dreams

I had a dream that my mom and I were shopping for maternity clothes. It was great- she said all her normal things like..... "make sure it's 100% cotton, you don't want to be wearing polyester in the summer," "you may want that, but do you really need it?", "you don't want the material pulling in certain places", "when I was pregnant....."
It was a great dream to be able to see her and talk to her. I talked with my grandmother last night, and I had fun telling her about pregnancy changes. I feel close to my mom when I talk to her.
So I'm headed to target this afternoon, and all of my moms advice will be running through my head when I'm picking stuff out. Thanks Mom! :)
*I do have a couple of ancient dresses that my mom wore when she was pregnant. They do look like tents, but I'll have to give them a try :)

May 28th

May 28th is a hard day..... a little harder than usual today.

It would have been my dad's birthday. I'm sad to say I'm not sure how old!!! 59 or 60?
We buried my dad this week last year.
Today Jason and I had to go to the district court because we wittnessed a drunk driver in action several months back. It was so scary that night, they crossed the median, no headlights into on coming traffic..... Today we learned that the woman was very drunk and had taken lots of sleeping medication. When she was pulled over she had no idea where she was and had on no pants..... Her lawyer kept referring to her medical condition, and the judge was like, you don't drink when you take sleeping pills, that is just common sense....
It was just really hard to sit there and not think of my family. The cause of their accident was not drunk driving, but it was partly reckless driving. It is an absolute miracle that this woman did not hurt herself or anyone else. Jason spoke up saying that all the details of our recorded phone call to 911 were correct, and it was a very scary thing to wittness. I had to hold back because I wanted to express how reckless driving has traumatized our family- and that even just one time it can ruin lives.
The woman didn't seem to get much penalty- revoked lisence for 60 days and "unsupervised probation" for a year..... for something that serious it seems like there should have been more.

It was an awkward day.

highlight of the year?

Maybe! We saw Dierks Bentley on Saturday night, and it was the best night ever! Our day started great with a couple different cookouts in Calvert Co. Then down to Solomon's Island. We did some fun people watching before the concert.

So yes, I am a big dork & a member of the Dierks fan club..... but it allowed me to have a meet & greet pass- which I've done before. But now he's a much bigger artist, so it's not like I can hang around after the concert for a picture..... anyway, there were about a dozen of us or so that were fan club members and we got to spend at least 30 minutes hanging out with Dierks taking pictures and asking questions. It was really awesome. The best thing- he totally remembered me!!!! Seriously. I went up and said hi I'm Sylvia..... then he said- wait- you've been coming out since the beginning haven't you! YES!!!! I reminded him that I went to about every single show in North Carolina and then some! He really did remember! That was incredible!

Anyway, the opening band was terrible. Our seats weren't as good as I thought they'd be- but they were good. One cool thing was that there was a short line where they let people go right in front of the stage for a song- so I went to do that. It was an emotional song too, called Long Trip Alone- makes me think of my family. And I know I sound like such a dork, but when I was in that pit- Dierks saw me and smiled! yay!



Then I went back to my loving and wonderful husband! :) We cuddled when he sang "My Last Name" b/c that was our first dance at our wedding! Dierks sang so many good songs, did a bluegrass set- it was SO good. If it had been 3 years ago I would have been at the next show the next night in Maryland (Cumberland) but believe it or not, I'm not the super fan that I once was- although you probably can't tell if you're reading this! :)



Anyone who wants a cd- I'll make you one! He's a great musician!

Yay!

These are just a few of the times I saw Dierks in 04/05. He always remembered that I had a different hair color.....(after chemo). And these are just some of them! :)

Weekly Happenings

It's been a crazy busy few days- starting off last week with a terrible cold. I made myself stay home from work one day last week, but it didn't do much. I went to the doctor to rule out strep throat, luckily I didn't have it. But I might as well have- b/c I felt awful! Just now starting to feel a little better!

Friday night was Relay for Life at AACC. I was so excited to take my friend Shannon. We got there and it was FREEZING! Luckily Jason hadn't left the house, so he brought us some warmer clothes. But dang it was cold! I hadn't been to this particular event site, so it was fun to just show up and take part in the festivities (instead of being on the comittee & planning, planning, planning.....). I was so proud to walk with Shannon in the survivors lap- and I could tell that being part of something within such a large cancer community was very special to her. Since it was so cold & windy out (not helping my stuffy nose & sore throat!) we left before the luminary ceremony- but we found Shannon's bag so that she could take it home & light it. We may do the Edgewater RFL together since it will be warmer (on June 6th).

This is Shannon & me in the survivors lap! Whoo-hoo!

Saturday we were up bright & early to continue to prepare for Jason's Client Appreciation Party that we held at our home on Satuday night. Thank GOD the weather held up- it was warm and perfect out. We had been preparing for weeks and Saturday I started out with Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloins, about 8 of them..... thank goodness for my double oven! The day went by so fast & there was so much to do, but somehow we pulled it off! We also made & served crab dip, tortellini kebobs, veggies, & probably the highlight was the chocolate fountain..... ummm! It was so good w/ the fruits & sweets, but man did it make a mess. Since it was windy the chocolate was literally flying around- gross! But people liked it, and I had a plastic table cloth, so I really didn't care! :)

This is our backyard while we were getting set up. The lanterns were beautiful during the day & at night- and once the flowers were on the table- it was wonderful! The night time photos just didn't capture the mood. Thanks for everyone who came- it was so great to see you all! :)
One fun part about the night was I wore my first maternity dress! It was so pretty & showed my little baby bump!

Sunday the kitchen was a DISASTER and it stayed that way! I had to work all morning at church and I was so worn out and tired, we just crashed.

OK- a few more dishes to take care of..... yay.

Highlights

Yesterday started off being a great day despite the weather.
We heard our baby's heartbeat! We saw it several weeks ago at an ultrasound- but to hear it again being a few weeks further along. It was really fast, and once the dr. pointed it out, all I could do was laugh! It was great!
The second highlight of the day was getting the LAST chicken biscut at chick-fil-a. It was after 10:30 (barley, like 10:35), and everyone around us was ordering lunch. All I wanted all morning was that chicken biscut, so when she said there was one more- I was very excited!

A lowlight- well, the concert I went to Sunday night was INCREDIBLE. I loved it. I'm used to seeing Jump Little Children with hundreds of other people- and at this small little bar in Arlington, there were like 20 people to see Jay Clifford. It was so good. He sang new songs, and JLC songs. I was recording songs w/ my camera- my fav. mexico & a couple of others. I went to download them yesterday, and the sound was not turned on on the camera. I was so sad! Oh well. It's one of those experiences I'll just have to remember.

it's only been two months!

SO.... I love reading other people's blogs- mine is totally boring! So today I'm going to do lots of updating- with pictures! :)

The sun is finally shining- although that will probably change in 5 minutes. I have to say one of my favorite things about spring is not having the heat or AC running- our electric bill was 1/3 of what is normally is! (yes- the fact that I get excited about this proves that I am a Burger!)

Speaking of Burgers..... about a month ago in April I went down to NC for a "Memorial Lecture" at NC State University in honor of my dad. The college of design wants to make this an annual event for students, faculty, alumni & members of the professional landscape architecture community. It was very special knowing that people were gathering in honor of my dad to learn and grow in their profession. I'm looking forward to next years event!

Julia made up a really wonderful DVD of a journal & pictures of their trip from 1976. My parents & Julia and Jeremy took a 3 month camping trip around the country. One of the most interesting things was how much everything cost- for three months- 14,000 miles- the total gas bill was $278!

So here is Charley at 26-27 years old?

On the subject of lectures, I am reading the most incredible book- I recommend it to anyone. This man is dying of pancreatic cancer- but his wisdom and outlook on life is just incredible:

Jason and I are spending lots of time outside- walks around the neighborhood and hanging out in the yard. Our kitty loves to sniff outside and lay in the sunshine. Jason could use prayers as usual for his back pain- it seems to be getting worse and affecting other parts of his body- I know it is very frustrating for him. He's used to a managable level of pain- but lately it has been really bad. His work is going well- which we are very thankful for. We're hosting our first client appreciation party at our house next weekend and that should be fun, but a ton of work.

We're doing Relay for Life next weekend at Anne Arundel Community College. I don't know how to make links yet..... but it should be an awesome night. I'm taking my friend Shannon for the first time- she was diagnosed almost a year ago with a rare form of some kind of lymphoma, not even sure exactly what it was, but it was bad. Her progress has been a miracle- and I went with her to the doctor a couple of weeks ago- we celebrated her high school graduation with the nurses & doctors. Shannon just won prom queen too at her high school. I can't wait to walk the survivors lap with her!

So tomorrow is Mother's Day- and it will be a great day, and a sad day. Sad b/c I miss my mom SO much- all the time. Happy b/c I'm pregnant, and preparing for motherhood myself! I'll have to start my baby blogging soon! :) Soon enough! But it should be a fun day- church, then going to a cookout with new moms & another soon to be mom from church, Jason's family over at our house, and then to see one of my FAVORITE singers, Jay Clifford. (Gray's Anatomy fans- one of his songs was on the show last week- it was a very nice suprise!) So I think I'll have enough distractions not to be too sad. Here is my mom and me somewhere, not exactly sure where! And then my little baby bump- not one really yet, and I think I had just eaten so feeling more bloated than anything! :)

The first prego shot- maybe at 7-8 weeks, number two at 12 weeks! :)

I haven't gotten to the "crazy cleaning" stage yet- it's coming though. Here is my closet that is in desperate need of attention. It's in between summer/winter clothes, but then most of my summer things I will not be fitting into after too long, so what to do? I'm fine with it being a pigsty for now! (My mother would not be proud!)

And while we're in my room- here is the goal board that I made several months ago- it turned more into a prayer/thankful board- my parents devotion and love for one another encourages me in my marriage. My cancer journey reminds me that my life is such a gift, and my ability to create new life is truly a miracle. An angel picture to remind me of all the angels in my life and inspires me to help others. A baby crib! This was before I found out about our pregnancy- so that continues to be a huge focal point in our prayer life. And Jason and my journey together- a great picture from our wedding day. It's nice to wake up to those thoughts every morning.

OK- I think this a pretty good update! :) I think we're off to a birthday party- or we may just stay home and watch a movie- that sounds better to me! :)