Cancer-free that's me!

I'm happy to be a part of my cancer center's slogan. I went back for my check-ups recently--a year and half since my diagnosis--and through ultrasound and blood tests they determined that there is no detectable thyroid cancer. I'm really glad. I knew those would probably be the results I'd have, but I always get a little nervous the day or so before my appointments. It's really nice to have your doctor say "You're my most consistent patient!" meaning that all my levels that were supposed to get really low (near zero) and stay there have done so over the last year. It makes me want a "Have you hugged your endocrinologist lately?" T-shirt. The other fabulous thing is that I can continue to nurse Mary Tessa until she weans in the next 6 months or so, with no adverse effects on my health. Last year quite a few less-experienced doctors were not giving us that option. I remember hearing a woman with my same cancer say that a year later she looked back and thought "Did that really happen to me? It feels like a dream, my life is so normal now." I'm not quite ready to say that, but I am happy with how little my diagnosis affects my everyday now (beyond my morning granny pill).

We've got it good OR I haven't got it.

This morning I made an appointment to see if this is strep throat that I've got. So I was able to swing into the Medical Center and get Mark, trade off the car and kids to him, and while I was at my appointment a few buildings away they went off to prove why we've got it good. And this is it: Instead of having to wait in the waiting room with me, or killing time with Dad at a quikEmart, they got to go to the zoo. Because it's right across the street. And fabulous. And free to student families ("we're not low-income, we're just in academia!") The Zoo was particularly fabulous today because it was a bit breezy and the animals were all feeling social and the flora there is always so refreshing. Being with Dad in the middle of the day is treat in and of itself. And I just think that that is great. So the raging fiends of whiningland that I brought to Mark were all tranquil and pleased when they picked me up a few hours later. If you know Mark, a true mandate to go to the zoo in the middle of a Friday was just bliss--he's too hard-working to get there very often, even though there are FEW places he'd rather be. Those kids and Marko, they've got it good.

I've got it good too, because I haven't got it. The strep throat that is. So you can still be my friend.

Now, a picture of the kids at "swim blessons with Miss Morgan" last month. In honor of finding out that the Parks Department maintains free swimming pools here--we're going again tonight. Got it good, I tell you!

Simon's school of lizardry

Simon is so intent on tracking lizards that he's become despondent over all the following in the last 72 hours, purely because they interfere: having to go to church in the morning (morning being when lizards are slowest), having to go to bed (he wants to be free to slip outside at any opportunity), or having anything scheduled during the day.

However, he attended his Sunday meetings and was rewarded with this prize shortly after:

A baby gecko.

Poor buddy dropped its tail over the new friendship with Simon, so we had a little conversation about observing and not always catching, and "what would it feel like if you had to choose between dying or losing a leg? Is it different than just loosing a fingernail?" (Pretty good reasoning of mine, if I do say so myself. Did you know a gecko's tail keeps twitching as a decoy for a lot longer than you'd think?)

Simon even mowed down by hand a huge patch of grass near the garden that's been growing out of control and out of the mower's reach--all because he was sure a green anole was still hiding there. Tenacious. Dedicated. Amazingly observant. Those are the qualities you'll come away with if you study at his school.

Mary Tessa's found an apprenticeship as First Tomboy. She's not afraid to get right down there in the leaf litter.

Lest you think it's only lizardry you'll come away with, Simon discovered this outside before I was even awake today. Happily Mark was still here to throw around words like "ovipositor" and "stick bug" and "male/female dimorphism."

"This" is actually "these"--a couple of stick bugs . . . ahem. The male is much smaller (the dark brown section at the bottom).

So you can probably already tell, but I think this is a great way to experience childhood. Keep it up, my boy!




Keeping us well-rounded was our attendance at the library's fairytale event. Books, fancy dresses, and small sandwiches.




We like culture and we like dirt.

All-American bike parade!

Happy 4th of July!!!