I Have That!

Good morning to you all!

(Tons of typos in this post, I am aware but running behind and need to jump in the shower!)

I spent Sunday through Thursday in Dallas celebrating my daughter Tess. Due to the leg brace, I flew first class.

 

Okay, I flew Southwest. So you get that’s a joke, right? But I was able to sit in the front row so I could keep my leg straight.

We had such a great time. We spent a lot of time wedding planning. Tess pushed me around Hobby lobby in a wheelchair. I drove the electric car through Michaels. We had great girl chat. We were successful and accomplished lots of wedding planning for the reception. I got to see the event space for the reception and it is even better than I imagined it would be. This visit was one of the first times since all the crap happened that we were able to spend time wedding planning and really enjoy it together. We ended our visit with  a girly dinner out on Wednesday, which was Tess’s 27th birthday.

I came home on Thursday and things have been busy here since.

Mike and I went to Malik’s football game on Saturday morning. Then Anne and Cortney brought the kids over here on Saturday evening so they could have a date night for a few hours.

WARNING: Never, ever take your kids (or grandkids) to Chick-Fil-A on a Saturday night! It was packed, I felt like everything was dirty (I mean, how could they possible even try to keep it clean with so many people in there??) and while in the little room watching the kids play, I became claustrophobic and we had to leave. We had so much more fun at home playing outside.

Of course, Kingston had no idea how the dirty the place was. Ha!

 

There is a LOT of work going on in our master bathroom (Please stop reading for a moment and imagine the Happy Dance that I am currently doing….without a brace of course) and that makes me really happy. All of the tile work is done and the new floors are in.

The new countertops and sinks were installed yesterday. The painter is coming next week. Apparently we are painting the whole house grey and I’m completely fine with that. It makes everything feel so fresh and clean. There really is still a lot to do (carpet, light fixtures, new bedding……) but it is so nice to see such progress being made.

Remember when I had my house cleaned a couple weeks ago and I was so excited about how clean it was? Well the entire house is now covered with construction dust. 🙄

Last week in the weight watcher room we talked about gratitude. As I was planning for my meeting, I actually said out loud……

I HAVE THAT! I have gratitude!

I also consider myself an optimist, but I’ve been practicing gratitude for really long time in my life without knowing what I was doing.  When things are crappy, it is gratitude that gets me through life. I am grateful for things that happen in my life daily. Big things and little things. Some days it’s the beautiful sky……

(I took this in Dallas last week and my picture doesn’t’ do it justice, but Tess and Manuel were in the car too and I yelled out….Look at the Silver Lining!)

other days I’m grateful for the fact that I found my cancer early. It truly is gratitude that keeps me going and helps to keep me in a happy place. I loved this meeting topic!

I strongly encourage you to embrace practicing gratitude daily. Find three things that you are grateful for each day. 

 

While in Dallas I got a phone call from my territory manager. I now get TWO meetings on Friday in Lawrence. Yay! I finally have two meetings to call my own. I am super excited. That second meeting will start September 14th. Who is in Lawrence? You can now come see me at a 10:00 meeting or a 12:30 meeting! 

I have to throw this in there really quick! One of my readers came by the Lawrence store last week to meet me. She found my blog via a friend that told her I was a Weight Watcher member and that I had breast cancer and that she might get something out of the blog since she too was diagnosed with breast cancer. Well, we have become “texting friends” and very supportive of what each of us are going through and we finally got to meet each other! We will get together soon so we can chat longer, but it meant a great deal to me that we were able to finally meet in person and hug! Thanks for coming to see me Tina!

I’ve been on my feet more in the last seven days than I have in the last seven weeks!

I started physical therapy this week and I had no idea that recovery after this meniscus surgery would be so difficult and long. My first goal was to get my need to bend at 90°. On Monday I was at an 88°. I though for sure I was already past 90! At yesterday’s appointment I was at 110°. I had no idea bending my knee could be so painful. 😩 When I asked the physical therapist how long he thought it would be before I could go outside and walk a mile, he told me probably four more weeks. That feels like four years. I will get there. I will stay positive about this. You know why? Gratitude. I’m grateful that I have a great surgeon that was able to get me in. I am grateful that I no longer need the crutches. I am grateful that I can drive, and I am SO grateful that I was still able to go visit Tess in Dallas for her birthday. I am grateful that my bathroom is being finished. I am grateful for my husband that loves me. I am grateful for my family and friends. So many things to be grateful for. This stupid knee will eventually heal and I will be back to where I’d like to be.

I am grateful that I will be leaving next week with three girlfriends to spend a week on the beach in North Carolina. I did think that I would be rid of the brace, but the PT says to wear it since walking on the sand is not the best place to be walking so soon after surgery and in the middle of physical therapy. Damn it. This trip was canceled last year due to my breast cancer, so this year this trip HAD to happen. This will be our third beach trip together. We went in 2014 and 2016. I love this girls trip! No Yoga on the beach or Paddle boarding for me, but really good girl chat while sipping coffee as the sun rises. I can’t wait!

(Memories from our 2014 trip, The Beach House, Girlfriends, Chapter One.)

 

Friday is August 31. That is the anniversary date of my double mastectomy. At the very last minute I’ve decided to invite a few girlfriends over to celebrate with me. I tried really hard to think of everyone that made that experience so much easier. Some brought meals, some covered work shifts for me, many made me feel like everything was going to be okay. In the middle of this dirty house and feeling exhausted after being on my feet for a few days, I decided to invite a bunch of friends over. My timing could not be worse as far as the house goes. But, life can’t stop for a little dust, so in the middle of the chaos, I am going to celebrate with some friends.

I am grateful for friends that don’t care what my house looks like. (Secretly in my head though…..Please don’t look at all of the dust and just enjoy your drink!)

Okay, more on Sunday when I have more time, but wanted to say “Hi”.

Hugs to all and have a great remainder of the week!

“love the life you live, live the life you love”