Had to join the club...1st blog!

So I am little late in starting my New Year's resolution of blogging. With how hectic my life is, I am lucky it's only early February.

I have good news and bad news to share for my first blog. Bad news first....my youngest daughter, L., is sick. Again. After having just spent over two months coughing, the cough has returned. This time the house had a medley of coughs, with Landis leading the pack, followed by my husband D. (who insists he does NOT have a cold), and my 12 year old son, P., dragging behind the rest. We were able to call the ENT this morning who called in an antibiotic presciption for her, so hopefully the meds will start to kick in. She is sleeping in my room tonight, snuggled very cozily in D.'s spot. He, and the dog, are banished to the family room for the night. Thankfully, he never says a word. What a saint. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that L. gets better, and quickly. Especially before we fly off to Orlando next week!

The good news is actually great news. My dear, dear friend K. is home from the hospital. K and his wife, K have been my friends since college. Though they live in the Pittsburgh area, I consider them as close as family, and was devastated to learn of K's stage 2 cancer after a routine colonscopy. I felt assured after some research that stage 2 colon cancer is treatable with great success rates. His surgery went well, but then he developed an abscess on his stomach, which has kept K in the hospital for nearly FOUR weeks. I can't even imagine what he went through, not being able to eat, being in pain, and being in bed for that long. His wife K is one of my best friends - she is the most caring woman I know - an elementary school teacher (perfectly suited for her), and while most of my sympathy went to her husband, I also felt badly for her. She had to run a classroom, tend to her husband, and still keep the life of her children semi-normal. And she did. I think they are one of the most amazing couples I know....if anyone could deal with something like this, it is them.

Over the past few weeks, I thought a lot about my friendship with them. One of my favorite memories is going to visit them in my mid-20's. They were married by then, living in Jacksonville. I had never been on a plane before. I flew there, K met me at the airport, and we went to their apartment. How I envied them. I was back at home, living with my parents, dating a boyfriend, G, at a very slow pace, and they were young, in love, and making a life for themselves. K took his vacation time when I was there, and we did a couple road trips, in addition to seeing the Jacksonville area. We went to St. Augustine, and they took me, for my very first time, to Disney World. That was an eye opener for me. I fell in love with Disney World that day. Sitting at Magic Kingdom, waiting for K and K to go on Space Mountain, I sat there and decided that my relationship with G would never work because he would never enjoy a place like Disney. I pictured myself there with my own family, wanting children, wanting to make Disney an annual vacation (and if you know me well, you know that I do!). I loved that vacation with K and K. We shared many memories after that - the birth of their daughter (again, talk about envy! She was SO beautiful...), me getting married (K flew K up for the wedding with the baby), my daughther A. born, their son being born, my son being born (K and K are his grandparents)....first Communions, the birth of my youngest, L......they were there for it all. And just over two years ago, K and K gave me the surprise of my life by flying to Vegas to be there for my (2nd) wedding to D. Being married in Vegas was fun, and would have been great with D alone, but it was special beyond description to have K and K there. I still think it was fate - not only did they get to share in our wedding, but K got the treat of a lifetime and met Pete Rose. I loved how happy it made him. :) And that was only fitting because having them there as I said my vows with D. made me the happiest person in the world. I pray that K continues to get better each day.