More 2009 3-Day Photos....

As the 3-day 2009 comes to a close, and as we start to plan for next year, I leave you with photos of our team and other people important to us.

Amy handing out her baseball whistles to the group

Kelley going over the maps. For the record, even Kelley got the directions wrong.

Kelley and the Big Guy's Sister (my future Sister-in-law!). Yes! She walked!

Amy's notes from our crew training. Yes. We needed to make note to "Be Appropriate" when talking to and joking with fellow walkers. We promise that we were appropriate at all times. Even when we told people that if they felt ill to get out of our van and wait for the next one.

I'm kidding. We didn't say that.

OK. We did. But only once, and no one was ill. Everyone laughed.

Amy, her niece & nephews who came out to support their mom--who walked.

I asked the kids, "Did you cheer for your mom and make signs?" The oldest nephew said to me, "I made a sign for my mom that said, 'Pick up the pace, mom!' and 'You think walking 60 miles is tough? You should try making this sign.'"

Those kids are a riot. They must get it from Aunt Amy.

Our walkers--Angie, Pam, Jennifer and Diana

Tent City (well, 1/3 of Tent City).

LoAnn and Amy in their tent.

The walkers & Mullet Pig--the Route Safety Man.

Route Safety escorting the last walkers into camp.

Diana during dinner on Day 2. For the record, she wasn't feeling that great. I'm not sure what gives that feeling away....it's a mystery to me.

LoAnn, Amy, Pam, Kelley, Diana & Angie. The walkers were on their way home. We were on our way to the holding area and to find some shade. It was warm!

Amy waiting for the crew meeting to start

The Crew Girls at Closing Ceremonies (Kelley, Amy, Dynessa & LoAnn).

What makes this picture cool is we are all wearing specific 3-day shirts based on our role in the 3-day. Kelley in her sweep crew shirt, Amy in her survivor shirt, Dynessa in her safety shirt and LoAnn in her medical staff shirt.

Why we walk.

A World Free From Breast Cancer.

Thank you to everyone from the Breast Cancer 3-day! See you next year!

Would You Have This Much Energy After a 22 Mile Walk?
On Day 2, Amy and I were pulled off the route around dinner time. We were excited to not only have dinner with our team, but we also got see the last walker come into camp.

You see....the 3-day isn't a race. People think it is, but it isn't.

There is no award for being first into camp.
There is no special kudos for even being in the top 200.

However. The last person in camp? THAT is a big deal. Imagine not giving up. Saying you're walking every single one of those miles that day. Through heat. Blisters. Sore muscles, knees and hips.

To be the last one in? That's a pretty big deal. Here's a picture of the last walkers (the flag says, One Step Closer):

Now, check out this video I took of these two walkers coming into camp. Before you e-mail me about the sound quality and the song, here is the 4-1-1. The sound is crap. I know it. You know it. But it's not about the sound. It's about the energy in the room. Look at how PUMPED these people are after walking 22 miles on Day 2.

The song is I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas.

For the record, I thought they came down the middle of the tent (by the stage), they actually come down aisle, between the tables. So, eventually, you'll see the camera pan to the middle. Be patient. You'll see them come in. They then head off to raise the camp flag.

Again....last walker in camp = a major celebration.
And an escort by 3/4 of the Safety Crew.

Who wouldn't want that?!?!

All I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned While Crewing.....
This post may be long, but it definitely sums up my experience during the 2009 Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-day while working on the Sweep Crew.

So. You thought that all you ever needed to know you learned in kindergarten? Not so fast. I may have learned to "flush" or "look both ways when I cross the street" way back then, but I can easily say that all I ever needed to know, I learned while crewing the Breast Cancer 3-day.

Rain doesn't dampen any spirits: It rained. A lot. In fact, it poured. But the energy was amazing. However, it is important to wear a rain jacket or poncho. A hoody sweatshirt isn't a good alternative for a rain coat (as Amy and I found out). Both years doing this walk, I've been fooled by the 3-day forecast. Even my friend, Sven Sungaard--meteorologist for KARE-11, told me "rain not likely" on my facebook page. Even Sven is wrong sometimes. It's OK Sven...


Be Nice and Play Fair: Apparently they overbooked our group, so some people were told that they needed to be moved to a different crew. This caused lots of hurt feelings and rude phone calls.

Word to the wise: if you get moved to a different crew, and you call the crew captain of the group you were moved from and you are rude to them, swear at them and yell--odds are you won't ever get on that crew. Just sayin'....

If you crew with a friend, be sure to talk before you go: We were given maps the night before the event for day 1. Since we were going to be driving around Minneapolis and St Paul, and taking side streets and residential streets, we needed to know how to get from A to B to C and beyond. When Amy was handed the map she said to me, "Is this when I tell you that I can't read a map?"

Sometimes you just have to let go: I will admit I was a nervous wreck for the first 2 days of the crew for two reasons: getting lost and vomit. Random, I know.

We got lost. A lot. In fact, we are still not sure how in the world to get from downtown Minneapolis on Washington Ave. to Pit stop 4 in St Paul on Summit Ave (in our defense: the maps were not that great.). We worked with our crew captain after 3 tries and were moved to a new area. We dealt with it and moved on.

And the vomit? Thankfully that did not happen. whew. But....it might next year. Or the year after. I guess I'll just have to deal with it and pray to God that I don't get any on me. Or freak out while driving.

Just because you're not walking doesn't mean that you won't have any physical or emotional involvement: Driving a van is tough on your body. Sure, I had air conditioning. Sure, I had a cold Diet Coke when I needed it. Sure, I had some good snacks to munch on along the way. Of course we had an awesome CD Mix to listen too. But honestly, my back was killing me each and every day. My arms were sore from gripping the steering wheel, and I got a nice sun kissed glow on my left side from the driver side door.

I also got to meet walkers who were upset that they were riding in the van. Who felt like a failure because they had to ride to the next pit stop or back to camp. I met walkers who were survivors, who were walking in memory of someone, and who were doing what they could to raise money to cure this disease.

It's draining. But it's also very inspiring.

Sometimes you have to punt: On day 1, we were told that in our van was a box with all the necessary materials we would need for our van. Included in this was a flashing light to put on our van as a caution light for slow driving.


It didn't really work. We tried our best to make it work, but it didn't. Upon unplugging it from the cigarette lighter, Amy pulled all the wires out from the plug. Now it really didn't work! Here's proof:



So, we drove with our hazard lights. Same difference.

Sometimes the map is wrong. Dead wrong. We still have yet to discover how to make it to Pit Stop #4 from lunch on day 1. Shout out to the map makers--please don't cover up the street names with information boxes that say "PIT STOP #4". Also, please don't mark out a route on the map where no street exists.

Amy may have had issues reading the map, but it didn't help when the map was wrong.

Also, it doesn't help when you leave the map on the hood of the car at a pit stop and drive away. That isn't going to get you from point A to point B. Well, even with the map we couldn't get from point A to point B. But you get what I mean.

Find your inner freshman: Remember when you were a freshman in college and you would stay up late, and get up early for that 8:00 chem class?

OK. You caught me. I rarely made it to my 8:00 chem class.

On the 3-day, you need to find your "inner freshman". Not only for late nights and early mornings, but to learn how to meet people all over again. You listen. You share. You laugh. You cry. You crave pizza when they're serving chicken and rice at the dining tent. It's very much like freshman year.

Then again, our team was top heavy with UND people. Which only makes sense, because UND rocks.

There is no "i" in Team: Our team was great. While we may not have talked to every single person on the team, every day.....we still had great communication with one another. The best was when Wendy and Jenni--veteran sweep members--who called to check in on us on Day 3. We zoomed past them in the afternoon as they were hanging out at a trail entrance for the walkers to emerge (trails = no sweep access. So, we wait at the trail exit just to make sure we are available for a ride when someone needs it). We honked the horn. They waived. We were headed to clean out our van and turn it in.

For once, I knew exactly where I was and where I needed to be. Shocker. I know.

Three minutes later, our Nextel beeped. It was Jenni. "Girls, just checkin' in to make sure you aren't lost!" (because again....we got lost all weekend). We replied, "Ironically....no! We're good!"

Shout out to our team for a great weekend full of encouragement. Holla!

Find your inner creativity when it comes to your van theme: We had some awesome van themes. These girls, Alyssa and Kenya, did a Marti Gras theme (get it? Marti Gras....showing "the girls" for beads....) and look at how far they took it....

Doesn't their face paint ROCK?!? They did great a job with their van theme. They were newbies just like us.

Also, if you go with a baseball theme, it's best to wear a jersey for the home team. We wore Boston jersey's on Day 1 and got nothing but crap. Day 2 & 3 we wore the Twins. Lesson learned. Here's the proof:

Van treats make walkers happy. Van treats also become your main food source: Amy and I had a treat bucket in our van full of tootsie rolls and Bob's peppermints. While we shared with the walkers, I swear to you I think I ate my weight in those Bob's mints.

It also helps to hand out some fun 3-day swag: buttons, beads, etc.

Amy, as a reminder: SWAG = Stuff We All Get.

Confession is good for the soul: When your crew captain gives you public kudos for doing a good job, it probably isn't a good idea to break the rules later in the day.

We ended up picking up two walkers and we were taking them to what we thought was Pit Stop 3. Nope. It was a Grab-n-go. (we only drop off at Pits stops, lunch and camp. Grab-n-go's are not official drop points). It was also a Grab-n-go that we couldn't access.

So.....not wanting to leave our assigned route--we dropped them off about a mile from lunch. On the road. When no one was looking.

Or so we thought.

Seems as though an official 3-day Full Time Staff member was behind us and witnessed the whole event. WHOOPS!

We called our crew captain and said, "We need to talk to you...." and spilled the beans later in the day. She told us that it was OK and she appreciated us telling her.

Is this the time that I also confess that I ran a stop sign around Gold Medal Park?

Oh...and that I did an illegal u-turn on a red light?

All in all, our crew experience was great. I have decided that I will be back again next year and hope to have as much fun as I did this year.

3-Day 2009. One word: AWESOME!
The Twin Cities 3-day is done.


We walked.
We crewed.
We slept in tents.
We did our business in a porta-potty.
We were up early.
We were in bed by 9 p.m..


And we'll do it all over again.


In the next few days I'll share stories and photos. But I wanted to leave you with this photo from our weekend.



This is Becky (in the black). Becky is a breast cancer survivor, but it has come back. This time in her liver and her lungs.


While you may see a bald head, I see a girl who smiled all weekend.
While you may think "how sad", I think "strong" and "beautiful" and "funny".
While you see someone who is tired, I see someone who is kicking cancer's ass.


To top it off, Becky got one hell of a pimped out tent at camp. Why? Because she alone raised over $14,000. Want the pimped out, mack-daddy tent with a cot, cushy mattress, camp chairs and room to actually spread out? All you need to do is be the top fundraiser for your city and that luxury suite is all yours!


Oh. Becky also has one hell of a contagious spirit!


We met Becky this weekend after she rode in our van to get to the next pit stop. Upon discovering our secret Diet Coke stash (shhhh....), Amy and I became fast 3-day friends with Becky. We plan to stay in touch with her and we will see her back next year.


I told Becky that my 3-day was amazing this year because I got to meet her.
She told me, "My 3-day was amazing because I got to meet you and Amy."


That, my friends, is worth every blister, every early morning, every wrong turn (oh. there were many. trust me), and every mile walked and every dollar raised for research.

A Pre-Walk Update...
So, my plan was to do a little update this evening of the Crew Day events for the Breast Cancer 3-day. However, realizing that I didn't want to leave my computer in the car all weekend--I'm probably not going to be able to do that.

Therefore....let's pretend that I've shared with you lots of photos. Including:

Kelley freaking out over the vomit clean up kit
Amy laughing at Kelley over the vomit clean up kit
Dynessa looking strong and buff on her bike
LoAnn doing all sorts of blister care & other medical things
Our awesome baseball themed van

And the list will go on....and on.

I'll work on a post Sunday evening when I return for Monday morning.

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes! It means a lot to us.

(Kinda, Sorta) Wordless Wednesday....

In two days, I'll be doing this again....

Probably waiving this out a van window (maybe not, I'm driving)....

I'll probably be full of this kind of sassy-pants-attitude....

Because last year, people said I couldn't do it. I'd never make it. I'm crazy to do it (one of which was my ex boyfriend, which would explain why we aren't together anymore. Ahem.)....

But we do it for her.

Tomorrow is crew day for the Breast Cancer 3-day. Friday the walk begins, ending Sunday.

We do this for Amy. We believe that without money raised for research and education, Amy wouldn't have had the excellent treatment and care that she did to beat cancer.

We'll take lots of photos. And I'm sure we'll have lots of stories. One I am sure will involve me "losing" Amy's whistle that she plans to use on the route to get walkers attention. But you didn't hear that from me!

More to come on Thursday!

24 for Winston...

Are you a fan of the HGTV Design Star show?

Can I share a little secret with you....I never watch it.

And last season?

Never watched it until the last episode.

The winner?

Yeah. I know her.

Like really know her. Not one of these, she's a friend of a friend who went to this place, and ordered a drink and she was in front her in line type things. We worked together in 1998 up at camp and I enjoyed every conversation with her each and every day.

Imagine flipping channels last summer and seeing an add for the HGTV Design Star and I shrieked out loud and said, "HOLY &$@*! That's Jen from camp!!"

Anyway, Jen and her husband, Chris (also a camp person) had their first child in March. His name is Winston. He was born with a condition called Cystic Hygroma. Basically, for lack of a better word, "messed up" the lymph nodes in his face and neck. Jen and Chris thought that when he was born, it would be a simple procedure and he'd be fine. Little did they know that this was not the case. At all.

As with any family with a special needs child, the need is often greater than anticipated.

That is why another camp friend, Fletch, has decided to run for 24 hours straight.

Yes. Run.

For 24 hours in a row.

I thought walking 60 miles was tough.

But running for 24 hours? That's a new kind of endurance that I don't know if I want to take on!

If you're interested in Jen & Chris' story, and to meet Winston, you can click over to their blog:

http://24forwinston.blogspot.com/

This isn't a call for donations.

This isn't a call for anything other than spreading the word about awareness and the amazing thing that Fletch is doing for his friends.

I'm lucky to know these people!

Big Guy Conversation #426...
Last night I walk past the Big Guy's Man Cave and he says the following....

BG: Ummmm....I haven't told you about my dry skin issues because you told me that you use Tide with Febreeze and it doesn't bother my skin. So for 4 years, you haven't known about it.

Me: looking in to see that he's reading my blog Uh huh. Well, I still think you were making it up.

BG: No. Not at all.

Me: OK

BG: And why did you put it on the blog

Me: Because I could. You realize, that disputing this just makes for more blog material.

BG: Great.

Sorry babe. That's what you get when you got me.

Edited to add:  This has been a popular post on pinterest!  Thanks for stopping by to read how I make my own laundry soap.  I thought I'd share some questions I am getting.


1.  Does this work in HE Machines?  Yes.  My mom uses an HE machine and it works wonderfully. 
2.  Is it the actual soap for laundry or is it an additive?  I guess it could be used both ways.  But we use it as our actual soap.  I use approximately 2 Tablespoons for our loads.
3.  Does any soap work?  I caution you on this.  My mother uses soap from the dollar store with no problem--but the clothes come out smelling like "little old lady who went too heavy on the perfume."  I like Fels Naptha best.  
4.  Does it dissolve well?  Yes!  As long as you grate the soap fine.  I now use a microplane, rather than the grater shown below.  It also makes a lot more soap!
5.  Does it get out stains?  Honestly, I have a habit of pre-treating stains with a stain stick.  So, my advice is to pre-treat like you normally would.


Good luck!  It works!  Promise!


Just Call me Martha....

I have decided to participate in the "Works for Me Wednesday" blog carnival over at We Are THAT Family. Very cute blog and very fun to read. You must stop over and say hi. You'll be so glad that you did.

My WFMW idea....Cheap Laundry Soap.

That you make from scratch.

For about $7.

With supplies that will last you MONTHS (in a household of about 4 people. If you're the Duggar or Bates family with 18 kids each, probably not so much).

Seriously!!

Just to affirm your eyebrow raising gesture, the Big Guy said this weekend, "Are you sure it works?" and when I said, "Well, I found it on Rebecca Jo's blog" he cut me off and said, "Well, of course. If it's on the interweb it must be true."

Little did he know that Rebecca Jo over at Knit by God's Hand had already done the road testing for me. HELLO.....I do my research. Thankyouverymuch.

The Cast of Characters....

1 bar of soap: I suggest something natural. Ivory works too. I used a goats milk soap that I won during our breast cancer online silent auction.

**Edited to Add:  I've been making this since 2008, and have now only use Fels Naptha soap.  I find this at my grocery store.  I've had zero luck finding it at Target or Wal-Mart. 

1/2 cup of Borax: You've seen it in the laundry aisle. The 20 mule team stuff.

1/2 cup of Washing Soda: Not baking soda. You can find this on the laundry aisle too. However, I did not have any luck at Target or Wal-Mart. I actually found this at the grocery.

1/4 cup of Oxy Clean (optional & not pictured): Gives it a little extra boost. Sort of like caffeine in your coffee.

DIRECTIONSGrate the soap on a cheese grater. I used the one in our cupboard and it washed up just fine.

**Edited to Add:  I have now purchased a microplane (used for zesting fruit or for finely shredded cheese).  I have found that the microplane works MUCH BETTER for grating soap and it breaks it up into very fine pieces.  I've found that the larger pieces (seen below) work fine, but can sometimes not disolve all the way.

Of course, once you're done it will look like a pile of shredded cheese. 

I found that I wanted my shreds to be more crumbly, so I ran my fingers through them to break them up a bit. My concern was that I would have more soap than other ingredients when I scooped it out. Breaking it up has helped.

Add soap to a bowl. Mix in borax, washing soda and oxy clean.

When using this in your washer, use 1 tablespoon for normal sized and normally dirty loads.

Yes. Use 1 tablespoon. That's it!

If you have a really large load or a really, really dirty load, you can use 2 tablespoons. The small scoop in our bucket is from the oxy clean. One little scoop equals 2 tablespoons, so I use anywhere from 1/2 a scoop to a whole scoop. You can use this in High Efficiency washers. In fact, according to Ms. Rebecca--it will actually help to clean your washer from deposits and such. WAY COOL.

The Verdict

So far, so good!

I am thrilled with the outcome. I did 6 loads of laundry, including our queen sized comforter, sheets, very dirty socks, etc. They all came out clean and smelling fresh. Keep in mind that this will not be overly "perfumed". Very much a "soap and water clean" smell.

The Big Guy was concerned because he said he has sensitive skin (I think he's pulling my leg because he didn't believe it would work. After 4 years he tells me this now?). I washed up some of his clothes and he said that he hasn't had an issue.

Now....get on over to We are THAT Family for more Works for my Wednesday tips, tricks and all kinds of other great stuff!

She at the Church, She Getta Mar-eed....
Yesterday during my lunch, I was catching up on the news and saw that John Hughes died of a heart attack.

A little bit of my teenage years came to a crashing halt.

Growing up as a pre-teen and teenager through the 80's, like many, I had movies on VHS tapes. Movies that were not copied with permission. Movies that friends made by setting the VCR to record from HBO. We would then connect two VCR's together and would tape from one to another.

Having a movie on VHS was something that, in my town, put you a little bit higher on the social ladder. We had all the great ones--including Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Ferris Bullers Day Off and many more.

I see you shaking your head in agreement. Those movies shaped many a teenager.

It also confirmed that I had a major crush on Anthony Michael Hall, braces and all.

When I hit college and was part of a student government group who was working on a bid to host a 7 state regional conference at our university (we won, by the way), it was during that bid process that I met some of my closest friends to this day.

Two of which are my friends Amy & Heather.

When we worked on this conference, we ended up watching 16 Candles quite frequently. When two of our conference friends, Patrick & Brenda got engaged, we quoted the line, "She at the church. She getta mar-eed!"

When Heather got married, we said it.
When Amy got married, we said it.
And when I get married, we'll probably say it (girls...you better say it...)

So, in honor of John Hughes passing, and to give a shout out to my good friends from MACURH 95, I found this on You Tube.





Rest in Peace, John Hughes. Thanks for giving us such great memories. And a movie quote that will connect my friend and I forever.

EDITED TO ADD: You have to check out this post that was sent to me today. AMAZING! Click here to read it.

Facebook Survey, ala Andi & Meghan....
My dear friends, Andi and Meghan, both tagged me for a little Facebook survey.


Here's a picture of Andi when she worked at camp with me. It was some camp event, I'm sure. No, I don't have any idea why the guy in the front is sticking out his tongue. It's camp. It's a dance. People at camp get goofy at dances. Go figure.....





Isn't she cute?


She's married to an awesome husband and she can spot a bird of prey from miles away. It is not unusual to be riding in the car and have her scream, "RED TAILED HAWK!!!" and point out the window at some tiny speck in the sky.


Meghan is my friend from grad school who is American, but lives in England. She is married to another wonderful man, and is the mommy of 2 1/2 year old twins. Here's a photo of Meghan. She'll kill me for posting this. Just remember that this is circa 1996.

Meghan is notorious for good stories and odd things happening to her. ALL. THE. TIME. I'm not kidding. But I do know this, she is one hell of a good mama and those little cuties probably have the most darling British accents. I also cannot wait for her to move back to the states and have been trying to convince the shopper that she is that Minneapolis is perfect (hello? Mall of America!)

Anyway, here is the survey they asked me to complete. Lacking some blog creativity, I'm all about adding it to the blog. I'm taking a lesson from dear Amy Beth (you should check out her blog....it's lovely!)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30 a.m.

2. How do you like your steak? I don't eat beef.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince

4. What is your favorite TV show? Big Bang Theory.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Up north, in a cabin on a lake.

6. What did you have for breakfast? English muffin with laughing cow cheese & a hard boiled egg.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Pub Food (sandwiches, fries, etc)

8. What foods do you dislike? Yellow squash

9. Favorite Place to Eat? McCoys

10. Favorite dressing? Balsamic

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Alero

12. What are your favorite clothes? Yoga pants & a long sleeved T-shirt.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Down Under!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full for sure

15. Where would you want to retire? Up north, on a lake, in a cabin.

16. Favorite time of day? 4:10 p.m. (when I leave the office!)

17. Where were you born? Ft Lee, VA

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Fighting Sioux Hockey (GO SIOUX!!)

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? n/a (not tagging anyone)

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? n/a (not tagging anyone)

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? n/a (not tagging anyone)

22. Bird watcher? Nope

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Neither really anymore...morning if I have my coffee

24. Do you have any pets? Yes, Stella the cat

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? No. I'm kind of boring!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? I went back and forth--a vet or a chef.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Trips to MN to visit my grandparents

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Both

29. Are you married? Almost!

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes

31. Been in a car accident? Yes

32. Any pet peeves? Students who do not value their education or take responsibility for their actions.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Cheese and onion

34. Favorite Flower? Tulips

35. Favorite ice cream? Mint Chip

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Once

38. From whom did you get your last email? One of my 3-day walkers

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Target

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Not that I know of....

41. Like your job? ABSOLUTELY!!

42. Broccoli? Sure...

43. What was your favorite vacation? Any road trip in college...

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? the Big Guy

45. What are you listening to right now? the copier copying

46. What is your favorite color? Purple

47. How many tattoos do you have? 2 (dolphin and a butterfly)

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? n/a (not tagging anyone)

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 7:38 p.m.

50. Coffee Drinker? can't start my day without it. I love Caribou. Ummmm....

There you have it. 50 Random things about me. It is OK to admit that your life is now complete.

My Love-Hate Relationship with Facebook....

My name is Kelley. I'm 30 something years old. I have an ongoing affair with facebook.

It's true.

Two years ago, my friend Ed, who lives in Ireland (here's his picture if you want to see who he is. Yes, ladies. He's single.)....

...said to me, "Kel, you need to get on facebook. If you want to stay in touch with camp people, it's the only way." This was code for: if you want to stay in touch with our friend, Chris (who can't e-mail worth anything), you better get on facebook.

Here's a picture of my friend Chris, from New Zealand. Sorry ladies. He's taken. And for the record, thank goodness he now has a girlfriend--because she has definately had some influence (thank you Rebecca....).

So. I caved.

I also felt silly. Why would I...a then young 30 something, want to be on a site for college kids.

But I was instantly hooked. I could leave notes, and add photos, and all sorts of things. I could stay connected--and I loved staying connected.

As time has gone on, however, I find that my relationship with facebook goes back and forth. Some days, it gives me everything I need. Other days, I could care less what it has to share with me. I've realized that there are things I like and things I don't like.

Here's my list. Like you're surprised that I've made a list? Sheesh....

(feel free to play along)

LIKES

• Photos: I love, love, love the pics.
• Status Updates: Some of my friends are REALLY funny
• Super funny facebook groups that my friends create

DISLIKES

• Anything that you have to "gather" things. This applies to (but not limited to): Lil' Green Patch, Mafia Wars, Farmville, Passing a drink, etc. It clogs up my homepage. And no. I'm not joining your team, or sending you flowers, poker chips or whatever you need.
• Relationship changes. While I know every single person on my facebook page, I don't always feel right saying, "What happened?" when your status suddenly changes from married to it's complicated or worse....nothing at all. It also makes me wonder if we'll now start sending sympathy notes via facebook wall posts rather than making a call or sending a card & flowers!
• People who steal my photos and claim them as their own (Kevin Hulbert....).
• When people tag my photos with people who I don't want to be tagged. Case in point: my old boss. I scanned a residence life photo of all the hall directors & full time staff. I had 5 different people--2 of which I didn't even know--tag our director of housing. I removed that tag every single time. The reason? I just do not get along with her. I do not want her tagged in my photo. My photo. My rules. Thank you.

So, yes, while I don't like these particular things about facebook, I will say this....without facebook, I wouldn't have been able to reconnect with:

For the record, I copied most of these photos from other people's facebook pages (take that Kevin Hulbert...)