ cheese  and three beers. And I could have probably went for a few other things but I refrained from it for the sake of embarrassing myself totally. It just seems like everything tastes better and smells better at the ball game.

A good friend gave me four tickets to the Tigers vs White Sox game so my wife, daughter and one of her friends and myself went to see it. Cathy, my good friend who gave me the tickets, told me that they were great seats and we would enjoy it alot. And that was a hugh understatement. The seats were right behind the Tigers dugout and we could see the faces of the players as they went down into the dugout. My wife said we were so close that we could smell their B.O. ...Ok very funny,but a bit of an exaggeration besides....I really couldn't smell anything but food.  :)
But we were so close that I saw a pimple on Bat Boys forhead. Nuff said !!

The day started with a  trip to the Somerset Mall for some Lush products that my wife and daughter are obsessed with. Apparently me asking them to come with me to the game wasn't enough for them, I had to also buy them stuff too. We then went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant and headed to the game. Once we parked (which was included in the gift  package from Cathy ...Thanks  Cathy), all we had to do was walk across the street to the gate. I mean,  it was almost like valet parking only I didn't have to tip anyone, It was that close. And the ease we had getting in and out was amazing.  My Daughter got her picture taken with Paws, and I sat on top of the tigers dugout and got my picture taken after the game. I had planned on posting that picture but when I looked at at it...it looked like I had either  already eaten one of everything on the menu or someone left a Buddah Statue sitting on top of the Tigers dugout...so...No...you wont be seeing that picture anytime soon.  :)

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I had a foul ball come within 10 feet from me and I now know why fan interference happens all the time. Its like you just wanna push everyone out of the way to get at the ball. If I had a go go gadget arm at the time it would have been perfect. But instead I just kinda of leaned into the person sitting next to me and he looked at me like..."Really dude? That ball was not even close to you " So I smiled and told him it was my first game and he understood and laughed.

 The girls were ready to leave at the end of the 7th inning but I made them stay until it was over. I wanted the whole expierence and I didnt care if the Tigers were winning 8-0 or not. I even had Miguel Cabrera throw a ball to the fan standing in front of me after the game as he was heading back into the dugout. . (And yes.... I thought about pushing him out of the way for  that one too . )  There was only one thing that I wished I could have witnessed...and that was a Home Run. They scored  9 runs but no home runs. Home Run or not, my expierence on a scale from one to ten......was an eleven.  This was a near perfect day...cold beer, being with people you love while watching Americas favorite pastime, Nope.... doesnt get much better than that. Well.... ok it would be better if I could eat and drink all that stuff and not look like a mini-Buddah. :)

The" P" Man

Ok...when I was young I was never pressured by my parents to brush my teeth let alone floss them. Dental hygiene were foreign words around my house. I do remember starting to go to the dentist when I was like 12 or something, but the importance put on our teeth just wasn't there overall. So its a little ironic that my wife is a dental hygienist. Now she is the one who drills me about proper dental hygiene and I am pretty sure that she has made up for all the lessons I missed as a kid.

We all know that hygienist always preach to us every time we get our teeth cleaned about flossing. "You really need to floss at least twice a day" they always say. And I usually respond..."I know... I know" as they look back at me with a  smirk and I can read what they are thinking. There thinking
 "OK butt head...cant say I didn't tell ya"
 Yeah, you know the look...cause they all do it. :)

But seriously, its THEE most important part of our hygiene advice we could follow. I think as parents we always tell our kids about how important it is to brush, brush, brush. And really we should be telling them that if they don't floss daily...they will look like a gummy bear when they get older.

I say all this because the other day I had my first cleaning (They called it a deep root scale and planing....I call it punishment for not flossing).... done at the periodontist (I shall call him "P" man) and I must tell you...I was petrified. If it wasn't for the awesome, amazing, magnificent  prescription drugs they gave me to make me forget everything...  I probably wouldn't go back...and I'm not sure why I say that...because I really don't remember anything aside from getting numbed up by the cute hygienist and the Doctor coming in to pull a tooth, But its funny because I don't remember him actually pulling it...hmmm  I am thinking the gap I have where my premolar used to be...is evidence enough for me that he did . So now, I must go back every four months for these drugs...I mean...to get my teeth cleaned from him. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell you that the little blue pills they gave me were a great way to escape reality, and I couldn't help but wonder why I never heard of anyone selling them on the street before....I mean...can you imagine how handy drugs like that would be on holidays, or when the in-laws visit..... you could just say you had a Great time but actually not remember a minute of it.
And in case you were wondering  its not Viagra I am talking about. These little blue pills actually are meant to last for  more than four hours :)

Oh yeah..I just remembered one thing that the hygienist said to me...she said..."did anyone ever tell you that you have a small mouth?" I remember thinking really? Did you just tell me I have a little mouth...well sorry to inconvenience you but did anyone tell you that mouths come in all shapes and sizes? SO ok...That's what I though to myself...what I actually said to her was...ahh ahh ..I mean after all..I did have a bite block and some very sharp instruments in my mouth. And don't get me wrong...I am glad it was her rather than  "P" man" telling me I had a small mouth...I may have gotten a little suspicious at that point.

So overall my first experience with the "P" man  wasn't to awful. My teeth were a little sore that night but the next day they were fine. They are a little more sensitive to hot and cold now...so I may have to start ordering my drinks with no ice...or start drinking warm coffee vs Hot coffee. These are small sacrifices really,  if I can keep my teeth for the long haul.However,  I always said that I have lived my life with no regrets...but that's a lie...I really wished I would have listened the first time the hygienists told me to floss more.