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!

 

Unnnnnnbelievable

Our entire kit and caboodle was out of town this weekend and that's another post altogether, requiring two nights in a hotel. Dada was staying another day or two so the Thingz and I got back last night. As Thing Three prepped for bed, he discovered he couldn't find his toothbrush. We hunted a little bit, but I handed him a new one and the evening progressed. 

This morning before school, Thing Two announced he couldn't find A) his retainer, B) his toothbrush, C) his toothpaste, D) all of the above. We hunted more strategically for those because... retainer. Gave up and told Thing Two where the new toothbrushes are. 

Thing One is still fast asleep and has the day off. 

So I texted Dada about the retainer and he checked with the hotel:

Guess what he found at the hotel front desk?

Not one, not two, but ALL THREE Thingz' toothbrushes! HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE EVEN RELATED TO ME!? I share my mother's and sister-in-law's despise-ment of the feeling of "sweater teeth" but apparently none of my offspring are likewise affected. Bleah! I cannot WAIT to tell on them to our beloved dental hygienist at their next appointment. Muahaha.

And before anyone asks, the tattoo goo is NOT used for the brushing of teeth. A certain of-age Thing has acquired some body art which requires maintenance but that's not my story to tell. Let's see how long it takes that kid to realize there's a toothbrush missing...

The plants edition

I just had to share some beautiful plants shots. I have a feeling these guys are some version of Birds of Paradise, but I don't know that. They were spread around our hotel in Bogota. I put the water bottle in for scale.

These are my favorite lilies at Lalaith Havens. Every so often we'll find hummingbirds visiting them. I need to fence them off so that The Idiot Bos doesn't race right through them... 

Anybody help a gal out and know what the plant on the left is? It belongs to Abuelita Ceci, my new Colombian grandma friend, and my Spanish isn't good enough to ask about it, haha! It looks like some variety of fern but it's curly and adorable and I want one!

Hotel pool time

Anytime there is a hotel involved, there had better be a pool. These fish kids could not wait to get in the water and release some energy. The first time we used it, we had the whole place to ourselves. Liam beelined for the hot tub while Carrie and Damon made visits back and forth between it and the pool. The second time we went there were at least two other families, so Damon got adopted into some games with those kids. Liam discovered a three-hole putt putt course just outside the pool area, so he befriended a boy about his size and did rounds. I mentioned to Dada, "that boy looks just like Blake did when he was that size." When Carrie got out of the pool to dry off, she spotted Liam and his friend and commented, "he looks just like Blake!" When Liam came in to help us check out of the room, we asked what the boy's name was. Liam said, "I dunno, but I thought he sure looked like Blake!" Must have been a dead ringer for everyone to notice.