fly far far away

I like this tattoo.  A lot.

I can't believe I am quoting from Forest Gump b/c it is far from one of my favorite movies.  I can already hear you all yelling at me.  I am the only person that I know that cannot stand that movie.  However, the "I wish I as a bird, so I could fly far, far away" has been playing over and over again in my head this week.

Instead....I will be attempting to drive this big beast filled with animals to the Pet Expo.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't run over anyone anything!

Have a happy weekend!

you

You

Leslie and Allison who came and met me at Yo Burrito the other night at a moment's notice to give me some peace of mind and a much needed break.  A yummy mason jar of margarita, cheese dip and tacos.  Perfect.  And the good news that sweet Leslie is pregnant, it's just what I needed to hear.  So excited for her and can't wait to meet "Little Burr" in the Spring.

You

All my friends that have sent flowers to dad, made dinner for us, sent text messages, emails and voicemails checking in and sending love and taken care of my animals while I have practically "lived" in the hospital with dad.  You mean the world to me and I truly do feel the positive energy headed this way.

You

My bloggy peeps.  You are all the best.  I really appreciate all the caring comments you have left for me.  And Summer, sweet Summer.  She is going through so much in her own life right now but has somehow found the time to email me and offer her support.  Summer and Kristen both posted about my dad and said the sweetest things, click above to see how sweet these girls are and why their comments about dad brought me to tears.  Kristen and Summer are both women with the most perfect words.  It amazes me.

You

My team at work, you are wonderful.  I appreciate all your help since I know I haven't been pulling my weight lately.  And to my manager that even after turning in my notice, has been nothing but supportive and understanding of me needing to spend time with my dad.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You

The nurses on the 9th floor at MUSC.  You are angels and have been so good to my dad and to me.  I actually feel at home there, though I'm not sure that's a good sign.  ;)  My dad's oncologist.  He's smart and he cares.  And he demanded that I go home and get some rest, which is what I needed to hear.  Thank you for that.

You

My new team at Charleston Animal Society. You just rock and I can't wait to officially start!

my next dream

My 1st real dream has come true since I will soon be working on Charleston Animal Society.

Who am I kidding?  I have already picked up my laptop and started going through files b/c I am so excited.  :)

Well, my next dream?  She is living it right this moment.

"She" is Jessica Peterson and her blog is Loved Despite Great Faults.

She's in Africa.  It is the one place I would visit if I only had one chance to go anywhere in all of my life.

She is there to take pictures of the lovely children in orphanges in order to raise money for a new one.

Please go to the following post of hers and click on the the link if you would like to donate.

I hope she doesn't mind me posting just a couple pics to entice you to check out her blog.  These are some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen.  And nothing gets me more than the little ones in Africa.  It's my weakness.  Even more than my furry little rescue animals.

Do these not just make you smile?  Or cry?

poor priest

1st Funny from last night:

A priest walks into dad's hospital room last night to pray with dad and give him communion.  He immediately asks what church our family goes to in Columbia.  Easy enough...St Joseph's.  Then he asks, who are the priests there these days?  Dad and I look at each other.  Silent.  We don't go to church.

2nd Funny from last night:

The priest prays with dad and gives him communion.  Okay, dad was then done.  Priest proceeds to stay and chat and tell dad how to pray.  Now, I do believe that prayer is a powerful thing.  I really do.  But I personally can get a little overwhelmed at times with religion because I don't really understand it.  So he asks dad if he has brothers.  Dad says yes, two.  So he says, talk to Jesus just like you would talk to your brothers.  Makes enough sense to me.  Dad starts to get emotional and I know it's time for the priest to leave.  He doesn't.  Instead he says, I'm sure you talk to Jesus all the time like he's right beside you.  Dad says (in his hard to understand stroke voice) loud and clear that Jesus must be really bored then.  I just about died.

3rd Funny from last night:

The priest still doesn't leave.  He asks me what I do for a living and I tell him I'm in between jobs.  I explain that I am going to start at the animal shelter soon.  He then proceeds to tell me about his daughter's cat (named Maddie-which is just weird enough) that got a tumor in his head.  Please keep in mind that dad is on the Neuro floor.  Enough said?  He finishes by telling me that the vet opened him up the other day and realized he was so bad off that it would be the most humane thing to just put him down.  I just stared at him in disbelief.  As soon as he walked out the door, I promised dad I wouldn't let them put him down during his biopsy.  He finally laughed.

I know the poor priest meant well but I tell you, it was just a flop!

As an update on dad, he woke up this morning and could barely move his left leg.  He hasn't been able to move his right leg or arm at all for 2 weeks now.  So as you can imagine, he was not a happy camper with only his left arm working.  He was also told they are moving his biopsy to Monday.  They just now took him down for an MRI b/c of his left side (and his head is not quite right today) so maybe they will change their mind and do it tomorrow.  It sure would make us happy.  

Please continue to pray.

found: rare photos

I just recently found T Spoon of Sunshine and it might be one of my new favorite blogs.  :)

She just recently mentioned Rare Photos of Famous People and they are fantastic.

Sean -freaking- Connery...what?!

Elizabeth Taylor - love it!

Kurt Cobain and of course this picture is just ironic and sad.

Gotta love Goldie Hawn -too cute.

Johnny Depp and his niece.  I just love this picture for some reason.

And there isn't anything too special about this picture except that I love me some Clint Eastwood.  So handsome.

Take the time to check out the other 99 pics, they really are pretty fantastic. 

trying to be brave

Well, I want that back.

My To-Do list these days looks more like this...

And the "go back to bed" part is done on a hospital couch.

Dad is having a brain biopsy done on Friday b/c they think he might have lymphoma.

I have surprised myself with staying strong in front of him, but inside I am terrified.  And I have definitely let it out several times to some of my poor dear friends.

And as I type this, my dad is crying.  Because he can't sleep.  And if he isn't sleeping, he is thinking about the biopsy on Friday and what his future holds.  He has had to lie around thinking about this since Thursday morning of last week.  And there is nothing I can do.  I feel so helpless.

So?

it's official

I officially have the job of my dreams!

I turned in my resignation yesterday and will start my new job at Charleston Animal Society on September 15th, as the Adoption Coordinator!

warning

Do not EVER drink Delirium.  EVER.

Now, most of you would figure out from the word "delirium" that you should not drink it.  Me?  Nope.  Sometimes I make bad decisions when emotional.  And this was one of those times!

I had a really bad and super stressful day at the hospital with my dad this past Friday so I decided to take a little break for happy hour.  Oops.  I think I might have looked like this guy below...

It was not pretty when I got back to the hospital at 12:30am to sleep in my dad's room.  Thankfully, the nurses felt sorry for me and didn't laugh.

I mean, look what I just found when I googled it...

"Delirium tremens is Latin for "trembling madness", commonly nicknamed "the DTs", indicating a violent sickness induced by withdrawal after alcohol abuse. Although it is commonly thought that sufferers hallucinate pink elephants, which may explain its use on the beer's label, the most common animals seen in delirium tremens hallucinations are cats, dogs, and snakes.^"

AWFUL.  Anyhoo...stay away from this beer unless you want to HIT the floor!

nana by sally

 My friend Sally had one of her clutches on the front page of Etsy yesterday!

There it is in the bottom row.  Isn't it lovely?  Check out her shop (Nana by Sally) she has some fantastic bags!

These are my current favorites...

And the inside of the bags are just as perfect as the outside.

I don't know how she puts the fabrics together the way she does but boy does she know what she is doing!  I have two of her bags and LOVE them.

Sally is just such an amazing person.  Her business is really taking off and I couldn't be happier for her  :)

Happy Labor Day

yes and no

YES to the TOMS that I purchased yesterday!

 

And the best part is the inside.  Look at the print!

NO to the TubeFlops I saw yesterday!

Of course we had to give them a try...

And Amy actually bought hers (on the left).  Yikes!