Tuesday, April 29, 2008 8:29 AM, CDT

Hi Everyone,
Okay let’s just start this post by me ‘fessing up that I have not really started exercising: I played field hockey once and spent more time on the bench chit chatting than actually playing. However, I did put my treadmill together on Friday night. I did it by myself and have to admit that I was impressed when we plugged it in and it worked!!!!!! Marina: You inspired me. I mean you only inspired me enough to put the treadmill together; I might need some more inspiration to actually get on it. I will keep you updated on the exercising. But I do hear the tick, tick-tocking of the clock as we get closer to summer and bathing suits.
And no, I have nothing posted on Ebay or Craig’s List yet.
However, Greg and I are planning on having a yard sale the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. In all reality you could probably call us the Clampetts. We might not be sitting on a fortune in oil but I can only guess how much money we can make by selling our stuff. Seriously!!! So come on by
115 Winter Hill Roadon May 24th and buy some of our junk—I mean our gently used wicked awesome stuff.
And I also have added incentive to get my stuff on Ebay because my neighbors have an extra camera and it just to happens to be the one I’m coveting (the Nikon D40) and they’re letting me test drive it for a few days. It takes excellent pictures so I’m going to use it to take the snapshots of the stuff I need to put up on Ebay and Craig’s List.
Kerry says the best day to post things is Thurdays—so I’m shooting for having a ton of stuff up there in two days!
And Heather Montalto: Just how much do you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cleaning stuff up? Because I might just take you up on your offer! I could use some professional consulting. I wouldn’t expect you to do the work but you could draw up a plan for me!!!! J
Oh, maybe I should post a picture of my basement. On second thought, maybe I’ll wait until it’s cleaned out so you can see a before and after. YIKES
But can I just take a minute and tell you something funny that happened with the stuff in my basement? I don’t know how funny you’ll think it is because Greg and my Dad found no amusement in it whatsoever. But, I was deep cleaning my car a few weeks ago and thought it was time to move Lauren up to a booster seat instead of her car seat and Greg and I were going back and forth on whether we should purchase another one or to use Steven’s old seat. In the meantime, Greg was busting my chops about the mess in the basement so I ventured down there and took a good look at the piles and piles of stuff we have down there. Well lo and behold in the midst of our junk, I found a brand new booster seat, in the box—never been used!!! I was psyched!!! J Totally forgot I bought one—have no idea when I did but it’s all set up and in my van! And Lauren feels like a big girl! Everyone wins—right???
And yes, Cat, you are my hero. You have been trying to get me to exercise with you for the past two years and you have all but come to my house to take the pictures of my stuff yourself. What is wrong with me???
Now that’s out of the way, so let’s move on.
Isn’t it amazing how fast time goes by? I can’t believe Steven will be ten years old in a few weeks—how did that happen??? It’s hard to imagine that it’s been six and a half years since 9/11 or that it was almost 15 months ago that I was diagnosed with cancer. I can’t believe Katie could take her earrings out this weekend—those six weeks flew by. It’s amazing that I’m six rounds in to this next chemo session and my PET scan is next Wednesday. The time flew. I can’t believe my Lauren is already playing t-ball and will be in Kindergarten next year. And it’s always amazing how quickly my roots tell me that it’s time for another foil!!! J
When I was a teenager we would go the Cape for two weeks every summer. And every year we’d be sitting on the beach and my dad would say, “you know, before we know it, it will be Christmas.” And every Christmas day my Dad would say, “you know, before you know it, we’ll be sitting on the beach at the Cape.” You could count on him saying it every year—every-single-year—without fail. And as any good daughters and wife, we would tease him endlessly for it. How do Dads who have daughters deal with the constant ridicule???? Because they know we love them with all our hearts!!! J
Now on to some more serious business. I received the best card from my good friend Kelly Newcomb. On the front of the card there are two old ladies deep in conversation trying to figure out if it’s: Butt Naked or Buck Naked? Now seriously, which one is it????? We all remember when George Costanza proclaimed himself to be the porn star Buck Naked. However, that doesn’t mean that Buck Naked is the appropriate term….does it? Personally myself, I use Butt Naked and I don’t know why. So feel free to weigh in. I’m extremely curious.
Thank you also to everyone who gave me pediatric urologist advice. I even heard from some of you that I don’t know personally. I can’t tell you how much it means that you took time to give me your opinions. We will probably find ourselves back at Children’s Hospital which at first thought seems like a drag but it’s most important that Katie gets a great doctor. Can you just imagine how much our insurance company LOVES the Abusheery family?? J
So May 7th is the big day for the scan (the 8th is Steven’s birthday and the 7th is my friend Kathy Twitchell’s dad’s birthday so I feel like I might get some good luck that day) and then I receive the results on Monday May 12. Big day. Really big day. I hope I run home to write to you all and give you some good news.
But if it’s not good news, I’ll need to work hard to tell myself that it’s not the end of the world. There are more drugs out there and hopefully they will work as well.
And I only had increased activity in my lymph nodes. The main tumor was quiet and there was absolutely no growth. So that’s a good thing right????? I hope so.
Love,
Kim