hello three day weekend, i think you will be pretty great

when malena and i were walking to the car last night in the pouring down rain (hello fall in the pacific northwest), i looked down and saw this heart. i love it when we see hearts when we are out and about, especially on days that have been filled with deadlines and stress.

we are looking forward to this weekend, it is going to include:
+++ a 90 minute massage for me (woohoo!!!) after working for most of the day today (boooo!!!)
+++ three campout nights - we are going to start a new tradition of having popcorn on friday nights. i remember having popcorn on friday nights with my parents when i was a kid, and i loved that ritual and it is one of my favorite memories. i am excited to start a new tradition with malena.
+++ a birthday party for nerd at our house (party, party!!)
+++ annual family trip down to the horse races (big money, no whammies!), this year i have the small goal of winning enough that i can retire. let's hope that little dreams can come true;)
+++ making some baby shower invitations for a very special mom's upcoming celebration
+++ working on our pictures and finishing up getting the disney pictures into the album
+++ scheming some more on christmas gifts that i am going to make this year
+++ thinking more about that etsy shop (nerd/jill -- you should be thinking too - hint hint)
+++ catching up on my email inbox (if you are one of the people that i owe an email back to, thank you for being so patient with me)
+++ sleeping in
+++ not working. not working. not working. not working.
+++ catching my breath
+++ starting to read this book which i have heard really great things about

have a great weekend peeps. i hope that it brings you some down time to just be.

make it a good one, i know that i will. xo

flying above it all

"the wind has welcomed you with softness.

the sun has blessed you with warm hands.

you've flown so high and so well

that god has joined you in laughter,

and set you gently back again

into the loving arms of mother earth."

 

 

 

the hot air balloon ride was pretty completely awesome. gorgeous view. great pilot. my friend marcie also went on the ride and it was so fun to be with her as she checked a big one off of her own bucket list.

 

it was interesting being up in that balloon for an hour and a half. i thought about how many times i have been seen a hot air balloon in the sky and thought about how cool it would be to ride in one. but i don't think that i would have ever actually made the step to make it happen had our friends not suprised us with the ride (love you guys). the flight today was a great reminder to "live intentionally" as my very inspiring friend jenny often says, to make decisons about the things you would like to do and make them happen. i think that i very much live intentionally these days (hello skydiving) but there is always room to keep growing.

 

keep growing, that is my plan.

 

as we saw tonight, there is a lot to see if you just look at the world from a little bit of a different perspective.

 

i thought of you all when i was in the air.

 

we got to go to some great heights today, that much i know for sure. 

 

on this thursday, may the wind welcome you with softness. xo

 

ps) to my brother -- since i didn't get home until after 10 and was already busted, i decided to go for broke and write the blog post. you can chew me out on sunday when we hang out all day. but, i am pretty sure that nerd will take my side, so it will be two against one. just sayin'...

up, up and away

one day closer to friday, i am loving that. i really need a weekend again. wednesday is also the day that i will ride in a hot air balloon - very much looking forward to that (thanks jen and mike, xo).

here are a couple of links that i thought were worth sharing:
+++ the openings words, "time is a bullet train", sucked me into this post from the very start. those words are so true.
+++ this post made me smile
+++ i am going to unicorn melanoma every chance i get
+++ seattle seahawks support melanoma education with free cancer screenings and that makes them awesome in my book
+++ wow, these look so good
+++ love kelly's words about what she is grateful. reminder that there is always so much to be thankful for.
+++ inspired by kelly rae's kindness mission and thinking about what my mission will be. you know i am all about the kindness. anyone else in?
+++ so true
+++ i am sucker for lists of good things, and liz's list is full of good things. i especially love the anne sexton quote "put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard." i think that when i do that my soul tells me to open an etsy site to sell my cards. will have to listen a little bit harder to see if that is really what it is saying.

i also wanted to share the latest update on chaser -- keep sending him your good vibes;)
"A little bump in the road......

Written August 26, 2013 10:59pm

It had seemed so long since I had made that drive up 35E to see Chase in the hospital, but while I made it again this evening, it brought me right back to 4 months ago when I did it daily. At 5:30pm , with the cruise set, peering over the wheel with my mind battling with concern, doubt and fear- I headed North to Children's in St. Paul where the ambulance had just taken Lisa and Chase to the ER.
The last couple of days have been a little rough for Chaser. He has been throwing up, coughing more frequently, and as of 3am, had an on and off fever of 103. Lisa brought him to therapy this afternoon, but when they got there, he was very flush and had a fever of 102. She decided to leave therapy and bring him to his doctor to have him checked out. Once there, they determined he had an ear infection, and what appeared to be a little pneumonia in his lungs. After checking his oxygen level, and finding it was only at 84%, they decided to sent him to Childrens in St. Paul via ambulance.

When I arrived to the ER, I opened the door to find Chase lying on the bed in his blue hospital gown, with and oxygen tube hooked up to his little nose, and two nurses getting ready to put an IV in him. He didn't look near as bad as I had pictured him on the drive up. Nor did Lisa have much, if any, look of concern on her face. :) They drew some blood, took some urine and sent them off to the lab. While we waited for the results, Lisa and I ordered our favorite pizza from Pizza Luce and watched some TV with Chaser. The white and red blood cells came back normal! The nurse explained that the X-Rays were inconclusive as to him having Pneumonia or not, but with the thick stuff he was spitting up, and his breathing where it is, and his fever, there is a good chance there is some kind of virus or infection, so they put him on an andtiboitic. Once done getting his initial med, they transferred us up to the unit we had spent the first three weeks back home in. When we arrived to the room, we were greeted by a very familiar pretty smile that had taken such good care of Chaser 4 months ago- Mary! She had even drawn Chaser a little Captain America sign on the dry erase board to welcome him back. Knowing Chaser and mom where in great hands, and with his vitals looking good, I headed home to the other 2 waiting with Lana. I took the same way home that I had taken there 4hrs prior. But this time, instead of fear and doubt on my face, I wore a grin. Visting that ward again tonight, made me realize how far Chaser has really come. Last time we were there, we were battling Neuro-Storms, muscle tone, sleep patterns, pain, and wondering if we were ever going to get to bring Chase home again. - I truly am thankful for how much progress our little guy has made! He may have to spend a couple of nights there to get over this one, but he'll be ready hit it hard again in no time. God is Good!"

 

i hope that you all have a great wednesday.

 

anywhere i fly, you fly. xo

some other time

"i still find each day too short for all the thoughts i want to think,

all the walks i want to take,

all the books i want to read,

and all the friends i want to see."

(john burroughs)

 

over the last week or so, barrett and i have been kicking around the idea of taking another big trip in october. but in the end we decided yesterday to not book it.

 

living in these three months cycles is hard, and some days are harder than others. today is one of the harder days. i try hard to not let myself get very excited about doing something if i don't actually know that it is going to happen before my next scans. that is one of the main reasons i won't plan major things after my next scan cycle. but the idea of this trip came up unexpectedly and so i guess i hadn't really thought through guarding myself against it. i was just too excited thinking about the possibility of it.

 

so deciding to not take the trip it is a little  pretty rough on me. it isn't a given that we will ever get to take the trip. it isn't like we can say we will definitely take that trip next year. the ability to not make those kind of firm plans, without any doubt kicking in, is a downer.

 

i so wish that i could have the luxury of having the comfort to feel certain that i could take trips in the future anytime i want. all i would have to do is make it happen, book the tickets, make the reservations. i wouldn't have to worry about whether or not there would even be the time to make it happen.

 

some days are better than others. tomorrow will no doubt be a better day.

 

no doubt.

 

two simple words.

 

hard ones to live by sometimes.

oh monday, are you really here already?

this weekend was a good one. our first one at home in a long time so it was good to just be here. i was ready for some much needed down time.

top ten reasons i loved my weekend in no particular order:
1) i didn't work
2) sleeping in and slow saturday morning with fresh carrott/raspberry juice

3) nerd had a good birthday on friday
4) lunch, pedi, and shopping with my friend christina on friday afternoon. awesome way to get the weekend started. thank you banana republic and anthro for having some clothes that i couldn't live without. my wallet and i both thank you.
5) dinner date with barrett on friday, can't really remember the last time we got to do that
6) malena wearing her princess dress all day long on saturday, days are just better when you have a princess around. don't you agree?

7) getting lots of happy mail ready to go out into the world tomorrow, love that.
8) breakfast at portage bay cafe (yum!!!) and catching up with our friend kimberly. perfect sunday morning.

9) getting some major progress done on our disneyland pictures, so happy about that.
10) lots of hugs, laughs, quiet, and deep breaths.

there were a couple of things that i loved and put in to the garage sale, but they didn't sell, and i want to make sure that they go to someone that will really like them.

this purse is from queen bee and is the same bag as this one but just with a different front cover. i took really good care of it, it has been gently loved but is still in really great shape.

i bought three prints when i was diagnosed with cancer, two of them i never put up.

they are both black and white and are 8.5 x 11 in size.

if you would like either the purse or the prints, let me know and i will send them to you. no charge, i just want them to go to someone that i know will really like to have them. plus, it will give me a chance to send some happy mail. double bonus.

i hope that your weekend was relaxing and you too got some chances to catch your breath.

happy monday peeps, another week begins. i am looking forward to this one (minus the work part) as it will bring gymnastics, a hot air balloon ride, my family coming to visit, celebrating my sister's birthday, going on our annual trip to the horse races, and hopefully lots more sleep and rest.

make it a good one. xo

ps) to my brother ---- i promise i will be good this entire week. see, it is only 9:05pm. i am off to a good start;)

friday

wow. this has been a really long week.

i am very happy that tomorrow is friday. i will be even happier when the work part of tomorrow is over.

i an looking forward to the weekend, which will include:
+++ not working
+++ two campout nights
+++ sleeping
+++ more sleeping
+++ putting our disneyland pictures in an album
+++ not working
+++ taking a nap (maybe two)
+++ catching up on life
+++ taking some much needed deep breaths
+++ sleeping
+++ getting some happy mail ready to send out in to the world
+++ daydreaming of how great our hot air balloon ride will be next week
+++  not working
+++ taking a trip to joann's as i am totally going to do this project to make some christmas presents
+++ remembering the rush of adrenaline from skydiving last weekend. if you want to see the video, check it out. forward to minute 7 to cut to the chase.
+++ not working

friday, i am pretty much in love with you. i will be totally in love with you when you get the work part wrapped up.

have a good weekend peeps. xo

ps) to my brother, i know - i know - i know. busted.

updatepalooza

+++ thanks for all of the good vibes and mojo for sharon today. her tumor markers were up, so she will go back in six weeks for more bloodwork. if the results are up again, she will have a ct scan. so we need to keep sending all our mojo, prayers, and good thoughts. sharon is keeping her usual positive attitude, so let's get those tumor markers to head for the hills. go sharon go!!

+++ here is the latest update on chaser and his appointments at the mayo clinic:

Mayo- Day 1

Written 9 hours ago

The two appointments today went well. Man, what an impressive facility! We met with a neurologist first. He examined Chase, checked his vitals, and sat down and talked with us for about 30mins. He said he was pleasantly surprised with Chases condition- Especially after reading his records, and given the amount of time he was without oxygen. He was very impressed with Chases reflexes, tone, skin color-condition, his eye tracking- and his great head of hair! He thinks Chasers recovery is coming along nicely. He recommends that we keep doing exactly what we are doing, and praised the therapy and care that he has gotten thus far. He mentioned a few other treatments that he had researched for patients in Chases condition, but we agreed that none of them are worth the known, and unknown risks involved for Chase- especially when he is continuing to progress as he is. We also discussed the hyperbaric oxygen Chamber- he reiterated what we have already known, that there just isn't enough knowledge out there to put Chase through the potential risks involved. Most of the known sucess stories are from blunt trama to the brain, and not oxygen deprived damage. He is going to take a look at Chases MRI and give us a report next week.

Then we met with a G.I. specialist. Wow! - if he in my dad were alone in the room - the level of intelligent conversation, and big words would be mind boggling! :) He did a quick examination of Chase, and we had good long discussion about his throwing up. He has a few ideas of what could be causing it, but wants multiple testing done so we can pinpoint exactly what it is! Yeah!!! NO more......."we'll just have to watch it".........or, "lets keep our eye on it"........or, ......"its probably because of the brain injury" So we are schedualed to go back tomorrow to see a couple of specialists, and if they can fit it in, we are going to do a 24hr study with Chase staying at the hospital- if not, that will be next week. We are going to do another swallowing test, take another look inside his stomach and esophagus, and alot of other big worded tests that Lisa will have to explain.... :) Lisa has the cruise set at 68 and we are on our way home. We would have been on the road earlier, but Lisa had to stop at Hobby Lobby- which if any of you guys haven't been to, don't bother- nothing for dudes there. Chaser and I hit Best Buy.
Will let you know how the testing goes tomorrow. Have a good night.
God is Good!!

 

+++ if you signed up for the happy mail project you should have received your pen pal info from me. if you didn't receive it, please get in touch with me (and sorry that i am apparently incapable of good organization skills this week). so excited for all of the happy mail that will be going across the us and into canada next week. woohoo!!

 

+++ i am pretty much in love with every item in the mulberry press etsy site. big love. one of everything please.

 

+++ i am booking a hot air balloon ride -- funny how being at 3,000 feet in a hot air balloon now isn't even just a little bit scary after jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet. perspective. thank you skydiving, you make everything from now on much easier. i am going to try and load that skydive video later this week so you all can see it (though i may be pushing my technology capabilities so we will see how it goes. it may work, or i may make my computer blow up. we shall see, 50/50 chance of success of failure).

 

happy wednesday peeps - we are half way there, don't know about you, but i pretty much feel like it should be friday tomorrow. i feel like i totally deserve it after the last two days (loooooong, looooooong days) of work. ugh. i am begging you friday, pick up the pace and get here already.