WW: Saying Goodbye

Today, I'm heading to my father-in-law's funeral.

This photo is from our wedding day. In looking at our wedding photos, I started to count the number of people who have died since that day. My great aunt K., my great uncle S., my great uncle B., our daughter, our best man G., my husband, and now my father-in-law.

Its a difficult thing to realize... so many deaths in such a short while...

But today, we shall say goodbye to my father-in-law, and lay him to rest.

~*~*~
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room.
~*~*~

(author unknown)

The One In Which I Risked My Life

So, I risked my life to go see my littlest brother graduate from high school. I say 'risk my life' because I drove a nearly 3 hour trip on my own despite my tendency to get very sleepy while driving. Somehow, I managed to make it there without falling asleep! Emma came along for the ride and did wonderfully. She loves car rides! We stopped a couple times along the way, and one of those times was to visit a friend at her family's farm. But we did make it finally! It was my first time driving the entire distance by myself. Go, me!

We spent a few extra days there so I could visit some of my family and friends who still live there and even made an additional 45 minute drive (one way) to go see my mother-in-law. Yikes! I guess there's no excuse for me not going anywhere now (although, I did almost nod off on the way back from that measly 45 minute drive!)

Anyway! Just to make myself feel old, take a look at these photos! The first one is my littlest brother and myself on MY high school graduation day and the second one is us on HIS high school graduation day.



Isn't that sad? He got taller and I only got wider.

But yeah, pretty proud of the little-not-so-little guy.

Honestly, there isn't much to say about the trip, but it was nice to see some people I haven't seen for a while. I met two of my friend's babies who have been born since I've seen them last. I also met an online friend who quite coincidentally went to school with my husband and to further the coincidence, her mother now lives across the hall from my mother-in-law. I also paid an insane amount of money to get the negatives and proofs from the photographer who did my wedding photos. We had hoped to go swimming at the lake when we went to see my Mother-in-Law but Mother Nature decided to cool off and send down some rain that day. Boo! I was looking forward to finding out if Emma is a swimmer or not. If she is, she sure didn't get it from me, although, I do a mean doggie paddle!

I'm glad I went, but I was even more glad to get home despite the fact those darn cleaning fairies never came to clean my house while I was gone.

Not So Little Anymore

This photo was taken 17 years ago today. That is me meeting my littlest brother for the first time! I can hardly believe he is not so little anymore, and in fact, he's way taller than I am! I'd post a recent photo but I'm not sure he would let me.

I remember that day quite well. I had to go to school even though I would be too excited to concentrate. At the exact moment my brother was being born, I was sitting in health class watching a birthing video. How's that for ironic?

Well, even though I was hoping for a sister, I'm sure glad this little not-so-little brother of mine found his way into my life. I can't imagine it without him.

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

Quick Update

My husband's surgery went well as expected. He had to stay over night but he is home now and doing alright considering. He has a drainage tube in his chest which will be removed in a week or so and obviously he is stiff and sore but he is not doing too bad otherwise.

They took away some muscle and so his chest has a bit of a sinking look to it. A big change from the huge lump he had there before.

He definately will have radiation, but we don't know when that will occur yet. All we really know at this point is that the doctor recommended that he stay off work for at least 6 weeks. Since he has a week holiday in there somewhere, it will be about 7 weeks then. Knowing him, he will go stircrazy. I have known him for 13 yrs and he never so much as took a single sick day until this. The only other time off he had besides holidays was the 2 weeks after our daughter died in 2005 and that was mostly to take care of me since besides being an emotional wreck, I was also physically unable to do much.

Anyway, thought I would update and also say thank you to all of you who have been sending well-wishes.

(p.s. how come I can't use the spell check on here anymore??)

Catching up

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warning: very long blog entry!
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It has been a while since I posted. The last week or so I really didn't feel like doing my usual blogging memes and posting. We recieved some news that put me in a bit of a funk.

As you may remember, my husband had surgery on Jan. 2nd to remove the mass from his chest. He was told by both the family doctor and the specialist that it was a fatty deposit (where fat cells build up) and that it was growing due to feeding off a vein that ran through it. Well, due to procedure, they sent the mass to be tested and it came back that it is a very, very rare form of cancer. Since they operated under the pretenses that it was a fatty deposit, they will have to operate again to remove cancer cells and scrape away tissue and muscle from his chest. The surgery will be on Feb. 15th. After that, he may need radiation and possibily chemo, depends what they find. A Cancer surgeon is doing the surgery this time so he will have a better idea of what to look for and will recognize things that may go undetected by another surgeon.

Hopefully, the bulk of the cancer has been removed already and that he will not have to go through too much more than this.

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For now, I thought I would catch you all up on a few things.

Menu Plan Monday

I'll skip the Menu Plan Monday this week but soon I will introduce you to a few recipes that we have been trying lately.

Smart Habit Saturday

I have not really established any schedules as I was hoping to for the month of January, but I have started a few new habits which I hope will continue. One major one is that I have started doing the dishes while I'm making supper. This has saved time and also keeps me from leaving the kitchen to sit down while the food cooks. Generally, I have been finished all dishes by the time the food is ready to go on the table, with exception, of course, of the dishes we're actually using at the table. After we eat, there is only a couple plates and utensils to wash up.

For February, I hope to continue working on these habits and fine tune my after-work routine immediately when I get home. This includes getting my supplies ready for the following day. I think that if I can work on this, then gradually I will free up some more time in the evening and hopefully pencil in some time to do at least one chore each evening. And not to mention it will free up some time in the mornings before I go to work and avoid the mad dash to get out the door.

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Dry Ice by Stephen White

Inside cover:

"It has been many years since the mayhem was unleashed in Privileged Information. Now Michael McClelland, the brilliant, determinded murderer introduced in the first Alan Gregory novel, has left the Colorado State Mental Hospital -- and he's coming after Alan's family. The timing couldn't be deadlier; like a wounded animal, Alan is in a deeply vulnerable state, facing
severe doubts about his professional life, his marriage and his own psyche. And McClelland holds the most powerful weapons of all: secrets from Alan's past. Secrets Alan thought he had successfully buried years ago. Secrets not even his wife knows.

Time is running out as Alan scrambles to out-wit his nemesis while confronting each of his worst nightmares. His becomes a captivating psychological journey into the events that forever change us, and the relentless drumbeat of the past.

This searing view into the doctor's heart leaves us with a haunting question: How far will someone go to protect all that they know and love?"

Another great Alan Gregory book by Stephen White! If you like psychological drama, you should check out this series! It took me longer to read this book than usual but simply because I didn't have the luxery of time and when I did, I was too tired to read much at once. I definately recommend this book.