Michelle

My friend, Michelle Salerno, passed away last night.  Michelle had been fighting cancer for the past 10 years (Hodgkin's disease) and lost her fight (due to fungal pneumonia).

Michelle and I met in 1988 while students at Illinois College.  She was the polar opposite of me: outgoing, a social butterfly, skinny, beautiful.  I was withdrawn and quiet (though some friends might disagree with that!).  We were in French classes together, and back then, there weren't many of us who were majoring in French, so we gravitated towards each other.  In 1989, we both competed for travel awards to study abroad.  I won the big one, she won a smaller one, but we both got to spend time in France.  It was awesome for each of us and we both became good friends.

After college, we stayed in touch (not hard since we were both from the Chicago area, which at the time was a rarity for IC students!).  I eventually went to work for her dad, who had a hot dog business, and I worked for him for the next 10+ years (part-time spring-fall).  To this day, that job will go down as my all-time favorite job EVER.

Michelle was social and for many years, she and I would gather with a group of her other friends to go to bars and hang out.  It wasn't always my scene, so there were times when she really had to drag me there.  On one occasion in the early 90's, we took part in a dragon boat race in St. Charles.  It was there that I met her friend, Paul.  What followed shortly after that was an incident in a bar where Paul threw a beer on me, and I'll never forget Michelle's face when that happened--she grabbed me and we both ran out to the parking lot, where we were stunned about what had happened.  Hard to believe that was 20 years ago and that since that time, I've married that beer-throwing man.

I won't forget the moment when Michelle told me she had been diagnosed with cancer.  We thought it would be an easy fight, but alas, it wasn't.  We were close for many of those years and I look back now and remember all the hospital and home visits, and adventures Michelle and I took together during her fight.  The last few years, we lost touch and hadn't spoken, though I know she had had some tough times with her health this past year.

Last night, she was reunited with her dad, who passed away just over 3 years ago from ALS.  He was her strongest supporter and I think her heart was broken when he died.  Her mom and brothers also stood beside her every step of her journey.  Please pray for them as they now come to grips with the loss of their beautiful child and sister.

Good night, Michelle.  You fought more bravely than anyone I know.  May you always rest in peace.

VDay

Potty training is getting slightly better.  Fewer pee accidents, but still no poop on the potty.  He'll shit his pants, but scream at the suggestion of going on the potty.  More often than not, he poops while wearing a diaper (bedtime and naptime), so at least it's not always in his underpants.

I feel more and more comfortable taking him out in public.  We've been to restaurants, play dates, the grocery store...all with good luck.  He's better at holding his pee and has yet to poop in his pants in a public arena.  There are still a few times when I'll put him in a Pull Up just in case, but even then, he'll still ask to go pee on the potty.  PROGRESS.

We've been keeping SUPER busy during the week.  He has a sports class on Monday mornings, a preschool-type class on Tuesday mornings, speech therapy on Wednesday mornings, and we do other things like play dates and my mom's meetings the other days of the week.  Most of these outings are only an hour or so each, but taking into account prep time and travel times, they can each last most of the morning.  I can't believe we're 1/4 of the way through February already!  That's what I wanted from all this--to keep busy enough to NOT notice winter outside my door.

Speaking of winter, we finally have snow.  Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I despise winter and all that comes with it.  But Jackson loves the snow--seeing it come down, playing in it, etc.  That alone is worth the price of admission into winter.  He's been out several times to make snowballs (which is hilarious!).  Fun times!!

Other than that, winter has been quiet.  We're getting a new couch this week.  That's LONG overdue and been in our minds for a couple years now.  We spend our weekends at birthday parties, friends' houses, or home alone.  I love being home on a weekend as a family.  Nothing better.

Valentine's Day will be boring the day of, but Paul and I will (hopefully) have a date night the weekend after.  We need it.  It's been a while!

Enjoy Feb!!!