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We are home. We drove a total of 3658 miles, pumped 182 gallons of gas, slept in other beds 15 nights and listened to 3 complete audiobooks. I am happy to report that aside from some mustard on a hotdog at the Kennedy Space Center, there were no disagreements. At all. Amazing what vacation can do for you!

We are happy to be home. It is cooler here than Florida but there is little snow to be seen. Our girls were so happy to see us, they ran from one of us to the other for quite a while when they discovered we were home. They look terrific and have been very well fed and cared for. Thanks Alvin! And we're real sorry about your camera. (Apparently a digital camera was placed next to a dog toy which Piper decided she needed to have RIGHT NOW!)

St. Augustine, Easter and Disney

We are winding down our time in Florida. In fact, today will be our last day without traveling. We are planning on heading home tomorrow. And I think we are both ready. Even vacationing can get old! Mostly, we miss our girls.



We spent the weekend playing tourist. We visited St. Augustine, Fl., the oldest city in the United States. Some of the buildings are original including Castillo de San Marco, a fort built by the Spanish to protect their territory. Remember? The Spanish originally settled in Florida, long before the Pilgrims arrived to the north. The fort was interesting and made me very happy to have been born in a time when everything about life was exponentially easier. The Fountain of Youth is also located in St. Augustine. We went there and yes, even drank from it. Mary suggested that it may have been too late for me. Nice.

We spent Easter Sunday engaged in worship at our favorite place...the Church of the Open Water (also known as the beach) and then enjoyed a lovely Easter dinner at McDonalds on our way to Orlando. We switched venues and are now staying in Orlando. We have had to spend our days poolside rather than at the beach.

Monday was cool and cloudy. Mary, my theme park lover, picked a park to visit. We initially went to the Magic Kingdom as we have not been there in many years; however, a view of the parking lot confirmed that we had made a bad choice on a holiday and headed for Epcot where we had a great day, complete with eating the ears off of Mickey Mouse.



Today, it's our final day at the pool. We are leaving at 0500 tomorrow to avoid hitting Atlanta during rush hour...a mistake we made just once. We will be home, back to normal life with work, our girls, snow and cold, on Friday.

Ahhh...relaxation!

We are settled into the routine of vacation...getting up when we want to, walks on the beach, and then some playtime. We've hit a couple of local sites when the weather has been less favorable for beachtime. Mary, Mark and Pat went to the Daytona Speedway on Tuesday while I graded papers. Yesterday we all went to Kennedy Space Center. Today the weather report is 78 and sunny! We'll be heading to the beach very soon. The photo at the top is the sunrise Mary and I watched from our balcony this morning. Enjoy the other shots.

Road Trip

We are road trippers...so when it came to making arrangements for our spring vacation, there was no thinking about transportation. It would be a road trip. We left home on Thursday, March 13 with our first destination, Louisville, KY about 10 hours away. Why Louisville? The National Houseboat Expo! We arrived on Thursday evening and settled in. The next day we found some time to spare and decided to take a tour of Churchill Downs. Very fun! We saw the sights (in the rain), had a mint julep and I put my toes on the track.

From there we went to the National Houseboat Expo. It was a boatshow with really big boats! These houseboats were HUGE~120' long and 20' wide. They had hot tubs, fireplaces and every amenity you could think of. One was 5 bedroom, 5 bath with a hot tub and 2 fireplaces. We went hoping to get some ideas about remodeling ours but instead, looked at some incredible vessels.

From there we drove to Knoxville, TN home of the University of Tennessee and Mary's favorite women's basketball team the Lady Vols. It is also the home of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. After touring that on Saturday morning, we crossed drove through Asheville, NC in the rain. From there we headed south through South Carolina and ended up Saturday night in Savannah, GA. Finally on Sunday, we arrived at Daytona Beach.

We have a couple of issues with our road trips. The first one is that I am not particularly fond of driving. Most of the time, that is fine with Mary who would prefer to drive anyway. After all, she is a professional driver. When she drives, I am more than happy to provide entertainment and refreshments. I will look at the map when requested. When I do have to drive it is usually because she is sleepy; however, she had a knack for turning the wheel over to me at the least ideal times. For example, I got to drive through Chicago and Indianapolis. I also got to drive on Saturday afternoon through torrential rain, high winds and flying objects. We noticed quite a few cars in the ditches as we continued on. The driving really sucked and Mary decided that would be a good time to discuss hydroplaning, following distances and when the speed limit is not the speed limit. In other words, it was a no-nag critique of my driving. Later on Saturday night on the Weather Channel, we learned I (we) had driven through a line of storms that included multiple tornadoes. No wonder I don't like to drive.

After a night in hotel in Savannah (where it was 82 degrees) that had no electricity (the storms), we headed into Florida. We are now enjoying ourselves on Daytona Beach with Pat and Mark. I have included a few photos and will post more as we go.

Back to where I was...

Weight is another one of my issues. Just a quick recap: I had gastric bypass surgery just over 2 years ago. I lost 80 pounds after the surgery and felt great. On the first anniversary of my surgery, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through my surgery and chemotherapy, I lost an additional 20 pounds and hit my goal weight loss of 100 pounds. I was wearing a size 10 (from a size 26) and feeling thin for the first time in my life.

I've gained some weight. About 20 pounds. I still wear (mostly) a size 12 yet, I feel like the size 26 I used to be. I feel like the old person I was.

This picture was taken in January, 2006 just before my surgery. This is what I feel like I look like now.


Where does this come from?

So, when is your surgery? Part 2

Monday, March 31

Random Thoughts

I had an appointment with a new OB/GYN yesterday. A guy a bit older than me. I've worked with him professionally and he's been great to work with. We talked, he did a quick exam and we decided to go ahead with the surgery. Now I am waiting for their scheduler to call and set it up. He is scheduling 4-6 weeks out so it will be a while. Stay tuned.

Instead of having surgery, we've actually gotten some things done around here. Mary installed a new garage door opener for me and the cabinets above the bar in the kitchen are gone! What a huge difference that makes. The kitchen is brighter and obviously, the whole thing is open to the family room. I love it! Now we need to install some lights above the bar and get rid of the ugly light fixture that hangs in the middle of the room.

We've also gotten together with friends this week. How nice that has been! We went to watch Mari Anne's curling match and visited with her and Lil. Last night we had dinner with Judy and Steph. Tonight we are doing a family event with my Mom, her husband Bob and Pat and Mark. That will be nice too.

Piper has grown another inch...since January 21. I can't believe it. She is now just 0.5 inch shorter than Olivia was. She has gained a couple more pounds but is still a skinny thing. She needs to gain about 20 more. If only we could move it from Kaja onto Piper!

The biggest event of the week is that the world is still turning even after my surgery was cancelled. It is always amazing to me what a difference some time makes. I do believe everything happens for a reason although I am not sure what the reason for having to replan for the surgery is yet but I am sure I will figure it out eventually.

So when is your surgery?

Hmmm....that is a good question. My hysterectomy was scheduled for tomorrow, March 5. With just 36 hours remaining in my countdown, I learned it was cancelled. Something about a surgeon who was "really sick." Of course I don't want my surgery done by someone who is "really sick" but really...don't these people have back-up plans? Apparently not.

Let's just recap (and this is going to turn into a rant...but it is MY blog and I can do that if I want to). This surgery was scheduled in December when I was in the midst of some rather unpleasant tamoxifen-related side effects. I decided to wait until March to do it rather than January because this date would give me more time to 'get my affairs in order' and was not during the height of the illness season. Had I not been trying to be good to my students and co-workers, I would be fully recovered by now. But NOOOOOO......instead I have spent (literally) the last 2 months working extra shifts in the ED to build up some extra time as well as planning and posting all of my curriculum for the remainder of the school year. This has created some very long days, particularly in the last 2 weeks.

Additionally, Mary had to make some work exchanges. These are days she will have to work later in the year to repay those that are working for her. With both of our jobs, once you cover your shifts you don't get to change your mind and take them back. You just have time off...in March...with no specific plans. Furthermore, Mary and I planned our vacation around this. We currently have an unused condo in Orlando because we thought it would be too soon for me to travel.

And then there's my hockey team...we qualified for the state tournament this year. An unexpected and very exciting first. As we approached our final games with the possibility of a state tournament in our future, I encouraged the coaches and captains to look for a sub. They have found one who is excited to be playing in the tournament with our team. I am now replaced.

So am I mad? Yes. Not only do I have to live with the continued side effects of tamoxifen, but this little ripple has caused a tsunami in my life. And my choices? Wait until my surgeon returns to work in JULY (she's pregnant and tomorrow was her last surgery day before her delivery) or find a new surgeon. Right now, neither of these options are appealing to me.

And aside from all of the inconveniences, there is the issue of another surgery. I wanted to have my extra parts removed. They are hollow organs located deep in the body which provide a wonderful hiding place for cancer cells. Having the hysterectomy is another step toward stashing the cancer firmly in my past. But I can't do that yet. I can wait and wonder longer. My last breast cancer tumor marker was up some. From my limited understanding of oncology laboratory values, tumor markers are not supposed to increase. When I got the results, I was going to wait to figure that out until after my surgery. So now that I am not having surgery, I have to confront that. And I am scared.

And I am tired...and frustrated...and crabby.