Auntie Lisa, I don't like that waterfall, I tell you!

I guess Booby Doo's 15 minutes of fame is over. No one has asked me for a new post! Anyway, things are ok here at the Medlin house. Johnathan is still seeing his eye doctor due to the injury he suffered playing stick ball next door. He still has some blood behind the eye and his eye pressure was really high last week, but has come down, thank God. We have another appointment on Friday, so I guess it's improving. Boy, I sure thought it would be all better by now.

Well, its been 5 weeks since my last treatment and I'm still feeling yucky. My hands are swollen, I'm tired and my muscles feel like I've just taken my first Pilate's class in a year. Sore, Sore, Sore. But, at least no fever and I'm not really sick, just sore and hot! No, not hot in a good way. Hot in, damn it's hot! It doesn't seem as though my hair has started to sprout yet. I'm waiting to see how much gray will come in. You know, being 32 and having gray hair already is so depressing. But, life goes on. Loreal, here I come.

I hope everyone stops once in a while and takes a good look around them to truly count their blessings. I might complain about how I feel these days, but I am so blessed to have so much in my life. I'm going to overcome this crap I'm going through, my boys are healthy and active, my husband has come through colon cancer, he's got a great job, health insurance, great friends and family, etc etc etc. I'm saying all this because I met a woman at Johnathan's last dr.'s appt whose husband has terminal brain cancer. They have 3 children, one of whom is only 2. She told me her story and I told her mine. How scary it must be to know your husband may not be here next month or even next week. I don't know his exact prognosis, but it isn't good. She really inspired me. Her husband is dying and she has a really good attitude. I guess you have to, for the kids. So, don't take your blessings for granted. God gives all of us what we need, and it's up to us to make the most out of our lives. Ok, enough mush. The boys and I went to the beach last week to see my sister and her family. Wait, Mikey just came over to me to tell me about his triumph on his PlayStation game and man oh man. Deodorant, anyone? I told him his pits were stinky, and his response?? "Oh yeah, I forgot to put on deodorant." WHAT?? FORGOT?? When you smell that bad without pit spray, you don't forget!!!! Back to the beach, so it was great to see them. We haven't seen them in 3 years and the kids have really changed. We arrived at mom's on Sunday and of course they hadn't seen me without hair. Sammy, my niece who is 5 was a little put off but when I brought out the gifts, she was all over me. I really enjoyed having a little girl to fuss over. I took her to the nail salon and she got her first mani/pedi. It was adorable. Joey who is 8 is so smart. But alas, he's the middle child and those of you who are middle children (I'm one of them) know how life can be. We are the forgotten. (He's not really forgotten so shut up and let me whine.) When I was growing up, my big brother Scott was the favorite of my grandmother because he was the only boy. My little sister Carrie was my parent's favorite because she was the baby. And then there was Lisa. Poor Lisa. Poor middle child Lisa. (yea, right, still dad's favorite) But, I digress. Joey is a joy and fun to be around. Christian, my godson is 15 and what a teenager. I still think he had a good time and was glad to see us. He's grown so fast. I wish I could keep him that little baby with the long lashes. But, they grow up. That's what they do. We all went to the beach on Monday. It must've been 163 degrees but the kids had fun. That's what was important. All we adults could do was complain to anyone who would listen. On Thursday we all went to the water park. My cousin Carla bought all the kids tickets for Christmas. We got there about 10:30 and stayed for 6 hours. The kids had a blast. Joey wasn't quite old enough to go off with the older kids so he got stuck with the adults and younger sister Sammy. So, being the fun Auntie Lisa, I took him down the Lazy River. Well, along the ride there are several areas that have water spouts and one huge water fall. We must've gone around 4 or 5 times together. If you've ever been down a lazy river, you know that you stick your big butt inside the tube and lay back and relax. Oh no, not Joey. We were in a double tube with me in the back. Yep, big butt and lopsided chest layed back, while Joey, middle child Joey walked and guided the tube down the lazy river. Every time we approached a water fall, he would look back at me and say, "Auntie Lisa, I don't like that water fall, I tell you." He would guide the tube so that it would be poor middle child Auntie Lisa getting pummeled with water instead of him. Oh how he giggled at that!! So, of course for the rest of our visit the key phrase was, "Auntie Lisa, I don't like that water fall, I tell you!" I think we made great memories for our kids last week. At least I hope we did. The point of this long, drawn out story is, take a look around and appreciate your blessings. Make memories for your children. Memories filled with fun and laughter. Don't be afraid to get silly and look silly. Who cares? Let 'em each ice cream for lunch once in a while. Who cares? Life is short, people. Have fun and make memories.