feeling thankful

Being that it is the end of 2008, I feel obligated to review my year and reflect on all that I am thankful for. Here goes:

• Realizing how special a moment is while in the midst of it
• Having a supportive, crazy, intrusive, loving family
• Falling in the driveway which caused me to be angry enough with Mitchell to yell at him about going to the doctor and then him actually going
• My wonderful friends who understand my need not to talk about certain things or be hugged except under extremely special circumstances
• Dr. Kommareddi
• My neighbor who will mow our lawn, bring us tamales, get rid of our dead Christmas tree, and gossip with me on a regular basis
• Our new baby
• My old babies
• Having a house big enough to hold a lot of visitors
• Living far enough away that people don't visit too often

next steps

I've scheduled all of Mitchell's follow-up appointments, and we now have a date for our preliminary appointment with the doctor at the Cancer Center. I've been rooting around online for information on Colorectal Cancer. Given what I know right now from the surgeon's final reports, I am not happy with what I am finding. I am reserving freak out mode for after we meet with the oncologist.

state of our union

Mitchell is steadily healing from his surgery. He is able to creep around the house now, even making his way up and down the stairs. He's still not sleeping consistently at night, but it's getting better. His incision is slowly healing from the inside out and beginning to itch. There is less and less ooziness each day. His CT Scan results were good. He hasn't developed any large abscesses. But we still have to be vigilant about signs of infection as small abscesses will more than likely develop. The surgeon read Mitchell's chest x-ray and reported that everything "seems normal" to her. We still haven't seen the oncologist. That probably won't happen until next week. It irritates me how long they wait to get the treatment ball rolling. I've got my 34 week prenatal appointment this afternoon. I've been doing well, other than feeling exhausted all the time...but I felt that way before so that's nothing new. =) The girls are doing well too. T has settled down a bit and D's rash is slightly better. My big problem now is getting them back on decent sleep schedules. I am dreading the agony that lack of sleep will bring when school starts up again next week.

the worst things

• Discovering you were getting a birthday massage & facial while your husband was admitting himself to the hospital
• A simple 35 minute appendectomy turning into a several hours long emergency tumor removal and colon resection
• Husband's surgeon calling you at 1:37 am from the hospital to inform you that "although things are fine", they did not go as planned
• Calling family in the middle of the night
• Watching his face as the surgeon tells him for the 3rd time that No, he didn't just have an appendectomy and it's much more serious
• Waiting for pathology reports
• Receiving pathology reports
• Colon Cancer
• Metastasized
• Lymph Nodes
• Oncologists
• Trying to live in the moment because you're afraid of tomorrow

wish list

• Pathology report to come back clean
• Mitchell home by Christmas Eve
• Life to go back to normal

Because I am a Copy Cat

100 Things to Do Before I Die stolen from Naomi Accomplished items are in bold 1. Started my own blog 2. Slept under the stars (I never enjoyed it though) 3. Played in a band (high school marching band geek) 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than I can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo (while playing the accordion) 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught myself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning (during college at Bunhuggers) 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown my own veggies (grew cherry tomatoes this summer) 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked (although I have picked up a hitch hiker, does that count?) 23. Taken a sick day when I'm not ill (duh) 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a marathon (yeah, does training for one count?) 28. Ridden a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in the flesh 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught myself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo's David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported by ambulance 47. Have my portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business (helped start a Foundation) 58. Taken a martial arts class (Tae Kwon Do in college--hiya!) 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had my picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible (really?) 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chicken pox 89. Saved some one's life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Read an entire book in one day Conclusions drawn from this list: I need to go BACK to Europe and I should travel the US more. And I agree with Naomi. How is Adopting a child a general MUST DO for everyone? Weird.

dylan gets pinned

I can recall wanting to be a Brownie. I know I was never allowed...Something about them being some kind of facist something or other. Anywho. On Thursday, our very own Miss D joined their notorious ranks.

Official Brownie *Please note gold pin

Her true reason for joining up -- PATCHES!