So, we had a great weekend!  On Friday night, my boss, Ann Marie, paid me a nice visit.  On Saturday, we took the kids to swim class and Sal made a make-shift burn pit later that afternoon.  Cameron was sleeping during this time, but check out this pic of my “big kids” and Sal:

On Saturday evening, we attended Mass then Sal and I had dinner at our house with my sister – which was awesome.  We’re so fortunate to be able to spend time with her. On Sunday afternoon, we had the chance to see our friends, Jim and Erin, at their son’s birthday party.  Erin is a ridiculously good cook, by the way!  If pharmacy doesn’t work out for her, she can open her own restaurant.  Really.  Thanks for making me pack on the pounds, Erin!  We love your food!  On Sunday evening, I was so happy to catch up with some old friends, Colleen and Katie.  I’m looking forward to a visit from some of my college friends, Lindsay, Kate, Erin, and Maria tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll post pictures of everyone posing with Sugar while doing the air guitar after the visit!

Treatment is going really well.  I received Taxol and Herceptin today and feel really good.  I’m tired, but not as bad as I was with the AC.  I have 8 more of these treatments to go.  I’m able to see a noticeable difference, too.  It’s weird.  You know how it is when people see your kids and say how big they’re getting?  You don’t really notice because you’re with them everyday.  It’s the same situation with me.  Up until this point, I haven’t really been able to see the change in myself, so I’m happy when the doctors tell me that they can feel and see a change.

I have to comment on my dinner with Colleen and Katie.  It was the first time since my diagnosis that anyone has treated me completely normal for an entire night.  Most people seem to walk on eggshells around me and it’s not necessary.  I’m still Barb!  You don’t need to be hesitant to ask me to do things or to have a normal conversation with me.  If you know me, you know what a buster I am.  You don’t know how funny I would think it was if someone yelled, “Hey, Baldy!” across a room or parking lot.  Also, please don’t refer to me as “sick”.  Thanks to make-up and Sugar, I look healthy.  I believe in mind over matter, therefore, I don’t allow myself to feel unhealthy.  I’m trying to act like a completely normal mother of three.  I’m not “sick” and I’ll never accept hearing that about myself.

Anyway, back to my dinner…..Colleen and Katie made fun of me all night……in the best way.  I felt so good after having dinner with them.  If you remember my earlier posts, I’m indebted to Katie for saving my life.  I think about what would have happened to me if Katie didn’t do my last ultrasound.  I wish, so often, that Colleen lived closer so we had the opportunity to get together more.  I’ll just have to read about it in the newspaper.  😉

So, Nicole, another friend of mine, read an article about Moms with Cancer – they’re too busy to have cancer!  Really, I’m too busy to have cancer.  I will never, ever let this tie me down or make me feel like there’s something that I can’t do.  My kids, God willing, will never know that anything was ever different between August 2012 and August 2013.  Well, they might remember my lack of hair, but that’s it!  Some women, take Brittany Spears, for example, do it for fun!  My kids might think that I’ve lost my mind – like Brittany did!  But, the only thing that they’ll remember about breast cancer are the words – breast cancer.

I’m working very hard right now to keep my mind and body healthy.  I see things with such clarity.  I really want to try to be a better person.  I know how I’d like to be treated which, in turn, is helping me to treat others better.  I hope, at least.  I pray that this continues once I’m healed.  I don’t want to be one of those people who only gives thanks and prays during times of trouble.  I have a mental list of people and organizations that have helped me out so much already that I can’t wait to be given the opportunity to do something special for everyone once cancer is a blur in my rear view mirror.  Thanks to each one of you for everything.  You have no idea how much the little things help.  I can only hope that I’ve been half as good of a friend to each one of you as you’ve been to me.  I was told once that you have to be a good friend in order to have good friends.  Please know what wonderful people all of you are.  You’re all the best friends.

Today was picture day at Holy Rosary.  I love my kids so much!  Oh, Cameron is not in the car seat!!!  Sadly, we use the area that is supposed to be for firewood as a storage spot for our car seat and diaper bag!!  Thanks for pointing that out, Anil!!!  I miss you!  Haaaayyyyyy!!!  Oh, yes I did!

And, lastly, we’re in the middle of Season 7 of How I Met Your Mother.  I have slight (CRAZY!!!!) OCD when it comes to starting and finishing things.  I love this show so much that I needed to catch up to the current season which is season 8.  I’ll leave you with a quote from Ted Mosby from the Garbage Island episode.  “Kids, sometimes wonderful things come out of horrible situations.”

LIVESTRONG and God Bless!