After some afternoon yard work and early garden work we ran Erin to an interview for a summer camp counselor job…which we know she was brilliant and well prepared for her interview.

Then we rounded out the afternoon with another training walk – 6 miles.  Not too shabby.  Thought I would share some pictures from our walk. It was a beautiful afternoon and while it’s still a wintery landscape there are signs of spring coming everywhere!  We also found all the bluebird boxes made out of pvc pipe which was interesting.  I thought they were kind of marked to look like birch trees which made them a little funny too!  No sign of bluebirds near them yet.

The walk was good but my body feels tuckered out tonight…I think the combo of the mulch sale and the walk was a good workout today!

Hopefully we’ll get our training calendar up this week so folks can join us on our training walks! We’d love the company and appreciate the enthusiasm and support so much!

If you would like to support Erin’s walk with a donation to fight breast cancer, please follow this link: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/erinrutter

We had such a productive weekend and with the time change and nice weather Keith came home early from work on Monday so we could go for a walk. I was under the impression that we would walk two or three miles. However, due to miscommunication and maybe some snookering, we were three miles into a five mile walk before I realized what was going on. But, it ended well and left us with walking over 14 miles in 3 days.

Then last night, Keith came home early again so we could walk. This time, even on St. Patrick’s Day eve there were no shenanigans. We planned on a 2 mile walk and that was what we did. Keith thought about going an extra mile or two, but all three of us had too much work to do at home.

If you would like to support Erin’s walk with a donation to fight breast cancer, please follow this link: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/erinrutter

So today was a very full day.  Keith and our neighbor split wood all morning across the street at our neighbors house and I hauled it in a wheelbarrow for a couple hours adding to our woodstacks.  While on one hand at the end of that I felt like I must have for sure walked 10 miles and lifting logs the whole time by myself that was enough of a workout for today.  But then Keith pushed me to do the training walk and while it may have taken a little longer than I would have liked…all in all I feel really good.

And tonight we’re headed to the mall to look for an evening party dress for Erin, so more walking!  This has got to be all good for me training wise and weight loss wise!

If you would like to support my walk with a donation to fight breast cancer, please follow this link: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/pamrutter

The next picture is one of the last ones that was taken of  Bev with me. Often what has happened through my life is that I have ended up taking all the pictures and am not in any of them.  This was the last time Bev made it home to her beloved Montreal to be with her sisters, brothers and extended family.  It’s so bittersweet to see this picture because it came at the end of a long course of chemotherapy and we thought she was out of the woods with a good prognosis with a lot of life left for her to live. I’m glad I have this picture.

So my journey to the Avon walk comes from a place of love for my mom and missing her so much.  It also comes from the courage that I witnesses from my friend, Beth D. who worked with me.  She was taken from this world far to young.  And I walk for my great Aunt Jane who shouldn’t have had to die by this disease.

And I am truly walking honoring the ones that have fought breast cancer and are living fully…Lori, Karen and Tracy! And I walk hoping every nickel I raise helps my friends Mary, Shelley, Rita and Sandy fight back and be rid of forever the cancer they are dealing with.  You are all an inspiration more than you could know to your family and friends.  My love, prayers and energy is with you on every step I walk training and during the official walk and beyond.

A huge shout out to my initial supporters!  Richard – thank you for setting the bar and the pace for my financial support.  Maureen, Karen, Lauren, Danni … you created a huge excitement for me in supporting my walk.  I look forward to sharing with you my journey and knowing that you are in this with me!

If you would like to support my walk with a donation to fight breast cancer, please follow this link: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/pamrutter

~Pam

Ok so now the down side…while I did really well yesterday…today when I woke up boy was I sore.  My back hurt and just ached.  It’s about 4pm now and I feel pretty good now…if it weren’t raining I’d go for a walk.  I’m anxious to get the training materials and see what is advised because I get nervous thinking ok so I walk 26 miles but then I get up the next day and walk another 13 … am I gonna be able to do that?

So I’m looking for tips and pointers about how to get this out of shape body ready for this event.  Share what you know with me…I’m eager to listen!

If you would like to support my walk with a donation to fight breast cancer, please follow this link: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/pamrutter

In some ways thinking back to when my Mom was with us there was certainly a lot of physical pain and care taking that I now wonder how I did but there were many “gifts” that came during that time …lots of love shared by family and friends with her and me and my brothers, grace, support, moments of truth of the past, present and future.

So my decision to join my brother Wayne and do this walk 3 years after my Mom died is partly because I need to. I have some grief that I really need to work through and push to a really positive place and I think this will just be a crazy intense thing to do with Wayne and for myself and in honor of 6 special women that are dealing with breast cancer now or are survivors…and for my Mom (Beverley), my co-worker Beth, and my Great Aunt Jane who all left this world far too young because of breast cancer.

So asking for your help in raising money to help get rid of breast cancer and help those who are fighting it is an easy thing to do. We all know too many people who have breast cancer or some other kind of cancer.

I hope to keep writing here about my training as it begins. I have some ideas for some special training walks that I would love for folks to join me. And I want to have a party or 2 between now and July 9 to celebrate the people we know that are survivors and they women who now are wonderful memories for us to hold on to.

So keep checking back and I sure do appreciate your support in helping to raise my share of money to fight this disease.

Check out my personal Avon walk page and make a donation to fight breast cancer today!  Here’s a link for you to get there: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/pamrutter

2010 was a great year.  Lots of exciting things happened and lots of great conversations took place.  There have been a couple of things though that I’ve wanted to write down if only for myself to dive into.  They are 1) Renewable Energy and how easy it is.  We now have a solar array on our house.  It’s been terrific and I want to share just how easy it is to add yourself to the grid, reduce your carbon footprint and lower our need of oil. 2) Menopause…yikes I’m coming up to it…actually I’m probably in the throws of it.  I want to be a voice for what changes. How it feels and what I think about it.  I need to reclaim this part of my life that always sounds so “old”. 3) Weight Loss!  I need to do it and am on the journey.  More on that later 4) Photography.  I get to take pictures of so many beautiful people and want a better forum to show their smiles!  I’m so humbled by the way people hang my pictures in their homes and just want to share back with them how beautiful they are.

So just as my weight loss journey needs commitment I’m going to try and commit the same to my blog…even if I’m the only one that reads it!

The food was incredible.  There was so much food I won’t even be able to recall it all.  Hopefully Jordan will comment here and fill us in on all the courses.  But for a brief overview. Keith & Jordan had the Omakase…which translates to Chef’s choice!  You are served 8 or 9 courses of whatever the chef wants to serve you.  This was such a highlight and amazing experience.  There was excitement with each dish that was brought forth.  In true Rutter form we all got a little taste so that we could all experience it.  Each dish was so different even though fish was a common theme throughout.  We also got a Chef’s choice sushi platter.   You pick the price you want to pay and the luxouriousness of the fish is based on that.  Again I wish I had a picture of how really beautiful the platter of sushi was and the fish itself was just unlike anything I’ve had before.  I also need to say we had ordered 2 drinks that were amazing and the desert was out of this world.

At the end of the evening we were thanking the manager for a wonderful evening and also thanking him for the service that our server gave us.  She was kind, funny and very helpful and then they presented Jordan with an autographed by Morimoto menu of the evening as a birthday keepsake.

So it’s a pricey night out but more like an event.  It’s an Iron Chef’s restaurant after all.  We’ve been to 2 other Iron Chef’s places and they are a notch above.  We had so much fun.

And yesterday I got a card in the mail from Morimoto’s thanking us for coming.  Now when have you ever gotten a card from a restaurant?  We can’t wait to go back again … it is an incredible memory for any special occasion!  Here’s the card (and what a pretty card it is) !