I love my family

Last night my parents stopped over and that was nice. They were so relieved with my test results, even though they both said that they expected nothing to show up. Well, deep down, that's what I expected too, however, we all know that things can turn out quite differently than what we want them to be. We also had mom and dad look out back and see the pool that is being installed. It's amazing...or maybe totally normal...I'm not sure, but here I am approaching my late 40s and I'm still worried about my parents' reaction to things. They seemed to be okay with it. Not totally thrilled, but okay with it. At least they didn't say anything bad about it. I know they're just worried about making sure that we financially prepare for our retirement and future, and Ted and I appreciate that immensely, but this is something that we put a lot of thought into before making this decision.

Today my sister in law goes in for a rectal ultrasound to check on the status of a tumor that was discovered when she had a colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago. She's been back to the surgeon, to the oncologist, and now off to have this test done. If the tumor cannot yet be staged (which is what the doctors think) then she will have surgery to have it removed. Period. If it CAN be staged she will need to undergo chemo and radiation first, then have surgery, then have chemo again. We've been praying that they can't stage the tumor, but even if they can, fortunately it's been caught early enough that it may not have been spread to any lymph nodes.

Cancer is a real bastard. How dare this cruel disease sneak into someone's life and change their life FOREVER!!! Not only does it usually require treatment that takes a while to complete, but it haunts your mind for the rest of your life, at least it has mine, so far. Cancer, I really hate you, but I am going to win this battle.

Today I have big plans, hahaha. I plan on doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Heck, I may even clean the master bathroom if I have time! I can finally relax and enjoy the summer now and just do the normal things that I want to do.

While I've been working on this post, our two cats have been bouncing off the walls! Pepina, now a fully grown adult cat of 15 months old was settled into her ways, until we brought Marina into the house a few weeks ago, at the age of 5 weeks. Marina has adjusted to life here so well. Anything was better than the cat shelter, I'm sure. Pepina wasn't too sure about this household addition and did a lot of hissing and growling for a couple of days. Now they are used to each other, and Pepina makes it clear that she TOLERATES Marina...it's so funny! Last week they discovered that they can chase each other for entertainment, and they sound like a herd of buffalo running down the hall and throughout each and every room. When they catch each other, they would stop and just stare at each other, as though they didn't know what to do. Hysterically funny. Now they pounce on each other and roll around and tumble. When the sounds of distress start though, we now give them a little spray from the water bottle. Interestingly, it's little Marina who is the instigator 95% of the time. I had NO IDEA that having a cat (or two) could be so much fun. I like to think that we are offering them a much better life than what the cat shelter or even some other people could offer them. They make us laugh so much, and we are so grateful that we made the decision to have them come into our lives.

On the corner of my nightstand I have a 12" stack of unread magazines. My goal is to read at least two a day until I get through them. Of course that's been my goal for the past few years, hahaha, but this year I will accomplish my goal!!

Well, it's time to tackle that laundry and then the kitchen....or maybe not...hmmm...gotta think about that one!