Bills, Birthdays & Backaches

End of the Summer 2002
(Same spot at the lake, just missing one) End of the Summer 2007

We had a fabulous weekend at the lake with my sister and her family. (Of course all of that came crashing to a halt when we returned home and opened the mail. According to our insurance company, through Shayne's employer, we still owe just under $100,000. Since their records end in May of 2006, not in September when we know it got really expensive - daily brain and leg radiation before death, I'm certain they'll soon be correcting that amount to say it's over six digits.) Regardless, our weekend was lovely and I'm going to try really hard to reflect upon that, not the mail, or how we spent last Labor Day! (I'm trying, I said.) The pain in my back/shoulders/neck from the buldging disk, which I don't think ever was really healed, has been back in full force. I can't help but feel stress plays a role. I pray for relief and try to joke with myself that I prayed to God for so long to give me Christi's pain and to stop hers and that is exactly what has happened!

After my sister and her family drove off and Shayla was sad, we decided since we had our Cedar Point passes with us, we'd head over and enjoy the park. Last year, some of the rides starting making me ill, but I rode them anyway to make Christi happy. (Close eyes, tell yourself not to get sick - was my method of survival!) Well, this year, it has been much worse. After the "Scrambler" and the "Matterhorn" I had to tell Shayla, "No more spinning rides for mommy. Daddy's up." Well, daddy hasn't ridden spinning rides for years, so for the first time ever, Shayla rode on a ride by herself. We were very proud of her! I do not believe she would have been able to do that six months ago. When she got off of a ride with Shayne he said to me, "Ask Shayla what Christi used to do to her on that ride." Shayla burst out laughing and said, "Mom, on that ride, Christi didn't want to wait for the ride operator to use that tool to get our seat belts unbuckled so she figured out that if she took my little finger and poked it in the center, we could get out faster." Of course I said, "Oh, honey. Did it hurt?" She laughed, "No, it just got us on the next ride faster!" What a hoot! Christi LOVED Cedar Point and with her time being so short, I'm glad she figured out a way to get on the next ride faster, hee hee!

Only one "orb" on all of the pictures from the weekend - interestingly noteworthy that it was this one! We felt bad for Shelby throughout the weekend. With Ashley having a friend along and Shayla and William the big buddies, it was like Shelby was left out without Christi. They were an amazing duo. I bought Shelby a scrapbook kit for her gift because it reminded me of the scrap booking she used to do with Christi. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET SHELBY!!

This picture is for Aunt Jim and Uncle Joyce - hopefully, they can share it with Grandma Nee Nee, still staying in their garage, and give her a good chuckle - or scare! (Since Nee Nee can't drive, we thought we'd be "helpful" and take her little "kit car" out for a spin. The three of us had a ball cruising around and visiting the Bowermans. Well, Joan just hates the African Wildlife park - the one WE LOVE. She always makes a comment about how dirty my van is after we go there, how can we let those animals come right up to our van's windows, etc., etc., etc. Well, we pulled up and took this picture of her little car by their big sign out front with hopes she'll think we actually drove it through. What a hoot! We laughed and laughed and laughed at the thought of it and of the buffalo picking up the little car and eating us for lunch and the giraffes literally licking Shayla out of the convertible car.)