Just sitting her reminiscing about how far our family (Erin, in particular) has come in the last 4 years. At Jessica's graduation, it occured to me that on that exact date 4 years ago, Erin was in-patient at Fairview University Children's Hospital, and she had already undergone radiation and chemo in preparation for her bone marrow transplant on May 11th. Whew! Heavy thoughts. I remember that radiation, more than anything else, REALLY shook me to my core. It took about an hour to do her radiation treatment (15 minutes for each "quadrant" of her little body -- upper front, lower front, upper back, lower back). Those 15 minute sessions physically made ME ill as I sat and watched that poor little thing, laying there alone in that room clinging to her little stuffed bunny for all she was worth! Though there was no visible evidence that anything had happened after her radiation appointment, I realized at that point -- more so than at any other time in the entire process -- that there was absolutely NO turning back. We had, for all intents and purposes, destroyed her immune system. The thought of it today still makes me ill. All I can say, looking back over the last 4 years is "Thank You God, Thank You God, Thank You God!" We are blessed beyond anything we deserve, and life is just so good! This is one grateful mommy!
Kevin got his new puppy (Sooky), and as a result, we are all pretty sleep-deprived right now. Honestly, I don't remember my new-born babies being so labor-intensive during the night!! Sooky is an Austrailian Shepherd. Kevin found out about a family that had a litter of puppies for sale, so we went and took a look at them. (I have a question - - has ANYONE every gone and just "looked" at a puppy without actually purchasing one?? It's got to be nearly impossible!) They are just so darn cute when they are little. Sooky has bright blue eyes (the bluest I have ever seen!), and she's really adorable. She's just accustomed to being with her 4 siblings and mother at night, and sadly, that's not an option at our house. We (Kevin and I) have taken turns sleeping on an air mattress near her kennel (which she doesn't even sleep in most of the time!) so she's not alone at night. That seems to make her happy. The real reason for the "sleep-deprivation" is we still have to get up a couple of times each night to take her outside to "potty." She's remarkably good about not going in the house, and for that, I am thankful. She figured that out faster than any dog we've ever owned!! Speaking of other dogs we have owned -- Sadie and Zoey are not too overjoyed about the new addition to the family. They are both smallish (Shih Tzu and Shih Tzu Poo), and they are strictly indoor dogs. In the week since we picked Sooky up, she's already grown to the point where she's bigger than Zoey, and will likely be bigger than Sadie (who weighs about 10 lbs) in another week or two. When Sooky wants to play with Sadie and Zoey, you can almost see them "brace" themselves for impact. Sooky is like a runaway train full of joy and energy. I try to keep a pretty close eye on things, and if things seem to be getting a little too physical, I put a stop to it. So far, Zoey (who will be one year old in August) seems to enjoy interacting with Sooky. Sadie just wants to dominate her. There is not much love there -- but I'm sure it will come. Zoey seems to be enjoying herself. Kevin just loves the puppy, and that is kind of cute to watch (this big guy gently carrying this tiny white and black ball of fluff around the house).
Other than that, there isn't too much to report. Work continues on the neighbors house. It's really coming along. On the inside, it reminds me of cabins we have rented in Gatlinburg, TN, so every time we sneek over there to check on their progress, I tell Kevin that it feels like vacation to me. What's not to love about that?
We've started re-doing some of the landscaping in the front of our house. As the weather warms up, Kevin's enthusiasm for all things "outdoors" ramps up significantly. We had an absolutely beautiful weekend about a month ago, and we made the snap decision that we wanted to make some changes to our landscaping. We got a decent start on it then -- but the weather has not been cooperative since that weekend, and now we're getting antsy to get back to the project. We need to remove some sod and move some landscaping stone work. It will look fabulous when it's done, but it's been a slow-go making progress. We are in for a decent week of weather, so if we are productive in the evenings, we might just get some of it done. I don't think it's safe to count on a weekend day to do yardwork. Lately, if the day of the week begins with an "F" or an "S" -- chances are it will be raining. Dang...
One other HUGE development on the home front - - Katie got her temporary driving permit last Saturday! She's been old enough to take the test since late last year, but she just hasn't been overly interested (...which, frankly, thrills this mom!!). Kevin did take her to the license bureau about 2 months ago, but the computers had crashed, and they were not able to administer the test. So, they got up bright and early last Saturday and attempted it again, with much more satisfying results! Now that she has her temps, she's a lot more enthusiastic about driving. I have to get on the horn and make some phone calls (adding her to our insurance policy, and scheduling her "drivers ed" class). Man ... I feel so old all of a sudden.
And that's the latest from this neck of the woods. Jessica's graduation from college, Erin's 4-year transplant anniversary, Katie getting her drivers license temps, Kevin getting a puppy. It's all good at our house.
Thanks for checking on us. Until next time...
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Feels Like Summer!
Greetings from sunny (...finally), warm (...finally) Ohio! Today the temperatures are going to get into the 80's! There is a pretty good breeze blowing, so it doesn't feel that warm to me -- but it's a DEFINITE improvement from the 50's we were having a week ago. I'll take it!
Life in our neck of the woods continues to be very good. We celebrated my birthday last weekend. Saturday, we had the luxury of a day with absolutely no commitments -- and beautiful weather outside, so we took advantage of it and spent as much time outdoors as we possibly could. Sunday was rainy, but it was a perfect day to relax after working all day on Saturday. Overall, it was an excellent weekend. Kevin and the girls made me dinner and cake on Sunday. It was a fabulous birthday.
This week has been good. Tonight I'm going on an overnight trip with Erin and a group of kids from church. We should be home before dinner time on Saturday. I attended the same program with Erin last year, and we had a ball. I'm looking forward to it.
We have a weekend of beautiful weather ahead (sunny and 80's), so I'm looking forward to spending Sunday around the house working outside.
Jessica took her certification test last Friday. She was a nervous wreck going in to the test, but afterward she said she felt really good about it. It's crazy -- because all of her studies culminate with this one test! It doesn't matter if you're a straight-A student all through college - - if you can't pass this test, you're boat is sunk! Kids that are poor testers probably have a nervous break-down before taking the test. Anyway, Jess should get the results in a couple of weeks. She has about three more weeks of school left, but she said everything they have done to-date has been in preparation for this test, so now she is just coasting until graduation. We will be heading to Wilmington the weekend of May 9th for a reception with the college president on Saturday, and graduation on Sunday. That will be especially cool, since Erin was undergoing her bone marrow transplant 4 years ago when Jess graduated from High School. I stayed in Minneapolis with Erin, and Kevin and Katie flew home to attend graduation. I really hated missing that, so I am really looking forward to attending her college graduation (... and it goes without saying that Erin is excited to be going, too!).
Jessica also had an interview with Cincinnati Children's Hospital this past week. She interviewed with the HR department, and they took her immediately to meet with the team in Orthopedics while she was there. Typically, HR screens applicants and if you make the first cut, they schedule you to come back later for a second interview with the doctors/team members. Jessica's qualifications were great for the job she was interviewing for, and apparently they wanted to move her through the process faster. She said she thought it went very well. Now, we're all on pins and needles waiting for "the call." They offer tuition reimbursement for grad school, so not only would she be getting her foot in the door in a very desirable hospital -- but she'd also be free to pursue her PHd at the hospital's expense. Sounds like a win/win to me! She will be an asset wherever she ends up working. She's such a neat kid!
Katie has an overnight campout thing downtown tomorrow. The kids are "marching" through downtown and ultimately camping out in a park to draw attention to the plight of the "invisible children." (You can check out their website at www.invisiblechildren.com) It's a crisis of international proportion -- but nobody is doing anything to help. Our youth pastor recently asked the teens to commit to helping draw attention to this situation as a mission-type project, and Katie was happy to do it. The weather should be very nice for this event. (I'd be curious to see how strong her conviction was if the weather was going to be cold and rainy during the march and camp-out! He he he) Anyway, I'm pleased to see her getting involved. We fully support them. It's a reminder that this world is full of such horrors, and we are very blessed to live in the country we live in.
So that's the latest form our neck of the woods. Our neighbors new house is really coming along! They started putting the "log" portion of the home up yesterday. I'd love to be home to see that come together. It's really going to be a charming house when it's done, and it will be so nice having another neighbor back there with us.
Have a great weekend!
Life in our neck of the woods continues to be very good. We celebrated my birthday last weekend. Saturday, we had the luxury of a day with absolutely no commitments -- and beautiful weather outside, so we took advantage of it and spent as much time outdoors as we possibly could. Sunday was rainy, but it was a perfect day to relax after working all day on Saturday. Overall, it was an excellent weekend. Kevin and the girls made me dinner and cake on Sunday. It was a fabulous birthday.
This week has been good. Tonight I'm going on an overnight trip with Erin and a group of kids from church. We should be home before dinner time on Saturday. I attended the same program with Erin last year, and we had a ball. I'm looking forward to it.
We have a weekend of beautiful weather ahead (sunny and 80's), so I'm looking forward to spending Sunday around the house working outside.
Jessica took her certification test last Friday. She was a nervous wreck going in to the test, but afterward she said she felt really good about it. It's crazy -- because all of her studies culminate with this one test! It doesn't matter if you're a straight-A student all through college - - if you can't pass this test, you're boat is sunk! Kids that are poor testers probably have a nervous break-down before taking the test. Anyway, Jess should get the results in a couple of weeks. She has about three more weeks of school left, but she said everything they have done to-date has been in preparation for this test, so now she is just coasting until graduation. We will be heading to Wilmington the weekend of May 9th for a reception with the college president on Saturday, and graduation on Sunday. That will be especially cool, since Erin was undergoing her bone marrow transplant 4 years ago when Jess graduated from High School. I stayed in Minneapolis with Erin, and Kevin and Katie flew home to attend graduation. I really hated missing that, so I am really looking forward to attending her college graduation (... and it goes without saying that Erin is excited to be going, too!).
Jessica also had an interview with Cincinnati Children's Hospital this past week. She interviewed with the HR department, and they took her immediately to meet with the team in Orthopedics while she was there. Typically, HR screens applicants and if you make the first cut, they schedule you to come back later for a second interview with the doctors/team members. Jessica's qualifications were great for the job she was interviewing for, and apparently they wanted to move her through the process faster. She said she thought it went very well. Now, we're all on pins and needles waiting for "the call." They offer tuition reimbursement for grad school, so not only would she be getting her foot in the door in a very desirable hospital -- but she'd also be free to pursue her PHd at the hospital's expense. Sounds like a win/win to me! She will be an asset wherever she ends up working. She's such a neat kid!
Katie has an overnight campout thing downtown tomorrow. The kids are "marching" through downtown and ultimately camping out in a park to draw attention to the plight of the "invisible children." (You can check out their website at www.invisiblechildren.com) It's a crisis of international proportion -- but nobody is doing anything to help. Our youth pastor recently asked the teens to commit to helping draw attention to this situation as a mission-type project, and Katie was happy to do it. The weather should be very nice for this event. (I'd be curious to see how strong her conviction was if the weather was going to be cold and rainy during the march and camp-out! He he he) Anyway, I'm pleased to see her getting involved. We fully support them. It's a reminder that this world is full of such horrors, and we are very blessed to live in the country we live in.
So that's the latest form our neck of the woods. Our neighbors new house is really coming along! They started putting the "log" portion of the home up yesterday. I'd love to be home to see that come together. It's really going to be a charming house when it's done, and it will be so nice having another neighbor back there with us.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Here Comes Peter Cottontail...
Greetings! The weather is improving, and Easter is nearly here! Woo Hoo! We have decided to host the family at our house this year, and I've spent the last week working feverishly (... well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration...) getting ready. I've got Easter outfits bought (nearly), Easter baskets goodies purchased (we're making baskets for each family that is attending the celebration at our house), and we're heading out tonight to pick up the food we will need for dinner on Sunday. I bought Erin a cute Easter outfit earlier this week, and, to my great surprise -- she doesn't like it (sigh). Actually, that's not entirely true. She liked the capris, but didn't like the shirt. Sooo, in addition to dashing all over town tonight to get the groceries we need, I will also be taking Erin to the mall to exchange the shirt. My hope is that we can wrap everything up tonight and have the entire day tomorrow to simply get ready. I have never had much luck that way. We have stopped hosting these types of things because I end up so stressed out that it just isn't much fun for anyone in my family - - and honestly, what's the point of doing it if you make your entire family miserable in the process? I want everything to be nice -- and I want the house to be spotless, and the food to be perfect, and the dogs to be well-behaved. And the reality is -- that's just not very realistic. The house always looks fine, and the food is usually very good (thanks, in no small part, to Kevin's cooking skills!!) -- but I'm exhausted and totally stressed out by the time our guests arrive. But ... not this time!! Mark my words! I'm going to dedicate tomorrow to all things "cleaning" and I'm also going to try to do all the food prep that I can ahead of time. That way, when our guests arrive, I can relax and enjoy the visit! Wish me luck!
Our week has truthfully been pretty busy. We've had a whole slew of birthdays this week, and many more to come in the next couple of weeks. My mom's birthday was yesterday, but I couldn't even stop by and wish her a happy birthday because I had to pick the kids up from school on my lunch hour, and we had commitments yesterday evening! I was considering celebrating mom's birthday when the family gets together on Sunday ... until I realized that my mother-in-law will be there, and we didn't do anything to acknowledge her birthday. I feel pretty bad about that, but I wasn't in a very good place with her back in January, so it just slipped by without us commemorating the day. (I can type that here because nobody in the family even knows this blog exists! How cool is that?!) Anyway, it would be somewhat crass to do some big birthday "thing" for mom on Sunday. I'm sure it would feel like we were rubbing my mother-in-law's face in it, and that is not something I care to do. Sooo, in addition to grocery shopping, shirt exchanging, dinner, etc., I will need to find a few minutes to stop by mom and dad's between now and Sunday so I can give her a gift and card. Life is just soooo complicated anymore.
Our neighbor's building project is continuing. I keep awaiting a structure to emerge from the concrete hole in the ground over there, but so far ... nothing. Big trucks keep showing up, but from the view in our kitchen -- no progress is evident. Kevin said they poured the garage floor yesterday. Whoop-de-doo. I want to see some WALLS over there, baby! We have a wonderful vantage point to view the whole project from our breakfast area. It's actually quite exciting watching it all come together. The house should be really nice. So far, we've snooped around a little bit in the evenings (when the weather has been decent), and it looks like they are going to have TWO walk-outs from their basement! TWO! Yikes! I hope their house doesn't make us look like trailer-trash! (Ha!) Just kidding. That was a tasteless comment, I know. Sorry. Anyway, I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying just being a spectator on this project. It has brought back a bunch of memories from when we built our house.
The weekend is shaping up to be a pretty nice one from a weather perspective, and I am thrilled about that! Sunday should be wonderful. We're going to put the cushions out on our porch furniture, set up the new umbrella, and enjoy it with our guests! Take care - - and Happy Easter!!
Our week has truthfully been pretty busy. We've had a whole slew of birthdays this week, and many more to come in the next couple of weeks. My mom's birthday was yesterday, but I couldn't even stop by and wish her a happy birthday because I had to pick the kids up from school on my lunch hour, and we had commitments yesterday evening! I was considering celebrating mom's birthday when the family gets together on Sunday ... until I realized that my mother-in-law will be there, and we didn't do anything to acknowledge her birthday. I feel pretty bad about that, but I wasn't in a very good place with her back in January, so it just slipped by without us commemorating the day. (I can type that here because nobody in the family even knows this blog exists! How cool is that?!) Anyway, it would be somewhat crass to do some big birthday "thing" for mom on Sunday. I'm sure it would feel like we were rubbing my mother-in-law's face in it, and that is not something I care to do. Sooo, in addition to grocery shopping, shirt exchanging, dinner, etc., I will need to find a few minutes to stop by mom and dad's between now and Sunday so I can give her a gift and card. Life is just soooo complicated anymore.
Our neighbor's building project is continuing. I keep awaiting a structure to emerge from the concrete hole in the ground over there, but so far ... nothing. Big trucks keep showing up, but from the view in our kitchen -- no progress is evident. Kevin said they poured the garage floor yesterday. Whoop-de-doo. I want to see some WALLS over there, baby! We have a wonderful vantage point to view the whole project from our breakfast area. It's actually quite exciting watching it all come together. The house should be really nice. So far, we've snooped around a little bit in the evenings (when the weather has been decent), and it looks like they are going to have TWO walk-outs from their basement! TWO! Yikes! I hope their house doesn't make us look like trailer-trash! (Ha!) Just kidding. That was a tasteless comment, I know. Sorry. Anyway, I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying just being a spectator on this project. It has brought back a bunch of memories from when we built our house.
The weekend is shaping up to be a pretty nice one from a weather perspective, and I am thrilled about that! Sunday should be wonderful. We're going to put the cushions out on our porch furniture, set up the new umbrella, and enjoy it with our guests! Take care - - and Happy Easter!!
Friday, April 3, 2009
All Grown Up!
I may be a little bit partial -- but I think my daughters are absolutely beautiful girls! (Jess may take offense that I refer to her as a "girl" - - particularly since she's about to graduate from college and embark on grad school - - but alas, she will always be our "girl." The weekend is nearly here, and I'm more than ready for it. The weather is typical Ohio weather for this time of year. If it's warm, it's probably raining; if it's Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds, it's probably snowing. We've had some nasty rain for the last couple of days -- but the weekend is shaping up to be pretty nice. Monday is Opening Day, and as I mentioned above, there is a chance for snow on Monday! I have to admit - - snow in the forecast in April just makes me cranky. We have daffodills everywhere. The idea of snow right now just seems very, very wrong!
Have a great weekend friends! Until next time...
Have a great weekend friends! Until next time...
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Off the Face of the Earth!
Wow! It's been a year since I created this blog - - and no update! How embarassing!!
When my daughter, Erin, was hospitalized in 2005, we started a blog for her on Caringbridge, and I really found it to be a huge comfort during those days. Now that she has recovered and we really don't utilize her blog much, I decided it might be cool to create a "neutral" blog to just talk about life. No medical crisis, no spiritual crisis. Just life! So here we go.
In the last year, the girls have grown, we got another dog and we finally got a beautiful deck put on the house. We built the house in 2004, and moved in briefly before we had to leave for Minneapolis so Erin could undergo her bone marrow transplant. During the subsequent summers, we have tweaked the yard a bit and Kevin has worked really hard on the landscaping (no small feat considering our property was a corn field before we built our house there!). The yard is coming along nicely, so we decided that last summer would be the "summer of the deck." We started the project in May, and wrapped it up in October. We really didn't get to use the space much at all last year, so we're hoping to use it a LOT this summer (... anybody want to come over for a bar-b-que??). It really turned out beautiful. Kevin outdid himself on this project, and even though it took the entire summer to complete -- I think it was worth it!
We live in a pretty rural area. The lots are each 5+ acres, and it is really peaceful and beautiful on our street. Right now, we have one neighbor directly across the street, and that's it. However, that will all be changing soon. We are adding another family to our "ranks" as I type this. They broke ground on their home yesterday, so I figure they should be moving in toward the end of summer. It will actually be a bit weird having another neighbor back our road! We're used to having the run of the place, so now we'll have to be extra courteous and mind our manners. No more pulling weeds in my super-scroungie shorts in the summer time, and no more "quick dashes" outside to grab the newspaper in my pajamas. Dang.
I guess that's it from this end. I'm taking a vacation day from work to stay home with the kids tomorrow. It's their last day of spring break, and the only day this week that looks to be fair from a weather perspective!
Have a great weekend peeps! Hopefully, it won't take me a year to update again. Stay tuned...
When my daughter, Erin, was hospitalized in 2005, we started a blog for her on Caringbridge, and I really found it to be a huge comfort during those days. Now that she has recovered and we really don't utilize her blog much, I decided it might be cool to create a "neutral" blog to just talk about life. No medical crisis, no spiritual crisis. Just life! So here we go.
In the last year, the girls have grown, we got another dog and we finally got a beautiful deck put on the house. We built the house in 2004, and moved in briefly before we had to leave for Minneapolis so Erin could undergo her bone marrow transplant. During the subsequent summers, we have tweaked the yard a bit and Kevin has worked really hard on the landscaping (no small feat considering our property was a corn field before we built our house there!). The yard is coming along nicely, so we decided that last summer would be the "summer of the deck." We started the project in May, and wrapped it up in October. We really didn't get to use the space much at all last year, so we're hoping to use it a LOT this summer (... anybody want to come over for a bar-b-que??). It really turned out beautiful. Kevin outdid himself on this project, and even though it took the entire summer to complete -- I think it was worth it!
We live in a pretty rural area. The lots are each 5+ acres, and it is really peaceful and beautiful on our street. Right now, we have one neighbor directly across the street, and that's it. However, that will all be changing soon. We are adding another family to our "ranks" as I type this. They broke ground on their home yesterday, so I figure they should be moving in toward the end of summer. It will actually be a bit weird having another neighbor back our road! We're used to having the run of the place, so now we'll have to be extra courteous and mind our manners. No more pulling weeds in my super-scroungie shorts in the summer time, and no more "quick dashes" outside to grab the newspaper in my pajamas. Dang.
I guess that's it from this end. I'm taking a vacation day from work to stay home with the kids tomorrow. It's their last day of spring break, and the only day this week that looks to be fair from a weather perspective!
Have a great weekend peeps! Hopefully, it won't take me a year to update again. Stay tuned...
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