Well, I promised you all that I would eventually tell you about my experience with the healer. I walked away from it strong feeling that I had a story to tell. Its one that many of you know about, and many of you dont. Ive had a this strong inner urging (it may be indigestion, i dont really know) to share this story with as many people as I could, and in turn, felt that my "healing" would be promoted by it.

Could I be completely out of my mind? Of course. But Im not really in a place to ignore these things right now, so I went out on a limb and wrote an submission to CinWeekly's "The Last Word", a place where locals can submit anything rants/raves/thoughts they want. I wrote it two nights ago and submitted it yesterday afternoon. I received an email from the editor of the magazine THIS MORNING telling me they were going to publish it in their July 12th issue. They distribute 62,000 copies of this so Im somewhat nervous but a little excited too.

(PS - Special thanks to Kat at the Finneytown 5/3 for a MASSIVE grammar catch..I TOTALLY misused a big word a la Stacy Henry and it was caught JUST in time. I wont divulge the infraction but I would have been MORTIFIED if it went to print.)

So, without further ado, here's the submission:

I’m expecting a miracle. Not the, “I can’t believe I just passed a cop going 90 & didn’t get a ticket” miracle, but a REAL miracle.

I guess I’ve had a positive outlook on the situation since I found out my breast cancer was back. And not the cakewalk Stage 2 diagnosis of 2003, but a Stage 4, “Say your good-byes and be thankful for whatever time the oncologist can spare you” death sentence.

I’m not sure at what point I truly, Sincerely expected the divine hand of God to reach down from the clouds and say, “Ok, despite your poor church attendance for the last, oh, ten years or so, your penchant for gossip & what is quite honestly a sinful obsession with shows like “My Super Sweet Sixteen”, “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills”, I think I’m going to heal you. MIRACULOUSLY. Just like that.”

I just felt it. I have to admit those feelings got stronger when my mother took me to a healer in Indianapolis.

And like most of us looking for a miracle, I pictured the Big Man, sitting in this woman’s prayer room, with a big smirk on his face, nodding. “Oh. NOW you need me.”

Of course we all know God isn’t so cynical, but if you expected EVERYTHING you asked for, you wouldn’t be on your knees, you’d be on “Sweet Sixteen” bitching to your dad about what color Mercedes you’re expecting on the big day.

So when the healer asked me what my “story” was, I had to start from the beginning, & share a story that I hadn’t told many people.
The first time I found out I had breast Cancer in 2003, I also found out I was three months pregnant…that same week. We decided to keep the baby and hold off chemo till I was further into my second trimester. Things were going great until, in my seventh month, my son died during a premature labor.

I was on emotional auto-pilot and did everything I could to keep my emotions from people who cared about me. I just didn’t want them to see how upset I was.
The day before our son’s funeral, my husband had to work and I needed someone to talk to. For a Tuesday morning, mass seemed like a good option. Too proud to ask for help, I sat in the back pew, crying. No sobbing, but definitely some high-decibel sniffling. Just praying that someone would put their hand on my shoulder, so I could release all the emotion, the story, the tears.

But when mass was over, the congregation of 20 or so, filed past me, one by one, not one person sitting down to see if everything was ok. I can understand not everyone is the type to walk up to a stranger and offer themselves, but certainly the priest would come over once he was done talking to his parishioner, right? That’s his job, isn’t it?

That’s what I was thinking when the lights were turned off and the priest left the building.

My husband and I often tune into TBN to watch the glittery, over-indulged televangelists telling the world about God speaking to them, which usually equates to a solicitation of some sort, so imagine my reluctance as I’m sitting in that pew by myself, having this eerie feeling like someone was telling me to “take note”.

If I were one of those people, would I have reached out to me? Maybe not. I think about those people, so intent on their rosaries that chose to ignore that soul that had hit rock bottom. My friend Amy took it a step further…”What if you were suicidal? No one would have known that you put yourself out there, hoping that someone would have reached out.”

I wasn’t suicidal, of course, but I thought it was a valid point. So what does this have to do with my miracle? I’m not sure. But I have a strong feeling that if I’m going to be healed, I needed to share this. Maybe if my experience makes you think twice before you pass that person who looks like the world is crushing in on them, Ill get that miracle I’m expecting.

CONGRATS to the future Mrs. & Mr. Nick Lachey!!! Ha. Just kidding. She might be taking his name...Yes thats right folks, Baby Huey's all growed up!! He proposed last night, after calling my mom and I to ask for advice for proposing. Hmmm...good choices Nick, I belive dad proposed to mom by saying, "Sooo....should we start telling people we're engaged?" and MY proposal to John involved a two week turnaround for Medical insurance purposes.

I think a random person off the street could have given you more romantic options...(For the record, my suggestion involved a Dragons game and the Jumbo-Tron, but he didnt want to go that route....WHATEVER!)

I dont know if there are many details at this point, but I did notice a Modern Bride Magazine in their apartment a few weeks ago so Im guessing she was shocked beyond belief.

Anyhoo, Just wanted to say CONGRATS! Even though Nicks super-sensitive side and criticism of some of my outfits were suspect, Meredith will definitely be the sister I never had!!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

Well, this weekend was pretty awesome. Im actually wondering if Joni just gave me the saline IV drip because I felt GREAT all weekend. Eerie...Friday after pottery painting my mom, my mom's neighbor Maria, her friend and I went to see a healer in Indianapolis. Im going to share the story soon, Im actually going to take notes first because there's so much that went on and I want to make sure that I say everything I want to about the experience...its not really a lunch time blog break kind of subject.

But yes, we went to the healer and I felt like a million bucks all weekend. The last two chemos kicked my a$$ on the immediate weekends after, and for almost the entire work week following, and its Monday and Im still feeling great. Im still keeping up with the ChiGong almost everyday, and trying to eat less junk, but I dont know. Something happened this weekend.

So here are some pics from the Panegyri Greek Fest...a parking nightmare, 25 min wait to get a Gyro...but it was totally worth it. The group pic is of Pauly, Elizabeth, J-Mac, Me, Jean & Harry. We had a blast. I was a trooper till 11 and even nursed a Mikes hard Cranberry Lemonade. Im not too proud to admit that, Besides, theres photographic evidence right there. Pauly won E-Beth and I some LOVELY parting gifts! How much did those end up costing you pauly? 6 bucks? Anyway, it was great time, and the Greek Dancing was fun to watch...

I want to go to a Greek Wedding! Eva Pappas! Get married & invite us! I want to experience the Big Fat Greek Wedding in person. How cool. I know this blog write up was lame...Im sorry. Good pics though? Right?

Nicest, most white-trash gesture done in my honor - Angie's new pink ribbon foot tattoo. For the record she was COMPLETELY sober when she did this, and also was ok with me putting this on my blog, so I will not take ANY heat when this gets copied to some nasty foot-fetish website...Ang! Somebody's REALLY gonna love lookign at that!! gross.

Ok! Onto the FABULOUS FRIDAY CHEMO REPORT below:

INTRODUCING JONI BRAGG, best nurse EVER:


Before I tell you the story about why Joni is the awesomest, rockin chemo nurse EVER, I have to tell you about how mom and I successfully managed to piss dad off last night. For those of you who have been to my folks house, you know my dads new baby is the big screen tv with the surround sound...Man! You've never heard a Moody Blues concert till you've heard it at a thousand decibles...and Top Gun? Dont even talk to him when that whole thing is going on!!!

Mom and I watched, "In her Shoes" last night. Really cute movie, neither here nor there (Greg Gorosics that ones for you)...so when its over, we're sitting there like two Chimpanzees with three remotes trying to figure out how to get the thing back to cable. (John/Kyra...remember the "Saw" night a Toby's?)

Seriously, we just sat there button mashing for about 20 min and succesfully managed to, in my dads words, "F**K it up so bad we gotta call the cable company". Oops! I spent 15 minutes googling for a funny picture of two chimps with a remote control but with no luck. But just imagine it. Its funny.

Ok - now for today's chemo treatment:

Would you belive I had to go through the same crap again today as I did the last time? My hemoglobin SUCKS!!! Not that I know what it does or what its significance is, but it SUCKS. Im sorry. It SUX.

So Joni comes back after taking my blood work today (shes the one who denied me the last time because I had "poopy counts"...I take that back: she didnt deny me, the mystery doctor in the back did. Sorry Joni) and tells me that my hemoglobin is really low.

I instruct her to "Page Dr. Romer" as if this were some life threating emergency...they couldnt page him bc he was out of state but I told her to take those results back to the Doctor and ASSURE him that Dr. Romer would let me get chemo if and only if I had a pulse, and that the last time he would have let me, and blah blah blah, dont send me a way, blah blah blah, and seriously, I feel fine, blah blah blah...so she goes off and is gone for about 15 min...

She comes back with that little bag of clear poison and informed me that she was successful in getting me ok'd with the dr. who was back there. SO awesome! So anyway, hats off to Joni for stepping up for me and seriously making my weekend. I will have never been so grateful for someone contributing to my sick, weak, headachy, miserable weekend glued to the couch.

Guess where we went for breakfast? Seriously. Im not even going to go there. Same place. Same dish. Same people...me, mom, ang, Jean...and a surprise visit from Grandma Fortener! I was extremely rude in forgetting to call Jean and let her know my treatment got suspended for an hour or so, so she and gma had to hold down the fort for how ever long it took us to get there. Throw in that I was supposed to be there at 930...which means grandma was there at 845...oops sorry Roz.

Then...what you've all been waiting for....the trip to Kil'n Time! What a fun, relaxing, theraputic, obscenely expensive way to spend an afternoon!!

Ive posted some pics of all our works of art....ang did the frame with the pink ribbons, Laura made the heart jewelry dish for me, which evolved into a yellow dotted monstrosity by the end of the day and the blue cross with McCall on it.

It too, was ambushed by Laura and her last minute yellow dots...I think the guy working there was making her nervous because she's such a rebel and kept removing the paint bottles from the shelves when the signs CLEARLY instruct you to squirt it into your pallet and LEAVE IT THERE.

He would come by the table and stand there pointing at the big bottle paint, as if to say, "See, ma'am, the 2nd graders can follow these directions, why cant you?"
But we wont bash. He was kind enough to take the picture of all of us.

So we get to pick them up in a week - Ill be sure to post those pics too, because they wont look anything like this.

LOOKEE THE CUTE WIDDLE BABIES!!! Went out to dinner with Stacy and Alisa tonight with the girls - havent seen Annie since she was born, what a cutie! We're trying to get together every few months & Meet in Eastgate since its about a 30 min drive for each of us. Tomorrow its chemo at 8am sharp - Pam and Ang will be coming with, lets hope Pam doesnt piss off the nurse again!!

Laura is finally holding me to that pottery place...she, Ang & I will be there at 10a. Ill be sure and get some pics. Thats it for now! Happy Thursday!

Im kind of plagerizing today. I found this great write up on the last episode of The Hills....Just wanted to remind you all to tune in tonight and watch it.

check this chicks blog out...awesome write up on The Hills:

http://tabloidwhore.blogspot.com/2006/06/mtvs-hills-heidis-ding-bat-and-fashion.html

Check it out - A deer in our backyard!

Of the numerous things Ive inherited from my father, (Including bushy eyebrows, that in the eighth grade my mother pinned me down with some ice cubes and tweezers and took care of that) I never realized I got the "overreact to deer sightings" gene until yesterday...I came home from work and looked out the kitchen window and there it was! Despite being all the way in the back yard, when I heard John coming in the front door I tiptoed with excitement to greet him.

(whispering) "THERES A DEER IN THE BACK YARD!"

(John whispering excitedly): "ILL GET MY CROSS BOW!!!"

not funny J-Mac.



Anyhoo - I went out back and it still didnt run, surprisingly enough, becuase you can see its cousins heads hanging on the wall in the den if you look at realtors pictures of the house. It will take some time but they'll start coming back.

Two storms blew over last night - the first was like driving through a car wash on my way home, and I got these shots of the backyard as the second one was rolling in.
I actually impressed myself!!





Also - a Belated HAPPY FATHERS DAY to the Worlds Greatest DAD!!!

From your grateful daughter...

....and your couch potato Son & Son-In-Law!!!

CONGRATS to David & Amy Fortener!!!

Attended the weddding of my cousin Dave this weekend. It was a good time. It was at St. Helen's... the same place where my folks were married a hundered years ago. They've really done a lot of asthetic updates on the place...I think it looks nice! (Although they pulled out all the pews and replaced them with chairs...and I quote Grandma Rotert: "The place looks like a synagogue!!)

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that after "schootching" down to the end seat to take pictures, I found that the end seat DOES NOT, I REPEAT, does not have a kneeler in front of it. So for those of you who attend wedding at St. Helen's, ALWAYS bring a camera and request the end seats, so when everyone else is kneeling, you can just point to the hard floor and shrug your shoulders. (And please dont be the 12-yr old suck up on the other side of the aisle kneeling on floor, you're not doing me any favors)


Mr. & Mrs. David Fortener


Dave & I share a dollar dance



Here are all the Fortener ladies: Steph & Mary, Judy, Jan, Jean, Kim, Grandma, Me, & mom in the front. The stuffed animal was from Aunt Helen and sings a Teddy Ruxpin-esque version of "I Hope you'll dance" on helium...And not your typical 10 second toy version....the WHOLE SONG. Maybe Ill take it to my next chemo and sit it on my lap and stroke its head while it sings to me, then Ill get up and pull my IV pole around the treatment room and dance with it a la Fred Astaire.

We left soon after that. We could be at a Free Money Party and my brother would still find something he would rather be doing and want to leave early. Its best to just pacify him and go before he gets fussy.

Also want to throw an apology out to all the NASCAR fans out there, especially Judy & Bobby...I got called out at the reception, maybe I was a little to harsh in previous posts. Its not the NASCAR...it was the PDA. Oh wait, you guys do that too...HA!! You're my favorite pit crew.

We hung out at he & Meridiths apartment for a while after that, got UDF and went home.

Its sunday and Im supposed to "pose" for this Rugby calendar the team is doing. Im a little embarassed over the whole thing, becuase I just dont know that people are going to take this seriously or what. We've got some cute girls on our team but how I got nominated to do this i DO NOT KNOW. Hopefully the photographer can do some serious belly airbrushing.

We're supposed to pick a Dayton "Landmark" or some sort of prop. They wanted me to pose with an antique car, but Ive found a friend in this black do-rag lately and people keep telling me I look like a biker. What I need is a Harley. So I got my moms friends on the phone - Jennifer and Tom were going to do it but they were taking her folks to lunch during my time slot, so luckily Emily & Ron were able to step up...were supposed to be doing this at the Fraize Pavillion at 130 today...Ill take my camera and show you whats goign on. I expect you all to buy one of these calendars. Please dont laugh if they try to make me look sexy. Acutally, DO LAUGH, because I certianly will be.

Ok - heres one of the pictures that my mom took...I think the ones they use will be closeups which is good because my jeans and my top were ENTIRELY too tight. I think he took about 20 or so shots so im keeping my fingers crossed that at least ONE of them looks ok - we did some with and without the cap on...if the baldness sells more calendars, im ok with it...




Oh yeah - Test results. I got the call back from Romer's office and the "new" test results that were comparing "apples to apples" came back much lower than the one I had done in Cincinnati with a different lab. Still a smidge higher than the ones romer had done originally, but im not too concerned about it yet. He's keeping me on the same regimen of chemo for now, and Ill probably have another tumor marker test two weeks after my next treatment, if its not improving by then, then maybe some PET or CAT scans, that will inevitibly show that I have been miraculously cured. Thats the plan as I see it for now. Thats all folks!
Happy Fathers Day!!

So as you can see - Romer wasnt about to make any changes to my treatment off a lab test that wasnt really comparing "apples to apples"...so he had his lab take the test again. I took that picture. Im quite talented. Ive got to call back at 1 to find out what the "new and improved" Tumor Marker test results are. Keep your fingers crossed.

Then I got another back arm fat shot and that was about it. Went home and had the newly split Cincinnati Womens Rugby club meeting on our back porch - pizza, snacks and lots of TWISTED TEA - our new sponsor! (thanks spoons!)




Awww....Alex & Misti Schenke


The gang makes some tough decisions - Peach or Raspberry Twisted Tea??



Thanks Spoons for the Sponsor!
(Funny story about the shirt he's wearing - Ang and I went out drinking about a year ago and I crashed at her place. Now we've lived together on and off for almost 10 years so we've got alot of each others clothes. Read: She has a lot of my clothes. So im getting ready to crash on her couch and I ask her if she has a t-shirt I can wear. Im standing there when she opens her dresser drawer and pulls out this long sleeved GD tyedye. "I guess you want this back, huh."....(I have never seen this shirt before in my life) "Uh, Yeah, Id like that back thanks"

So I leave with the the shirt that she thinks is mine but isnt. It was a good score. Anyhoo, spoons and his wife have a pool party last summer and I wore the shirt. He's a diehard GD fan and I could really care less about the band. He wanted the shirt bad, so I traded him for this awesome rugby jersey that he traded with a Manhattan Rugby player down in Savannah...probably when I was in the 6th grade. So it was a good trade and we both went home happy. Although I did feel a bit guilty about trading a shirt that wasnt even mine.

Fast forward to the fall, and a big group of us go camping to Cowan Lake (or as Stacy calls it, Lake Cowan) and i decide that im going to come clean at the campfire and just tell ang that
A) That shirt was NOT mine
B) I traded it off for a rugby jersey.

She didnt seem that upset - or at least AS upset as Rachel who was sitting next to her...."THAT WAS MY SHIRT!!!"

oops.

Hey look! I bought a camera! Look how happy John is about it!!

Im going to try and finally fill my bio stuff out to the right with my very first self-portrait on this camera.

My appt today is at 11:40...Ill have more tomorrow.

Well, I promised I would keep you updated on all the cancer-related stuff and not just stories of goose poo and horny NASCAR fans....

I called the oncologist to check in on the blood work and I didnt get the answer I was looking for - the number went up a bit. What does it mean? Well, its not what I was hoping for, but Im not going to freak out until I go see Romer on Thursday. The nurse also said that this test was being compared to my last test which was done at another lab on another machine so the comparison might not be accurate, although I think she was just trying to pacify me.

I did find something interesting on the www.acs.com website:

If the marker level in the blood goes down, it is almost always a sign that the treatment is having an effect. On the other hand, if the marker level goes up, then the treatment probably should be changed. (One exception is if the cancer is very sensitive to a particular chemotherapy treatment. In this case, the chemotherapy can cause many cancer cells to rapidly die and release large amounts of the marker, which will cause the level of the marker in the blood to temporarily rise.)

So im sticking with the "one exception" explanation for the rise in the number. The chemo is actually working great! Kay? ITS WORKING FINE!!! FINE!! FINE!! REALLY!! Keep telling yourself that...I am.

Also, Im ok with things getting worse before they get better. Its going to make my appearance on Oprah that much more dramatic.

More on Thursday? If you're lucky!

I just wanted to apologize for the language that was brought to my attention from yesterdays post. I had my headphones on the whole time so God only knows what I was listening to that sparked me say shit so many times. oops, sorry.

INDIAN LAKE WEEKEND RECAP...

Well, I promised that I would "Get John and his dad drunk" in the name of blog fodder, but guess what? In order to do that, Ive got to stay up for it, and I just wasnt feelin it!

We arrived Friday around dinner time- which only means one thing. Tilton' Hilton. Now everytime I talk to someone who's been or frequents Indian Lake, I hear the same things..."Man, you gotta go to Cranberry, Atchesons, Froggys, etc.."

Those are all potential second stops on route to the Tilton Hilton. For one, its a 4 minute pontoon boat ride from the cottage, and secondly, they serve half pound hamburgers. I dont think Ive ever been here when that wasnt the first stop.

As much as I love this place and think about their cheeseburgers the entire ride up to the lake, they have their share of problems, and Im not talking about the floor that "tilts" (it used to be an old icehouse, hence, "Tilton' Hilton"...)

Im talking about the 30 or so Geese that infest the grassy area between the docks and the patio. That people eat on. We docked the boat and there was seriously more real estate covered in goose shit than there was grass. I was just gross. But we're troopers, you see. Its just a sacrifice you make to get to those burgers.

We make it safely to the patio and place our order, glancing menacingly over towards these geese who couldnt be less afraid of us.

For every person of marginal intelligence who tries to shoo the geese away in a feeble attempt to prevent a case of bird flu, botulism, or feathers in their onion chips, theres a redneck with his big-banged, air-brushed t-shirt wearing girlfriend, "snapping" them back to the patio with burger buns. They think its cute.

They also think its cute to weave their legs together and make out after every bite, every comment. And I know that dude was turned on becuase I was close enough to see his rock hard nipples through his cut-sleeved t-shirt....you know the ones, where you can see an entire torso when they lift their arms? Apparently if the t-shirt material isnt colorfully announcing your favorite NASCAR driver, its not necessary. Its incredibly SEXY!

So these geese are just skipping on into the patio like they own the place, and nobody says ANYTHING...johns dad pipes up with a "Git the HELL outta here" just as one takes a greasy, slimy SHIT right under the table next to us. Mmmm....

Thats what I like about the Tilton Hilton - you can make fun of the people you think you're better than, as well as the people who think they're better than you. As soon as we were all done bitching about why they "Dont do anything about these GEESE!!" we turned around and quitely picked on the two girls who were dressed like this was their last stop on the way to the Oscars, and group of "Hoity-Toity" middle-agers who actually brought a towel to put on the picnic table as a table cloth. What abunch of amatures!! Ha!

That wasnt a very late night. Before I go into the fun that was Saturday morning, Id like to just make a point to say how much fun indian lake is, and that the Kelts need to figure something out for this summer...Brendan says his cottage is booked, but Im just putting a bug in his ear to let us know if it opens up again... see how much fun we had last year???


Getting ready to head over to the Tilton from the McLaughlins...


Playing a little Left, Right, Center at the cottage...what good times those were!

Saturday morning...John's up before I am, and I head upstairs to find what will consume most of the morning. World Cup Soccer.

Now before I go into this tirade I would like to make a few apologies. Firstly to Tom Franz and his daughter Julie (Franz) Cates, along with the whole soccer loving Franz clan. They, more than anyone else, tried to sculpt my soccers skills more than anyone throughout my fourth through 7th-ish grade years. I was a chunky gal, and they did what they could. And I appreciate it.

But once super rocket-launched throw-ins and kicking the ball in the opposite direction as hard and as far as I could was no longer a useful strategy, I was deemed useless. I never wanted to be a goalie and you can only move the fat, slow kids back positions so far. As soon as it was physically grueling to survive a game at stopper, I was done for.

So I walk into the living room and I squint my eyes to check out the score. Its gonna start now...."Oh! Look!" I Say, "Zero to Zero, twenty mintutes in! How exciting!!!" It was a lame comment, and earned me what I think is probably the dirtiest, disgusted look from John that hes ever given me. To my face.

Im not one for apologies but the look was so piercing, that I retorted, "Geez, I was just KIDDING!" (but I wasnt) For the record, I think the world cup is great. I think its awesome how the ENTIRE WORLD, and some people in America get into this thing. Its pretty incredible and the commercials are really cool. And David Beckham is hot. Watching these fans get so pumped up is amazing, and it puts any American fanfare for any sport to shame. Im not saying I dont appreciate it.


Someone should bottle that shit.


But I just dont get it. I find soccer the athletic equivient of blue balls. (I dont know if thats appropriate for this blog, but I couldnt think of any thing else.)

Which brings me to my biggest regret of the morning, that I even made that "Zero to Zero" comment...it was lame, and John made it very clear that no more soccer bashing would take place this morning. I was pissed because as I sat there working on that puzzle, there was some GREAT material on the tip of my tounge that I had to keep to myself...until now.

Back to the, Soccer is the athletic equivilent of blue balls. One team gets a 3 on 2 break and we get all excited, and then they dont score. At least in pee wee soccer you can count on the goalie picking their nose or doing cartwheels or just sucking in general...you can count that some kid is going to score.

I just wanted to say, "OH! OH! Here they come again!! They've got a good chance to score!! GETUP! GETUP! I predict they're NOT going to score though!! OHHHHHHH......And they dont. Just like they didnt on the other 27 breakaways we've witnessed in the last 85 minutes."

See, that might earn me a well deserved night on the couch. But I kept my mouth shut, becuase I know how much he loves it, and how much a lot of my friends love it, so Im just going to keep my mouth shut. I know John doesnt read this, so please no one remind him to check it out. Kay?

There were a few more games and I watched quitely as something like 3 total goals were scored over the course of the morning. Shocking.

Maybe I just sucked at soccer and thats why I Dont get it. Volleyball involved much less running. Acutally no running once I started playing for buirley! Im ok to admit that openly. I feel the same way about soccer as I do about softball, I ROYALLY SUCK at it and therefore dont want anything to do with it.

I wont play softball because Ill strike out everytime, drop every fly ball and duck if god forbid someone was dumb enough to put me in the infield. And thats not fun, no matter how drunk I am.

Ok, im done with that.

John's sister Aileen and her fiancee Tom came up to the cottage last night for dinner. Lots of good stories - although we did spend a lot of time talking about rodents getting into houses for some reason...bats, squirrels, mice, you name it, one of us has killed one.

I have to say my favorite story of the night was hearing about how Aileen, at the age of five, showed up at her parents doorstep, with a new pet. "Can I keep it?", she asked of the dead squirrel perched on her shoulder. You cant deny it would have been an obiedient pet.

I want to keep posting pictures here because I personally dont like reading, but I dont have a digital camera so I have to use either old shots, or ones my mom just took...but Im trying to keep you people entertained, so check this one out: Its TOTALLY out of season, but I found it in my old emails...this was the card my friend stacy's sister sent out for Christmas last year...too cute not to share:




HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GOOD WEEK! I dont have anything spectacular planned for the next few days but you know Ill keep you informed if anything noteworthy happens..

:)

A FEW THINGS TO THINK ABOUT ON YOUR WEEKEND....

This is what Ive been enjoying lately...

PANERA's Egg Souffles: If you havent tried these things yet, I highly reccomend you do. I would NOT reccomend going on panera's website to find out how many calories these things contain. It will only ruin the experience. I was running late anyway this morning to pick up an Rx, so I swung into panera. The egg souffle is now competing with an old favorite (since my Enterprise days), Asiago bagel with Sundried tomato CS.

So im thinking that I cant decide, so I get BOTH, but I PROMISE myself that I will only eat the crusty cheesy top of the bagel and thats it. Whats funny is when I ordered I kind of ordered it like I was ordering for two people. Paused after I ordred the souffle like I was thinking what the "other" person wanted. I actually did such a good job of it that the gal behind the counter asked, "Do you want those in two separate bags?"....."No, thats ok, they're both going to the same place" (My stomach!! ha....i bet she was thinkign the same thing)

Anyway, my appetite has been kind of weird lately and if im feeling like getting a weeks worth of calories in one meal, Im going to do it. No apologies.

So, yeah. Panera's Egg Souffles. Try one!


THE HILLS: Please please tune in to MTV wednesday nights at 10 to see Lauren struggle in the hard, post high school world of fashion school and an internship at Teen Vogue.
It takes me back to the days when my daddy bought me a BMW and a swanky apartment in LA while I pursued my fashionista dreams. Actually, the main character is tolerable, but her spaz roomate is what makes this show watchable. (Even though your eyes and ears may bleed, you CANNOT turn away.) This 19 year old walked out of her first fashion school class out of boredom, skipped the second, ("I couldnt find the classroom! It was only art!") and a week into fashion school met a guy at a bar who hooked her up with an interview to be a party planner assistant, what she came to do anyway. OMG! I am NOT going to keep writing about this! but if you want to discuss it further, you can talk to Kat or I. Kat is a closet hills obsess-ee, who I text throughout the show and call at the end. Her actual name is Kathleen O'Neill, and she played rugby at wright state and works at Formica. Here she is just in case youw wanted to know:


Anyway, thats Kat. Not that Im calling her out or anything.

Hmm...theres more things Ive been enjoying lately but I need to get to work. Have a good weekend!!!

:)
Fort

Well, as im sure you're all figuring out, Im pretty much a slug 5 days after chemo. Im finally starting to pick back up but Im not 100%. Nothing exciting has happened in the last week, unless you consider me coming home and laying on the couch/bed for 5 hours before actually falling asleep exciting.

But I think im finally getting back up again - looks like we're going up to the lake this weekend to visit the in laws. Ill try to get John & his dad really drunk so I have some funny stories to tell. I know I've really hit the wall with these boring posts...Pauly, Im sorry. My intention of this blog was to keep YOU entertained so if Im failing...forgive me! Im trying!

For those of you who care, im offically back at the Kenwood office. Its nice, and I think my body is responding well to having a window and some fresher air!

I had some blood work done yesterday. I think it might be the tumor marker one but Im not sure. Its a BIG deal in determining if the chemo is working....hopefully Ill hear something early next week. Ill let ya know.

Unless something incredibly exciting happens tomorrow...have a good weekend!

:)

Well, good news, and bad news. Good news, I got my chemo, Bad news, It knocked me out something good and there were no crazy cookouts to attend and no funny material from Stacy & I. We're just going to have to postpone it till next weekend I guess.

Friday I felt pretty good, but Saturday I was knocked out...made it to The Cheesecake factory with Stacy and Emma where we picked at the (serves 4) Appetizer sampler for a bit, and decided against a movie. If there is a silver lining in all this "immediately after chemo" crappiness, I have to say that not having much of an appetite is kind of nice. Im typically a plate cleaner so feeling full bf all the food is kind of nice. On the other hand, it clearly states that it SERVES FOUR, so in all reality, I could have eaten for two. Then stacy let me take all the leftovers home to John and I got into it again. So maybe the appetites there, but the perspective is off.

Sunday I was supposed to meet Alisa and Stacy out at Eastgate for lunch, but I was still wiped out. After my last post-chemo weekend I wasnt taking any chances. We're going to try and get together this week. The good news is that I feel 90% better this monday than i did the last post-chemo monday, so laying around on my ass seems to be a good plan and I should stick to it.

Thats it. Nothing funny. But im feeling better this time around than last, so thats good right?

GOT CHEMO TODAY!! Finally!!
Ang came to chemo with me today so we could work on reunion stuff. We labeled over 400 envelopes and even stalled with the nurses after my chemo was done because we still had a few more envelopes to do. They finally kicked us out.

My mom was actually there too, but when she and ang came in, Ang sat next to me and when my mom tried to move a chair over, one of the nurses apparently got kind of nasty with her. Pam, Pam, Pam.......when are you going to learn that you CANNOT mess with the Fung Shui of the chemo treatment room. She then announced loudly that she was "Going to out to my car to READ". Silly librarian.

I got all my chemo, and then we met Jean at, you guessed it: First Watch. When I first started going to first watch, I think I got the Caps for the first FIVE times....then I moved on to the Power Wrap for about the next five times. Im currently on a Chickichanga streak that isnt going away any time soon. My beefcake husband has slowly turned me on - GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!!! - to hot sauce so the chickichanga is perfect for that.

Ive got to get this wrapped up and nothing much exciting happened today..I feel like im letting you all down. I dont want these to get boring.

Oh, this was funny. I got home yesterday and Jami had sent me a really nice package. There was a really nice shamrock silk scarve, and super nice card, a green sun catcher cross and, dont ask me why, some crystal fake candy.

I called Jami to thank her and told her that it was BY FAR, the nicest, fake crystal candy that anyone has EVER given to me. I mean that Jami. Really.

But what was most peculiar about the package was when I opened it, there was also a piece of material that looked like it came from a hospital. Now, as most of you dont know, Jami's 1-year old Zach is a miracle. He was born at just a pound, and spent 3-4 months in the NICU. So Jami has been a great rock when it comes to keeping the faith.

So I see this light blue piece of material, and I start to get kind of choked up becuase I automatically assume that Jami has sent me the swaddling blanket that her miracle child was wrapped in while in the hospital. I was touched. Didnt know what to say. Thats when I opened it to find that it was just a bandana from the March of Dimes walk she was just in a few weeks ago. I REALLY give myself a lot of credit, dont I.

So I called Jami, thanked her for the most beautiful fake crystal candy I have ever received, and told her about my misunderstanding of the blue cloth. She called me back a little bit later laughing HYSTERICALLY, and said, "Fort, I want you to get better, but GIMME A BREAK."

So ok. Thats it for the week. Im still feeling ok but I need to get home and get some rest. Cook out at the Schniebers tomorrow. Stacy and i will take notes of all the funny things we come up with and Ill share them next week....or maybe Sat. on their computer while its all still fresh. Our material can be quite good when we get on a roll, and hopefully its all suitable for public view. Stay tuned.

Have a good week! Talk to ya soon!!!

:) Fort

THE CHI-GIRLS! Here are my new friends from Chi Camp! (Just kidding...thats so juvenile...Im an adult & I go to RETREATS, not CAMPS! DUH!) Thats me, Margaret from Albuquerque & my bunk mate...SORRY! ROOMATE, Debbie from Alabama.

The retreat was a nice, relaxing time. Not a whole lot of personal free time, but a lot of discussions focusing on proper form and the rest of the time working on the practice, along with supplemental excercizes and healing circles at night. Pretty amazing! I wished I could have spent more time outside, but apparently they had ticks pretty bad.

Late Saturday after the healing circle I piped up and suggested a morning dose of Chi...threw out one of those "WHOS WITH ME? C'MON! 715! YOU CAN DO IT!" A few hands went up and I figured Id just show up and see what happens. Well, I woke up at 7:09...oops. Gave myself a quick sponge bath and rushed up to the main room around 720 - Luckily, I met Margaret, who was coming out of her room the same time I was!

She was the only one of the 17 who was up for it, so we went up, pushed the speaker out to the deck window, and did our Lift Chi up, Pour Chi Down on the deck at sunrise. Finally got to do something out side. It was nice! (And we got to pick the CD we wanted to use so of course we only did the 9 min warmup and not the full one...I WAS STILL TIRED!)

Came home Sunday afternoon and John came up from Cincinnati and we and the folks went up to Parnells - (disclaimer - we only go to Parnells because its CLOSE to our house, and NOT Becuase it is an ALTER BAR, LAURA.)

I was supposed to go over to Bone's and see his new house but I came home and just crashed....We stopped at blockbuster to pick up a movie, and after mom and I had settled on a nice, romantic comedy, Dad runs up like a little kid, all excited becuase he found Everything you ever wanted to know about sex, but were afraid to ask... I suggest we just get both, dad says, "Let just get this one"....

Im defeated, but its ok, I fell asleep 20 min into it anyway, except for the time Dad and John woke me up laughing. That was the end of my exciting weekend.

Monday of course we were all off and had a fun little cookout for Dad & Grandpa Roterts Birthdays. Lots of family, and even my old college roomate who was in town from Arizona with his girlfriend stopped by. Pat Reilly & Nic - it was good to see you!

NOTE: Pat seriously called me out on a previous post - remember when I mentioned DIE HARD 2?? It was DIE HARD where Bruce Willis broke through the glass with bare feet. Not the second one. I dont know what I was thinking. (Did anyone else catch that?) Good call Pat. Im usually calling OTHER people out on their crappy movie knowledge....TOUCHE, Pat. Touche.

Well, Im sure you're all on the edge of your seat for tomorrow - another try at chemo. Im taking handcuffs and locking myself to the treatment chair if they dont give me the chemo. Seriously. I was nice the last time but I will throw a fit!

Hopefully I'll feel ok Saturday - cookout at Stacy & Caseys with Alisa & David. Other than that, not much else going on this weekend.

Supposedly Laura and I are going to try and take two with the pottery painting place. That should make for some good fodder tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Ill let you know how everything goes tomorrow!