I smell FREEDOM!!!

THREE WEEKS from now, I will be a free woman. March 12th is the date of my last final at NCC. I haven't been this excited about anything in a while. :) WOO HOO! This will probably be the longest 2 weeks of classes (the last 2 full ones, then 2 days of final exams). Things have actually gone really well this term! I'm glad about that, but I definitely don't want to go back there after this.

We're well on our way to getting this house in order. This weekend will be a big push to finish packing (at least for me, anyway). I still have a lot to do in the basement, but we now have all the extra furniture out. It actually looks like a "normal" house should. But I still miss my STUFF. Thankfully, I haven't really run into needing something, only to find I'd packed it away, and having to go out and buy it again.

MariaElena (Paul's sister) is doing ok. She had her lump removed almost 2 weeks ago and went back earlier this week for results, but didn't get much from the doctor. It does, however, look like they got the ENTIRE cancerous lump out of the boob. She'll still have to do chemo and radiation, but we're not really sure how much or how often just yet. Or when, for that matter. It's all a waiting game, and one that I think is driving Paul nuts. He's really taking this hard--he and his sister are very close. He doesn't let it show that often, but it's eating at him.

Everyone else is doing well. My cousin, Kim (she was in our wedding party), is getting married June 13th, and her brother, Greg (who was an usher in our wedding) is getting married May 10th. We're all so excited for them both!! Her wedding will be at the Shedd Aquarium--my mom, of course, is planning it and couldn't be happier! She didn't really do anything for my wedding (my choice, not hers, but there wasn't much for her to do since the Riverside did it all), so this is her chance to do the wedding of her dreams (hahaha) for her favorite cousin/niece. It should be a BLAST!!! We've waited long enough for it! TEE HEE!

Work is going well, even for Paul, so things are calm and quiet in the house right now. It's rather nice. The cat is about to be shipped off to Paul's mom's while we have the house on the market. Paul will miss her greatly (I will, too, but she's more his cat than mine). I'm sure Bailey will miss her presence as well.

That's about it from here. It's still too cold for my liking, but I'm hoping that right around the time I get sprung from the joint (NCC), it'll be about the time to get my scooter warmed up for summer. I got a new part for it (I'll post a picture when I get it installed), and I still have to fix the dent I made last summer (long story). It's going to be soooooooo cool though!

A bientôt!!

VD

Well, it's Valentine's Day. I got to work this afternoon and my wonderful husband had flowers delivered to me. It was sweet, but I wish he wouldn't do that ON Valentine's Day when it's $100 more for a delivery. Thankfully, they weren't all roses, though there were 5 nice looking ones in there. It's beautiful! Then I came home to find a container of flying saucers!! I love these things! Not sure what they are? Here's a picture:


These are hard to describe but I'll give it a shot. It's like 2 communion wafers sealed together around the edges. On the inside are tiny candy beads. I don't know why they're called flying saucers. They taste a little like sweet cardboard, but I still love them. On one of our earlier dates, I was on a mission to find these. I ended up at Naper Nuts & Sweets (a small candy store in downtown Naperville...and those who have known me forever know that I spent 4 years working there between HS and early college). Anyway, since then, he's ordered me this bundle of them every year for VD. It's a tradition now. I don't mind it.


So, overall, despite only seeing my husband for about 30 minutes this morning (he's bowling right now and won't get home until after 11pm), it was a good VD!


On another front, I spoke to the fertility clinic today. We're putting off our IVF another month. I'll be starting the drugs next month (mid-March), then we'll have the procedures in April. If all goes well, I'll be hugely pregnant at my 40th birthday party. :) We had toyed with starting this month, but that would mean NOW, and life is way too hectic at the moment for drugs to get in the mix.


We're making the big push this weekend to clear the house of all possessions except the basics. OMG, living like a minimalist is SO not like us. But we'll do it. For those who are wondering, we're hoping to stay in this area (St. Charles, Geneva, possibly Batavia) but find a much bigger house. The market is horrible, but we've gotten some good advice along the way so we're trying to remain positive. Paul won't consider looking until ours is sold, so I'm hoping that's within 6 months. I'm trying to be optimistic.


Happy Valentine's Day to anyone reading this!

Forgot to mention.....

GO GET A MAMMOGRAM!!!

MariaElena

Just thought I'd let everyone know that last week, Paul's sister, MariaElena, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She had found a small lump right before Christmas and decided to wait until after the holidays to get it checked out. Time got away from them but she finally made it to a doctor who, after running numerous tests, gave her the news that it's cancer. She's going in for surgery this coming Monday. They think that's it's spread to her lymph nodes, but they have more testing to do to find out.

She's doing remarkably well, attitude-wise. She's definitely positive and upbeat about beating this, and she's relying on humor to help get her through. She has 2 little kids (Claire is 1 and Lucas will be 4 in May) so she wants to remain positive for them as well. She knows she has a long road ahead of her, but she's strong and will get through it.

If anyone is interested in reading her new caringbridge site, you can find it here. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

The winter of my discontent.

Eeee-gads, I hate winter. I hate being cold (especially now that I no longer have free access to a jacuzzi tub) and I hate snow. I miss green! I miss leaves on trees! I miss mowing the lawn! Winter, however, can provide some pretty pictures. I've taken a few of them along the way and posting them on my photo site in a file called Winter 2008, or something like that (for those who don't know, my site is here). Here are a couple I took tonight (that aren't on the site):

You can see how deep the snow has gotten in the second. It's awful--for those who are lucky enough to NOT live in the Chicago area (worse, if you live in Florida), this is what we're having to deal with. We had a foot dumped on us last weekend, and this afternoon, another one's expected. There's no where to throw it anymore.


Ok, enough about this horrid stuff. On the family front, Kate is pregnant! And there's only one in there! For anyone who might not know (I think all who read this do know), my uber-courageous sister is now a surrogate for a very lucky family. The thought did cross my mind that WE may need her services as well when she's done, but we'll figure that out later. In the meantime, she's managed to get out of having to shovel (lucky bitch).


School is going surprisingly well! I'm so much happier this term, thus the students are happier. All is well on the work front. The vet clinic job is so cool. I've gotten to see and experience things there that I had always dreamed of doing. I have a high tolerance for seeing blood, however vomit is still a problem (not so much with animals). :)


I hope someone, somewhere who's reading this is enjoying warm weather. I dream of it. Every. Damn. Night. Please don't write and tell me about it though. I don't think I could take it!

Enjoy!