where did July go?

And June too, for that matter!

Started out in Houston the second week of June. Conference was good, but the fun part of the trip was to have a great visit with my academy roommate, Linda. We had not seen each other for about 8 years, so it was great to catch up.

Flew home to Seattle straight from Houston, and the days fly by playing with KK, visiting with the kids, pretending it was summer (60 is better than the 100 in Texas) and working during the day. On the summer solstice, we had a great barbeque at Mukilteo Beach with the family, including Nan and Ron. It was a beautiful evening, and we sat and watch the sunset. We also spent a nice Sunday evening at Camano Island in a cabin on the beach. everyone came for cookout, and then Bert and I stayed over. Great short get a way that was very enjoyable. The weather even cooperated.

I also went in for the 90 day check since I started my meds regime, to determine how it was going and whether to switch to chemo or stay with the meds we are using. So, blood work and a full CT, and then a long 24 hour wait to go see the DR. the next day, and good news!! The meds are working great, the big c is not to be found anywhere, and no chemo needed. Yeah! We celebrated with a nice dinner out and a big gooey dessert, which tasted extra good since I had not had any sugar for about 2 months. I will stay with the meds and check in and have another CT every 90 days for one year.

Made a quick trip to New York City for a meeting at Staten Island Ferry. We had a great meeting, and I had a great Friday night in the big city with my friend Linda. We had dinner and a Broadway show and a really nice visit.

July kicked off with a long weekend at the Oregon Coast. The weather was fabulous, and the whole family was able to get away. We made our usual stops at Cannon Beach and the cheese factory. The baby loaf mini-vans were new, and we had a great time playing in those! We also made some new favorites, like Cape Foulweather State Park, which was amazing. It was so nice on the way home, we stopped to see the Mt. St. Helens visitors center.

I was busy when we got home, keeping up with work and decorating our bedroom. I had decided that the contractor beige had to go in our bedroom and it is so great since Bert put in my new window and new lights, so we painted, hung new curtains and got new bedding. And Bert built us a new bed. so we are looking nice and cozy now.

Most exciting event of all was Michal and Jason's news that we will be grandparents again! The little Frieslette is due in February.

I returned to Virginia mid-July, just in time to have a nice visit with sister-in-law Mary. We did some good sight seeing, in spite of the 100 degree weather, and we managed to get to three concerts in a week. I made four, as I snuck in a Fiddler on the Roof at Wolftrap when Mary was working one night. Nephew Carl arrived for a job interview, so that was good timing. Mary, Carl, Amie and I all got together for a nice dinner in DC before he flew out the next day. Best news was that Carl got the job he wanted, and will be moving to DC the middle of August to start the new job.

This week was busy with visits to friends, swimming in Sheri's pool every chance I got, and went to the Dr. here to get my Herceptin. I did a few chores in the garden, but it is just too dang hot to do much out there. there hasn't been a day below 90 degrees this entire trip.

And this upcoming week will be busy with meetings, workgroup and flying home to Seattle on Thursday. I promised everyone here that I would take at least 10 degrees of heat West when I go. Everyone will be happy if I can pull it off!