Note from Stacey

Angeli, thanks for your message! I am glad your little son is doing well these days. I will be the new editor for the TRIO newsletter (Transplant Recipients International Organization)and was wondering if you are familiar with that club. I hope to see you around the gym soon! Felix, nice to hear from you again. I am sure the Colorado folks will not let you forget about climbing. I have heard that the Spot in Boulder is a great gym. It was a good weekend. Eva kept Dave and me well-fed, cooking us dinner on both Saturday and Sunday nights. (We are spoiled.) Distressed about gaining weight, I spent the weekend gathering things to cook with…a Japanese cookbook, a tea kettle, and a baking dish. Monday, I prepared a quick spinach and potato soup. (It was one of those free samples at Trader Joe’s…I liked it so much I immediately bought all the ingredients to make it, which they had conveniently displayed nearby. I’m a real sucker for taste-strategy marketing.) Dave was so happy he had it before and after climbing! Tonight, it will be potstickers, bok choy, and rice. The trick for me and my friends is to actually find time to both eat and climb at night. It takes real discipline and time management. DYNO FOR DOLLARS EVENT This Saturday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. there will be an exciting benefit for my medical fund called “Dyno for Dollars.” It is a jumping contest in which each climber starts with his or her hands on a lower hold, crouches down, and using powerful legs, then leaps for a higher hold to catch it, hanging in mid-air above the ground. Some climbers can jump a full body length! Double dynos can be up to 25′! For more information, click on the “Events” page of this website. In April of 2003, I was in a dyno contest in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a show after the biggest bouldering comp in the world, the PBC. My friend Corrine and I won a raffle to participate along with professional climbers such as Chris Sharma and Lisa Rands. It was exciting because it was set up on a stage in front of crowd of at least 500 people. I was feeling really nervous because dynos are obviously not my forte…being under 5 feet tall, I have to jump to holds most climbers can reach without even stretching. I recruited the help of my friend Abby Watkins…she gave me some good advice, and then I was on my own! I was relieved that the route-setters set up the wall so there were some holds that were reasonable for me. Even so, when it was my turn, I kept missing! Then the announcer, in an effort to be funny, revved up the crowd and asked them to make monkey noises for moral support. I closed my eyes, concentrated on Abby’s advice, listened to the obnoxious noise in the background, and jumped. Voila! It worked. I caught the hold and swung proudly four feet off the ground. Stacey, from Belmont