Great idea. Throw a party then leave for the beach!

We threw a Chaos Party Father's Day weekend. Thing Three had turned 15, Dada had turned 50, and I was (mostly) done with cancer treatment, so we figured it was a good time to celebrate!. 

That would be a skeleton on the stairs under the streamers.

There was pie.

And people everywhere!

It rained until about noon on Saturday, but cleared out and dried out so we even managed to use the deck! We'd been a little worried because we weren't sure how many to expect and if they'd all fit in the house if everyone came at once...

Cadaver was in charge of making sure everyone got a name tag and signed the guest book. You show up at one of our parties and we will put you to work!

Thing One and I were upstairs and stopped what we were doing to listen for a minute. 

"Are they playing Twister?!"

"Right foot green."

"They ARE playing Twister!!"

 Thank you to everyone who squished a visit to our house in admist all the weddings, showers, grad parties, and Father's Day bashes that weekend! We loved having you!

Next year there will be a Christmas in July/50.5 party so save the weekend of July 24/25, 2026!

Radiation rundown- ONLY FUN PHOTOS- appropriate for all viewers, I promise!

FINALLY we are into the fun photo posts! Okay, so here's the deal: proton radiation wasn't here in town. It was in a big city two hours from here so Dada and I would get Thing Three on the schoolbus Monday morning and head to the city where we'd then stay until Friday after treatment when we'd drive back. We put quite a few miles on Gladys!

While it wasn't ideal to be away from the Thingz and I couldn't exactly advertise during our absence that hey, we are absent, there are always silver linings. The biggest one and the one we will be forever thankful for is this: 

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH OUR FRIENDS!

Okay, okay, I was getting treatment that will hopefully help ensure cancer never gets a Round 3 and that's important too, but YAY, WE HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH OUR FRIENDS!

Above is a crew of some of Dada's childhood besties. Some of those guys he played ball with in elementary school, learned to drive with, got into Shenanigans with, and so on. They've gone to school together forever. There's a saying about "you can't make new old friends", and now that we are all turning 50, some of these are golden oldies, ha!

Another saying is "make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other's gold." Everybody knocks social media, but it can be an incredible connector of people you loved lifetimes ago! Above is a gal I used to camp with. Not as a counselor or a staff member- we are talking as 10-year-olds in a cabin together at sleepaway camp without our parents. Not only did I get to reconnect and catch up with her and her wonderful family, she introduced us to one of her new coworkers so I got the old friend AND the new friend experiece! 

Dada had a group of guys he'd been friends with his freshman and sophomore years in college before moving across campus and falling in with a new group. I'd never met the guys of that first group and he himself hadn't seen them SINCE college, so we are talking 30 years of radio silence followed by becoming Facebook friends and maybe some texts to, "hey, we're in town, and you've never met my wife, but wanna have dinner?" It was so great! What a treasure to meet people who were kind when they themselves were students, who invested in a friendship and were willing to reconnect and then to also enfold me!

We also got to catch up with that second group, friends we love but we never get to see because it's just far enough that we can't easily meet for dinner or whatnot. Until now most of us were outnumbered by our kids, so there'd been sports and activities and all the nuttiness, but NOW that we've grown BIG Thingz, we are looking forward to staying in better connection. 

You're probably thinking, "how much eating out did they DO?" Yeah, you do quite a bit on an extended stay like that, AND our friends were happy to host get togethers. It was probably the most retsaurants we will try in a six week block of time for the rest of our lives, and I didn't have a bad meal at any of them. Our hotel had continental breakfasts, and for those of you who worry about money, rest easy: the hospital works with some of the hotels for reduced rates for those undergoing my kind of treatment. The hotel was also a quick walk to an amazing cemetery, but that's an entirely different post.

My team of ladies kept laughing at me. When I'd donned my gown and headed into the radiation room, one of them would ask, "soooo, do you have plans tonight?" Once I got to crack her up completely when I told her we'd been out for dinner the night before, had already had coffee with my camp friend, and had plans for a game night at a different couple's house that evening! We were wasting no chances to spend time with people. 

I hope that some of the intentionality sticks- I tend to turn into a hermit once I'm home- so in case you didn't get the memo yet, Chaos Party at our place this Father's Day weekend! 

What's a Chaos Party? It's us, adding chaos to everyone's schedules by throwing another party amidst the graduation celebrations and Father's Day BBQs. Just kidding. Dada is turning 50 on Friday the 13th and Thing Three just turned 15 and I'm (mostly) done with treatment (the intense stuff, anyway) so that deserves confetti and bubbles and hugs! So come on over!

 

Birthday girl

Yes, this is really old news. The Evil Overlord (or so she might like to think of herself) turned 15 a month and a half ago. Today I have the relative peace, quiet, and brain function to post about it...

She's such a nut. 

Contrary to being a certified karate black belt, little kids tend to orbit her anyway, including in restrooms. She looked up through a crack in the stall once to discover she was being ogled by a small girl whose caregiver quickly went into Admonishment Mode. The funniest part was that she had unknowingly found said small girl's name tag at church previously. To hear "So and So Such and Such, how would you like it if someone was peeking at you while you were using the restroom!?" just about sent her into a fit of giggles. She recounted the story with great glee. There's always a spot on her albeit still bony lap for a small child:

She loves the water and is such a fish. She loves making people laugh, most recently by employing that double edged sword that is sarcasm. It's been really fun to be able to joke around with her and have her get what slips over the boys' heads. "I can't wait until you're old enough to tell you what I really think of you" has been uttered on more than one occasion around here if I am being honest, usually followed by the Toy Story quote, "but there are preschool toys present." Most often, it's followed by snickers from most parties, the moment is diffused and life goes on. 

She decorated her own cake this year. I thought I had pictures of it, but apparently I have this BosleyBomb one. I mixed the colors for her and she went to town. Grandmama was in town to help celebrate. Fifteen! We've had that kid forever! She's quick to delightedly point out that soon she'll be able to drive me for my maintenance meds. Talk about being glad all my hair is already gone, because boy, oh boy, would that be an occasion for pulling it out! Yikes. We are so not ready for this...

She claims to be anti-physical touch, but as you can see there is still plenty of personal space invasion going on. I'm honestly not sure how many of her friends hug her as she also claims several of them are afraid of her. She's crafting a quiet, witty, but watch out when I let loose kind of persona. 

And she also runs on ice cream. 

I never dreamed my daughter would be a black belt or ride skateboards or want to play the ukulele (that's on her Christmas list) but here she is in all her glory. She's at her grandparents' this week and I really miss her and her hugs. And not only because the new dishwasher still hasn't arrived and she'd been doing the dishes...

Happy belated birthday, Carrie. Thanks for being so patient with us this summer when things are seven kinds of crazy. We are blessed to have you, kiddo. Love you bunches.