Some pics from my family visit!

So last week my daughters and Son in law came for a visit.  It was a very laid back visit, not our usual running around to Disney and here and there!  I have to say, it was very relaxed and I hope they had as good a time with me as I had with them.

I spent some Mommy & Me time with both girls.  I taught Jordan how to make a few of her favorite dishes so that she could make them for her boyfriend when she got home.  I did some baking before they got here for Mallory who requested Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Oh, Sweet.Baby.Jesus. were they good!  Thank you Jacques Torres!  What a recipe but the chocolate "chips" which were disks cost $20!  Next time I will use good old nestle but Im sure I will regret that!  They were huge, thin and crispy.

The kids went to the beach and hung out by the pool.  We ate out and ate in.  Here are a few pics from the visit:

Mallory & Jordan (just woke up - usually they brush their hair!)

Kevin & Mallory

My human baby & my furbaby

Brutus reclaims his couch!

Jax from Sons of Anarchy
 - totally not related but isn't he adorable?

A rainbow going around the sun -
I've never seen that in my life!

Donuts we made from canned biscuits

Veggie/Pineapple dip

The best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

Sad to say that this week was back to business as usual.  Real Estate is picking up around here so thats a good thing!  I went back to the gym today for the first time in 6 weeks and took it slow.  I feel good and don't think I overdid it.  I suppose I'll know tomorrow morning.

Steve has only 10 more treatments left and we are counting them down!  I am so thankful that he has come through this with very minor side effects, namely just a tiredness that hits him in the early evening.  He definitely had an Angel or two watching over him.  Once he is done, we will get ready to go to Vegas for a few days to celebrate and than he will be tested in 3 months.  We do not expect anything short of a full reversal!  Please keep him in your prayers!

Last but not least, I will be keeping all the people on the Gulf Coast who are in the path of Isaac who has now been classified as a Cat 1 Hurricane, in my thoughts and prayers.  Of all the days to have a Hurricane hit, the 7th anniversary of Katrina has got to be making these fine people have horrible flashbacks to that storm.  Much love and hugs to all of you!

I got a hot date today with my man!

Oh yea, we are going to an afternoon matinee to see a movie about 2 old people rekindling the flame in their marriage....Hope Springs, with Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones (love him!) and Steve Carroll.  OMG but it gets better!  Than, after the movie we are going for Steve's radiation treatment!  We sound like we are two old buggers don't we?  LOL!

Actually, all kidding aside, Steve's radiation treatments are going quite well and the only side effect he is having is that the dreaded 'tiredness' they talk about seems to be hitting him in the evening right after dinner.  He usually needs to take a short power-nap while watching TV at night and he is fine.  He is very lucky as a lot of patients get this tiredness right in the middle of the afternoon.  Hell, I'd never get to a movie if I had to go at night as I cant stay up past 9 pm and I have no excuses!

We are getting ready for a visit from the kidlets!  Our girls and son-in-law are coming down for 5 days next Sunday!  I am very excited about that!  We really have nothing exciting planned as the kids really just want to go to the beach and hang by the pool.  I'm sure we will be going out to dinner most nights but I've already started to get the food requests from from my youngest daughter Jordan...stuffed artichokes?  Really?  Its funny because that was always my Dad's request when he visited me.  Made me smile when she asked me actually.

Steve is actually just about halfway done with his 9 weeks of radiation and he is really looking forward to our trip to Vegas he planned to celebrate the end of his treatment.  I can't believe that is next month already!  We planned this back in June and it really felt very far off.  Where did this summer go?  School is already starting here in Florida next week, I think Thursday?  Crazy....I am used to having scholl start after Labor Day so this is so strange to me!

As far as my weight, I am down a few pounds but I'm sure it will pop back up to my normal weight of 140ish.  I haven't been exercising as much as usual either due to some surgery but I will be getting back into that come September.  That probably has something to do with my weight loss as I am sure I've lost some muscle tone.  I'm just so thankful that I have my Sleeve to help keep my eating in check!

And finally, I am so sad that I will be missing BOOBs 3.0!  I have gone for the first two and they just keep getting better! I really wanted to go and then Steve's diagnosis came in June and he wanted to have a Vegas trip to look forward to and that trip coincides with Chicago.  All I can say to any newbies this year is hang on to your hats!  It will be such a fun, whirlwind weekend and you will have memories to last a lifetime.  The planning committee keeps outdoing themselves...trust me on this!  A more dedicated group of women would be hard to find. For me, I am telling myself, there will always be next year...