Just put on a little lipstick...

It is very cold in Nashville this week. On our way to work today, we had rain, that turned to sleet and then before we got to Cool Springs (12-15 miles away), it was snowing! Schools were closed and everyone was in a panic. By 10:00 am all precipitation had stopped and the rest of the day it was just bitter cold. I reverted back to wearing my hat today. I really don't know how these "voluntarily bald" guys do it. My hair is coming back in very quickly, but I still get so cold. I am VERY thankful to have hair again, but I'll be glad when it grows long enough that it doesn't stick straight up. Bryan says it looks kind of like Joan Jett's hair. I guess that is an improvement from a few months ago, when my nephew Michael said : "Aunt Laura -you look like him" and held up a Tommy Pickles toy. THAT definitely wasn't the look I was going for. : )

I'm home all alone, I have complete control of the stereo, tv and anything else I want to do tonight! Yipee! Right now I have Bob Seger cranked up, next may be the Eagles or Billy Joel - I'm in an oldies mood tonight. .

Friday was Morgan's 4th birthday, so we let her decide where to go for dinner on Saturday. She chose Chick Fil A. She and Anna Belle had fun playing in the play place. Emri had fun eating the napkins. Do you know what happens if you leave a 1 year old alone near a kleenex box?

I think about how busy I am and I have to stop myself and ask, what really matters?  GOD: no explanation needed : ) Love : I am thankful for the good fortune to love and be loved by friends and family Health : staying healthy has to be a top priority for me in 2009 and beyond, I have to stay focused on exercise and healthy eating Simplicity: stuff doesn't make me happy, it only causes me stress. I need to de-clutter - if it doesn't make me smile - I'm throwing it OUT! Time : I have to decide how I will spend my time   Giving: it's important to give what I can...time, energy or mone y

I am gratefu l I have a job that I love, but lately it keeps me so busy I am a bit overwhelmed. A usual training class has 8-10 people in it. The last class had 18, and that kept us on our toes. This new class that started last week has 36 people in it! Whew! Will I ever learn all those names?  One of the things I really enjoy is getting to know the new coaches one on one. This also helps us make sure they are understanding and the coaching process, before they leave training. The larger the class the harder that is to do. Thank goodness I'm not in this alone - I have fabulous coworkers. Denise, Katherine and I went for a chips and salsa meeting on Friday afternoon to debrief and get our plan ready for next week. Please pray we all make it through and everyone has a good experience.

My redraw on my potassium level was 4.5, which is perfectly normal. The first specimen must have been hemolyzed before they ran it and gave them a false reading. All is well...no worries!

I talked to the nurse practitioner at Dr. Whitworth's office today. The MRI shows just what the others did - some type of cyst on my spine, no changes in the last 6 months. The radiologist continues to feel it is not anything to worry about.  That's good news. I also got a call late yesterday from Dr. Peacock's office, they said my potassium was 5.7, so today I went back in to have a redraw on that. I should hear back tomorrow - hopefully it was a bad specimen and it is in normal range. They run the cbc's in their office, but the chemistries they send out, so that is why I didn't hear about this until a day later. I'm feeling well and staying positive that everything will be just fine.

In the past few years I've gotten away from watching too much TV and reading more. I think when my kids were little I just didn't have the time or energy to read, except for Dr. Seuss of course. There are some days I don't even turn the TV on, but other times I just flip channels until I find something to entertain me. Here are some of my new favorites, in no particular order: 1. " Whatever, Martha!" (FLN) - Martha Stewart's daughter and her friend, watching her Mom's show and making comments - pretty funny stuff - I'm wondering what Martha thinks of this show? 2. " Spectacle" (Sundance) - Elvis Costello's talk show - great variety of guests - Elton John, James Taylor, and on and on... 3. " Iconoclasts" ( Sundance) - w ww.sundancechannel.com/iconoclasts#/episode/210227766 this is one of my favorite episodes 4. " All girl-getaway s" (FLN) no explanation needed - we need to plan one of these soon ! 5. " The

I had my 6 month check up with Dr. Peacock, my oncologist, this afternoon. They did labs, a chest x-ray and examined me. I got another clean bill of health. Everyone in the office was excited to see how my hair is coming in. I got several hugs and high fives from the staff and doctors. My next follow up will be in April. Dr. Peacock did not have my MRI results, probably since Dr. Whitworth (my Oncology surgeon) was the one that ordered it. I should get those back in a day or so. I'm feeling really good and healing very well. Thank you for all your continued love and support!

Today was a great day. I had breakfast with my friend Kathy and we caught up on each other and our kids. Then I had lunch with my friends Anna and Sarah that I worked with several years ago. I always have a great time laughing and talking with my friends. I am VERY blessed with many good friends, the only problem is I don't get to see them often enough. Tomorrow it's back to work. We will have our biggest training class since I started at Gordian. It should be a very busy 3-4 weeks. I really enjoy the people I work with. It is a great feeling to know you are surrounded by so many great people that genuinely care about you and you about them. I will also see Dr. Peacock (Oncologist) tomorrow afternoon for my 6 month check up. I'm hoping she can give me my MRI results while I'm there.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. It's amazing how I had all sorts of plans to clean and do paperwork this weekend, and I did none of that. I only did fun things. Friday night, we continued the celebration for Bryan's birthday with a dinner with friends. Bryan took last week off and declared it "The week of Bryan" - he hung out with Mike, played music, stayed up late watching movies and had a relaxing week. It's becoming an annual event that he looks forward to. Saturday I got to hang out with Josh a lot of the day. We haven't had a chance to do that in years, and it was lots of fun for me. We didn't really do anything specific, ran errands, shopped a little and talked a lot. Chassi took the girls to see her former foster mother on Saturday morning. When they got back we had a full family weekend. Jenni joined us all by mid-afternoon and we had a great time. It's nice (loud and busy, but nice) to occasionally gather everyone under one roof.

I had a MRI of my T-spine today. On my initial MRI in June (before mastectomy) they saw a cyst on my upper spine. They had me follow up with a CT to get a different view at that time, and decided it looked like it might be something I was born with.  When I went for my 6 month check up last week with Whitworth, he recommended I get one more view of this area with MRI, just to be on the safe side- so I got that done today.  So...I'm asking for one more round of specific prayers about this, and hopefully in a day or so I'll hear it is nothing and can go on with 2009 - I plan for this to be a fabulous year! 

Here's a picture of Emri Leigh and I in our matching hairbows. Her's seems to stay in better than mine right now, but I'm catching up with her. Emri also got some good news today. She saw her kidney specialist at Vanderbilt and her kidney seems to be growing and not causing any issues. A few months ago she was having some reflux issues that caused her to have a urinary infection. They did testing then and are following her closely. They hope as she grows it will resolve itself. Here is a photo of Jenni Leigh and Emri Leigh.

I got a call from Dr. Whitworth's office today and my genetic test results ( BRCA -1&2) came back negative! This is great news for my sisters, Jenni and the grand girls. It means I don't have a genetic mutation that pre -disposed me to breast cancer that I could be passing on to them. It also means that I shouldn't be at a higher risk for recurrence or other cancers. Josh and Jenni told me they are relieved to hear I didn't pass on any bad genetic mutations to them, but if I did - they request it to be the kind that would give them X-men powers.

I plan to have a wonderful healthy 2009, and that is my wish for everyone reading this blog.  We celebrated and rang in the new year with some friends at our house this year, and a great time was had by all. My friend Kim brought me a bouquet of balloons that said "Goodbye 2008" and I had a great time popping each and every one of those!  I am very glad to have 2008 behind me. I am healing well from my reconstructive surgery and all my tests and doctor's visits are very promising. I am feeling stronger each day and I've been cleared to begin exercise again. Happy New Year! Once again - Thank you for all your ongoing love, support and prayers!

Having a good doctor and good insurance is crucial Tell your family and friends you love them every chance you get Hugs make you feel loved, even when you have to hug gently Being able to taste your food is wonderful I love comfy pajamas - lots of them L.T. is better than none (some of you will understand this) It is possible... to watch too much HGTV A bad hair day is much better than a no hair day Sometimes you can physically feel prayers working Celebrate every day!