In Loving Memory of Lisa Barnes

At 2:15 this afternoon, a very dear friend, wife, mother and fellow cancer warrior lost her battle with colon cancer. She is finally resting peacefully in the arms of the Lord. Please pray for Lisa's husband Michael and her two sons, Michael Jr. and Dallas.

Save a spot for me, my friend. I love you.

Happy 14 Year Anniversary, Babe!

14 Things I Love About You

14. Today, you called me from my parking lot at work & told me to come outside. There you stood with a dozen pink roses! You always spoil me.
13. You're simply irresistible.
12. You COOK...& you're really, really good at it.
11. Your humor & wit. You're always making me laugh!
10. You're man enough to buy, wear & use pink to support the cause: my favorite gift was a pink iron!!!
9. You complete my sentences...you complete ME.
8. You're a family man. You put your family before anything else.
7. You fought off "misbehaving" (clawing, spitting, pulling hair) women in order to get me closer to Rick Springfield on stage.
6. You love OU almost as much as I do & hate the Longhorns even more than I do!
5. You treat our girls like princesses.
4. You treat ME like a princess.
3. You love me despite what cancer has done to me.
2. Because of you, no matter what may come tomorrow, today my life is more complete.
1. Your ability to forgive.

Extreme Makeover - Surgery Dates Have Been Set

Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind & asked my plastic surgeon to create two rubber duck like breasts, but I can't necessarily post a pic of what I'm really getting, right? Although, wouldn't it be kinda cool if the new ones squeeked? I'm sure the dogs would LOVE that feature!

ANYWAY...I've been asked by many about when my surgery will take place, what I'm having done, etc., so for those with a weak stomach, the big surgery will take place on Wednesday, May 6th. For those who enjoy watching the Saw movies, feel free to continue reading while I describe what I am having done.

Dr. Glen Lyle @ Raleigh Plastic surgery will be performing a bilateral TRAM flap procedure. My breasts will be reconstructed by surgically moving a section of muscle & fat from my abdomen to my chest. He will cut me from hip to hip, "open the hood" & create two pockets in my chest for breasts & then move the tissue into those pockets. The surgery takes ~ 6 hours & has a 6 to 8 week recovery time. Prior to the "big" procedure on May 6th, I will go in on April 27th for a minor procedure which is done to increase blood flow to the chest area. Dr. Lyle will go in and clip blood vessels in my lower abdomen...simple procedure...under for only 30 - 45 minutes.

I've done & continue to do everything required to maintain my survivor status & I am so blessed & grateful to be cancer free. But, I've also gotten to the point lately where I feel that cancer has taken away enough from me. I've lost one friend to it and another is fighting for her life at Rex. So in a couple of weeks, cancer will be giving me something back. Thanks to cancer, I will be receiving an extreme makeover. New breasts, a tummy tuck (the bonus part of having a TRAM) & a little "reshaping". Yes, more scars & pain, but also more proof that I'm winning the battle.

Our New Home

We got the house!!! (sorry about the bad pic...my camera is broken, so I had to use one from the realtor!)

Stinkin' Advertisement

So, we're out to eat with some friends on Saturday night enjoying some of these...

And before you know it, our conversation went South of the Border...thanks to this friend...

Apparently, there is a plumber driving around Cary in a van that has the following advertisement plastered on the side: "We're #1 in the #2 Business". (note that Kerri is describing the picture with her hand gestures) Catchy, huh? Well, that's not it. There's also a pic on the van of the owner...sitting on a toilet...with his pants down around his ankles. Are you kidding me? That's messed up (no pun intended)! I haven't seen this van, but if anyone has, please, please, PLEASE, send me a pic.

Easter Morning

Coloring Easter Eggs

Birthday Pinata

Birthday Cake!

Buddy, Nanny
Elizabeth, Emily & Megan

Uncle Dave, Christopher, Aunt Trish

Elizabeth, Emily & Megan

Em & Lizzy's B-day Bash

Emily and Elizabeth will both turn 11 on May 1st & May 11th, so they decided to celebrate their birthday a bit early. Here they are decorating for their party...

Spring Break in NJ

Emily & Megan are finally home! I think the pics tell the story...

Something's Missing

What do you do when your children have taken off to New Jersey to spend spring break with their cousins? NOTHING...that's what! This is sorta how it's been with the Babe & I for the last few days.

Thursday evening:

6:00
Took dogs for a long walk.

7:00
Babe: "Let's go house hunting".
Me: "Right now?"
Babe: "Why not?"
Me: "You're right, we don't have kids!"

So we drove around Cary looking for signs & peeked in the windows of the vacant homes. When we got home we watched and adult movie. No, not that kind, but one that we normally wouldn't watch with the girls. "Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist" - I'd give it three *'s.

Today, we walked around Crabtree Mall had lunch ALONE together, & this afternoon we're going to see Benjamin Button...after our nap, of course!

Tomorrow we will resume house hunting. & who knows what else. I guess this is how childless couples live. I couldn't do it....I WOULDN'T do it. I was meant to be a mom & even though the Babe and I are enjoying our time together...& believe me, we are...I feel like something is missing. They'll be back Monday night & our lives will be hectic again, but I wouldn't trade the craziness for anything.

The iPod Shuffle Meme

Rules for The iPod Shuffle Meme

* Using the shuffle feature on your iPod (or other MP3 player), write down the first 10 songs that play. (I was seriously thinking about cheating because some of my most favorite bands didn’t come up…Smashing Pumpkins, Eagles & Motion City Soundtrack & Jimmy Eat World…BUT, I decided to play the game fairly, so now you have to play fair, too.)

* Justify, defend or explain why those songs are on your iPod.

* Tag someone else to complete the meme.

If you don't have an iPod or similar device: You’re a loser.

1. OMG…what a way to start this thing off. No way to defend this one.
Journey, Loving, Touching, Squeezing – How did this song get in my iTunes folder? Hmmm…Steve Perry SOMEHOW must have gotten a hold of my iPod while he was on tour in Raleigh...yeah, that's it. (although I doubt iPods existed the last time Journey toured) The only way to reach the Steve Perry notes is to sing at the top of your lungs. Go ahead, try it. Na, na, na, na, na, na…

2. Green Day, Basket Case – “Sometimes I give myself the creeps”…lolololol!!!

3. Bon Jovi, Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore – Mmmmm…I think I’ve only heard this song one other time. Something beautiful about Bon Jovi singing, “Let’s get down to it baby”. Just makes me want to hold my man!

4. Whitesnake, Here I Go Again on My Own - What can I say? I’m a child of the 80’s! 1987 – Weatherford Eagles pep rally. This song ROCKED the auditorium! & yes, my hair was BIGGER than David Coverdale's.

5. Ramones, I Want To Be Sedated – I wonder what my plastic surgeon would say if I was singing this as I’m rolled in to the OR in a few weeks?

6. Rick Springfield, Oh Come All Ye Faithful – I have like 5 million Rick Springfield songs & THIS is the one that comes up? Really? 30-somethings have been kicked out of his fan club for much less than this. Seriously.

7. Lenny Kravitz, Just Be a Woman – My hubby has great taste in music. Love this song, babe!

8. My Chemical Romance, Disenchanted – I could write a book about this period in my life.

9. Twilight, Bella’s Lullaby – I downloaded the Twilight Soundtrack because my daughter Emily is OBSESSED with the books. It took her only a weekend to read through the first book of the series. (she's only 10) We got her the second one to bring on her trip to NJ & she’s already blown through ½ of it. A beautiful acoustic lullaby is not what I expected to hear considering the books are about vampires, but I suppose sucking someone’s blood could be considered calming…right?

10. Lily Allen, Sunday Morning – I feel like I should be shopping in A&F when I hear this song.

Since I'm Ebil, I'd like to tag more than one person today. #1: Sheri - because I want to take your mind off of chemo. #2: Deleise - because I know there's gotta be some interesting 80's music on your iPod, too! #3: Randy - because I owe you one :) #4 - My Blog Stalker

Have Fun!

God doesn't give you more than you can handle

True, BUT...does this mean that God gave me cancer as a test to see how I could "handle it"? Do you honestly think he'd throw bolts of cancer down from the heavens in an attempt to weed out the weak ones? Sorry, I don't buy it. The Big Guy didn't do this to me. My cancer was the cause of mutated cells growing out of control & my body armour not being able to hold it back. Why me? If it wasn't me, it could have been my mother or one of my sisters or daughters or friends. One thing is for sure...you don't want to see anyone close to you go through this.


Whatever you do, don't get mad at God for this. Do what I did & get mad as hell at cancer. I know that may sound silly to some, but I'm living proof that it works. It's true that with any battle, you don't know what the outcome will be until the end. I'm very aware of the statistics of Stage IV BC, but I'm here to beat the odds. I'm stubborn enough to take on the mutants. (just ask my better 1/2) Who's to say I won't be the (Stage4) woman still here 10 or 15 years from now? And tell me, would any of you NOT fight like crazy when you're in a cage match with cancer?

So, instead of saying that God would never give me more than I can handle, why don't you remind me that God will help me handle what he has given me?

Done preachin'.

The Bunnies Moved Outdoors

Remember those bunny nests we used to make on the family room floor? I was somehow talked in to allowing the girls to build a bunny "fort" on the back deck last night. The girls pulled out old sheets, pillows & blankets and built a fairly sturdy fort. And to my surprise, my little bunnies toughed out the chilly temps & were still out there at 2:13 a.m....5:27 a.m... and 6:40 a.m....not that I was checking on them ;)

I felt so much better about Emily & Megan's safety when I saw that they had brought the Ugly Dolls out to protect them!!! No monsters would get past Ugly Worm, Peaco, Wedgehead & Ox!!!

Meg & one of her MANY monkeys

What a difference a week makes...

A week ago, I never would have posted this. I've taken my big girl pill & will be the disappointed OU fan...now dressed in Carolina blue...sitting next to her husband...cheering for his team to make it to the national championship game. This one's for you, babe......GO 'HEELS :)

P.S. to Megan - I forgive you for "accidentally" wearing that jersey during the OU/Tarheel game last Friday & I am sorry that it accidentally melted in the dryer this week.