We Are Back

Apologies for the radio silence. The fact that life is getting in the way of my blogging is, I think, a good thing. We had a great month on the east coast with lots of adventures (I will try to update with pictures): India lost her top front tooth, she learned to water ski, and to body surf and since our return, she has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She has started first grade and successfully navigated her first real challenge at school, which was recess. More on that later. Dayssi learned to actually swim, she had blood work and vincristine at 2 different hospitals without incident, knocking the socks off of the nurses and lab techs who repeatedly called in at least three folks to treat her, assuming she would have to be held down. Not my girl. She smiled and talked calmly through all of it. She was healthy the entire trip and is growing like a weed -- Jim commented the other night that she looks like a little bean. Bottom line: the girls are absolutely thriving.

We are also doing well, having spent a month not REALLY working (well, just a little here and there), and not in health-crisis mode. But everything was waiting for us when we got home, so we are both swamped for the time being. I start teaching on Monday, Jim starts the following week, and so it goes.

Meanwhile, to get political for a moment, September is Children's Cancer Awareness Month, and funding for cancer research has been cut recently. Here is the url for a little video produced by some parents I know to educate and inspire people to encourage their lawmakers to restore funding. It is a beautiful tribute and it will give you a window on to the reality of childhood cancer. You'll have to cut and paste the url into your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGS4yE5v9rM