Climb for Hospice

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love this community.

The support I’ve received around doing this adventure has been incredible. I honestly wasn’t expecting the level of generosity that I’ve been so fortunate to experience.

Lately I’ve been finding that when I walk into an establishment (in the hopes of being brave enough to ask for a donation), I begin my little spiel about the climb, and something extraordinary happens. Right after I say “I’m climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Delta Hospice…” the person will usually say “Oh YOU’RE the one!”, or “I’ve seen your picture!”, and then they offer me a donation before I even have to ask.

And it’s not just business owners! Last night I was at The Snug wine lounge (which, by the way, is donating a $50 gift certificate!), and imbibed as I was, I loudly (and hopefully not too obnoxiously) proclaimed that I was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. A very lovely Tsawwassenite said, “I’ve seen your picture!”, then handed me $5 as a donation, and wrote down her name and number as she believed her employer may be able to assist, as well.

Just *poof* like that. Amazing.

And I really, really have to thank Jessica Kerr and the Delta Optimist for being the ones who are getting the word out so well. In fact, there’s another article about my climb and the Kili Gala in today’s Optimist!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I was right – this adventure is going to change my life. It already has.

Alright Gingell – it’s you and me again on Sunday. Mano e stair-o. (errr… mujer e escalon?)

But this time… I’m bringing reinforcements.

Oh, we are ON, dude! Yah, that’s right, you heard me. You’re goin’ down, my friend.

Welcome to Humiliationville, Gingell. Population: YOU.

*struts*

*trips*

So, Ali is a total Copy Cat.

I went out months ago and bought new boots for this whole Kili Adventure, and have been hiking in them, and trying to break them in, get them comfy, and figure out if I can survive 7 days of walking in them.

Ali has been hiking in some weird pair of 1960’s stiff leather boots that her mother bought when she immigrated to Canada from Britain 40 years ago or something. Anyway, Ali’s feet are all blistered-up, broken, bent, squished and cranky because Ali hasn’t had the chance to buy new boots yet. Until last weekend.

She calls me up on Sunday and excitedly tells me that she finally has new boots. “That’s great!”, I reply. She’s really excited about them, because they’re comfortable, durable, and really don’t look too bad as far as footwear fashion goes. “That’s great, Ali! So, what are they like?”

“They’re green-ish with a light tan colour, were made by Scarpa, have round laces, and…”

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

Round laces? “Yep”. Greenish? “Uh, huh”. Scarpa? “Yep. Why are you aski… ohhhh…. nooooo…”

Oh, yes. Ali has managed to root through the bajillion pair of available hiking boots out there and has managed to buy the same pair that I did back in January. Nicely done, my friend.

I mean really! How embarassing! Do you know how humiliating it is to show up at a mountain wearing the same boots as someone else!? You look forward to climbing this mountain, you prep, you choose your outfiit, you get all shapely-looking and *bam!* your whooooole adventure is ruined because some other woman shows up in YOUR boots and, AND looks better in them than you do.

This is terrible.

Thanks a lot, Ali.

Everything is like, totally ruined now. Humpf.

*pouts*

What a world we live in… What a community!

I have put the word out that I am looking for donations for raffle prizes and door prizes for the upcoming Kili Gala. As of this morning, I have over a DOZEN confirmed items for the draw. And man, are they COOL.

I have paintings from incredible artists, photos from local professional photographers, spa certificates, books, personal training classes, jewelry, fabulous coffee and an incredible DVD by an uber-talented director.

And much more to come. This is going to be such a great raffle draw – it’s going to be really hard for me not to try and win everything!

I’M SO EXCITED!!

Usually when I hike Ali is with me, and (between creative strings of profanity) we yabber on about this, that and the other as we hike up there, and walk over that way, and carry on down.

When I tackled the Gingell Grind a few weeks ago I was all alone, and so decided to take my ipod with me for company. It so adeptly blocked out the sound of my humiliating wheezing, that I figured that maybe it would be a grand idea to take my iPod up Kilimanjaro, too.

The problem is that I only have an old (“old”, as in four years old) iPod Nano which has limited space, and more importantly, limited battery life. So, I made the decision to use some of my tax return money to buy a big, fat, file-thirsty, extendo-battery iPod for my trip! I went on-line, ordered my new toy, and in a moment of sentimentality-inspired genius, I had it inscribed with: “Kili 2010 – Climb for Hospice“.

So now I have space for 40,000 songs!! And although I can fill the space with music, some audio books (I already have books by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on there), and a Spanish Language Tutorial (nothing like learning Spanish while walking through a Swahili-speaking country), I wanted to try something a bit different…

I need you.

Until August 1st, I will be taking music suggestions from you for my Climb Kili Playlist. The playlist will be comprised solely of music suggested to me by all my readers. I was going to create the playlist by myself, but after adding “Eye of The Tiger” four times, I kind of got stuck.

What should I have on my playlist?

What music inspires you?

What song makes you want to work hard?

If my climb were an 80’s movie montage where some geeky friends and I were fixing a car or making a science project, what music would you put in the background?

I would love to hear from you! I’m excited to see how creative and diverse this playlist is going to be! When my website gets up and going, I will have a running list of all the songs that have been suggested to me by readers, so that you can all see what the list is looking like.

Until then, feel free to comment here, or send me an email at climbforhospice@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Rock on, readers!

Last night I was invited to my friend Keith’s home to watch the David Breashears 2002 documentary called To The Roof of Africa. It’s an IMAX film about a group of people climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and Keith thought it would be good for me to see it. Since it’s a much nicer title than the previous David Breashears movie I saw, I agreed to go. I mean, if the film were called “Kilimanjaro – IN THE DEATH ZONE”, I may very well have reconsidered his kind invitation.

And so I took a journey up Kilimanjaro, while sitting on a comfortable couch with a glass of Banrock Station merlot in hand. Not bad, really! At one point Keith’s wife Joan let me know that if I just pushed a little button on the side of the sofa, a little leg rest would pop up. I thought this was just too decadent, so I politely declined the offer. Besides, knowing me, I’d probably spill my wine.

The film was only 40 minutes long, but my was it ever beautiful. I was both inspired and petrified, as I alternately marveled at the scenery and cringed at the effort those climbers were undertaking. However, through the entire film I was thinking to myself, “I can do this!”

Of course, I was also thinking, “oh, crap. That looks really, really hard… but I can do this. I..wow, that’s really kind of muddy in that section, and… hey!! IS THAT A SPIDER?! Oh god. I can do this. I can do this. ARE THOSE TENTS?! Oh dear God… where’s the shower? I’m not seeing a shower! WHERE’S THE SHOWER?! I can do this. I can do this. Breeeeeeathe, breeeeeeeathe…. be calm, breeeeeathe…”

I was grateful when Keith offered to refresh my drained wine glass.

This is not going to be an easy climb. I get that. But I do have a feeling that whether I summit this mountain or not, this adventure will change my life forever.

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

Check out THIS Delta Hospice press release!

This morning I am going to meet Ali for brunch at my favourite restaurant in Vancouver: Twisted Fork! We are going to talk about the Kili Gala and other Kili-related things while drinking coffee and eating really, really, really good food.

Twisted Fork is a relaxed French bistro on Granville St. (at about Davie). It is owned and operated by business-genius siblings Mike and Andrea Leslie, and full-of-win chef Corey Sullivan. It’s a fairly new place in Vancouver, but was transplanted from Fernie, BC where it was the award-winning restaurant The Wood. The food is great, the people are lovely, and the atmosphere is laid-back and funky. I love this place so much.

I chose Twisted Fork for brunch today, because it is my last gastronomic hurrah for four weeks. Y’see, I have been given a meal plan from Cara, and I start it tomorrow morning at 6:30am. The meal plan is designed to trim the sugar from my diet (I am seriously addicted to sugar. It frightens me), and to get my body in a nice, lean shape. I’ve done these meal plans before, and it really is amazing how quickly the body changes when you only put clean, healthy food in it.

*sigh* no more popcorn for dinner. No more mini Snickers bars before bed.

Hello oatmeal, basa, green beans, quinoa, brown rice, egg whites and (*shudder*) protein shakes.

Oh Twisted Fork, I love you. Thank you for your help in sending me to Dietary Blahville with delicious memories of your fantabulous menu.

Off I go!

Yesterday I stopped by the Delta Hospice’s Supportive Care Centre in Ladner to pick up some pamphlets. It was a lovely day outside; chilly, yet bright and clear. As I pulled up to The Centre, I noticed a cute, fluffy black bunny happily nibbling away at something on the lawn, pleasantly ignorant of my arrival. It was pretty darn adorable, I must say. But then again, I’m a sap for animals, and I think even possums are pretty darn adorable, too.

Anyway, I went inside the Centre to grab the pamphlets, and was met by a lovely Hospice Volunteer at the front desk. I pointed out the fuzzy black ball of hopping, munching bunny on the lawn, and she remarked that there are many bunnies that make The Supportive Care Centre their place to hang out during the day. And then, with absolute sincerity and with no hint of malice or anger, this lovely volunteer says, “bless their hearts, they’ve eaten all the landscaping, so we’ve had to re-do it all again. I guess everyone has to eat, though!”

And then, with a peaceful, bright smile she handed me what I came for, completely oblivious to the fact that she had just said the Gold Medal Winning Nicest, Most Understanding Statement EVER.

The Delta Hospice: your Local Meanie-Free and Bunny Welcoming Zone.

I love that place.

Let’s see here… hmmmm… *pokepokepoke*

OW!

Swollen? Check.
Mottled? Check.
Unable to bear weight? Check.
Unable to bend? Check.
Painful? Check.

Now, I’m no doctor or anything, but I’m pretty sure I’ve broken my Went To Market toe.

How did I do this, you ask? It’s a funny story, really. I was rescuing kittens from a burning building, and… no, no that’s not right. Oh! Yes, that’s it: I was serving meals to the homeless, and I… nope. Nope, that’s not it either.

Chasing a purse snatcher? Braving the rapids to save a drowing puppy? Taming a bucking bronco before it tore through a class of first graders? Wrestling a wild boar? Going ten rounds with De La Hoya? War wound from ‘Nam?

…Actually, I kind of had a dream last night that I fell of a wall, and when I woke up my toe hurt.

*facepalm*

This really puts a crimp in my hiking plans for this weekend.

But it certainly doesn’t stop me from wearing 2.5 inch open-toe pumps to work today! They have ruffles!

Hey, remember this?:

My goal for this week: Secure a space and a date for the Kili Gala.

GOAL MET!!

The Kili Gala will be held at the Ladner Community Centre, and the city of Delta is generously allowing me to use the space for an incredibly reduced non-profit rate. They’re also sending me paperwork to apply for a grant to get even that cost reduced to NOTHING. Cross your fingers that there’s grant money left to be had!

The Kili Gala will be happening on Saturday, June 5th, starting at 7pm, and going until about midnight.

There will be door prizes, raffle draws, 50/50 tickets, dancing, drinks, a wee bit o’ food, and some fabulous entertainment.

Tickets are only $20 each, and ALL PROCEEDS go to The Delta Hospice and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. A dear friend of mine is climbing Kili with me, and she is doing it to raise money for the H&S Foundation, so we decided to split the proceeds from this event right down the middle. There will be donation boxes inside the venue if you would like to make a donation specifically to one of those two charities.

We all know that this is a night to make as much money as possible for charity, so come and enjoy yourself, knowing also that you’re doing a very, very wonderful thing. Bring your loonies and your twoonies for raffle tickets and the 50/50 draw!

Tickets will be available soon, and can be purchased at Open Space Yoga in Ladner, or by simply emailing me.

We’ve got a LOT of space in that ol’ Community Centre, so let’s fill it with as many people as we can – tell your friends, tell your family, tell your neighbours, co-workers, hairdressers, massage therapists – tell everyone!

We would love to see you there!

THE KILI GALA IS ON!!