WARNING!  INSANELY LONG POST AHEAD!

Too much to explain - let me sum up...

As most of you know, the last month has had me pretty much living out of a suitcase - from home to arkansas, to texas, to home, back to arkansas, back home - far too much to go into details, so in an effort to cover the highlights and to keep this as brief as possible, I thought that I would just give you the last month in photos...

Texas...so good to be with my sweet friend Vicki - despite the grief and a broken foot, it was good to be in the same space with her - to get to see her life/house/things that she loves...I totally understand why her house was one of Aundreas favorite places to be....

Love this shot of Tori - she was eating an ice cream cone and struggling in the heat to keep it from dripping all over.  Just not enough hands for the ice cream and the napkins!

After Texas, it was back home for a week to stay with the Mucci clan [see next to last post].

Sandwiched in there was Fathers Day - the whole fam damily was over to celebrate, and my sister Jannah decorated a FANTASTIC cake for my dad - each one of the apples on the tree represents the 'unmarried' kids - his and my moms initials are on the trunk of the tree and then each of the baskets has my married siblings initials and an apple in the basket for each of their children.  It turned out super cute - all that creativity and skill in a 15 year old.  Amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a shot of her with my brother Sam that day...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me with my sweet niece Addison...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with my two incredibly good looking brothers, Abe and Joe...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom with our newest addition, Hadassah [isn't she getting CHUNKY? I love it!]  I love how she is looking at her grandma and how her little fist has a firm hold on Moms shirt...so sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to Arkansas for a week packed with fun, friends and family...

I had a couple of fun days being 'aunt Havah'...Syd had the FANTASTIC idea painting/putting sparkles on our toes since it was kinda cloudy/rainy and our pool plans were foiled...

Works in progress...[Syd - you are so beautiful!  Love this picture of you!]

And the finished product...so fun!

Got this shot with Logan in the midst of all the toenail fun - man do I love him! [more than I love all three of those chins that I am sporting - sheesh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also got to meet my friend Dena's baby girl for the first time - she is 20 months old and super sweet - funny...I love this age - this would be Dena, Kenya and I.  [Kenya wasn't so much about sitting with me for a picture, so Dena and I got on the floor with her and I took this one myself - not too shabby, really...]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a random opportunity to give blood with my friend Jen while at church on Wednesday night - so much more fun with a friend btw.  ['Nobody makes me bleed my own blood' - name that quote!]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KK was working that night, so she came out to check on us and got this shot.  [yes, at this point the blood drive girls were laughing at us BIG - the girl who was sticking me told me that we were the most fun that had had in a LONG time ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They set us up on cots right next to one another - Jen got started before me...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But guess who finished first?  Ummmm - yes, that would be me.  [because everything really is a competition you know]  Here we are getting juice afterwards - right before the free t shirts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the bloodletting, I was able to spend a few precious moments with this dear one - my friend Judy VW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday was a SUPER fun day - Vicki was in town, and she and Sydney and I spent the day together - first up was lunch at Shogun - a Japanese restaurant where they cook your food at the table.  So cool.  I love the challenge of eating with chopsticks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Syd and Vicki....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we went and painted pottery - I haven't ever done that before - it was SO.FUN.  A little overwhelming if you walk in not really knowing what you want to paint or how - but still FUN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday I got to have lunch with the youth of america [Sydney, Seth and Sam] at the Olive Garden...I cannot tell you how much it blesses my heart that they want to hang with me [or at least don't mind ].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night and Saturday I got to hang with some of the coolest girls on the planet - [girls that weren't there - and you know who you are - you were missed BIG] Also - sorry - my camera ran out of batteries before I could get the other side of the table!  Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good time was had by all - I came home the early part of this last week and have spent the time going to the doctor, getting paperwork straightened out for work, doing laundry, unpacking, settling back in...trying to get some semblance of a routine going, without much success at this point.

It has been a little difficult to be back home and to slow down...less busyness means more time to sit and ponder/think/grieve...not quite ready for that.

In all of that however - I was out driving the other day and right in front of me appeared this rainbow...So pretty - I needed to see it on that day - to be reminded that God is still God.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

So there you go folks - congratulations for making it to the end! That is all for now...

 

As many of you know, my family loves competition and loves to play games.

With so many of us growing up, you can imagine that we all loved different games - which could make things hairy when trying to decide what to play.  Everyone wanted to play their favorite, which often caused conflict.

This all changed with the purchase of our first gaming system - the very first version of the Nintendo.

While there were many games to be played on the NES, we all fell in love with this game.

Finally we had a game that we all agreed on - one that we were addicted to, really. 

As much as we loved it, the NES soon went the way of all gaming systems - replaced by better, cooler models.

But Dr Mario has always remained a good memory for us.

Recently my sister and brother in love found one of these old school versions complete with the Dr Mario game and rekindled our addiction/love for the game.  They generously brought it over to our house and let us borrow it for a few days earlier this week...

Monday night after a day of travel and doctors appointments, I decided to go to bed early, but woke up close to midnight hearing noise in the living room.

I walked out to investigate and this is what I found.

Yes - that is in fact my PARENTS sitting on the living room floor like game junkies at MIDNIGHT.  Notice my little brother passed out on the floor behind them?  Did I mention that it was the middle of the night?  And they both had to be up early?

I just laughed and got the camera.

I love my family.

For those of you who don't know, I have been staying with the Mucci clan this week while Jeff and Wendy are taking a much needed [in my opinion] vacation together.

It has been a super fun week - so glad for the distraction and laughter that has come from hanging with the kids all week.  Everyone was kind of concerned about the fact that I am still on crutches - but this week has been such a breeze thanks mostly to the kids all working together so well, and MADDIE.  Holy cow - I need to brag on this girl for a minute!

 I cannot say enough good about this sweet girl - she has single handedly done most of the running around/caring for Max [who is 2, for those of you who don't know] and also shouldered much of the cooking responsibilities as well...I have done my best to help her, but really - she is the one that has been doing the work...and never once a cross word or negative attitude or 'poor me' out of her.  [ummm -yeah - if it was me at 13, all of the above would have applied, thank you very much]

Thursday night we were able to get a babysitter to come and stay with the boys and Maddie and I had a girls night out.  We had a blast eating at Red Robin [LOVE their Bonsai burger - yummy!], sharing a strawberry banana milkshake and fries...then went to see 'Oceans Thirteen' at the theatre.  So good just to relax and get some one on one time with her...I had a FANTASTIC time.

Here are some pictures from the evening for your viewing pleasure.

[and yes - I DID get six inches cut off my hair - and YES it IS super red]
[I LOVE this shot with her chin on my shoulder ]

In our booth....

**PINCH**

I love you Maddie Mucci!

Today would have been Aundrea's 41st birthday.

Funny that so simple a sentence can have so many emotions wrapped up in it.

Yesterday I started scanning in all of the pictures that I have accumulated over the last six years with her and her family - so just be prepared - there are going to be some trips down memory lane coming up here over the next little bit of time.

I have some FANTASTIC birthday memories with my friend - these pictures are from her birthday in 2003.  That year, I had arranged to have a couple of days off work and had called B and arranged for some of her girls in the area and I to throw a surprise birthday party for her.

The morning of her birthday I drove to AR and as prearranged, set up at Judy VW's house to do all manner of baking and birthday preparations.  So much fun - I wish that I could remember everything that we made, but the only thing that I remember about the food preparation was that I made a fairly decent replica of this fantastic fresh fruit flower arrangement out of all sorts of melon, kiwi, strawberries and the like.  Super pretty.

Anyway - I digress.  After all of the preparation was done, at the prearranged time we all showed up at the house with gifts and party in tow.  She was totally surprised [one of the few times that I was actually able to surprise her - I was pretty proud of that ]..we had such a good time.

Here is the only shot that I got of the table/cake - you can barely see anything except for the sparklers that we used in leiu of candles...[pardon the quality] That would be Aundrea and Reese in the background and the aforementioned fruit flower arrangement in the front left...

After the cake cutting and general birthday festivities, these three yummy girls put on a special birthday show for everyone... [pinch]

At the end of the evening we all gathered for a group shot before everyone left for home - and someone realized that after eating all of the yummy party food, none of us had lipstick on...  Leslie E. solved the problem by whipping out her ever-ready BRIGHT RED lipstick and we all passed the tube around - laughing about the vanity of it all, as well as the fact that we all looked like super BIG dorks wearing the same color...notice though, that no one was bothered enough by the dork factor to abstain from wearing it.

With the family...[and a few extras - I see some Lasse children in there too ]

This was the last one of the evening - we all smooched her and left our lip prints on her face...
[yeah - mine is the one on the left cheek  ]

How grateful I am for these memories...

Happy Birthday friend...

My world seems to have gone from color to black and white for a while.
I know that this is temporary, and am so grateful for all of your prayers.
I also know that my friend is waiting for me in heaven  - a simple thought perhaps, but there is a great deal of comfort in that.
It is difficult to get back here into the xanga world - difficult to know what to say.
I love that even in the midst of the grief, there is laughter - I'll have a funny story for you tomorrow...

For those of you that know me [at least better than others] - you know that dates are extremely important to me - I keep track of dates with an almost OCD like quality...and it shows up most frequently in the remembering of when I have met certain people. 

Chances are really good that if you are a close friend of mine, I can tell you the exact day that we met in person.  Why?  Who knows - but it is weird, and it is me...so there you go.  No other explanation.

Today is the 6th anniversary of the day I met this dear one....

And my life has been dramatically different since.

Too many memories [already] to be contained in one post - suffice it to say  -

Since that day I have breathed easier,
Laughed a LOT more,
Found a safe place to just 'be'...
Breathing got a bit easier
I found a missing piece of my heart
Realized that sisters can be made - not born...

I love you A.

Just for fun...

I thought I would give everyone a break from the drama with my foot...

My sister Hannah was over the other day during nap time - Ian fell asleep in the big bed, and Hadassah on my lap.  I was messing around with the camera, taking pictures of my sweet niece when mom came out from putting Ian down and asked to use the camera to take a quick picture of him as he slept.

When I got the camera back, I laughed because apparently these siblings like to sleep in the same position.

Teehee.

They make me laugh and smile and get that warm fuzzy feeling in my belly. 

Never has an aunt delighted in her babies more - of that I am quite certain.

And the saga continues.....
[Caution for those with queasy stomachs - questionable photos ahead]

So I went back to the doctor today for my follow-up appointment thinking that I might get the stitches out and be able to start walking on my foot soon...

No dice - apparently I am going to be on the crutches for a MINIMUM of six weeks total - and 'we will re-assess and talk about it at that point'. 

Sigh.  Looks like it's gonna be a super fun summer...

For those of you who are squeamish, DON'T LOOK at the following pictures - I think they are cool, but some of you may think it is sick...

Here is the x-ray of my foot from today - turns out I was wrong about the metal count in my foot - it is actually one plate and SIX screws...sheesh.  Talk about overkill.  That is a LOT of metal.

Here I am inspecting my foot for the first time - I was surprised at how big the incision was - if I counted correctly, that is 18 or 19 stitches - and if you are curious, it is almost three inches long. 

And the [SICK] close-up.... I love that you can still see the 'yes' on the top of my foot - cool that they cleaned everything up so well when they were through...

There you go folks - sorry if you are throwing up now - I promise it LOOKS a lot worse than it actually is...[I think]....

Not much going on here - LOTS of laying about...that's about it.

Took this picture while recuperating - one of those GREAT 'hold your arm out and take the picture yourself' shots that is such a fluke - a good fluke - that it surprises you...Ian had crawled up in my lap to love on his new baby sister, and I siezed the opportunity.  Awwwww.

My store sent me flowers this week - instead of sending a traditional thank you note, I decided to put my creativity and boredom to good use and have a little fun - so I made a few signs, took a few pictures, and sent them via the internet to be developed at my store so they could post them on the board.  Fun, huh?

That is really all I have got for right now folks - I was starting to get a little bored yesterday, but am still not really at that place yet where I can drive myself around. [HATE this helpless big baby feeling btw]  So my sweet Wendy came and picked me up for a spend the night at her house [combined with the season finale of Grey's ] for a change of pace.  So grateful for her...