Summer started off with a visit with my good friend, Denise and her family, the day school let out. We enjoyed a pizza night and kids playing. Denise's babies (ha) were born in Russia and she traveled just a few months before we did. It was neat to see our "Russia girls" playing and being friends.
The following week my mom and dad came to their time share for 5 days. Ahhh. It was so nice to be together. We were quite the group though. My mom has a funky skin rash that doctors aren't quite sure what's going on- so she kinda stayed out of the sun. My dad scraped his shins pretty badly the week before so he was avoiding the water. Me. Not at the pool :15 I decide to be "fun mom" and go down the water slide with Lila. I landed and saw stars. Something pulled, zig zagged, SOMEthing not right in my knee. Ugggghhh. I sucked it up for two days and finally went and got an x ray. Nothing torn, but I sprained it. That is slowly on the mend. Annoying. But we managed to have a good week. The girls LOVE being out at Orange Lake. And they did a sleep over- as I had an early doctor appointment one morning so I went home. Always fun to be with Grammy and Papa....and it's been a long time.
This past week we took a trip to Blowing Rock, NC. Ahhhh. It was PER-fect. Just perfect. We left at o'dark thirty in the am and pulled into the driveway of our mountain get away about 4PM. Rich, Mary, and kiddos (and two dogs) were there also. We enjoyed meals, sights, and s'more making with them. For Lina's b-day (my baby big girl turned 9!!) we spent the day at the creek playing- making dams and chutes to tube through. The kids had a blast. Lydia surprised me the most. Lina I expect to enjoy it, get dirty, climb, swim, repeat. Lydia not so much. BUT she LOVED the creek. She got dirty, picked up rocks, played in tube, EVERYthing. It was so fun to see her enjoy the outdoors. Lila enjoys anything she does. She loved throwing rocks in the water...and sometimes hitting a sister or friend. YIKES. Still some learning to do. We went gem mining, blueberry picking, went on two 2 mile hikes, Linville Caverns, ate too much, enjoyed a happy hour or two, and just enjoyed a fire at night, some fireworks, and being together.
I loved escaping from the thoughts of lymphoma. Ugh. I didn't think one minute about dr appointments, medicine, port, PET scans, NOTHING. It was refreshing. Then Thursday rolled around and I started thinking about our trip home and what the week ahead held. I have a port flush this week and an appointment with my new primary doc- whom I just love. My PET is scheduled for August 8. Once I hear that is "all clear" I think, (oh I hope) I will take a deep breath and trust that this is GONE and not coming back.
I joined Team in Training with Leukemia Lymphoma Society and will "run" a half marathon in November. I get to be an "Honored Hero". So funny because the first thing I said when all "this" went down in December....is that I wasn't doing races or any of that....and here I am with a goal of raising $1, 500 to rid the world of this crap. I am hoping to get out to the training sessions this week and some on my own. My goal is to lose 30 lbs and finish that blooming race. Let's Do it! GO TEAM!
This is my fundraising page http://pages.teamintraining.org/ncfl/diswine12/jblackwzfx
Summer is flying by. I hate that. I had such goals/plans for the summer and it's going so fast. What I want to do:
- play with girls
- memory verses each week
- deliberate devotion time
- cursive writing with Lina
- help Lydia with reading
- therapies with Lila
- clean and organize the house
- purge
- embrace cooking healthy meals
- exercise- and get into a routine with going to the Y
- stay healthy
Thankful for each day though- that 's for sure. My friend, Kendra, is still making great progress in Seatle following her stroke. I remember the fight she has and my troubles....don't seem so big.
Here are some pictures of NC!
