A Great Day

Hey there, I hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July!
Mine was great. My dad and I went to Border's where I got a couple books on Ireland so I can start my research. One is a guide book by Discovery Channel, complete with beautiful photographs and important historical details, and the other is called "McCarthy's Bar". The second one promises to be entertaining: "Traveling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, 'never pass a bar that has your name on it', he (the author, Pete McCarthy) encounters McCarthy's bars up and down the land, meeting fascinating people before pleading to be let out at four o'clock in the morning". I doubt there will be many "Matthews' Bar"s, so I'll just adopt the last name of my favorite pub here, "Murphy's"...there's bound to be lots of those which will make the trip interesting! :)
Just opening up the pages of the guidebook gets me excited for my trip there, and I hope even on my worst days, the pictures and stories will make me smile and help me to keep chugging along. I was flipping through the guidebook, and when describing the Irish character, they wrote: "It was the German writer Heinrich Böll who identified the two turns of speech most characteristic of the Irish as 'It could be worse' and 'I shouldn't worry.' In a world where worries proliferate daily, Ireland retains an insane optimism." I subscribe to that same optimism, so it looks like I picked a good country as my first trip following the transplant!
After going to Border's, my dad and I stopped by the grocery store to get a few things. Although it still feels a bit strange to watch others going about their everyday business, I felt good yesterday, and I was glad to be able to hang out with my dad and enjoy the day. It also reminded me that you never know what anyone else is going through. Everyone has his/her own challenges, and being in this situation reminds me to be sensitive to whatever anyone else might be enduring.
To end my great day, I went to a fourth of July party, and I feel like I laughed all night. I have some pictures I'll have to put up later. Laura said as we drove home that she laughed so much her cheeks were hurting...now, that's how you know you had a great evening!!! Thanks so much, Lori and Tim (and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan for loaning your home)!
The house is getting a lot busier for the weekend...Katie came home yesterday, Laura and Tiso are staying over tonight, and Ronnie is coming up this afternoon. We'll miss you, Kathy, but I know I'll see you sometime soon. :) Laura is making one of my favorite dinners tonight (chicken enchilada casserole), and we might watch some movies or something. I'm really looking forward to it.
So I've been home almost a week, and all is well! No sign of any leukemic cells in my marrow which is great news, and we'll know next week what the lab found in the more detailed cytology report. I'll see my main oncologist Tuesday (I haven't seen him since the day before I relapsed because he had surgery), and I'm really looking forward to that. I like most of the other doctors I've met with in his practice, but I just feel so comfortable with him, and no matter what news he is passing on, he has a way of reassuring me. He reminds me a lot of my dad and how he must be as a physician, so maybe that is what makes me feel so safe in his care.
I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!
Love ya!