Cantik

“Cantik” is an Indonesian word which means “Beautiful One”.
Dini is my Indonesian friend and she is beautiful.

She is also very sick.
She too has cancer.
There’s a lot of that going around it seems.

Dini is beautiful in many ways.
She is picture perfect on the outside…
But it’s her heart that truly captivates you.
It must be huge inside her tiny little being.
She has endless love for Ryan and Nathan…her little boys whom she adores.
Brent too…her behemoth of a husband, the love of her life, her rock.

We all love Dini,
And her pain is killing us.
We want so badly to help and we don’t know what to do.
So we pray for her, and now I’m asking you to pray too.

If you have ever met Dini, even once…
You too would think… “Cantik”…
In every sense of the word.

Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers

That’s the weather forecast every day in Ireland.
It never changes.
Fortunately for TC and me, they’re not always right.
We had clear blue skies more days than not.
The local Irishmen were raving about our good fortune.

The countryside was gorgeous in its emerald green,
The castles plentiful,
And if you were really quiet, you could almost hear the old stone walls tell their stories.
It was truly magnificent.

Toby’s cottage in Clare is a magical place.
It was definitely my favorite place to be.
From my upstairs bedroom I could see the Ocean and the Cliffs of Mohr.
One morning TC woke up to a cow looking in her bedroom window; he was “Mooing” her from sleep.
Toby stayed in the new Guest House she had built, it too has a fantastic view of the Irish countryside.

The three of us told old stories from our youth.
Rarely did we remember them the same way.
We shared lots of laughs and reserved our tears for the end.
For me…the hardest thing was to watch TC and Toby say goodbye.
Time stood still for a moment,
There were no words.

On the flight home,
Tc had the window seat.
She wanted to see the ocean one last time.
Little does she know…
I’m bringing her back next year.
Hang tough Teece, fight!

Balance

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few years,
It’s how important it is to have balance in your life.

We all suffer losses in our lives.
Relationships, jobs, even health.

If we allow the sum of our parts to get out of proportion,
These losses are much harder to survive.

TC’s cancer is just one part of her.
And one part of us.
It’s important that we continue to nurture and enjoy all parts of her life, as well as our own.

We’re going to Ireland tomorrow.
We’re leaving the cancer behind.
Our only agenda is to have fun.
It’s all about balance.

I’ll be back here in a couple of weeks.
Now go out there and have some fun!

Home Cooking

This is so embarrassing.
We’ve been in the crappy corporate apartment for 62 days.
We have 29 left.
Last night was the first time I turned on the oven.
Guess what?
It doesn’t work.
So here’s the conundrum…
Do I call the office and report the faulty appliance therefore outing myself as the world’s biggest loser mother who NEVER cooks for her family?
Or do I just keep my mouth shut, give up on Take-and-Bake pizza’s and stick to delivery?
Mike wants me to report it…
I think the man is jonesin for a home cooked meal.
We’re free most nights folks…
Anyone???

Goodnight Baby!

Crap!
What I meant to say was, “Have a good day baby.”
It was 6:45 am, way too early yet to be cognizant in my world, but I could vaguely hear Mike at the front door getting ready to leave for work.

Another day of putting a roof (two actually) over my head,
Providing me with all my needs and most of my wants.
But instead of getting up with him and brewing the coffee,
I’m planted face down, completely snuggled under the covers, drooling on HIS pillow, mumbling “goodnight” to him!

He must hate me in the morning!
I think I’ll take him to lunch this afternoon.
The later the better.
That way maybe he won’t notice that I didn’t cook dinner again!
Come to think of it…
He must not be too keen on me at night either!!!

I love you Mikey!