Random Dynamics

Just had to share a little more love between Casey & his baby sister. Sitting back and watching the dynamics play out between the three kids is fascinating. Actually having to break up the "dynamics" around here, well, that's more frustrating than fascinating. But I still look at them and feel blessed that they are here, and that they belong to me. Even when one of them pulls down his pants and pees in the corner of the family room. A story for another time perhaps...

I received a reduced dose of Taxol this week due to a little numbness in my fingers. The hope is we caught it early enough to prevent permanent damage. Lord knows I don't need any assistance in being clumsy and dropping things, thank you very much. Other than that things are progressing very well, and I'm still on track to finish up June 1 (yay!).

I am so excited about the Oaks this friday I can hardly stand it. I think that some of the survivor's parade is supposed to be broadcast on Bravo on friday from 5-6, but I don't know how much. Watch for Rob & I - we'll be the ones sporting matching pink-dyed bald heads. Kidding. Maybe.

Still Breathing

I got an email from one of my girlfriends this afternoon that said, "You haven't posted anything to your blog in a couple of weeks and it always makes me LOL, sometimes ROFL. Entertain me young lady! But secretly i looked today and the last date you posted something was like the 3rd and i hoped you are feeling ok." And two things stuck out about this message. One - I have no idea what "ROFL" means (seriously, I know it acknowledges that I am 100 years old, but can someone please explain this one to me? Because I don't think it means what I think it means) UPDATE - I googled it, and for those of you living in the dark ages with me it means "rolling on the floor laughing". I was right, it didn't mean what I thought it meant. Two - that maybe some of my friends out there don't call because they don't want to bother me in case I'm sick, but they are checking here to make sure I'm doing OK. If anyone falls into that category, I'm sorry. I sometimes feel that if I don't anything interesting or new to write about then I just shouldn't, but given the circumstances perhaps I should at least update and let folks know I'm still breathing. I'm still breathing. I have received 5 rounds of Taxol chemo, and so far things have gone as well as I could have ever hoped. Taxol is a much kinder drug than the A/C, and although they give me enough Benedryl to sedate a horse with each round, I have escaped any major side effects. I have experienced some "chemo brain", like forgetting where I put things (although, thankfully not the children - I always remember where I put the children!) and forgetting to post to my blog to let people know I'm still breathing. I'm still breathing. Wait - did I write that already? See, this is what I'm dealing with.

Aside from the chemo brain, the other thing keeping me from posting has been that fact that I have been plain old busy. First, there was Spring Break week where I was home by myself with the kids. I don't think that needs any further explanation. Second, my parents were in town last week to help and to attend the Race for the Cure, and my sister & I had secretly plotted to surprise them with her & my two nephews coming in for the weekend. Trying to throw them off the scent for a whole week was surprisingly more work than I had thought. We were successful though, and we had a great weekend.

The walk was awesome. Over 41,000 people participated in the walk Saturday morning. They had a "Survivor Village", and we were treated very well there. They had Starbucks coffee & breads, some goodies for us, and a photo booth to take pictures with your co-survivors. I wished that the weather had been warmer (it was VERY chilly!) but at least the sun was shining bright and the skies were clear. And look, here I am with Indianapolis Colts Center Jeff Saturday!


Jeff, along with fellow offensive linemen Ryan Diem and Kyle DeVan, signed autographs in the survivor's tent before the race. Pretty cool. And after the Peyton incident last summer, that means I am only 7 players away from meeting the starting offense for the Colts. Reggie Wayne, you've been warned.


I wish I had handed the camera off to someone to snap a photo of my whole family there, but I did remember to have a photo taken with the 5 of us. And I don't think there was a little girl there in a cuter pink outfit than Riley.


If only she had stopped moving long enough for me to get a decent photo. All the kids had on t-shirts that said "I wear pink for my Mommy", and they were very sweet in them. It really was a great day.

So, that's what has kept me from updating the blog. I'll try to do a little better. Unless I forget, which is entirely possible. Did I mention I'm still breathing?

This Bow Was Made for Walking

Before I get into the real subject of this post, let me first describe the horrible thing that happened this morning. The power went out! For almost 2 hours! BEFORE I MADE A CUP OF COFFEE!!!! For a minute I played it cool, thinking, "No biggie. I'll load the kids up and hit the Starbucks drive-through", but then I realized WHEN THE ELECTRICITY IS OUT I CAN'T GET THE VAN OUT OF THE GARAGE! Oh, the humanity! I was moments away from bribing my neighbor whose van was in his driveway to take us somewhere, anywhere, that had hot coffee. Thankfully, the power came back on before I could offer to give him one of our children in exchange for a ride to McDonalds.



Now, back to the post. A few weeks ago I took to the internet in search of a monogrammed hair bow for Riley (why I decided she MUST have one I don't know, but anywhoo). The problem with most of them I found was that they were too big and heavy for her fine hair. But then I found Sweet & Sassy Gifts on etsy, and problem solved. Sweet & Sassy offers smaller bows mounted on alligator clips, which are the perfect size for Riley. I was so impressed with the quality of the bow and monogram, and then I got to thinking how much I'd like to have a breast cancer pink ribbon bow for Riley to wear at the Race for the Cure walk. I contacted Sweet & Sassy, and the ladies were so sweet to create this ribbon & send it to me.



How cute is that? It's exactly what I wanted, and it looks adorable on her.



They have so many cute things in their shop, and if you're heading to Disney with your little girl you should check out this bow - it's too sweet. Now I just have to work on getting her to keep a bow in her hair for more than 10 minutes, and I'll be in business.