I'm Still Kickin'

Hi all!

I don't actually know if I have any readers left since this blog has basically been abandoned for the last month.  I have only the excuse that I have been busy nearly every minute getting the kids ready for school (uniform inventory and school supplies are monumental projects when you have seven kids, let me tell you), and the football season is going strong.  This year we have Joey playing for Paraclete and Sam and Tony playing for the West Valley Rebels.  Lindsey and Bella are cheering again and Julia is in her first year of competition gymnastics, which is a whole new level of commitment.  Throw in two Girl Scout troops, endless doctor, dentist and orthodontic appointments and the addition of homework this week, and it would be too much for a small army to handle, let alone for someone not functioning at full capacity. I am tired just reading this over!

Jay has been traveling a lot as well, and while I am not really complaining since I am simply thrilled that he has a job he loves that can support us all, it is definitely hard to get it all done.  Needless to say, I never do, even with all the help that grandparents and friends give me.

When I noticed recently that I was getting more "are you OK?" emails than junk mail, I realized I had better let you all know that I am fine, simply constantly at or above capacity.

No news on the cancer front (and believe me when I say no news is good news).  I have my next set of scans in late September so there will be nothing to report until then.  I generally feel fairly well as long as I pay attention to the signs my body gives me and don't overdo it.  I have a rough week every time I get an Xgeva injection (flu-ish) and am often quite fatigued in the afternoons.  Lately I have been fighting a variety of minor yet unpleasant infections that, due to my suppressed immune system, never seem to end.  But all this is small potatoes given that the cancer is under control.  These are the side effects of what I must do to stay alive and I am more than willing to endure them, as much as I would like them to go away.

Since I last posted, Tony turned 7, Sam turned 11, Bella started Kindergarten, Lindsey began her job as Treasurer for the Student Council, we had a visit from our dear friends from Northern California and we ate fresh corn from our garden for the first time in a few years (yum!).  The kids have been swimming nearly every day of the summer, often with many friends, and I have been busy trying to keep them all fed!  I am still singing, which is a great joy for me, and I am looking forward to having a few regularly scheduled hours a week to myself as Natalie begins preschool in a few weeks.  I am also happy to have Natalie home with me a few mornings since all too soon she will be in Kindergarten herself and then what will I do?  I can't imagine.

Thank to all of you who keep checking this blog faithfully to see how I am doing.  I am sorry I have become such a sporadic poster.  As always, I hope to do better in the future.