Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny sky, the smell of fresh cut grass (thanks to my neighbor boy) and a smile on my face.  It doesn't get much better than this.

I had a wonderful week in Spokane (I rode over with Amy who was working there all week) visiting with my friends Bob and Dy and just spending quality time with Amy each evening.  We ate at Amy's favorite restaurant, the Elk, twice while we were there.  She could have gone there each night but thought that might be overkill.  I spent all day Wednesday with Dy and we had a great visit. 

Tomorrow I'll get to see all the kids and I'm really looking forward to that.  Enjoy your day with your families and I hope you find lots of Easter eggs.

While doing work around the house this morning, I noticed this magnet on my fridge.  I hadn't read it in a long time and after I did, I thought...you need to share that with the people you love.  So, my advice for the day:

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

And my contribution....Dream Big.
Love, Dor

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Happy Spring?

I'm optimistic that we'll soon be enjoying sunshine and flowers.  I'm a big dreamer so I can wait!

So much has been going on with my family I thought it only appropriate that I give you some updates.  Where to begin?  I'm taking a "BREAK" from chemo.  After a long discussion with my oncologist about chemo sucking the life out of me, he said I could take some time off.  Externally, I feel great.  Internally, I have no idea what's going on, but we'll continue to do scans to make sure the cancer doesn't go rampant.  If so, we'll go back to some kind of treatment plan.  We're even talking about possibly trying Tarceva again.  My body liked it the first time I tried it...maybe it will be kind to me again?  I really do feel better than I have in months.  Of course, I still have a cough and a little fatigue but that's to be expected. 

Just recently, Jacob was playing basketball at the Davis Carlson memorial "Hoops for Davis" event.  He went up to block a shot, came down on his leg wrong and blew out his knee.  He had surgery last Monday to replace his ACL and repair both meniscus's.  He's in great hands with a wife who's a physical therapist.  I went up and "babysat" him a couple of days after surgery when Megan had to go back to work.  He's doing so much better already.   He's missed his classes of kids so I know he's getting ready to head back to work on Monday. 

Amy was promoted to Major in the Air Force.  It was a long time coming (the government has some other things on it's plate right now).  I know it was well deserved..  She also purchased an adorable townhouse in Seattle that she gets to move into later this month.   Besides all of this...she is traveling constantly with her job on the Counter Drug Task Force.    During all this hectic time, the American Cancer Society put a contest on to raise the most money in 10 days for Relay for Life. The winner would receive an Ipad.  Any of you who know Amy...she took the challenge on like a gang buster and won the Ipad raising over $4,100 in those ten days.  Thanks to all of you who contributed to our team. 

I feel bad sometimes when I write all these amazing things about my kids but they are "amazing" so I can't help it.  Angie was just named Educator of the Year at her school.  I know I've mentioned this before, but she is so fun to watch in action...no wonder she was nominated.  Angie just returned from a conference in San Diego and a spring break trip to Vegas.  They were both well deserved and much needed breaks for her.  Lucky girl.   I barely make it out of Stanwood! 

The first of April marked the one year anniversary of Rick's death.  I can't believe how quickly time has passed.  I still miss him terribly but I know he's in a better place and out of pain.  I've finally gone through his things and donated them to great causes.  It wasn't an easy task to do, but with Kelly's help we were able to get it done in a couple of days and it turned out to be pretty painless.

As you can tell, I'm really proud of my children and all that they've accomplished.   I'm so blessed!

Thanks to all of you for your love and support (and especially your patience with my blog writing). 

As always...I'm dreaming big,
Dor