Reality check

Man, life is so precious.  I've got to make some major changes.  Because I'm so afraid one day I'm going to wake up and it's going to be gone.  So my priority is to take care of myself and get a new job. I don't need the stress, I don't need the 45 min commute one way.  And I don't need to work in an office space with no windows and cold air blowing in the 60 degree range.  It's stupid that I have to layer for work and most of the time I have a blanket draped over my lap.

Everything is CLOSED!!!!

So I got up this morning and looked out the window.  Nothing much there.  But when I turned on TV all the closings started popping up.  Can this be true?  NO WORK!!!  NO SCHOOL!!!  Awesome!!!!

I got Cody all dressed up in his winter gear and we headed out for fun, photo ops and of course sledding, making a snowman, throwing snowballs and shoveling the driveway and sidewalks.

The fun part, I had a great time with Cody.  The bad part, the temps rose and the snow turned to rain.

The only problem with today is the weather forecasters got this storm wrong. So I fear when the next so called storm comes to town, nothing will shut down and we'll have major drama and grid lock.  But who knows, maybe this was the only snow we'll get for the season.  So I'm happy that I spent the day with my little sweetie pie. 

so pretty

I'm so not a fan of sleet and freezing rain but I gotta say, it sure is pretty when it coats all the trees, shrubs and plants. I was able to get a few pictures before it started melting away but of course before I post them, I need to download them off my camera and again, my hard drive is full. 

But I have to admit, I made a mistake.  I turned on the news today and the forecasters said there was a second storm on the way.  Second storm you say?  You've peaked my interest dear forecasters.  But wait!  I've fallen for this line before.  Are you making promises that you might not be able to keep?  Please don't break my heart dear forecasters, I so don't want to go to work tomorrow.  I'd love to have a day off with my family, just watching the snow come down and cooking homemade soup or baking cookies.  I'd love to go outside with Cody and let him throw as many snowballs as he'd like at me.  So please don't let me down.  Let's just see if my heart gets broken or if this great fantasy of staying home tomorrow becomes a wonderful reality, a dream come true.

Channel 7 news, as of 4pm today
The forecasters said around 3am the snow would start and continue through the morning ending around 2pm tomorrow afternoon.  We could get anywhere from 3-5 inches depending on where we live and how the front comes in.  On Sunday they called for 2-3 inches and my mom, who lives a hour northwest of me got 6 1/2 inches of snow.  We got 2 inches with .13th of an inch of ice on top of it.  So they were pretty accurate with the Northern Virginia forecast.  But tomorrow, will it be 1 inch, 3 inches, 5 inches or nothing at all?  Oh the suspense is killing me.

I'll let you know in the morning.  Fingers crossed.  :)

Sleet/Freezing rain

Well, the forecasters called it.  Sure enough, the beautiful snow turned to ugly sleet and freezing rain.  I think we got a total of 2 inches before it turned over to the mix.  We had to go out and shovel the driveway and sidewalks.  So exhausting.  Cody helped a little and then decided that throwing snowballs at us was more fun than shoveling.  Which I do agree but we wanted to get the shoveling done quickly.  It's yucky out and we're tired. But that didn't stop Ken from throwing a few good ones.  For someone who isn't very sports orientated, he can sure throw a snowball. 

SNOW

Ok, so far the forecasters are right.  The snow is here.  I'm not sure what time it started.  I got up at 6am and decided since it was Sunday I had the right to sleep in.  So I forced myself back to sleep.  Normally I would jump up and start my day but Cody was still sleeping so I might as well too.  So I got up a little before 8am and Ken said, look out the window.  I didn't expect to see anything but there was actually snow on the ground.  Mostly the roads not the grass which usually it's the grass first, roads later.  But enough to peak my interest.  I do enjoy a pretty snowfall and having Cody, it makes it more fun.  Cody was beyond excited.  He had no idea that it was going to snow today. 

Ken had to go out in it.  Not only does he need his Starbucks fix but I think growing up in PA, he has to see how the roads are.  So Ken, Cody and I piled in the car and headed toward Starbucks.  Again, the fun part (sarcastic) about living where we do is that we have to drive 4 miles just to get to a starbucks.  Makes no sense but that's how we roll in VA.  So the roads weren't that bad.  Some roads are really clear, some a a little slushy and some were still covered in a light dusting.  The parking lot had some slick spots and so did a few of the roads.  But overall not bad.  After Starbucks we ran to Safeway to grab some crackers.  We're going to make some homemade soup.  Maybe chicken noodle, maybe clam chowder. Afterward, we went to Dunkin Donuts.  So it was a fun little adventure.  On our way home all the salt trucks were out in full force.  At our major intersection there were 5 of them.  I'm sure they have their assigned routes and even though they are out and about, the roads are getting a bit slick.  It's currently 25 degrees out. 

So when we got home, the neighbors were outside playing in the snow.  So of course we had to go out and play.  I was planning on taking a few photos of Cody in the snow anyway so this helped a little.  But the snow was coming down and my camera was getting a little wet.  So I whipped out my waterproof camera and took some photos and a little video.  Too bad I didn't have my camera taping when a sports car came driving up the road.  All of us adults were chatting when we noticed how fast the car was driving.  He made a left turn on our street and just about took out our mailbox, sliding hard into the gutter part of the sidewalk and into our driveway.  All I can say is on a snow day, we hate shoveling that long driveway but in this case I'm very happy for this super long driveway.  Had it been one of our neighbors houses, he would have hit their cars.  So I'm thankful that we have this long driveway and our cars are safe and sound.

So, it's 11:30am and there's been about 3-4 hours of snow now.  Even though it's been a steady snow, it's not accumulating that much.  So, we'll see what comes in the next few hours.

Snow? Sleet? Rain? What are we going to get?

So the forecasters have been talking about drama tomorrow.  Are we getting snow, sleet, or rain?  They don't know.  That's the fun part (*sarcastic*) about living in Virginia, you never know what you're going to get.  For some reason when it comes to winter the forecasters have the toughest time predicting exactly what will happen.  They predict a storm and nothing happens.  They predict nothing and madness occurs.  So tomorrow they are predicting around 1-3 inches of snow beginning at 9am, changing to sleet/freezing rain by mid day which they say will make it "treacherous" out.  And by the evening/Monday morning (just in time for the morning commute) all rain.  So, I'm anxious to see how this all pans out.  Because me and everyone and their brother was at the store today buying what they could knowing full well that there was that slight possibility that we would be stuck in our homes tomorrow for the entire day.  Snow....no biggie but sleet/freezing rain, that's a completely different story.

So off Cody and I went to the store and I must admit mine was not all grocery shopping.  There was some fun shopping in between.  We actually started out on this adventure because I finally got Cody's Christmas cards submitted to Costco and I quickly went to pick them up.  So what started out as a Costco run turned in to Michael's, Ross, Kirkland's Costco, Kohl's and Target.  Mahhhh-haaa-haaaa!
Let me tell you Cody wasn't pleased but man, I enjoyed every moment of it.

Went to Michael's to get a few more candles for the windows and what do you know 50% off signs everywhere I looked.  I remember the times when everything was 50-75% off after Christmas so it's taking me some time to get use to these nice pre-Christmas sales.  Isle by isle there were deals.  I would have bought a bunch more but I'm just now going through my Christmas stuff and really don't remember what I have from last year.  And I'm not in the mood to buy stuff I just don't need.  Mental note:  Do an inventory this year and score on this sale next year.

Kirkland's was next.  Found 3 pictures to hang on the wall.  2 of them are photos of Santa.  I know that must sound silly but I really enjoy decorating for the holidays and these Santa pictures just add a little something to the house.  My last picture is a canvas with a holiday/winter theme.  It's a picture of 2 sleds, pine trees, snow, birds.  Maybe it's just more wintry instead of Christmassy so  I hope it works out that way I can keep it up till spring.

Ross.  I HEART Ross.  It must sound crazy.  You'd think I'd love Macy's, Bloomingdale's, or Norstrom but nope.....Ross, Ross and all Ross.  I find the most fun things there at such discounted prices.  Like today I got a pair of socks that are so think and warm.  And this is the time of year where I love, love, love thick socks.  I've also got a ton of adorable dresses there over the summer.  And I love DRESSES!  So when I can, I go to Ross.

Costco for the Christmas cards.  I should be addressing my envelopes right now instead of writing to my blog.  I'll do that tomorrow during our so called weather drama day.

Almost done.  I had a what I thought was a 25% coupon to Kohl's.  I should have known better.  It was really 15% so I was a bit bummed when I checked out since I knew I had a 20% off coupon somewhere at home that I couldn't find because I pulled out all my Christmas stuff and somehow it got buried.  Drats!

Last but not least, Target.  That's where I got my groceries.  I'm so not a fan of the typical grocery store.  We have Harris Teeter by our house and it's so out of control expensive that I only go there when I have to.  It's sad because it's walking distance from our house.  But instead I drive miles to enjoy shopping at Target Greatland.   So yes, I grabbed a few things to ensure that my potential day locked up in my house would be well worth it.   I'm going make some homemade chicken noodle soup.  That will be so good on a cold 30 degree day.  I also got some milk and other types of food that will get me through the week.

Three hours later...and my shopping was done.  Cody was also done.  Like fried chicken done.  He told me he thought we were only going to Costco.  Silly boy, he should know better by now.  :)

So, the point of this long winded story is....will we get snow, sleet or rain?  Time will tell and I'll certainly let you know.

It took a few months but I finally did it

Did what you ask?   I finally downloaded 1900 pictures off my camera to my computer.  Why is that a big deal you ask?  Because now I have a bunch of photos to add to my blog.  So check it out....


I still have a bunch more photos to add but I did sprinkle in some photos throughout June, July and August.

More are coming I promise.

Our 1st Christmas Card

So excited that I got our first Christmas card in the mail today.  Man, I just love getting cards.  Most of the cards these days are photo cards and I love seeing how all my friends kids have changed over the year.  I also enjoy sending out one for Cody.  Normally he's decked up in his Christmas outfit attire but this year, I got so behind, we didn't do our annual photo shoot.  So this year's Christmas card will be different then previous years.

Anyway, our first card came from Ken's Uncle Gary.  I've never met him because he lives in Chicago but Ken likes to keep in touch this time of year.  Normally Ken opens up cards from his side (I get so many cards that it only seems fair) but this time I opened it.  I don't know why, maybe I was meant to.

So I opened the cute little card up and it said...

I became a breast cancer survivor too this year.  Thank God for modern medicine.

My heart just dropped.  I felt sick yet so happy for her.  A woman I never met, a family member by marriage, no relation at all, yet we shared the same thing....Breast cancer.  WOW.  It's still so hard to hear and I do agree with her 100%.    Thank God for modern medicine.  I am so happy she is a SURVIVOR and I hope that we both can continue on this great path of healthiness for a long, long time.

Thanks David

Thanks to my friend David, Ken and I were able to get our 2 Christmas trees down from our shelf in our garage.  I just don't have the strength in my left arm to support the gi-gando trees.  So having another man come help Ken out did the trick.

Now the hard work....unpacking all the bins and tree boxes to decorate.

Cody and I started on the front yard since it was a pleasant day out.  We put garland on our front porch railing followed by red bows.  Each bow is attached to either garland, outdoor light fixtures, the mailbox and 2 large shrubs in our front yard.  I'm almost decorated out since I hung cobwebs and spiders in the same area in October, Pumpkins for Thanksgiving and now garland and bows for Christmas.  Ken started working in the yard pruning back the shrubs, and raking leaves so he didn't get to the lights.  And there's no way I can do it.  I actually don't mind since he purchased the brightest of the bright LED lights and it's almost like our house is a new run-way for Dulles Airport.

Cody and I helped dad a bit which to my surprise took a little longer than I expected.  I think we had 12 bags of leaves, 4-5 pumpkins and all the summer plants that just couldn't handle the frost we got the other day.  In fact, I was wondering why my mums were dying.  When I dug them up the soil was frozen solid.  Humm....that has never happened in the past.  Wonder why now?

Once inside, Cody and I put the candles up in the windows.  8 in total and that's on the top level of the house, front only.  It looks so pretty from the outside. 

We ran down to the basement and put up Cody's tree.  We've got some fun decorations that are just to small to put on my trees.  Yup, plural.  I have 2 more to put up.  Anyway, we strung up the colored lights and had a blast watching him decorate the tree.  Took some photos and video.  He's such a ham.

Christmas is on the way....and we're 1/2 way done with decorating.  Thanks Dave for coming by and helping us out.  If not, those decorations and tree would still be sitting in the garage.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  We went to PA and this was the first time we actually left the house on Thanksgiving morning and I tell you, I really enjoyed it.  In the past we left the night before and like everyone else, we sit in horrific traffic.  By the time we get there, we're exhausted.  But this time, we went to bed and although we got up early to make sure we got their by noon, we stopped for breakfast on the way and we had such a nice drive.  In fact on one part of the drive when we got about an hour from Ken's parents house we drove through a mini snow squall.  One minute it was sunny and one minute the sky turned gray and pop, a mini snow squall.  It wasn't dangerous.  Kind of cool.  And made it feel like the holidays were truly here.  I remember living in Arizona wearing shorts on Thanksgiving day.  But now, on the east coast, that will never happen.

So we got there at noon, pulled in to the driveway and Ken's brother pulled in at the same time.  We ate a few appetizers before the big meal.   Ken's mom made a great dinner.  She had the entire spread:  turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, cranberries, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and cheesecake.  Yum, yum, yum and yum.

After dinner I pulled out my camera and you know me.  Click, click, click and click.  I mainly focused on the kids.  Last year we had Thanksgiving at my house and I made the family go outside for a family photo.  This year it was to cold to go out so we didn't get a family photo but I did get a few shots of the kids.  And wow, did the kids change in a year.  Tracy is applying to colleges and is excited about which ones she'll get accepted to.  Ethan grew like a foot.  Well, maybe not an entire foot but he's like 6'2'' and he's only 13.  I can't even imagine Cody that big.  But then again, a few years ago, I couldn't even imagine Cody at 6 and whoa-la....he's 6 and getting taller everyday.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day.

Snow Squall

Ethan and Cody

Holy SMOKES it's COLD OUT!!!

Ok, record cold temps today.  Shesh!  I just wanted to stay in bed under the covers but darn Kohl's and Target were chanting my name.  One mistake, opening up the paper to look at the sales ads.  2nd mistake, thinking that this Sunday has to be less busy than next Sunday which is the weekend after Thanksgiving.  3rd mistake, knowing that my car had a full tank of gas and Cody and Ken were leaving to get their hair cuts.  4th mistake, getting dressed and running toward the car, driving like a mad woman to find any sale I could find.  And sales I did....for the boys.  I ended up getting Cody 3 things plus a Christmas outfit and Ken one thing.  The original goal was to get Cody's Christmas outfit and a few sweaters for myself, especially since today prompted me to layer up but I couldn't find anything for myself but one slightly dressy sweater for work.  I was really looking for lounging sweaters.  In the womans section a small is a little big on me.  I looked for XS but no such luck.  Then I went in the teeny bopper section and all the sweaters are kiddie looking.  So how am I ever going to get warm?  Well, maybe a different store will hook me up but for now, Kohl's didn't work. 

I came home for about 1 1/2 hours and out we went to a birthday party.  2nd one this weekend.  Today was Cody's buddy in Kindergarten.  It was a Lazer tag party.  How fun!

When we came home I decided it was a soup night.  I made homemade chicken corn chowder.  It was so yummy.  There's nothing like finishing off a super cold day with soup.  I got rave reviews from Ken and Cody so this maybe with a little tweaking will be a family favorite.

OUCH, I FELL ON MY ARSE! But I'm so thankful it wasn't worse.

The joys of stairs.  For some reason I seem to rather enjoy falling down them.  Luckily in our house both set of stairs are divided by landings.  So we have about 4 stairs then a landing and the staircase curves, then another 4 steps, a landing and the staircase curves again.  Well, I was downstairs in the basement inventorying our paint cans.  I know this might sound silly but the writing on the cans telling us what colors they are, are starting to fade.  On 3 particular paint cans, I couldn't tell exactly what the color was so that prompted me to take the cans (quart size) upstairs to the rooms that looked like they would match which lead me upstairs.  I walked from room to room and found the rooms I thought the paint colors matched.  I then proceeded down the stairs when somehow my foot slipped off the 1st stair and instantly, me and the 3 paint cans went flying.  I landed hard.  RIGHT ON MY ARSE!!!  Don't know how I avoided the 3 paint cans as we all tumbled down thankfully only 4 stairs before coming to the abrupt halt on the landing.  I also don't know how the paint cans avoided denting the walls or thank goodness not opening up splattering paint everywhere.  I'm also thankful that my arse took the brunt of the fall and not my elbow or hip or some other body part that could have broke.  We had plans to leave in 1 hour for the Polar Express so I had no time to get rushed off to the hospital.    So here I am, humbled on the landing of my staircase calling out for my sweet little Cody who quickly came to my rescue.  I got up, and grabbed my poor toosh.  I'm certain there will be a bruise there.  But I'm so thankful that it wasn't worse.

   

2 years

2 years and going strong!!!  Today marks my 2 year anniversary of my last chemo treatment.  What a world of difference.  I'll have to post a photo.  :)  I'm one happy girl.

Great day with my family

Today is one of those days that you just love.  It's not super cold out but it's windy so doing anything outside would be possible but less than desirable.  So, we hung out in the house all day.  In fact yesterday we went to IKEA and bought Cody some shelves with bins so he could put all his legos on it and in it.  As well as any other random toys he wanted to put there.  So Ken and Cody worked together putting the shelving unit together.  I took a few photos.  But what I should have done was take a photo of his play room before with his rocking horse and trampoline.  He's converting the room from more toddler to big boy.  Of course I visualize a flat screen tv, game chair and a X-box or PS4 but Ken said no way.  And of course I agree with that.  So for now, it's his toy room.  And my goal is to go through all his toys, getting rid of the ones that he doesn't play with or the ones that's he's to old for. 

So, the reason for saying that I had a great day with my family is because we were all together, all day in the basement, hanging out.  We laughed together, ate together and even watched a little bit of football together.  It was just a great "family" day.  And, although summer is my absolute favorite time of the year I look forward to more days like this which means I'm welcoming winter.  A few solid cold days will force us to stay inside and enjoy the time together.

I'm so blessed

All last night it seemed like every time I turned over in bed, my head would start spinning.  It makes no sense, why am I so dizzy?  When I woke up this morning, the concern stayed with me.  Am I just pushing myself to hard?  I don't think so.  I have a life like everyone else.  Cooking, cleaning, working and being a mom.   So why the dizziness?  Am I dehydrated or is something going on in my body that I'm just not paying enough attention to?

Oh there she is, hello Mrs. Worry.  What are you worried about today?  As usual, cancer is always on my mind.  Scary thoughts and what if's always roam my brain.  I wish I could turn it off but I can't.  So I continued on with my day.  Went shopping with Ken and Cody.  We even met my sister for lunch.  Food wasn't so great but it was fun meeting up with her. 

We get home and both Ken and I are tired.  He didn't sleep well last night either.  I'm seeing a trend with us.  It seems like we usually get a little "off" together.  Which isn't good cause he ends up resting and I end up still being a mom.  Cody was in the basement putting together a lego set that he got for his birthday and I had to help him out a bit here and there.  I noticed my dizziness was coming back while walking between the couch and the toy room.  So here comes Mrs. Worry again.  I had to tell  Ken about it, telling him that it's odd that I've been dizzy here and there throughout the day today.  The next thing I know Cody walks in the room with a little cup of water in his hand.  He walks over to me and says:  "here mommy, drink some water.  It will make you feel better."  I know the look of shock fell over my face.  I didn't even ask him for water.  In fact my grown husband (who again was lying on the couch not feeling well, so I don't hold it against him) didn't even offer me anything.  But my 6 year old actually got up from putting his legos together to get me a cup of water.  I was completely stunned but so humbled.  I took a few sips and graciously thanked him.  He proceeded to get me another cup of water and by then Ken sat up amazed.  Even Ken thanked Cody for being such a wonderful son and for getting mommy some water. 

Ken and I have been teaching Cody to be respectful to others, to be kind and caring.  But during my cancer treatments when he was 3 1/2,  I saw how wonderful and compassionate he was and I knew I was extremely blessed to have him because he was my rock during those days but now I know 200% that my son is truly a blessing from God.   I was meant to meet Ken and I was meant to have my little Cody in my life.

Happy Birthday CODY!!!

Six years ago I was the luckiest woman alive. I became a mom and it was the best day of my life.

Happy Birthday to my darling little CODY who's 6 today!
XOXO Mom

Happy Halloween

As you can see they all didn't get carved.  I just completely ran out of time.  Must plan better next year.  :)  But the ones I did do turned out pretty good don't you think?

Cody drew the face for the middle one

Cody drew the faces of the bottom right and the 2 right ones on the top row.

Added the Grim Reaper to the door and orange flicker lights in the light fixtures.

Halloween is truly my most favorite holiday.  I just love the concept of getting dressed up and going trick o treating.  Our neighborhood does a great job of decorating their houses and we have so many kids out that it is so much fun.  This year we met up with our neighbors and Cody enjoyed walking around with Natalie and Griffin.  The rain ruined our parade for a millisecond but we still kept going.  Cody was a Pirate and I was an enchanting mistress.  Okay, I don't think that's what my outfit really looks like but whatever the case, I had fun getting dressed up and putting on my long diva wig that I no longer have to rely on.  It's more for fun now and when I wear it, I don't have horrible memories of being bald.

Anyway, here are a few photos at night when the trick or treating began.  I'd say we hung out about 2 1/2 hours.  We had such a fun time.

Our house at night

His 1st encounter with a scary ghost

Now a zombie - he's getting brave

Luckily it wasn't super cold out.

Carving pumpkins

I think I waited to long.  I have 12 pumpkins to carve and I'm now just starting the process.  Cody was a big help.  He drew the faces on the pumpkins and I carved them.  But he wouldn't stick his hand in the pumpkin to pull out the seeds.  To me that's the longest part of the whole carving process.  Besides, what 5 year old boy doesn't like getting his hands ewwiee goowie?  Apparently not mine.  Usually I clean off the seeds and bake them but with no time to spare, I'm going to have to pass on that this year.

Arizona Therapy

Ahhh....the beautiful mountains of Arizona and the warm sunny weather is such therapy for me.

Yes, you guessed it. I went back home to visit family and friends and I feel ALIVE!!!

Decorating

Ahh, the holiday season is upon me and this is the 1st month that I start decorating.

So doesn't look scary in daylight

Aye me matey

Aye Captain Cody here.  Listen to me or you can walk the plank!

So I took Cody to Party City to pick out a costume.  He couldn't make up his mind and then he looked up and saw a pirate costume.  Then a light bulb went off in my head.  He was a pirate in his June dance recital and I had a pirate costume already at home.  All I had to do was buy a patch and we were good to go.  Easy Halloween costume this year.

It's me, it's really, really me

I looked in the mirror this morning and I can't believe my eyes.  It's me, it's really, really me.  With my new blonde hair, I finally see myself.  I can't explain the feeling inside.  It's powerful yet emotional.  In a blink of an eye it almost looks like that girl in the mirror never lost 2 years of her life.  Who is this person?  It's finally me.

Later today, I turned on the radio to the 80's station and just started singing and dancing.  So much fun!  This is truly the best I've felt in a really long time.

Hello Blondie...well, more like light Brunette! But we're getting there.

Made an appointment to get my hair highlighted today.  I wanted to go lighter but wondered with fall coming up if I should stay a brunette.  I chatted with Val a bit and thought, oh what the heck.  A few hours later and viola!  HELLO BLONDIE!!!!

I was really nervous, wondering if I did the right thing.  I'm not as blonde as I use to be but it's a good start.  And so far, I really like it.  

BRRRRR!

Not only is it a crappy Monday but it's darn right chilly out.  Well, I guess I'm just giving up on this year.  I'm accepting the fact that fall is in the air and I assume it's here to stay.  Summer, although barely over to me, never really got off to a great start and surely didn't have a fabulous ending.  Oh well, better luck next year.

 

Reminiscing

Funny how things bring you back to the past with a blink of an eye.  I have an old shoe box filled with old photos.  I always intended to put them in a photo album but for some reason, they just stayed in that old box.  That box was in my closet for the longest time.  A few weeks ago, I cleaned out the closet and moved my box to the dresser.  Never even looked at the box or the photos.

Today I was chatting on the phone while sitting in my yellow room.  After getting off, I glanced over at the old box.  I pulled a few photos out and it was like I traveled back in time, wondering how in the world did I get here, present day 2013.  I saw photos of me in the 90's, white water rafting, mountain biking, Halloween, Christmas, old friends, Vegas, LA, weddings and races.  I looked so young and I remember all those fun times and outfits.  Some (mom shorts) I'd like to forget and some that were so darn cute.  I was skinny and wow, a flat stomach too?  And all those different hairstyles.  Amazing! I had a great life, I still do but there's something about being young that makes me wish I appreciated it a little more.

Fast forward a few hours later and I'm spending a wonderful day with Ken and Cody.  All the sudden, I'm exhausted.  I have no energy. I took Cody up to bed.  He crashed and I'm getting ready to when I turned on TV.  Nothing is on.  So I scroll through all the channels on Verizon when I came across Beverly Hills 90210 circa 1992.

FLASHBACK!!!

I remember watching this with my girlfriends.  We were addicted.  So 1992 puts me at 21 years old.  Wow, so carefree.  I could have never imagined in a million years what was in store for me.  I remember being in my 20's thinking 30 was ancient and gross.  40 was way off into the future.  No need to think about that.  Fast forward to 2013, here I am 42 and reminiscing in the past.

Where did the time go?  So I'm watching 90210 and somewhere during the show Kelly and Steve (2 characters) were chatting.  Kelly said, "Like they said, life takes weird turns."  I looked at the tv and thought, isn't that the truth.  So it made me think.  Looking at those photos earlier today, the breast cancer survivor Jen is looking at the young, healthy, not a care in the world Jen and the breast cancer survivor Jen seems to be a tad envious of the carefree Jen.  No worries, no restrictions, no real responsibilities and no scary cancer that haunts me daily.  I'm always wondering if it's waiting for the right time to strike again. 

But I look at Cody, sleeping away in his bed and I can't help to feel how lucky I am to have him.  How supportive he is and how he loves me so.  Although I can't help to reminisce, to think back to the past that's seemed so perfect, I am truly blessed to have him and to be alive.

Mammo time

Oh the stress of getting a mammogram.  It's such an emotional time.  I feel no lumps and pray there will be none detected. It's an emotional roller coaster.  My appointment was at 1:30.  I left work at noon and met up with my sister Wendy.  We grabbed lunch nearby and the next thing you know  it was time to go to my appointment.  

I've noticed with most dr. appointments it takes forever to get in.  The primary care, the dermatologist, the peditrician, the allergist, but the darn dentist, radiologist and when I got chemo and radiation were all on time.  So I sign in, and the next thing you know, they are calling me back.  I'm nervous and they are on time so I'll either get good news or bad today.  50/50 shot.  I'll roll the die and here I go.

Mammo, lobby, wait.   Wait, wait, wait.
It felt like forever.
Then she called me back for 2 additional scans.  What???  My heart just dropped.
Mammo, lobby, wait.  Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.   Something is wrong.  I must have the dear in headlights look on my face.  I'm freaking out.  Wait, wait, wait.  This is way longer than last year.  Even Wendy is getting nervous.  We are hoping for the best but I can't help that my mind is wondering.  From oh please no to man I'm really going to be pissed to oh, please no.

She called us back and said, "GOOD NEWS"  No signs of cancer.  WOMAN!!!!  You scared the crap out of me. 

We walked out feeling good but both of us were exhausted.  I'm going home and going straight to bed.  My chest hurts, my heart is finally slowing down, and my legs are wobbling.

BUT THANK GOD!!!!   I'm still cancer free.  Well, breast cancer.  I still worry about all the other cancers out there.  But for now, I'm still cancer free.  And I'm thrilled.

Thinking about tomorrow

Tomorrow is my yearly followup mammogram.  I made the appointment a few weeks ago, not really thinking about it but now, 9pm I'm starting to think about it.  How can I not?  Will something be there?  God I hope not.

Before Cody went to bed, we prayed together.  We prayed for me to continue being cancer free.  If it's like last year, I'll know the results immediately. 

Garden therapy

Well, all good things must come to an end.  And my garden is on it's last leg.  Here's my stats:

Cucumbers:  Awesome!  1st time growing cucumbers and I had such a positive experience.  Definitely will be growing them again next year.  Will plant 2 in the ground and 1 in a deep pot.

Tomatoes.  Thrilled.  With the amount of jerry-rigging I had to do to keep my tomato plants upright, I'm surprised they grew tomatoes at all.  With the large amount of rain earlier in the summer my tomato cages came out of the ground.  So the entire summer the tomatoes were leaning to the right and squashed together.  At times, it was hard to find the ripe tomatoes but when I did, they were so yummy.  I had 2 types:  Better Boy and Early Girl.  Although both produced, I have to admit, even though I was rooting for the Early Girl, the Better Boy had bigger and better tomatoes so I'll grow them again next year and try a different brand of tomatoes next year.  I also grew husky cherry tomatoes which when I purchased them, I thought they were cherry tomatoes.  They were good but it was a completely different tomato plant than I'm use to so next year I will focus on grape tomatoes instead.

Beans:  Man, once this plant got started it grew like mad.  Seriously I had a Jack and the Bean Stalk kind of plant.  It took over one side of my deck.  I got a huge amount of beans but unfortunately didn't really know when to pull them off the vine and at times, I left them on to long and they either passed maturity or turned yellow.  I was really bummed but am thinking of growing them again next year.

Radishes:  Perfect.  Easy to grow and quick to mature.  Yummy too.  Will grow again next year.

Turnips:  Bummed.  5 grew and I left them in the ground way to long.  They were huge!  Tasted yucky.  So mad at myself for not pulling them earlier.   I also had 4 that grew in a pot.  They were much smaller but tasted more like what a turnip should taste like.   

Green Peppers:  Epic fail this year.  Originally planted 2.  One next to the cucumber plant and the other by the tomato plant.  The cucumber plant kept strangling one with it's feelers.  The other was overtaken by the tomato plant.  So I pulled them both up and re-planted them.  They never really took to their new location but 1 did bear one green pepper.  I later went out and bought 4 more plants.
I planted 2 in a pot together and 2 in the ground by the bean plant.  Again, the bean plant over took the area and the 2 green pepper plants didn't do as well as they could have.  The 2 in the pot did much better producing about 10 peppers but since I waited a while to plant them they grew much smaller than last year.  So I have a new plan and a new location for my pepper plants.  We'll see how they do next year.

Strawberries:  I have no idea what I did different this year than last year.  Same plant, same store, different pot.  But man, this strawberry plant really produced this year.  Cody got many yummy, big strawberries this summer.  Plan to grow strawberries again next year in the same pot.  Hopefully I'll get a great turn out again.

Brussel sprouts:  This is the slowest plant I've ever grown.  I'm almost getting really bored with it.  I planted 4 total.  Only 2 are hanging in there.  1 in the ground which was between the cucumber and bean plant and the other in a pot.  the one in the ground got picked on by some bug.  It had huge leaves but some bug or critter ate big holes in the leaves which is odd since I grew lettuce too and whatever ate the brussel sprout leaves certainly wasn't interested in the lettuce leaves.  Anyway, still watching it and wondering am I going to get any brussel sprouts?  Not going to plant this next year.

Lettuce:  Loved how it grew.  Waited to long to pull it so it wasn't super yummy.  Might grow it again next year but it's almost easier just to go buy a head or Romaine from the store.

Basil:  Super easy to grow but didn't prune it quickly enough and it got to big and as Ken said, didn't taste as good when you prune it.  will grow it again next year, just in a smaller pot.

Parsley:  Easy to grow, easy to prune, easy to share.  Will continue to grow.  Hopefully in the house like last winter.

Rosemary:  Perfect.  Easy to grow, easy to share with friends, and yummy on fish.  Hoping to grow in the house like last winter.

Yellow Squash:  Beautiful plant, had such potential.  Didn't live long in the pot.  But I was able to grow 1 squash.  Very yummy.  Won't grow Squash again.  Don't have the space.

So that's my stats.  I learned a lot from my garden this year.  I took a lot of photos to chronicle the journey.  I enjoyed it but now, all I have left is the green peppers and tomatoes.  I'm sure in a week or 2 they will be done as well.

Saw my cousin

Today was my cousin Virginia's daughter 1st birthday party.  I was so glad that I made sure my schedule was cleared cause not only did I want to celebrate Lillian's first birthday but I wanted to see Virginia.   Like really actually see her in person.  I know she's cancer free but I just can't believe what she had to go through so I need to see how she looks and that will finally put me at ease.   I really wanted to visit her back in July after her surgery but I knew she wasn't up for visitors.  But she's ready for them now and Virginia.....here I come.

Lillian is such a doll.  It's so hard to believe that's she's "1".   I couldn't help myself.  I found the cutest little girl outfits.  Not that she needs clothes.  I'm sure Virginia has tons for her but baby girl clothes are my weakness.

So Cody and I were off to Richmond and not only did I have a present for Lillian, I had a special gift for Virginia.  She's been telling me how she's really focusing on eating healthy.  So I made a basket full of fruits and veggies to give to her.  Hope she likes it.

My basket included bananas, green leaf lettuce, tomatoes and peppers from my garden, cucumbers, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, and broccoli.

And here is Virginia's family.  Sorry, somehow I didn't get a picture of her hubby Bryen.

 Quinten - Lillian's big and oldest brother

Virginia and the birthday girl "Lillian"

Evan - Lillian's brother

 

Happy Birthday Wendy

Happy Birthday to my sister Wendy!!!! 

Camping fun

We went camping at Ricketts Glen State Park in PA.  Ken's parents got a campsite and we joined in on the fun. 

So Ken set up the tent, the new camp "kitchen", the chairs, air mattresses, and everything else that he crammed in to the truck. 

We had a real nice campsite but there was only one problem.  Surprisingly it rained on one of the nights and it just happened to rain so hard that the tent started to leak.  Not everywhere.  Just right over Ken, hitting him right in the face.  He woke up and was so frustrated that we moved the entire tent around which meant Cody and I had to share an air mattress and a sleeping bag.  Luckily, Cody didn't wake up through the entire drama and luckily Ken and I got back to sleep and luckily only that one area of the tent leaked and the rest of the night we are all dry and warm.

Cody enjoyed playing with a new friend he met.  They rode their bikes all over the camp.  His new buddy had walkie-talkies which Cody had never played with before.  He really liked calling his friend when they were ready to play. 

Jack and the bean stalk

Holy smokes, is this thing growing like mad.  I love it!!!!  And it's so much fun watching the beans grow.  Can you even see the tomato plant in the pot in the middle?

Grow bean grow!

Beans ready to eat.

Friday at LAST!!!

So, tonight I made chicken thighs on the grill, red skin mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner.  All yummy!  Cody and Ken decided they wanted to hang out in the basement afterward and watch a movie.  I thought, what could I do???  There's so much I need to catch up on and there's always no time to do it in.  I thought, oh I should of visited Wendy but then I'd be stuck in Friday night traffic.  YUCK.  Then I thought, I should go up to my yellow room and start sorting though stuff to throw away.  Then I thought, Nahh....got all weekend for that.  Then I thought, I should go downstairs, relax and watch some tv with the boys.  Then I thought, nope...their having a father son bonding moment.  Then I thought maybe I should go through some of my photos on Ken's computer since my darn laptop's hard drive is full and I can't download photos to it.  So we downloaded all the photos to the desktop.  Then I thought, wait a second.....I'm behind in my uploading photos to my blog.  So I sat down and started from the beginning of 2013 and went through picture by picture to add to the posts I've done over the last 8 months.  It's not perfect but...I did it.  I added photos from late December 2012 - May 2013.  I still have a few more things to add but at least my blog is somewhat up to date.  I still have a ton more to add but it's getting late and I need to close out for the night.  Besides I wonder sometimes if anyone really reads this.  If so, I hope you enjoy it.  It's great therapy to me.

Gee, I have a lot of things that are therapeutic.  Photography, my garden, and writing in this blog.  Writing  helps me get things off my chest.  Even though there are some things I won't dare say yet..but overall, it really does help plus it reminds me of what happen and how well I'm doing today.  And let's pray that continues.

My flowers have really grown

Love my flowers but I will do a different arrangement next year.  Need more color.

This weather SUCKS!

Being from Arizona, I'm use to warm weather.  In fact I love the fact that Arizona is pretty much warm year round.  I don't need the change of seasons.  I'm perfectly happy with wearing cute dresses and open toed shoes all year long.  But living in Virginia is a completely different story when SUMMER is a mere 3 months and the rest of the year is...Ehhh to me.  There's so many people who would argue with me on this, including my husband.  They think Virginia is beautiful, bright, sunny and warm.  Ok, so maybe, just maybe a few weeks out of the summer is warm.  Like the week we had temps in the 90's.  *GASP*  Did I say 90's???  So my version of 90.....YES, I get to go to the pool and the water won't be cold.  Every native Virginian would say.....90...it's so hot.  Can you believe the heat index makes it feel like 105 degrees.  Oh my.....it's so hot.  You can't do anything.  It's horrible. Look our grass is turning brown.....

My version....YES!  This weather feels great and quit your crying.  Phoenix had a high of 118 this summer.  Now that's HOT!  And what's wrong with brown grass.  Water it people!

So, today.....it was overcast and I think a high of 72.  72!!!!!  It's AUGUST for goodness sakes.  I haven't been to the pool in a week because when it's overcast and a tad chilly oh and rainy you just can't go.    For the past 2 weekends we can't forget the rain that we had last Saturday and the Saturday before that.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Rain is good if it's a thunderstorm.   I love thunderstorms.  They are fun to watch well as long as your not driving in it.  Cause for some reason in Virginia, the roads were not built to handle the amount of people here.  So people freak out and we get tons of traffic, even with just a sprinkle.  The back country roads that offer some sort of way to get around not driving on the beltway usually flood so off to the main roads we go.  But traffic is not my subject of this post, its the cold crappy weather.  And it's getting so old.

So I'm going to say it.  If August is going to be cold and crappy then September better make up for it in warmth.  Now of course living in Virginia, the pools all close on Labor Day weekend.  I can somewhat accept that I only have a whopping 28 days left to swim but geez can we at least get some upper 80's - lower 90's to make it feel like it's actually summer?  You know, the season that comes after Spring and before Fall???

Ok, venting done. 

"Virginia" tax free weekend

Whoa!  Let me tell you.  I've got to strategically plan this next year.  I can not believe the amount of people and lines I witnessed today.

It was madness.  I thought I was playing it the smart way.  Got up this morning and decided at the last minute to drive to Winchester to shop.  Not only would I surprise mom but I would hit multiple stores all in a matter of a few hours.  See in Winchester, they've got Kohl's, Walmart, Target, Ross, a mall, Costco all conveniently located within a mere few blocks/miles of each other.... but in Ashburn there's Kohl's 9 miles away, Target 5 miles away, Walmart 8 miles.  Some of these stores are near each other but it's still such a pain to get from one store to the next.  With Cody in tow, I need to get-r-done!

So, I showed up at mom's unannounced and she was completely surprised.  We hit Walmart for school supplies, and all the department stores for clothes.  I was really focusing on jeans or pants for Cody.  He seems to have enough tops but pants....not so much.  Unfortunately, all the stores were super crowed and I just didn't find what I wanted.  Which was kind of surprising.  Normally I can always find something at Kohl's.   I even looked for shoes with no luck.  I'm so bummed! 

Had I planned this better, I would have taken off Friday and shopped while everyone else was at work.  I was not prepared for this challenge.  Next year, I'll be ready.

Poor Squash plant

Well, I've learned a lot of lessons this year with my garden.

1st lesson:
 Don't plant a squash plant in a high pot.

Why you ask?  Well...my best guest is squash plants like to get really big and apparently from what Ken and his mom told me (long term gardeners) that squash spread out - aka - take up a lot of space.  So I plant this squash in this pot and it grew nicely.  I even had 1 wonderful squash that I ate but as the plant got bigger and the squash started to grow, the heaviness of the squash started snapping the branches of my plant.  I assume the squash planted in the ground in return gets supported by the ground?  Ughh..

So, it died.  The branches kept breaking and all the baby squash shriveled up.  I'm so bummed.  But...... to make up for the loss there, my cucumber plants are really producing like mad.  I've had to have pulled at least 20-30 cucumbers off those plants.  So lets do the math:

1 squash only eaten by Jen (Cody doesn't like and Ken won't eat it)
20-30 cucumbers that Jen, Ken and Cody all eat and enjoy

Winner to the Cucumbers!!!  Sorry poor squash plant.  I won't be trying to grow you next year.  Just don't have anywhere to plant you.

Talked to Virginia

I called my cousin Virginia today to touch base with her to see how she was doing. 

So good to hear her voice.  So glad to hear she is healing.

She told me more about her cancer, how she feels about the entire situation, what the oncologist said, how's she's feeling mentally, physically and emotionally.  Good news is as time goes by, she's recovering nicely and feeling better.  I'm thrilled.  Bad news is all 3 tumors were cancer and now how can she make sure this doesn't happen again??  Oncologist...this question is for you....

It's not my business to tell her details but I wanted to share with everyone that she is doing well and all your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!

My cucumbers are my favorite.  So YUMMY!!!!

My lettuce is okay.  I think I waited to long to cut it.  I may or may not try growing this next year.

Yummy green beans. 

My tomatoes were so ripe and yummy.  I never liked tomatoes before but now I do.  These beat the store hands down!

3 cucumbers, 1 squash and 1 beautiful perfectly shaped strawberry

My garden has been challenging this season but yet thrills me with delight.  I pulled 3 cucumbers, 1 squash and 1 beautiful, perfectly shaped strawberry.   The cucumbers are hard to find.  The leaves are so much bigger than I expected so I have to kind of search under them for ripe cucumbers.  I found 3 today.  And so far, everyone of them (10 total) have been so delicious.  But something I didn't know....cucumbers have little prickers on them.  I keep forgetting to put on my garden gloves when I go looking for them and ouch!!!  Something prickerly gets me.  Is prickerly even a word??  Ha-ha!  The squash is in my mind, perfectly shaped and bright yellow.   The strawberry which I was getting ready to take a photo of got snatched by Cody right off the vine.  I washed it for him and he devoured it.  He loves fresh strawberries and can you blame him?  I must admit, this strawberry plant is producing like crazy for me.  And really nice sized strawberries too.  I have no idea what I did different from last year which yielded pretty much nothing but a different pot and a different spot?  Humm....guess we'll see next year when I buy a new plant.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with my garden.

2 years ago

I can't believe it's been 2 years since I discovered my lump.  I woke up Saturday and realized what day it was.  I was at my mom's house and I guess in a way I was somewhat at peace.

Sometimes it's a bad dream and sometimes it's a harsh reality that weighs on me. 

But whatever the case, everything was normal, life was good and then I found my lump.  The roller coaster to the unknown began.  My life has been changed forever.

Goodbye Virgin hair!!! Hello new/old Jen

For the last 18 months I've been growing my hair out from scratch.   The layers (not created by my stylist) are driving me nuts.  My left side flips up with crazy feathers.  My right side curls under. oh and then the feather flips up a bit.  Then add in my awful natural hair color that is soooooo ugly.  I'm about to go crazy.

YES, I'm THRILLED that I have HAIR,  I'm thrilled that it has grown in as much as it has and yes I'm thrilled that it's gray free.  But it is so out dated.  I look like a 1970's - 1980's mixed mess. So I finally found the time in my schedule to make a hair appointment.   I originally made one last Friday but work was busy and we needed coverage.  Blahh, blahh, blahh.....do these people know a woman needs her hair done???  So finally I made it for today.

GOODBYE VIRGIN HAIR!!!!  CUT, COLORED and VOLIA!!!!  The old Jen is almost back!!!!

I can't tell you enough how happy I am.  I just feel like a new woman.  I feel like I'm beginning to see myself in the mirror and not immediately think, geez I had cancer.  

So I met with Val, my hair stylist and we chatted about cut and color.  I told her I hated the flippy feathers.  That I wanted to bring up my length a bit and I had to get rid of my really weird, mousy, dark brown hair.  I showed her a few photos of some cuts and colors.  We chatted for a bit and came up with a plan.  I have to admit I went a bit conservative with the color.  Since I have "Virgin" hair now, Val wasn't sure how it would pull color.  Which makes sense.  When I started going to Val I had about 15 years of coloring my hair so it was processed over and over and she knew how my hair responded.  But now, it's a whole new ball game.  So we took it easy and slow.

3 hours later.....yes 3 hours.  Did I tell you I needed massive help?  She was done.  My hair was cut (1 1/2 inches off) texturized with a hint of side bang.  We kept the natural dark brown color and she threw in 3 different shades of highlights.  When it was 1st done I told her I liked it but wasn't thrilled with the natural color.  She said if I'm ready for the maintenance, we'll lift the base next time.  But as the day went by, the color looked better to me and that ugly brown seemed to blend in more.  So I'm thrilled.

Can't wait to go home and show Cody.  Then of course tomorrow, showing Ken.  My boys are going to love the new look.  I sure do!   So hello new Jen who looks almost like the old Jen (aka pre-cancer),  WHOO-HOO!

Not enough time in the day

Today Ken and I are meeting up with his parents to pick up little Codyman.  He's been at grammy and grandad's house for a week.  He had so much fun with them.  He continued to ride his bike without training wheels, played soak grandma with the garden hose, and went to Knobel's (amusement park) twice.  Although I missed him dearly, I enjoyed the mini break.  It was nice to come home and just chill.  I didn't have to rush, I didn't have to drop him off or pick him up from preschool, I didn't have to cook dinner, do bath and bedtime routines.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing all that stuff but there are days that I'm just plain out exhausted and Cody is just not independent enough to do some of this stuff on his own and it's my fault.

When I had cancer, Cody was 3 1/2 years old.  I felt like for that year of treatment/recovery that I kind of lost control of discipline.  We did time outs and he certainly didn't run wild.  So now, he doesn't seem to want to listen.  Maybe that's all 5 1/2 year olds.  Maybe it's just a boy thing.  But there are times when I sit him down and say, Cody mommy's tired.  But with all that energy in his little body he doesn't get it.  Or does he not care?  He really is a good little boy who is super loving and  but at 3 1/2 he didn't understand what mommy was going through and of course at 5 1/2 he certainly can't understand the complexity of someone having cancer and how it is a long and difficult journey.

But I love him with all my heart.  And I know one day he'll understand and hopefully he'll never have to see me go through it again.  But if I have to, I will.  My life is worth living and I'll fight whatever battle I have to to live.

I get mad at my job for making me come back full time to work.  For them to be so selfish by telling me I'm not disabled anymore.  Commuting, working, taking care of a family while recovering from Cancer treatments is exhausting.

Anyway, Cody's back and the routine is back and there's just not enough time in the day to get everything done.  But at least I'm here and I'm trying.  :)

Garden Therapy

Had to work today, a Saturday of all days.  It was so frustrating and personally to me a complete waste of time but it had to be done so I did my 8 and left....exhausted.

As soon as I got home, I checked my garden.  It immediately calmed me down.  I love watching it grow and can I tell you it's soaring.  I wish I had more space.  I would grow so much more but again, we purchased a house with a very small yard and even though we could grow a garden right in the middle of it, we'd have to work around the sprinkler system and in all honesty, gardens are kind of ugly when you add tomatoes to them.  So it would be an eyesore.  So I accept having a small one on the side of the house, out of eye's view and a few other plants in pots scattered around.  I already have a semi-plan in my head on how I'm going to grow my garden next year.

This year, the tomato plants are taking over!!!
Ken warned me but I didn't listen.  I guess I really didn't expect them to "shade" all the other plants so much.  Ugghhh!

BRUSSEL SPROUTS:
I planted 3 brussel sprout plants behind the tomatoes so of course they're not growing very well.  Originally, I thought they would grow upward but they kind of grew outward like a cabbage head which makes sense now.  I've never grown brussel sprouts before so I really had no idea what to expect.  So far, nothing is growing on it and I guess nothing will since some bug is enjoying life eating their beautiful large leaves.

BEANS:
The beans I planted behind the tomatoes next to the brussel sprouts are hidden as well by the gi-gando "TOMATO" shade.  So who knows what will grow back there.  I can barely see them anyway.  So I planted a few more Beans elsewhere.  We'll see what happens with those plants.

GREEN PEPPERS:
I planted 2 green pepper plants away from each other only to be told by Ken's mom a few weeks later that pepper plants like to be planted next to each other.   Drats!  Didn't know that.  So I'm off to the store to buy new plants.

RADISHES:
The radishes were growing nicely.  I pulled 7 but the ones I planted in the pots aren't growing as well as the ones in the ground.   But last year they grew great in the pots.  What changed from last year????  I'm wondering if the pots are retaining to much water.  We did get a ton of rain this year.

TURNIPS:
The turnips have large leaves but somehow, some of them grew to close together.  I could have sworn that I followed the directions on the packet.   I hope when they hit full growth I can at least get 2 good ones.  Even though I have planted around 8.  Maybe more but they are just not growing and I can't remember where I planted them.  I think the soil is just not rich enough this year.

So I guess we'll see how everything turns out.  I need to download my photos to the computer so I can post pictures.  Stay tunned.

Off to PA

Off to Pennsylvania to go camping.  The truck is packed and Cody is super excited.

Rain, Rain go away, you're screwing up my garden!

WOW, have we gotten a ton of heavy rain lately.  Although it's nice to have some rain so my garden grows big but geez, these down pours are hurting my plants.  Take a look.

Heavy down pour

 Split the branches on our tree with all the heavy water.  Guess it's time for a trim.

 My poor green pepper plant.  Can it recover from this?

 Holy smokes, the cage came out of the ground.  I need to secure my tomato plant.

I hope all these plants recover.  I really want to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

With rain comes beautiful flowers

I can't complain to much.  My flowers are really enjoying this weather.