It Helps If You Were Married To A Redneck!

Don and I spent a very fun evening with Lisa and Rick Saturday night while Katie was at vision camp. We went out for a nice dinner and then spent the rest of the evening playing games and laughing so hard!! We played Battle of the Sexes. How fun!! Of course, we played girls against the guys! I don't even think I remember who won - we had so much fun!

So many of the dog gone questions directed at the girls were fishing related questions. It was hilarious how much Lisa knew about fishing!! She said numerous times "It helps if you were married to a redneck"... since her first husband was a big fisherman.



On the flip side of things - it was a little scary how much Don knew about the women's questions. Rick did well but Don knew just a little too much...we kept teasing him telling him he was a "metro sexual".



Katie did well at vision camp and can't wait for next year. Her counselor from last year, Amy was there and remembered Katie the minute we walked in the door. All the counselors are UT students and her major was political science until she did vision camp last year and then she made a BIG change to therapeutic recreation. So this year, she was back in a leadership role.

Katie's counselor this year, Amanda is already in therapeutic rec for her major and her and Katie got along great!! Katie got to ride horses (which she never gets to do and was so excited ;)) She got to do a zip line, lots of arts and crafts. They had a dance on Saturday night and Katie was a Cheetah Girl and Amanda dressed up like a rock and roll roadie and was her manager!

Don and I had a date Friday night just the two of us. We went to see Vantage Point - which has gotten terrible reviews but we were entertained. LOL... it doesn't take much these days. Then we had a nice dinner out. It was really nice - that is twice in five weeks that we've had some time as just a couple overnight knowing that Katie was happy and well taken care of. She spent two nights with Mom and MomMom back in February.

On a less happy note - I continue to struggle with my weight loss plateau. I actually gained a pound and a half. I'm reading Valerie Bertinelli's book "Losing It". I almost read the entire book yesterday. I talked with my RN practitioner who has been so supportive of my weight loss and helped a lot with my pre-surgical approval. She is very encouraging talking about how substantially better my health is now than it was even a year ago. But, I'm still noticing a tenancy to have an emotional connection to food - and I really see it now reading VB's book.

I definitely have a bruised rib and I'm really sore. I can't laugh without it hurting. Coughing, sneezing, pulling up jeans, rolling over in my sleep, bending over, etc send me into orbit. *sigh* Apparently it takes 3-4 weeks for it to heal so that's not very encouraging. It's starting to be very spring like and I'm so ready to hit the outdoors!!

Maggie continues not to do well at all. She's barely eating and continuing to get sick. We are still working with Dr. Cheadle to try and find a resolution or to at least make Maggie as comfortable as possible.

Dad gets the results today on the biopsy on his lymph nodes. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I talked with Marilyn last night and she did confirm that he has Stage 4 Melanoma. His lymph nodes were very swollen last week when they did the biopsy. He's scheduled for surgery this Friday - the 14th but that may change based on the results today. If the results today aren't good - a new course is going to be plotted. My dad is healthy in every other respect so hopefully - even if the news isn't good - he will be a strong fighter and things will go well.

Happy Springlike Tuesday!!
LA :)