In the Summertime, dee-dee-dee-deet-dee

What a great weekend and Monday I've had. I'm tired but very happy. It's been a week with no insomnia (I say that cautiously, hehehe). I guess the good part actually began on Thursday when I got the results of my used to be quarterly CT scan. Still no growth in any of the cancer spots - yay! In August, it will be three years since I got the recurrence diagnosis. I get to wait 4 months for my next scan which is about as good as it gets in my situation. Still on the Zometa every 4 weeks.

Thursday night my buds and I went shopping and had a great time. I got a yummy black cocktail dress for one of my functions at national conference in July.

Friday evening and Saturday I went to Lay Speaking Training which is a church thing. I really enjoyed it and learned about some fabulous resources for my church committee. Can't wait to share them. Saturday evening I finally found a long gown for my national conference in July. Had to get it since there's virtually no hope of losing enough weight to get into any of my old ones. *sigh*

Saturday night and Sunday until early afternoon, I was pretty nauseated. A little hiccup in the UC I think but it went away. I lazed around most of Sunday until the two youngest grandkids came over. They are sooooo much fun. We all went to bed around 10 and they went right to sleep. Brady woke up wanting his mamma and cried for a little while around 3:30 but I got him settled and back to bed not long after. Earlier today, I sneezed in the car, and 2-year-old Brady said, "Bless you." It was the cutest thing!

We all went to eat with Lane who was headed to the airport after lunch. He'll be in DC for a couple of days. After that we headed to my house and the swim instructor met us here at three to teach the grandkids, Alec's little brother Ashton, and the next door neighbor boys. 6 kids in all. She's a brave soul. The two youngest will be dropping out of lessons this year because they're just too small yet. They made a good effort, tho. The rest did really well. My neighbors are super nice and Karsen and Jake are fun to have around. Alec and Karsen are close in age, so they really have a great time. Jake and Brooklynn are the same age but he's way too boy and she's way too girl for them to buddy up. :-)

My friend Di called and we'll be going to lunch tomorrow. Sheila might come over tonight to soak in the hot tub if she can get her parents squared away. Alec's stepmom might come back after the game if they're not too tired. We've become really good friends and I'm really grateful. She truly loves Alec, and that eases my mind. He seems to be getting along with his stepdad better, and I'm glad for that too. He's such an easy going boy. It's hard not to love him. Yeah, that's a Nana speaking. :-)

I need to go clean up my nasty kitchen and put away all the toys the kids dragged out. Then I'm going to kick back with some popcorn and watch TV until someone shows up. Gotta love summer!

~pinkie

Week of Good Times

Just got back from my mom & dad's in Texas, and I miss them already. We had a great week. She made my favorite meals (tacos and fried chicken) and we went to Taco Villa and Rosa's. Mmmm. We also made Hello Dolly cookies and went to Red Lobster, so I probably have my 3 pounds back to lose again. Hopefully no more than that!

My four girls and Sean will be glad to know I worked hard on the recipe/scrapbooks and got a lot done. I'm about 2/3 of the way done and have all the photos sorted. I'm going to print pics of Lucas for Melanie's book.

We got Mom's new TV all set up, and it's working great.

Watching fights tonight (joy, joy) with my hubby. It was soooo good to see him and my doggies. Hope all my loved ones are doing well tonight. Get well soon, Lucas!!

~pinkie

Factoid Friday

Found some interesting things this week in the mags I thought you guys might enjoy/benefit from.

For those of you taking Ginkgo for memory - you can stop now. According to an eight-year study done by Steven T. DeKosky, M.D. of the Univ. of Virginia School of Medicine, of 3,000 older patients, those who took ginkgo biloba were just as likely to develop Alzheimer's as those who didn't. *sigh* You're better off working puzzles or learning a new language or an instrument. So far I think the studies are looking good on the efficacy of keeping your mind sharp through activity.

For my worry wart friends (and you know who you are, Sheila and Betty), Susan Crandell wrote a very interesting article in this month's Good Housekeeping magazine called The Worry Cure. I didn't read all the way to the cure (as I wouldn't know a worry if it came up and bit me on the...but I digress), but I found a couple of nuggets to pass on to you guys. Number one:

"Toxic worry" is what Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., author of Worry has dubbed chronic worry which leaves your mind revisiting the same issues over and over, with no solution in sight and no exit ramp, the infinite web of 'what if'. [As I love to say...you can't live your life on 'what if' LOL!]

Number two: "...the sneaky thing about chronic worry, says Alan D. Keck, Psy. D., director of the Center for Positivey Psychology in Altamonte Springs, FL, is that it can masquerade as constructive action "When you worry, you think you're doing something productive," says Keck, "but you're not; you're just spinning your wheels." [and using up energy that could be better used otherwise.]

I liked the sidebar comment: "It's not the cause of your worry but your confidence that you'll handle it that counts." So the next time chronic worry crops up, think of solutions. If there are no solutions, pray for acceptance.

Looking forward to a busy weekend with a wedding, a birthday party, PPV fight party, and church. Oy! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Love ya,
~pinkie

Thoughts on Thursday

This was Max as a puppy. He's always been a big rocker, and he's very disappointed Adam didn't win last night.

Hehehe! Just kidding.

Speaking of TV series, did anyone watch the 24 season finale? It was kind of blah for me. I predicted most of what happened (it helps being a writer). Still a good season tho, but I'm worried they're running out of material.

Lots of my favs got cancelled after the writer's strike and more this season. *sigh* Loved Pushing Daisies. They've promised to air the final three episodes and finish out this last season beginning May 30 on consecutive Saturday nights.

Almost time to pick up the grandkids - yay! so better run. Love you all!

~pinkie