runlindsayrun

The One Where I Magically Reappear Online

I'm not dead. Just having some technical difficulties that have hopefully now been solved. It was a classic combination of Marilyn's computer finally giving up the ghost while she was away (no big surprise, just not fantastic timing) + issues with MTS and my Blackberry here (imagine that). But my Blackberry data started working again. And Geoff and I helped Marilyn purchase and set up a brand new computer last night. And here I am, to catch you up on everything you've missed.

Um, let's see. What have you missed? Well, in no particular order...

Geoff, Briony, and I have been adventuring in and around Abbotsford for the last ten days since we last posted an update. Our adventures have taken us on lots and lots of walks - around town, around parks, around lakes, around malls, and all over the lower mainland. A few of these adventures have accompanying pictures. A few of them don't. A few of them involved rain. A few of them didn't. All of them involved Briony's pink adventure hat and a stuffed animal friend or two.

My mom came for a six-day visit - an almost spontaneous decision made after we were already here that just kind of seemed meant to be. She came along on a few of our adventures and I had the total pleasure of introducing her to the other half of our life out here.

While my mom was here, we received a message from my dad that he had heard the results of the mammogram she had just before she hopped on the plane. It's all clear. I can't really explain what that day was like for us here when we found out... Or rather, I can, but it's still emotional for me to talk about. It was a very, very happy day. But 'happy' isn't quite the right word for it - it was happy, but even more so, it was hopeful. It's like we have permission to think about the future again, and it just kind of takes your breath away to open up the world like that again for our family. It was a day full of moments that just looked a little bit different in the light of our wonderful news. Happy moments. Hopeful moments.

I had my first official Mother's Day. We kept things low-key - Geoff and my mom each bought me a card, we went out for brunch together with Briony, and we walked around the park. It was a very good day. And it was very special to get to spend it with my mom.

We went on a MASSIVE shopping spree at Ikea to buy the big group gift for Aaron & Caitlin's upcoming wedding shower. Fun. Then we had to figure out how to pack everything so that we can fly home with it safely and economically. Not as fun. But between Geoff (a master packer), my mom (a master organizer), and me (a master bossy chick), it was no problem at all. I'm getting super excited to get home and wrap it all. I *heart* wrapping presents. And there are lots and lots of them to wrap before the shower. I seriously can't wait to see Aaron & Cait's faces when they see all this awesome stuff!

Marilyn came back from her trip, after spending an awesome two weeks reconnecting with her family and friends in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Even better, she came back with some fantastic stories about various Republican encounters. And no swine flu :)

Briony is still doing really, really well with the time change, the change in location, and our busy schedule. She's still rolling around like a pro and doing really well learning to sit up on her own. And she's still having these big crazy giggle fits when she gets overtired. It's so adorable, it's hard not to keep her awake. Have I mentioned that she's going to be SIX MONTHS OLD this Saturday?! Ridiculous.

My new class started on Monday, and I'm working to get in the groove of this new class with a new instructor. So far, I'm really enjoying it. I decided last week to keep one class and drop the other one I'd planned to take this semester. It will take me a few extra months to graduate, but I'd rather not feel stressed about the extra homework and reading that would be required to take two classes at the same time. I'm feeling really good about that decision, and Geoff was very supportive.

I stayed up WAY too late last night to watch the finale of The Biggest Loser - three hours long + time change + BC time delay meant that it wasn't over until 11 pm (which feels like 1 am to us here). And out of the three finalists, the one I was least excited about ended up winning. But it was still awesome, and totally worth it. Now I need to dig deep and find some motivation to really start on some weight loss of my own. If these people could lose more than 50% of their body weight in six months, I can certainly take off the extra twenty or thirty (read: forty or fifty) pounds that I'm dragging around with me right now. But food tastes good. And playing with Briony is *so* much more fun than working out. We're working on it :)

We're also working our way through all the different scenarios of what this fall might look like for our little family - my return to work, our tentative vacation plans for September, and all kinds of drama and variables. It's been nice to have the time and space for Geoff and I to really talk about it all. No big decisions yet, but we still have lots of time to figure it all out.

Geoff has decided that my mom and I are the Gilmore Girls. I was offended. He accused us of talking nonstop and very fast, and of having conversations that consist entirely of half-sentences (because we already know what the other one was about the say and it can just go unsaid). I started paying attention. And he's totally right. My apologies to everyone else who has to hang out with us from time to time. But you should probably just learn to deal with it. (See above note, where I explain that my mom is now cancer-free, and is likely to be hanging out with me for a very, very long time. SMILE.)

Yesterday was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, which got me thinking about lots and lots of things... And we're getting very close to having all kinds of news to share about our team for Run for the Cure this year... Hopefully, I'll manage to find a few minutes to write a few more posts over the next week or so.

I'm missing tons and tons of stuff here, but you get the general idea. We're healthy and happy and relaxed. This is a second home to us, and it's been amazing to have an entire month here this time. Tomorrow morning, we're heading off to Victoria with Rob & Vicky & Ava to spend a few days on a mini-vacation. Which means that I have lots to do tonight - laundry, packing, homework (read: blogging, watching America's Next Top Model, eating ice cream). Yeah.

On that note, I'm going to go try to upload a few trip photos :)

Labels: Arthritis/Fibromyalgia, Briony, Family, Run (Waddle) for the Cure, The Boy, The C Word, Travel

posted by Lindsay @ 5:43 PM