Let's Catch Up.

As I sit at my kitchen table, coffee in hand- looking past the beautiful white roses from this weekend's fun wedding shower- out my window at the clear-skied day (can you hear the birds chirping?)....I don't have one clue how to start today's blog.

See, some days are better blog writing days than others. It's like sitting down for the high school graduation exam and going blank, the expectation is high...the return is low. We've had a lot going on, but I don't know how to lump it all together. Last night, as I walked in to my favorite 4-year-old child's dance recital, I said hello to a close friend of my sister's and she responded with..."I love the way you write- You do such a good job with your mom's blog!" And all I could think was, "Little does she know, I've been putting off posting because I have no idea how to make it interesting!" Honestly, thank-you Kendra! It's just that some days it is really easy to come up with funny stories because it's the reality of our lives. My mom is oblivious to the entertainment that she provides...I'm just the messenger. We appreciate you being here, on good writing days and bad. It's easier to stay on the good writing days...so humor me through the bad ones, would ya?

First- because HELLO, it's the reason this blog was created! Friday's appointment showed "no signs of progression". This appointment was important for two reasons (I mean, other than the obvious):

1. Mom has been fighting a silly cough for, what seems like, an eternity. Working in a doctor's office has many more perks than draw-backs...so taking a chest X-ray is just a matter of getting in the machine and cranking her up. After looking at the chest X-ray, everything seemed fine- but she still struggled to get her cough under control. Friday's appointment gave us "blood work numbers". I put that in parenthesis because I'm not in the medical field, I understand that those "numbers" are important... and we found out that those "numbers" were normal- and I know THAT is good news. Since nothing was elevated, we felt confident that the cough was something minimal...and honestly, I think she prescribes medicine for lots of people everyday but never takes her own advice. So I'm thinkin' we need to get a little cough medicine going and see if that will cure the hacks. I'll mention it to her, because "taking one's own advice" is a foreign concept in the medical field.


2. At mom's last appointment, her doctor mentioned a questionable spot. Remember this post? I posted that on a day that I was feeling doubtful about our future. At the time, her oncologist, and the radiologist had conflicting opinions about a "new" spot that showed up on the bone scan. At Friday's appointment, her doctor confirmed that the "new" spot was there from the first scan- but had a new glow about it. Something he wasn't concerned about- but I say...get the stinkin' machine fixed, people, you're scaring my mother into early retirement! So- Friday went well, and we all breathed a HUGE sigh of relief as we went to lunch in downtown Marietta...a doctor's appointment ritual.

After finding out that life would proceed as normal, mom went back to the office for her elected weekend to work. And then Monday night happened.

Now, when I tell you that my niece is the cutest 4-year-old on the planet...I mean it. And no, I'm not partial. I wouldn't drive from Tucker to LaGrange for just anyone, and after this Christmas' performance...earthquakes couldn't keep me away. When we walked in the door, I could tell the girl was excited about the night's big reveal- like she was keeping a secret, and it was taking everything she had to keep it to herself. Immediately, she took us back to her bedroom to show us the outfit of the evening. Holding her black and pink Tutu in the air, the child was elated! Words were insignificant, nothing could express how she felt about the pink and black ensemble...until I saw the final preparation unfold in front of my eyes. MAKE-UP! Oh, if we all embraced this part of the morning routine as much as my little psuedo-JonBenet. The. Girl. Loves. Make-Up. She puckered, smiled, and sat her very stillest as mascara was applied- layer by layer. Our one-last-bathroom-break called, and then it was time to suit up. First tights, then leotard, then the everstinkinprecious Tutu (y'all, I'm not kidding...what is UP with the cuteness factor of Tutu's?). We headed to the show and LORD was it entertainment! If you ever have a bad day- go to the yellow pages, look up a dance studio, and ask when their next recital is...you'll forget you ever had a single bad day. Every class shimmied, shook, and chasséd their hardest on that stage. The glitter and glamour of a dance recital is like something out of a Miss America Pageant- the older the girl, the more they turn it on! It really was a blast, and reminded me of my childhood as a clogger...only, their outfits were 100% better than ours.

This is the only picture that I could find of the full ensemble (awwww, yeah. I know.) Ansley asks that you please excuse the expression on her face...every diva has their moments.

This is Nonnie & Ansley. And, although my mom may be on a one way track to kill me right now, she'll appreciate the memory one day (isn't that what they told us when we were kids?).

This is Ansley & Moi (the only french word I know, by the way). Let's move along, shall we?

This is my nephew. He finds picture-taking useless and would much rather see just how many pieces of Nonnie's gum he can fit into his mouth before anyone notices. Yes, we persuade 2-year-olds with gum- is that a problem?

This is Ansley & Papa. Not to be confused with PapaBob, or Poppie. Look, we chose one named and used it across the board- it's just easier that way

This is Ansley and her family. They are always more than happy to take a picture and gaze at the camera with teeth gleaming and happy hearts...
...or maybe not.









Memorial Day weekend has us feasting around a table of our FAVORITE home-cooked ribs, and another weekend together as we try to take in every moment as a family. Clean scans give us a reason to celebrate- and a big plate of my grandfather's famous ribs are just the way to do it!