Salvation!

My Kalee just walked up to me and told me she said a special prayer. "Mom, I accepted Jesus into my heart."...and she also asked Him to help her be a good missionary.

My baby girl made me tear up. We had a pretty good conversation and I believe she feels it, not just reading it.

She has always said she wants to be a missionary...

Articles

A couple weeks ago I went in for a CT to get one more clean scan before I get my port removed. Two days later, the medical assistant called me to schedule a PET scan and make an appointment to see my oncologist to get the results of both. Last Thursday I went in for the PET scan and had a bonus (read about that story here). They poked me 3 times to place an IV. Before kids and cancer I would have passed out (and had a seizure). This time I just told her I was feeling icky and she sent someone else in to try. It was a bit chaotic because not only the reporter was in that confined area, but the corporate public relations gal for the hospital was too. I had to remind them to give me my lovely barium cocktail. For some odd reason I have acquired a taste for that goop.


Yesterday I got results of the scans. Doing the CT was almost a 'bad' thing. It showed a lump in my chest. Fortunately I have a thorough Doctor that immediately ordered me a PET scan. The results of the PET showed that the lump in my chest was just and enlarged thymus. It looks like my thymus might be overproducing to compensate for the lost time from last years chemo. Nothing that concerned him.

Easter Sunday my story went out in the local paper. You can read about it here. :)

I know I'm slackin' with the blog...but you DO know I will be consistent when Max is in the sand box. Right now we are just working on the 'to-get-done-before' list. :)

Street Smart

While in the car Kalee observed skid marks in the street.

Kalee: "What? How the heck did this street get stretch marks?"
Max: "Because no one rubbed coco-butter on it."

Yes, this is the kind of stuff I hear daily!

9, nine, NINE!!!!

What an amazing weekend! We got a lot done.
-tilled the garden
-plucked weeds
-cruised the lawnmower
-weed whacked
-tackled laundry
-explored at the beach
-lunch with friends on the beach
-delicious Red Lobster dinner *note-I actually ate something with a face. I had coconut shrimp.
-welcomed a friend in from doing humanitarian work in Haiti, and brought her home to surprise the family
-defuzzed the dryer vent
-Church birthday celebration
-drug the husband out to get new shoes
-discovered some delicious sangria hazelnut coffee
-hunted the dust bunnies on the ceiling fans
-stared in Max's eyes

Two beautiful babies, 7 moves, 5 ships (4 back to back), an overseas tour, countless deployments, cancer, and an approaching IA. If that doesn't count for a 'well rounded' couple then we sure have been 'seasoned' by God! Yesterday Max and I celebrated our 9Th wedding anniversary. Yes, I survived 9 years of being a Navy wife and he survived less than 9 years of my burning cooking. Lucky him-I think... Navy chow picked up the difference. :) Honestly I look at how 'not normal' military life is compared to whatever everyone else calls normal, and I'm grateful for the 'not normalness'. I'm thankful for every speed bump, curb, hill, and mountain we have endured these past 9 years. Life challenges possess just as much of a growing experience as opportunities do. I'm thankful that we have had the opportunity to hurdle over challenges... even if we physically are not by each others side 100% of the time.

I have grown to know, love, and be married to my best friend...the most amazing husband in the world. Happy Anniversary Babe!

It's official...

...IA orders are in hand. Screening has begun.

Saddle up the horses, we got a trail to blaze...into the unknown.

A Bit Rusty

Got some news Friday. :/ This week we should have more info.

It was only a matter of time. I need to return my husband to the far away Navy because the Army is lackingneeds him. Confusing huh? Yup, the request came in for an IA in his area of expertise and he is the only one within the three pay grades that could fill it. For you non-Navy folks; Individual Augmentee is when a Sailor is pulled away from their current command and deploys individually or with a small group to assist another service, primarily Army. Yes. Boots on ground kind of stuff! I'm far from one of those 'it's about time for him to deploy' kind of wives...and he's not one of those 'I need to leave' kind of husbands ... so I'm not going to lie, this sucks. Expecially the 'where and for how long'. But honestly, I am so thankful that he was around last year when we absolutely needed each other. It paid off to not be one of those crazy hypochondriac wives that I have seen so much of recently. I guess having the word "chemo" in my medical record at the time had something to do with it too. Since he has not been gone for about 12 consecutive months, my wheels were a bit squeaky. I actually appreciate how all those past deployments have seasoned me so well. So well in fact, it took no time to re-oil the wheels. I jumped in feet first with organizing my thoughts and making a list. We have a lot to do. Thankfully he's not leaving this week (I won't be posting exacts either since I'm the good Navy wife that observes OPSEC).

So yes...this bumps my port removal surgery to the left quite a bit (hopefully), throws my schooling way off and challenges me to find a way to make physical therapy, scans, and my follow up appointments sans kids.

Max and I have decided to embrace this challenge with our heads up because we know God wouldn't give us what we couldn't handle. He has a plan....

Quiet

I'm still blown away. Last night when I picked Bear up from child watch they handed me a puzzle and said "Max won the quiet game and this is his prize." Um, excuse me?! I don't think I heard that right. You must be talking about a different Max. Mine, quiet? Ha! "Well, he was laying on the ground so that is probably one of the reasons he won." Ohhhhhhh ok. Now that sounds like my kid.

I wonder if the quiet game will work at home if I use the treasure chest (where they get rewards for doing chores above and beyond the regularly expected ones) as a bribe? Hmmmm.