Hey there everyone! Katie was pretty pissed when she posted her message about me being upbeat and then I posted the "this sucks" entry. :) No, she wasn't really, but she said she felt dumb for having written it and that everyone would think she was lying. But, as I said, she was right! I am hulkerific, but I also get sad, and I wanted to be honest about all my feelings to give you a more accurate account of what I'm experiencing. Today was pretty good. I woke up, ate my breakfast, had my nurse wrap my catheter in a plastic bag, and I took a nice shower. I did a total of 20 laps around the ward (which is supposed to be a mile!), ten with my friend Susan and my dad and 10 with Ronnie and Katie. The most annoying thing right now is this cough that just won't go away, and isn't soothed by cough syrup or lozangers (how do you spell that?! :) )....anyway, it's annoying for me and any of my visitors to have to deal with!!

Laura, Katie and Ronnie have added lots of great decorations to brighten up my room (Laura even got yelled at for standing on a chair to do so, but she didn't back down!!). She worked very hard today to make everything more cheerful, and I can't help but smile when I look around. Karen, my team captain from Team in Training this year, stopped by to bring me a really nice card everyone signed and to ask me if I would mind if they set up a bone marrow registry event in my honor, even though I already have a donor. It will be a great way to help get the word out to others so patients who aren't lucky enough to have a match from their families find a match from a stranger. For some reason, the computer won't let me put the link on here, but you can copy and paste if you want to read more about the marrow registry...and pass it on! http://www.marrow.org/HELP/index.html The walk team is also going to carry a pendant for me throughout the training, and they will give it to me at the end of the season. I was very touched.

I got to see my pups tonight on an ichat! They look good so they're not getting neglected! :) hahahaha I knew they wouldn't, but I just miss them, so it will be nice to have the video capability. I also spoke with someone who will come to take care of them in the middle of the day for us while my parents are at work. She sounded wonderful, and I REALLY REALLY thank you, Kathy, for finding her! It gives me great peace of mind, especially after you told me how much they liked her.

According to everyone, I didn't miss much by being outside today--it looked hot from inside! I'm hoping this isn't a sign of how the whole summer will be! I'm definitely not a warm weather fan.

Pretty soon they'll be in to give me my anti-nausea medicine and then about a half hour after that, my next chemo. So far, so good. This cough is honestly the worst part, so I'm pretty lucky! I got some hula hooping in today--even Tiso and my friend Rosa gave it a go!!! We were all amazing hula hoopers, by the way. :)

It looks like another bad storm outside. I think all this crazy weather is from my friends and family up in heaven expressing just how pissed they are that my leukemia came back. :) I couldn't agree more!!!

I'm looking forward to another good day tomorrow, and hopefully the cough will subside. My friend, Lori, is bringing our traditional Border's nights here to the hospital tomorrow....which will basically consist of hot chocolate and gossip magazines, so that will be lots of fun!

Thanks for all of your wonderful and thoughtful e-mails. I will eventually get back to everyone...just know that I've read them all and they make me smile, and constantly remind me how very lucky I am to have the network of friends and family I have. I haven't been very good at calling people back either because of the stupid cough, but I will do that too!!

I think Ronnie is going to post some photos from earlier today (the network here won't let me upload any pictures)...hope you enjoy them!

Thanks for making this very difficult time feel enjoyable. There's nothing better than visiting with family and friends, no matter what the circumstance. (See Katie, I told you you were right...I'm hulkerific!!! :) ) But I won't hesitate to be honest with all of you. My emotions are constantly shifting, and it really helps to keep track of them on the blog...there's something so liberating about writing, and it's much easier to express what I mean to say with these written entries.

Love ya!