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July 31, 2008
WDW - Day 4
We visited countries that we did not get to on day 1 at Epcot and bought some presents. We had a breakfast of chocolate muffins (Ashley & me) and an apple Danish (Kevin) from a pastry cart.
We walked through:
After this, we hopped on a shuttle bus to Downtown Disney to do more shopping. We ate dinner at an excellent sandwich place called Earl of Sandwich and then Ashley had a caricature drawn which you will see in the photo gallery linked at the end of this post.
After much shopping, we took another shuttle bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios™ to watch the nighttime show, Fantasmic!. This is a terrific show filled with music, lights, fireworks, lasers, and dancing water. We enjoyed it despite the rain and wearing ponchos. After the show we had ice cream at a place called Scoops.
You can view the photo gallery of day 4 HERE. There are 103 pictures on 9 pages.
Posted by tami at 9:25 PM Comments (0)
July 30, 2008
WDW - Day 3
We all agree that our favorite day of the trip was the day we visited Magic Kingdom. It opened an hour early for Disney resort guests, so we didn’t have as large a crowd at the beginning of the day. I think this park has more rides and more to offer.
This is the run down of things we rode:
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway - Ashley loved driving even though it was on a track. We ended up riding this twice on this day.
Mad Tea Party - Ashley & I rode this while Kevin took pictures. He can’t handle the spinning and we had it going as fast as we could. It was a BLAST!
Dumbo The Flying Elephant - I felt like I was young again! Weeeeeee!
Mickey's PhilharMagic - a 3-D show where you see lots of Disney characters and experience some terrific music
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel - I always enjoy a carrousel ride!
It's a Small World - This is a precious, innocent ride that takes you through scenes of different countries while you listen to the song “It’s A Small World”.
Peter Pan's Flight - On this ride you “flew” in a ship through the land of Peter Pan.
We ate at the Main Street Bakery (you will see a picture in the photo gallery linked at the end of this post).
Dream-Along With Mickey - This is an outdoor show right at the end of Main Street. You get to see all the princes and princesses, plus Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
Space Mountain - an indoor roller coaster that is mainly in the dark, but very fun
The Haunted Mansion - We went through twice this day because it is my favorite ride ever!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - This was a fun roller coaster.
Pirates of the Caribbean - An inside boat ride with scenes from the movie.
The Enchanted Tiki Room - Sing along with me … In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. All the birds sing words and the flowers croon, In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room!
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse - This is a big treehouse that you walk through at your own pace.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - We took a trip through one of the Winnie the Pooh stories and rode in giant honey pots.
Snow White's Scary Adventures - We rode in one of the dwarf’s mine cars and saw scenes from Snow White.
Stitch's Great Escape! - This is the only ride that I loathed. 90% of it took place in TOTAL darkness. They made you wear a harness-type of restraint like you would on a roller coaster, but this doesn’t take you anywhere! It was very annoying and worrisome to be in darkness for so long not knowing what was happening and if it was supposed to be that way. I would not recommend this to anyone.
We ate funnel cakes at a place called Sleepy Hollow and had a great view of the Dream Along With Mickey show which we had seen earlier.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - you ride through different rooms and try to shoot targets
Tomorrowland Transit Authority - This ride takes you behind the scenes of some rides and you travel right through the middle of Space Mountain. You get a good rest and see some of the park from a different perspective.
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress - We all enjoyed sitting in this show listening to the way things have progressed throughout history.
We had dinner at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. You will read in the photo gallery how they gave us way too much food.
Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams - This is the fireworks show at the end of the night. We watch them in front of Cinderella’s castle and it was truly beautiful and magical. I loved it!
SpectroMagic - This was a parade of lights and we had a front row seat for the whole thing. It was stunning! There were princesses, Chip n’ Dale, the seven dwarfs, fish, a giant peacock, Chernabog from Fantasia, and much more. There was music and singing and smiles galore. I’m glad we didn’t miss this light parade.
As you can see, we rode a lot more this day than the previous days, plus this park seemed to have more live entertainment. Another thing we all enjoyed was most of the rides being indoors in the air conditioning. You could sit down, relax, and get out of the heat for a little while.
You will find the photo gallery of day 3 HERE. There are 143 pictures on 12 pages.
Posted by tami at 10:31 PM Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
WDW - Day 2
On our second day at Disney we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The Kilimanjaro Safaris was wonderful and we saw all kinds of animals. I was very impressed that the animals were not behind fences and in a very natural habitat. This is definitely not a zoo!
We saw a 3-D show called It's Tough to be a Bug! and then rode Expedition Everest which is a fun, fast roller coaster.
Primeval Whirl was a “mouse trap” type of roller coaster that spun us around and had lots of curves and hills.
DINOSAUR was a very jerky ride that tried to take you through an exciting world of dinosaurs. It was really too rough to enjoy.
We had lunch at a place called Pizzafari. Kevin and I hadn’t had pizza in over a year, so it tasted awesome! We went through many shops and then took a shuttle bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios™. The first thing we rode was Rock 'N' Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith. This ride takes you from 0 to 60 MPH in three seconds. It has twists, turns, corkscrews, hills, and loops. We all LOVED it! When we left this ride it was pouring rain. Thank goodness we had ponchos! We walked from shop to shop which were all packed because everyone wanted out of the rain.
Once the rain subsided, we experienced the Studio Backlot Tour. This was an excursion which took us behind the scenes of movies and showed us what happens in films that we don’t know or even think about. It was interesting; however I was very distracted by the heat. Not only was it hot, but it was also humid because of the earlier downpour. For this reason we were looking for something indoors.
The Great Movie Ride was perfect for getting us out of the heat. It is located in a replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. It even had the hand and footprints of “stars” out front to make it as authentic as possible. Disney has spent a lot of time and money on making each ride and its surroundings perfect. They are also very smart when it comes to making money. At the end of each ride, the exit doors lead right into gift shops which feature items in relation to the ride you just left. For instance, if you rode a space ride, the gift shop had space-type items to buy. This was a very smart move on their part.
The last thing we rode this day was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Yes, I rode it and even enjoyed it. A bellhop leads you to a seat in an elevator and takes you up 13 stories. They then proceed to drop you a few floors, take you up or down and drop you again and again and again. This ride is random, so each time a person rides it; the experience is a little different.
The photo gallery of day 2 can be viewed HERE. There are 73 pictures on 7 pages.
Posted by tami at 10:30 PM Comments (2)
July 28, 2008
WDW - Day 1
We made it home from Walt Disney World around 12:30 AM this morning. We had a wonderful time. I took TONS of pictures and a little video. There is no way I can adequately tell you about six days in one post, so I will spread it out over the next few days.
*****
On the 22nd, I rode on my first airplane. I was nervous; however I prayed … a lot … so I was confident that nothing bad would happen. We went from Lexington, Kentucky to Charlotte, North Carolina. In Charlotte, we boarded another plane which took us to Orlando, Florida. I was good and only made a few grunting noises each time we took off.
Once I rode those planes, my inhibitions left me and I was ready to ride whatever Kevin and Ashley wanted to ride. I don’t like heights or small spaces, but that is all mental – all in my head. I make things what I want them to be, so I told myself over and over that it was only a ride and would be over soon and just let myself simply enjoy the moment. This basic mindset is what got me through childbirth; the, “it will all be over soon” part.
Day 1
As soon as we landed at the airport, we boarded a shuttle bus which took us to Disney's Pop Century Resort. Once we took a quick glance around our room, we took another shuttle bus to Epcot.
Since it was lunchtime, we ate fish and chips in the United Kingdom at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop. After eating, we went straight to a 3-D show called Honey, I Shrunk The Audience. (This was my favorite 3-D show of the trip.)
Journey Into Imagination with Figment was next. Ashley really enjoyed this.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends followed.
Next, we rode Mission: SPACE. This is a fun motion theatre, but not one for those afraid of the dark or tight spaces. On this ride, you can be on an Orange team which is very intense and spins you around or a Green team which is still intense, but does not spin. Kevin and I chose to go Green. Once the ride ended, I was glad we chose Green otherwise we would have been sick.
We rode Spaceship Earth. The video is dark, but this is a dark ride. Actually, a lot of the rides are dark.
We went through a set of exhibits called Innovations. This was a lot like walking through the children’s museum.
We walked through Mexico, Norway, and China and then rode Test Track. We ate dinner at the Cantina de San Angel in Mexico and then rode the best motion theatre in any of the parks called Soarin’. This was one of my favorite rides. We stayed in the park until 11:30 and then had to travel back to the resort. Considering we had risen at 4 AM, we were tired.
Photos of Day 1 can be found HERE. There are 61 pictures on 6 pages and you may click to enlarge each one.
Posted by tami at 11:07 PM Comments (1)
July 21, 2008
Small Doses
I am a huge fan of the documentary Grey Gardens which chronicled the life of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie. The mother and daughter were recluses and lived in a rat, raccoon, and cat infested house in East Hampton. These ladies were the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The documentary takes place in the 70’s and frankly, I find it fascinating. You either love it or hate it.
If you do happen to love it as I do, you must see The Beales of Grey Gardens which shows unseen footage from the documentary. I found parts of this DVD more absorbing than the original documentary.
The reason I mentioned the DVD’s is because I just finished reading:
This book was written by Lois Wright who is seen in the documentary. Unknown to the viewers, Wright lived at Grey Gardens during and after the filming. She gives great insight to the ladies and what it was like living with the fear of a raccoon jumping on your head! If you’ve seen the movie, you have to read this book. On the flip side; if you have not seen the movie, you couldn’t truly relate to these people and should wait until viewing the DVD.
One thing that puzzles me is that the Beales never seemed to receive any compensation from movie profits. Wright alluded to this in the book. This really bothers me. If anyone knows differently, please let me know. Otherwise, I don’t understand why the Maysles’, the film makers, would stiff two eccentric, but loving women from the profits they so deserved!
*****
This will be the last day you hear from me until the 28th; that is assuming I am not too fatigued to blog on the 28th! I considered posting from Florida, however it is $10 every 24 hours for Internet at Disney. I think I can wait! I’m sure I will have an overabundance of pictures to show you and also some video if everything turns out right.
We have most everything packed that can be packed. As you know, there are always those items such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, hairspray and contact cases to name a few, which cannot be put away early.
Please keep sending me your sweet and funny emails and I will read them all when we return.
Unfortunately, Mom was out of it for most of our visit. They have decided to give her small doses of Phenergan all day instead of one large dose. The large dose is what keeps her groggy.
She has sores in her mouth, making it very hard to eat. She seems to do well with liquids such as soup, coffee, and milkshakes. The nurse told her the sores would begin diminishing in about four days or as her white blood count rises. Since she had her last round of chemotherapy Sunday morning, her numbers should be much better by the time we return.
This afternoon, during a visit from a former coworker, Mom was lucid and it was great to see her smile. I needed that image to keep in my mind while we are away!
Posted by tami at 5:28 PM Comments (4)
July 20, 2008
A Picture For Sunday
Posted by tami at 7:26 PM Comments (3)
July 19, 2008
A Company Picnic
Today we went to my Aunt’s company picnic at Talon Winery and Vineyards.
My Aunt Patt & Sister, Jennifer
The view of the winery
The vineyard
Sign outside the Tasting Room
Jesse on a pony
Sydnee on a pony
Ashley & Jennifer play Badminton
Jennifer, Ashley, & Kevin playing Volleyball
They also had Horse Shoes, Corn Hole, and Face Painting along with lots and lots of food!
*****
Mom’s fever had gone down to ninety-nine point something and she was playing a round of Sorry with Dad when Kevin and I walked into her room this afternoon. It was a vast change from yesterday!
Posted by tami at 9:12 PM Comments (1)
July 18, 2008
Basket of Yum!
A basket with this assortment of goodies would not last long in my house:
It contained chips, microwave popcorn, cans of soup, oatmeal packets, peanut butter crackers, an assortment of 100-calorie bars, and candy bars. It was brought to Mom today from someone who worked with her in Richmond at one time or another.
I don’t know how Mom held up for her, but she slept through most of our stay. She did sit up for about twenty minutes in a row. During that time she ate a four-pack of orange peanut butter crackers and had one of the Reese’s cups from the gift basket. After that, she was quickly out of it.
Earlier this morning she had a fever of 102 point something. They gave her Benadryl and Phenergan which made her extremely tired. When Kevin and I came in, I felt her hand and could immediately tell she had a fever. I took her temperature and it was 100.1. I told the nurse and asked her if she could have anything. This is when I was informed about Mom’s earlier temperature and the meds she had been given. At least her temperature had lowered a little.
Mom enjoys chatting with her former coworkers, so I knew she was particularly tired when a friend and previous coworker visited and she couldn’t hold her eyes open for more than five minutes at a time. I felt bad for Mom because she would have enjoyed the conversation with her friend had she not been in this condition.
When we left this afternoon, she was still very groggy, but I called just now and she is awake and talking. Her temperature is 99 point something so that is an improvement from earlier.
*****
We have been shopping quickly each day this week before going to the hospital. I am trying to get things ready for our trip. We have bought the needed clothing, made lists, handed out keys, typed and printed schedules for Guido and Church, and typed and printed our flight schedule. I also wrote down the TV shows we would miss so that Kevin can program the computers and TV’s to record while we are away. This won’t interfere with my Aunt’s TV viewing which is good. I hope I don’t forget anything. There is always that fear.
A few nights ago I dreamed that we were near the airport. It was time for the plane to leave and I hadn’t given anyone a house key or instructions. I had this dream in my head as I awoke.
Posted by tami at 10:40 PM Comments (2)
July 17, 2008
Zero
Mom’s white blood count is now at zero. She has a fever of 100.3 and because her throat has been hurting, they believe she may have a fungal infection in this area. This is all to be expected with chemotherapy. If she didn’t feel icky, she would be the exception to the rule. Because of the fever an x-ray was required.
We hate seeing her in there and I know she has been depressed; anyone would be if they were in her shoes. But, we also know she has no other choice if she wants to beat this. People visiting won't take her depression away. She will only feel better when she can leave.
Dana mailed me this precious magnet.
She also mailed one to Mom who is keeping hers with her at the hospital. Thank you for thinking of us :)
Dad took Ashley and one of his friends to see Journey to the Center of the Earth. He said they were the only three people in the theatre. Ashley enjoyed it a lot.
She spent the night with Dad. He said, “This is a blessing.” See, last year when this happened to Mom, Andrew was still here and he stayed with Dad.
Speaking of Andrew, he has apparently injured his hip bad enough to warrant holding him back from MP school. He actually injured it a while back and then went on “light duty”. He said he didn’t think it had healed completely when he started MP school. They run nine miles three times a week, so you can see how this wouldn’t help a hip that was doing its best to heal!
He may have to choose another job or they could potentially send him home. He will have a bone scan, but he doesn’t know anything else at this time. I will keep you posted.
Posted by tami at 7:59 PM Comments (2)
July 16, 2008
Cancer Etiquette
Mom’s white blood count is down to .3 which is no surprise because of the chemo. She looks great and says she feels great so no one would ever suspect the battle going on inside her body.
When I babysat yesterday, the girls and I colored pictures to decorate her room.
I think they really make the room look brighter and add a personal touch.
**Note on “Cancer Etiquette” to anyone reading this**
Please don’t bring memorial brochures to the hospital from a person’s funeral that has just died of the same EXACT illness as the person you are visiting.
Read that wordy sentence again and let the full meaning of it sink in.
I am being nice when I say that was tacky, inappropriate, and utterly jaw dropping! Mom knew of this woman’s death. She didn’t need a further reminder of it in her own hospital room to keep around for some uplifting reading!
THINK to yourself: Sharon has this illness. Does she really want to read the details of so-and-so’s funeral who died of this?! How incredibly insensitive and uncaring can you get!
Was it supposed to make her feel better to read the words “Going Home Party” on a FUNERAL pamphlet? Are you cruel or just stupid?
I could go on, but I think I have made my point.
Posted by tami at 11:09 PM Comments (9)
July 15, 2008
Today I Babysat
This video shows how naturally talented my niece Jesse is when it comes to dancing. Ashley showed her the moves once and she picked it right up.
Posted by tami at 8:58 PM Comments (2)
July 14, 2008
So Soft!
Kevin discovered this room as we entered the side door of the Markey today:
I’m surprised we had walked past so many times without noticing the stained glass:
Mom is receiving platelets because the chemotherapy is doing its job and knocking out everything in her system:
She looked beautiful today in the ultra soft baby blue robe my dad bought her:
So far, everything is going according to plan. One side of her Power Picc was clogged yesterday, but someone came and fixed it this afternoon.
Posted by tami at 11:35 PM Comments (4)
July 13, 2008
Five Pretty Blue Dresses
We drove past Hamburg today and it is truly lovely.
Yesterday, we saw a wedding party at Thoroughbred Park as they finished having their photographs taken:
Fortunately, the wedding was yesterday and not today or they would have had these children in the fountain to contend with:
This kid thought he was in a Jacuzzi:
As I SAID BEFORE, this is NOT a public pool.
*****
Mom is still receiving chemotherapy. She had many visitors today and is doing about the same.
Posted by tami at 9:00 PM Comments (1)
July 12, 2008
When Insults Had Class
From email:
These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response.
"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." Jack E. Leonard
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
Posted by tami at 10:11 PM Comments (2)
July 11, 2008
Pick-Up Sticks
Today Mom needed two bags of blood and four bags of Potassium.
She looks and feels great, so it is hard for her to understand why she needs to be in the hospital.
She considered herself healed until she received the news Tuesday, so you can understand how this is a bit alarming and overwhelming. She covets your prayers and truly appreciates you all taking time to pray for her each day.
*****
Ashley played a game of Pick-Up Sticks with Dad and then had a round later with Mom.
I won’t tell you how I stomped Dad good in 500 Rummy. I will keep that to myself ;)
Posted by tami at 10:30 PM Comments (3)
July 10, 2008
Changing Rooms
Mom’s chemotherapy will consist of:
* Daunorubicin for three days
* Cytarabine (Ara C) for ten days
and
* Etoposide (VP-16) for five days. This is a drug that she did not receive last year.
Important: If you emailed me for her room number, email me again because they changed her room tonight. She should remain in this room the remainder of her stay. As always, she was on the correct floor of the building, however when she was admitted, there was no room available for her on the correct wing. Now, she is on the correct wing, where she belonged to begin with.
If you have already mailed her a card, do not worry, they will make sure it gets to her.
I have to say, I am so pleased with the level of treatment she is receiving both on a patient and personal level. Her doctor genuinely cares about her wellbeing and it shows.
Posted by tami at 8:34 PM Comments (2)
He Greets AND Gropes
Watch out for your friendly ___-Mart groper … I mean, greeter.
___-Mart greeters have yellow smiley face stickers that have ___-Mart written on them. They hand these out to children or stick them on children’s shirts themselves. Ashley stopped getting these stickers years ago. When the greeter would ask her, “Would you like a sticker?” She would politely answer, “No, thank you.”
The greeters always looked crushed when she gave this reply, but not every child wants a smiley face sticker that says ___-Mart. As she grew older, the greeters stopped asking because they knew she was way too old for stickers.
Last night was a different experience. Ashley walked in ___-Mart with my dad. My dad knew the greeter and spoke with him for a minute. As Ashley turned to walk away, the greeter said, “Wait, Princess! Here’s a princess sticker!” Ashley didn’t want to stop the man and refuse the sticker because she knew that my dad knew him.
She turned and he placed the sticker with his fingers on one of her breasts. She turned and began walking away, when the greeter piped up again and said, “Wait! Here’s another pretty Princess sticker!” He then placed another sticker on her other breast.
As soon as she walked away, she pulled the stickers off. Honestly, Ashley didn’t think a thing of the incident when it happened; that is, until my dad said to her, “Don’t let him do that.”
Ashley said, “Do what?”
Dad explained to her, “He just did that so he could touch your boobs.”
Ashley was understandably mortified once the realization hit her. It is safe to say that she will never look upon these greeters in the same way. They need to have a rule in place anyway! You hand the sticker to the child; you do not place it on their shirts for them. Also, these should only be offered to children, not tweens who clearly wear make-up!!
Posted by tami at 7:58 PM Comments (3)
July 9, 2008
Power Picc
A correction from an earlier statement: Mom did not sign the form for the experimental program. Someone came to her room and told her about it last night, however she decided against it this afternoon.
This is for the best. The reason is that if she had gone with the experimental program and if she were one of the patients who received a placebo, she would not have gotten enough medicine. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Since she decided against the experimental program, she will not have to have a bone marrow biopsy. This did not factor in her decision though; we thought she would have a biopsy no matter what choice she made.
She will have chemotherapy again, just like last year; only this time there will be three drugs instead of two. I will try to get the names of those drugs tomorrow.
As soon as I walked in her room this morning I had to put on a mask so I could stay and watch them place a Power PICC*.
It is in her arm:
After the Power Picc was inserted, her lunch was there:
It’s a good thing she really didn’t want it because someone came to take an x-ray and she had to get right back in the bed. (Once the Power Picc is inserted, they take an x-ray to make sure it is in the proper position. This is so they can be sure the medicine won’t go into her lungs.)
Her doctor said she could start chemotherapy either tonight or tomorrow morning. The doctor told her she has a high number of “blasts” in her system. The American Cancer Society defines these blasts as:
Immature blood-forming cells that are not normally found in the bloodstream. These immature cells do not function like normal, mature white blood cells.
She will definitely be in the hospital at least four weeks.
Thank you to those who have left comments and sent emails. I appreciate them and I will let her know you are praying for her.
Posted by tami at 8:00 PM Comments (6)
Her Name Is Sharon
I have been telling people for weeks now how fortunate we are. This time last year my mom was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. We spent the summer over at the Markey Cancer Center keeping her company.
She has been in remission since July 20, 2007. This was nothing short of a miracle.
Tuesday morning she had a check-up. She has these check-ups about every two months. They take her blood, everything is okay, and she goes home.
Today was different.
It pains me to have to say that my mom’s Leukemia has returned. She received platelets before leaving Lexington. She will have a bone marrow biopsy today, Wednesday, and she will once again, be in the Markey Cancer Center for no less than 28 days. Mom is stunned. We all are.
She signed up for an experimental program. This means that she may get a new drug in her chemotherapy or she may receive the placebo. If she in fact receives the drug, it is supposed to increase the effectiveness of the chemotherapy.
If anyone would like her room number, please email me.
Please put my Mom on your mental prayer list or prayer list at church. Her name is Sharon.
Posted by tami at 12:31 AM Comments (3)
July 8, 2008
Walt Disney World
Kevin was given a monetary bonus this year in one lump check. He has never received a bonus of this degree. I won’t give the amount, but I will say that it was enough to get us thinking what we could do to the house or where we could possibly go on vacation. It wasn’t a huge amount; however it was more than we have ever had to just blow. Yes, we could pay on a bill. Heck, we could pay Ashley’s braces off, but what fun would that be?! Since we knew we would never have this sum again, we decided to take a vacation.
I had grand ideas and many suggestions. I thought it would be neat to travel to Pennsylvania and see
HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE WORLD, The Crayola FACTORY, and the Liberty Bell. I thought we could even keep driving up north until we drove right into Bangor, Maine.
I said, “Wouldn’t it be neat to find Stephen King since he lives in Bangor?” I thought it would be an adventure. We could eat fresh lobster. I’ve never eaten lobster!
To this statement and all others, I thought Kevin and Ashley’s eyeballs were going to roll right out of their finicky heads! Can we all say PARTY POOPERS?
Kevin suggested we go to Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
His reasoning is this: Ashley is twelve years old. If we wait any longer, she will be too old to enjoy the true magic that Disney offers. She is old enough to appreciate it and remember it, but young enough to still enjoy it. He also reminded me that this would probably be the only time we would have a lump sum of money of this amount. It is unfortunate that this opportunity never arose when Andrew was a child.
I agreed with him one hundred percent concerning Ashley. He said we could drive, but I thought it would be a better idea to fly. If you drive from Kentucky to Florida it takes twelve hours and thirty-one minutes (I checked) and that’s driving straight there with no breaks. I reminded Kevin that we would lose a day driving down and a day driving home. Also, gas would have been another big expense. The main thing for me though was potentially losing two days of a vacation just driving. Kevin agreed with me and said we should fly.
I won’t be specific until we have returned unless you email me with questions. I don’t want everyone out there knowing where we will stay, but I know my friends, including blog friends, may be curious. I know at least one of you just visited Disney, so please tell me anything I should know; what you liked or didn’t like, things to take or not to bother taking. I am open to any suggestions!
Kevin checked out all the books on Disney World at the library and I hope he has absorbed it all. He has the schedule of what parks open an hour early and what parks stay open three hours later. He has a map of the parade route and we have pretty much decided what attractions we want to see and experience while there. We received a free DVD in the mail, but honestly, the websites and YouTube videos do it more justice and have more information. You can go to YouTube and watch almost all the rides to see if it is an experience you want to have.
Kevin booked a Disney vacation which means we paid for everything together. We paid for our airline tickets, resort, and park tickets in one lump sum over the Internet. We will have access to four parks:
* Epcot
and
We added the “Park Hopper” feature to our tickets. This will allow us to hop from one park to another in the same day.
A Disney Shuttle Bus will pick us up from the airport and take us to our resort. We will then take shuttle buses to any park we want to visit. Disney also takes care of our luggage. This was all included in our vacation package.
Thank you so much Tammy for your very generous offer to watch Guido if we drove. You are a doll! I know that Guido and Norman would get along famously! You are always so kind and I really do appreciate your offer – most people are not like you! We will meet some day because I want to visit the BILTMORE again. My parents took me and my sister when we were younger, but I didn’t appreciate it then. I guess that’s how Ashley would be if we took her to see the Liberty Bell right now!
We haven’t left Guido since we traveled to Parris Island in January. I don’t like leaving him, but he will be in very capable hands. My aunt will live here the entire time we are away. When she is not here, my parents will constantly be in and out to smother Guido with love and attention. They will all do their very best to keep him on schedule. I am totally at ease knowing that my aunt will be here to sleep with Guido each night since he has never slept alone.
My problem now is the plane ride. I know I am the one who suggested it; however, I am 36 years old and have never been on a plane. I am afraid of heights. The thought of walking down the runway to get on the plane freaks me out. I have to do this. I am an adult and I have to be mature. My daughter will be watching me … probably laughing. She has no fear. She is so young!
Posted by tami at 1:16 AM Comments (10)
July 7, 2008
A New Place To Eat
Sunday afternoon we ate lunch at Cheddars. Kevin, Ashley, and I had never been there, but my parent’s had eaten there at the beginning of June for their anniversary. It’s a neat looking restaurant on the inside.
The first thing I noticed upon entering were these unique fans:
That picture does not do them justice, however they are hard to capture while in motion.
I also noticed this large fish tank:
It was made into the wall so you could see the bar area through it. These were some of the fish:
Dad had the Triple Treat Sampler which included Beef, Beans, & Cheese Nachos and his choice of any of these two: Crisp Potato Skins, Chicken Tenders, or Mozzarella Cheese Sticks. He chose the Chicken Tenders, and Crisp Potato Skins.
He gave Kevin and me a piece of the Nachos and they were delicious. I think I will order this plate the next time we visit except I will get the Mozzarella Sticks instead of the Chicken Tenders.
Mom ordered the Chicken Fajita Quesadilla. This is tortillas filled with fajita chicken, several cheeses, salsa, and bacon:
Both of those meals are under the Appetizer section of the menu.
Kevin ordered the Smokehouse Burger. This burger has bacon, cheese, BBQ Ranch, pickles, tomato, lettuce, and crispy onion straws:
I had the Cheddar’s Club which includes turkey, ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, tomato on toasted bread:
Both mine and Kevin’s meals were from the Burger’s & Sandwiches section of the menu.
Ashley had the Junior Burger from the Kid’s section. I did not feel the need to take a picture of it because it was a plain hamburger. If you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all!
It was a terrific tasting lunch and we will definitely eat their again. I noticed they had a 99% cleanliness score when we walked in the door, so that was impressive. Also, our meals were not expensive. Had we ordered steak or ribs, it would have been different, but Kevin, Ashley, and I all ate for a little over $21. That’s not bad when you consider that we probably paid $2 for each drink.
Posted by tami at 1:06 AM Comments (1)
July 6, 2008
The Grand Finale!
All day Friday, the 4th, Kevin and I painted our living room, kitchen, and hall ceiling. They are all connected, so you have to paint them all at one time. Like I showed you in the pictures below, it looked like the house had been quarantined or like we were getting ready to use a heavy duty bug bomb.
While we painted, Ashley went with both sets of grandparents to the festivities in downtown Lexington. They went to booths and she made some sand art in a clear honey bottle. She acquired some beaded necklaces, chocolates, gum, ate French fries, and also some funnel cake. They watched the parade and had a blast.
Kevin and I were just finishing the painting when they called and said they were ready for us to come over. Kevin’s parents live in Lexington, so we drove over there for the cookout. I thought we would get rained out, but the rain held off until we were all finished eating. We had a tasty slice of cheesecake for dessert inside the house when the skies opened up and the rain poured.
It was wonderful to go to their house and eat. We didn’t have to worry about anything or bring one thing. The food was delicious. I am in agreement with my mother when she has said in the past, “The food always tastes better when you don’t have to cook it yourself.” She is SO right!
When we came home that evening Kevin put light fixtures back in place and installed the new smoke detector he bought earlier at Lowe’s. It was much cheaper than he expected it would be.
Saturday morning, right after Kevin had finished his coffee; he began taking up our buckled, destroyed floors. He laid new plastic and then put the new floor down.
He measured and cut all day. We only made one trip to Lowe’s which was good because normally a person can take many trips to the store during projects!
Late last night the floor was finished. Kevin was bone-tired; after all, he had only taken a lunch and dinner break all day.
I am so thankful to have my house back together. This has been a long process and one I never want to repeat. Everyone should know that hot water heaters are only meant to last 12 to 15 years. Ours had been in this house since we bought it and that was twelve years ago, so I bet it was original to the house. It was a great feeling waking up for church this morning knowing we were finished.
Now we can focus on Disney. I’m sure you have noticed my ticker at the top of this page. I will tell you about that later :)
Posted by tami at 3:58 PM Comments (2)
July 4, 2008
Happy Independence Day!
Please enjoy my July 4th Photo Gallery.
There are 19 pictures on two pages. You can click to enlarge each photo.
Posted by tami at 10:22 PM Comments (3)
July 3, 2008
Plastic Palace
I have been cleaning and moving items in other rooms all day in preparation to paint. At this moment (10:28 PM), my house looks like a scene from E.T..
Think I’m kidding?
Yes. It really looks like this. We are painting a ceiling.
I will try to blog more tomorrow.
Posted by tami at 10:32 PM Comments (1)
July 2, 2008
It's Called "Brown Sugar"
***Newsflash***
Andrew is no longer Private First Class. He was officially promoted to Lance Corporal today. YEA!!!
*****
I am sure you are sick of hearing about our hot water heater debacle. I am too. Hopefully, it will all be over with by next weekend. I will keep you updated on our progress.
As I type this, new carpet is being laid in Andrew’s room where flooding ruined his old carpeting. I am holed up in our bedroom with Guido. We don’t ever lock him up by himself; I think that would totally freak him out. I realize the carpet-layers cannot work with an overexcited Pug hopping around, so here we are. It is funny to watch his head twist and turn as he hears different noises. He is dying to be in the midst of all the action!
These were Andrew’s old closet doors. (We have these doors in every room and I plan to replace them one set at a time.) His Futon is that black framework you see standing upright and to the left:
Below, you can see Kevin painting the wall under the window. We had already primed everything first. You can also see the concrete subfloor:
*****
It is literally almost three hours later and I have just finished taking photos to share with you. The carpet-layers left hours ago. This is the new carpet:
Kevin hung new plantation blinds and then he installed new closet doors. Before, trim hung on the sides of Andrew’s old doors, however in order to get the new doors to fit correctly, he had to remove the trim. It’s not that big of a deal, but I will have to go back and touch up the paint where the trim had been.
It is now after 10 PM and I thought for sure we would have the room back together, furniture and all. We haven’t even started that part.
Here goes.
Posted by tami at 10:15 PM Comments (3)
July 1, 2008
June Movie List
We enjoyed many more family oriented movies in the month of June. If you have any thoughts on any of these films, please let me know in the comments. You know I love hearing your opinions.
6-1-08 Marie Antoinette - This movie was a strange mixture of the past with dabs of present in between. The story was accurate, however had I not recently finished a book about Antoinette; I wouldn’t have had a clue what was happening in parts or the reason why they were happening. The music was all modern, which I found inappropriate for the story. In addition, about 56 minutes into the movie, I spotted a pair of Chuck Taylor’s on the floor of her dressing room. This was in the 1770’s for goodness sakes! On a positive note, the costumes and scenery were both beautiful and breathtaking. Had they used different music, explained clearly why things happened, and nixed the Chuck’s, they would have had a better portrayal.
6-3-08 Shrek the Third - Ashley tried to get me to watch this movie for a while. So, once she asked me on her birthday, I couldn’t refuse. This animated comedy was just as funny as the first two. If you enjoyed them, you would enjoy this one. They use upbeat music and do things in a humorous way. I would consider this a great movie for the entire family.
6-14-08 Fracture - Ted Crawford, a character played by Anthony Hopkins, shoots his wife. The remainder of the movie is spent with the prosecuting attorney making his case against Hopkins. Just when you think you have this one figured out, everything changes. This was a very good calm drama.
6-14-08 Rendition - During this movie, keep the subtitles on and don’t try to do anything else while you watch because you don’t want to miss a second or you might just miss something important. Reese Witherspoon plays the very pregnant wife of a man who vanishes from a plane which was bringing him home from Africa. She knows he was on the plane and yet, just the same, he never made it off. This movie is full of twists and turns you would never expect. This is a drama and not an action movie like I thought it would be from the cover of the box. It is very interesting and I enjoyed it, but this type of slower moving drama is not for everyone.
6-18-08 The Game Plan - Ashley watched this movie while spending the night at a friend’s house. She liked it so much; she bought her own copy with her birthday money and then insisted that Kevin and I watch it with her. It is an excellent movie for the entire family. It has catchy music and is funny, but still manages to tug at your heart strings.
6-23-08 Enchanted - This movie was in a word, enchanting. It was clean, had a sweet story, and terrific for the entire family. We see what happens when a soon-to-be Princess from a storybook land is placed in the real-life city of New York.
6-24-08 27 Dresses - This would definitely fall under the category of “chick flick”. It was cute, but very predictable. This is the reason I choose to rent chick flicks and watch them at home rather than spend lots of cash to watch them on the big screen. I see no reason why a movie of this caliber would be any better enjoyed in a theatre.
6-28-08 Signs - A family is surprised when they find crop circles made in the corn field on their farm in Pennsylvania. Uneducated with the circles and what they may or may not represent, this family is quickly thrown for a loop as they discover the truth. Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, and Cherry Jones all make up this fantastic cast. This movie is rated PG-13 because there are some frightening scenes; however this film is anything but fast-paced. That said, I did enjoy it and believe it delivers a good message.
6-28-08 Constantine - In this movie Keanu Reeves plays the role of Constantine, an exorcist/detective, who has literally been to Hell and back again. There are some angels in this film, but I mainly saw plenty of demons. This movie was action packed and had a good story. It remained suspenseful throughout the entire account.
6-30-08 Inside Man - This is a great movie, but it does have very bad language. Denzel Washington plays a police detective who is trying to figure out exactly what a bank robber really wants. There are hostages and some twists along the way. This is a drama definitely worth watching.
Posted by tami at 2:24 AM Comments (2)