What a wonderful day it was.....

We finally  were able to visit Julie and Charlie in  their new home yesterday.  They had a family BBQ to celebrate Gabriel's birthday (but we had missed Jesse, Rachel and Hailey's as well since Hailey started her cancer treatments)! 


It was nice to be all together again.  It was difficult to see little Hailey for the first time after all these months.
I passed on the  messages from family and friends for all the prayers for healing.   The littlest survivor on Team Nanny is really fighting.  She had a fever (again) and really was not feeling well.  Oh how I just wanted to sprinkle some fairy dust on her and make it all go away.  There was nothing I could do to make her feel better.  I did try her waka waka theme song.  It helped for a few minutes. Please remember to  keep her and her family in your prayers.  She is so little and it is just so unfair. 

Here is the link to my online album that I have created.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTO ALBUM "CHEZ JULIE & CHARLIE"!

I have decided to keep my albums (other than my gardens, pets, randoms, shares, and the odd kid pic) off of Facebook for various reasons.  Mostly do to people *not getting it*.  I do things I probably should not.  I know that.  BUT if I don't try then I will just lay here and die. The pain is relentless if I stay in bed or if I get up, get dressed, and live life on the outside.   So I soldier on.  I take extra drugs to get through a busy day.  We know these drugs are damaging my organs, and that the amputation cannot come soon enough, but despite that, I make sure to make the best of it, I have fun, I laugh, I play.  Today I am barely able to move, but it WAS worth the effort.  The pain meds really did a number on my stomach, but I would not change that moment of happiness for anything.  And it was worth LIVING STRONG.


When we arrived home our eldest granddaughter, Marilou was here with Bridgette and we had a short visit before driving them to the airport for their trip to France! Bon Voyage! I can't wait to hear all about it.  


So enjoy the smiles, and try not to crack up too much when you realize I soooooooooo lost that water fight to a bunch of kids that were seven and under! I was out numbered five to one!  I spent the first half of the visit socializing, taking pictures that are already precious memories.  I am not sure how I got myself into a five against one water balloon war, but it sure was better than sitting on the sidelines.  Thank you to my sweet Andre for keeping his eye on me, trusting me to not get hurt, and for capturing it all on film.  I love you for letting me be me, "your crazy papou"! 


It was a very busy day, but you were there for me, making sure you helped when needed and then picking up the pieces of the broken me afterwards, like always! 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." .....   Mark Twain


Footnote:
Rx Pharmaceuticals $$$$$$,
Prosthetics, braces, and other various hardware, $$$$$$
One salon hair cut, style and blow dry, $$$$$
The look on the kids faces when they soaked  
me and my new hair do PRICELESS!
The look on my face when I got them back, SHAMELESS! 
ROTFLOL 

MELANIE'S RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER!

This weekend my daughter Melanie is participating in the RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER...... a two day 200km bike ride between Montreal and Québec City.  

CLICK HERE TO SEE MELANIE'S RIDE PERSONAL PAGE

MELANIE IS RIDING WITH TEAM CAE. TEAM CAE HAS RAISED $258,853.68!

She says on her ride profile page under my picture – “We each have a reason to ride. Here's mine”.  Few words with a million emotions packed into them.  At 4 a.m. this morning I received a txt message..... "Mom I need you to put a “Team Nanny” sticker on my jersey please!"  She always was a child to leave things to the last minute!  But she always knew I would be there to help do whatever needed to be done.  Some people would say I spoiled my girls.... that I do too much for them.  NO I do not.  I LOVE my girls, and as my daughter Cindy once told me just after she had become a mom, “You cannot *SPOIL* a child with *LOVE*!!  And she was right.  I have always agreed.  And I know in my heart, for the past 30+ years of being a mother and a grandmother, my children would do the same for me..... anytime, anything, anywhere, in a heartbeat.  Because they love me.

 

So the “Team Nanny”  sticker was custom made and ironed on to the jersey, and enclosed in the bag was this thank you card from me to my baby girl who will take a small piece of me with her on this journey.  

It says.....

Melanie,

There are never words that can express what survivorship means at any cost.  Just looking into your beautiful eyes, the window to your soul, is reason enough for me to always keep fighting.  Be safe on your “EPIC RIDE”..... one day these annual fundraisers will be the reason for the cure, but as long as cancer exists and takes or hurts those people we love..... KEEP RIDING ..... You carry my heart in yours, every time it beats.  Stay safe this weekend baby girl....

 Love 4 ever, Mommy xoxo

And to all the family members and friends who sponsored her this year, THANK YOU!  Your heartfelt generosity is so gratefully appreciated.  One day we will have a cure and the suffering will stop.  But this year alone  I have both family (little Hailey) and friends (Lorna, Nat, Eden, Rob, Linda....) that were diagnosed and are fighting cancer and I know you have somebody you know too.  You know me.  Cancer doesn't always end when the cancer cells are destroyed.  In the process healthy cells are destroyed too.  And the side effects can last a lifetime.  

Team Nanny's Pond 2012

Life has been a little less than kind lately, with multiple health challenges getting in the way of what I would like to accomplish. Acceptance of any kind of limitations has always been hard on me.  I just don't like it when I run out of "choices" in what I can do. Falls have left me injured and more aware than ever of my limitations and how I need to have this amputation over with.  My prosthetic leg is strong, but more often than  not it is the other knee that cannot hold me up, even braced.  Often days I am not very mobile at all, and must stay in my chiar.  I can't venture far from home, my health gets in the way.  On those days I am grateful for the oasis we have created in our little corner of the planet.  I make the choice to be happy, because no matter what happens with my health, the choice to be happy is always there for me.  

If there is one thing I can say about the ten years of gardening and nurturing is that we have created a charm that we enjoy so much it has turned us often into homebodies! When you can't go to nature, create it and invite the wildlife to you!  We are blessed with bird songs, and little critters that really make you say, "Look"!  The video.... I can just listen to it on my iPad now or computer, and it will bring me back to these peaceful moments that I am so grateful for.  I have a sweet friend who is also home bound because of health challenges and it was in thinking of her that I created this video to help her go to her own peaceful spot in the Smokey Mountains. My virtual gift to make the really hard moments a little more bearable.    I could never have done all of this without André's vision and muscle power.  The maintenance is mine by choice.  I am happy in nature. I love to dig in the dirt.  I love to watch how things grow.   I used to camp to get that "feel".... but this is surely the next best thing to being close to nature when you live a block from the international airport runway! :D) Friends and family are always welcome here, and especially the visits from the little "Team Nanny" members! Happy Canada Day friends.  Peace.  *Love* & *Light*  Kath

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY POND VIDEO

YOU'RE INVITED - COME SIT AWHILE - AND WE'LL SHARE A PIECE OF TIME!

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