I have been talking about going back to South Carolina to visit my friends Jimmy and Carrie for close to two years now. I talked with Carrie a few months ago about going. Then my mom got sick and I put the thought on the back burner. I decided that I needed to go. I wanted to go and the vacation was something I had to do. So last Wednesday I bought a ticket to South Carolina. I flew out Friday Morning and by friday evening almost everyone had arrived. I met some of the most incredible people. Some I already knew and some I got to meet for the first time.
It was a great flickr meet up. There were so many wonderful people and the amount of pictures is unbelievable. I have not even finished editing all of mine. But I will share some of my favorites.
On Friday is Jimmay’s 35th birthday. The reason we all spent last weekend in South Carolina.
Every summer my family goes to the beach. My mom and my siblings along with their families. We did it every summer growing up and then for a few years stopped. About 6 summers ago we started again. The first and second summer it was 2 weeks, then the next two summers it was 3 weeks and this summer it is 6 weeks. My mom is still recovering and has doctor’s appointments and was not able to come down. My brother and his wife came for the weekend but had to go home this week for various reasons. My sister is headed back to Africa tomorrow and will be back mid july for the rest of family beach. My other brothers are not here for various reasons. The beach house was empty and I was going crazy being home. I needed to escape and come to the beach. I needed to get away. So I took my camera, laptops (personal and work), my personal items and headed to the beach.
Today I invited my friend Aimes and her children Amazing A and Chunk-A-Licious (the ones I nanny for). They came and spent the day. I had a conference call first thing this morning and then they arrived. We went to the beach, I came back to the house for another conference call, back to the beach, came home, showered and headed to the board walk for dinner and rides. It was a wonderful day. I ended my day watching the sun set over the ocean from my deck with a margarita.
Oh did I mention when I leave my bedroom in the morning as I walk down the hall I can see the ocean and as you walk into the great room you can hear the waves crashing. It is perfect for the soul searching I plan to do over the next few days!
This baby makes my heart smile. With all that is going on in our family right now! Thank god she is here! She makes everything better with her toothless grin and her innocence.
I promise a real post is coming soon. Today marks 7 years since I last celebrated Father’s Day with my dad. He died 8 years ago on August 17th. I was going to post something about him and I will, but right now there is just too much going on and even the internets really should not hear it. It is personal and deep and well just not appropriate to share at this time!
Enjoy your fathers day, your families, your health and most of all your safety!
And I always, always, always have way too much on my plate.
I have not posted in a while. My mom is doing great. Last night was the first night where I did not get up at 3 am to give her meds. She is on an 8 hour rotation instead of 4 hours now! Which means we both get to sleep through the night…Yah!
So back to my life and the fact that my plate is always overflowing.
Here is what I have on my mind RIGHT NOW:
1. Need to finish clients pictures
2. Need to remove one months worth of pictures off my card and process them. Pictures of Chunk-a-licious at 1 year exactly, Ava’s first birthday, Babylicious, Memorial Day, and a million others things I have taken pictures of.
3. RUN DAILY. Made a bet I would fit in my prom dress by September 7th. That is 55 lbs from here and that is not going to happen, but damn it I need to get close or it is going to cost me a trip to Vegas and a $1000. (more on the bet later)
4. WORK, hello my three jobs. Totally overwhelming! BUT HAVE TO HAVE THEM!
5. Family Beach in 3 days for 6 weeks. Lots to do.
6. Mow the damn lawn
7. LOSE WEIGHT and not for the damn dress but for the fact that I no longer want to be behind the camera only. I want to be happy with the way I look and be in my family photos not taking them. THERE are no pictures of me with my loved ones in the past few years! Why one might ask, well because I HATE HOW I LOOK…and only I can change that!
8. There is so much more and frankly I do not have the time to write about it. I have to get back to work and get a bunch of this list done. Oh like yesterday!
Today at 2 we go to the cancer doctor for my mom’s follow-up. We find out if she needs chemo or radiation. Cross your fingers her treatment is over and she can continue to heal.
I need to work on my own boobies and I will schedule something with the office today when I go with my mom!
Happy Wednesday Internets! I miss you! Oh how I miss the days of just posting and when picture editing was fun!
I am sitting in the hospital waiting for the night shift sibling to return (my youngest brother will be pulling the night shift with my mom) and thinking about what an amazing family I have. We may not always see eye to eye but in times of importance we are all together. We come together and support one another.
As long as I can remember I have always wanted a big family. I loved growing up with lots of siblings. As much as we argued and complained it is always nice to have siblings. You share that common bond only siblings can share. You grow up in the same house, though your outlook on those experience varies greatly. Memories vary sibling to sibling, but there is one thing that does not vary and that is your parents.
As most of you know my mom is sick, she has breast cancer. Today she had a double bi-lateral mastectomy. Today all five of her children sat with her throughout her wait for surgery, spent the day at the hospital, and will take turns on seeing her daily. Everyone brings something different to her, but we all bring two common things which are unconditional love and support.
The breast surgeon came out and all went great. Minimal blood loss, her heart was strong*, they took her nodes and they seem to be 99% negative which means that she will not need radiation or chemo. We will know for sure on Monday after the labs on the nodes come back. If all comes back clear she is cancer free! The plastic surgeon came out about an hour after the breast surgeon and all went well. Today we had the best possible outcome and for that we are truly blessed.
*This is huge as both of my mom’s parents died of heart disease, my moms mother had breast cancer and heart disease when she died at 49, my mom has done everything to have a healthy heart. My father also died at 60 of a bad heart. If you do not die in my family of cancer you die of a bad heart. Thankfully she has a strong healthy heart and is now cancer free!
I am too tired to fix the different fonts tonight. Have a good night internets!
I am so lucky for the family I have. They are pretty awesome. Tonight we went to my brothers for a barbecue. All of my siblings minus my sister was there. We had dinner and then smores for dessert…
My mom has her surgery on Thursday and will be out of commission for the next few months. We really enjoyed dinner together tonight.
Family beach is in 21 days! 21 days and we will be at the beach for 6 weeks. All of my siblings, their children, and my mom. I can not wait.
Update on my personal battle with the boobies…
No answers resulted from the ultra sound and mammogram. I now have to schedule an MRI. I will know more after that.
Well I did not post everyday in May, but I did make it to 19 days. I am glad I am posting more…now I just have to get into a routine where I either post something even if it is just a picture. I like keeping my little space on the net updated.
Alot has been going on good and bad and in time I will post. Today I want to talk about the Gosselin’s.
The media frenzy and judgement surrounding the Jon and Kate plus 8 craziness! I was going to ignore it, but after my personal public disklike when I met Jon back in February, I need to clear the air. I also want to publicly appologize for judging him!
If someone had met me during my troubles in my marriage I can almost guarentee they would not have liked me. The difference is I was not in the public eye. So it was not all plastered over the internet, in the tabloids, and everywhere else. I did not have the paparazzi chasing me and my children down. I do not have eight children, I do not have multiples, I also have never walked in their shoes, NO ONE has, so we can say they are exploiting their chidlren, but how do we really know. They were approached by TLC, they have accepted and have always claimed they did the show to document their childrens lives. Like in most reality tv and the public eye their lives have fallen into a dark place. Why do we feel the need to kick people when they are down. Why not try and pick them up. Surround them with support and wish them the best.
The media has a way of villanizing people. Making them something they are not. It happens all the time! Shame on us for believing everything we read and hear.
Yes Kate might be hard, cold, mean, whatever we see on tv. Jon may seem like he is mistreated by Kate. NO ONE knows but them what goes on behind closed doors.
So step back imagine yourself in their shoes, ask yourself what would you look like if your life was put under a microscope.
I know I don’t want to know what mine would look like. I think above all I am a good person with the best of intentions, but I am flawed. We are all flawed.
Sit back, stop judging, and wish these two and their beautiful 8 kids the best. Stop kicking people when they are down, it really is not becoming of you!
And for her 11th birthday her Gran bought her a cell phone. For the last three years every holiday, birthday, event, she has asked for a cell phone. Tonight her request was met. I got video of her finding out. And some pictures of her and gran together.
Today I spent the day in heaven…or the place I like to call heaven.
He is not walking yet, so he crawls everywhere. He is fast too…I let him crawl around outside, while it drizzled. Needless to say he was covered head to toe in grass and mud. Oh and soaked. We were all soaked. I gave all four a bath after we came inside. The tub was full of dirt and grass.
In the morning I had all four from 7 am till 12. Then I watched the two I normally watch from 6 till midnight.
This baby makes my heart smile. With all that is going on in our family right now! Thank god she is here! She makes everything better with her toothless grin and her innocence.
I am sitting in the hospital waiting for the night shift sibling to return (my youngest brother will be pulling the night shift with my mom) and thinking about what an amazing family I have. We may not always see eye to eye but in times of importance we are all together. We come together and support one another.
