Kicking off the Task Force

The Wee Ski and I spent the weekend up in Seattle, with the 2009 Training Task Force for the Relay For Life. We welcomed the newest members to the team -- coming from across the 12 state area that makes up the Great West Division.

It was my first training as chair of the Task Force...and first with Thomas out of the womb. Most of the time, Thomas was with Grandma or with Papa, but when their schedules didn't overlap...Thomas was the youngest member of the team and hung out in his sling with me. He had a new set of Relay aunties who fed and rocked him when needed. I was so appreciative! He was a great little team member. :)


We finished a ton of planning for the Leadership Summit in September, as well as started planning ahead to the fall Relay Universities. I loved the mix of the team - and am so excited to see how much we accomplish this spring and summer. In addition to our team, one of the IDDs from the central region, Leah, joined us to help flush out a lot of the training content.

Below...Leah, Linda B, and Season.


Auntie Jamie and Auntie Michelle...with the Wee Ski, who just started sucking his thumb...


And small worlds...there were two other conventions going on at the same time at the Marriott...

• One was a leadership convention for fraternities...so there were 200ish frat guys running around. How much did I love running into Kevin Durkin, one of my favorite Relay youth team captains ever? Now president of his fraternity at UW, and captaining a Relay team there...just makes me happy. And I loved getting to introduce him to Thomas.
• The other convention was a Worlds of Warcraft convention. They had a huge 'ball' on Friday night and everyone was decked out...so we preppy folks in Relay gear didn't quite blend in. Turns out one of the Peruvian vampires who was in full costume works for a hematology clinic...and she Relays as well. :)

Relay...I guess it's in everyone's blood! Ha ha...aren't I punny?!?