Okay, I finally caught my breath

The week after Kauai was a whirlwind. I guess I have been so ready to get back to my life, I had a lot to get back to. We are unpacked and Nolan and Mason now share a room giving me back my study! Lots has changed, I worked in the yard for the first time in FOREVER. We finally got to projects in the yard that have been on hold since last spring. But let me summarize Kauai for you. Simply, it was a great trip. I was nervous of the plane ride, not have complete access to the bathroom for six hours, but I managed it just fine. I had some trouble on the island going to Shaved Ice because it was a bit of a drive and again, not having complete access, but I made it. I sat on the beach with my friends most mornings and went for lots of leisurely walks in the evening. The one really tough part was that Nolan decided not to get onto Hawaii time, so he was up every morning at 3am. Grant and I started doing shifts, but it was a grind. We took turns sleeping in. Nolan is a force, but that is another story for another time. Battle of the wills with that one! The great part about the trip was that there was no "cancer schedule", no buildings that reminded me of cancer, no memories of cancer, etc. It was like a vacation from myself - a much needed one I may add. On Wednesday night we all got together for a party. We drank Pina Coladas, I got a "What's up your butt?" t-shirt from Karissa, and all 30 of us had a great time. All friends and family that had shared this journey with me. Several times, I wanted to stop and toast those that were there - thanking them for their role, but every time I thought about doing it, I looked around and I didn't want to disrupt the natural flow of the conversation, laughter, and joy. So, I didn't. I let my need to recognize them formally go, but it doesn't mean that I don't remember what they did for me. Here is a highlight list just to give you an idea........held me while I cried because I didn't want to go to chemo, held my hand while I cried from pain from chemo, believed in my success even when I didn't, shared with me their cancer experience and told me I would be a survivor with them, wrote me stories of their children so that I could have some "normal" email, spoke only to me about non-cancer stuff, cooked me healing dinners and didn't leave a dirty dish behind, brought their Grandpa over while cooking me the healing dinners to play with the boys, poetry that made me laugh HARD, took Mason to swimming every week, picked Mason up from preschool EVERY WEEK, loved my kids, took Mason to the zoo, spent the entire summer for me with endless hours, giving me their wife/mom for a entire summer, sent me every piece of cancer survivorship stuff on the Internet, came over EVERY Wednesday to help with whatever (Costco, Fred Meyer, IKEA, yard work, babysitting, dishes, vacuuming, etc. etc. etc.), took care of her kids so that she could come over every Wednesday, spent their weekends taking care of me or my kids, spent their weeks taking care of my boys, and, finally, loving me. Again, this is NOT an all inclusive list, just a small sample....forever grateful - thank you. Happy Monday, Ang