A Little More House to See...

Here are a few more picture of the house.  It is such a blessing and a miracle for us!  Also, a little bit of a walk down memory lane.  It was built in the early 90's so the wall to wall mauve and forest green carpet along with the tiny flower wallpaper in every bathroom and the kitchen really brings back memories of our first apartment and the style of decor during the time when we first got married.  We have some fun plans for updates and look forward to having space to move around.  

We have loved our current neighborhood and at the time we moved in the house was a blessing too.  God has taught us so much and we are excited to move into a house where we feel like the roots can go down deep.

Laundry room off the kitchen

Wall opposite the washer and dryer

Hall bathroom

Hall bathroom

Boys room - they already have a plan to cover the pink carpet until we can get new laid

Girls room

Master bedroom

Master bathroom tub

Master bathroom vanity

Wanna See the Kitchen?

Zach gets his first tour...and wants to share it with you!

I apologize, I am not that great at "all picture" blog posts.  I will do my best.  I know some of you far away have asked about the new house.  Tonight we were able to get into it again.  Zach was so excited, it was his first time to see inside!

Today I give you a look into the kitchen and dining area...tomorrow some more!

Front view outside

Island in the kitchen - yes we can ALL make cookies together!

Kitchen - looking out the window to the backyard

Looking into kitchen from dining room (shopping for a stove)

My first pantry!

In the dining room looking out the back window

Kitchen - looking toward the dining room

Back view outside

Heart Work

Okay, so I have not posted for a few days.  Let me tell you the truth, you would NOT have wanted to hear what I had to say.  I didn't like hearing the thoughts that have been going through my head and so, I chose not to subject everyone else to them either.

Now though, after a few days of settling into the routine of morning and evening cleaning and repacking of wounds as we wait for over a week for surgery, and getting over the truth that I failed at taking care of my wound vac properly, I am in a better frame of mind.  In fact, I am able to focus on some of my "mom duties" and realize there are a few things that need fixing.

The main thing is helping my two daughters who are TOTALLY opposite learn how to dwell together in peace while they share a room.  Miss Clean and Tidy vs. Miss Messy is not what you want happening in your house day after day after day!  Bless their hearts, they both are trying to be themselves and live the way they are best comfortable.  They will be GREAT college room mates for someone after another 7 years of practice!

For now, the climax of the week came this morning when the blow up about clothing borrowed and not returned as promised was when I realized that I had just let these girls go back and forth for the last couple of weeks, annoyed more than concerned that they were learning to get along and working through their problems in a way that would work for them.  I love that God has given me insight into how each one of them are wired, He is so great to provide the parenting wisdom when we ask! (James 1:5)

With each of them I was able to talk them through the emotion part and get through to the heart part where each of them could be convicted and realize that they weren't dealing with each other in love and respect, putting them in each other's shoes.  This evening has been great, they have come together over sushi and in our house sushi (along with a lot of love) covers a multitude of sins!

Then there is the boys...Ryan is growing up before our eyes.  He stands up to my eye and he is taking on some pretty big challenges.  We have been able to spend more time together in the last couple weeks and I have felt pretty in tune with him.  The littles have also enjoyed that Mom can once again snuggle (even if only lightly).  Matthew and Zach are enjoying stories in my lap and all the things they need to fill their tanks.

Then there is my wonderful, awesome, husband...what a blessing he is to me!  He has taken on every challenge that has arisen from this cancer journey and learned what he needs to and along with the physical needs that have come with the wound packing and the pain management, he has continued to pour out his love and given me the confidence to accept what is happening to me and my body and still make me feel like the center of his world.  What a blessing!

As a little cherry on top of this week of hard emotional work, a little milestone occured tonight.  As we got ready to go out to eat I threw on a pair of blue jeans to wear and it worked...they were comfortable!  For the two hours we were out, I wore regular "go out to eat" clothes and not a frumpy pair sweat pants and a t-shirt!

Some Good News and Bad News

Wow...what a day it has been today.  God has been SO good, SO patient with us, SO much a Father to us in these last few months.  I am overwhelmed with the riches that He has given to us to our family, in our relationships, our perspective on life, in the building of our faith and the coming together as a team to make His glory seen!

It started, a day like many others, except for the slim chance that we could have an acceptance of an counteroffer we got in response to our counter offer.  Someone offered on our house yesterday.  As much as we would like her to be able to have it, we couldn't give it to her at the price she wanted.  So, we countered.  And she countered, and we countered our FINAL offer.  She wanted to talk to the bank today to see if it would work.  We decided not to get our hopes up.

So, like I said, was not expecting anything, still praying that God would allow us to bless her if that was His will (and we feel that we are blessing her with the price and the extras that have agreed to).  That aside, I had a doctors appointment to check on my "angry" spots.  David came with me and voiced his strong concern that nothing seems to be getting better.  Doc took one look and said "lets get her into surgery, it will take about an hour and we will take care of these once and for all".  And, out he went.  So, bad news, another surgery on October 3rd.  Out patient, and short but another surgery.  This time my physical has expired so even though I have had two surgeries this summer, I will still have to go see my family doctor to make sure I am healthy enough to have surgery.  (Although seems I am not healthy enough to heal from the last one so who knows what is the determining factor for THAT!)

BUMMER I am thinking, when will I ever feel better????  UGH!  I went right down to the lab to get my blood work done since I was there anyway.  I know the whole PCI building in and out.  Someday when I get bored with my life at home, I may try to get a job at the Caribou Coffee shop there at the clinic.  It seems like a second home to me!  Of course I will have to get bored with my life at home first and I have too much on my to do list for that!  After coffee with my honey, I dropped him back off at work.

Once home I arranged for childcare with my mom for next Thursday and settled into my recliner with the rest of my coffee.  Not ten minutes later, the phone rang.  The realtor was on the other end telling me that the counter offer was accepted and we need to come into the office and sign the new contract!  It really isn't real yet for me.  A little more after the kids got home and they were super excited.  

I know it has been a hope for so long that now it will take a while to get used to the idea!  I mean, selling our house wasn't even on our radar til mid June!  God has been so amazing to provide just enough distraction during every step of the cancer journey to have my eyes looking ahead toward a great possibility of a new house and then He has had me busy with recovery during the big stressful waiting period of selling the house.  We do not deserve any of the blessings He gives, we are truly thankful that He gives good gifts to his children!

Cancer Files: Bye-Bye Binders!

Whoopie!!!!  I am binder free!  The day came that I was looking forward to and also fearing.  The doctor said I don't NEED the binders to keep me all together anymore.  After week four, my body should be able to maintain it's new shape without much help. (I wore them til week 5 and 2 days just to be sure!)

The fear came from the fact that I haven't been comfortable (in fact, I have been very UNCOMFORTABLE) without one even just laying on my bed longer than 10-15 minutes.  So, I was a little afraid of walking around with everything "unbound".  With the wound vac doing its own thing, it isn't that bad after all.  With the gaping wound being vacuumed closed, it is MUCH more comfortable moving around than it has been.  I am not happy with the healing on the right side top incision so tomorrow at the doctor we will have to see what he has to say about it.  It is funny how the right side that had the cancer has reconstructed pretty well.  The left side that we opted to include to try to keep things even and uniform is causing some problems and that incision is getting worse, not healing.

We will just keep following doctors orders and one of these days we will see some progress.  But for now...I need to find time to get to the chiropractor.  The binder was doing my back's work for it and it has forgotten how to keep me upright without complaining!

Nothing That Pain Pills and a Game of Monopoly Can't Fix!

Pain pills are really equivalent to antidepressants when you are recovering from a major surgery.  Especially if a few complications arise through the experience.  I hit a pretty low low today.  The hole in my incision, the fact I can't keep up with housework, the fact that 11 year olds don't keep up with the housework, and that there is not much traffic AT ALL to see our house that is on the market...well, it was enough to put me in a not too wonderful state of mind today.

Why couldn't I shake these things was my question I asked myself in defeat?  Pain meds had run out and I only had one to last 24 hours.  Again, doctors needed to approve and there was no fax to the pharmacy by closing time.  Thanks to my dad, he took Matthew and his cousin out to the garden with him this afternoon and I got a reprieve and an afternoon nap.  MUCH appreciated!

While I was napping the text came that my prescription was ready to pick up and away I went!  Then, not long after I got back home, David came arrived.  Not just from work, but from Des Moines where he had been for two days in a training.  He was happy to take over and give me time for the pain meds to kick in.  He finished up supper and served it up to everyone.  It wasn't so much that the pain was gone when the medication kicked in, but I could concentrate better, I could tolerate more and I could enjoy a game of Monopoly with my kids. 

Ugh...I have to admit, I am still a mess but God is still good, and I will get through this!

Cancer Files: Recovery Continues

I got home from yesterday's adventures at the Wound Clinic and certainly didn't feel like sitting down and typing about the whole experience.  But then I remembered, I left everyone in my last post saying that I would. I sat down and tried, to no avail.  So, tonight I will give everyone a catch up...

The curious girl in me looked up "wound vac" on YouTube and yes, watched a video of the installation.  It was helpful to know what to expect and I like to be prepared mentally.  It started on Tuesday when I went into my check up with the plastic surgeon.  He took one look at the abdominal wound and said he was sending me to the wound clinic to put in a wound vac.  He (like my husband here at home) said that this healing process is not progressing like he would like to see.  He did a little snipping and a little poking around and then sent me on my way.

Once at the wound clinic I was told that they were working with the insurance to make sure that it would be covered before they put it in since each day I have it will be very expensive (so expensive in fact, that the nurse wouldn't give us a figure).  They got me all registered and typed in all of my information before the doctor came in.  Just hearing him say "Oh yeah, this will heal up quick with the vac in place" made that little glimmer of hope reappear.  Unfortunately, they couldn't confirm the coverage for Tuesday so they again packed my wound full of gauze and sent me home.

Fast forward to Wednesday at 2 o'clock.  I am back at the wound clinic approved by insurance to put it in and get the healing jump started!  It is amazing what it does (tonight when my husband got home from his trip to Des Moines for a conference he was relieved to see it doing its thing).  They put a piece of foam into the wound and seal the area.  There is a tube that is inserted into the foam and when the vac is turned on it sucks all of the air and moisture out of the area.  It keeps the wound together and gives it a much better chance to stay clear of infection.  They said a 8-10 week healing time can be reduced to 2 1/2 - 3 weeks.  I am looking forward to reporting they were right!

Hopefully my picture won't gross anyone out, the kids think it is cool!  They put an extra piece of foam coming from the wound and attached the tubing a little farther away from the hole so it wouldn't cause any irritation.  The wound itself is the part along the bottom.  The picture is after the vacuum had started the suction.

I am looking forward to going in tomorrow and hearing the measurements.  I will get a new set of foam and tubing tomorrow.  In the meantime I carry this little pack around with me that if you listen very carefully at times sounds like I had too many beans for dinner!  It makes my boys giggle so it is all good!

She is Back in the Kitchen...at Least For Today

There is so much to catch up on with my recovery process, but that will have to wait until tomorrow...for today, I took two pain pills and made supper from scratch!  It felt great to be in my newly updated kitchen opening cans, browning and saute-ing as well as mixing up some yummy garlic butter to bake onto a loaf of french bread.

I haven't been very in tuned to what is in my pantry, not being in the food making mode lately so I made a spaghetti from scratch with what I could find here at the house.  It worked out well and tasted pretty good.  Every once in awhile I get to do a little thing here or there that reminds me of my "normal".  Tonight was a good night after a pretty intense afternoon.

But more about that tomorrow...

But They Need Leotards!

Dawn had a dilemma.  She and Stacey love to set up their room with all kinds of things to play with their American Girl dolls (a lot of it is made from things here around the house).  Because Dawn has become a gymnast over the past year, the American Girl gymnastics set seemed like the perfect gift for her birthday.  What is the dilemma you ask?  Well, the dolls didn't have leotards to wear!

Being the creative quick-thinker that she is, she remembered the old socks that she had in the bottom of her sock drawer.  You know, the ones I have said over and over "you need to go through this sock drawer and get rid of all of the socks that are too little for you so you have room for the ones you do wear!"

Well, not listening to Mom paid off in this small way today as she found out if you cut four holes strategically in those "too small" socks, the girls (dolls) will have leotards and now they can use the new gymnastics equipment.  I thought it was a pretty brilliant idea, once again from the mind of my little innovator!

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Three people in our house turned 11 today!  A triple birthday happens every year on this day and you would think by now that I would be used to that!  It sneaks up on me every year!  This year has been crazy on top of all of that because of the house being on the market and me recovering.

The morning started with presents on the table (unwrapped because all of my wrapping paper is packed away).  There was excitement and great appreciation for what they found in the boxes.  After that was my yearly trek to Hy Vee to find the cupcakes needed to supply every 5th grader in their elementary school a birthday treat.  This year, the magic number is 88.  Much to my extreme excitement they were having a cupcake sale!  There were plenty left after I bought my 88 - how did they know?  Maybe it was last year's experience when I left only ONE, yes, ONE cupcake left after I bought the rest of them to celebrate in 4th grade on September 13th!

Much to everyone's excitement my trip also produced a box of donuts for birthday breakfast!

Cancer Files: A New Recovery Protocol

For the last couple of days, my husband has noticed three different areas in my incisions that don't seem to be healing.  In fact, last night, there was a gaping hole.  Because I haven't been feeling the best the last couple of days either, we were a little concern that somewhere there was an infection.  Thankfully, there was a doctor's appointment scheduled for today so we could get the doctors thoughts on the situation.

First he wanted to reassure us that this happens occasionally and it will take weeks to heal, it is what they call "delayed healing".  My thoughts were "hasn't this already taken WEEKS?"  Patience, Jody, Patience.  It is really annoying to STILL not be able to do even the most basic things for my family.  But, getting well is a bigger job than I originally thought.  And now, there are a few more things to do in my day.

These strips that have been soaked in a bleach substance are to be packed into the three gaping places and dressed with gauze twice daily.  Well, at least it gives me something else to do while I am laying around!  The doctor also gave me a twice a day dose of antibiotic to ward off any infection.

He said that nothing is infected right now but we don't want anything to come up so we will take precaution.  What I am worried about the most is whether or not there will be bleach spots on Mom's van carpet since when we got back from lunch, the bag had tipped and some of the solution had leaked out!

Doctor asked all kinds of questions about how I was feeling, achy, headache, nauseous?  Yes, yes and yes.  David asked when he got home "did you tell him you did all the laundry in the past couple days, cooked, cleaned up the bathroom, swept the floor and changed the sheets out on your bed?"  Yeah, I got his drift, he had already lectured me on not overdoing it.  So, I will back down again and give myself a little more healing time.  I am doing a new "sitting in my recliner" project that I am a little excited about so maybe that will keep my mind in creative mode.  Meanwhile, I have to get these kids to pick up after themselves more consistently!  They go off to school each day but I get to hang out here and I am tired of staring at their MESS!

Someone Has Turned FOUR!

Someone is having a birthday today!  Someone who has turned out to be NOTHING like the tiny newborn baby I first met four years ago today.  The baby I held for the first time back then was extremely sensitive to loud noises, bright lights and anything else that was different from the environment from where he had come.  At one point I had to politely tell his nurse to just hand him to me.  She was making derogatory comments about the fact that he cried non-stop.

I giggle about the over-sensitiveness of this newborn as I listen to he and his siblings in the basement playing with his new bike.  The bell is ringing non-stop and the laughing and shouting coming from down there is so much louder than anything I heard in that delivery room back in 2009.  No, this boy is a handful!  A very happy handful!

So how did he spend his day?  Well, woke up before his mom and had his new bike down in the basement riding it before I even got to see him!  I was glad because he really likes it!  Anything that makes him feel big like everyone else is good!  After that we got home from getting his big brother to school and the first thing he asked is "can I have a piece of gum"?  When this boy was two he saw his brothers and sisters chewing gum and asked his mom if he could have some.  Of course in an attempt to put him off she answered "you can't chew gum until you are four".  He remembered, and that is what he wanted to do, chew a piece of gum!  He did surprisingly good.  He chewed on it for about an hour and a half and then spit it in the garbage can.  We might just try another piece tomorrow.

He spent some time at his favorite babysitter's house while Mom and I went to my doctor appointment and while we were out we stopped and picked up a little something that he had begged and begged me to get for him on Monday.  I gave it to him to surprise him when we got home and he loved his Mario, Luigi and Peach racecars.  Then, the FedX truck came.  With a big box...filled with what I ordered along with PACKING PEANUTS!

You bet he took his cars and jumped right in...played for a good half an hour!  All and all it has been a good 4th birthday for this little man.  And yes, he has already asked "Mom, when am I going to be 4 1/2?"  Whoa young man!  You can't be 4 1/2 til mommy says!

Fancy Toes!

I have not had polish on my toes since July 2nd.  I like to have pedicures through the summer months and have "fancy toes" as the girls used to call them when they were little.

Because there were two surgeries and recovery time this past summer, I haven't spent the money just to have to take the polish off for the day of the surgeries.  Talking to a couple of friends this past weekend we thought about getting together and meeting for a pedicure but our schedules just wouldn't allow it.  So, maybe next weekend will work, we will have to see.

For now though, I got out my favorite polish and kicked the foot rest up on my recliner.  I found out that I could pull my foot up into my lap and reach my toes for the first time since surgery so I went ahead and did a quick paint job on my toe nails.  It is amazing what a fresh coat of polish can do to your outlook!  I am thankful for the little things!

Soccer Season Begins!

Here is a little something to report about...the first day of our soccer season.  After Ryan tried soccer for the first time last year, Stacey and Zachary decided they would like to play this year.  This was the first day getting used to three uniforms (who is wearing red? who is wearing blue?), three start times, three fields to find and how are we going to stay hydrated and cool while playing and watching.

What a blessing it was to have all of the games right in a row today.  Starting at noon we had a 12 o'clock game, a 1 o'clock game and a 2 o'clock game.  Who knew that it would be sizzling hot and everyone would have drank through their sources of hydration by half time of the first game!

Ryan's game was the first.  They did very well.  I am remembering last year's team and enjoyed watching a team today that was spread out, watching the ball, and not just clumping up wherever the ball is located.  Unfortunately although there was some pretty great execution at times, the accuracy of the other team was a good bit better than ours today and we suffered a loss overall.  As much as the boys want to win, as the mom, I loved watching the game. 

Zachary's team played next and wore red for his game. He did so good for his first time playing.  What fun to see him out there doing what his coach has told him.  I don't think it will take him as long as it took his big brother to learn how to get in there and be aggressive.  He did great defending and on offense and we are looking forward to seeing him get the hang of the game and get more comfortable on the field!  I love to watch Zach, he always has a little smile on his face.

Poor Stacey, it was a HOT afternoon!  Her game was last and they all felt the heat!  She started out a little bit tentative but by the second half she was taking the ball down the field and getting in there on defense and helping out the goalie.  It will not take her long to feel right at home on the soccer field.  It was a little discouraging to have lopsided refereeing for her game but that happens occasionally.

I like to see my kids do their best and although each of their teams lost today, I had a lot of fun watching them in their own ways do their part on their teams.  Next week thankfully there are three games in a row again but after that we will probably be going in shifts to morning, lunch time and late afternoon games.

Cancer Files: Lets Put Things in Perspective...Thanks to YouTube!

DAY 1

The girls were interested tonight in the progress of my healing.  David gave them permission to be his assistants as he checked out incisions, changed out gauze and put the antibiotic ointment on the "angry spots".

They were both very excited to see my progress because they recognized things are healing.  Seeing them smiling and encouraged lifted my spirits for sure.

Dawn is extremely interested in my new belly button and just thinks it is funny that they would make me a new one!  She was wondering how they do it so I told her I would try to find her a YouTube video and we could watch it tomorrow.

DAY 22

So, armed with a pick me up from my daughters telling me how great everything looks, after bedtime, I took my Nook to my bed and searched YouTube.  Guess where I ended up?  YES...viewing all kinds of videos!  Here have been some of my questions since surgery: Why do my ribs STILL hurt?  Why are there these two poke-like holes on my hip area right above the incision? Why does if feel like I have been hit by a MAC truck if I am 1 minute too late with my pain meds, and why can't I function without the pain meds 22 days after surgery?

I found the answers to those questions and feel pretty darn good about my recovery half way to six weeks.  Why a change in perspective?  How have I developed a new found patience with myself I didn't have yesterday?  Well, I eventually found two YouTube videos of my surgery.  The exact thing that I had done I watched being done to someone else, and I will tell you, I looked pretty good on day 1 now that I know what really happened while I was sleeping!

No more being hard on myself...we are going to make it, I will go walking again.  I will be caught up on laundry some day and I will make my bed one day because I KNOW I won't be getting back into it until bedtime.  That day is not today, and that is OKAY!

Cancer Files: Overcomer!

We have a great God!  I sit here in my house moping around this week because I am not getting well fast enough (for my liking anyway), have had a couple small setbacks, my house is not sold yet and at least three or four specific doubts have been left (probably with my permission) in my head to grow dangerously close to bringing me down!  The physical healing has definitely been progressing, the emotional and mental healing is a bit behind.

Did I also mention how I watch my wonderful husband come home, and after tackling a day at work he jumps in and does most of what I usually do in the evenings?  Feeling a little sorry for myself and worthless right now?  Yes!  Am I surprised? No!  I have a tendency to let my human-ness show sometimes.  It isn't too pretty for those who haven't seen that first hand.  But maybe, some can relate?  You know who you are, those who aren't afraid to let some of the real-ness of your life show every now and then.  My husband tells me that I am all out there, that no one ever has to guess what I am thinking.  I know for a fact that is not true because he is the only one who really knows me, he "gets" to see the whole me (not just the facebook version of my life).

Lets face it, don't we all do as much as we can to put our "best life" forward even when the risk isn't very great? Well, I am a true believer in putting my "real life" forward even if the risk is great.  We only have one life to live, one chance to make an impact.  How do we know what God has planned for our weaknesses?  How can we know the effect our storms of life can have on other people?  In my experience, sharing our true selves in a real way leads to more joy than pain or embarrassment.  How many times have I second guessed a note I was going to send, or a few words I would say only to later regret that my true wish is that I had entered that life at that time with what only I could give.  Being on the other side of that lately, I know the importance of the perfectly timed interaction!

So, lets bring this all down to brass tacks...I am weak, but I have strong friends in the Lord, they let Him use them.  There have been a few friends in my life in the last 48 hours who have spoken truth to my heart.  If you don't have people in your life that can do that for you, pray for that...it is so important on the good days and the bad days.  I also have been touched by someone I don't even know who sent a note of encouragement to me.  I need to do that, reach out when I see a need, even to those I may not feel like I know.  That very act could open the door to a new dimension of life through a new relationship.

There are a lot of things to overcome in this world, whether it is the cynical, ungrateful world we face each day (have you ever just smiled at someone at the grocery store and seen their reaction of surprise or horror?), or something more tangible like grief or illness or a lonely spell in life.  God sent me those this week who were willing to put something out there, written word, a long distance link on facebook, or God's word quoted over coffee.  I am certainly not bouncing around happily giddy, but I am feeling VERY blessed!

Cancer Files: No More JP Drains!

After surgery I came out with four JP Drains at my incision sites.  They were very uncomfortable under my arms and I was pretty excited to get them out two days after being released from the hospital because they stopped draining large amounts.  Being in the hospital for four days, most of the emptying and record keeping was done by the nurses.

Dawn has been quite the home care assistant since I have been home.  I have enjoyed having her to keep me company and not get freaked out by the paraphernalia that is required with such a surgery.  I was explaining at home to those who wanted to hear about it what the drain looks like once it comes out.  The white part (A) in the picture is inside with all of those little holes and collects the extra fluid.  Then when you close the valve on the outside bulb part it creates a suction and that extra fluid comes out.  Don't ask me why, but Dawn LOVED the science part of all of this.

Drain free!

So, when she heard me explaining about what the drain looked like inside she begged for me to let her come to the next appointment where the first hip drain came out.  Thankfully those aren't as uncomfortable because the white part inside is in a straight line instead of wrapped all around the new breast tissue!  Not nearly as uncomfortable to remove.  Thankfully, she had still not started school yet and was able to join her Dad and I when the drain came out!  She thought it was cool.

I can't wait for this afternoon when I can take my first shower without the drains (you have to wait 24 hours before showering after removal).  It will still be a long time till I can soak in the tub, but I am hopeful for the day when that again will be part of my routine.

My Super Cool Son

Changing it up today and working on some digital scrapbooking.  I have a lot of catching up to do!  I love my subject matter!

Looks Like I NEED a New Black Pair of Sandals

I wanted to make it to church this morning.  Being gone for a couple of weeks, I missed being there, seeing everyone and getting out of the house.  So, when David came in this morning and kissed me at 8:40 a.m. (guess who missed their alarm?) I was jolted awake and asked why he didn't wake me up sooner!

Thankfully I didn't need to take a shower this morning so that saved some time.  I found the perfect outfit that would look fine for church and also cover up all of my necessary undergarments.  The color scheme leaned toward black so I slipped on my black sandals and got in the van.

Matthew wanted me to take him to his class today so I told him he would have to tell me which class was his.  I hadn't taken him to his new class yet since I have been gone the last couple of weeks.  I was lead by one of the helpers in the hallway to the children's church room not knowing that this isn't the Sunday school room for Matt.  He started crying and said he didn't want me to leave.  I wasn't sure why he was having such a hard time and eventually I just left him.

That was a little more drama than I expected.  So, as I made my way to grab some coffee I noticed something wasn't quite right with my foot.  Looking down I saw that the left sandal strap had come loose and had broken.  Amazingly enough, in approximately five more steps, the right strap popped and it was broken too!  What are the chances that both sandals would have popped at almost the exact same time?

The funniest thing about this story isn't that I had to try to find a way to wear these shoes through the rest of the morning at church, but the funniest thing about this story is that I have been in the shoe store at least six or seven times to buy black sandals to replace these.  I figured that I have had these sandals for about 16-17 years.  I had these long before I was a mother, long before my feet size expanded.  In fact, for awhile I wasn't able to get my foot into them.  After Matt was born though they must have stretched out because I was back to wearing them.

So, every time I went in to buy a new pair of black sandals, in the back of my mind I would say "Hmm, I do still have those good black sandals that work for dress up and dress down, I don't really need a new pair."  So, I would walk out of the store without a new pair of black sandals.  I think we have reached the day when I can walk into the shoe store and pick out a new pair of black sandals because now, I NEED black sandals!

A Boost of Morale

Well, the first test of my recovery was today.  A trip up to Minnesota to celebrate Uncle Jule and Aunt Wendy's 40th anniversary and a visit to grandma Bushlack in the nursing home.  The car trip was much more tolerable than I imagined it would be.  (I did double up on my pain meds so that I could handle the slow downs and bumps)  A few pillows helped a lot too.

Two breast cancer survivors!

We visited Grandma first.  When we pulled up we saw my aunt and uncle sitting outside with her.  The nursing home had called them and Grandma wasn't having a very good day.  Seems she was being a little ornery.  After talking with her for a bit, it all boils down to the fact that she doesn't get to do what she wants or go where she wants.  I wish I lived closer and could visit her regularly.  It was perfect timing.  She needed a diversion and we were able to hang out and visit with her.  She was laughing and being goofy by the time we left.  I know it was a temporary fix for Grandma but I was very glad we got there when we did.

We went from the nursing home over to the 40th anniversary party.  It was fun to celebrate with Jule and Wendy and all of the rest of the family.  There wasn't any dancing in my evening but there was a lot of visiting and catching up with cousins I hadn't seen in years!  I think the coolest thing (at least for Stacey) was the photo booth.  We got to dress up and take goofy pictures.  We picked hats and sunglasses.  What a fun idea.  Jule and Wendy got a CD with all of the pictures taken during the evening.  I bet they are laughing hysterically as they are going through them all.

It was very fun for Stacey.  She got her picture taken with all of the cousins who would go in the booth with her.  Boy, wouldn't that be a cool thing at a birthday party!  I may have to price something like that as they enter into their teen years soon.

Dawn struggles at parties with dances lately.  She prefers to dance slow dances and doesn't like the fast songs.  It is much more common though to have faster songs where people just go out on the dance floor and stand there and wiggle around.

 It was a very fun day all around.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it because I had a rough day on Friday but am so glad I did.  It  was such a boost after the last few days of feeling lonely and tired of laying around the house.  I am back to doing that after church tomorrow, but I am smiling at the opportunity I had to gather a lot of "soft" hugs and words of love and encouragement.  Not to mention Jule and Wendy and the wonderful milestone they have reached - 40 years!