Wednesday, June 1st, 2005
Brats Away!!!
Memorial Day weekend was GRRRRRRRREAT! Saturday was a lazy day, followed by
log rolling, then Sean and Marnie's wedding. What a great wedding! It was
very simple and nice... with great people, and of course Doug was the goof he
usually is. Although he gave a great "best man" speech. And of course I was
like every other girl and planned out my entire wedding while I was there.
Sunday we got up bright and early to run the Madison Marathon 10K race. (No, we didn't do THIS Marathon, but stay tuned for the Chicago Marathon...) It was a bit rough (my excuse is dancing so late at the wedding the night before) but Ken and I both got decent times. We left right after the race, only to find out later Ken actually won his division! Nice job for his first 10K ever! I got 6th which is much better than I thought. After recovering our legs a bit, we went over to BratFest (if you aren't from Wisconsin, check out the website) which totally goes against everything a personal trainer believes in... but as a true Wisconsinite, I am obligated to do my fair share in breaking the brat world record. Monday we got up nice and early and FINALLY made the veggie garden in my backyard. It took us several hours to work the dirt and dig and hoe and plant... woof that was a good work out. But now the garden is done, and hopefully in a few months we will have some nice pumpkins, spinach, corn, carrots, and sunflowers!
After gardening we went canoeing all around Lake Wingra with Erin and Bob. Of course Ken and I are a bit too hyper to be able to just sit in a canoe for an hour, so within a few minutes we were in the water trying to tip other people...hehhehehe.
Then, after bringing some logs to the lake (finally!) we took my dad to one last round of BratFest. They already closed, but Ken managed to talk them into giving us some leftovers. Now it's back to the grind, which is so hard to do after a beautiful and fun weekend!
Wednesday, May 4th, 2005
Photos and
Funnies!
Above is a
photo of me in a (duh duh dunnnn...) DRESS!!! This was at the UW Vet
School Spring Dance, happy as ever with Ken.
Below is an e-mail from Ken's mom. If you've ever seen the movie "Cats
and Dogs" this totally rings true!
EXCERPTS FROM
THE DOG'S DAILY DIARY
8:00 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite!
9:40 am - Oh Boy! A walk! My favorite!
10:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite!
11:30 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
12:00 noon - Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
1:00 pm - Oh Boy! The yard! My favorite!
4:00 pm - Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
5:00 pm - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
5:30 pm - Oh Boy! Mom! My favorite!
6:00 pm - Oh Boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6:30 pm - Oh Boy! Sleeping in master's bed! My favorite!
EXCERPTS FROM THE CAT'S DAILY DIARY:
Day 283 Of My Captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture.
Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair; must try this on their bed. Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan.
There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage. I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...
Wednesday, April 20th, 2005 In Oxygen Magazine! I just got my photo and a small bio in the June issue (on the newsstands as of yesterday) of Oxygen Magazine (page 180). I'm very excited about this, BUT, not at all happy with the photo which was chosen. So this is my disclaimer. The photo was chosen by my photographer, John Stutz, who does INCREDIBLE work. And it is obvious why he chose it: it's an amazing picture! The blue sky in the background, with the sandstone behind me really does look beautiful. The problem is I DON'T look good! But I've decided not to complain, because if I follow through with my dreams, I will be in Oxygen many more times, and have the chance to show what I really look like!
Other exciting news: we're getting a boom run here in Madison! Bob Glebs of Wingra Canoe and Sailing Center (where we teach our log rolling classes) is allowing us to put one in! It will cost a bit of $ and will take some work to get the logs down to Madison, but it will be well worth it! Now we won't have to keep bugging Jamie to let us use him! Plus we'll save a ton of driving! So all of you rollers... now you REALLY have an incentive to come train in Madison! I am so anxious to get back on the lake and get rolling, it's driving me crazy! Ken and I have been going down to the dock almost everyday to hang out and enjoy the scenery... but the water is still freezing! I'm staying busy at work, and am almost finished with my knee rehab! I've run one race so far, and have another tomorrow, then Saturday. Please let me know if you are interested in joining me! Ken is finishing up his second year at vet school, which includes fun activities such as the Spring Dance (I had to wear a dress... ack!) and a Pig Roast this weekend. Fun times! I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get them.
I hope everybody's spring is going well, and you are all getting a chance to get outside and enjoy the weather!
Saturday, March 26th, 2005
Disney World It
Is!!!
It's official: the 2005 ESPN Great Outdoor Games will be at
Disney World's ABC Wide World of Sports Facility
July 7th - 10th. I'm so excited! Other than Madison, that is the
best place I could imagine having it! Hopefully my grandparents will
be able to make it up from Sarasota to watch the competition!
This year I was lucky (and by lucky I mean lucky) enough to qualify in both
the log rolling and boom run events. Unfortunately, they removed the
mixed doubles boom run from the line up, but rumor has it, prize money for
the other events has gone sky high!
Not a whole lot of other news in my world. Work has been very busy,
which is GOOD! My
"Shape Up with Shana" segments on Channel 3 news will now air
every two weeks, rather than once a month!
Rehab update: I'm able to run and log roll again! I still have to take it very slow (which is fine, because I'm WAY out of running shape right now!) but man does it feel great! Here are the local races I plan to run over the next few weeks: April 9th: Bucky's Race for Rehab 5K April 21st: UW Kinesiology Poker Run 5K April 23rd: Palmer Bros. Memorial Run April 30th: Crazylegs Classic 5mile May 12th: Meriter Nurses' Run 5K (or 10K if I'm feeling up to it!) June 5th: Lake Mills Triathlon So lots of athletic things to look forward to! It's amazing how much one learns to appreciate physical activity when it's taken away for so long! I hope everybody has a happy Easter!
Monday, February 20th, 2005 We Jumped!!!
(click for full image)
Saturday, February 12th, 2005
Polar Plunge!
On Saturday, February 19th, myself and a few of my brave friends will be
jumping into a hole in the ice of lake Monona in support of our local
Special Olympics. The mission of the Special Olympics is "To
provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of
Olympic-type sports for children and adults with cognitive disabilities,
giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness,
demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts,
skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes
and the community."
In other words, enabling EVERYBODY, even those who suffer from disabilities,
the chance to enjoy sports, and fitness.
This year I finally got the courage to jump, along with Ken, Jessie, Peter, and Jason. Our team name is "Eckes and the Super Friends" which means I get to wear my Wonder Woman costume once again! Now I would like to ask for some help. Yes, I'm asking for a bit of money. Even if it's only $2... anything will make a difference. To donate online, please visit my donation page. I promise pics of us freezing cold superheroes will be posted soon after the event!
Friday, January 28th, 2005
Finally! Updates were done to the following sections: Life, Modeling, and Links. They are still a work in progress!
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 Surgery MORE than a Success!
So the surgery went much better than expected! After going under, I was awaken about an hour early, with only a small bandage on my leg! After going in, they saw the ACL had actually pulled itself together in a way, thus it didn't need to be replaced. Also, my meniscus was just fine! I'm already walking around without crutches today, and hopefully I'll be able to get back to all of my athletics in less than a month! I do have to miss work the rest of this week because they did cut into my leg, and we want to prevent swelling. Anyway, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now! Thank you for all of your kind e-mails of well wishes. And a HUGE thanks to Ken, who missed a whole day of school to take my freaked-out self to and from the hospital. Great Outdoor Games 2005... here I come!!!
Thursday, January 20th, 2005 Countdown to Surgery!
4 Days and counting until they cut me open! And it's about stinking time!
Because of the limited range of motion I had in my knee, they pushed my surgery back to January 25th. This means less time to get ready for logrolling this summer, but I think I can do it. Plus I have a GREAT support system (see the picture above). :) I bought Ken (okay, who am I kidding here... it's more for me) a really nice digital camera for Christmas, and it's just wonderful! This was from the other night at Pedro's restaurant with Erin and Bob... but we totally forgot to get a group shot!
Life has been very busy this time of year (everybody has the same new year's resolution to get in shape) but I'm loving it. I love my clients and my job. I'm just bummed I'm going to have to miss a week or two of work for this stinking surgery!
My dad just got back from his awesome trip to Chicago, Florida, and Indiana. Wouldn't it be nice to be retired? So now I get to spend more time with him... and he can drive me around with my crippled leg in the new minivan!
The rest of the excitement in my life is with the Shape Up with Shana deal. (I just stuck in the photo from Channel 3 below). We are getting a GREAT response! I don't believe I mentioned this, but we are having locals write to Channel 3 about why they need a personal trainer and a free health club membership for a year. I get to read through the letters after surgery and pick the client. From what I've heard we have a HUGE response to this, so I'll have my work cut out for me, but I can't wait! We will follow up with my client's training and success monthly on air. Alright, I need to get to work, but I'll be updating with the fun details of surgery and being immobile very soon!
Thursday, December 30th, 2004 Shape Up with Shana!
Believe it or not, I actually got my own spot on Channel 3 morning news!
My first segment "3 Ways to a Fit New Year" will air Monday morning during
the 6-7am news, and will be replayed in the 9-10am news spot as well!
I can't wait! Thank you so much to Doug for setting this all up!
Messages have been lacking recently due to EXTREME busyness at work (this is
the time of year to get in shape ya know) and laptop hiccups.
My Holidays were GREAT and filled with food and family as usual. I'm
looking forward to Ken flying back home tomorrow and having a great New
Year! Please be safe tomorrow night, which means NO DRINKING AND
DRIVING.
Happy New Year everybody.
Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 Media Fun!
There is always a silver lining to every cloud, and my silver lining came in the form of some great media exposure from my weekend of pain.
Ian Sitren wrote a great article for bodybuilding.com:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other29.htm Also John Stutz posted his favorite photos from our shoot. The last 14 are from November 17th (just the other week). The first few were shot exactly one year earylier. These can be found at:
http://www.johnstutz.com/set.asp?fit_girls,shana_martin Lastly, I've been informed that many of you are unaware of the awesome Yahoo Group that was created for me. To take a peek and maybe even join, just visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShanaMartin/
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I sure did... <burp> :)
Monday, November 29th, 2004 Fitness America Nationals 2004... a Bust!
Before...
After...
When somebody told me to "break a leg" at Fitness America this year, I must
have taken it literally! No, actually nothing was broken, but I did
blow out my knee fairly bad.
My week in LA started off wonderfully... seeing old friends, visiting
Meridian (the awesome club I used to work out at out there), several photo
shoots, and was even able to squeeze in a bit of surfing with Matt and
Maggie! And MAN was that surfing beautiful. The waves were
pretty closed out, so we didn't really catch anything, but the sunset we saw
out ranks any I've ever seen. It was so wonderful just sitting on my
board back in the ocean watching that. Those days were a bit busy
between rounding up all of my props for Fitness America (a HUGE thanks goes
out to Maggie for lending me all of my lumberjack stuff) and going to photo
shoots. I had yet another VERY successful photo shoot with
John Stutz.
We spent the day in BFE California under the hot sun shooting in some of the
most beautiful areas I have seen. I got to play in the sand half-naked
along a busy highway, cut my feet on a historic railroad car, and hang off
of a bridge about 60 feet over a rocky stream. Needless to say John's
shots turned out AMAZING (see the "before" shot on this entry), so I will
have some of those posted on the site ASAP.
Then it was off to Disneyland for Fitness America Nationals. Day 1 was
meetings, media stuff, and learning our opening number. It was so
wonderful seeing everybody again! All of us girls have such a sense of
closeness because of all the hard work that goes into preparing for a
contest like this. No catfights here. During media time I got in
a few more photo shoots (again, I'll post some of those shots once I get
them), and opening number rehearsal was MUCH shorter than last year's.
Ken arrived that evening only to be freaked out by how dark and skinny I
was, but I think he got over it once the initial shock wore off. I
mean seriously, how weird is it to have to paint your girlfriend brown with
a foam brush before bed every night?
The morning of prelims I felt great. Beside the normal number of
butterflies, I was totally ready. I started my routine, did my first
back tuck, them BAM... my knee went in a way it totally wasn't supposed to.
So did I stop? Do I look that bright? So yeah, thinking the
injury was all in my head, I continued my routine, tumbling pass and
everything. Each landing my knee wobbled in and out, and after looking
at some of the stage photos, I looked petrified. Finally I realized
the injury wasn't just in my head, and I collapsed on stage. I was
carried off stage, and hauled to the ER in an ambulance. Thank god Ken
was there to hold my hand the entire time. In the ER I could not stop
crying for the life of me, and it wasn't even because of the pain. I
worked SO hard for months to make this my big year at Fitness America, and
with one little landing, it was all over. Not just that, but there was
(and still is) a possibility I wouldn't be able to logroll in the summer of
2005. The nurses kept offering me morphine, and I had to explain that
I wasn't in pain... just an emotional wreck. They put me in a brace,
gave me some drugs, and sent me on my way. I spent the rest of the
weekend hanging out backstage with the girls, or watching from the audience.
I can't even explain how hard it was to watch the finals... especially with
the thought that I possibly could have been there this year.
Anyway, Sunday Ken and I had a super fun Character Breakfast (Hawaiian
themed!) at Paradise Pier Hotel in Disneyland. I totally embarrassed
Ken with my excitement over all of the Disney Characters... especially
Stitch. :) Pluto was really nice, he held my leg and licked it
to make it all better! After breakfast I took Ken on the grand 1-day
LA tour. I showed him my old apartment, Meridian, Malibu, Hollywood
Blvd., and the Grove.
The next day I got my MRI back at home, and the results SUCKED. I
completely tore my ACL, and the MCL is just about gone. So now I get
to gimp around until surgery sometime in December. I think I'll
survive this one though, and now I'll get to learn all about knee injuries!
Plus I get to see Ken more because he has to drive me everywhere.
hehe.
BTW, the hot girl in the "after" shot with me is Stephanie Beeken. Her
and Liana were my buds the entire weekend, and both made finals!
Well, I'm going to try to lift a bit (upper body of course) so I'm out.
But first, I want to thank all of the wonderful girls who supported me
through my crazy weekend at Fitness America... it's amazing how many of
these girls had knee surgery and are still at it! And I really need to
thank Ken... I've never had anybody care so much for me. I got carried
across Disneyland on his BACK... how amazing is that? I am one lucky
girl.
Sunday, October 31st, 2004 Happy Halloween!!!
This is a shot from my most recent photo shoot with Jim Berkvam, who I've
totally already reserved for my wedding! No worries, no wedding plans
in the near future, but when I do get married, Jim will be there! If
anybody is interested in having him photograph your wedding or event check
him out: http://www.jimberkvam.com
So today is Halloween! Sweet! At first I thought this was going to be the world's most boring weekend, but it ended up being a blast! Friday I purchased my costume, and even entered a costume contest! The only reason I had the guts to do that was because the grand prize was two trips to Vegas! I didn't win, but saw some other sweet costumes! Yesterday was spent being lazy, and finding a costume for Ken. Every year thousands of people hit State Street in downtown Madison, for an insanely crazy Halloween party. We couldn't go costumeless! We started the night off at Doug's house, but once we were flooded out with high school kids we went over to State Street. (I know daddy, I told you I wouldn't go... but we only stayed for a little bit!) Our costumes? I was the one and only Wonder Woman, and Ken was sporting the Michael Phelps look... with no shirt! I chickened out and covered up with sweats, but Ken made it the whole way! I think he's still off shivering somewhere though... A huge thank you also goes out to the Madison Police and Fire Department for making this year's event safe and under control. No riots... and there was free pizza for everybody! And yes, I'll find some of those pics when I can and try to get them up here!
The recent days have been filled with working at Supreme, picking up some new awesome clients, training for Fitness America, surfing at Kalahari, and spending time with Ken! I'm currently three weeks out from Fitness America at Disneyland... and I'm so excited! The routine is finally coming together, diet is going kind of well, and I took the whole week off to play in LA! Alright, I'd write more but I just worked out and I'm hungry for dinner! More updates to come... please remember to vote on Tuesday...I've done a good job of keeping my mouth shut on political stuff...but as a volunteer for planned parenthood, and an advocate for stem cell research here at the University of Wisconsin.... I'd like you all to REALLY sit back and think about how important your vote is to me, those affected with neurodegenerative diseases, and women throughout America, this time around.
Thursday, October 7th, 2004
Summer's End
I know, it's been eons since this website has been updated, but I have a real excuse! As you probably have noticed, my website was redone by the wonderful Mike Betz. Mike and I are both busy people, so it took us this long to hand the web log section over to me! Hopefully this site will be totally finished before the year is up!
Last week we took the logs out of the water and packed them away for winter. BUT for those of you still interested in rolling over the winter, Olivia and I (and sometimes Ken) teach a class at the Madison West YMCA. Also, Olivia and I are doing several logrolling demos and classes at Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells! We'll be there all day Saturday and Sunday this weekend, Sunday Oct. 24th, and Nov. 13-14. On top of that, I am finally going to take my surfing lessons and start using the flowrider! The answer to my prayers... indoor surfing in Wisconsin. It's quite a bit different than regular surfing, so we'll see how it goes.
It's also that time of year again... getting really skinny for photo shoots and Fitness America Nationals in Cali! I had my routine choreographed by the absolute BEST in the business, Cathy Savage out in Boston. Now it's just a matter of me being able to pull off this hard routine! I'll be flying out to LA (yippee!!!) November 15th, and staying the entire week. You can bet your butt I'll be hitting the waves in Malibu once again! But on that note, I am also loving life here in Madison. I start each day with a smile on my face, and a sense of being complete.
What else? After logrolling season I had some new found free time. So I've started volunteering for planned parenthood (no worries, political beliefs will stay off this site from now on) and the adapted fitness class I used to be a TA for. It's also been nice to have extra time to spend with my mom. Now that the web log is back in my hands, expect much more frequent updates!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2004 Air Dates and Times
Thanks J.R.
http://espn.go.com/gog04/timber/s/04_timber_mix_boom_run_final.html
Thursday, July 8th, 2004
Me teaching Z104's sexiest DJ Ben Casey how to logroll on-air this morning. ESPN Once Again It's happening again folks! But to make the Great Outdoor Games 10 times as wonderful.... I don't have to travel anywhere! They are right here in my hometown of Madison, WI. Before I talk at all about the games, I'd like to thank everybody who helped me promote the games, my logrolling program, and Huntington's Disease awareness: Channel 27 and Jake Zimmerman, Channel 15 and Jeremy Woods, the CBS morning show, The Wisconsin State Journal and John Nolan, The Capital Times and Adam Mertz, Z104 and Ben Casey. ALL of these wonderful media sources made me feel so special this week! Not only that, but many of them also discussed Huntington's Disease, the brain disorder my mom suffers with and I am at risk for. Now... logrolling. I returned from the beautiful land of Cali about a month ago to this rainy, tornado filled state of Wisconsin, and I couldn't be happier. I'm back working at the BEST health club in the nation (and now I can say I've been all over to prove it!) Supreme Health and Fitness, enjoying my favorite sport of all time (logrolling), and with my best friend in the whole world (Erin Hallen)*. Not to mention I am around my wonderful parents all the time as well. Olivia (my partner in crime) and I have rolled just about EVERY day since I got back to Madison, and my legs sure are feeling it! We are teaching four classes at Lake Wingra, and two at the YMCA, so needless to say, this summer is busy busy busy! This weekend I will be competing in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games boom run and mixed doubles boom run. Because I totally blew it at the World Championships last year, I JUST missed qualifying for logrolling by one spot. But hey, I'm still in the games and I'm going to have a BLAST this weekend! I will be competing this Saturday 7/10 at 11am and 4pm. 4pm will probably be a better time to watch, because I hopefully won't be eliminated as fast as I will in the morning! So stop by the Allient Energy Center and have a look at the WONDERFUL production ESPN puts on. For more scheduling information or TV air dates/times visit: http://www.greatoutdoorgames.com Wish me luck this weekend!!!
* Tiffanie, you too! Thanks for the phone message! hahahaha Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004
Wisconsin Summers Yep, I'm back in the great state of Wisconsin. I had a VERY hard time at first, because I do miss Cali very much, but after plenty of logrolling, and playing up north, I can honestly say I'm glad to be back. Last weekend I went up to Mike's place in the middle-of-nowhere-northwoods-Wisconsin. What a blast! Lots of pig roasting, four-wheeling, volleyball playing, bonfire building, and of course, beer drinking. Talk about getting thrown back into Wisconsin life at full speed! The photo above is my favorite puppy in the whole world... Harley. Little does Mike know I now call Harley my own and plan to drive up there and abduct him. ;) I'm currently back in Madison staying busy with starting the new logrolling program, my new position at Supreme, and buying a new car. I got the car thing taken care of last week. I didn't end up getting a super-sexy convertible like I wanted; I actually grew some brains and bought inexpensive, reliable car that gets great gas mileage: the Scion Xa. So yeah, it's not the prettiest car in the world, but it runs great and saved me a lot of money! The problem is it's SO new it won't be here for another two weeks. So a HUGE thanks to Jake for loaning me his...you won't believe this...NEON for the next few weeks. I just can't get away from those darn cars! The logrolling is also going wonderful. I've been on a log just about everyday since I got back! I probably won't have a super stellar ranking in the logrolling circuit because I am WAY out of practice. But hey, as long as I'm having fun and doing the sport I love. Also, if you know of anybody in the Madison area interested in logrolling, I have plenty of spots open in my Lake Wingra Class. Drop me an e-mail at: shana@shanamartin.com for more info. Well, I'm off to the lake to do some rolling... have a great day! Saturday, June 5th, 2004
Cleo-Patrick Martin 1987 - 2004
The day I thought would never come has... I lost my baby. Just after my 8th birthday my parents finally decided I could have a pet. We went to this pet store down the street and I had the pick of three cats. Two were sound asleep and the third was going insane! Of course I picked that one. :) Even though this cat was a male, I decided to name him Cleo, changing "Patra" to "Patrick". After a bout with ear mites, destroying our new blinds, and trying to pick the perfect cat food, Cleo was settled. Cleo was something special to everybody in this house. My mom was starting to become seriously ill with Huntington's Disease while Cleo was young. He was one of her last remaining joys in this house. After Cleo became a member of our family, my mom fell in love with Cats. Almost everything she owned had a cat on it! To this day pictures of Cleo and other cats are all over her room at the nursing home. This may sound insane, but Cleo was the sibling I never had. My childhood memories are filled with playing and snuggling with him. When things were scary at home, I would curl up with Cleo in my room and cry. It always seemed like he understood. When I went off to college I had some more hard times, and would come home to my dad and Cleo. That cat wouldn't leave my side for a minute when I was sad. My mom left for the nursing home in 1993, and I moved out in 2000, which left my dad here alone with Cleo. I always worry about my dad, but I knew he would be alright with Cleo here to take care of him. I arrived back in Madison yesterday to an empty house. Cleo passed away last February due to organ failure. My dad decided to keep the news from be because I was having such a wonderful time in California. I knew Cleo was over 16 years old, and he didn't have a lot longer, but he's my baby and some small part of me hoped he would just live forever. Cleo is a part of almost all of my childhood memories, and will never be forgotten.
Sunday we got up bright and early to run the Madison Marathon 10K race. (No, we didn't do THIS Marathon, but stay tuned for the Chicago Marathon...) It was a bit rough (my excuse is dancing so late at the wedding the night before) but Ken and I both got decent times. We left right after the race, only to find out later Ken actually won his division! Nice job for his first 10K ever! I got 6th which is much better than I thought. After recovering our legs a bit, we went over to BratFest (if you aren't from Wisconsin, check out the website) which totally goes against everything a personal trainer believes in... but as a true Wisconsinite, I am obligated to do my fair share in breaking the brat world record. Monday we got up nice and early and FINALLY made the veggie garden in my backyard. It took us several hours to work the dirt and dig and hoe and plant... woof that was a good work out. But now the garden is done, and hopefully in a few months we will have some nice pumpkins, spinach, corn, carrots, and sunflowers!
After gardening we went canoeing all around Lake Wingra with Erin and Bob. Of course Ken and I are a bit too hyper to be able to just sit in a canoe for an hour, so within a few minutes we were in the water trying to tip other people...hehhehehe.
Then, after bringing some logs to the lake (finally!) we took my dad to one last round of BratFest. They already closed, but Ken managed to talk them into giving us some leftovers. Now it's back to the grind, which is so hard to do after a beautiful and fun weekend!
Wednesday, May 4th, 2005
Photos and
Funnies!
Above is a
photo of me in a (duh duh dunnnn...) DRESS!!! This was at the UW Vet
School Spring Dance, happy as ever with Ken.
Below is an e-mail from Ken's mom. If you've ever seen the movie "Cats
and Dogs" this totally rings true!
EXCERPTS FROM
THE DOG'S DAILY DIARY8:00 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite!
9:40 am - Oh Boy! A walk! My favorite!
10:30 am - Oh Boy! A car ride! My favorite!
11:30 am - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
12:00 noon - Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
1:00 pm - Oh Boy! The yard! My favorite!
4:00 pm - Oh Boy! The kids! My favorite!
5:00 pm - Oh Boy! Dog food! My favorite!
5:30 pm - Oh Boy! Mom! My favorite!
6:00 pm - Oh Boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6:30 pm - Oh Boy! Sleeping in master's bed! My favorite!
EXCERPTS FROM THE CAT'S DAILY DIARY:
Day 283 Of My Captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture.
Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair; must try this on their bed. Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan.
There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage. I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has got to be an informant, and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of time...
Wednesday, April 20th, 2005 In Oxygen Magazine! I just got my photo and a small bio in the June issue (on the newsstands as of yesterday) of Oxygen Magazine (page 180). I'm very excited about this, BUT, not at all happy with the photo which was chosen. So this is my disclaimer. The photo was chosen by my photographer, John Stutz, who does INCREDIBLE work. And it is obvious why he chose it: it's an amazing picture! The blue sky in the background, with the sandstone behind me really does look beautiful. The problem is I DON'T look good! But I've decided not to complain, because if I follow through with my dreams, I will be in Oxygen many more times, and have the chance to show what I really look like!
Other exciting news: we're getting a boom run here in Madison! Bob Glebs of Wingra Canoe and Sailing Center (where we teach our log rolling classes) is allowing us to put one in! It will cost a bit of $ and will take some work to get the logs down to Madison, but it will be well worth it! Now we won't have to keep bugging Jamie to let us use him! Plus we'll save a ton of driving! So all of you rollers... now you REALLY have an incentive to come train in Madison! I am so anxious to get back on the lake and get rolling, it's driving me crazy! Ken and I have been going down to the dock almost everyday to hang out and enjoy the scenery... but the water is still freezing! I'm staying busy at work, and am almost finished with my knee rehab! I've run one race so far, and have another tomorrow, then Saturday. Please let me know if you are interested in joining me! Ken is finishing up his second year at vet school, which includes fun activities such as the Spring Dance (I had to wear a dress... ack!) and a Pig Roast this weekend. Fun times! I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get them.
I hope everybody's spring is going well, and you are all getting a chance to get outside and enjoy the weather!
Saturday, March 26th, 2005
Disney World It
Is!!!
It's official: the 2005 ESPN Great Outdoor Games will be at
Disney World's ABC Wide World of Sports Facility
July 7th - 10th. I'm so excited! Other than Madison, that is the
best place I could imagine having it! Hopefully my grandparents will
be able to make it up from Sarasota to watch the competition!
This year I was lucky (and by lucky I mean lucky) enough to qualify in both
the log rolling and boom run events. Unfortunately, they removed the
mixed doubles boom run from the line up, but rumor has it, prize money for
the other events has gone sky high!
Not a whole lot of other news in my world. Work has been very busy,
which is GOOD! My
"Shape Up with Shana" segments on Channel 3 news will now air
every two weeks, rather than once a month! Rehab update: I'm able to run and log roll again! I still have to take it very slow (which is fine, because I'm WAY out of running shape right now!) but man does it feel great! Here are the local races I plan to run over the next few weeks: April 9th: Bucky's Race for Rehab 5K April 21st: UW Kinesiology Poker Run 5K April 23rd: Palmer Bros. Memorial Run April 30th: Crazylegs Classic 5mile May 12th: Meriter Nurses' Run 5K (or 10K if I'm feeling up to it!) June 5th: Lake Mills Triathlon So lots of athletic things to look forward to! It's amazing how much one learns to appreciate physical activity when it's taken away for so long! I hope everybody has a happy Easter!
Monday, February 20th, 2005 We Jumped!!!
(click for full image)
From L to R: 1 random guy who was assigned to jump with our team because his team didn't show, Peter Verstegen (Superman), Ken Goldrick (fish boy), Me (Wonder woman), Stacey Brickson (batgirl), and Katlin Verstegen (Super girl). Thanks to those of you who supported us! We had an absolute blast! And YES it was very cold! Thank you to Madison.com for the photo.
Saturday, February 12th, 2005
Polar Plunge!
On Saturday, February 19th, myself and a few of my brave friends will be
jumping into a hole in the ice of lake Monona in support of our local
Special Olympics. The mission of the Special Olympics is "To
provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of
Olympic-type sports for children and adults with cognitive disabilities,
giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness,
demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts,
skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes
and the community."
In other words, enabling EVERYBODY, even those who suffer from disabilities,
the chance to enjoy sports, and fitness. This year I finally got the courage to jump, along with Ken, Jessie, Peter, and Jason. Our team name is "Eckes and the Super Friends" which means I get to wear my Wonder Woman costume once again! Now I would like to ask for some help. Yes, I'm asking for a bit of money. Even if it's only $2... anything will make a difference. To donate online, please visit my donation page. I promise pics of us freezing cold superheroes will be posted soon after the event!
Friday, January 28th, 2005
Finally! Updates were done to the following sections: Life, Modeling, and Links. They are still a work in progress!
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 Surgery MORE than a Success!
So the surgery went much better than expected! After going under, I was awaken about an hour early, with only a small bandage on my leg! After going in, they saw the ACL had actually pulled itself together in a way, thus it didn't need to be replaced. Also, my meniscus was just fine! I'm already walking around without crutches today, and hopefully I'll be able to get back to all of my athletics in less than a month! I do have to miss work the rest of this week because they did cut into my leg, and we want to prevent swelling. Anyway, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now! Thank you for all of your kind e-mails of well wishes. And a HUGE thanks to Ken, who missed a whole day of school to take my freaked-out self to and from the hospital. Great Outdoor Games 2005... here I come!!!
Thursday, January 20th, 2005 Countdown to Surgery!
4 Days and counting until they cut me open! And it's about stinking time!
Because of the limited range of motion I had in my knee, they pushed my surgery back to January 25th. This means less time to get ready for logrolling this summer, but I think I can do it. Plus I have a GREAT support system (see the picture above). :) I bought Ken (okay, who am I kidding here... it's more for me) a really nice digital camera for Christmas, and it's just wonderful! This was from the other night at Pedro's restaurant with Erin and Bob... but we totally forgot to get a group shot!
Life has been very busy this time of year (everybody has the same new year's resolution to get in shape) but I'm loving it. I love my clients and my job. I'm just bummed I'm going to have to miss a week or two of work for this stinking surgery!
My dad just got back from his awesome trip to Chicago, Florida, and Indiana. Wouldn't it be nice to be retired? So now I get to spend more time with him... and he can drive me around with my crippled leg in the new minivan!
The rest of the excitement in my life is with the Shape Up with Shana deal. (I just stuck in the photo from Channel 3 below). We are getting a GREAT response! I don't believe I mentioned this, but we are having locals write to Channel 3 about why they need a personal trainer and a free health club membership for a year. I get to read through the letters after surgery and pick the client. From what I've heard we have a HUGE response to this, so I'll have my work cut out for me, but I can't wait! We will follow up with my client's training and success monthly on air. Alright, I need to get to work, but I'll be updating with the fun details of surgery and being immobile very soon!
Thursday, December 30th, 2004 Shape Up with Shana!
Believe it or not, I actually got my own spot on Channel 3 morning news!
My first segment "3 Ways to a Fit New Year" will air Monday morning during
the 6-7am news, and will be replayed in the 9-10am news spot as well!
I can't wait! Thank you so much to Doug for setting this all up!
Messages have been lacking recently due to EXTREME busyness at work (this is
the time of year to get in shape ya know) and laptop hiccups.
My Holidays were GREAT and filled with food and family as usual. I'm
looking forward to Ken flying back home tomorrow and having a great New
Year! Please be safe tomorrow night, which means NO DRINKING AND
DRIVING.
Happy New Year everybody.
Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 Media Fun!
There is always a silver lining to every cloud, and my silver lining came in the form of some great media exposure from my weekend of pain.
Ian Sitren wrote a great article for bodybuilding.com:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other29.htm Also John Stutz posted his favorite photos from our shoot. The last 14 are from November 17th (just the other week). The first few were shot exactly one year earylier. These can be found at:
http://www.johnstutz.com/set.asp?fit_girls,shana_martin Lastly, I've been informed that many of you are unaware of the awesome Yahoo Group that was created for me. To take a peek and maybe even join, just visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShanaMartin/
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I sure did... <burp> :)
Monday, November 29th, 2004 Fitness America Nationals 2004... a Bust!
Before...
After...
When somebody told me to "break a leg" at Fitness America this year, I must
have taken it literally! No, actually nothing was broken, but I did
blow out my knee fairly bad.
My week in LA started off wonderfully... seeing old friends, visiting
Meridian (the awesome club I used to work out at out there), several photo
shoots, and was even able to squeeze in a bit of surfing with Matt and
Maggie! And MAN was that surfing beautiful. The waves were
pretty closed out, so we didn't really catch anything, but the sunset we saw
out ranks any I've ever seen. It was so wonderful just sitting on my
board back in the ocean watching that. Those days were a bit busy
between rounding up all of my props for Fitness America (a HUGE thanks goes
out to Maggie for lending me all of my lumberjack stuff) and going to photo
shoots. I had yet another VERY successful photo shoot with
John Stutz.
We spent the day in BFE California under the hot sun shooting in some of the
most beautiful areas I have seen. I got to play in the sand half-naked
along a busy highway, cut my feet on a historic railroad car, and hang off
of a bridge about 60 feet over a rocky stream. Needless to say John's
shots turned out AMAZING (see the "before" shot on this entry), so I will
have some of those posted on the site ASAP.
Then it was off to Disneyland for Fitness America Nationals. Day 1 was
meetings, media stuff, and learning our opening number. It was so
wonderful seeing everybody again! All of us girls have such a sense of
closeness because of all the hard work that goes into preparing for a
contest like this. No catfights here. During media time I got in
a few more photo shoots (again, I'll post some of those shots once I get
them), and opening number rehearsal was MUCH shorter than last year's.
Ken arrived that evening only to be freaked out by how dark and skinny I
was, but I think he got over it once the initial shock wore off. I
mean seriously, how weird is it to have to paint your girlfriend brown with
a foam brush before bed every night?
The morning of prelims I felt great. Beside the normal number of
butterflies, I was totally ready. I started my routine, did my first
back tuck, them BAM... my knee went in a way it totally wasn't supposed to.
So did I stop? Do I look that bright? So yeah, thinking the
injury was all in my head, I continued my routine, tumbling pass and
everything. Each landing my knee wobbled in and out, and after looking
at some of the stage photos, I looked petrified. Finally I realized
the injury wasn't just in my head, and I collapsed on stage. I was
carried off stage, and hauled to the ER in an ambulance. Thank god Ken
was there to hold my hand the entire time. In the ER I could not stop
crying for the life of me, and it wasn't even because of the pain. I
worked SO hard for months to make this my big year at Fitness America, and
with one little landing, it was all over. Not just that, but there was
(and still is) a possibility I wouldn't be able to logroll in the summer of
2005. The nurses kept offering me morphine, and I had to explain that
I wasn't in pain... just an emotional wreck. They put me in a brace,
gave me some drugs, and sent me on my way. I spent the rest of the
weekend hanging out backstage with the girls, or watching from the audience.
I can't even explain how hard it was to watch the finals... especially with
the thought that I possibly could have been there this year.
Anyway, Sunday Ken and I had a super fun Character Breakfast (Hawaiian
themed!) at Paradise Pier Hotel in Disneyland. I totally embarrassed
Ken with my excitement over all of the Disney Characters... especially
Stitch. :) Pluto was really nice, he held my leg and licked it
to make it all better! After breakfast I took Ken on the grand 1-day
LA tour. I showed him my old apartment, Meridian, Malibu, Hollywood
Blvd., and the Grove.
The next day I got my MRI back at home, and the results SUCKED. I
completely tore my ACL, and the MCL is just about gone. So now I get
to gimp around until surgery sometime in December. I think I'll
survive this one though, and now I'll get to learn all about knee injuries!
Plus I get to see Ken more because he has to drive me everywhere.
hehe.
BTW, the hot girl in the "after" shot with me is Stephanie Beeken. Her
and Liana were my buds the entire weekend, and both made finals!
Well, I'm going to try to lift a bit (upper body of course) so I'm out.
But first, I want to thank all of the wonderful girls who supported me
through my crazy weekend at Fitness America... it's amazing how many of
these girls had knee surgery and are still at it! And I really need to
thank Ken... I've never had anybody care so much for me. I got carried
across Disneyland on his BACK... how amazing is that? I am one lucky
girl.
Sunday, October 31st, 2004 Happy Halloween!!!
This is a shot from my most recent photo shoot with Jim Berkvam, who I've
totally already reserved for my wedding! No worries, no wedding plans
in the near future, but when I do get married, Jim will be there! If
anybody is interested in having him photograph your wedding or event check
him out: http://www.jimberkvam.comSo today is Halloween! Sweet! At first I thought this was going to be the world's most boring weekend, but it ended up being a blast! Friday I purchased my costume, and even entered a costume contest! The only reason I had the guts to do that was because the grand prize was two trips to Vegas! I didn't win, but saw some other sweet costumes! Yesterday was spent being lazy, and finding a costume for Ken. Every year thousands of people hit State Street in downtown Madison, for an insanely crazy Halloween party. We couldn't go costumeless! We started the night off at Doug's house, but once we were flooded out with high school kids we went over to State Street. (I know daddy, I told you I wouldn't go... but we only stayed for a little bit!) Our costumes? I was the one and only Wonder Woman, and Ken was sporting the Michael Phelps look... with no shirt! I chickened out and covered up with sweats, but Ken made it the whole way! I think he's still off shivering somewhere though... A huge thank you also goes out to the Madison Police and Fire Department for making this year's event safe and under control. No riots... and there was free pizza for everybody! And yes, I'll find some of those pics when I can and try to get them up here!
The recent days have been filled with working at Supreme, picking up some new awesome clients, training for Fitness America, surfing at Kalahari, and spending time with Ken! I'm currently three weeks out from Fitness America at Disneyland... and I'm so excited! The routine is finally coming together, diet is going kind of well, and I took the whole week off to play in LA! Alright, I'd write more but I just worked out and I'm hungry for dinner! More updates to come... please remember to vote on Tuesday...I've done a good job of keeping my mouth shut on political stuff...but as a volunteer for planned parenthood, and an advocate for stem cell research here at the University of Wisconsin.... I'd like you all to REALLY sit back and think about how important your vote is to me, those affected with neurodegenerative diseases, and women throughout America, this time around.
Thursday, October 7th, 2004
Summer's End
I know, it's been eons since this website has been updated, but I have a real excuse! As you probably have noticed, my website was redone by the wonderful Mike Betz. Mike and I are both busy people, so it took us this long to hand the web log section over to me! Hopefully this site will be totally finished before the year is up!
Last week we took the logs out of the water and packed them away for winter. BUT for those of you still interested in rolling over the winter, Olivia and I (and sometimes Ken) teach a class at the Madison West YMCA. Also, Olivia and I are doing several logrolling demos and classes at Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells! We'll be there all day Saturday and Sunday this weekend, Sunday Oct. 24th, and Nov. 13-14. On top of that, I am finally going to take my surfing lessons and start using the flowrider! The answer to my prayers... indoor surfing in Wisconsin. It's quite a bit different than regular surfing, so we'll see how it goes.
It's also that time of year again... getting really skinny for photo shoots and Fitness America Nationals in Cali! I had my routine choreographed by the absolute BEST in the business, Cathy Savage out in Boston. Now it's just a matter of me being able to pull off this hard routine! I'll be flying out to LA (yippee!!!) November 15th, and staying the entire week. You can bet your butt I'll be hitting the waves in Malibu once again! But on that note, I am also loving life here in Madison. I start each day with a smile on my face, and a sense of being complete.
What else? After logrolling season I had some new found free time. So I've started volunteering for planned parenthood (no worries, political beliefs will stay off this site from now on) and the adapted fitness class I used to be a TA for. It's also been nice to have extra time to spend with my mom. Now that the web log is back in my hands, expect much more frequent updates!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2004 Air Dates and Times
Last weekend the ESPN Great Outdoor Games were
held here in Madison, WI. This year I competed in the boom run and the
mixed doubles boom run. Unfortunately I was 9th for logrolling (they take
the top 8) so hopefully I will roll in the games next year. The boom run
was over for me fairly fast, Mandy Erdman smoked me. But with the help of
J.R., I was able to win my first ever Great Outdoor Games Gold in the mixed
doubles boom run!
Thank you SO much to everybody that was able to
make it out and cheer the competitors on last weekend... I LOVE competing in
front of the home crowd!
Here are the air dates and times for my events
(these is all Eastern):
Saturday 7/17 ABC Wide World of Sports:
Women's Boom Run 2:30 - 3:30pm (this is where I get my butt
kicked pretty quick)
Sunday 7/18 ESPN: Mixed Doubles
Boom Run 1 - 3:30pm (I get lots of TV time here!)
Monday 7/19 ESPN 2: Mixed
Doubles Boom Run 4:30pm - 7pm
Saturday, July 10th, 2004
GOG Gold
Thanks J.R.
http://espn.go.com/gog04/timber/s/04_timber_mix_boom_run_final.html
Thursday, July 8th, 2004
Me teaching Z104's sexiest DJ Ben Casey how to logroll on-air this morning. ESPN Once Again It's happening again folks! But to make the Great Outdoor Games 10 times as wonderful.... I don't have to travel anywhere! They are right here in my hometown of Madison, WI. Before I talk at all about the games, I'd like to thank everybody who helped me promote the games, my logrolling program, and Huntington's Disease awareness: Channel 27 and Jake Zimmerman, Channel 15 and Jeremy Woods, the CBS morning show, The Wisconsin State Journal and John Nolan, The Capital Times and Adam Mertz, Z104 and Ben Casey. ALL of these wonderful media sources made me feel so special this week! Not only that, but many of them also discussed Huntington's Disease, the brain disorder my mom suffers with and I am at risk for. Now... logrolling. I returned from the beautiful land of Cali about a month ago to this rainy, tornado filled state of Wisconsin, and I couldn't be happier. I'm back working at the BEST health club in the nation (and now I can say I've been all over to prove it!) Supreme Health and Fitness, enjoying my favorite sport of all time (logrolling), and with my best friend in the whole world (Erin Hallen)*. Not to mention I am around my wonderful parents all the time as well. Olivia (my partner in crime) and I have rolled just about EVERY day since I got back to Madison, and my legs sure are feeling it! We are teaching four classes at Lake Wingra, and two at the YMCA, so needless to say, this summer is busy busy busy! This weekend I will be competing in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games boom run and mixed doubles boom run. Because I totally blew it at the World Championships last year, I JUST missed qualifying for logrolling by one spot. But hey, I'm still in the games and I'm going to have a BLAST this weekend! I will be competing this Saturday 7/10 at 11am and 4pm. 4pm will probably be a better time to watch, because I hopefully won't be eliminated as fast as I will in the morning! So stop by the Allient Energy Center and have a look at the WONDERFUL production ESPN puts on. For more scheduling information or TV air dates/times visit: http://www.greatoutdoorgames.com Wish me luck this weekend!!!
* Tiffanie, you too! Thanks for the phone message! hahahaha Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004
Wisconsin Summers Yep, I'm back in the great state of Wisconsin. I had a VERY hard time at first, because I do miss Cali very much, but after plenty of logrolling, and playing up north, I can honestly say I'm glad to be back. Last weekend I went up to Mike's place in the middle-of-nowhere-northwoods-Wisconsin. What a blast! Lots of pig roasting, four-wheeling, volleyball playing, bonfire building, and of course, beer drinking. Talk about getting thrown back into Wisconsin life at full speed! The photo above is my favorite puppy in the whole world... Harley. Little does Mike know I now call Harley my own and plan to drive up there and abduct him. ;) I'm currently back in Madison staying busy with starting the new logrolling program, my new position at Supreme, and buying a new car. I got the car thing taken care of last week. I didn't end up getting a super-sexy convertible like I wanted; I actually grew some brains and bought inexpensive, reliable car that gets great gas mileage: the Scion Xa. So yeah, it's not the prettiest car in the world, but it runs great and saved me a lot of money! The problem is it's SO new it won't be here for another two weeks. So a HUGE thanks to Jake for loaning me his...you won't believe this...NEON for the next few weeks. I just can't get away from those darn cars! The logrolling is also going wonderful. I've been on a log just about everyday since I got back! I probably won't have a super stellar ranking in the logrolling circuit because I am WAY out of practice. But hey, as long as I'm having fun and doing the sport I love. Also, if you know of anybody in the Madison area interested in logrolling, I have plenty of spots open in my Lake Wingra Class. Drop me an e-mail at: shana@shanamartin.com for more info. Well, I'm off to the lake to do some rolling... have a great day! Saturday, June 5th, 2004
Cleo-Patrick Martin 1987 - 2004
The day I thought would never come has... I lost my baby. Just after my 8th birthday my parents finally decided I could have a pet. We went to this pet store down the street and I had the pick of three cats. Two were sound asleep and the third was going insane! Of course I picked that one. :) Even though this cat was a male, I decided to name him Cleo, changing "Patra" to "Patrick". After a bout with ear mites, destroying our new blinds, and trying to pick the perfect cat food, Cleo was settled. Cleo was something special to everybody in this house. My mom was starting to become seriously ill with Huntington's Disease while Cleo was young. He was one of her last remaining joys in this house. After Cleo became a member of our family, my mom fell in love with Cats. Almost everything she owned had a cat on it! To this day pictures of Cleo and other cats are all over her room at the nursing home. This may sound insane, but Cleo was the sibling I never had. My childhood memories are filled with playing and snuggling with him. When things were scary at home, I would curl up with Cleo in my room and cry. It always seemed like he understood. When I went off to college I had some more hard times, and would come home to my dad and Cleo. That cat wouldn't leave my side for a minute when I was sad. My mom left for the nursing home in 1993, and I moved out in 2000, which left my dad here alone with Cleo. I always worry about my dad, but I knew he would be alright with Cleo here to take care of him. I arrived back in Madison yesterday to an empty house. Cleo passed away last February due to organ failure. My dad decided to keep the news from be because I was having such a wonderful time in California. I knew Cleo was over 16 years old, and he didn't have a lot longer, but he's my baby and some small part of me hoped he would just live forever. Cleo is a part of almost all of my childhood memories, and will never be forgotten.