Relay for Life update & Dalek winner!
Aug. 14th, 2010 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
knitchick1979Hi all!
Sorry for not posting the winner earlier but after being up for 26 hours straight with only closing my eyes for about 5 minutes while Carole showered, I kind of needed to pass out. So I did for about five hours and now I'm a bit more awake & coherent.
So Relay went quite well overall despite Mother Nature being evil. Team GEEK arrived a bit later than planned, closer to 4 than 3 but we were still only about the second team setting up :) We got there, found the chair and confirmed where our campsite was (just where we expected, kind of behind the concession stand).
Next began the epic hauling of the luggage!! Seriously, I'm not the ONLY one on this team that tends to overpack. We had a 10x10 tent and then a small camping type tent that Carole's uncle loaned us and set up for us (and he ROCKS because our tent held up better than most of the rest!!!)
Then we brought in and set up a table with our wares (we were raffling off Anime Central weekend badges, ARFTCo theatre tickets, Learn to Knit kits, and of course, the Dalek), then Carole's cousin brought us the gorgeous TARDIS doors she created!! She made it using a plastic tablecloth and it was amazing! She did such a lovely job!
We also had a nice coat rack, like the Fourth Doctor had in the console room of his TARDIS, on to which we put Ken's Four scarf, my Jack coat and Ten coat, Carole's Owen labcoat, the Rose scarf that Carole made (crocheted in the style of scarves she tended to wear) and Joanna's Gryffindor scarf. I draped my acrylic Four scarf at the side of the tent and it also spent some time on the coat rack. Joanna's Hogwarts banner got hung at the back of the tent, and at the side, Carole set up a little side table and armchair to look a bit like Seven's TARDIS.
And of course, we had plushies! Three daleks (Gally, Godric, and Caty) plus Carole's Kit plushie, and Barrowman Sparkly Panda Bear were with us.
Here's our campsite looking lovely:
(thank you![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rengeek for the pic, I haven't gotten mine off my camera as yet)
Carole's father joined us a little bit later and they walked over to the opening ceremonies while I guarded the campsite and continued to try and straighten and organize (and get as much as possible under the tent in case of rain starting). When they came around for the team lap, I ran over and got a picture (I'll post it later when I get it off my camera) then Carole took over campsite sitting while I joined them for a lap. While on that lap I snapped pictures of the four luminarias I'd purchased, and I'm glad I did since they kind of got melted later. :( I bought one for my grandmother Mary Angeline Panico, a cancer survivor, her younger sister my aunt Darlene Schiavone, also a survivor, their mother Frances, who was my inspiration to start knitting, and my teacher from high school Carol Papierski who lost her battle a couple years after I graduated.
After a couple laps Ken and I walked over to Leona's, which is right next door to the park's front parking lot entrance, and grabbed some noms. While there I looked at the radar as the clouds seemed to be gathering and saw some red to the west. So while we ate, we also strategized. When Ken spotted the flashing to the west, we moved. By the time Thor, the lightning guard system at the park, sounded we were already halfway battened down. Most of the stuff got shoved in the tent - chairs, coats, scarves, side table, etc. The table was covered with a spare tablecloth we had and the two cloths were clipped together to hold things down and keep them dry. The TARDIS doors were pulled down and placed on the table. The table got moved to the center with the coolers and big tote under it.
We found a nice little music practice room in the basement of the Fredricksen field house to call our own, then realized we forgot a couple things. I volunteered and really got my exercise running in and then having to dig through the mess we'd made of the tent in our haste to find my knitting (I seriously was going stir crazy), Carole's medicine, and Carole's & my phone chargers, plus snagging an armful of water bottles from the cooler. I was running in with the armful of bottles as the first big rain drops hit. All this time, the orange flashy light of Thor on top of the building was making me nervous but I kept my fears aside.
I didn't pay attention to how long we were in there but it wasn't too bad. I finished the last of the bobble rounds on the Dalek and moved on to double pointed needles (so 1.5 rounds done), spent some time chatting with other people, and Ken & Joanna got massages from the chair massage people.
Then they came down and announced that we were going to have the luminaria ceremony a bit modified. So we came out and stood in the drizzle right in front of the building. My friend Kathryn joined us at this point, having made it despite the storms! Instead of lighting the luminaria around the track, they placed candles in glass jars on this brick lined planter out front. I didn't get a picture of it since I was ustreaming the whole ceremony, but Carole did:
One of the people from the committee read a lovely speech, then a group of people worked against the rain to light the candles while the bagpiper played. First he played "Amazing Grace" and I held back the tears (that song always makes me cry), then he played "Singing in the Rain" (cute!) before finishing with "Scotland the Brave". After that, Theresa (our event chair) read the list of names that luminaria were bought for.
Then we split up, with Ken and I heading downstairs to grab our stuff from the room and straighten up and the rest heading back to our campsite to un-batten the hatches. :) Yeah, before Thor even went off there was a gust of wind and we saw a tent tumbling. Guess what? Ours didn't move! A little water got on to the raffle info sheets that were taped to the front of the table (which faced the west, where the storm came from) and a little water got inside the edges of the tent but really, our campsite was in great shape!
After straightening up (and proving the awesomeness of knitters by using my knitting needle to re-thread a lace on Ken's boot that escaped), we went back to walking the track. At this point I switched knitting projects to my Romana scarf (since the Dalek I need my pattern so I need to sit and pay attention; Romana is straight garter stitch), and Ken and I set off for a lap around the track, me knitting the whole time :) Our balloon arch at the starting line was a little devastated but I was surprised to see some balloons still holding in there!
Ken left for work then, and I did a couple more laps walking and knitting. Everyone seems so amazed when I do that but to me it's nothing. Unless I'm doing a complex project like the Dalek or my lace scarf, I can do a lot of knitting while not even looking so to walk and knit on a garter stitch scarf is super easy for me. Kills two birds with one stone! Now if only I can get the treadmill at the fitness center by work to let me walk without holding the stupid hand grips, I could get a lot more done! ;)
Then we started slowing down... we all got tired. We needed juice, so Kathryn and I ended up making a run to Jewel for a second extension cord (since my dad's 50 foot one wasn't long enough to reach the nearest pole with a plug) and Dunkin Donuts for coffee. Kathryn and Chris taught me and Joanna how to play BS, which was fun (especially with pretty Sailor Moon cards!)
Theresa brought us Eli's Cheesecake (NOM NOM NOM! My neighborhood has some YUMMY sponsors!) and a little later Carole and her uncle went and got donuts. We also were counting the cash we had (that will be turned in at the post-party in a couple weeks) and realized we were just $26 shy of $1,000 mark. Kathryn went online and added $30 so we MADE OUR GOAL!!!! *dances*
Then we pulled the Dalek winner. Carole shook the container, Joanna picked and the name that came up.... Keira Wilkie!! Yes, darling, as soon as I finish knitting the Dalek (give me a week or two more, it's been crazy and it's a slow knit) it will be making its way across the pond to you! :)
Closing ceremonies got moved up to around 4:30 am since many teams had given up. It turned into the last team standing... and we were it. Really. When we were packing up the only other tent up was the main stage tent.
After that Chris left us and we split in two for unloading -- Kathryn came with me and chilled in my car to the Doctor Who series four soundtrack (it lives permanently in my car's CD player) while I unloaded and took a quickie shower. Then Carole & Joanna got us after unloading stuff at Carole's and we drove down to Joanna's apartment where Carole & Joanna showered and Kathryn enjoyed the view.
Then we drove out to Carol Stream and met up with Ken for breakfast at this Red Apple restaurant. I got a Wisconsin trio omlette - three cheese, YUM!
Then finally, finally, we headed towards home. I crawled into bed around 1:30 after a full 26 hours or so awake and passed out til dinner at 6:45.
All in all... it was an awesome day! Very much worth it!!
Next year's goals! We want COOL SIGNS because we are geeks and geeks like to collect shiny things. We want a Bronze Team sign, you get that by raising $2,000. We also would love a spiffy "Club 15" sign, which you get for having 15 members on your team and raising at least $1,500. We hope the rain holds off next year and doesn't ruin our raffle sales, because we want to offer the raffles again (we had awesome raffles!) Plus we didn't sell very many cookies or scones again, thanks to Mother Nature *glares* but next year!
Anyway... I've rambled on enough. It was an awesome event and I look forward to next year being even better!
Sorry for not posting the winner earlier but after being up for 26 hours straight with only closing my eyes for about 5 minutes while Carole showered, I kind of needed to pass out. So I did for about five hours and now I'm a bit more awake & coherent.
So Relay went quite well overall despite Mother Nature being evil. Team GEEK arrived a bit later than planned, closer to 4 than 3 but we were still only about the second team setting up :) We got there, found the chair and confirmed where our campsite was (just where we expected, kind of behind the concession stand).
Next began the epic hauling of the luggage!! Seriously, I'm not the ONLY one on this team that tends to overpack. We had a 10x10 tent and then a small camping type tent that Carole's uncle loaned us and set up for us (and he ROCKS because our tent held up better than most of the rest!!!)
Then we brought in and set up a table with our wares (we were raffling off Anime Central weekend badges, ARFTCo theatre tickets, Learn to Knit kits, and of course, the Dalek), then Carole's cousin brought us the gorgeous TARDIS doors she created!! She made it using a plastic tablecloth and it was amazing! She did such a lovely job!
We also had a nice coat rack, like the Fourth Doctor had in the console room of his TARDIS, on to which we put Ken's Four scarf, my Jack coat and Ten coat, Carole's Owen labcoat, the Rose scarf that Carole made (crocheted in the style of scarves she tended to wear) and Joanna's Gryffindor scarf. I draped my acrylic Four scarf at the side of the tent and it also spent some time on the coat rack. Joanna's Hogwarts banner got hung at the back of the tent, and at the side, Carole set up a little side table and armchair to look a bit like Seven's TARDIS.
And of course, we had plushies! Three daleks (Gally, Godric, and Caty) plus Carole's Kit plushie, and Barrowman Sparkly Panda Bear were with us.
Here's our campsite looking lovely:
(thank you
rengeek for the pic, I haven't gotten mine off my camera as yet)Carole's father joined us a little bit later and they walked over to the opening ceremonies while I guarded the campsite and continued to try and straighten and organize (and get as much as possible under the tent in case of rain starting). When they came around for the team lap, I ran over and got a picture (I'll post it later when I get it off my camera) then Carole took over campsite sitting while I joined them for a lap. While on that lap I snapped pictures of the four luminarias I'd purchased, and I'm glad I did since they kind of got melted later. :( I bought one for my grandmother Mary Angeline Panico, a cancer survivor, her younger sister my aunt Darlene Schiavone, also a survivor, their mother Frances, who was my inspiration to start knitting, and my teacher from high school Carol Papierski who lost her battle a couple years after I graduated.
After a couple laps Ken and I walked over to Leona's, which is right next door to the park's front parking lot entrance, and grabbed some noms. While there I looked at the radar as the clouds seemed to be gathering and saw some red to the west. So while we ate, we also strategized. When Ken spotted the flashing to the west, we moved. By the time Thor, the lightning guard system at the park, sounded we were already halfway battened down. Most of the stuff got shoved in the tent - chairs, coats, scarves, side table, etc. The table was covered with a spare tablecloth we had and the two cloths were clipped together to hold things down and keep them dry. The TARDIS doors were pulled down and placed on the table. The table got moved to the center with the coolers and big tote under it.
We found a nice little music practice room in the basement of the Fredricksen field house to call our own, then realized we forgot a couple things. I volunteered and really got my exercise running in and then having to dig through the mess we'd made of the tent in our haste to find my knitting (I seriously was going stir crazy), Carole's medicine, and Carole's & my phone chargers, plus snagging an armful of water bottles from the cooler. I was running in with the armful of bottles as the first big rain drops hit. All this time, the orange flashy light of Thor on top of the building was making me nervous but I kept my fears aside.
I didn't pay attention to how long we were in there but it wasn't too bad. I finished the last of the bobble rounds on the Dalek and moved on to double pointed needles (so 1.5 rounds done), spent some time chatting with other people, and Ken & Joanna got massages from the chair massage people.
Then they came down and announced that we were going to have the luminaria ceremony a bit modified. So we came out and stood in the drizzle right in front of the building. My friend Kathryn joined us at this point, having made it despite the storms! Instead of lighting the luminaria around the track, they placed candles in glass jars on this brick lined planter out front. I didn't get a picture of it since I was ustreaming the whole ceremony, but Carole did:
One of the people from the committee read a lovely speech, then a group of people worked against the rain to light the candles while the bagpiper played. First he played "Amazing Grace" and I held back the tears (that song always makes me cry), then he played "Singing in the Rain" (cute!) before finishing with "Scotland the Brave". After that, Theresa (our event chair) read the list of names that luminaria were bought for.
Then we split up, with Ken and I heading downstairs to grab our stuff from the room and straighten up and the rest heading back to our campsite to un-batten the hatches. :) Yeah, before Thor even went off there was a gust of wind and we saw a tent tumbling. Guess what? Ours didn't move! A little water got on to the raffle info sheets that were taped to the front of the table (which faced the west, where the storm came from) and a little water got inside the edges of the tent but really, our campsite was in great shape!
After straightening up (and proving the awesomeness of knitters by using my knitting needle to re-thread a lace on Ken's boot that escaped), we went back to walking the track. At this point I switched knitting projects to my Romana scarf (since the Dalek I need my pattern so I need to sit and pay attention; Romana is straight garter stitch), and Ken and I set off for a lap around the track, me knitting the whole time :) Our balloon arch at the starting line was a little devastated but I was surprised to see some balloons still holding in there!
Ken left for work then, and I did a couple more laps walking and knitting. Everyone seems so amazed when I do that but to me it's nothing. Unless I'm doing a complex project like the Dalek or my lace scarf, I can do a lot of knitting while not even looking so to walk and knit on a garter stitch scarf is super easy for me. Kills two birds with one stone! Now if only I can get the treadmill at the fitness center by work to let me walk without holding the stupid hand grips, I could get a lot more done! ;)
Then we started slowing down... we all got tired. We needed juice, so Kathryn and I ended up making a run to Jewel for a second extension cord (since my dad's 50 foot one wasn't long enough to reach the nearest pole with a plug) and Dunkin Donuts for coffee. Kathryn and Chris taught me and Joanna how to play BS, which was fun (especially with pretty Sailor Moon cards!)
Theresa brought us Eli's Cheesecake (NOM NOM NOM! My neighborhood has some YUMMY sponsors!) and a little later Carole and her uncle went and got donuts. We also were counting the cash we had (that will be turned in at the post-party in a couple weeks) and realized we were just $26 shy of $1,000 mark. Kathryn went online and added $30 so we MADE OUR GOAL!!!! *dances*
Then we pulled the Dalek winner. Carole shook the container, Joanna picked and the name that came up.... Keira Wilkie!! Yes, darling, as soon as I finish knitting the Dalek (give me a week or two more, it's been crazy and it's a slow knit) it will be making its way across the pond to you! :)
Closing ceremonies got moved up to around 4:30 am since many teams had given up. It turned into the last team standing... and we were it. Really. When we were packing up the only other tent up was the main stage tent.
After that Chris left us and we split in two for unloading -- Kathryn came with me and chilled in my car to the Doctor Who series four soundtrack (it lives permanently in my car's CD player) while I unloaded and took a quickie shower. Then Carole & Joanna got us after unloading stuff at Carole's and we drove down to Joanna's apartment where Carole & Joanna showered and Kathryn enjoyed the view.
Then we drove out to Carol Stream and met up with Ken for breakfast at this Red Apple restaurant. I got a Wisconsin trio omlette - three cheese, YUM!
Then finally, finally, we headed towards home. I crawled into bed around 1:30 after a full 26 hours or so awake and passed out til dinner at 6:45.
All in all... it was an awesome day! Very much worth it!!
Next year's goals! We want COOL SIGNS because we are geeks and geeks like to collect shiny things. We want a Bronze Team sign, you get that by raising $2,000. We also would love a spiffy "Club 15" sign, which you get for having 15 members on your team and raising at least $1,500. We hope the rain holds off next year and doesn't ruin our raffle sales, because we want to offer the raffles again (we had awesome raffles!) Plus we didn't sell very many cookies or scones again, thanks to Mother Nature *glares* but next year!
Anyway... I've rambled on enough. It was an awesome event and I look forward to next year being even better!
