What's better than climbing Mt. Tam? Climbing Mt. Tam with a husband that isn't the most avid hiker, but who willingly joins you for the trek because he knows it means a lot to you.

And what makes that trek even better? Hiking to support a wonderful cause. ATC's small staff does amazing amounts of good on very little resources and a lot of heart and dedication. I think what makes ATC so special is their fundamental belief that every person deserves to have a happy, good life. This philosophy is conveyed in everything they do, Instead of just providing used clothes or the obvious leftovers, ATC takes care to get donations of brand new clothing and assembles quality snack and candy packs to distribute to their clients. Now these may seem like small things, but they make a huge statement--that they value the person receiving them. Their care continues through the tireless work of their counselors who see thousands of clients over the course of a year.

At the Crossroads is one of my favorite places to volunteer. Not only do they do a great job of organizing volunteers, they truly make it a special experience for you, just as they do for your clients. The founder, Rob, is usually there with a plateful of fresh farmers market fruit and truffles to pass around, along with a mix of music playing for you, and he never forgets a funny, thoughtful email to thank you afterward for your efforts.

I love hiking so when I heard ATC was having their<a href="http://www.atthecrossroads.org/campaign"> Summer Fun Hike</a>, I knew I had to sign up. I brought a dear friend, Terry, from my walking group and my terrific husband, who surprised both himself and me by feeling pretty good physically at the end of our 8-mile trek. In true ATC fashion, it was a fabulously organized and enjoyable event. From the well-marked trails, to the best array of snacks and goodies I think I've ever had on a fundraising event, to getting to chat with other ATC supporters, it was a fantastic way to spend the day. And since I always seem to want to do a yoga pose in moments of happiness (and after hearing about the <a href="http://www.yogadork.com/2009/12/15/meet-cora-wen-and-the-sirsasana-challenge-its-on-2010/">Sirsasana (headstand) challenge</a>), I decided to do so at the mountain top.

And speaking of inspired, if hearing a little more about ATC's work made you happy to know an organization like this exists, I'd love it if you took a moment to help support ATC through my campaign. Every little bit means a little bit more time ATC staff can spend with their clients so any little bit you can give makes a big difference.

So far I am 8 pounds and counting into my campaign. Help keep up by supersizing my fundraising!

My friend, Becca, and the gang at Yuppie Friday are hosting a happy hour tonight to benefit ATC! $15 gets you 2 drinks AND a donation to ATC. Win, win situation, I say! I'll be there raising a glass to a great cause. Join me there or drop me a campaign donation in spirit. Cheers!

This little engine has been in Seattle! Over the month of March, I was living in Seattle on hiatus from the day job, doing a nearly month-long yoga teacher training.

The training was intense--long days every day, but simultaneously fantastic. It was truly an inspiring experience to be in the presence of such an amazing yoga teacher and healer, Ana Forrest, as well as the wonderful other trainees I met there.

One key thing I came out of the training with (in addition to teaching tips and techniques) was the lesson of listening to intuition. I tend to be a thinking person who intellectualizes why you should or shouldn't do something, agonizes over making decisions, and enjoys making to-do lists. So the concept of acting out of what feels like the right thing to do, not what I think the right thing out to be, is no easy concept. But I'm finding that when I honestly listen to myself, I have a sense of what I need. Whether it's eating when I feel hungry, pushing myself out of negative thinking, or just connecting back to my breath, things seem to go better when I'm doing less thinking and more feeling. Easier said than done, but I'm trying to keep this concept in mind now that I'm back to "real life" and my campaign efforts after the training.

Forward progress with the engine! Slowly but surely managed to inch up the scale about 3 pounds, with the help of a great nutritionist, protein powder, and some extra eating. A small step to be sure, but a hard-won step up nonetheless.

That's why it was all the more frustrating for me to come down with the bad sore throat/achy/stuffed up flu bug. Forget moving up the mountain; it's been all I can do just to keep the engine running between blowing my nose and napping.

But the sniffles are hardly the worst part of being sick compared to the mental chatter that often accompanies it. Even though I know my body needs the rest to get better, I start getting stir-crazy sitting around, so I try to do something and then feel worse. Then I berate myself for being so pathetic and not getting enough of my work done and mope about everything I'm missing out on. Needless to say I was feeling pretty hopeless about how I was handling most things, including my campaign.

But several sweet emails from friends really helped improve my mindset. I haven't made any significant progress this week, but nor did I backslide. I'm starting to feel better, even if my voice isn't back yet. My brain is getting there too--doing my best to turn down the self-deprecation and take it easy to get over this bug.

It seems like such a small thing: eating a cupcake, but normally I would just turn down the offer as something I don't eat. So when my brother wanted to split a cupcake, I jumped in and offered to go halfsies. Despite any mental chatter about how I don't usually like cupcakes and frosting is too sweet, I found the cupcake too be quite delicious: cakey with a touch of frosting, but not too sweet.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who liked the cupcakes. My friend Louise and Emalie learned a lesson about what happens if you leave cupcakes out overnight with kitties.