Test Results

Got the word this afternoon that the test results were normal!

For those NB folks who know what this means:
Her HVA count was 15.6 up slightly from last month of 12.8 but still well within range of <22. Her VMA was 5.4 down slightly from last month of 6.6 also still within range of <11.

Of course the HVA increase scared me to death but I'm assured that it can fluctuate like blood work. Now, if we are showing an increase for next month, then, that's a trend we should be worried about.

For now, I'll just be happy that we still "normal."

The plan is that we will do this again April 20. If that is "normal" and not showing an increase, we will stick with the plan to do an MRI in May. If that shows good results, we'll remove the port.

Yippee!!

St. Baldrick's Day

Well, what a day we had yesterday participating in St. Baldrick's Day!

First, I want to thank all the folks who either donated to us, came out to support Jon and sent encouraging notes to Jon. We were overwhelmed by it all!

Secondly, I want to thank the folks at Trinity Hall Irish Pub for hosting this event for the 6th year. As many of you know, we spend lots of time at Trinity Hall with the kids. The food is great and it is very family friendly. So, for us to be able to participate in such a great event AND have it at our "home pub", that was just a bonus.

One other thing. In addition to just being a great family place, the wait staff donated ALL their tips from St. Patrick's Day to St. Baldrick's Day event. Can you imagine how much they would make in an Irish Pub on St. Patty's Day? Should tell you alot about what kind of place it is.

On to the event!

We got there. Jon was excited and nervous. It was CROWDED with head shavers and supporters.

Here's something very funny. When Jon was up, they had shaved about 2/3 of his head and I'm not kidding, the power went out. In the WHOLE complex! We had no idea how long it would be out and how long Jon would have this patch on his head! It was hilarious. But, Jon handled it like the champ he is and took it all in stride. I could not stop laughing, of course!

Anyway, here are some of the pics from the day. A special thank you to Will Montgomery who took a bunch of these with his fancy camera and way better photographic eye. His look MUCH better than mine!! Thank you!!!



When we first arrived.

Jon and Eva in the chair.

Here's where we were when the power went out.


Jon gets into his new look!

Some of our friends who came out to support us!

That's it. It was a great day all in all. I managed to not sob openly but did cry just a bit here and there. I'm hoping no one noticed. :) As for my new hot bald hubby, we're going to get Jon some Doc Martens to complete his look. I think the event hit their goal of $150,000 for pediatric cancer research.

One final thing. Tomorrow, we get test results on Eva's montly cathecholemines so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. And, if you have a moment, please give some encouragement to our NB friends, Erin and her mom. Erin is such a light and is having a bit of a rough time. Please do cheer her on.

Eva and Her Hair

I'm going to write about our awesome St. Baldrick's Day a bit later. I just had to post this as I'm on my way out.

I've often said that the one thing that I will be happy with Eva's hair growing out is that people will stop thinking she's a boy. I think that the short hair becomes her and makes her look a bit like a "bad a**" but often people are shocked when they hear she's a girl. I say things like, she's wearing pink shoes? Why would you think she's a boy?

Anyway, back to tonight.

We went out to dinner tonight at one of our favorite german restaurants. I have to say, Eva was a riot. There was an accordian player and Eva demanded that we dance and clap to every song. We were having such a nice time.

As we were starting to leave, I took Eva to the restroom. As I was coming out, this woman was coming in and stopped me.

She said, "How old is he?"

I said, "Oh, she's 2.5yrs"

Woman: "She's a girl?"

Me: "Yes."

Woman with a snarl: "Let her hair grow out!"

Me in shock also with a snarl: "She has cancer. I am letting her hair grow out."

She just stood there. I mean, I have never been so satisified to tell someone that my kid had cancer. Serves her right to tell folks how to cut their children's hair.

The great irony? She had short hair.

Grrrrrrrr.

Two Bald Men and a Fuzz Girl

Jack is obsessed with the fact that Jon is shaving his head on Saturday. It is all he wants to talk about.

Yesterday, he would not let go the fact that he wanted to shave his head, too, on Saturday. After spending lots of energy trying to talk him out of it, I just finally said, fine, Jack. Of course, I know full well that as soon as Saturday rolls around, he will have forgotten it.

Jack then just follows me around the house talking about how excited he is that he will shave his head.

Finally, he comes running up to me and we had this exchange:

Jack: "Mommy! Mommy! We have to go to dinner on Friday night!!!"

Me: "Why?"

Jack: "No one will let us in a restaurant on Saturday night!!"

Me: "Why not, honey?"

Jack: "Because we'll be two bald men and a fuzz girl!! Who will let us eat in their restaurant??"

For some reason, that struck me as a funny name for a new sitcom. Anyone work for NBC?

Why Jon is Awesome

Last night, long before we had flaming cocktails at Trader Vic's to celebrate my birthday, Jon agreed to have his head shaved for St. Baldrick's Day.

For those not familiar, St. Baldrick's Day is a day where folks shave their heads and raise money in honor of a child with cancer.

Since we have one of those in our house, Jon thought he would participate.

If you are around next Saturday, please join us at Trinity Hall Irish Pub around 11:00. We'll be there to cheer Jon on and have some lunch before Jack's soccer game at 1pm. If you can't make it and would like to donate, you may do so here.

Thank you, all, for your support.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Dearest Me,

I wanted to wish you a very happy birthday today.

Me, you bring such joy to my heart and I'm so thankful that you are around. Oh, I think I'm going to tear up from the happiness that you bring. I mean, everyone says it all the time, you are the best!

I mean, me, where would I be without you? I shell of a human being, that's who!

A very happy birthday, dear me. I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Love,
Me

Confession Tuesday

Well, a happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! I hope that those who are embracing the green beer are having fun. I'm sure that none of those people are reading this right now. If you are, put the computer away! Do not drink and email! I've done it. It is not pretty!!

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Here we are another week down. I had a great week this week because my sister came to town! Wahoo! I took off a half a day on Friday so that we could just hang out together and celebrate our birthdays, which are three days apart. With five kids between us (mostly hers) and one on the way (hers, again), it was so nice to not have to be mommies for about nine hours and just be us. We went to the movies, went to Sephora, walked around and looked purses we could not afford, it was awesome.

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On Saturday, we went to the Dallas St. Patrick's Day parade. It was quite interesting, let me say. Overall, we did have a great time and cracked up at the cleverness of some of the floats. One of my best girlfriends was in the parade with her roller derby team which was awesome and very fun to see. Eva and Jack loved to catch those beads. Eva wore every bead that she caught and had quite a collection at the end of it!

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Only one slight damper set me over the edge, I must say. On Monday I fired off a letter to the City Councilwoman, Angela Hunt, who is in charge of that district, regarding something that was attached to a set of beads one of the floats threw to my five-year old son and my two-year old daughter. I won't go into it because I might get fired up, again. Let's just say that I was really hoping to put off the "what are those?" discussions with Jack for a bit longer. Councilwoman Hunt kind of blew me off but I'm not finished yet. I've written a letter to the newspaper.

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I changed my profile picture for the first time in almost two years. I have a facebook page that I change quite regularly but for some reason, I've kept this same picture here. But, I thought, hey, Eva is almost in college, I should probably update the kids. Maybe someday, I'll have someone draw a really cool picture of me with the kids and I'll just use that forever more. I mean, the Simpsons don't get old, why should my kids?

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Jack and Eva are on spring break this week. This has caused many challenges. 1) How do I get Jack out of the house for a couple of hours each day so that my nanny does not quit? 2) How do I get Jack out of the house for a couple of hours each day so that Eva will not be seriously injured? 3) How do I get Jack out of the house for a couple of hours each day and wear him down so that he'll sleep at night? At the last minute, I signed him up for a local swim camp for the week. He loves it and it wears his toushie out. Everybody wins!

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I turn 39 on Friday. Now, I know that age is just a number and that I'm very youthful in spirit and I still stay up too late, dance my bottom off, and drink way too much for my age but the other day, when I said it out loud to someone, I could hardly believe it. Where did my 30's go?

It seems like five minutes ago that I threw my own 30th birthday party at Dyda's house. I had so many good friends there. Maybe it is not that I'm struggling with the actual number. Maybe I'm just struggling with the passage of time. I feel great. I'm happy in my life. With the exception of the fact that only my darling hairdresser really knows the extent of my grey (it's a lot), I think I look pretty young. I just can't believe all that happened in my 30's.

Here's a brief recap:

-Started dating my husband

-Got engaged five months later in Paris

-Traveled to India, Australia, Japan and Korea all by myself with meeting various friends/family members along the way

-Moved to Texas (cannot still believe I live so far from the coast!)

-Got married

-Did a bunch of more traveling (love those AA bene's!!!)

-Had Jack

-Did more traveling

-Had Eva

-Stopped traveling

-Eva got sick

-Eva got better

-Turned 39

That's quite a decade! Well, I guess I'll just embrace it. Come on 39! That only gives me one year to plan the 40th birthday blow out!! Time is ticking away and heaven only knows, it sure does go fast!!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Elmo and Ricky Gervais???

Why does this make me laugh so hard???

Calm Within a Storm

I'm so happy to have my house back after the great plumbing debacle.

This weekend, it was 80 degrees and sunny. Today? Not so much. I got up for work today at 0-dark-thirty. I could hear it was raining outside but because it is still so dark with the time change, I had no idea how hard it was coming down. I found out pretty quick.

A bit ago, Jon and I removed our gutters from the back of the house. We noticed that the wood was rotting and we wanted to hire someone to replace all the wood and hang new gutters. That work is set to begin next week. With no gutters, the rain just pours off the roof and on to my head. Good morning, Goodnight Mom!


So, back to the home repairs.

The past 10 days reminds me of a song....
We called a man to fix the house, what oh what a house, why would you grouse? We pumped out the water so we could kill spiders, who wiggled and jiggled inside her, we killed the spiders to fix the pipes, I don't know why, she swallowed a fly....perhaps she'll die.....

It is never good when you are at your desk at work and your father sends a text message that reads: "How do you know that you will need a second mortgage to pay your plumbing bill? Answer: You have three trucks and five plumbers." Crap.

I called the guy and he said in all of his 20 years, he had never seen such rotted pipes. ALL PIPES IN THE HOUSE! Rotted out. Now, we have had plumbers over to the house MANY times. No one once said that our pipes were rotted out. We knew there was a problem, we kept smelling things. So, we would call American Home Shield, (the worst investment ever, by the way!) but they just kept telling us the smell was dead animals down there. The animal story made sense because we often see critters running about. But, when this plumber that we hired ourselves NOT from AHS showed me the photographs, you cannot imagine what I saw.

The problem with this whole thing, other than the money we had to shell out unexpectedly, is that this took away our kitchen sink and washing machine for 10 days. Oh, and I had 80 people attending Jack's birthday party with no sink! Oh, and my parents were coming to stay! Somehow I managed to make the cupcakes and my folks only had to go to the laundromat once, but still, my house was a wreck.

The bottom line is that we now have all new pipes under the house AND as an added bonus, my house does not stink! YIPPEE!

Our new favorite plumber did have some news for us. Our duct work has fallen apart and needs to be replaced. Oh, and we need a kitchen sink. Oh, and our dryer isn't installed to code. Oh, and don't forget those gutters!! Cha-Ching!!!

That's ok. I'm not burning down the house just yet (but thank you for the suggestion, dear reader!)

I'm just relaxing this week. Jack's party is over. I have my house back for a bit until phase 2 of the repairs begins next week. My sister heads to Dallas tomorrow afternoon for a restful babymoon (hers--baby #4 on the way!)

Tonight, I'll relax, go to bed and listen to the rain pour off the side of the house....ahhhhhh.

Jack's Birthday Party

I'm so tired, I can hardly type. I have been working late nights forever to plan Jack's birthday party today.

It was supposed to be a party in the park. Unfortunately, all week long and even up until Thursday, the weather called for storms. I called my pal at the White Rock YMCA and asked if we could have the party there. He was so generous to let us do it.

Well, as it turned out, it was 80 degrees and sunny, of course. Since we had already made the decision to move it, we stuck with it.

We had over 80 people RSVP! The theme of the party was robots. By the way, if I had any ability to design any party ware, it would be of robots. No one makes anything. This sadly meant that I had to do my own design work. As you faithful readers know, this can either be great or hilariously bad. Mostly hilariously bad. You can decide for yourself. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I had this harebrained idea that I would make "robot" cupcakes using cake cones. I was up until 2am making these bad boys.

Here are some shots of the party. I had several stations set up. The kids could make robot costumes from paper bags and some alien spaceships.

and have their picture taken in an adorable robot box that one of my co-workers painted for me.

As party favors, I made t-shirts for the kids. My girlfriend's kids were kind enough to model them for me!

All in all, it was a good day. We had so many kids running about. Jack got some amazing presents, too! We're so fortunate to have so many folks who care about him!

I really hope that Jack had a good weekend. Between the Imagination Movers on Saturday and this great party today, I think that he did. Now, Mommy can rest for a bit. I've got my birthday on the horizon!

Why I (Heart) the Imagination Movers

Today, we went to see the Imagination Movers in concert. I sent them a note asking them if they would give a shout out to Jack for his birthday. They wrote back and told me that they wanted us to come to the meet and greet! I was so excited as I knew it would be so special for the kids.

Anyway, today went great. The concert was fantastic. We went with my parents and our dear friends the Sara and William.

After the show, the kids were blown away by the surprise! We got to visit with them for a few minutes and they were so kind to the kids.

Eva hugged Mover Scott so many times. She loved him. When we left, she turned back to them and yelled, "I LOVE YOU MOVERS!!" It was so great.

Happy 5th Birthday Jack!

Today, my little one turns 5!

The teacher sent home this note to ask us to write just two memories for each year of Jack's life for her to read to the class today. Here's what we said:

Birth to one year

Jack was born one week early at 12:48pm. He was 8lb and 12 oz and 20 inches long. He got his first passport at four weeks and went to France, Germany, and England, as well as New Orleans and North Carolina all before he was 3 months old! Jack did not like to crawl so he started walking at 10 months!

One year to two years

Jack spoke more spanish than english when he started talking. Jack talked a lot and very early. Whenever he said the word, "Baa", that meant that he wanted to watch The Wiggles.

Two years to three years

Jack saw his first movie in the theatre. It was "Cars". Jack loved to do somersaults on the balance beam at the Little Gym. Jack became a big brother to Eva.

Three years to four years

Jack joined the Grasshoppers, his first soccer team and played two seasons. Jack went to Philadelphia and saw Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell (which Jack called the Delivery Bell).

Four years to five years

Jack celebrated his fourth birthday at DisneyWorld. Goofy danced around the restaurant with his cake. He also got to fight Darth Vader with a light sabre. Jack is a very funny person and is a great joke teller. He makes us laugh all the time.

I could go on all day about how great Jack is and how lucky I am to be his Mommy. I'll just say, a very Happy Birthday to my little Baby Duck!!!! I love you so much!!!!

Confession Tuesday

Good evening!

Well, I'm finally sitting down for the evening. What a day! Tonight, I came home and had to hit the laundromat. What, you say? Yep, we're back on the laundromat trail.

Here's what happened. Our house started splitting. I mean cracks became VERY wide. So, we called a foundation person. They came out and said that our problem was not the foundation but the standing water that we had. So, we called a plumber. Plumber said, yep, standing water. Apparently, our sink and our washing machine basically just dump under the house, thus the movement. The plumber said that he could not fix our problem because as he said we have "Indiana Jones" spiders under the house. Spiders?? So, I called our exterminator to come. He said that he could not come until the standing water was gone because of the compound that he uses. The plumber had to come pump out the water and now we're waiting to dry. For one week, we have not had a kitchen sink or a washing machine. You don't even want to know what we're doing over here!

Scary part? We're all walking on top of a colony of spiders...creepy!
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Tomorrow, my baby boy turns 5. I don't know what to say about that because every time I think of it, I start crying. Five just seems like a big boy. You know? Not a little one but a 5 year old! Uh, oh. Waterworks.
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Even though I believe that he is really happy, I'm still mad at The Bachelor.
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Jack told me yesterday that he wished that I had a beard. I'm just thankful that I don't (yet).
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I'm having a HUGE birthday party for Jack at a local park. We've rented a covered park area. Just found out that it is supposed to rain on Sunday. Crap.
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Speaking of Jack's birthday, I have such an amazing surprise for him. We've got tickets to the Imagination Movers on Saturday for him. I wrote them to ask them if they would give Jack a shout-out for his birthday. They told me that they wanted for us to come backstage for the meet and greet! Jack will be so excited! Oh, and Eva, I just don't know what she will do! She will love it! I'm so happy that we can do this for them!
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My parents are coming! My parents are coming! My parents are coming!
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I saw The Women (the new one) on Sunday. First, let me say that The Women (the original) is one of my all time favorite movies. While I often hate remakes, I was willing to give this one a try. I mean, it had a decent cast. Oh my goodness, was that painful. PAINFUL! I'm so sorry if you loved this movie, but I could barely get through it. For those The Women lovers, please rent the original 1939 version. Rosalind Russell is a classic.
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That's it. Nothing really exciting here. Just a bunch of water and spiders.

An Interview with Jack, age (almost) 5

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mommy happy?
When I give you kisses

3. What makes mommy sad?
When I disobey you

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
By tickling me

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
A sister

6. How old is your mommy?
38

7. How tall is your mommy?
3 inches taller than daddy

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Hang out with me

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Mop the floors (Ok, I do this once per month and I put a floor shine on. I always send the kids away with Jon to do this. Today happened to be the day)

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Getting people around you

11. What is your mommy really good at?
Cooking (ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!)

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
Doing art (Boy, is he right on that one!)

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
Work at the YMCA

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?
Matzo ball soup (What? I only eat this when I’m sick!)

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
You’re a good hugger

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Princess Lea from Star Wars (Jack made me write that she was from Star Wars)

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
Play

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
We’re both Catholic

19. How are you and your mommy different?
I’m a boy and you’re a girl

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
Because you give me hugs all the time

21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
In the room right here with me

What a Year, Holy Crap!!

I'm sitting here in the house as Jon took the kids over to his sister's house for breakfast (hmm, it's nearly noon, already?)

Anyway, I stayed behind because I wanted to polish our floors. As I was putting down coat #3 of the worlds greatest floor product, Holloway House Quick Shine. I was thinking about the day and what we were going to do with the rest of it.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Today is February 28. It was one year ago today that Eva had her seizure in the doctor's office that sent us into a dizzying array of the world that we know now. I cannot even believe that it has been a year.

I remember it so well. Eva felt warm when I went to work. We had a staff meeting and I mentioned that I had to take her to the doctor later that afternoon because I did not want her to have the flu for a second time that month.

I had no idea the direction that I was heading that afternoon.

It's strange, when I was in the hospital with Eva the other day, most of the staff who were there, were there either the night that Eva came in the first time or the afternoon when Jack came in two days later. They all came in to talk to me about it. I told them that I could not believe that they remembered us from a year ago. The doctor told me that there are some families that they do not forget and we were one of them. They had gathered around and recounted that night and the subsequent Saturday from their perspective.

They mentioned seeing Eva toddling around (she was 16 mos at the time). Someone mentioned that she had on her Elmo dress (she did). Then, they told me that they all knew before the doctor told me. They had all seen the x-rays with the giant tumor but wanted to remain positive before they took us back for the CT to verify exactly what it was. One of the nurses told me that in all of his days, he'll never forget hearing me sob and hyperventilate from that room (funny, I won't forget that either!)

Another nurse and our doctor were the ones who were there when Jack came in. They, of course, jumped in with stories about that day and how in shock we all seemed to be.

I guess when we look back at it, we have to focus on all the blessings of the year. I mean, I have the most amazing memories of the past 366 days (LY was a leap year, remember?) :

All the outpouring of support from this blog and from my friends and colleagues
All the new friends I have made in this tiny circle of NB
Having such an amazing husband and son who just move along with every change
Having such a wonderful family who just pitched in at every turn to help us

The thing I am most blessed for, I would have to say, is watching my little Eva weather this storm with such strength and determination. I ordered a shirt for her that I'm hoping will come in in the next couple of days. I saw it when we were in Disney World last year but did not get it. It has much more meaning now. It is a picture of Yoda with a light saber and it says, "Judge me by my size, do you?" The world has to look out for this little one, trust.

Thank you all so much for your support for us over the past year. I don't know how I would have made it without you.

Confession Tuesday

It's Mardi Gras!

Well, I won't do like I did last year with the themed confessional. Even THOUGH I actually attended Mardi Gras for the first time last weekend! But, it's time for the confessional!
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I did not win the Oscars contest this year. I did not lose, that award goes to Jana. Joseph had this uncanny way of picking all the "small" categories like documentary, animated short, live action short, etc. Does Joseph work for PWC and we don't know it???

JoJo, I'll be sending you your trophy. Don't you worry.
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Hotmail has allowed us to change our backgrounds for our email. I picked the robots.
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MY NANNY IS BACK! MY NANNY IS BACK! After a two week absence for a family emergency, she's back! I'm so happy I don't know what to do. You know what makes me the most happy (well, besides having to not scramble for childcare!)? I won't have to do things like send Jack to school with dirty underwear turned inside out because after working 14 hour days, I had not managed to get the laundry done. WAHOO!
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I'm going to give up Diet Coke as my lenten sacrifice. For those who know me personally, this is a major, I mean, major sacrifice. AND my wonderful hubby just purchased a 24 pack that will just sit there taunting me for the next 40 days. Maybe I'll chug a bunch of it tonight. That should not keep me up and wired AT ALL. Beloved Diet Coke, I shall miss thee...
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Speaking of awake and wired, last night, Eva would not go to sleep. I let her squirm in her bed (I mean, try to fall asleep) until 9pm or so (aka the end of the Women Tell All episode of The Bachelor). Although, she had eaten a huge dinner, she told me that she was hungry (when is she not? she eats like a teenage boy, no kidding). So, I brought her in the den where Jon and I were watching Sunday's Amazing Race. Don't know if you saw this episode but at one point, there was a challenge to throw cream cakes in the partner's faces until you found the cherry filling. I swear, Eva thought this was the funniest thing she had EVER seen. I got more enjoyment from watching her laugh at this than I can ever say. She was literally rolling on the floor laughing in her usual unintelligible babbling. It was like this, "babble babble babble CAKE!!!! ha ha ha!!!!! Mommy! Mommy! Babble babble babble CAKE!!!!" I'm so scared to see what will happen the next time we have cake at dinner.
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Happy Mardi Gras!!!

The Oscars--Again!

Well, it's Oscars night, again!

I'm terribly excited, as usual. Not only because I will lose my last place trophy to another competitor (Jana, JoJo and Al, you're going down!) but that I might actually EARN the top prize which I forgot to mail to Jana last year!

Good news, Jana, you won't have to mail it to me! I've got it right her in its rightful place on my mantle. Same as last year!

The Best Laid Plans...

This weekend, I had great plans to go visit my new nephew, James. I have not met him and was soooo excited.

Alas, someone had other plans.

I got home from work and Jack had FIVE days of smiley faces from school (for the first time--woop woop!) I had promised him that the first time we got five days of smiley faces I would buy him a present.

So, Jack and I go off to get his celebratory present. Jon calls. Eva has a fever. Crap.

We called the doctor. I was pretty sure that this was not a port infection that it was probably something like the flu. But, since she has the port, all fevers require a trip to the ER.

Turns out that Eva has pneumonia. Not the really bad kind that lands you in the hospital for a week, thankfully, but the kind that makes you go home and take breathing treatments for several days.

Today, she's back to her normal self. She's a bit tired because we were at the ER until 12:30am but beyond that, she's fine. I'm counting my blessings!

Now, to figure out a time to get my hands on that baby!!!!

Confession Tuesday

Hi all!

Well, thought I would post a couple of quick thoughts for the day.
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I'm still coming down off of the news that we got for Eva. I have to say, I was FULLY expecting to hear that the tumor was growing. I can pray and hope all day long that it goes well but honestly, the way things had been going, I was just prepared for some bad news. Then, it came. the good news. The tumor is shrinking all on its own! I still can't believe my ears. What fantastic and happy news!!!!

The plan is to rescan her in May but to check her cathecolemines in a couple of weeks. If the test is normal, we'll stick with the May plan. If we have to scan her before then, well, we'll just make do.

As I've mentioned, tumors grow so quickly. So, we'll know pretty fast if one is growing. Here's to hoping.

For now, I'm floating for sure.
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Well, we've been sooo busy around here. First of all, let me start by saying this is my busiest time at work. We are in the middle of our annual campaign (my entire reason for having employment) and I'm swamped. It's going very well, though and we're more than halfway there. I'm just putting in tons of hours. Last week, I worked fourteen hours a day for three days. Ugh.
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In addition, I have been sick off and on for a couple of weeks. Jon has been awesome supporting me for the past couple of weeks while I was sick. I don't know what I would have done without him to be there to help!
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Speaking of Jon, we had a great time at the school auction. As you might have read, I had some "issues" with my hair! So, I did the best thing I could think of, I bought a hat! Here we are on the way to the auction.


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We had a great time. I'm not kidding. We had a great table filled with FUN people. As a matter of fact, we closed the gala down and then went out with our very FUN table. We got some great stuff including a rocking chair decorated by Eva's teacher with all the songs that Eva sings at school. I love it so much. Eva likes to sit in it and rocks back and forth singing her little songs. That was worth it right there!
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The other day, I was riding behind a truck. The name of the company was "Amen Gutters". Their tag? "Gutters that last until Jesus comes back." That's SOME guarantee! I mean, really, how much are you going to need those gutters, anyway, after Jesus comes?
*******
I thought it was really important to make sure that Jack knew my cell number.

Here's the problem. Jack calls me nonstop. The messages usually go something like this, "Hi Mom, I miss you. I love you. You're the best. BOOTY BUTT! POOPY HEAD!!" and then some rather foul noises. This is followed by hysterical laughter and then a hang up.

What do I do with that???
******
I had a great Valentine's Day. Usually, Jon and I do not really do much for that holiday. Usually, for me, it's just JANA'S BIRTHDAY!!!! more than anything. But, my hubby called his BFF Neil and we headed to their house in New Orleans for the weekend kids in tow to celebrate early Mardi Gras.

I have to say first, that we BARELY made the flight. I got home from work and went to grab the kids to throw them in the car to head to the airport. Then, I saw it. All the clothes that I had carefully packed were thrown all over the house. Jack had decided to repack the bag with only pajama tops and his lizard/alligator costume.

Now, I had exactly fifteen minutes to find everything and repack before the flight left. I cannot even still believe that we made it and I did as well as I did.

Here's the list of things that I did miss:

-Each of us only had one pair of shoes, the ones we had on when we boarded the plane.
-I forgot the camera and had to rely on my friends to take pics.
-I brought only one shirt, the one I had on when I boarded the airplane.
-I did not have any pull ups for Jack to wear at night.

Thank heaven God made Walmart. Bought the kids some fake crocs, me some shirts, Jack some pull ups and we were off.

I deserve some major organization awards for that!
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We had SUCH a blast! I mean, SUCH A BLAST!

Now, let me just dispel anything you might think about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Ok, maybe Mardi Gras weekend is exactly what you think it might be. Jon told me that the weekend before Mardi Gras was super kid friendly and that they would love it. I was skeptical, having never been there and thinking I was going to have to grab my children and run from shirt-lifting-vomiting-co-eds. Not so.

Apparently, uptown IS very family friendly. I tell you, those New Orleanians have it right. They make it fun for everyone. You want drunk? Go to the French Quarter. You want your kids to have a blast? Stay uptown. And, stay uptown, we did.

They caught beads. They caught stuffed animals. They caught cups. They caught doubloons. They yelled at the horses, danced with the bands and screamed, "Throw me something, Mister!!!" Like nobody's business.

I thought that Eva would just think it was ok. You know, I always underestimate her and her fun factor. The music from the marching bands start, Eva just jumps up and down and dances. Eva had so many beads on her, she could barely walk but she would not allow you to take off ONE strand.

Here are a couple of pics of the weekend. I let Jack keep his lizard/alligator costume.

Shrinking is the Opposite of Growing

So, I've heard! Yes, got Eva's MRI results today. Eva's tumor is shrinking!!!!!!

WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

AND NO NEW GROWTH!!!!!

More to come!

Today's MRI

I'm off this morning to take Eva for her MRI. I heard last night from the GOOD anesthesiologist (yeah) that he was going to do her procedure.

I'm going in very hopeful that all is well. We got news yesterday that her catecholemine test (that urine test that detects cancer markers) was normal. It could still be normal and we could see growth of that tumor but for now, I'm hoping that is just the case.

Just an aside, as I only have a moment this morning. I've been meaning to write all week. I have lots of photos from the auction, which I will post this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, my wonderful hubby has arranged for a Valentine's Day spectacular! We're heading to New Orleans to Mardi Gras this evening. WAHOO! I can't wait!

That's just a bit of random notes. More later.

The Pin Curl

Tonight, we are going to a party for my children's school. The theme is 1940's. So, I get this dress, I'm all set for tonight. One final touch, the hair.

Last night, Jon went out to a concert. I decided to invite my girlfriend over after we put our kids to bed to come, drink some wine and work on our hair.

We go online and all we see? Pin curls. Everywhere. Step by step pin curls. Oh, this is easy we say, as we drink more wine and roll our hair. According to the photos and instructions, when you take the pins out, with the twist of a wrist, you get this gorgeous wavy well constructed hair.

So, I went to bed with a head full of bobby pins and tied up in a do-rag. This morning, I woke up so excited! A twist of the wrist and this is what I had!

I giant afro!!!

Thank god I live in 2009!

The Ugh, and The Double Ugh.

The Ugh
Hi everyone! Well on Sunday, I had this great post written about the weekend and all the fun activites the kids had been doing. I was beat after the Super Bowl, so I thought I would just write it on Monday when I got home from work.

Well, the best laid plans as they say...

Was sitting at lunch for my boss' birthday on Monday. Suddenly, I felt freezing. I asked everyone at the table if they, too, were cold. They looked at me like I had four heads. Then, the achiness started. That's when I knew I was toast.

By 3:30, I had the chills and my legs suddenly weighed 500 lbs each.

For the next two days, my fever ranged anywhere from 100.8-102.4. I was freezing. I was sweating. I hurt everywhere.

I went to the doctor and found out that I did not have the flu but rather a bacterial infection. I begged him to make me better faster. So, rather than taking 10 days worth of antibiotics, he gave me a shot and a zpack.

Today, I am back to normal. Just in time for Eva's MRI tomorrow.

The Double Ugh
The doctor wanted to do an MRI on Eva six weeks post-chemo. That was actually last week but since we could not get an appointment, we got the "sweet" appointment of 7:ooam tomorrow.

The thing is when you have these MRI's, you get assigned an anesthesiologist and you don't find out who that person is until the night before.

So, tonight, guess who calls me? SENIOR MOMENT LADY! You all might remeber she's the one that one time delayed us three hours and Eva came out with emersion dementia. Then, we unluckily had her again and guess what? Five hour delay and 45 minutes of screaming Eva hell (aka emersion dementia part 2).

I just blew a gasket. I called and tried to find out if someone else could take her tomorrow and they cannot. So, we have to cancel and reschedule for next week.

I am so upset. I have been worried sick on the edge of my seat for weeks worried about Eva's tumor growth. Now, we have to wait until next week and just hope that we don't get assigned the same person! This is just miserable!

Anyway, we're all fine here beyond that. I'm just really bummed tonight so not such a happy bouncy post. I'll have more of those this weekend, I'm sure.

Quickie

Good morning!

Well, I had planned this big post since I had not written much in a week or so. HOWEVER, I completely passed out last night at 9:30. Just sitting in a chair. Out like a light.

So, here's my morning post!

Went to the doctor yesterday. Our course of treatment says that we do an MRI every three months. He did not want to wait that long, given this tumor that is sitting there that we can't remove. So, we're doing one next week.

I'll be on pins and needles, of course, until then but I just have to hope that all will be well.