I realized just the other day that it was the my two year anniversary for being cancer free! I cannot believe that two years ago I was having the surgery that would make me better. So it's been a couple of days since my anniversary and I think it's funny that just before I had started thinking about my life and how I want to change it. I'm glad. I think it's definitely time for some changes. Since it's been two years, I can't wait any longer and I can't make excuses. Yeah, I do feel like junk a good amount of the time, but I can't let that get in the way anymore. I have to figure out how to plough through. I really do hope that this is just the beginning of things for me. Let's go back a few more days though.
On Friday, I was finally able to go out and do something with "the girls". On the way home, I stopped and spent a bit of time with my friend Kevin and his guy friends. Funny enough, one of his friends was an old acquaintance of mine. I had to remind him of it and we laughed. He was really good friends with my very first boyfriend and we had spent a few nights out together during high school and college when he and I got back together for a short time. I texted him (the first boyfriend) on the way home. He told me he was staying in Madison that night. I asked if I could stop and see him quickly as it was on the way to my house and I knew that his father wasn't doing well. It's always so odd to get together now. I feel like we've gotten so old. We grew up together and have known each other since we were about 4 or 5. Now he and his wife are expecting their first child. Kind of unreal...
On Saturday, I had the opportunity to sing at a woman's memorial service. It was such a lovely experience. I kept thinking how I hope when I'm gone, people are able to say the same of me that they said of her. It was just beautiful. I was also so thankful to be able to sing from 11:30-7:00 that day. I'm so blessed to have met my friend Dave who played for me all day long. We just kept picking songs and playing/singing them. We were like little kids with how excited we were getting over all of it. At 7, we finally had to leave so that we could make it to the theatre where we watched the youth production of I Never Saw Another Butterfly. The young ones did a really nice job of putting on a very emotionally difficult production. It was the story of a holocaust survivor and her experience in a camp. Serious subject matter, but they did a good job with it. There were several people from the Cats cast there and so we all stood around talking for a really long time. I got on Facebook to post my excitement about my anniversary and saw that my friend's father was doing very well. I was so relieved. I had been praying on the way home the night before.
Sunday basically consisted of church and then lunch with mom and Sarah. Going out with the two of them is always entertaining. We went to Qdoba and had a good time. We talked and laughed. We took pictures on the way out of the restaurant and then again when Sarah had to examine the big metal thing behind Qdoba to see if the valve on it was from Swagelok. I love them.
Now on to today. Things didn't seem to be going well from the moment I woke up. I went into work early so that I could work on things for the graduation program. Nothing was working out the way I wanted and I ended up with far more work than I anticipated, but soon things would be put into perspective. I found out that while I was frustrated with everything at work, my friend's father passed away. That broke my heart. He was such a great man. Later, the entire world started hearing about the enormous tornadoes in Oklahoma. It was awful to see the total devastation. I need to open my eyes a bit more so that I'm able to see all the wonderful things that God has given me. It's so easy to let little things get in the way and steal your focus, but I've been trying lately to make a daily decision to stay joyful. Not only am I going to choose joy, but I'm going to use whatever resources I have (no matter how big or little) to do what I can. I don't know what that means for me exactly, but I pray that it leads to a life that is more fulfilled and helps me to be a woman that people will love...and when my time comes, people will be able to say the kinds of things that they did for dear Trudy Templeton.
Song of the day: It Is Well With My Soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv5V3bY6qlI
