What's New, Cool Friends, and a Few Pictures. :)

First off, Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all of you that have children! I hope you realize how valued you are, even if your kids don’t tell you as often as you’d like. J Being a parent is a tough job at times, but it is also very rewarding. I hope your rewards out-weigh your challenges and that you feel loved every step of the way.

I meant to post to my blog last week, but got a little sidetracked. Besides trying to tie up all sorts of loose ends before surgery, I came down with strep throat on Wednesday. UGH!  When it rains….it pours. Not only did I get it, but all 3 kids came down with it too! Oh well, the good thing about strep is that once you are on antibiotics for 24 hours, your symptoms typically subside and you are no longer contagious. (It’s not like getting a cold that lingers on and on, thankfully!)

After about a day, I felt much better and was able to tackle some more things on my list. When I got the diagnosis, I was concerned that my surgery would have to be postponed, but I was happy to hear that since I was feeling better so quickly, it would not affect my surgery after all. SO THANKFUL about this!

I was originally planning to walk in the Race For The Cure with my team, but my doctor advised me not to walk, so I got a wheelchair instead. He didn’t think it was a good idea to wear myself down before my surgery on the 14^th. (A huge thank you to my friend Erikka for lending me her grandmother’s wheelchair for the race…it worked out perfectly!)

I will post more later about the Race when I get the pictures all sorted from my photographer friend Jodi (who cheerfully braved the chilly temps yesterday morning to capture us all). Thank you my friend!

I DO, however want to post some pictures from a while back. Remember when I said I have the best friends? Well, I do. And in this post, I want to recognize my volleyball Divas for being some of my dearest friends.

After shaving my hair during chemo in January, I was contemplating what I would wear on my head for my first volleyball tournament. I couldn’t wear my wig, so I settled on wearing a little black hat with a red headband to match our jerseys. I was a little apprehensive about showing up at a tournament for the first time without hair, but was quickly uplifted by my wonderful friends once I arrived.

Everyone was there early to greet me and they even brought me a gift. A gift, for me? The words on the outside of the package confirmed something I already knew in my heart. ”We have your back on and off ‘the court’. We Love You So Much.” Jen, Monica, Carol, Shari, Nicki, & Amy.”

Well you know what? I Love You Guys TOO!!

I carefully opened the gift (knowing that I would want to save the wrapping with this very special message from my team; my FRIENDS). What awaited me on the inside, was a beautiful surprise that brought tears to my eyes. New team jerseys…in MY HONOR. The Divas are going PINK!!! The color of the shirt represents what we are fighting and the word TENACIOUS represents just HOW we are going to FIGHT it! Not only did the Divas get new shirts for our team, but they also ordered Tenacious shirts for all of the Diva kids and spouses. (Pink for the girls and black for the boys.) I am sorry, but HOW COOL IS THAT??? J It was an amazingly thoughtful gesture and it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it! (A huge shout out to Shari for designing the shirts, and to Business Impact Group (BIG) in Chanhassen for printing them so quickly!)

The shirts probably look familiar because they were the springboard for designing the Arrowhead Benefit shirts for the tournament this past March. We decided to use the same artwork, but we updated it to say Arrowhead, instead of Tenacious. The Divas spent hours upon hours preparing for the Benefit and it was a HUGE success. Calling for donations, making blankets and gift baskets for the raffle, calling t-shirt vendors for quotes, sticking hundreds of labels on raffle tickets, donating their time to site direct during more than one tournament, the list goes on and on! My Divas worked HARD and it showed! Thank you ladies!! *mwa*

I also have to send out a huge thank you to Rick Barto (MN Volleyball Association) for organizing the benefit tournament every year, for helping us every step of the way, and for his donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Thank you Rick for all of this and for your supportive words and prayers...I have so much respect for you and all that you do and give to those around you! (Gosh…I know I am forgetting people…there were several people that helped site direct at the tournament so that more money could be donated….Aaron, Cathy, Leslie, Traci, Brenda to name a few.)

I am pleased to announce that we raised a total of $3,629 to donate to Susan G. Komen!! WOOT!! WOOT!! Thank you to everyone that bought a t-shirt or raffle ticket, or donated items or time to this great cause!! I appreciate it more then you will ever know…

Here are some pics of our jerseys and the Arrowhead Benefit (you should be able to click on each picture individually to see them up close):

 




What’s next? Well….surgery is bright and early tomorrow morning. I honestly haven’t had time to really think or worry about it, but maybe that’s a good thing. J I know that I will be nervous in the morning when it all begins, but for now, I am trying not to think about it as I cross more items off of my list of things to do. If you have a moment to say a small prayer that all goes well….I would welcome that!

To all my dear friends and family…I love you very much and will post more as soon as I am up to it. Thank you for all you have done to support me thus far….

Love to all,

Nae