A Good Week!

Well a good week ended on a great note today when my friends at the world's best advertising agency, GS&F in Nashville, surprised me with cupcakes for my birthday.  What a treat!

Today was a fun day - I went with Eriana on her field trip to The Clay Lady where she & her classmates made & decorated a picture frame out of clay, then we watched one of the artists throw a pot on the wheel.  Really made me miss my pottery throwing days so I think I will take a class this summer.  I love how they make it look so easy.  Eriana was very affectionate during the field trip, wanting to sit by me, hold my hand - very unlike her!  Guess she needed some Mommy time because she asked if she could go to work with me from there.  So she did - and she got to partake in the cupcakes this afternoon at GS&F.  I'm sure she thinks that Mommy has cupcakes every afternoon at work.  May as well think that, huh!  Whats the harm.

My back has been hurting a lot, not sure why - doc said to take my Lortab for it so I am back on drugs!  Other than that I'm feeling good after a rough day Wednesday.  We are back at it on Tuesday with labs, an appointment with Dr Keedy & then the infusion.  And after the infusion, radiation starts.  Thats every day for the next six weeks - but it only takes a few minutes.  And the good news about radiation is that Dr Keedy is holding the Red Devil (Adriamycin) during radiation so I get one less drug.  Woohoo.

Last night was a lot of fun - the Boyds had signed up to bring us dinner.  Since Kendall was out of town, they decided they needed to actually cook it for us too.  So Bob, Nadia & their younger son Cameron came over, cooked us an amazing dinner of burgers (everybody's favorite!), homemade fries & green beans followed by Gigi's cupcakes of course.  Maybe I don't look like two-ton tessie because of the steroids, it could be the cupcakes!  Eriana entertained us with one of her signature "Shows".  It was a lot of fun, we laughed a lot & had a wonderful time.  We are so lucky to have such great friends.

Speaking of great friends, I got a chance last night to catch up with one of my oldest friends - my roommate from my freshman year at West Point.  Kirsten is amazing and incredible - she is a child psychiatrist in the Army.  I'm so proud to be her friend.  She has a couple of really fabulous sisters too.  Anyway, its good to have friends that you can pick up where you left off the last time. 

We don't have anything planned for the weekend.  We may wander to the Verizon store & look at a new phone for EB as a reward for her 3rd quarter in a row of straight A's.  Kendall comes home Saturday afternoon - yay!!

For today's photo therapy, I chose a few shots from our wonderful trip to Costa Rica in 2009.  We rented a house in Tamarindo and had one of the best trips of our lives.  It was very adventuresome and we would go back in a New York Minute!!

Aren't they beautiful?
Several restaurants we liked were right on the beach - this shot was taken after dinner one night.

Kendall & Eriana at the main Tamarindo beach at sunset.

Me & the girls in a shopping center near our house.

Surfer girls.

Kendall & EB went zip lining.

At our favorite restaurant where Kendall loved the fish tacos.  The food in Costa Rica is amazing!

Things are sprouting

Yes some of the seeds we planted are sprouting, both in the garage & in the garden. And the veggie plants we started are doing well. I will post some pics this weekend. It's so fun to go out there & see what's happening. They are installing the irrigation tomorrow so that will be good. Doing okay this week. Today I was very tired so I worked at home this afternoon. Going to bed early & hoping to feel great in the morning. Kendall is going to South Carolina tomorrow; his great Aunt Bert passed away last night so he will be going to her funeral Friday & be back late Saturday afternoon. The girls & I are planning a pizza, movie & slumber party night Friday. Thanks again for all the emails, cards & texts. Love, appreciate & treasure each & every word!

Head Shaving Solidarity

Sorry I didn't get to post this over the weekend, but Friday night we had a big treat.  My "work husband" Bob & his wife Nadia came over with Gigi's Cupcakes.  Nadia just finished her CPA & is working as basically the CFO at Gigi's.  Proud of her!  And Bob wanted to shave his head.  So we did!  Here are the pictures.

"Before".  Me, Bob, Kendall & Nadia.

During.  Eri is supervising of course.

Emilia takes her turn.

And "snorkelly" had to have a turn too.

After.  Hah, mine is shorter!!

The other exciting thing this weekend is Payton, Emilia, Eriana & I went to see Mary Poppins at TPAC.  I have to say it was an excellent production.  The girls & I had a blast.  Here is a picture of us before we went.  I'm feeling good this week - in the office today which again is wonderful!  I get tired pretty fast but other than that, doing wonderfully!  And yes, I am tending to opt for the scarves rather than hats or the wig.  I have so many gorgeous ones now, its actually fun picking them out.  I'm still not very good at tying them though, obviously.....

Happy Birthday To Me, I Mean Us!

If I knew how to play a song on my blog I would treat you all to one, but I don't.  Today is my 41st birthday & Lisa's 3?th birthday.  I'm so glad we are spending it together even if it is in a treatment room.

We had visitors today - bearing gifts!  Makes the day much more exciting.  Julie B & Amber brought beautiful scarves & caramel puff corn & lunch!  And Pam brought gorgeous flowers & gift cards & spent a long time chatting with us.  Definitely brightened the day here.

I woke up this morning to Emilia wanting me to open her gift immediately.  She & Lisa went shopping Monday & she did great - I have some really great earrings on & she got me some nice lip balm as well as a beautiful rock that says I Believe in You & a very cool little thing of nail polish remover.  Kendall gave me a gift card to Nordstrom which Emilia & I will tear up tomorrow!  Little one is withholding her gift until tonight.  She was too busy assembling the tent on her bed for her stuffed animals to deal with birthdays this morning.

The girls were with Payton this morning & this afternoon the lucky ducks are out having fun with Eri's teacher Miss Karen & her sons.  I think ice skating was on the agenda but it turned into a beautiful afternoon so maybe swimming instead.  I know they will both have a lot of fun & I really am grateful to our friends who have done so much to make their spring break enjoyable this week, despite the circumstances.

So, we're thinking about taking a little holiday over Memorial Day.  Just to get away for a bit - we are thinking about Key West, Panama City or maybe just a long peaceful weekend at Papa & Mimi's in Naples. 

Last night we celebrated our birthdays at Cheesecake Factory - yum.  Lisa, EB & I also got our nails done before that; Eriana was too tired from her sleepover with Sammie - she had to rest before dinner.  Funny.  Notice that the possum had to go with us to dinner - freaked some folks out in the restaurant.

Chemo brain is really getting on my nerves.  I'm not used to mixing up my words or not being able to say what I want or think clearly.  Its not fun at all.  Hate that part.  We also had to do some more shaving last night on the head; Dr Keedy told me my scalp might hurt & yesterday it did - just touching the spiky hair was agony so we shaved it the rest of the way off.  That was high drama in our house because Kendall did it inadvertently while EB was in the shower & she had a melt down because of that.  Anyway we got it all worked out, a few trades & bribes & life was back to normal.

Oh, my Adorama photo books came yesterday.  Love, love, love.  Highly recommend Adorama if you're into that kind of thing.  Easy to use, advanced features, quick turnaround, high quality printing & binding.  Reasonably priced.  I haven't tried their prints yet but I will next time because they are much easier to use than NationsPhoto.  http://www.adorama.com/AdoramaPix

We transitioned our meal schedule over to a website to make it easier all around.  If you feel like bringing us food, please check out the schedule.  Here's the website: http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=QJLU1060.  If that doesn't work, go to http://www.takethemameal.com/ and type in Musgrove with the password jams.  You can sign up from there I believe.  Hopefully this will be less work for Rachel & Julie - it will also send you a reminder the day before.  And those dates are on there just as auto-populate. We are super flexible.  I wish the site had a way to say when we really NEED the help, but it doesn't.

I have a big BLOG surprise tomorrow so make sure you check back this weekend.  Pretty exciting.

My wig

You know you've been waiting for it.  So here it is.  Any & all comments welcome - I will just put the derogatory ones off on Lisa & EB who helped select it!  It was a really fun process & Kim, the program coordinator here who helps, was wonderful.  She also gave me a list of all kinds of other resources so we will be busy little bees taking advantage of Pilates at Gilda's Club & Makeup seminars & who knows what else!

Guess what - some of our seeds are sprouting.  Its raining today & supposed to get rain for the next couple days so that will really get them going.  The ones we are starting indoors haven't sprouted yet - but we got a grow light on them yesterday so we're expecting big things.  The ones that sprouted outdoors are the sunflowers that Dad gave EB & Eri last summer.  Eri is going to be pretty excited about that if/when she comes home!  Soon we should see some of the peas & other things we have planted get going.  I moved the irises & daylillies out of the garden into a spot where their beautiful blooms will be more visible.

For those who are wondering, I feel pretty good this week.  Getting a good nights' sleep is so critical to how I feel the next day. 

Last night we had a delicious dinner on the grill - Jeff & Luanne brought us the best burgers & hot dogs.  And mac & cheese to die for.  And you would NOT believe these fudge easter eggs that Luanne made.  4 of them, each with our names on it.  Made us feel really special (again).  Its good to be able to eat dinner!

We may venture out tonight with all 4 girls for manis & pedis.  Eri slept over (again) at a friend's house last night so she may be too worn out to join us...  Kendall wants to take us all out for Lisa & my birthdays so we will see if we are up to that as well.  So far so good!

Hard to believe tomorrow I will celebrate my 41st birthday.  Not the place I would necessarily choose to celebrate it, but the fact that I discovered my cancer early & am kicking the treatment's butt is enough to celebrate on its own.  So celebrate we will!  I think we will bring in something special for the nurses tomorrow.  Oncology nurses have one hell of a tough job, but they do it with such positive outlooks, such great smiles, and make us feel like they are genuinely happy to be doing their jobs.  What a concept!

Here's one last photo for you of Eri & her peeps at her "schweepover" last night.  It appears that Sammie & Maiya also adore stuffed animals.  Perfect matches.  Looks like fun huh - pasta for dinner & mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.  I really hope they didn't wear Stacy out!

Nothing new to report....

Another day, another dollar - or some semblance there of.  Day 3 of 5 almost complete.  Whew this is a long haul week.  Got a surprise visit from my friend Mindy.  That was nice!

Really don't have anything else to report but wanted to post this picture of Kendall & I last night.  I'm going to blame the fact that I look like two ten tessie on the steroids they're giving me!

No More Hair...

Well I still have a tiny bit - we did the shave but not all the way down to the scalp.  It was quite the adventure last night with cutting hair, shaving heads, etc. 

Yesterday's treatment was long and I was pretty sick at the end, but the great nurses took care of me and gave me some IV phenergan so I actually felt decent the rest of the night.  Had some jello for dinner (I know, right?).  The day was mostly enjoyable yesterday, though, because Lisa & Emilia were here with me.  We watched The Help, gossiped & chatted and of course giggled.

We are back here today for more treatment, followed by the CT scan so it will be another long day.  The girls are having an adventure today - swimming with Payton, getting their hair cut & then spending the night with "Minnie" and her family.  Makes me happy that they are out galavanting in our amazing spring weather.  Having Lisa here this week has been a godsend, I may start a permanent guest room rotation so we always have a third set of hands around!

Handsome guy, eh?

My friends, Omar & Connie, in Florida decided that Omar was going to shave his head in support of me.  So here he is - in all his shaved glory!  Thank you Omar - we can feel the support all the way up here!  Omar was a lot more aggressive with the shaver than we were, but we will be at that point soon.

I have to say, before I post the head shaving pics, that it wasn't nearly as traumatic or dramatic as I kind of expected.  I felt happy to be in control of it and enjoyed that we did it as a family, but other than that I didn't really feel much.  We were so lucky to share the experience with Lisa & she took some great pictures!  I don't know if she felt lucky to share it with us (hah!) but I was glad she was here!

I've been more or less avoiding mirrors - but that isn't really new for me either.  Emilia & I are going to go to one of the Nordstrom make up counters this weekend & get educated on what makeup to wear - that will help I think...  Its definitely the birthday of scarves & hats - I have already received some beautiful ones.

A family affair

Even little ones can cut

Shave shave shave

Daddy's turn

Kendall gets to finish the job

Ouch!

My turn!

Doesn't he look handsome!

A family portrait.  Eriana is crying because she was starving, not because of the shaving!





The start of the marathon

Partway thru the first chemo session of the 5 I have this week...

We had a wonderful weekend & found ourselves wishing we could freeze time. we had a delicious dinner yesterday brought by some friends from work - truly outstanding!

And Lisa arrived which was wonderful. Eriana insisted on sleeping with her last night. All looked good with my blood work ths morning. I do have to have my left leg ultrasounded Wednesday as it is swelling & hurting quite a bit.

Tomorrow after chemo I have the simulation to get ready or radiation. Not sure what that consists of, something with a CT scanner.

My hair is starting to fall out so tonight is official head shaving night! Am I nuts that I'm looking forward to that? I am anxious to get it over with I think.

I'm really hoping the nausea from this treatment isn't as bad as the CAV. Cross your fingers for me! I had a great treat today when my friend Karla & her mom came to see me during chemo. Looks for pics tomorrow of the baldness!

Random musings

I'm sad that its Friday - never thought I would say that.  I wish Monday would never get here but alas it will.  Lets hope the ifosfamide & etopocide five days next week isn't as debilitating as the drugs I got last week.

Its rainy here today & my thoughts are all over the place.  Its good to be in the office still - I can't wait to get up in the morning & come to work.  Of course by 3 pm I'm worthless & exhausted but its still a good day's work.  I've been so productive - gotta love that. 

And I continue to be so moved by people who stop to see how I'm doing, who seem genuinely happy to see me here (fakers!), and who not only offer to help but actually do help us with so many things.  We are one lucky family.  Yesterday I got a very sweet letter from one of my friends in Hendersonville; it truly touched me that she took the time to write me a letter. I also had lunch yesterday with one of my very dear friends who I haven't had a chance to catch up with in a while; she asked me questions that really made me think and the conversation and company mean the world to me.  Last night we were treated to excellent chicken chili & homemade corn muffins from a colleague at work.

There are reasons for this journey.  My contacts at Vanderbilt have helped me get one of my colleagues in to see a great hematologist. He really needs the help to get into a good medical system - and it feels just absolutely amazing to be able to do something for somebody else instead of accepting the favors and help all the time.

I will have to take a photo of the wall at home where I have displayed all the cards & letters I've gotten.  Its amazing to look at it - and very encouraging.  I get cards from people I have only met a couple of times, cards from friends I haven't spoken to since high school, and hand drawn cards from the kids' friends.  I treasure every single one of them and will keep them all forever in some sort of cancer scrapbook.  I know you can turn blogs into books so I will do that too.  One day 50 years from now my kids will be fascinated to read it (or not...).

This week I created a photo book with the images Rosemary took.  I love how it turned out & cannot WAIT for the hardcopy which is supposed to arrive next Friday, my birthday.  Adorama Photo Book

Speaking of birthdays, I got a really cool box of cookies from my friend Cori yesterday.  Yummy.  And an adorable card.  

Have a wonderful weekend, I hope it CRAWLS by to be frank.  Lisa gets here Sunday so we are pretty psyched about that.  We have some stuff to plant in the garden this weekend too which is very exciting.  And a list of honey-dos.  We are actually having a grown up dinner tomorrow night with our good friends John & Julie whom we haven't seen in too long.  Julie is a cancer survivor as well and one who has shared her learnings with me in a way that has been so impactful.  And we are even going to a St Patricks Day party after dinner.  Call us crazy!  The girls are happy because they get to spend the evening with their beloved Holly.

I have some rather random pictures to post for therapy today - some may offend you - if they do just look onto the next one.  For once, I didn't take any of them!

I think this is the only potentially offensive one so we will get it out of the way first(=

Bought this plaque at HomeGoods this week.  It called out to me - truer words have never been spoken.

The girls at DinoTrek at the Nashville Zoo this morning with Payton.

The Tinkerbell picture my sweet Emilia drew for me.

Surprise, surprise, surprise

Well, despite all the abnormal activity around our house, I was able (with the help of many friends and neighbors) to hold a small surprise party for Kendall last night at The Yellow Porch.  It was a beautiful evening, we were on the covered patio with delightful service and excellent food, and he was in fact surprised.  Success all around - thanks to those who helped pull it off - especially Katie Nelson who owns TYP & lives across the street from us.  I couldn't have done it without Katie making it easy for me.  Yet another of the lessons I have learned in this journey - everything does NOT have to be done by me in order for it to be right, good, and timely!

I got quite a few notes on the wig question & was inspired last night by my friend Ana to order some gorgeous silk scarves.  Will be fun to try them on.  The most common answer wasn't really an answer - it was do all of the above.  Monday Emilia & Lisa will be going to chemo with me so we will stop by & get our free wig at Vanderbilt.  They can help me pick it out which should be a hoot.

I believe I have solidified Eriana's extremely busy social calendar for spring break.  Her teacher, Miss Karen, and the parents in her class at FRA have been so amazingly kind and generous with their time next week.  She will have a fun-filled week spending time with different friends' families and even having a sleepover.  This is wonderful because it will give Emilia some grown up time with Lisa & I.  I'm not looking forward to Monday morning starting the 5 days in a row of 6+ hour days of chemo, but I am going to roll in there Monday with a big ole smile and go from there.

Our weather this week is phenomenal here - its incredible what it does for your mood when the weather is nice.  I feel amazing - always starving but amazing this week.  LOVE it.  And I'm excited to see Lisa & have her be part of our nutty household for a week.  We are scheming to come up with some way to provide products and services to cancer victims and their friends/families based on the things we have learned thru this journey.  So, at some point we will be soliciting your ideas as well as eventually your help in spreading the word about our venture.  So put on your thinking caps!

I thought for today's photo therapy I would include a few of the pictures Rosemary took of our family.  I included the pictage link yesterday so I know you can go see all of them if you want, but I also know everybody is busy & some of you may not want to look at 194 pictures of our family.  I really cannot imagine anybody who would NOT want to treat themselves to such an opportunity, but I suppose there are some out there.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Impossible not to smile looking at these!!!  If you're in the Nashville area & need a photographer, let me know & I will connect you with Rosemary.  I've worked with many photographers over the years & I believe she captured the essence of our family better than anybody else has.  Maryann said it well - its like the name of my blog - these images, the blog, our family - we are pure, real & fresh.

Happy Birthday Kendall!!!

I realized something random today - everybody knows pink ribbons are for breast cancer.  What a wonderful cause - there are races, walks, kitchen appliances, shoes, apparel, etc. to support breast cancer research.  But what is out there for other cancers?  Not a whole heck of a lot.  Don't get me wrong, with my family experience, I 100% support all the breast cancer causes - just makes me a little curious as to why there aren't causes for other cancers.

The question of the week is - wig, hat, scarf, doo rag or bald?  Wrestling around these options in my mind - while I wait for the inevitable hair fall out to begin.  I'll probably lean towards bald - especially when its hot out - but a cool black long wig with some colorful streaks might just suit me!  If you have a view or an opinion, let me know.

I told you I would post the link to all the pictures from the weekend.  Here they are - if you want any of the original files (they are about 7 MB each) let me know & I'll burn you a disc.  Garden Party Pics

The kids are on spring break next week.  I know Emilia is excited about that and I think Eriana is too.  We had some family photos taken a couple weeks ago by Rosemary Stanton, a wonderful local photographer.  Our Family Portraits you can check out the images she took - there are some really funny ones.  Of course Eriana was being Eriana & you will see that Rosemary captures her personality perfectly.  I will post some of the images when I have the CD but I think you will enjoy paging thru them.

As for me, I'm feeling amazing this week.  I still feel pretty tired come the end of the day & have to go home & put my feet up & chill out - but for most of the day I really feel like Judy.  Never thought I'd appreciate that feeling.  My appetite has returned with a vengeance so I'm pretty sure I have more than made up for the lack of calories last week.

The 4-layer carrot cake I made & EB decorated

Today's photo is from last night when we let Kendall have his cake & eat it too.  Its his birthday today & we decided to have cake & open presents last night because we are going "out to dinner" tonight.

Those trick candles require a lot of blowing

Yes It Is Almost Done!!

All the work that could've been done this weekend has been done.  Stunning, amazing, unbelievable, you get the pictures.  Thank you to everybody who came!  I cannot even believe how many people were here this weekend. 

I won't write much because I'm pretty much past the point of exhaustion (in a good way, don't worry Dad).  But before I post the pictures, I felt like sharing this email I got this morning from my Dad.  You probably recall the earlier posts about how close my Dad & I have always been.  This email made me smile all day - so much pride in here!  I don't think he will mind me sharing it.

Congratulations on organizing such a feat!!!!  Looks like you had lots of willing and ambitious volunteers (somewhere I heard that Tennessee is a Volunteer state)..  Kendall.....looks like your thoughts and design work are coming to fruition....according to plan I hope (an old saying "plan your work and work your plan").  Holds true I think.  I would think that may be the key to a lot of successful things like even running a race. I'm proud of you all.  EB...I know you are the key to all of this. You don't have to say much just stand by and help wherever you can and keep everyone happy.  That's a very important part of any successful endeavor.  Keep an eye on the progress and make sure the pieces come together correctly.  You're the ONE!!!  And-------Momma..Your kindness, forethought and appreciation are the primary factors behind the whole project.  I know you're just itching to get out there and get your hands dirty just like you did as we established our home in Fla. Just like a horse is always wanting to prove it's worth and show you what it can do......hold the reins and keep your head.  PLEASE don't do anything to affect your physical well being.  Sometimes that's harder than just jumping in but you are always good at discipline and control.  I miss being there and doing whatever I can also and so does Mimi.  Our turn will come and maybe we can water a plant or two or help with the harvest!!!   We're so happy that you are happy and pulling together as DeBocks and Musgroves.  As you combine all you bring from family experiences as well as all the training and practice you enjoy from life you guys will suceed in accomplishing only the best.....Love you,  Dad & Mimi.

So, the reason I wanted to share this - even though Dad wrote it to Kendall, Emilia & me this morning, really it is a note to everyone who is joining us on this journey.  And it is a journey.  It is a note of encouragement, a note of pride, a note of thanks, a note of inspiration, a note of perspective, a note of life.  And guess what, this journey is all of those things too - its encouraging (& discouraging sometimes), its making all of us who are part of it proud, its making us thankful, its inspiring (I know I have been inspired more than at any other time in my life), its definitely giving us perspective, and at the end of it, it will give us all a longer, richer, more rewarding life.  I know those are some of the reasons you have each chosen to walk this journey with us.  If you have others and you would be willing to share them, I would love to see them in the comments!

Now for the pictures!  I will also post all 300 or so I took this weekend in case anybody wants to check them out.  Will attach a link tomorrow.

Beginning of the day (notice the big pile of railroad ties)

Totally forgot to get a group shot today)-=  But you can see in this image just a few of the people who were here

All the way from another life in upstate NY, Amy K & her family sent us all Moe's Burritos!  And man were they delicious after working so hard for 4 hours!!!  THANK YOU!!!!!




I just like this picture - there was a huge pile of dirt in this spot 48 hours ago!  Now its just being used to burn the last evidence.  Also I love this one of Richard with his beautiful daughers.  Richard's wife, Vickie, stopped to say Hi & brought us some treats.





ALL DONE!  The open area I am shooting from will have a fence, pergola & gate - thats the next project.  Wouldn't be any fun if we didn't have something else to do.



Garden Party Extravaganza

One word sums up today.  Humbled.  We are so humbled that so many people would take their own time and energy and money to help us when we really need it.  We are so humbled that people genuinely enjoyed helping us.  We are humbled that those who couldn't or didn't want to help physically did so much other stuff like watching our kid or bringing amazing food or sending items to help out.  We are so humbled to look at the pictures from today & see the love & support in people's faces.  We are humbled to look out our bedroom window & see what will soon be a thriving garden.  We'll never enter that garden without thinking about each and every person who participated in making it a reality.  It is and will always be the most basic and pure kind of therapy.

Feels like today was a 56 hour day.  We went & watched Kendall finish his Tom King Half Marathon in under 1:30 this morning.  Takes my breath away to watch him run - it truly does.  Here are a couple pics of him racing and of the rugrats watching! 

I just really don't know how he does it - he ran the half marathon and transitioned straight into gardening mode.  He must be totally exhausted by now.  Maybe he feels like I do - I wonder how post-chemo fatigue compares to a 10 hour day of racing and heavy manual labor?  Interesting comparison.  The girls were total sweethearts this morning - cheering for their Dad.  Eri even saved her hashbrown from breakfast to bring for him.

So, after that Kendall & the girls went on Home Depot Run #1 (I believe there were only 2 today so thats a pretty impressive achievement).  I went to WalMart for some groceries.  I tell you going to WalMart is a horrendous experience for me under the best of circumstances but feeling like a 90 year old grandma its even worse.  Nevertheless, I survived. 

Folks got here to help around noon and it was non stop activity until we forced a work stop around 5.  A few people had to leave but I was so pleased that most folks stayed and ate dinner with us.  We had KFC that Pam brought along with mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits & these delicious green beans she made.  I don't know what made me happier - seeing the garden come together or eating dinner with so many wonderful people.  I ate three whole meals today!  And didn't feel nauseous at all.  Thats progress.  I am a bit sore from moving around a lot - especially around the port area, but don't worry Dad, I didn't overdo it.  I took it easy, took a ton of photographs & helped where I could. 

We have another wonderful crew coming tomorrow, including some people who were here today!  Emilia & I are working on a special thank you gift for everyone who helped us in any way.  It will take us a few weeks to get it completed but will give all of our helpers something to look forward to & remember the day by.

So, I know everybody reading this is thinking Shut Up Already!  We don't want to read, we want to look at pictures.  So here you go.  Enjoy.