It’s Official

It’s Official: This morning I snuggled with Christi on the couch and told her it was the last day we had together of summer vacation. She hopped off my lap, in her silky lavender PJs, raised one finger up in the air and said, “I declare it Official Snuggle Your Kids Day”. She explained that parents should scoop their kids up and snuggle them every time they think about it today. I told her I would! (And I have!) She’s such a little snuggle bug and Shayne and I absolutely love it! I made one of her favorite breakfasts: heart shaped waffles with strawberry and bananas on top, yummy!

It’s Official: As of 5:00 today I have completed 94 credit hours at Ohio State and my first quarter of residency for my Ph.D. program. Ahhh! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, even if only for three weeks until my second required quarter of residency (taking full time classes) begins. It was very intense and I’m happy Christi’s health allowed me to complete it. Christi’s battle with cancer has taught me many things- one of them being “Don’t put off chasing your dreams.” Another one is “Count your blessings.” I am incredibly grateful and will never be able to give enough thanks to all of our family and friends who so lovingly provided child care for Christi & Shayla this summer so that I could get to class and to study and to chase my dream. For fear of overlooking someone I won’t mention names, but I am deeply humbled by everyone’s assistance, love for and help with the girls throughout my endeavor. And a HUGE thank you to Shayne for his constant support (and funding) of my “hobby” as he calls it. I’m a lucky lady!

It’s Official: Eric & Alicia are on their way to our home (along with Allie & Ryder, their beautiful Golden Retrievers). Eric is going to take a look at my computer and see why I’ve not been able to upload pics to the blog. (My thanks to Eric for putting up all the pics for us for the past week.) Since I find great joy in little humor, I’ve prepared the exact same recipes that Alicia did for us two weeks ago up at their home since she so kindly gave me all her recipes. (I wonder if they’ll even notice! Christi and I think it’s going to be really funny! Well, there is that additional ingredient of oatmeal I accidentally I spilled into the Sloppy Joes instead of the blueberry cobbler, but that’s just a little bonus I guess!)

It’s Official: We heard back from Dr. Maris this afternoon, but since I do best living in denial I don’t think I’ll reflect upon the fact that he said we should be prepared to change course and that there’s only one clinical trial she’s currently eligible for but it requires the usual travel. He’s contacting MSKCC in NYC for us, but doesn’t believe they have anything for her either. He’s going to try to get her into that clinical trial slot IF one is available. Meanwhile, we’ll pray like crazy that this Fenretnide IS working and holding the cancer back until we really know come August 30th. We invite you to join us. It is a crucial time.

So instead of all that “doom and gloom” I’ll try to just reflect upon all the fun Christi had with her friend Eliana here at our home yesterday while her mom was busy getting her classroom ready. (Oh, it’s a nice feeling to have finished that up on Tuesday!) I can still hear their many giggles as they played games, role played, enjoyed crafts and ate my home made peanut butter cookies. Having Fun! Now that’s what a nine year old girl should be concerned about!

SATURDAY UPDATE: The wonderful "Webby" wasn't able to get my computer working either. No pics for a while while, sorry! Here's wishing you and yours a fabulous weekend! ENJOY!