No More Diapers!

Guess who isn't wearing diapers any more? If you guessed me or Matt you're wrong! It's Carina! She is very, very proud of herself. We started on Wednesday and she wears underwear all day and even to bed. For awhile I was thinking she would be wearing pull-ups to college. Nope! She's now a big girl.

I also want to thank everyone who has contributed to my fundraising for the Scenic Shore 150 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A contribution by a co-worker today put me over $2,000.

I've heard about a woman from Fond du Lac who is 30 years old and battling recurrent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Her name is Heather Shanahan. She is going through chemo now and will have a stem cell transplant in the near future. I follow her story and her family's blog (http://heathershanahansfight.blogspot.com/). She is an incredibly tough, courageous woman and I will think of her as I ride. 150 miles on a bike is a piece of cake compared to chemo!

Woah! Nate is doing a 60 mile walk!! Walk, Forrest, walk!

My brother Nate is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk in Boston. He'll walk 60 miles in 3 days and camp with a bunch of women who are wondering what the heck this guy is doing walking for 3 days. I have to say, Nate isn't much of an exercise fanatic, and I would think the only way he'd walk for 3 days was if someone was after him with a weapon.


Nate has put together a great website (see the link to the right) and I encourage you to check it out and donate to his cause. He's trying to raise $2,500 and is 46% to his goal! Nice work, Nate!! WALK, NATE WALK AND WALK SOME MORE!!!!



Nate is the mountain man on the left. This was at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in May 2007.

No More School!

Olivia's last day of school was last Friday. She had such a great year and has learned so much. The best thing is she had such a great experience. She had a wonderful teacher and met some great friends.

Here is a picture from her end of the year concert and one with her teacher...they sang a dinosaur song called "We Will Stomp You" to the tune of Queen's "We Will Rock You". It was hilarious!!

The picture above is before leaving for the last day of school.

Finally, here is her leaving the last day (I tried to have some pictures similar to the first day).

Unfortunately, she hurt her finger at recess so she is actually crying in this picture! She's not emotional at school being out, but wounded!

On to summer....

Beach Fun and Bike Rides

Hello Everyone,

We arrived home on Saturday from just over a week in Florida with Olivia and Carina. Their cousins were already there when we arrived on Thursday the 22nd. We left Wednesday night and drove all night and arrived at 10:30am. The girls slept like expert travelers in the car and we ate breakfast at one of about one million Waffle Houses we went by.

The girls had a great time with their cousins and Olivia had 4 nights of sleep-overs in a row with them! They all played great together and Olivia and Carina were sad to see them go.

After they left, we saw a shark one day at the beach. Shhhh....don't tell my sister-in-law or we will NEVER get her back in the water. I was in the water right near the shore and came racing out. One of the new friends we made (an adult) was in the water and it swam between him and the shore. It was probably about 4 feet long and dark grey. Yikes!

Olivia advanced in the swimming department like crazy during the week. Most of her time at the pool was spent swimming about 4 feet between the steps and a grown-up. I think soon she'll be the world record breath-holder. She even went in the ocean - with one of us right next to her of course.

Carina wasn't interested in going out in the water, but had a great time in the sand and playing in the surf. She was into swimming in the pool too.

After their cousins left, the girls made a new friend. Emily is from central Illinois and the girls had a great time together. Emily's Dad was the one in the water when we saw the shark. He confessed to being a bit jumpy in the water the next day!

We were able to fit my bike in the car. On my first ride I experienced my first flat tire - 11.5 miles from the condo. I was unsuccessful in my attempt at the repair, so my Knight in a shining minivan had to come get me and take me to the bike shop. I got it repaired and had a lesson so hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be able to do it next time. I had three good rides after that for a total of about 88 miles (including the first "half" ride), so it was definitely worth bringing the bike along.

We left at 4a.m. on Saturday and got home at 8:30p.m. The troops did great on the way home as well. These pictures are from our final stretch in the car....

What a great week!!!!

Link to article....

Hi Everyone,
I've added the link to the article that was in our community paper today. The paper also had some photos of me with the girls. The front page of the paper lists some of the contents and for the article it said "Woman comes back after cancer bout". That's me, the woman with the cancer bout. It still looks so strange..... Isn't a cancer bout someone who fights and fights for years and years?

Oh My Butt Is Killing Me....

That will be the words out of my mouth at the end of July. I am participating in the Scenic Shore 150. Its is a 2-day 150 mile bike ride to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Please visit my donation page to the right.

I was also interviewed by someone from our community newspaper last night about my "experience". I think it should be in the paper on Thursday. I'll see if I can post a link.

Until later....

Sandy

Time to Relax...

Hi Everyone! Matt and I just got back from 4 nights in Fort Meyers, Florida with my brother in-law and his wife. We had great weather and all enjoyed some time for the adults. The girls were soooo happy to see us when we got home today. Tomorrow it's back to work.

We rented bikes on Sanibel Island and on one of our bike paths we came across the Alligator Warning sign...I was riding in front of the group and ringing my bell for them to get out of the way. Dave (my brother-in-law - orange shirt) said that he thought they might confuse it for a dinner bell....

Speaking of bikes...I now have my new bike. I actually have something different than the LeMond I first ordered due to back-order issues. I now have a Trek Madone. It's a fantastic bike. A little more bike than what I originally set out to buy, but I got a great deal on it due to the issues with the LeMond order. I have signed up to ride in the Scenic Shore 150 in July. I'll put the information up about that tomorrow.