Team Tiara

There’s nothing like a letter from a loved one to inspire you to keep going. If you’d like to write a letter to a 3-Day walker, it will be waiting in Camp at the end of the first day. 

Send letters to:
Breast Cancer 3-Day Post Office
ATTN: INSERT NAME OF PARTICIPANT
P.O. Box 126496
Benbrook, TX 76126

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than October 27th in order to ensure delivery. Any mail that is not retrieved by the participant by November 20th will be destroyed.

Check out that frog. Isn’t she cute?? Even better — she represents a HUGE fundraising opportunity for the Breast Cancer 3-Day! My “Money Guy,” THE Anthony Patton has worked his magic again this year and convinced Mass Mutual to give us $5000 for the CURE!

But…. We have to earn it!

Anthony is coming to Houston on Monday, October 26, to present the Pearls of Wisdom program about Financial Education. He did this for us last year, and it was great! It’s primarily geared toward women, but men are welcome too.

I promise this isn’t a high-pressure thing. We just need you to come and bring your friends. We’ll have door prizes. AND we’ll be serving dessert!

I have to tell you…. This guy knows his stuff.

Mass Mutual will donate $20 to Team Tiara for EVERYONE who is here!

Please come!

Monday, October 26
7:30 p.m.

15802 Applerock Trail
Cypress 77433

I found this on the message boards a couple of years ago.  I thought ya’ll would appreciate it — especially since this is the best-trained team we’ve ever had.  I know y’all have literally worn out the trails this year.  I’m so proud of you!!!

OK. It’s crunch time.
This is the part of training where you have to make decisions and not all of them are fun.
As you sit on the edge of your bed at the crack of dawn, the weight of your obligations lands on you like a boulder.
Your house has dust bunnies and there’s a basket of unfolded underwear in the laundry room that’s nearly empty because no one could find clean underwear in their dressers this week Your garden needs weeding. Your car is sprinkled with protein bar wrappers and empty sports bottles. Your dog growls at you like you’re a stranger.
Your boss can’t wait until you inevitably give up this little whim so he can have his dedicated employee back who was never preoccupied and always wore high heels.
Your friends who are not in the 3Day are beginning to look at you differently. They feel a little left out. Girls night out happened last week without you.
Your husband doesn’t understand why you’re doing all of this. All he understands is that he just wants you home-in body AND mind.
Your children don’t understand. All they know is that they hate the color pink and just want their mom back.
And then there’s your body. You can barely recover from walking one day to do it all over again the next day. You wake up achy and stiff. You go to bed achy and stiff. Your suntan is an outline of a sports bra and shorts. It’s a nice surprise when you don’t have hat head. Your feet are sporting blisters, calluses and corns in places you’ve never had them. You’ve lost another toenail.
You’re weary.
You’re exhausted.
You’re miserable.
Why on earth are you putting yourself through this?
Like a warm sunbeam, you suddenly realize that you have a choice. You can make this all go away. You have the power to make your husband happy, be a mommy again, get a raise, go Martha Stewart on your house, have a margherita with the girls, sleep in and say goodbye to blisters forever.
You take a minute think about it – you can have a normal life again.
But then it dawns on you.
So what if the kids’ underwear didn’t get folded and put away. It could be worse. They could all be wearing dirty underwear. No one has gotten sick because you didn’t wash your kitchen floor this week. And you’ll still be able to harvest a garden. That’s why God made zucchini.
Your boss – he’ll never get it. But you do, and that damn job can just wait another few weeks.
Your friends don’t understand, but you do. If they were being very honest, they might even confess they’re a little in awe of you. Well, next year they can just get off their pampered little tushies and for once in their life make a commitment to something bigger than themselves
Your husband may not understand, but you do. You understand that by some wondrous quirk of genetics and fate, he still has you around to be missed. And to grow old with.
Your children don’t understand, but you do. You don’t want them to have to think about mommies who go away because they’re sick and then don’t get to come home. In a few weeks you’ll be back and you will hug them like you’ll never let go.
And then it hits you – you could be sitting on the edge of your bed dreading yet another bout of chemo and wondering if you can make it all the way home this time before you throw up.
So maybe you won’t quit today. In a few weeks this will be all over.
And if you’re lucky, things won’t ever be the same again.
Because you will have turned your blisters into dollars for research and medical breakthroughs and mammograms for the poor.
Because someday your children will remember all this and know they can change the world no matter how big the challenge.
Because someone will look at the pink wristband you gave them and write out another check.
Because the friends you’ve made in training and the friends you meet on the walk will stay with you forever.
Because a woman you don’t even know trusts you to walk for her because she can’t.
So maybe you’ll face the challenge of fitting it all in and getting it all done for one more day.
Maybe you’ll walk the eight miles you’d planned once the kids are in bed tonight and not think about the dishes in the sink
Maybe you’ll ignore your feet and ignore your sunburn and ignore your sore hips.
Maybe you’ll remember how fortunate you are to be able to get up off the edge of the bed and make a difference.

Lori Keener
Cleveland, Ohio
Hot Mamas I.B.T.P.
June 2007

1. You have Boobies.
2. You love someone who has Boobies.
3. It’s easier than Chemo.
4. Suzi Bruin will carry your luggage.
5. We’ll raise millions of $$ for breast cancer research and education.
6. You haven’t lived until you’ve pee’d in a port-o-potty that’s draped with a garland of really big bras.
7. Pink Beard Barry.
8. You get to sleep in a pink tent.
9. Chocolate never tasted so good.
10. Imagine thousands of people cheering YOU on.
11. 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer.
12. An estimated 1,910 MEN will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 440 will die.
13. You can ride in the Boobie Mobile.
14. You have a daughter.
15. You are someone’s daughter.
16. Pink is definitely your color.
17. You get to eat snacks every three miles!
18. You haven’t lived till you’ve seen men in tutus.
19. 85% of all women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a family history of the disease.
20. For 3 days, the world is as it should be.
21. You want to make a difference.
22. You’re in great shape.
23. You wish you were in great shape.
24. You’ve heard rumors of peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwiches.
25. Real men wear pink.
26. “There’s a guy who loves Boobies!”
27. You have a wife.
28. You wish you had a wife.
29. 3000 women. 500 men. Talk about great odds!
30. You know it takes a LOT of money to fund a CURE.
31. You want to help promote awareness — self-exams are your best defense!
32. A world without breast cancer isn’t just a dream — it WILL be a reality.
33. You loved my Mom.
34. You loved YOUR Mom.
35. You know how to Fight Like a Girl.
36. Hot Pink feather boas are the way to go!
37. Free massages.
38. You know someone who’s going through chemo.
39. You’ve held a loved one’s hand while they went through chemo.
40. You’re turning 40 this year.
41. You need a good challenge.
42. You’ve never taken a shower in a converted semi truck.
43. You don’t want to be a statistic.
44. You live in the DFW area — and don’t even have to travel to the walk!
45. We’re going to be walking by your house anyway — why don’t you join us?
46. You’re one of my best friends.
47. If I, D’Lyn Biggs, am giving up a cool November weekend to do this — for the FOURTH year in a row — there’s got to be something to it!
48. You really don’t have to worry about raising the money — people want to help!
49. You don’t have to walk all 60 miles — you can always hitch a ride on a shuttle bus!
50. You’ve always wanted to know more about blister care.
51. What’s that moleskin stuff, anyway?
52. You could end up in a Nation-wide advertising campaign!
53. Body Glide is soooo smooth!
54. You could end up wearing your tentmate’s sports bra — yikes!
55. It’s a great way to test your very cold-rated sleeping bag!
56. You can learn about motor boatin’.
57. It’s a great excuse to buy new shoes.
58. Do you know 46 people who could donate $50 each? You’re there!
59. A weekend with Anthony Patton. ‘Nuf said.
60. You get to experience every possible emotion — in just three days.
61. Pink camo rocks!
62. Talk about a natural high — just watch your fundraising meter rise!
63. Eliminate breast cancer before you daughters are old enough to know what a mammogram is.

64. Boobies. Boobies. Boobies.
65. How many words can you think of for boobies??
66. Linda and her motorcycle, Grace.
67. Test your balance by trying to pee in a port-o-potty at 3:00 a.m. while trying to keep your flashlight from falling in the hole.
68. Rest. Refuel. Rehydrate. And pee.
69. 60 miles = 4500 calories burned. Cool.
70. The Tammys.
71. It’s like a free pass to be completely silly for three days.
72. You will feel like a queen. Or king. Or athlete. Or superhero.
73. Walking and talking is incredible therapy.
74. You can finally stomp your foot and have your say.
75. If walking 60 miles is crazy, why would you want to be normal???
76. Cancer Sucks.
77. You can meet my sister — the Trash Lady.
78. You can meet my other sister — the Queen of the Walker Stalkers.
79. Get “wrapped” by someone who knows what they’re doing.
80. It’s a great excuse to hit Academy or REI.
81. Suzi & I are on the cover of the Merchandise Catalog.
82. Forget the whales — save the boobies.
83. You get to yell cute things like “Check your chi-chi’s!”
84. Random people you’ve never met will let you pee in their bathrooms.
85. You can love on puppies and babies all along the way.
86. It’s a 60-mile buffet.
87. It’s 60 miles of ministry.
88. The kind of humor that only those who have been affected by breast cancer can share.
89. When is a mile really a mile?
90. Karaoke, Karaoke, Karaoke.
91. Don’t forget to lock the port-o-potty door.
92. Try finding your ONE tent in a sea of 1500 matching pink tents.
93. If your port-o-potty doesn’t have TP, you can call Suzi on your cell phone and she’ll bring you some.
94. You’ve never seen so many decorations involving boobies!
95. Save Second Base.
96. “We must! We must! We must save our busts!”
97. When you hit a wall, and think you can’t go one step further, a survivor will pass you.  She won’t have any hair.  And you’ll find out what it means to go the extra mile.
98. Isaiah 40:31.
99. My Mom will be there. She is every year. I promise.
100. It will change your life.

Registration for the 2010 DFW 3-Day is now open!  Just click here and use the discount code “Power10″ to save $35 on your registration fee!  If you want to be a crew member in 2010, I highly recommend registering ASAP.  This year’s crew positions filled up quickly!