2.5

I've seen people do this on blogs and I just couldn't help myself because I am aware every single day how fleeting this time is. So, excuse me or indulge me. Your choice.


C, you are two and a half now (and a few weeks by the time I got this posted).


You are beautiful. I can tell what the current weather is by your hair (straight vs. curly).


You are still constantly moving and you prefer to run just about everywhere. Your run is unique. There is a degree of flailing involved and sometimes it's on tip-toes. Your cheeks still jiggle a little when you run.

You're the toughest girly-girl I know. You love your tutu and twirling around and you can wear high heels far more competently than I can. At the same time, you love climbing and the rough and tumble and you're probably made of rubber because it takes a major booboo for you to even notice. You still can't throw a ball to save your life.


You love animals but are afraid of them at the same time. You love them from a comfortable distance.

You like to say, "Yee haw!" when you put on just about any hat.


You are bossy. You like to tell everybody what to do, but aren't terribly vigilant about following the rules yourself. Though, you will do a lot of things for a cookie or a lollipop.

You hate wearing shoes.

You love your friends. You are always talking about them and saving stuff for them or assigning things to give to them when they're not around. You love to chase them and laugh and laugh.

You usually get the hiccups when you've had a good laugh.

Your favorite foods are: ravioli, berries of any kind, olives, muffins, ice cream, bananas, milk. A lot of the time you'd rather not be bothered to sit down and eat though.

You are constantly talking and singing. Sometimes I'm allowed to sing with you, sometimes not.


You don't say "my buckleup" anymore. But, I love when you say, "I love you anyway too." just like Olivia.


You are the best. Love you.

Small Victories

Anyone still reading? It's been a while.

It's been a busy summer so far I guess. The summer always is and the fleetingness of it bums me out a little bit. I used to say to a couple of friends at work that the summer was almost over, in like, early June, just to prep myself for the reality that it would be over soon. It's not as much of a torturous tease as it was when I was in school, but it's pretty close. Maybe I do need to move to Costa Rica.

Last week I had my first post-op MRI and follow up appt. Luckily (or something) work has been so busy that I didn't really have time to spend worrying about the MRI or the results. This is the first MRI I've had where I did have some cause to be anxious. For the first ones I was really in denial that anything could actually be wrong (that ole "that sh*t happens to other people"mentality). Then, for other MRIs I had, I already knew I had chordoma, so it was like that line from Juno, "I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans can I get into?" Not really a cause for concern.

Work was so busy last week though that I didn't really have time to worry. Isn't it weird when you can get more worked up and stressed about something at work than say, your LIFE? I haven't figured that out yet, so I have to chew on that for a bit.

I did my thing and I went to my follow-up and....phew....things were fine. Strangely, I worried more after the appointment. It's the chitchat about the realities of chordoma that wakes me up and makes me take notice. I mean, I should be running out in the street and shaking my sillies out or something, but sometimes these appointments are like a frying pan over the head of "You're not out of the woods yet, sister."

We talked a little bit about the having-another-kid thing again. They said if I do plan to conceive again that I should just dial up the ole C-section, b/c pushing out a baby may not be so good on a fragile pelvic region. It occurred to me later, since I've been thinking about some of this fate and manifest destiny stuff lately, maybe this is why I had such an amazing childbirth experience the first time. Everything worked out incredibly well, in a hospital even, and I don't know if that's all that common these days, but now I'm especially grateful that I had that experience. In some ways that allows me to move on and now just be grateful if I have the opportunity to have a C-section. It will just seem a little strange to schedule a birth and have it be over in the time it takes me to drink an iced coffee. But hey, I'm not complaining.