The steroid fury has passed us by

I got a spam email and I peruse them all….I’m a sucker, what can I say. And this one was pretty common….I have to read it, turn around 5 times, hop on one foot and then forward it to everyone I’ve ever met or I won’t get good luck, a windfall of money or that surprise visit from George Clooney. But one line of the email really stuck with me, it sort of simply summarized how I’ve felt about the past 14 months. The phrase was “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called”. We have been so overwhelmed by the blessings brought to us through Peyton’s cancer, we would do anything to have her never to have gotten sick, but because this is the path the Lord led us down, we have had the chance to really grow from it. I never dreamed that this would happen to our family, and I never thought for a moment that we would be able to cope with it. Yet, we have. God has been so good in providing for our needs, emotional, physical, spiritual and when we’ve needed it most, financially. You can never prepare yourself for this kind of storm, but we have been able to weather it. I just thank every person who has blessed us with support, encouragement and prayer. You are a huge part of the reason we have been able to face what life has brought.

I’m so pleased and relieved to announce that we have successfully made it through another round of steroids with all body parts intact, no serious mental abuse and only one new craving. My half-Korean baby likes Cuban toast…and Cuban coffee…that makes for an interesting day, let me tell you. She’s feeling so much better, the swelling is already subsiding and her mood was 100% better as soon as Tuesday. SWEEEET!

I would love to tell you that she had a great day yesterday, but I wasn’t with her all day!!! Grandma came and got her early in the morning, after a quick breakfast of Cuban toast and milk (I wouldn’t give her to Grandma hopped up on coffee because I may want her to take Peyton again some day). She spent the whole day with her Grandma and I spent the whole day alone.

Can I just tell you that there are people in the world who are very uncomfortable with being alone? They just don’t like it. I’ve learned to appreciate my alone time. I shopped alone, I browsed books alone, I’ve been known to eat alone in restaurants and to go to movies alone. It’s beautiful quiet time. I truly think that people who don’t appreciate alone time should be beaten soundly and given a weekend with at least a dozen kids….kids on steroids…kids on steroids and a healthy dose of espresso.

I got a lot accomplished and it was so exciting. I went to the bank, the consignment store and to Kmart…hey, don’t knock it…that’s big stuff around my house! I found these boots in the consignment shop and I just knew that Peyton would fall in love with them. I knew she's wear them when rain boots just aren't appropriate and the colors would clash and they had no business being work with whatever outfit she has on…but they are just so darn cute and she is in LOVE with them, therefore I love them.

The first picture pose I call "Thank you, thank you very much….Elvis has left the building."

There are some shoes that you will love and then there are shoes that will love you back…I think these are those shoes.

This morning I had to get up at an unlawful time and get the kids ready for school early. This was a good thing as I found out last minute that Nathaniel had forgotten about half of his homework and the other half was left at school….breathe!…so he needed the extra hour to get his work done. Peyton and I went to Lithia Spings Elementary where we the Pediatric Cancer Foundation is having a coin drive. Last week Bevis Elementary raised almost 1100$ in two days, so we’re hopeful that we’ll match or exceed that at Lithia. We weren’t able to get there to help at Bevis, so it was too cute to see Peyton this morning. She had her little red bucket and she would practically crawl into people’s cars (we did the coin drive in carline drop-off) and who could help bdut dig all the change out of their seats for her. She’d stand there and just grin and wave at all the cars and yell “good morning” at them…I’ll bet we get a lot of change tomorrow.

We got the news that we are going to get the chance to attend another Buc’s game this Sunday! The Pediatric Cancer Foundation got tickets for us to sit in the end-zone again for the Bucs-Saints game. The only draw back is that it’s the 1:000 game so the heat will be atrocious and the sun unbearable, but we’ll take hats and maybe an umbrella for the kids to hide under. There are about 5 other fun families attending, so it should be an absolute hoot.

A request was put in for some information about Pete and me.

Pete and I had the chance to engage in that activity that brings us closer together, really solidifies our relationship and allows us to reconnect in our marriage. And we did it twice!

We played Scrabble. What were you thinking?

We were talking about a family I met and I was telling him that Jammie has two little girls with names that are the names I always thought I would name my daughters. I have two daughters now and neither bears those names. Maddie and Hailee.

“Hailee?”

“Yeah, I loved that name. I just loved Hailey Mills!”

“Like the cereal?”

“Hailey Mills, the actress? The Parent Trap?”

“Oh…not the cereal?”

“That’s General Mills, you moron.”

It’s funny because I get to threaten Pete that whatever dorky thing he says is going straight on the blog! In fact, people will start to say things and then they look at me and say “don’t put this on the website”…like I’m their personal youtube or something.

Pete and I met online, we were married a little over a year later. Pete works in IT with Verizon….and yes, he could probably fix that problem you’re having with your computer and no, he can’t fix your cell phone. He works way too much, he loves football and he LOVES football. He’s a great husband and a fun dad, he sings in the shower, he lets the kids push him out of bed and he is the funniest guy I’ve ever known.

Someone asked me what I kinds of work I do…well, I’m one of those people who have done a little of everything. I’ve been a bartender, delivered pizzas, a secretary, made lots of lattes, threw newspapers, worked in IT, waitressed, made websites, did graphic arts work, and I was last doing craft service (a sort of catering) in tv production for commercials and tv shows and whatnot….I am a jack of all trades, master of none. If anyone knows of a job that requires these skills, let me know!

As Pete likes to quantify our relationship “we are retarded for each other”. It works.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa