FT2LIV

We all have those days, where you just start off on the wrong foot, where you are the bug not the windshield. Yesterday, I started out as the bug. My day began awaking startled as I discovered it was 7:09, Sophie's bus comes @ 7:15....and my schedule was jam packed until 9:30PM when I would shuffle Jill home from Basketball. John was off to NYC and suddenly I was faced with the chaos it all, alone. All day I was counting the hours to 9:30, when I would finally arrive at home and could pour a glass of wine and unwind...all day, 9:30 was my time, my mantra, just get to 9:30. At 9:00, I went back to watch the last 15 minutes of Jill's practice and was smacked with a dose of "get your priorities in order" reality. The human spirit and this girl never ceases to amaze me. She has NEVER played BBall and was quite nervous for her first practice, as you can imagine. But there she was, out there, owning that ball, running the court, smiling, and RUNNING!!! I can't explain...

The Affordable Health Care act– guarantees out-of-pocket costs will be eliminated in new insurance plans for proven preventive services, giving people access to lifesaving screenings for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer.  How can you argue with this??? People who can't afford mammograms don't get them, if they find the cancer too late, the cost of their care is beyond fathomable - and guess what??? They can't pay for that care and the taxpayers will, after years of account receivable, lawyers, tax write offs, etc... The Affordable Health Care act is a law, one that was upheld by the Supreme Court...what is there to argue about to the point of shutting down our government?  I am beyond dismayed at our leaders who are clearly acting in the best interest of themselves, their business constituents, and  big insurance companies. It is very sad :( As for me, my life was saved thanks to early detection. 36, stage 1, triple negative and now cancer free for three years. I a...

I seem to only come to this blog when the heavy stuff is weighing on me...so here I am again. For months I have been ignoring the calls and letters of the insurance company that has the claim for the accident Jill was in last summer. In the beginning, I didn't want to deal with anything except her and her recovery. The rest could wait. Then, after her complete recovery from the last surgery, we had a little post traumatic stress to deal with, and then I just wanted a nice quiet, easy summer. Finally, I face the music, thinking I am ready to talk to insurance companies and tell the story to start the closing process. The woman at the insurance company is nice enough, but she needed to know the extent of injuries, impact on social, sports, grades, etc. As I went through the story for what feels like the millionth time, I found myself reliving not only the tale, but the emotion of it. Man, this was a hard year. It hs so hard to fathom what we as humans go through and the amazing str...

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31, 32 KJV) This is something I still need improvement on. While I am so much better than I was before, I still catch myself in moments of weakness where my tongue lashes out and is harsh, even when my feelings aren't harsh.  For today, I will pray and be aware, letting bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be out away....out of sight and action.  I feel that I am tender hearted and kind, but focus needs to be put on my words aligning them with my actions.,,,today will be a great day.  Be kind to one another in thought, words, and actions! Interesting music discovery: Lorrie McKenna - Monday Afternoon This song came on during my devo time with the above verse...a juxtaposition for sure...but befitting considering toda...

...it all turned out to be ok...but these are thoughts written during a recent scare....life is good. So...bad news is that I feel a lump...again, and in the same place I felt it three years ago. Good news is, I am getting an ultrasound on my boob, thanks to my rockin' oncologist who is very cautious and listens. To be honest, I felt this lump a while ago, and doc gave me the ultrasound order in November. I am kicking myself for waiting so long, for letting fear once again take hold and cause paralysis. I hope that God's grace is on my side today and this is just nothing but scar tissue. Shout out to you God, I have faith in my destiny and your purpose, but please don't let that be cancer vs. Amanda, round two. I am sitting in the little closet room in Washington Radiology waiting for my turn at the ultra sound machine, they are running behind, it is 45 min past my appt time and there are still two ahead of me. So much for this being a quick part of my day, no stress, in ...

Tomorrow is Jill's surgery and I am a wreck. I am so full of nervous energy that sitting in front of a computer is absolute torture. After trying for may hours yesterday to sit and work quietly, I finally gave up and took the afternoon off to be nervous. Is that even a valid excuse to take time off?? I ended up running errands, cleaning closets, cleaning the garage - you know, nesting! Is this normal? To be going crazy like this? I hope so, otherwise the men in white jackets may be coming to take me away soon. Today is a little better, since I got some items checked off the list yesterday, I have been successful for sitting at my desk for a little over an hour now...there may be hope for the work to-do list after all. Then again, I am writing this instead of working, so....we'll see. Anyway, that's all, I just needed to vent. Please pray for my Jill, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the nurses, and all the staff that will work so hard to make the surgery a success...

We are throwing a shower for VCU - weird, right? As most of you know, our daughter Jillian and her friend were involved in a horrible accident this summer while being pulled on a tube by a Jet Ski. Jillian was airlifted to a level one trauma center @ VCU in Richmond, VA. It was the scariest day of my life, and I wasn’t sure if my baby was going to make it or what the long term damage would be – each piece of good news from the medical professionals treating her was like a brick being lifted from my chest. We soon learned that she would be ok but that we had a long road ahead of us. Jillian suffered an orbital fracture, a severe concussion, ocular muscle damage, a bruised chest wall, multiple pelvic fractures, several lacerations, and a broken femur. She was in a wheel chair and used a walker for several months and is now back to walking and running, thanks to God’s grace and the miracle of medicine. Her fractures have healed and we are progressing...

It’s true; today I am drawing inspiration from the world’s fifth best party city! No, I did not spend all night out partying with Barack and Michelle to celebrate MLK and the Inauguration. I will not be posting pictures of John and I dancing with Joe Biden and Sonia Sotomayer. The real truth is that my morning quiet time led me to Thessaloniki, Greece – the world’s fifth largest party city! What I learned and walked away with? Peace, Love, and Gratitude. Like Glennon over @ Momastery says: Love WINS!!!! This weekend a friend of mine was talking about Beth Moore, I was intrigued and thought I’d check out Beth’s blog: http://blog.lproof.org/ which discusses a Tuesday Bible Study and asks the question: What are you most looking forward to? That’s a loaded question. Because brilliance is my middle name, I am assuming the question is referring to the bible study and not just a general, what’s up.   Uh-Oh…deep thoughts are coming…do I turn back now and close ...