the english language...

In college, I volunteered in the ESL (English as a Second Language department)...besides dreaming that I would be swept off my feet by some dark and handsome foreign student, taken back to his native country and live in his palace...wait, I digress...

Anyway...I realized just how difficult is was for an adult (one who was mature enough to question the nuances) to conquer the English language...I also learned that in Turkey, people drink hot coffee in the summer to stay cool...making no sense to me to this day...I loved the ESL students...to me they were so adventurous...by my junior year in college I had been fortunate enough to have travelled to Europe twice and I was certain that I would be an ex-pat one day...fast forward...the man of my dreams was actually a Louisiana boy...not a European aristocrat...and the rest is history...

Here are a few things I found on Pinterest that grammatically speaking...just make me laugh...

the difference an "o" and a pronoun can make...

the English language gift of onomatopoeia (why does it have to be such a beast to spell)

who can resist a good palindrome??

and lastly...this may be the best use of an idiom...

Hope your weekend is full of laughs!

excuse the delay....

I'm sure you are waiting with baited breath for the race results, but the Father's Day festivities and today's 4 hour post-surgery anesthesia nap caused the delay....

the race was adorable (and by that I mean REALLY early and hot)...here are a few pre-race shots...

to prevent race injuries, Parker led the group in pre-race stretching...

the girls were neck and neck...

Parker takes a more relaxed approach...checking out the landscape, squirrels, dogs...

and even veering off of the course to hug GiGi...

due to humidity induced dehydration, not an emotional post race tear was shed...

back at house (60 miles away), Ashley and I slaved over the steak, shrimp and chicken fajitas (Izzo's), prepared 4 different cheesecake flavors to delight everyone's palate (Sam's) and then catered to our precious husbands for the afternoon



it was a perfect Father's Day...

for two very special fathers!!

greetings from the road...

Allow me to introduce myself... My name is Heather...I'm a wife, mother, cancer survivor... NOT a morning person...somehow I can't stress this particular character trait enough...

So when Ironman decided to do a Father's Day run in New Orleans with the girls, I figured I was set to sleep the morning away...until it became an EVENT...

See Ashley's husband Collin decided to run with Hannah and Parker, and Ashley being a mere newlywed (at 7 years compared to my 13) was going along for the "fun"...then my mom joined in...

Holy bejeesus...now I was looking like "that wife"... You know...the one that doesn't wake up at the crack of dawn (5:04 to be exact) to support her husband...the precious father of her children...on Father's day...

So here we go...off in the family Econoline van (ok, maybe it's a Tahoe)...to make the trek to NOLA...and why are NOLA races are soooo much better than Baton Rouge ones?? (ya know, the ones in our actual city...not the city 60 miles away)

I predict that as Ironman and the girls cross the finish line I will hide my emotional mess behind my sunglasses and camera...see I've become quite the crier these days...happy tears that I am in fact alive to witness such monumental activtities as the Father's Day run (or the Cheer Camp Show-Off, Hannah's graduation, taking out the trash....it's getting a little ridiculous...)

Hope your Sunday morning is not nearly as eventful as this one....but I do hope it is filled with laughs (and bacon, eggs, biscuits, pancakes....wait, did we just pass a Cracker Barrell.....???)

as far as dads go....

 Ironman is the BEST!!!

hope you're spending the day with your "top dad"!

Surgery scheduled...

So I guess the final chapter in this story is here...

My medi-port is coming out on Monday - I should be celebrating, but instead I broke down in tears at the appointment this morning...

It's so weird when I think about it...before the cancer diagnosis I felt perfectly fine...I had absolutely no warning signs, and recently I was reminded how many people told me that I was "too young for lymphoma"... before the results were in of course...

and now...after chemo left just enough alone to keep me alive...I am cured...but to what expense?

I'm tired, weak, and emotionally depleted...my girls have been put through the ringer (thankfully Shane and I have an appt with a child psychologist next week to determine when to say "toughen up" and when to give the extra TLC...it's a fine line, I'm sure...) 

I know I need to be patient...and I'm trying...but couldn't it just hurry up already???  I'm going to snuggle in bed with my oldest trooper who needs just a little extra TLC tonight...

I promise to be more appreciative very soon....just be patient....

I'm obsessed....

Today I saw an "LSU family".  I wish I could have gotten closer...but they had the purple "LSU finger" and LSU shirts...classic!

and after getting in this fancy schmancy raft today, Morgan exclaimed, "now this is the good life"

yes, my sweet girl, it is...and you deserve it!

this week's observations...

I went to the pharmacy this week and snapped a picture of the vehicle in front of me...

do I even need to comment?  I mean, really?  Have you counted the children?...yep six....I SO wish I had snapped a picture of the "Catholic fish" on the other side of the car!!  The only thing that would make this better was if they all had Mickey Ears...

Quick story which will actually probably run on for awhile...Ashley and I went to lunch on Friday, after lunch we walked to Office Depot in the same strip mall, after shopping we were waiting to hear from Jen (she had our cheerleaders)...So we sought repose on a sweet little bench in said strip mall...Picture two harmless women sitting on a bench - one obviously weaker than the other having just survived cancer...And just then the big bad security guard comes out of one of the stores and tells us to move, evidently we aren't allowed to sit on the bench...Ummm...Was the bench on the walkway of a strip mall really private property?  So if you ever find yourself in said strip mall, be sure NOT to sit on the bench in front of said store with the big burly security guard...I have a visual to assist with this lesson....

Naturally I snapped a picture of the "incident" knowing that it would become a blog post, and after I took the picture, the owner (I guess) of the store, came out and asked me why I had taken a picture...Ashley tried to be nice and told her we liked her bench - sweet Ashley..., when she asked if we really like her bench, I said, "No, but your security guard just make us get off of your bench, and I wanted to take a picture of it".  She replied with, "what - are you going to "send it in somewhere and report me"?"  I didn't lie when I said no, I just didn't mention my upcoming blog post...

so anyway, I'm just doing my part to educate my fellow blog readers on the "bench laws"...

hope you are having a great weekend - I've accomplished nothing, and I'm quite content with that...

You know you are a cancer survivor....

when your idea of a "haircut" is having your husband shave the back of your neck...

Or better yet....When the PET Scan comes back ALL CLEAR!!!!!  I did say SURVIVOR....That was the news I got today.  Dr. Spell told me to go out and start living life again....thank you very much - I don't mind if I do!  Feels surreal...what was like life 6 months ago? oh yeah...different!!  It will take some time to adjust to this "new normal", but I'm up to the challenge!

In this whole celebration theme, my Goddaughter Hannah graduated from Pre-K on Friday...

We took the girls too see Shrek in NOLA on Saturday (thanks to some super friends who treated us to the tickets as a post-cancer celebration).  Although I couldn't take pictures inside the theater (the ushers even remind you not to photograph your children in the seats - what is this world coming too?!?), I did snap some powdered sugar faces at Cafe' du Monde after the show....yummmmy beignets - Avery's idea of course - her idea of a balanced meal is edamame, brownies, cookies and ice cream - luckily she has Shane's metabolism!

The girls started Cheer Camp today at Dutchtown High School....good morning excuses...

Avery: "My tummy hurts, I don't think I can go to Cheer Camp...I should probably just go to work with you instead..."

Morgan: "Mommy, I throw up when I'm nervous, and I think I'm going to throw up"...note: the ONLY time she has ever vomited was from a stomach virus - definitely NOT nerves

Seriously - where do they come up with this stuff?  My sister Jen is one of the Cheer Moderators at DHS, therefore she was at camp.  She called at 11am with the news that Avery was hysterical until Hannah showed up (luckily 10 minutes after us) and only calmed down when she changed Hannah to Avery's group - thank goodness one girl in the family is fearless!!

They had a fantastic time at Cheer Camp - and I'm sure I will go to sleep to "Attack, Attack, Attack, Purple, Silver and Black!" I found this a little while ago - it's Nervous Nelly's "cheer notes"...

go ahead and do a little cheer (the arm movements are noted at the top)!!

Beware - Radioactive Girl here...

I had a PET Scan today - the first of my quarterly scans over the next few years.  This is one I've been waiting on - to get the "you really don't have any more cancer" news.  This scan was different from my last two scans.  I got an IV this time and got injected with radioactive "stuff" twice during the scan - here's the kicker....I was warned to keep the girls away from me (ie - don't let them sit on my lap or next to me) for the day...I didn't realize how much I hug the girls and pull them onto my lap until today!!

and I don't want to alarm them and tell them Mommy went "Chernobyl" on them, so I just keep casually moving away...

Avery did ask me, "Did they tell you the cancer was all gone?"  I had to break the news that I don't get the results until Monday... she didn't understand that at all!

Mommy camp...

The girls took a break from camp this week to hang out with me...It took an hour for Morgan and Avery to agree on an outing yesterday...the verdict....BUGS!!  So by 11 we were in the car headed to the Insectarium...of course Shane had to throw a little wager into the mix - offering Morgan $2 if she ate a bug...

as soon as Morgan ate the chocolate covered cricket she dialed Daddy...of course I had to give her the $2 for the gift shop! (notice the stamp on her hand that reads "I ate a bug")

the butterfly garden is so beautiful...

then, a "Mommy stop" at the 2 story Anthropologie at Canal Place...love!

And what was the highlight of Avery's day?  Petting the puppy at the Pet Store in Lakeside Mall - for the bargain price of $2 - yep, you really have to pay $2 to pet the puppies - luckily a friend had tipped me off, so I had the $2 ready!

and you just never know who you will run into at the mall...At another "Mommy stop" - Restoration Hardware...we found my aunt, "NeeNee" to my girls....

and no stop in Metairie is complete without a visit to see Chuck at Ms. Angel's house.

poor Chuck...three little girls plus one dog equals dog in tutu!

hope you are having this week too! (I'm off for my first quarterly PET Scan - results next week)