Hurricane checklist

Bread .....  check
Milk ..... check
Water .... check
Batteries ..... check
Dropped off mom .....  check

Ok, we're ready.

7:00 PM  STOP THE PRESS!!! 

Schools, Metro, Busses, Federal/local Government 
ALL CLOSED TOMORROW!!!  
Whoo-hoo!

Winwood Preschool - OPEN?

  That doesn't make sense. 

Can I tell you I have one bummed little boy.  Mommy's happy but Cody is bummed.  He thought he was going to stay home with me tomorrow.  I hate to do it but mommy, weather pending, is going to take him to school tomorrow.  Not only do I need to get a ton of stuff done but I pay a lot of money to this school to watch him so......I know, it's bad but I won't send him there the entire day.  Besides, his school could close.  We'll have to see in the morning.

But for now I'm doing the happy dance.....all by myself.  :)

Paul and Janel's wedding

Didn't know how the weather would turn out for them but it turned out to be a very nice day and a beautiful wedding.  Best wishes to you both!

Bracing for Sandy

For the last few days, the news casters having been preparing us for Hurricane Sandy.  I left work early today to pick up mom so she could watch Cody tomorrow while Ken and I go to a wedding.  Before picking her up, I dropped off our bathroom window glass panel that broke in a prior wind storm.  I had to get the glass fixed before the storm came it.  They say hurricane Sandy is on her way up the east coast right now.  Of course we shouldn't see her till Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.  Everything is up in the air.  So after I dropped off the glass I thought I should run by Costco to get some gas.  Costco was a complete mad house.  The gas lines were CRAZY!  And the parking lot was packed.  Humm.....ok, I'll just get gas on my way to Winchester.  So I drove up Route 7 to Leesburg. I thought, I'll just swing by the Costco there, and grab some gas.  LINES of CARS everywhere?  What?  Why aren't these people at work?  It's 1:45pm.  I'm starting to see a pattern here.  And I'm starting to wonder if this storm is really going to be legit.  I thought maybe the newscasters were crying wolf.  So luckily I grabbed gas across the street.  Thought, I better fill my tank.  You never know.  If we do have a disaster they could close the gas stations down or hike up the prices sky high.  Luckily I got to Winchester with no issues, although there was more cars on the road than I expected.  I grabbed mom and headed right back to the window shop.  It was about 4:15pm when I got there and they had my window ready.  As I drove by Costco again, the line of cars extended on to the main road just to get gas.  This is just CRAZY!   It's just so weird to see everyone act this way for rain but then again, it's apparently the "Perfect Storm" aka Frankenstorm.  So in time, we'll see how all this turns out.  As of now, we're all home, we're all safe, there's no rain yet.  Just getting ready for Sandy.

Back to Virginia

Back in Virginia, driving home.  I pulled over and took a few photos. It's definitely fall here.

Driving to my Dad's house and this is what I see...

This is me. 
Open road, rugged mountains, beautiful blue sky.

Hanging out with family

So nice to just hang out with family.  And the best part is I got to see dad and he got to see me.  Both of us happy that the other is cancer free.

Scenery therapy

Last year this time I completed rounds of chemo.  I was so sick, I could barely drive.  Today I drove 3 hours to my dad's house and it was awesome.  Last October I could barely drive 30 min and now, one year later, I can drive 3 hours and with passion I drove.  That's the thing about Arizona.  The scenery to me is breath taking.  I can drive forever and enjoy everything God created.  The mountains are so rugged and free of trees.   I pulled over and took a few photos.  Hoping to catch the memory so I never forget it.

I arrived at dad's and everyone was there.  It was so nice to see Dad, Karen, Tammy, Jenna, Morgan, Cheyenne, Colleen, Aunt Nooch and Uncle Joe.  I tried to take some photos so again, I could savor the memory.  We had a nice time.  I enjoyed being with them.  I think Dad really liked seeing me and everyone said I looked really good.  When I think about it, I feel like I do look good and I feel like I'm getting stronger and stronger.  I know I say that over and over but it's a very powerful feeling.  Especially when I was at my lowest last year.  And I never want to go back to that ever again. 

Phoenix Bound

Last year when I had cancer I told Ken I wanted to take a vacation.  Originally I thought Aruba would be the place to go.  Seriously, after chemo, surgery and radiation I thought I deserved it.  Then after being burned alive by radiation I thought maybe I don't want to go hang out in the sun for a week.  Then I got a call from dad telling me that his cancer may have come back.  I thought oh crap!  I better go see him.  But it seemed like it took the doctors forever to make up their mind.  Was it cancer, did it spread, will he need chemo or just radiation.  So many questions.  Time went by.  The next thing I know, he had 5 treatments of radiation and suddenly he's cancer free again.  Which we are so happy about.  I kept telling Ken, I really got to get to AZ to see dad.  Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and the next thing you know I was looking at October.  Prices on airline tickets were so high.  I was really disappointed for waiting so long.  Ken's mom said she'd watch Cody for me so all I had to do was find that flight.  Then it dawned on me.  If I take Cody to Ken's mom or meet her half way, I had to pass the Harrisburg airport so I took a look and I actually found a ticket that was reasonable.  Sure I had to drive 2 hours to it which is sad since I have an airport just 5 or so miles from my house.  Sure I had  a connection flight instead of a non-stop but I don't mind.  As long as I could get to AZ.  And that's just what I did.  Phoenix here I come.

Of course nothing is ever as smooth as you'd like it to be.  My connection was in Detroit which by the way is a huge airport was delayed.  So I was suppose to land in PX at 5pm I didn't land till 6:10pm.  I know it doesn't sound like much but the pilot hauled A$$ to get there at a decent time.  Which for me was awesome.  Sure I would have liked to get there on time but why fly 4 hours when you can fly for 3.  :)  Anyway, when I was delayed, I called Melanie and told her to cancel my happy hour.  When I arrived my friend Claudia who picked me up said everyone was waiting for me and they didn't cancel  my happy hour.  

So we cruised up to north Phoenix and I was so excited to see my friends.  These people helped me last year.  They're words of support meant more to me than they can even imagine.  Besides my family, my friends kept me going.  Cancer is no joke.  And they were there for me every step of the way.

Therapy

A few days ago I got an e-mail from Ramona, a co-worker of mine from Phoenix.  She said she along with Dee and Maria were coming to DC to attend a service awards ceremony.  She asked me as well as other PX alumni if we wanted to attend.  I of course hardly ever say no to my Phoenix friends.  So I made my way up to DC and boy, what a to-do.  My friend, Dee was celebrating her 40th anniversary with our company.  I met Dee back in 1995 and I never realized at the time that she already had 23 years in ant there's no way at that time in my life did I ever think in a million years that I would attend her 40th anniversary in DC.  Funny how things turn out but I really enjoyed seeing her, Maria and Ramona.  I also enjoyed being a part of the ceremony and seeing all the people that celebrated 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service.  In fact, I actually worked with 2 other people that I didn't even know were going to be there.  Porter from 1990 - 1992 and again in 1997 and D'Andre from 1992-1995.  I wanted to say hi to them but I lost them at the reception.  I'm a little bummed but my focus was my Phoenix friends.  Other PX alumni that came were Kevin, Rich, Darren, and Julie.  I really enjoyed talking with Julie.  She has a little boy 1 year older than Cody and I'm hoping that we'll have a get together in the near future. 

The events went by quickly and I said goodbye to my friends.  I didn't wait long for my bus and as we got on the parkway, I noticed the bright blue sky.   For once, it was a bright blue sunny sky and I thought what an inspiring and therapeutic day today was.  I needed to see people from my past.  It's been a long time since I've visited AZ and seeing my old co-workers made me feel like I walked back in time and it made me realize where I was a year ago and where I am today.  I'm one lucky girl.
And seeing old friends was just the therapy I needed.

Hey 50!

Went to physical therapy today and I'm loving it.  Well, not loving it but kind of.  As I walked in I promptly started my exercises.  Hate them!  It's not hard, just annoying and I'm wondering how much of this I could do or should be doing at home.  So I was doing those "fun" exercises when one of the girls that was getting a massage (I'm assuming a deep tissue) starts screaming.  I kind of giggled.  Then she started screaming again and started laughing.  I started laughing cause I can feel her pain.  It's hard to explain it but when he digs in, the pain is so out of control painful but then it feels good.  So you scream but then you laugh.

I'd say about 30 min in, he called me over and said ok Jen, your turn.  I sat on the massage table as he came over.  He sat on his chair next to the table and I said: "What's up 50?"  He looked at me strange and said: "50?".  Ya, 50 shades of Grey.  That's so you....50 shades of Andrew.  He started laughing. His place reminds me of the red room of pain.  His is the white room of pain.  It's just a silly comparison that gets me through the hour.  And humor gets me through the day.

So as I lay on the table he digs in and sure enough I holler.  Nice and loud.  Oh that hurts.  He's in a mood today.  First the other girl, now me.  Yup, that's my 50!