Joyful Girl
Just Keep Swimming!
School has been hella work, but miraculously, I’m managing. So far, I’ve been able to maintain an A average (on both classes, lol). It sounds like a little thing, but for me it’s been huge. I think I had myself convinced after 15 years that I wouldn’t be able to hack it if I went back. I’m already signed up for my next term too; gotta keep the ball rolling! The Mr. and the kids have been very helpful and supportive. Mr. even helps me study.
I really wouldn’t be able to make it without them. In a way, I’m glad the kids are seeing how hard I am working which is just one of the effects of my less than wonderful choices when I was younger. I hope it will motivate them to make better choices than I did as they face their futures. I’ve been able to keep things going at work too; as far as I can tell, and as far as they tell me, my team doesn’t seem to feel like I am there for them any less. In the middle of all of this, I’ve also had to face a major fear- public speaking. I partnered up with my manager to speak at a yearly conference for our industry. 
Adding to the nerves- my mentor; a woman I used to work for and who I really look up, attended our session. There were a few technical hitches at the start up, but all in all, I think it went well. I can’t wait to see the feedback we get from the attendees. I also participated in a panel type session, where I was again speaking to a large group of people. That one went well too. I’d say it was a huge step towards conquering my fear. I feel more confident in the meetings I’m leading at work now, and I don’t get the jitters quite as much as I used to. As the weather warms here, I’ll also be working towards getting in some distance walks. I’ve signed up to be a walker in the Komen 3 Day again. You know what they say; 3rd time’s a charm! 
Honestly though, I really want to support my best gal Laurie, who lost her mother-in-law to cancer. My family has also had it’s share of battles with the disease; my Grandmother was diagnosed about 25 years ago, when the treatment was so much different than it is today. Ultimately, she lost her fight due to a myriad of health issues including cancer. On the up-side- we’ve come such a long way, and we’re so much closer to a cure today! 
Don’t ask me how I’m going to find time to raise the required $2300 or how much walking I can really get in between everything else…all I know is, we’ve made it work before, we can do it again. I’m going to be doing a lot of praying for the energy to make it through, that’s a sure thing! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers too; I can use all the support I can get.
Pic-of-the-day:
I walk for her. I walk for her brother. I walk with the hope that they will never have to.
My feet after the 2010 DFW 3 Day. Ouch! That black stuff is medical tape, which I had asked the sports med guy to wrap tight enough to cut off the circulation and pain, so that I could manage to walk the last couple of miles. The white stuff on (and between) my toes was to deal the blisters that had developed there. Much as this might suck, it’s hard to bitch about it when you’re walking alongside women who have lost their hair to chemo, or worse- their body parts, sisters, daughters, and mothers to cancer. At the end, you’re half proud (to have done this thing, and raised this insane amount of money) and half ashamed for thinking that what you’ve done could ever come close to what they’ve survived or lost. P.S. When I danced with my husband one week later at our wedding, I didn’t even remember that those blisters had ever existed.
