Family time...

The kids and I are off to spend a couple glorious days with family......our whole family on my mom's side.

Through this whole cancer journey I have missed my mom so much more so than normal. Every step of the way I have wished I could pick up the phone and call her...or stop in at her work and see her....or meet her for lunch at Sander's like we used to.

My mom died from breast cancer when I was 21. At 21 you don't know enough to ask all the questions you wish you knew the answers to later in life.

The good news is that I know she is with me and I take great comfort in that.

Found these old photos. Love them. The second one is of baby me and my much older sister Suzanne. I still look at her in awe like I am in this photo.

The more remarkable thing about these pictures is that I am sure, quite certain in fact, that my head (noggin' circumference) has not grown since these photos were taken.

xoxox

Finally...pictures of my new hare

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Ha ha ha!

Meet Roxie. She is the sweetest rabbit ever. She came to us, along with a beautiful hutch, food and other accessories, as a result of another family's misfortune. We are sad for their loss but will give her a good home. The whole family loves her. Earlier this week I came home from radiation and was met at the door by Oddie, Scruffy AND Roxie. Hilarious! We leave her cage door open. She is using her litter box so as long as that continues she is free to roam.

xoxo

p.s. I will post an update on me health-wise soon...

Rapid fire posting

Wow....3 posts in one morning. Johnny Test is on TV so I have a glorious little bit of time before radiation.

Since I started this blog I have joked about my "tens of readers". Well, I just looked at the "counter" on top of the page and saw that the blog has been accessed over 15,000 times. So either the same 7 people are clicking on this site 865 times a day or there are lots of you out there caring enough to stop by. Unbelievable.

I just want to say that if you are here reading this......thank you. Thank you for coming to my blog. Thank you for checking in with me. Thank you for caring enough to read my blabberings. Thank you. I know in ever fiber of my being that the reason I am doing so incredible is because, in addition to God's grace, you have lifted me up and carried me from day one.

Now I have worked really hard at tempering my gratitude gushings....for fear that being too effusive would maybe minimize the effectiveness of my "thank you"s. But there is no stopping the prayers of thanks in my heart and head. Thank you Lord...thank you family...thank you friends and supporters. You guys are MY heros!

xoxo

Photos

I want to post a Hair Chronicles Part II but I do not have any pictures of myself. Either the kids need a crash course in digital photography or Oddie needs to grow opposable thumbs. Or, best yet, I will get some photos at our family reunion next week.

I know you are all rivited to your seats in suspense... :)

xoxo

I think it's me...

Every time I call my sister (I won't say which one because, despite this post, I do have some discretion) she either has to go to the bathroom or is in the bathroom or she is at Target...or she is in the bathroom at Target.

It has been this way for years, seriously.

I think I have a very moving affect on her...

... pa da dum.

My picker is broken

I am terrible at picking men (at least the best I can remember...it has been a while) and at picking tenants. I have a tiny little condo near here that I rent out. My latest tenant ditched me without paying July rent, the balance of the deposit (yes, I fell for the sob story when she moved in a couple months ago about needing to pay the deposit in installments) or the big $$$ electric bill.

Her timing is almost as lousy as my picker.

xoxo

Christmas in July!

xoxoxo

I have to remember to never forget...

...how wonderful it is to feel healthy. I am very tired...fatigued...I guess from the 5 weeks of radiation I have had so far (only a couple more weeks remaining of daily trips to see my peeps!). But in general I just feel so much better. It is glorious! And I praise God daily (actually hourly if not more).

I never quite have a grasp on whether I realize how sick I was. My only real inkling is when I look at pictures of myself then, even smiling and happy-looking, it has a visceral effect on me. I feel nauseous and I get a metalic taste in my mouth. It is yuck! ( yuck is a big technical term I like to use sparingly).

Kieran, I loved your call last week and talking to you. Your beautiful spirit will ALWAYS outshine your lack of blog-comment-posting prowess, my friend. lol

And finally, I would like to share a couple pictures of my kids in the hail storm we had last week.

The photo doesn't show it but there were big, fast ice chunks coming down so the kids took cover diving under our fancy swimming pool...lol

It was over as fast as it came on.

Anywho, just wanted to send my love to you ALL via the blog!

xoxo

A can of worms...and a walking stick bug

I will start with the can of worms and try to limit it to 10 sentences or less.

I hardly ever turn on the TV anymore (except for a couple Bravo guilty pleasures) but when I tried to watch the news yesterday it was dedicated 100% to Michael Jackson...non-stop. There was nothing about the fallen heroes fighting for our country or the 3-year-old that was abducted or the ethnic clashes in China. I try very hard to stay away from controversy on this blog. And I realize some may be offended by this. I know Michael was brilliant. I am sure he was misunderstood. I am just SAD that our society venerates a man who admits to sleeping in the same bed with small boys. Whether anything happened is between Jacko and God.

Now on to much more pleasant and amusing topics.

Oscar has been BEGGING for a walking stick bug for weeks. No, not another puppy. Not a kitten. A walking stick bug. He has been pleading with me to call all the pet stores to see if they have them, etc. When we go outside he walks into things because his eyes are glued to the trees trying to find one.

Let me back up and say that we have 2 frogs, 15 soft-shell crickets (that were supposed to go to the frogs but Oscar couldn't bear it so they are now our pets), lots of fish, 2 dogs and and a crawfish.

So imagine our pleasant surprise (my voice dripping with sarcasm) when we found a walking stick bug on the patio of our friend Linda's gorgeous home! He was on his back, stiff and still, arms crossed...dead (-looking). But we were still excited to find one. We put him in a box to come home. Well, he woke up! And jeepers is he fast for a spindly bug.

We got him home and settled in a very large plastic box that used to house some of my things. We put a Wall-E coloring book on top as a lid. We went to bed Monday night, happy and content, with our newest family member safely tucked in. He wasn't looking too good though. In fact during prayers Oscar asked God for some more time with his new pet because "he is a really good stick bug...please let him stay alive a while longer".

We woke up Tuesday morning to an empty box. The stick bug was not dead...he was gone. We looked through all the leaves and sticks. No stick bug. Scoured Oscar's room...no stick bug. Looked all over the house, no stick bug. Checked Scruffy's teeth for evidence...no stick bug.

Good news, we found him in the shower this morning. Once they did CRP on me I was fine. Gotta go...headed to Petsmart for a terrarium with a lid and padlock!

xoxo

Spoonerism

I keep cracking myslef up. Last night I was a little bit crabby and knew it. So rather than waiting until I blew an eyeball after telling the kids for the 57th time to get their pajamas on, I decided to be proctive and explain to them that I was grumpy and needed their help.

I told them I was in a "mad boob" instead of a bad mood. Then I proceeded to fall on the couch laughing....

In hindsight I am thinking that was either a subliminal thought or a great spoonerism.

I am going with spoonerism.

xoxo