FT2LIV

Today I am struggling to see the forest through the trees? In a matter of 2 hours, I now have the dates for my next surgery (metaport installation), my chemo class, and my first round of chemo. You would think I would be prepared and ready, since it is after all through a series of appointments and phone calls that I went to and made that brings us to these dates. However, I feel like I just ran into a brick wall with my bike. Suddenly, this is all real, again. I also hate to ask for help, thankfully, we are blessed with many who haven't seem to tire of our needs thus far. Next Wednesday I will get my port installed and on 9/10/10 I will begin my 12 week journey of squeezing the life out of my cells so that cancer doesn't stand a chance. It is funny, because it is time to get back to reality. The kids start school, at their new schools on 9/7 which is also the day I get back to work, at least part time. So, while we start our lives anew, in our new home with new schools, friend...

Many of you know what I am about to share already, so this will be a repeat, proceed at your own risk of boredom. For the past 37 years I have worked on building my life as a mother, employee, wife, daughter, friend, slave to my dog, and more. On June 2, my world was turned upside down as I received the news that my breast biopsy was positive for cancerous cells. Back-up about three weeks and you will find me at the OB for my routine yearly exam, he handed me a prescription for a Mammogram, and told me that if I felt like it, I could go, now that I am 36...I thanked him and went on my way. About a week later, I found a lump and decided to cash in that Mammogram ticket. I was informed that because I found a lump, I would need a new order for a Digital Mammogram with diagnostics. So, back to the doc I went. Upon examining the lump, he informed me that he felt it was a Fibroadenoma and I had nothing to worry about, but I should check it out anyway. The rest is history and quite a blur....

Most of you know, my Dad..aka. Pop is the the #1 Grand Dad and is always showing the kids to more fun side of life. More often than not, there are "adventures" to be had when the girls get together with Pop, it could be a relaxing game of Nancy Drew, a science experiment with Mentos and 2 Liter of soda, or maybe an adventure in the attic complete with maps and mysterious shops. Last night Sophia, Pop, Jillian, and I took a walk down to the "creek" near my parents house to search for fish and rocks. The girls had a great time hunting for fish and Jillian found a spectacular rock. On the way home, Sophia and I started talking about Darth Vader and much to my surprise she knows pretty much the entire storyline. **Warning: Spoiler** She proceeds to give me all the detail (for at least 15 minutes) around how Anakin is Darth Vader...but he really is Luke's dad!! Well, she must have been shocked by my surprise or just sheer stupidity, so she proceeds to tell me that I ...

OK...so I am new to this blog thing and clearly challenged..but here are my precious girls when Sophia was born. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving day 2003. Sophia and I had an all expense paid trip to Loudoun Hospital for several days because she was jaundice. Poor Dad was frantically trying to make a Thanksgiving meal, host his in-laws, deal with a 6 and 3.5 year old and all the while serve as a nurturing and loving husband/father to the two gals in the hospital. He dressed the girls all up, took their picure, printed an 8x10 of it and brought it in a lovely frame for us to enjoy in the hospital. How sweet is that! Just look at how pretty my babies are. Today they are 10, 7 and 4. Dottie is in the fifth grade and has started to take an interest in so many things, it is hard to keep up. Not to mention the occasional parental heart attack brought on wich such questions as "Can I go to the movies with James...."!!!! She is a great kid though, and we are all so excited th...

Such sweet memories!!!! As I was adding Picasso to my computer, it went through and indexed my photos. Since this is my work laptop, I didn't expect many pictures to be one here considering that I just cleaned them all off a couple months ago. But, look what showed up - these awesome pics of Sophia's first few days in this world!! Look at that proud papa of girl #3. Wow! He looks so young and handsome! And look at my baby girl, so sweet and small. Time flies by so fast, hard to belive that she is four now and trying to conquer her sisters and parents daily!