fun weekend

Jason and I went to a dinner for the Mid Atlantic Cancer Support Center on Saturday night. It was very uplifting and a time to meet other cancer survivors. I shared my story with about a dozen others (on paper, not getting up and talking) and had a picture displayed. Now we have a huge picture of just me.... don't know where we'll put it. But I got to wear my fav. new dress!

Then on Sunday my Uncle Mark & Aunt Melissa were in town- a real treat to get to spend some time with them. We walked through the Naval Academy and downtown to eat at Carol's Creek. We sat outside for a few hours and got to see a lightning storm. This prevented us from taking the water taxi back, oh well. They left this morning (Monday) after breakfast & a walk to the pier. I'll be headed their way to New York in August.

I love my husband- today there was a "Taco Truck" outside our house for the construction workers. I've always wanted to get food from one of these. So he went out and made me a plate- it wasn't quite what I was expecting- a lot of meat- mostly I didn't care for it. But I was hungry and ate a big portion of it! I guess I was hoping for real mexican beans & salsa.... ummm. Mexican Cafe anyone? :)

Today is pretty chill- need a day to rest & catch up! Nap time!

My Sweet Kitty

weekend

So unless it's elastic, I can't fit into any clothes..... luckily I have several stretchy skirts & capris that should get me through this in-between time of too big for my regular size and not big enough for maternity. It is kinda depressing though when I can't fit pants over my hips! Oh well. I have a regular checkup tomorrow- the only thing that has really changed is getting lots of bad headaches. I know the heat isn't helping- and I'm doing very well at drinking lots and lots of water. We find out the sex on June 26th! That is just around the corner! So that is about all in babyland. Well, not really. We talked about middle names- and are liking Charlie Ann for a girl & Caleb Ivan for a boy.

I thought of Ivan a lot today. I met a new person at church today, and he just moved to the area to work in commercial diving. I assumed this had something to do with fishing (I don't know why, he would have said he was a fisherman....) so in asking more about it he said it was like construction under water. I immediatley thought of Ivan b/c this is what he really wanted to do. He even had some school in New York or New Jersey that he was researching their program in underwater welding. Not the safest of jobs, but Ivan didn't live on the safe side! Here's Ivan with Lucia, Christmas of 2005. I miss him like crazy!

What else? I took a dear friend who was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer to Relay for Life this past Friday night. It was a beautiful (HOT) day- much better than the last RFL a few weeks ago. This is the Relay that I've been going to since I've moved here, and I have to admit, it was SO nice to just go and enjoy it instead of planning and preparing and working for months and months ahead of time. It was good to catch up with people I've worked with in the past- lots of fun telling them about being pregnant! I think that Barb really enjoyed the experience. It's not often that you can be with hundreds of other people that you don't know and feel so connceted to everyone. Once cancer invades your life it leaves a mark. And even though every situation is different, we all had that common factor. Barb's husband died of cancer 8 years ago, so we made some luminary bags for him and took the time to honor his memory.

Barb & I had fun walking around to all the tents & we found lots of fun things to wear!
One cool thing about the night is that I saw my oncologist there! The doctors and nurses from my clinic formed a team and were out walking! I think it's great that they care about their patients like that- and that they can see people in an uplifting environment- not just the chemo room!

And this is my dear friend Brittany- I walked with her in her first survivors lap in 2005! Brittany just got married last weekend so it was fun to see her after her big day. Brittany had (and still gets checked all the time) for melanoma. She was Miss Maryland in 2006 and has done a tremendous job on advocating against tanning salons- the source of her cancer.

I'm looking forward to a fun week- nothing too exciting. Have to say goodbye to a dear co-worker Taegan! It was exciting to see the Richmond Church Plant team gear up for the big move. I'm pumped for them- I can't imagine how they feel!

THANK GOD it's the last week of the NBA finals- I've watched way more basketball than I've cared to lately.... although I do prefer basketball to football......

Jason is on the mend from strep throat, he was pretty pittiful last week- he slept just about as much as I have been sleeping! Oh yeah, this second trimester burst of energy? I'm ready for it anytime!

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.