Hooray!

Well, the news is GOOD!!!!!

The test came back that the marker was "not amplified" which means that it was not aggressive.

AND THE BEST PART IS NO CHEMO!!!!! WAHOOOOOOO!!!!

The bottom line after all this is that we need to have chest ct's done every three months for the next two years. He said that while there is only a 10-15% chance that it will come back at all, even if it does, it probably will not spread anywhere else.

They will closely monitor her for at least 6 months but with each passing month without recurrence, we are one step closer to her being cured.

We could not have received better news.

Those who know me know that I am a very privately religious person. I can, however, say that I am sure that the only reason we are here today with this outcome is because of the thousands of people we know were praying for our little girl. I have said this many times over the past 13 days but we are more thankful than we can ever say.

What a whirlwind!

Oh, because I am also a proud mama, I thought I would attach this Easter picture of the kids that I had taken on Sunday. Here they are!

Confession Tuesday

Well, I'm very happy to be back in the confessional. It has been the longest 12 days imaginable.

For those new to the blog, each Tuesday, several of us enter the confessional. You can find more on Poet Mom's website or by visiting Carolee's website. Also, when you are on Carolee's site, please give her some warm wishes. Her mother is very sick. We've both been going through cancer at the same time. Life is definitely fragile.

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First up, I'm so happy to be able to visit other blogs, again, and see what others are writing. As more people are reading this, I have gone to other sites and seen some really great work out there.

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Oh my god, my body is shutting down from exhaustion. I'm not sure if it is stress-related or 3am dance party-related but boy, I need some sleep bad.

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I love spring (see earlier post from Sunday). My confession is that I usually take a "sick day" and do my planting for the season. I will not be doing that this year as I have been away quite enough, thank you. AND it is not just because my boss reads my blog!

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I am SO far behind on thank you notes, phone replies and emails. I'm just so exhausted at the end of the day, I can't seem to get them done! I feel SOO guilty about it. Hopefully, those to whom I owe phone calls, thank you notes and emails understand.

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I'm really, really, really sad that The Wire is finished. I feel like I knew those folks so well. I mean, what will my Sunday nights every 18 months be without McNulty, Lester, Kima and Bunk? Never mind, Omar, Marlo, Bubbles, Michael, The Greek, oh, I could go on. Live in peace without me, Baltimore...

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Just two weeks ago, the day before I went to the dr. with Eva, I commented to Jana that I felt badly that I never blogged about Eva. I mean, Jack is the trouble maker. She's just this sweet kid who quietly destroys things in the house. Not the crazy 4-year old who loudly destroys things in the house. Honestly, when I made the commitment to Jana to blog more about Eva, this was not what I had in mind AT ALL!

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One quick and final note about Eva. We have follow up doctor visits Tuesday and Wednesday. That is when we discuss whether or not Eva has the marker that determines the next round of treatment. I'm scared to death of the news we might get. You can bet, I'll be posting...

Creativitiy

Holy cow, some people are SOO creative! My dear friend Amy Jo sent this to me via email. I have no idea how some people do such neat things. I think this was a gene that somehow skipped me.

Things I'm Thankful For

Oops! Wrote this yesterday and forgot to post!

On this gorgeous Sunday afternoon, I thought I would put up a couple of things that I am thankful for:

1) My family. All of them. My sister who flew in from North Carolina. Her husband who took care of their three kids while she was away. My parents who worked the entire week they were here reorganizing my house. Jon's sister, Jill and Jon's parents who kept Jack occupied for the week. All my other siblings who called me and sent care packages. I am so lucky to have them.

2) My Friends. All of them. You know, I have always felt that I hit the lottery when it came to my friends. I have always had such amazing luck with finding such awesome people. Whether it be everyone who called, sent food, emailed, had Eva put on various prayer lists etc., I am one lucky gal.

3) Daffodils. Daffodils are such happy flowers. Maybe it is because they signal the end of winter. Maybe it is because my birthday is the first day of spring and they are the flowers of my birth month. I'm not so sure. The day I left to take Eva to the dr., I drove out of my driveway and glanced down at my daffodils ready to pop. I was thinking, gee, I hope they are in bloom before Jack's birthday party next weekend. When we came home from the hospital last Friday, they were just gorgeous. A special thank you to my father-in-law, Joe who planted all of them for me last fall.

4) 3AM dance parties at the Harding's. Since my dear friends Shug and MJ came into town for moral support, we had a girl's night out at the Harding's Saturday night. After (allegedly) umpteen bottles of wine, three hours in their hot tub complete with our own cabana boys, and dinner served in the hot tub, we decided to have a dance party for four in their den. When I say that it was the release I needed, I don't think that even comes close.

5) My husband. Who not only was my rock during the last week, happily suggested that he take care of the kids so that I could attend said dance party. I am more grateful than I can say.

We're Home!

We're home, sweet home!

Here's a shot of Eva with her new bunny from her cousins in Virginia! We have been home a couple of hours now and within minutes, Eva was back to her normal self, pulling all her clothes from her drawers, singing and dancing. It is hard to believe that she had that big of a tumor inside of her just a few days ago!

Also, here's a couple of "hospital" shots. I swear, you would never know she was sick! I finally have my camera cord so here she is!

Eva dancing to her new favorite rabbit. My sister very kindly brought it to her. It sings, "If You're Happy and You Know It." Two verses. I now hate my sister.

Eva and her new BFF, Dr. Lenarsky. She LOOOOOVES HIM!

Eva's Baptism.

You Know You've Been in the Hospital Too Long When...

Tonight, the patient tech came in to do Eva's regular temperature/blood pressure check. My 16-month old Eva crawled to the end of her crib, ripped off her blood pressure cuff and handed it to the tech. Then, she pushed the correct button to start the check. While the blood pressure was reading, Eva reached into the basket and grabbed the thermometer and tried (albeit unsucessfully) to put the cover on it and check her own temperature.

We all just looked at each other in shock.

Wanted to take a second to thank our very good friend Jenni who happened to have a well-timed meeting in Dallas this week. She braved the "snow" and the most ridiculous cab story I have ever heard to come visit us for a couple of hours. I am so thankful to have so many great friends.

There's a Light

Eva just got her chest tube and IV taken out! Wahoo! I swear, five minutes later she was back out in the hallways making her rounds, talking to everyone, waving "hi", unbelievable! This kid can't be stopped!

Right now, she's sleeping next to us so peacefully.

Nothing new to report today except that we should be going home tomorrow....YEAH!

We'll still have to wait for the pathology to come back to determine course of treatment. That, hopefully, will be sooner rather than later.

I can't believe where I was exactly one week ago at 6:45pm. One of the techs from the ER came up to see Eva a couple of days ago and said that they told me at shift change so both sets of staff were there. I can't imagine what that must have been like for them. One hysterical Mom screaming at her husband to call our friend who is a radiologist. It seems like such a blur and like nine months ago.

Thank you, all so much, again, for all your calls, thoughts, cards, food, etc. We are so grateful.

Until tomorrow, hopefully...

Kristi

What's Shimada You?

Hello, everyone.

We met with the oncologist today. Got some not so great news. Turns out that Eva has neuroblastoma not ganglioneuroblastoma. In as best as I can explain it, there are three things that they thought it could be, ganglioneuroma, ganglioneuroblastmoa or neuroblastoma, in order from best to worst.

Initially, they had thought that it was the ganglioneuroblastoma but when the path came back, it was the neuroblastoma. Good news in this is that she has what is called a "favorable histology" which somehow relates to a good thing. Of that scale, it goes favorable, intermediate and poor.

Without going into all the details (which would take forever), the bottom line between the ganglioneuroblastoma and the neuroblastoma is that neuroblastoma has a higher chance of recurrence.

The cancer did spread to a lymph node but that did not surprise me. The dr. had told us very early on that there was one in close proximity of the tumor so not to be surprised it it was affected.

We are still waiting on one final marker for the tumor. If it has blah-bi-de-blah marker (that's a technical term), we have a very aggressive treatment of chemo and radiation. If it comes back that that marker is missing, the treatment is just the surgery and chest ct every three months for two years.

Unfortunately, we won't get that information for another five to seven days.

We are back in the room today and just waiting for Eva to drain less from her chest tube. Once she gets to a certain level, we can go home. That looks like it will be Friday. That said, she's bright and perky and almost to her normal self. She's chatting away with all the doctors and nurses. I just looked up at her and she is trying to scale the crib with her "club foot"--her foot has the IV. Maybe having the chest "leash" at home wouldn't be so bad...

I swear, getting all this information, the names seem like they come from a Mel Brooks movie. The "ploidy" is this, she's X on the "shimada scale", her "shwannian stroma"...

The Nub

Good morning from chilly (so I hear) Dallas!

Yesterday was a blur. We all escorted Eva to the OR, Eva in my arms, Jon beside me and the tech pushing her crib ahead. We had 10 family members walking behind us. Eva was waving hi to everyone as we went by. I said it was like the world's worst Mardi Gras parade.

When we met with the surgeon, he said that he reviewed the ct scan again and had concerns that it was somehow attached to the pulminary artery and would not be able to be removed at all. They could, of course, not confirm any of that until they went in but it would only take a few minutes to do this. If it was attached, they would just biopsy, give her a port, and close her up. Great! More stress!

As my Dad wrote yesterday, all went well. He said that it was REALLY big for a little Nubbin. He said that it was the size and shape of a plastic football. God only knows how she could function with that thing in her!

Eva is doing well. She is still in the PICU. In meeting with the oncologist, he said that he has never known a child to have Eva's type of tumor to need chemo. Obviously, it depends on what the path says. Within the ganglioneuroblastoma family, there are good ones and bad ones. He said that the way that Eva looks right now, his guess is that it is a "good" one. We'll just wait and see.

Eva is on some pretty heavy drugs right now and they are weening her off so she can get back to her room later today. When we got there, they told me all they were giving her and wanted to make sure that was ok. I said, whatever she needs to make it through the night tonight, I fully support. The dr. was very happy to hear it and said that some moms don't want their kids to have any drugs. I told her I was not one of those moms. Drug her up! The last thing I want is for her to have pain today!

We can't use cellphones or computers while we are in the PICU so if I am a bit delayed getting back to you, please forgive me. As I have said, we are so happy and thankful for everyone's support through this.

Finally, a happy, happy birthday to my baby duck, Jack! We are having a celebration here in the hospital later this afternoon. When I talked to him today, he asked me all kinds of questions about Eva's surgery, "how did they put Eva's chest back on?" "didn't the needles poke her?" "why does she have tubes?"

Here's a shot of him at Disney from a couple of weeks ago! Happy 4th Birthday, big guy!

Thanks for the Prayers

Goodnight,Mom is busy tending to Little Eva. She asked me, her Dad, to update her blogger friends. Little Eva just came out of surgery. The tumor was mid-range in virulence and almost too large for them to operate on without first administering chemo to shrink it. But, the surgeon informed us that he got it all out. They felt that she would not need chemo so they did not insert a port. She also was doing so well, they did not need to put her on a ventilator.
Of course we are not totally out of the woods yet, but we are all thrilled that it is over and it went so well. Kristi wanted me to thank all of you who prayed and continue to pray for Little Eva. That made all the difference. And as always, we give God the glory!!!

Dad2eight

Here's What We Know

We met with the surgeon, Dr. Kevin Kadesky, earlier tonight.

He said that Eva's tumor is approx 13.5 cm or the size of a baseball. He said that they were "pushing the limit" on whether or not they could remove it at all or have to send her to chemo to shrink it before removing it.

To do the surgery, they will do what is called a thorocotomy, which is an incision on the right side of her lower chest. Eva's surgery is very complicated because 1) the size of the tumor and 2) the location. Her ribs are the main problem. His quote "on the complicated scale to 10, this is a 6." He said that the surgery will be from 4-6 hours depending on how long it takes to get it out.

He went through the different things that they might have to do to remove it, cut it in half, take it out whole, cut it away from whatever it is attached to, etc.

Bottom line is that they will do the best they can to get as much of it out tomorrow as possible. He said that they will know right away if they cannot remove it and they will get a biopsy, put in a port for chemo, and close her up.

Either way, Eva will have a port put in for her expected chemotherapy. Now, as you know, we do not have an accurate diagnosis yet and won't for several days up to a week. They will do a frozen section biopsy to get a preliminary diagnosis while they are in the OR. There is a VERY small chance that Eva will not have to have chemo but they want to put in the port anyway so they don't have to go in again. Fine by me.

They have told us that Eva will probably be in the PICU tomorrow night and back in her room the next day if all goes well.

Jon and I are here by ourselves tonight. Our bed is set up in the room but I doubt either of us will get any sleep. Honestly, we are both so scared.

You probably will not hear from me tomorrow, as the day goes. If I can get to a computer, I will be sure to post something. If not, I'll try to have one of my family members post.

Sunday

Well, today has been quiet, thankfully. I even got out of the hospital for a couple of hours thanks to my dear friend, Adrienne and my sister, Angela. We put together Jack's party favors for his class. As it turns out, Jack's birthday is Tuesday. For those who know him, feel free to wish him Happy Birthday on the big day! He's a big 4!

We are back at the hospital waiting for the surgeon to come to talk to us about tomorrow. Right now, the surgery is scheduled for 2p. The surgeon is trying to take her early but who knows. We will be playing that by ear.

Several folks have asked some questions that I thought I would answer as best I know:

1) We don't know how they are going to do the surgery. When we met with the surgeon, we still did not know if it had spread yet so that determined how he was to go in. We'll know tonight.

2) Eva is just fine. She walks the halls saying hello to EVERYONE as they go by. It is hard to imagine that that tumor is growing inside her little body because she is so unbelievably happy.

She is so hilarious. When the staff come in, she just stops where she is and sticks her arm out for them to test her. Smart one, that baby, that's for sure. Today, when the dr. came by, she ran to him, kissed him on the cheek and as he was leaving, took his hand to lead her down the hallway. If any ounce of him was not motivated to take good care of her before, I'm sure he is now! That was precious!

3) Jack is doing remarkably well. Today, he recorded a little message for his sister on her new "cell phone" that I had bought for her. Now, when you hit play, you hear "I love you, Fuzz!"

You know, I have to say, while I have a moment, if you ever doubt the kindness of strangers, all you need is a sick baby to reinforce your belief in goodness.

My parents had practically all of American Airlines in Raleigh and Washington making sure that they got on the plane here on Friday. Then, they got lost on the way to the hospital and a friendly policeman took 20 minutes to explain to them how to find their way here. My sister has the most incredible story I have ever heard of on Continental airlines yesterday. They were so amazing to her.

From the staff, to the strangers who have been praying for my daughter to the other parents here in the floor with us, we are so blessed, and I am most thankful.

Eva was baptised today. I hate that it had to happen this way and that I was such a bad mom to not do it properly in the church. I'll make it up to her when we get out of here, I swear!

Please keep her in special thoughts at 2p tomorrow.

Thank you, again,
K

Jack Update

So, file this under "Un-effin-believable!"

Today, Jon decided that he wanted to go home, take Jack out after his soccer game to their favorite pub for lunch, Trinity Hall. Then, they were going to come back to the hospital to visit us.

Off Jon goes. Eva and I were just hanging out at the hospital with my parents when Jon called.

Jack had a seizure at the Target.

They were in an ambulance on the way to Medical City where we are with Eva. Seriously, I do not know how my legs made it to the emergency room to meet the ambulance. Even now, it seems like a dream.

Turns out, in the world's cruelest coincidence, Jack had a febrile seizure for the first time because he had strep throat. We did a ct scan on him and that came back normal and also a chest xray. Jack is fine and at home with Dad tonight.

I thought that when I was there with Eva on Thursday, it was the worst point in being a parent. I did not know how it could be topped. Now, I will never doubt that things can just get worse. I'm not quite sure what God is testing me for but I swear, it has to be something really good.

I'm fine now but only for the grace of God and the wonderful nursing staff here at Medical City. They came in, picked me up from sobbing and hyper-ventilating on the floor, and guided my limp body to meet the ambulance.

Also, our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Kennedy who came immediately upon hearing the news. She has been amazing to us and we would be so lost without her. By the way, Dr. Kennedy did correct me on an earlier post. She was NOT worried about brain damage to Eva from the seizure. She was worried about the fever. THAT is why we were here. I asked her forgiveness for my creative licensing! :)

A special shout out to Whit and Kelee for their help today in coming BACK to the hospital when I called them to tell them about Jack and for the delicious red wine I am drinking as we speak, thanks to Kelee. Unfortunately, the nurses could not arrange the IV margaritas I had requested, so this will have to do.

Thank you again for your calls and emails. Please forgive me if I am not quick to respond but I appreciate EVERYTHING!

And the hits just keep on coming....

ADDED BY JON ON SUNDAY:

Well, since Kristi experienced Eva Jane's seizure on Thursday, I suppose it was my turn on Saturday. All set for some Dad-Jack one-on-one time, we planned a trip to a couple of stores, lunch at our pub, and a trip to the hospital. Jack was hanging to me all morning, this being my first time back since I left for work on Thursday. He felt fine, and I attributed most of his behavior to our family situation.

As we headed to the checkout counter, Jack slumped over to the side of the cart and his eyes moved towards the ceiling. It looked as if he saw something interesting on the ceiling and was following it as I moved down the aisle. At the front, I said he needed to straighten up, lest I knock his head in the checkout line. Lifting him up, I thought he might be goofing off. But I immediately noticed he was warm, and his eyes were in the back of his head. At this point, no twitching or physical indications of a seizure. But I knew something was wrong.

I was standing next to a Target employee who asked if I needed help. I said, "I think my son is having a seizure." She called a few folks over. Then I saw some leg twitching and heard teeth clicking. The paramedics were called at my request. An unnamed male shopper with his two sons never identified himself as a doctor, but he stood about 10 feet away and would ask/say key things. "Has he ever had seizures before?" No. He then got the employees to get the paramedics.

I must say I was a rock through all of this. And the only reason is because I was a two-day veteran of the febrile seizure (never heard of it in my life before Thursday). Experience breeds confidence, I guess.

Our friend, Sara Wilson, who was quite familiar with our situation with Eva Jane, happened to be shopping and was standing near us. What must have been going on in her mind is beyond me. She was so kind to try to help.

Kudos to the Target lead at the desk. She calmly and quickly called 911.

The ambulance came very quickly. Within minutes we were in the ambulance. After some info passing and quick examination, we were heading to the hospital. Normally they transport to Presbyterian Hospital, but how many patients can say, "Would you please take us to Medical City since my wife and daughter are already there?" Off we went. My two disappointments: 1) Jack has no memory of our ride. 2) They didn't use the siren (and I was too chicken to ask).

Now the most dreaded of tasks: Calling Kristi. How in the hell do I tell her?

Nubbin

For those who don't know Eva or haven't seen her in a while, here she is!

Another Nubbin Update

We just spoke with the doctor this morning. The bone scan also came back negative! That is just terrific news.

Bottom line is that we still do not know what it is but whatever it is, from less bad to really bad, we've caught it early enought that it has not spread anywhere else and I'll take it!

Thank you all so much for your continued emails and support!!!

Nubbin Update

First, I want to thank you all for your calls, text messages, and emails. We are truly blessed.

Today, as I mentioned, we had some tests done. We had a bone scan, blood work and an abdomen and pelvic ct.

Earlier today, the blood work came back very good. Step one.

Tonight, we got the best news of all, the ct came back that there was no spreading! We're so happy!

We still have the bone scan to come back tomorrow morning so for now, we'll take what we can get!

Eva's surgery is scheduled for Monday. They will then determine what type of cancer it is and the course of treatment. I would like to send a special thank you to Michael/Whit and MJ for their guidance. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.

As I've been saying, we're not out of the woods but at least someone gave us a map. Please keep praying and thinking of her.

My little Nubbin, Eva

This is a copy of the email I sent to our family and friends:

Yesterday, Eva had a fever so I took her to the dr. While I was there, she had a febrile seizure (which means it was related to her fever). I thought that was the scariest thing that could possibly happen to a parent.

Our doctor really wanted her to have a head ct just to be sure that there was no damage and to make sure it was a febrile tumor.

Off we went to Medical City hospital to the er. While we were there, the dr asked about other issues Eva might be having. I mentioned a cough so she ordered an xray. The head ct came back normal but they saw something they did not like on the chest xray. So, they did a chest ct.

They found a mass as large as her lungs behind her heart close to her spine. They admitted her immediately. We are still unsure exactly what it is.

After meeting with the Pediatric Oncologist this AM, they are going to do a full scan to make sure whatever it is has not spread anywhere else.

Once we get that news, then, we move on to surgery which will be either tomorrow or Monday. From there, and based on path reports, we know what our options are. Please, please, please keep Eva, Jack and the rest of our family in your prayers.

We will have a clearer picture in the next 24 hours as to what our options are with her. I will also be posting things on my blog.

Please keep her in your prayers,
Kristi

Confession Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Sorry for the delayed post. Have my first board meeting for work tomorrow and lots to prepare!

On to the confessions:

1) Yes, I lost the Oscars Contest this year. Badly. I only got 9 right on the whole evening. It was really sad.

2) I might keep the winners trophy for a bit before I mail it to Jana. Jon suggested that it might be a way for us to get Jana to come visit. That sounds pretty appealing.

3) Things I'm sick and tired of:
-That I know too much about Britney Spears/ Britney Spears' children/ Britney Spears' clothes/ Britney Spears' dogs/ Britney Spears' eating habits, blah blah blah
-Katherine Heigl--she just bugs me
-Donald Trump's hair
-Recordings of "famous" people who call my house to get me to support a certain candidate
-Paris Hilton--why is she still in the news?

4) Things I love (outside of the obvious friends and family answer):
-The Wire
-The smells of bacon and popcorn
-Singing karaoke in my den and in public--and I'm really bad!
-Project Runway
-Sleeping in

5) Our dishwasher went out a couple of months ago. After a comedy of errors on home shield's part, the parts finally came in this week. Two weeks ago, kitchen sink got plugged. We have had to wait forever! for a plumber to come so we have been taking our dishes to the bathroom sink to wash.

6) I got tired of washing dishes in my bathroom so I bought paper plates, bowls and plastic spoons. Am I environmentally friendly? No. Do I care? No. I'm not washing one more damn thing in my bathroom sink.

7) My little daughter Eva went to the doctor this week. The doctor told her that she was in the 25% in height and weight. 25%? I'm nearly 6 feet tall! Sigh. At least she's proportionate. I've nicknamed her "Nubbin" It might stick.

8) Jack likes to tell me how much he loves me all day long. It's a little game with us. I love you more than this and I love you more than that. Today, he told me that he loves me more than diapers. I don't know how I feel about that.

The Oscars-The Acceptance Speech

First, I'd like to thank the Academy for making very sensible choices for a change and thus handing me my first ever loss in the Oscars Contest. I'd like to thank my fellow participants for not seeing many of the movies and not only whooping my butt but crushing me completely. Finally, I'd like to thank my family for supporting me as I watched so many movies last year.

I am now the rightful owner of the "You Suck" award. Justly deserved, this year. But, next year, bowling trophy, you'll come back home.

Sunday Scribblings-Passion

It's Sunday morning of my Superbowl. It's Oscar time! As you can see from yesterday's post, today is a very big day for me and for my fellow contest participants (Sembra, O'Neil, Legaspi, you're going down!)

Jana at PoetMom wrote today about her passion for the movies. Besides my kids/family, movies are the thing that I am most passionate about.

For me, it started very young. I was 7 years old when the first Star Wars came out. We were at the beach at our house. My brother Gordie (age 9) and I were dropped off at the theatre to watch the movie. I remember how we thought my dad was the coolest person on the planet because when we begged him to let us see it again, he let us. I still remember so vividly how Gordie and I snuck back into the threatre with such giddy excitement. Now, as a parent, I think my dad must have been SOOO happy for the break! Of course, I still think he's the coolest person on the planet. :)

I saw Star Wars in the theatre 28 times. I'm not kidding. That movie was so amazing to me and started my love of the movies that continues today. When I'm stressed, I watch a movie. When I can't sleep, I'm up watching a movie. When I'm sick, I watch a movie. I love old movies, MGM musicals, Woody Allen flicks, there really isn't much I won't watch (well, save a few of the movies that are dreck that have come out in recent years....that is another topic).

As many of you know, until recently, I had not had a full-time 9-5 job in almost two years. During that time, most Fridays, I would do what I called "Double Feature Friday". I have a whole system worked out at a local theatre on how to watch one movie and then sneak into another one with no time wasted between shows. Bring my lunch and it's a day!

Yes, the 7 year old still lives inside of me.

I'm settling in early today for the night. My heart is racing. Will I win and get to keep my beloved trophy? Will I have my first-ever loss?

Let the games begin!

The Oscars

I can't believe they are here! At long last, The Oscars are back on!

Many of you who know me know that The Oscars are a very special thing to me. Honestly, movies formed the basis of my friendship with Jana and Al, as we met while they worked at the movie theatre across the mall hallway from me when we were in high school.

If I remember correctly, which I usually don't, we saw our first Oscar's together in Jana's parent's basement in 1987. 21 years later, we still watch the Oscars together every year. With us in three different states, now, it is by telephone. Our phone calls start mid-afternoon with the arrivals. Who is there with whom? What are they wearing? Will Joan Rivers please shut up?!

Somewhere in the early to mid-90's, we added an Oscars contest. We also added our dearest Joseph to the mix. The trash talking usually starts when the noms are released as each of us throws down the gauntlet with our picks.

It is funny, this year, we've been relatively quiet. I guess with the writer's strike, it has been off our radar.

That said, it's soooo on! What is at stake, you ask, in the contest??? Well, it is quite possibly the most prized possession of our friendship, the Oscar's Trophy!

Here it is in its current and usual location, on my mantle. Yes, I am a multi-year champ! Last year, was my best ever year with me only missing three categories the entire evening.



When you lose, there is the "You Suck" award which I think that Alex has right now. I have never won the "You Suck" award. Jana, on the other hand, is a multi-year champ there! Ha ha!

How am I going to do this year? The picks are in and according to the spreadsheet Jana puts together every year, I'm either going to win big or lose big! Only the fine folks at PriceWaterhouseCoopers really know. For now, I'm still the reigning champ!

Good luck, my fellow contestants.

Confession Tuesday

1. Today is Wednesday. I'm a day behind. Last night, I had to bring some work home and after redoing a spreadsheet until 11:30pm, I was too tired to write.

2. We had a great trip to Disney. Honestly, more fun than either Jon or I thought we would have as adults. My parents took the kids on Friday for the whole day and Jon and I were off by ourselves. We felt like teenagers away from their parents. You can see us in action here and here.

3. I'm still trying to figure out how Disney can make trash cans have conversations with you. Disney magic, I guess. Probably my favorite moment of the trip had to be when Jack got into a foot race with a talking trash can. I swear, I wish I had video footage of that!

4. One of my great fears is having an elevator fall from the sky when I'm in it. Yes, I know this is irrational but aren't most fears irrational?

5. You can imagine how I felt on the Tower of Terror ride in MGM which is basically an elevator flinging you up and down over and over.

6. This is more advice than a confession but I would not recommend riding a ride that flings you up and down repeatedly after you've had an evening of drinking by the pool. I guess your stomach at nearly 38 is not what it used to be. Ok, maybe it is a confession.

7. Many folks push their kids to play sports that they could not play as youth, etc. For me, when Jack fought Darth Vader (see post below), he was living the 7 year old dream I had.

Addendum:

8. My friend Joseph sent me this link. This is absolutely hilarious (and true).

Jack Fights Lord Vader

You guys know we're in Disney World this week. We have had the most fabulous time. More on the trip later but I thought I would post this today for our family/friends so they can see Jack in action.

I have to say, these short videos below don't do it justice. Jack was certainly the comedic foil in the Jedi Training Academy's 9:40am training class at Disney's Hollywood (formerly MGM) Studios. He could not get his sword to open so the Jedi Master had to keep handing him his. He wandered off when they were all getting their swearing in as new recruits. He forgot to duck when he was in battle.

But, I was SO proud of him when he battled Darth Vader.

I swear, later we watched the video together and he said, "Mommy, did you see me beat Darth Vader??!!! Wasn't I great?!! I hit him SOOO hard!" That made this entire trip worthwhile.

Enjoy! (feel free to sing in your head... dum, dum, da dum, dum da dum, dum da dum)

My First Race

"If you're not first, you're last" -Ricky Bobby
"And the last shall be first" -The Bible
"Slow and steady wins the race" -I don't know who said this
"No, it doesn't" -me

This morning, bright and early, I packed up my kids for my first 5K race in as many years. In desperate need to lose this weight I have put on, part of my new years resolution was to start participating in races again.

To that end, last week, I purchased a double jogger stroller, signed up for a 5K and off I went.

Here's my diary:

5 min into the race- Jack: "Mommy, why aren't we running? Let's run! We have to run! Why are all these people passing us? We're going slow!" Me: thought (why did I have you?)

1 mile-Oh My God, I'm only at ONE mile? I have three to go! Are there still people behind me? Wait, there is a man just behind me pushing his two-year old in an umbrella stroller, I can hear his squeaky wheel. I can take him.

1.1 mile-Jack: "I have to go potty" Me: "Jack, honey, there are no potties here, do you want to go in this field? You can go potty in one and a half hours when I finally finish this race, if you can hold it" Jack: "I can wait"

1.2 miles-Jack: "Mommy, I have to go potty" Me: "Jack, honey, still no potties. You can still go in this field if you need to." Jack: "I can wait"

1.5 mile turn around-Are you kidding me? There is no chip timer pad? I could have turned around at mile 1 and no one would have known????

1.6 miles-Jack: "Mommy, I'm hungry" Me fiddling in the basket looking for food while trying to keep 15 min mile pace: "Here's a candy bar (actually a Cliff bar but I doubt he'll notice)"

1.62 miles-Jack "Mommy, this candy bar tastes bad"

2 miles-Wait, I'm almost finished! Squeaky Wheels is still behind me! Besides him, I turn around and there are still four other people behind me out of 100 racers!

2.5 miles-Jack: "Mommy, I have to go potty" Me: "Jack, if you can hold it, there are special potties at the end of the race. I think they have toys in them!" Jack: "I can wait"

3 miles- 1/10 of a mile to go. Squeaky takes off running! Wait, Squeaky, we had a deal! You finish BEHIND me! I guess a random chubby chic pushing two children beating him was too much for his fragile ego. He finishes ahead of me.

3.1 miles-THE FINISH! 49 minutes! Not bad considering the fact that I'm pushing 65 lbs of children and it's my first race in as long as I can remember!

Me: "Ok, Jack, you can go potty" Jack: "No, I don't have to go now. Can I still have a toy at the special potties, though?"

So, there you have it. I finished my race AND in the top 96%. I'm well on my way. Notes for the future. Put Jack in pull ups before I leave the house.

Confession Tuesday-Mardi Gras Style!

It's that time of the week, again! Confession Tuesday! I know that my father (Happy Birthday, Daddy) would be so pleased if I ACTUALLY went to confession but for now, this will have to do!

First, Happy Mardi Gras!

In keeping with this wonderful tradition, it thought I would theme my confessional based on the Krewes.

Rex-The King-So, the king of beers won again with the Superbowl ads. My confession is that "Bud Light, Suck One" is my new favorite phrase.

du Vieux-The Bawdy, Bad Boys-Speaking of bad boys, Jack got sent home AGAIN today! Ugh, what is wrong with my child????? I'm really depressed about it.

Pegasus-The Winged Horse-We're off to Disney on Sunday morning for a week for Jack's 4th birthday. Since I've been flying so much with the kids by myself, I really want to sit in first class, sip Bloody Mary's and leave Jon in the back with the children. Is that wrong?

Muses-The Inspiration-I have not been too inspired recently. I don't know if it is the new job or the fact that I'm too tired to read anything but I'm really ready for something to kick start my brain.

Shangri-La-Paradise-Friday night, I heard a big thump on the house around 2a. I got up on Saturday morning only to find that a tree had fallen on the house in the middle of the night. My confession is that I'm really hoping it did some major damage because I had wanted to remodel that part of the house for sometime.

Barkus-The Pet Parade-I hate cats. No, I really hate cats. I once told a neighbor in Virginia that I was allergic so that I did not have to pet her cat.

Orpheus-God of Music-Jon bought me Bon Jovi tickets for Christmas and I know for a fact that there are only 69 more days until the concert. I'm more excited than I can say.

Bacccus-Greek God of Wine-We had some friends over on Saturday night. So, after umpteen margaritas and two bottles of wine which my girlfriend and I mostly polished off ourselves, when they left I actually opened ANOTHER bottle of wine. I could not find a glass (??) so I ended up drinking most of it from the bottle. Yes, like the winos on the street. All that was missing was a paper bag.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!