What a Weekend! Love and more love

Well, it was a weekend to beat all weekends.  Busy enough to keep us busy but not so busy that I couldn't get in a nap.

Friday night our oldest Granddaughter was in her very first "End of School Celebration".  At 5 years old her school had a great and short celebration of songs, jokes and ice cream.  We went to see this and was really proud of our granddaughter and how brave she (and all the kids) was to stand up on a stage and sing and tell jokes.

Saturday my firend Linda and I had planned lunch.  We had been trying to do this since the end of March but one time she was sick. Another time I was sick. Then she or I had something else to do so it took a while to get our calendars in sync to go out and enjoy a nice lunch.

We went to a local place - Longhorns Steakhouse - where we could sit and enjoy our meal.  What I didn't know was we were going to be joined by 25 others who all wanted to eat and celebrate with me.

We took up several tables and it took a lot of pictures to get everyone in but what fun we had.  

We laughed, sang, ate a gret meal and dessert and I got wonderful funny cards, sweet gifts and lots and lots of hugs.  

We were celebrating my remission and the fact that I don't need a transplant - yet!!

My transplant doctor is going to change up some meds and increase some meds and hold off on the transplant for a while.  We will reevaluate around the end of August. 

So I get to enjoy my nice warm summer with ladies who make me laugh, sing, pray, and make me feel like a princess. 

In all it took us a little over 2 hours to eat, and 3 waitresses to get us our food and drinks.  The staff was absolutely wonderful and joined in on the hugging.  

We took pictures. Lots of pictures!  At one point I think all the cell phones were going at once and then we shared the photos between the phones.  Those who didn't know how to do that, got instructions on how to do it while others took photos of that too.

                  

       

 I even got a tiara and Feather Boa to wear for the day.

I had just started going without my hat indoors so for some it was the first time they saw my new baby hair which is really light and blond so from a distance, I look bald, but I'm not. I have really, really blond hair that is very short still, but you should see how fast I can get ready in the morning now.  Really, I get up, brush my teeth, shower, put on some make up and I'm out the door without even running a comb through my hair.  It never moves and doesn't need any hair spray.  You should see all the money I'm saving on hair products.  Oh wait, you can see all the money I'm saving by not needing to use hair shampoo, cream rinse, hair spray or razors at all.  I'll show you tomorrow what I'm spending it on..

The best part of the day was all those smiling faces, all talking at once, playing catch up with kids, grand kids, moving, end of school projects, eating, laughing, talking all at once.  The fellowship was amazing. The love was overwhelming.

Another great event was that while I was enjoying all these ladies. Hubby was getting spoiled as well by some wonderful men who were caring for him as my caregiver.  He had a blast as well.  We really felt the love. 

Sunday night was small group with part of our "Prayer Warriors". Sitting in the country, singing songs of praise and discussing a portion of the 16th chapter of the book of Acts. We shared a few laughs as well. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. 

More Answers, More JOY

Hubby and I got to go out for breakfast at one of our favorite places. It's a small place but it is very good. And just look at the size of the coffee cup!  Be still my heart!  We talked about the weather, the dogs, friends, and our news from the Doctor.  Last Wednesday we went up north to meet with the transplant doctor, Dr. Meehan. The news - I'm Good!

In fact I'm really Good!

My liver and kidneys really handled the Chemo perfectly! That was a real concern, but not now. I have good color and my hair is growing back. I look good and feel Great!
When I started Chemo back in May, the blood test said that someplace between 40-50% of my body was cancerous. I'm now at somewhere between 10-15%!  That was HUGE!

That cancer count really came down! I'm healthy, I'm strong and I'm ready to take that percentage down even farther. The doctor can harvest my stem cells now, but he wants to see if we can bring that number down even more.  So we are going to do another round of Chemo to see if we can't get that number below 5%.  At under 5% I can be in remission - where I really want to be.  At 5% the doctor can harvest my stem cells and they can be returned to me later, if I need them back.  That is the goal. Get me into remission, keep me there for as long as possible and if I need them, have a stem cells transplant with my own stem cells - which would mean no anti-rejections drugs needed since it's my own stem cells back inside of me. This time, chemo will be between 4-6 weeks! After 16 weeks of chemo, I can do 4-6 weeks more.

Back home we got the news from the Upper GI biopsy - No Cancer. The irritation in the esophagus is from stress, diet, or medication!  Not cancer!  I am on cloud 9!

We thank all of you for your prayers, concern, love and emails/comments about our health. Hubby is my rock and I am so thankful for all the prayers for him. I need him. I love him.  We are one.

Not sure when we will start the new chemo. It's a drug that is a bit hard to get so we are waiting for it to come in. The transplant doctor says it can take up to 14 days for the drug to come in.  In the mean time, more testing, and some more NORMAL life for us.

So, normal life is so perfect for me. Breakfast with my man, play in the yard, food shopping, laundry, and of course blogging.  It just feels so good to have a normal life.  A normal weekend. A normal week.

I have more tests to run, but mostly for small issues so that is fine. Then we start again, chemo, to kill more cancer in my body.  Life continues and I am still singing our fight song.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Welcome to a New Week

Our girl, Becke, 13 1/2 years old and still smiling!

Good Morning to you all and I hope you are having a good week.  Our weekend was really nice!  We had a combined birthday party and farewell party for a friend's son who turned 23 years old and will move to Arizona this week.  We told him that the birthday party was for him and the farewell part of the party was for his parents.  So we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and "Celebrate" to the parents!  It was a good time of food, laughter, memories, and friendship.  I like those smaller parties where you can really talk to everyone  there and get caught up with their lives.

I also got to play in the yard a bit too. It's really getting over grown with weeds, dried out stalks and fall is in the air so we better get a start on cleaning up the yard. I had the energy and it felt so good to do something physical for once!

It's starting to feel a bit like fall up here.  Temps fall into the 40's during the night and we wake up to temps in the low 50's.  By mid day it gets up to the high 70's but it drops back down again every night. We will still have the occasional humid, hot, hazy day with temps back into the high 80's and maybe  into the low 90's (if we are lucky) but those days will be far and few now.  I've even seen a few leaves turning.  Not the whole tree, but a few leaves have begun to change into the bright fall color that so many others flock up here to see.  But I digress...

August, the almost 2 year watch dog.

August went outside with me and watched over the work.  He was in charge of helping to get the yard waste into the brown paper bags but he spent most of the time just playing in the dirt and watching me work.  I can't believe he will be 2 years old next week.  He is so much fun!  I really never thought I would love a small dog but he really has my heart strings.

We cleaned up the rock wall by the house, pulling out the weeds, and debree and general clean up. It felt good to get it looking neat.  Hubby and I went shopping and picked up a few more bags of rocks to dress up the front of the house.

Sunday, we drove 1 1/2 hours to a small town south west of us to worship with the church that meets there.  The congregation has about 35 members and they had 3 men who were qualified and had a desire to serve as Elders so they were going to be installed on Sunday.  For a small congregation they all really know how to belt out those songs. The singing was amazing!  The saints there were very welcoming and friendly and we felt loved there.  No matter where we go, we find saints to worship with.  We wanted to show our support for the new Elders and to rejoice with the church there. I'm so glad we did!

It was a great weekend.  We are suppose to have a few hot, humid days coming up and I for one will love it.  It will not be long before the blankets will be out and the windows will be closed.  Fall will be here before we know it.

Do you get a real change in the weather where you live? Is it something that you look forward to?  Of the 4 seasons, which is your favorite?

Weekend Review - Finally!!

These are a few of the bird houses that we have in our gardens.  I love bird houses and having them peeking out among the flowers reminds me of our weekend. With so much going on around us,  I did just well enough to peek out and get back to the living.

I want to thank each and every one of you who contacted me here, on Caringbridge, through email and phone calls and lifted my spirits.  It meant so very much to me.  I was really sick and didn't realizes it until I started to get better and wanted to do something other than lay on the couch and watch TV.  I don't just lay around and do nothing.  I'm pretty busy, well most of the time.

I'm on a very strong antibiotic and it is working.  I sleep well at night and take naps in the afternoon. I even taught my classes this past Thursday, although my voice gave out during the 2nd class and my assistant took over teaching. I'm blessed to have a great assistant and an apprentice.   Heck, I even wrote my weekend review this time and it feels good to blog again.

The weather finally stopped being either way too hot with high humidity or pouring rain and we got some decent dry weather for a few days.  So on Saturday, we went shopping and I went to a local fabric store to pick up a little material.

                                     

A friend and class mate gave August a fall coat and I liked the style so I made another one for him for the fall. I haven't sewn in months so it felt good to dig out the material and get to creating something. As you can see from the photos, he was not happy modeling the fall coat while it was 88 degrees outside and a bit muggy.

I also cleaned up the family room as it doubles as our guest room and we are going to have a guest next weekend.

Sunday, we went to worship, got to visit with some old friends there, took a nap, had small group in the evening and in between I worked on the above coat for August, and watched "Firefly".

So that was my weekend, a little sewing, a little cleaning, a lot of pill taking and a whole lot of sleeping. No, it wasn't very exciting, but I was moving and I was talking and I even got to type about it. Baby steps, people!! Baby steps!!

I'm praying that come Tuesday, the doctor will let me have Chemo and we can get back on track. I really want to move on with my life.

How about your weekend?

It's Too Hot to Think Hodgepodge!

Thank you Joyce for the questions, I have the answers so lets play.

1. July 24th is Amelia Earhart Day.  Earhart was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.  What's something you've recently accomplished solo? 

WOW - My mind is a complete blank on this one.  I guess I will have to read other answers and then say "Oh yes, I forgot about that!"  But for now, I'll have to pass.

2.  What's one product you use that never ever fails?

When I get a cold, I grab our Mucinex-DM and it works.  Now the box says it will last up to 12 hours and I've never had that happen, but I will get 10 hours of relief from it. It works for me. I'm glad about that.

3. Have you found your place in the world? Where is it?

My place in the world is wherever God put me and wherever Hubby is. 

4.  Worst movie you ever saw?

Cowboys and Aliens. Good thing it was on TV and I didn't pay for it.  I could change the channel. I didn't, I kept hoping it would get better, it didn't.

5. What's the last fun thing you did?

Back during the 4th of July weekend, Hubby and I and the dogs went to Maine to let the dogs walk in the ocean.  It was a fun day with great company.  We stopped for Fried dough (which turned out terrible) and that was fun as well. Trying new places, great company, a great car ride, lovely day all = fun thing that I did.

6. The month of July is named for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar...ever been to Rome? What's your favorite Italian dish?

I've never been to Rome. I like most Italian dish's so they are all good. The one I eat the most is Spaghetti with meatballs.  

7. What is one piece of advice you'd offer new mom Kate Middleton?

Slow down and enjoy your little one, he will grow up way too fast and you will miss way too much.  You can never get any of that time back.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This past week was to be Chemo week, leaving us with only 5 weeks to go.  It never happened - I'm too sick for Chemo.  So I went back to the primary care doctor and I was told that I have a double ear infection and a sinus infection.  I'm on antibiotics for the next 10 days and it's up to the oncologist as to whether or not we get to continue with chemo next week.  One more "Little bump in the road".  I'm getting really tired of all these "Little bumps in the road".  I guess I needed to learn patience.  Too bad I can't learn it FAST.

So now it's your turn, how would you answer these questions?

Weekend Review: A few random blessings

We have an "Easy Up" canopy over the deck which has come in handy this past week.

We didn't water the garden all week!  Not because we are lazy, but because it rained all week and weekend.  No, not the all day every day kind of rain but downpours off and on every day  and weekend. So no sooner were we outside, we had to come in because it was pouring.  Thunder and lightning followed by downpours!  I'm so grateful that neither dogs are afraid of thunder and lightning. So 2 blessings, one - didn't have to water and two- dogs who are not afraid of thunder and lightning.

Both dogs refused to go out and decided they could hold it until it stopped.  I disagreed and won that argument.  They went out!  It's amazing how fast 2 dogs can "go" when its pouring out there!  They would run down the stairs and "go" under the deck, then run back into the house.

Hubby has been on cleaning duty for 9 weeks now and he is absolutely wonderful. He was even caught chasing down cob webs and dusting ceiling fans. I love how he took the ceiling fan brush and adapted it to reach the ceilings as well.  I cannot take credit for his cleaning skills. His mom and grandmother get that credit.  He was raised in a home where everyone cleaned, no matter what gender they were.  Thank you to both women. I am blessed by all the training you gave him, and blessed that he is so willing to do it all!!

Becke, is almost 13-1/2 years old.  We are blessed to have her with us every day.  She suffers when the air gets thick with humidity and the temps climb to the mid 80's and above.  She has given up jumping up on the bed and she is not light to lift, nor does she like to be lifted, so she was very glad to get a new orthopedic bed big enough for her.  It sits at the foot of our bed, where she gets a nice cross breeze from the ceiling fan blowing down and the air from the window A/C unit coming across.  She gets right on it and gets her self comfy and falls fast asleep. What a blessing to still have her every day.

August has been doing Agility with his Auntie Paula and he loves agility and Paula so much. He makes me smile every time I see his funny face.  He is getting fast too!  

I don't know why but sometimes when I post a YouTube video, it shows up on my computer but not on others.  So you can also see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R88eiyYLHpk

Our weekend was spent mostly doing some shopping (inside because of the rain), watching the rain reports, and watching the TV shows that I missed during the week. We had a great worship service and again just relaxed.  I am blessed to have these restful weekends because this week is a busy week for doctor appointments. 

Most importantly, today, July 1st is our 41st Wedding anniversary.  We were high schools sweethearts and married right out of high school. Little did we know what life would toss at us.  Little did we understand just how much we would grow as a couple in our struggles. Little did we understand just how much we needed God or just how much we would become "ONE".  My life is made richer because of the man that I married.  I am so blessed to have Hubby in my life. He really does complete me. We often think the same thing, or finish each other's sentences.  Every day we realize  just how much we love and need each other.  My life is better because of Hubby.  Happy Anniversary to the love of my life.   We plan to eat out at a very nice restaurant and exchange cards. I'm hoping the rain lets up and we can drive up the coast and let the dogs run along the ocean.  We'll see.

Weekend Review

I want to thank you all for the kindness you have shown me over the past several weeks. Your comments have been uplifting and oh so kind. I have met some wonderful people here in the blog world and I am thankful for you all.  One is never sure how the news of cancer will be received and although I know that I am not responsible for how the news is received, I still don’t want to offend anyone or scare anyone.  I am blessed to have such great readers who encourage me and lift me up to God in prayer. Thank you all. I have good days and bad days but so far the good days out last the bad days.  I am learning that some days I press on and some days I lay back.  

OK- Weekend Review.

Well, our weekend started out WET as we had the remnants of tropical storm Andrea which rained on us all day Friday into Saturday.  Then the sun came out and it was beautiful!!

 

Local shops have the plants that grow best in our area, the owners also have the  knowledge of how best to care for them.

After some housework we headed out to get some plants for the garden and flowerpots.  The local shops are the best and we have a beautiful one here in our little town.  We picked out some tomatoes and sweet peppers for the vegetable garden and some yellow and tangerine Portulaca's for the front of the house.

The Portulaca freshly planted in the boxes in the front yard.

After putting on a more-than-generous amount of bug spray to keep all of them away, we headed out to tackle the areas that we wanted.  My flowerboxes were easy to clean out and plant but I didn’t get enough so we went back on Sunday to get more flowers.

Hubby tackled the veggie garden.  We didn’t have a garden last year and it was badly neglected so he spent a lot time cleaning up and digging it up.  The plan was to get them in the ground on Sunday, but you know what happens to plans right?  Right, we didn't get the veggies in the ground.  We have tomatoes, sweet bell peppers to still put in the garrden and we have strawberries already in there.  Do we want lettuce, cukes, or what..... we scanned the garden books we had and decided on nothing yet. We will keep thinking about what else to add to the veggie garden. I did get the rest of the Portulaca's into the ground.

Also on Sunday after worship, we got to meet our newest grandniece, Evelyn Ivy.  She came up from Texas with her parents to visit the New England Family up here and we got to join in.  She is so cute and just such a happy baby!!  What fun to sit around, eat, enjoy good company and hold a sleeping baby.  Boy does she sleep well too! The best part of course is when the baby is fussy, back she goes to mommy! She, of course was not fussy at all.

Walking around the yard, most of our plants are not in bloom yet. The season got off to a late start with all the rain and cold temps and we have more rain coming tomorrow night into Tuesday.  But still, it's green and pretty around here. 

 

The Lilac's finally did bloom at least and the smell is wonderful!!

I love those weekends when stuff gets down, laughs are everywhere and the sun shines.  How was your weekend?

Weekend Review

It's been a while since I did a Monday review of the weekend but this weekend I had a blast and wanted to share it with you.

Our oldest child, our son, came to visit us for a few days!  He wanted to check on us and see first hand just how we are doing.  It was great to see him. It's been way too long. Even though he is over 6 feet tall, married and has a wife and children of his own, he still answers to "Little Gerry". He never did like the sound of  "Jr." I now think of my two guys as a Gerry Sandwich with me in the middle.  I love that.  He brought with him a painting and cards made by our grandsons. Don't we all love kid art?

He came in on Thursday evening while I was teaching my class, so he and Hubby got to go out and share a meal together.  It was great Father/son time for them both. They like each other and get along well so having some one-on-one time was great!  They then came to my class for the last few minutes of class to see me work.  It was great to look up and see that smiling face looking back at me. No matter how old he is or how tall he gets, he is my "Little boy". I think all moms think that way, right?  Our kids are always our kids even though they are grown, with kids of their own.

Father and son at the local Dairy Queen.  

We got to spend all day Friday together, talking, catching up on his life with his job, the  wife, and the boys (2 grandsons). We got together in the evening with our daughter and her family and had a cookout complete with playing with the girls a great game of "I spy with my little eye"  Since the youngest is 2 years old she couldn't pronounce "Uncle Gerry" so she calls him "Uncle Dair-wee."  So bloody cute.  He got it on video to show his family later. Our Son-in-Law did the cooking and boy can that man grill!!

This is whats happens after a big Momma Breakfast! 

Saturday, I got to cook my son breakfast! That may not seem like much to some, but at my core I'm a mom.  Our children are all grown up and have children of their own and our son lives on the other side of the country so being a "MOM" from so far away is not easy.  I loved making him eggs and bacon and watching him enjoy it. We talked about the all the meals he would eat and never feel full, or gain weight.  He has a son now that has taken over that job.  I loved having him here, even though I knew it was a short visit.  Afternoon, myself and my "Gerry Sandwich" went to see Iron Man 3.  I really liked the movie and it was fun to have him sitting between the two of us like when he was little boy and we could just look over and see his smiling face.  It was so comfortable for him to be there.

Brother and Sister getting some "face time" with the family on the west coast.  I love technology that allows us face time.  

It was followed up by getting pizza and hanging out at the house while our daughter and girls came by to spend time to visit, get caught up some more, face time with the son's family still back on the west cost and hear all the stories of what is going on in their lives.

It was over way too soon.  He had to fly out Sunday morning so that he would have time to readjust to the time zone and be ready for work on Monday.  I know that his family missed him.  We did have a blast with face time so that we could hear and see each other. and  the cousins did spent a good amount of time sticking out their tongues to each other - COUSINS!  What fun.

This starts a new week.  Sunday we spent the time trying to cool down the house, (Son brought temps in the 90's for us) worshipping God together, and looking forwarded to a new week.  Up! I feel blessed!!

Thank you God for lifting my spirits and getting me to laugh!  I love my kids, my babies, my children.  They both have turned into great adults!
How was your weekend?

Weekend Review:

WOW!

That is all I can say about the kindness you all showed to me all about my news last week.  

WOW! 

I never expected the outpouring of love and encouragement that I got.  Some of you wrote on this little blog of mine, others on the CaringBridge site, others emailed me privately and still others picked up the phone and called me.  I never expected any of it.  I am overwhelmed, blessed and humbled by it all. It's true : No One Fights Cancer Alone.

Getting bad news is one thing, sharing it with others who you know is one thing,  but sharing it with those you only know through blogs or Face Book is totally different and really scary!  I thought that I would get a few "Praying" or "So sorry to hear" but never did I expect the kindness that I got. Thank you all so much.

Tuesday is my Chemo day. This past week it took 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. I don't know if that will be how long it takes every week. I will let you know. On Wednesday I over did it and was very run down and tired.  Thursday and Friday I continued to feel weak and had aches and pains like sore muscles and cramps.  But by Saturday I felt normal so I took August for a nice short walk and then played in the yard raking for about an hour.  Working in the house took the rest of the day with the exception of grocery shopping at the new Market Basket that just opened up near us.  It's so nice to have an option for food shopping.  Where I live, there are not many options close by.

Sunday I got to enjoy church with like minded people who love each other.  I did have one emotional moment when I saw my CaringBridge site listed in the bulletin that made this journey once again, all too real once again to us. Hubby has a cold and so he went to the doctor just to make sure that is was not anything more and he has been staying away from me.   The week I start Chemo, he gets sick!  I wonder what the next 15 weeks will bring?  After worship we grilled spare ribs for lunch and worked a bit more in the yard.  The yard is really starting to look good.  Then it looked like rain so we came in to do laundry, work on the many Thank You cards that I owe people and gear up for another week.  According to the weather on my cell phone, it may rain all week! We need it so I'm OK with it.

So, that was my weekend. Easy paced as I'm learning my limits. How was your weekend?

Farewell April Welcome May Hodgepodge

Joyce was able to not only do the A-Z challenge but to include the questions for Hodgepodge as well! 3 cheers for Joyce!  Come on, play along.

1.  This week's Hodgepodge is Volume 123.  What's something you've done recently that was as easy as 1-2-3? 
                                                                                                That's easy, 
                                                                                                 I turn this

                                                                                                 Into this.

2.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge also happens to fall on the first day of May ...what is something you may do this month? 
I MAY get our Grandson's Birthday Gifts off to him in time for his party.  I'm not holding my breath at the moment because I'm feeling a bit rushed with "other" things.  Hey Ben: Grannie is working on it, really she is!! 

3. The Englishman Horace Walpole is credited as saying, "The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think"  How do you see it?
I see it as both. There are times when life throws you a handful of bad news and so you feel the tragedy, the heavyness of it all. But at some point, you regain your OOMPH and begin to see the humor in life.  We need both because without tragedy, one would never appreciate comedy.

4.  May is National Hamburger Month...how often do you eat a burger? What are your must-haves when it comes to burgers?  I assume you vegetarians won't be celebrating so tell us what you'd like instead? 
I do like a good hamburger and we do eat them often but I couldn't tell you how often we do so.  What are my must haves? Onions, cheese, fresh thick tomato slice not those little diced things and mayo.  

5. Pansies, petunias, geraniums, impatiens...of the four mentioned, which is your favorite in a patio pot? Will there be pots on your patio this spring? (Or whenever spring comes to your part of the globe?) Who does the gardening at your house?
The gardening is done by the person with the most energy these days!  I like impatiens and yes, I hope to have them in the planters out front. 

6. When did you last (literally or figuratively) shout "Mayday, Mayday!"
Mayday is a call for help.  It could be because one's car broke down or one needs a ride someplace.  I've called Mayday a lot lately for personal issues and my firends have not disappointed me.  They have come to my aid and "circled the wagons" making me feel safe and loved.  

7.  Say farewell to your April in ten words or less. 
"See Ya"

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Becke, our lab went for a physical recently.  She is 13 years old and beginning to lose some of her hearing so she doesn' t always hear me if I call her outside.  She can't always figure out where the sound comes from and she sometimes doesn't hear me at all when I call her.  She has some arthritis and has a hard time doing stairs but otherwise she is very healthy.  We are so glad to still have her with us.  She is still teaching August how to behave and puts up with a lot.  When we leave work, she walks up to her brother to check him out.  She looks for him and looks after him.  I've never seen such love from a 13 year old to a 20 month old. We are blessed to have her in our lives.  We love you Intregrity StarBeck, Becke Boo Boo, Becke Weckey. 

Weekend Review -

"What're you up to mom and does it include a cookie?"

It was just so nice this weekend.  The sun was out, the temps were in the 60's, I had energy, and the "To Do" list needed to be attacked.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Hubby home with me but he was out of town on a Lectureship, so it was just me and the dogs and we went to work.

Remember last weekend we had a few teens stay with us while they were attending the youth rally?  Well, we did pick up after them but we didn't clean up. So I did that.  I also moved furniture around and opened up the room a bit.  I took one small table we had down there and moved it to the back deck to use as a  table next to the grill.

Then I began cleaning the kitchen and changing a few things there as well.  Saturday, I finished changing a few things.

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

I love the color dark red and love having it around me.  Since I had some red paint still around and it IS possible to paint the counter tops I did so.  

Another view before

Another view after

Then I went to the back yard and put up August's agility equipment.  He enjoys most of the obstacles (he has had 2 bad experiences on the see-saw so he avoids it now. I have a small one that he is getting use to again. Poor baby.

Agility equipment runs behind the grand girls  play station

The see saw at it's lowest, we have other legs to make it taller once  he gets use to it.

When Gerry got home and saw all I did, he was surprised and helped me with the arbor that fell down last fall.  It fell during a wind storm, then it froze to the ground, then it got snowed on, then it got snowed on a LOT MORE. Finally it appeared but it was showing signs of wear so Hubby tightened up the screws and we cleaned it up and repainted it black.  Once it dries we will get it back in the ground so that the flowers can climb it again this summer.

It was a great and busy weekend and boy did I need the naps that I took.  How was your weekend?