June 8

There's something freeing in knowing you're going to be dead in 4 weeks. I sped through an empty parking lot the other night. Something my normal , cautious self wouldn't have even thought of doing, ever. It was kind of cool. :-)

I've also been buying scratch off tickets like there's no tomorrow. Oh wait, there IS no tomorrow. Buy away! I often scratch these while baby doll eats the dinner I made him. Scratch offs are my substitute for eating. I keep waiting to win on the Win for Life ticket. Talk about hilarious! That would be the ultimate! Of course I'd give it to someone else to cash in but man, I'd have quite the giggle fest over it first.

Okay so let's catch up on some fun stuff first.

My friend ElRay (Lynn) stopped by with her MonkeyGirl (Shailei, 2 years old) last Wednesday night for a cupcake break. OMG that little girl was the biggest bundle of curiosity and energy that I have seen in a very long time! What an absolute blast! And she had so much fun playing with Ethan. That cat is one of the most kid friendly, laid back cats I have ever met. He had a ton of fun with her too! I love following kids around to see what's going to catch their interest and what it is they find fascinating about the world. They are so much fun! There are tentative plans for another cupcake break tomorrow night. Last time it was cookie dough filled chocolate cupcakes. I think today/tomorrow I'm going to bake boston cream filled yellow cupcakes for the MG. Let's see exactly how messy we can make this little girl. Bwah....ha...ha.

Thursday was June 5th. Yeah so? Well, it's baby doll's made up holiday. There's a story behind it but I think it's one of those 'you had to be there' type of things. Needless to say, if baby doll says June 5th is a holiday, then as far as I'm concerned, it is. For his holiday, he instructs peeps to do something nice for someone.  I baked him a Happy June 5th Day cake to take into work for him and the boys. I also stopped into his workplace myself that day. I bought some flower plants to brighten up their cave of an office. I also handed out scratch off tickets to everyone for a bit of fun. I heard one of the guys hit one for $50! Woo hoo!

On Friday, Brian, Jer, and Hoyng came over for lunch. I made chicken quesadillas and chicken enchiladas for them with chocolate lasagna for dessert. It was a good visit. Jer had the afternoon off so he stayed for a beer and played some cards with me until 2:00. It was nice having company during the day for once instead of kicking around alone, trying to find 'chores' to keep me busy.

Everybody keeps telling me that I should rest, and that I should take it easy, and that I should conserve my energy. My question is why? What the hell am I conserving energy for? So that I live a little longer? We all know that's the last thing that I want. My goal is to get up each day from now until 6/23 and cram as much living s my body allows into each and every day. That's the only sane thing I can think of doing!

Speaking of energy, yesterday may have been a bit much for my body. It was the City Solve. I did, indeed, have a wheelchair for it but it was still a very long and tiring day. Other than a brief meltdown midday at a bar we stopped at, I think I did okay. When all was said and done, we walked from 11:30-3:30 and covered what we guess was 8-10 miles of downtown Rochester. I'm feeling really bad for Sammy and Mark. Not only did they totally kick ass yesterday but today Mark has some boot camp thing that lasts over an hour this morning and then he and Sam and the fam are doing a schlerdoma walk in honor of Mark's dad. Personally, I think their legs are going to fall off by the end of today but we'll see. One of the highlights of the CitySolve was that I bought my first ever growler. Or I should say baby doll bought it for me. I've heard a lot of talk about growlers but never really knew what one was. Well, I am now proud to say that I own one! Sadly, I probably won't drink it. Carbonated beverages being syringed directly into the stomach cause nausea and weird bloaty feelings. I try to stay away from beer and stick with my margaritas and long island iced teas. :-)

Tonight is a family get together for baby doll's sister's birthday. I'm bringing a hash brown casserole and some sliced watermelon. 

Tomorrow kicks off two full weeks of goodbyes. Maybe THAT's what I need to conserve my energy for. Here's my calendar to date:

6/9 - Snack time with MG
6/10 - Aunt Helen, Uncle Sonny, Faith, and Hope visit for the day
6/11 - Terri and Jaime visit for the day
6/12 - Sam comes over to finish packing up the house
6/13 - Kit comes over at 1:00 to hang out. Aunt Diana and Uncle Richie arrive at some point during the day. Baby doll's daughter, Jessica, comes over for a rib dinner and making s'mores over the fire pit.
6/14 - Aunt Diana and Uncle Richie visiting. Taking them to Painting with a Twist along with baby doll's sister, Karen.
6/16 - Justin in town. Coming over for one last lunchtime Euchre game.
6/17 - Heading to Brockport to watch the sunset with Elvisa and Jonathan
6/18 - Mom and Aunt Nancy arrive for a visit. Going to Painting with a Twist with Mom.
6/20 - Appointment with Dr. Rob to discuss 6/23 plan.
6/21 - Hanging out with Lou and his wife for a lazy Saturday afternoon.
6/23 - D-Day

Phew! Let's just hope I can hold it together long enough to accomplish all of this!!

I believe my step planter project is done. I had plans to paint it but honestly, I'm kind of liking the raw wood look. Check out the piggy in the left hand corner of the platform! How bleepin' cute is he?! That's ElRay's contribution to my little oasis. I think it added the perfect finishing touch!

So, I have been absolutely blown away by all the love and support I have been receiving from all corners of the earth. I told baby doll the other night that it's been both overwhelming and humbling to hear from so many different people from so many different parts of my life. I had no idea the kind of impact that I have had on people over the years and every day I get to hear a tidbit about what I mean to someone and it makes me cry. I think I'm going to do a little tribute post to all the wonderful human beings out there that have contacted me. But it will have to wait a bit. I just wandered outside and it is going to be a beautiful day today. I believe that I have a date with a stack of magazines and a hammock in my backyard. right now. :-)