House Passes FDA Regulation of Tobacco

Yesterday was a big step forward on the tobacco front --- The House of Representatives passed a bill allowing FDA regulation of tobacco with a vote of 298 to 112.

Click on this link to see how your Congressman voted yesterday, and don't forget to follow-up with letters expressing your thanks for their involvement or concern if they did not support it. My sincere thanks to Congressman Brian Bilbray for supporting this bill!

So much of this is due to the hard work of so many of you to champion this cause with your local legislators in awesome grassroots efforts. I cannot thank you enough for all that you do!! Let's keep our efforts moving, as it's expected the Senate will take up this issue later this year (and it's expected that Obama will pass into law). WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE especially in a tobacco substance area that causes so many cancer-related deaths.

Pic: An EU tobacco warning label. I appreciated the very obvious label when I was traveling.

20 days until THE Boston Marathon...

Only 20 more days until the Boston Marathon! I am officially in my "taper mode" before the race, but don't let that fool you, as that still means my run this Saturday will be a half marathon distance(13 miles). I'll be running with other TNT and Team LIVESTRONG teammates Saturday at 7 a.m., meeting at Torrey Pines State Beach (outside parking entrance at Carmel Valley Rd/Del Mar Scenic Pkwy). Come out and experience what TEAM is like! I am also still actively fundraising, which is the whole reason I lace up my running shoes....thinking there will be a day when I can finally sleep in on a Saturday because we found a cure!!!

I owe a HUGE thank you to all of my supporters, as we hit my fundraising goal for the Boston Marathon, and raised $3,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation! THANK YOU!!! I am very aware how tough the economy is right now, and I know that many of your donations came from your heart and were a stretch of your finances in order to help others in need. You are my personal heroes (I hug heroes.). For those that have not yet donated but interested, I am still fundraising and working towards my Cures Rock! Campaign goal of $10,000 this season for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! To donate, please click here or copy/paste this link into your Internet browser: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/rnr09/CuresRock . My sister just added a donation of $520 to my fundraising, which is the latest proceeds from the "Bracelets 4 Cures" --- gorgeous, handmade "Cures Rock!" cancer awareness bracelets, designed for this campaign. 100% of the proceeds go to LLS. Click here for more info and pictures!

CURES ROCK! (Cancer does not.) Join our campaign to kick cancer to the curb!

Pic #1: Julie sitting in front of the chalked "Welcome to Boston" notes left for her at the end of her 18 mile run

Pic #2: Bracelets 4 Cures