random thoughts...

Don't have a lot to blog about, so thought I'd give you some random thoughts:

1. What would the world be like if we all skipped everywhere we went?  Don't you think we would be happier?  I would love to see all the politicians going into the capital with their papers in hand, skipping right alongside their biggest opponent.  How could they not get along??  Anyone who skips is happy, right?

2. What was life like before the Real Housewives?  I can't remember.  There's nothing better than watching those train wrecks to make you feel better about yourself.  I'm obsessed with Beverly Hills.  It couldn't get any better and Watchers in the Woods was my favorite movie when I was a kid and the star is on the show...could it get any better??

3. Why do some people text all the time, act super peppy and excited on facebook and then when you see them in real life they're a bump on a log.  Is this a new personality disorder...split cyber personalities?

4. Have you ever felt like you are at the exact place where you should be and karma can be a good think?  I do.

5. Why didn't they free Enes?  Ashley Judd would understand this if she read my blog...if you're not from Kentucky and you don't follow college basketball, this will mean nothing to you.

6. I want Edelweiss to be sung to me on my deathbed.  I'd love it if it could be Christopher Plummer, but I also hope I outlive him.

7. I'm signing up to run a half marathon in February in New Orleans.  I've never been to New Orleans and I've never run a half marathon...the longest I've ever ran is 10 miles and I hated every second of it.  Should be interesting.

8. The kayaker still hasn't been found.  Where is he?  It's like asking the question: Who shot JFK?

9. I haven't bought a tank top in at least a month.  That's a record.  In fact, I only have one on under a long sleeve t-shirt right now...that's another record.  I am normally in at least two tank tops.

10. I wish my life was a musical and every few minutes a new song would start and we'd dance around.  I spend a lot of time choreographing these moments in my head.  I'd also love a video montage of things in my life to the song Kentucky Woman.

That's all I have for you for tonight.  

xoxo

Mere's a survivor!!!

I meant to write this last week, but ran out of time and wanted to give this post some thought.  I know some people have told me that they've shown the posts we've written about Mere's breast cancer to friends who are going through the same thing, so I thought I'd write a little more about what we did and what helped Meredith from a friends perspective.  Last Thursday, November 4th, Meredith, finished her cancer treatments!! It was her last radiation...so, after 8 chemo's, one surgery and six weeks of radiation...we have a survivor!!  I am so excited, proud, happy, relieved and amazed with Mere.  She was a trooper and by summer will have the best, perkiest, well placed boobs at the pool(there has to be a silver lining for breast cancer patients).  I took a look back at our text over the past few months to see when this whole journey began.  I knew things started in April, but wasn't exactly sure what part of the month it was.  "Call me later when you have a sec" was the text I got on April 6th, the day she talked to someone about the lump in her breast.  I think I knew right away something was wrong, but wasn't sure what it would be.  At this point Mere wasn't sure either, but had a hunch it wasn't good.  After that text it was a bunch of texts about ultra sounds, biopsy's, surgeons, bone scans etc.  In fact, my very first cancer joke came on April 9th...phrased "not sure if this is appropriate to say, but knew you would get out of doing a triathlon this summer."  And that was actually a true statement, just didn't know she'd go to such extremes.  The first chemo was on April 21st because I texted her a picture of the two of us.  I had also done a lot of research online about cancer patients and given her a "survival kit" to take to chemo.  There were texts explaining all the gifts.  Ginger snaps and gatorade for nausea, mint and gum for the bad taste some patients have from chemo (she never said much about that and sucked on a popsicle when she needed it), books of crosswords and sudoku for chemo(didn't realize we would be so entertained by ourselves), and a scarf in case she got cold.  I gave her a bag to put everything in because I was worried that after chemo I might have to carry her out (let's keep in mind I had no idea what to expect and I'm a bit of a drama queen) and we needed everything in one bag so I would have both hands/arms to carry her.  Mere walked in and out of every chemo and normally to lunch when we were done and I know there were even a few birthday dinners we attended in the evenings!  If anything it was a couple days later when she wasn't feeling well and during the second half of her chemo when her bones ached.  I don't think she missed a day of work during chemo ( I could be wrong about that and if she did miss work, it was only a day or so).  Like I have said before....she is AMAZING.  I know I've mentioned she works, but is also a mother to a one year old....did she plan a huge first birthday party for Finn??? Yes, during the middle of chemo and the same weekend she attended the all day Indy 500 event.  She literally did not let any part of life pass her by and did it all.  In fact, last weekend, I went up to Indy to attend her "Bats all Folks" end of treatment Halloween party.  She made all the food, did all the decorations, ran around looking for her costume and her sons...she never stops!! I've wondered through all of this if I would handle this situation the same way she has and sadly, I don't think I could....she's too good at being an awesome breast cancer patient.  When I came back after surgery and we went shopping for a bra and boob at Nordstroms, the lady who was in charge of the mastectomy bras could not believe she was already out and about...that's how Mere works...NOTHING will stop her.

club chemo group at the halloween party
erika- farve reporter, mere-flamingo, sld- lindsay lohan

I think what helped her most was the support she got from friends and family.  We set up a web site and had dinners brought in a few times a week.  People were more than willing to help out and everyone wanted to contribute in some way.  This is a great way to get everyone to participate.  I know the cards, e-mails and texts were so nice for her to read, in fact, she said she would send a note to someone now if they had a cold!  Throughout all of this I've had people tell me that I've been a good friend to Meredith, my response is that she doesn't have an option to go through this, so her friends don't either.  I'm not being a "good" friend, I'm just being a FRIEND.   If you're a friend to someone you're there for them during the good AND bad parts and hopefully you can make the hard times a little easier...the good times are the added bonuses.  AND as I've said before...you can make these hard times fun.  It's ok to laugh about things and make jokes...there's no right or wrong way to talk about cancer.  Just be honest and true to your friendship.  I remember at the beginning of all of this I kept telling Meredith it would all be over before we knew it and here we are....her hairs growing back, she has all of her free time back and she's ready to move on.  I know she's on to great things and will be an inspiration for young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer...I'm so proud of her and am glad we're finishing up the "Cancer Chapter" in her life and are moving on to better things!! Mere's a survivor!!

she's a survivor!!

Perfecting a different kind of marathon...

So sorry to my loyal blog followers that I've been so delinquent with my posts.  I really have no excuse at all, I've just moved and started a new job.  No excuse at all....  So, I hope my title enticed you to get back to sissy unplugged, put your feet up and start reading again.  I have an important blog post about marathons.  For you runners out there, don't get excited...I haven't done any more relays, didn't attempt a half (yet) and I'll certainly never do a full marathon....the marathon I'm talking about is day drinking and I have it down to a science.  Read carefully, this is where you may learn something from me!

One of my favorite hobbies is day drinking.  It's one of those rare times you know everyone's there to party if they're committing to a day of drinking.  Two weekends ago was my favorite fall day in Kentucky.  The horse races at Keeneland followed by a tailgate and Kentucky Football game.  The weather was close to 80 degrees and sunny.  Perfect conditions for a marathon day.  This year I was smart....I made a plan for myself.  I wanted to enjoy the whole day and feel ok on Sunday.  I knew that drinking bourbon wasn't an option at Keeneland.  I've been down that road before...it's ugly and the next day is even worse.  The first move I made was to be in bed at a decent hour on Friday night and to make sure I was well hydrated.  I woke up ready for the day...the only thing I had to get was my mini bottles to sneak into the football game.  I had decided that I needed to be able to mix with diet coke, it's my fave and I didn't want anything with sprite.  Obvious choice is Bourbon....again, not if I was going to be ok the next day.  On Tuesday I did a practice run and decided on vanilla vodka...perfect mix, a vanilla diet coke!  I swear when I pulled out of my driveway to go to the store it was like The Truman Show.  Every car was pulling out of their driveways and where were we all headed at 10 am on a fall Saturday morning....Liquor Barn Express!  I could barely get a parking spot.  I was set for the game and ready for the races.

at the races...

My friends and I went out to lunch and started with a Bloody Mary and food in the stomach.  It's always important to get something down or you'll never make it.  Food and water are both essential in a marathon day.  Off to the track...the safest bet (and I believe the most cost efficient??? didn't check the stats, but my guess would def be...) beer.  I knew that they would be filling and I would be in good shape for the rest of the day.  It was a great day at the races.  I don't think I lost any money!! I ran into some friends and it was such a beautiful day.  We all had a great time.  Keeneland is so pretty in the fall!! If you ever have a chance to go, I suggest you do it!  I left the track happy and ready to hit the tailgate.  I wasn't tired at all and ready to keep partying.

at the game!

After a quick change and a bottle of water, we went to the tailgate.  Again, drinking only beer and water.  It was time to eat again and instead of "drinking my dinner", I ate.  Smart move in a marathon.  I'm sure the people sitting around me at the game were happy I went with that choice.  Then, after smuggling my mini bottles in, it was one drink per half.  After the game (actually after the 3rd quarter because the cats aren't the best) it was back to the tailgate.  I was happy with the way my behavior was after seeing a turned over table at the tailgate by a drunken couple and a couple of wipe outs by people who clearly didn't listen to their bodies and the effects of their alcohol.  My friend and I even decided to take a beer for the road and walk the couple miles home!! All in all, it was a great marathon.

perfect night to walk home...full moon, crazy things were happening!

The next day we were up by 9 and even walked a couple of miles to breakfast with a very productive Sunday.  We couldn't help but pat ourselves on our backs for being so good at day drinking.  Although, still not sure this is something we should be proud of...I may not have run 26.2 miles,  but I've perfected a different kind of marathon...

xoxo