Good grief! You're killing me, Blogger.
First and foremost, happy Easter to all Easter celebrators out there! I went to a family gathering at Gran's house today, where I ate some delicious food and spent some time visiting. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Spring has sprung! My eyes are still itching a bit, though. I wouldn't mind a nice April shower!
So, I was really impressed with myself because I thought I'd written last week. However, I re-read my last post and realized that I last wrote two weeks and one day ago. I couldn't decide whether to be more disappointed that I didn't accomplish the two-posts-in-two-weeks feat or that I have lost all sense of time.
That being said, a lot of good things have happened since I last blogged, especially as it relates to fundraising. My team is above the $6,200 mark, and I can only hope that the momentum continues. I am so grateful for all of the donations I have received thus far. I am continually amazed by strangers' generosity. (Shameless plug: If you are a stranger that happened upon this page, here's what I'm yapping about: www.cff.org/great_strides/drew). People are wonderful!
I have been doing a pretty good job of exercising recently. I feel like I mentioned this in my last post, but I'm too lazy to check, so you can hear it again! I've set a goal to work out three hours a week, and I have been quite successful. This is a time when my stubbornness comes in handy. I did 30 minutes today; I'm one-sixth of the way there. (I love semicolons!)
My eyes and I are both (all three of us!) super excited by the prospect of sleeping. Sweet dreams, world!
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sappy Magee
I am such a sap right now. Man, it's absurd. I think it's expected, though, given the events of the past few weeks.
So, Friday night was my grandfather's visitation. It was actually really great. A lot of people were there showing support and it meant a lot to our family. I imagined that it was going to be pretty difficult, but it was very pleasant.
The funeral was absolutely beautiful. I spoke and, although I had a difficult time deciding what I'd say, the words came to me on Friday night. If you'd like to see the tribute I wrote, let me know. That isn't a ploy or a friendship test, by the way; I just don't really feel like shoving it down your throats.
I have to say that I've never felt comfortable in a cemetery until Saturday. I think there are many factors that contribute to that. The casket was draped with an American flag and military people were there giving a final salute and playing "Taps" (I didn't know the name of it until just now, but it is beautiful). Aside from some difficulty folding the flag into a triangle, it was perfect. Honestly, though, the folding debacle made it even better. The weather was amazing and the sun was shining!
Here is a photograph of the flag:
Hmm, what else? On Sunday, the family celebrated Easter at Gran's house and that was nice. I wasn't the most endearing person to be around since I was feeling pretty exhausted by that point, but it was great to get to see my other side of the family. After the Easter celebration, I came home and exercised in an attempt to clear my mind and freshen up my mood.
Then, I ended the weekend by heading to my other grandmother's house to spend the night with her so she wasn't alone. We hadn't had any one-on-one time in quite a while, so it was nice to visit with her and lend her an ear as she adjusts to her new life without my grandfather.
This is really dorky, but I stumbled upon something that made me really excited last night. I had been looking through a lot of photo albums last week because I was asked to pick out the photographs for the slide show at the visitation. I looked through a lot of pictures of my grandparents' trips to all different places like China, Australia, Italy, etc. However, last night I ran into a photo album of random pictures my grandfather took. It's funny because I remember him having a disposable camera at Christmas a few years back. In this album, there were several pictures of us (at Christmas) that he'd taken with the disposable camera. However, the rest of the disposable camera consisted of pictures he'd taken of geese at the lake. It's the same journey he was on when he died last week. It was really neat because I was a little too far removed from the pictures of faraway places, but the geese pictures were so simple and documented something meaningful to me; it was almost like I was walking right there with him. I took two of the pictures -- one he took from the bridge of the geese swimming (you can see his finger in the photo), and one of the geese crossing the sidewalk right in front of him. They were so amateur and I love them because it's like viewing everyday life from his eyes. How long can I talk about some photos of geese? You tell me.
Today I returned back to work and, although I really hadn't been gone, it felt like it. I was greeted by tons of termites running rampant on the carpet outside of my office. I didn't notice them at first because I got to work so early and didn't turn on the light in the hallway. However, a little while later, I looked at the carpet and realized it was like an optical illusion. Seriously. The carpet looked 3D like a Magic Eye puzzle. Are you grossed out yet? I spent the rest of the morning being paranoid that they were crawling on me and, after the Orkin man came and said they were coming up through the floor, the folks in my suite called it a day and headed home. Ugh, I shouldn't be thinking about this so close to bedtime. I'm gonna dream of termites bringing me donuts.
Well, it's about to become my birthday if anyone's counting. I've set a goal for Drew's Crew to raise $2,500 on my birthday. I gave us a tiny head start because I was getting impatient. If you'd like to contribute to the cause, first let me commend you for making it this far in this novel of a post. Secondly, here is the link: http://www.cff.org/great_strides/drewdotson5267.
I want to thank everyone who has shown me some love over the past several days; it has really helped.
Hello, bed of mine! How I've missed thee!
So, Friday night was my grandfather's visitation. It was actually really great. A lot of people were there showing support and it meant a lot to our family. I imagined that it was going to be pretty difficult, but it was very pleasant.
The funeral was absolutely beautiful. I spoke and, although I had a difficult time deciding what I'd say, the words came to me on Friday night. If you'd like to see the tribute I wrote, let me know. That isn't a ploy or a friendship test, by the way; I just don't really feel like shoving it down your throats.
I have to say that I've never felt comfortable in a cemetery until Saturday. I think there are many factors that contribute to that. The casket was draped with an American flag and military people were there giving a final salute and playing "Taps" (I didn't know the name of it until just now, but it is beautiful). Aside from some difficulty folding the flag into a triangle, it was perfect. Honestly, though, the folding debacle made it even better. The weather was amazing and the sun was shining!
Here is a photograph of the flag:
Hmm, what else? On Sunday, the family celebrated Easter at Gran's house and that was nice. I wasn't the most endearing person to be around since I was feeling pretty exhausted by that point, but it was great to get to see my other side of the family. After the Easter celebration, I came home and exercised in an attempt to clear my mind and freshen up my mood.
Then, I ended the weekend by heading to my other grandmother's house to spend the night with her so she wasn't alone. We hadn't had any one-on-one time in quite a while, so it was nice to visit with her and lend her an ear as she adjusts to her new life without my grandfather.
This is really dorky, but I stumbled upon something that made me really excited last night. I had been looking through a lot of photo albums last week because I was asked to pick out the photographs for the slide show at the visitation. I looked through a lot of pictures of my grandparents' trips to all different places like China, Australia, Italy, etc. However, last night I ran into a photo album of random pictures my grandfather took. It's funny because I remember him having a disposable camera at Christmas a few years back. In this album, there were several pictures of us (at Christmas) that he'd taken with the disposable camera. However, the rest of the disposable camera consisted of pictures he'd taken of geese at the lake. It's the same journey he was on when he died last week. It was really neat because I was a little too far removed from the pictures of faraway places, but the geese pictures were so simple and documented something meaningful to me; it was almost like I was walking right there with him. I took two of the pictures -- one he took from the bridge of the geese swimming (you can see his finger in the photo), and one of the geese crossing the sidewalk right in front of him. They were so amateur and I love them because it's like viewing everyday life from his eyes. How long can I talk about some photos of geese? You tell me.
Today I returned back to work and, although I really hadn't been gone, it felt like it. I was greeted by tons of termites running rampant on the carpet outside of my office. I didn't notice them at first because I got to work so early and didn't turn on the light in the hallway. However, a little while later, I looked at the carpet and realized it was like an optical illusion. Seriously. The carpet looked 3D like a Magic Eye puzzle. Are you grossed out yet? I spent the rest of the morning being paranoid that they were crawling on me and, after the Orkin man came and said they were coming up through the floor, the folks in my suite called it a day and headed home. Ugh, I shouldn't be thinking about this so close to bedtime. I'm gonna dream of termites bringing me donuts.
Well, it's about to become my birthday if anyone's counting. I've set a goal for Drew's Crew to raise $2,500 on my birthday. I gave us a tiny head start because I was getting impatient. If you'd like to contribute to the cause, first let me commend you for making it this far in this novel of a post. Secondly, here is the link: http://www.cff.org/great_strides/drewdotson5267.
I want to thank everyone who has shown me some love over the past several days; it has really helped.
Hello, bed of mine! How I've missed thee!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Back to work
It's hard to imagine that I haven't been to work in almost a week. Yeah, I was telecommuting, but it will be nice to see everyone's faces when I'm back in the office tomorrow. I kind of wish I was feeling 100 percent, but I'm not sure when I will be given the weather, etc.
I haven't had any of the same pain that I had on Friday. However, I've also been taking the prescription Motrin pretty regularly, so I don't know if I'd be pain-free without it. I was experiencing some shortness of breath (again) Saturday and today, but I do think I'm on the road to recovery. Fatigue has been trying to hold me back, so I'm hoping tomorrow won't be too difficult at work.
Guess what! Today I went to the gym for the first time in what felt like forever. I haven't tried to run in at least two weeks, but probably more like three. As I mentioned recently, I was starting to feel like I needed to work out - just that my body was withering away or something. The gym was tough, but I walked for three minutes, ran for five, walked for two, ran for five, then walked for three again. I then did twelve minutes on the elliptical, and finished with a ten-minute walk. It felt a little measly compared to how I usually push myself, but it was the most I felt like I could do. I have high hopes of getting up and going over there again in the morning to start my week off on a positive note.
Yesterday we went for a get-together at my aunts' house, and today we had a gathering at my grandmother's house. It was fun to get to see everyone on my dad's side of the family; it seemed like it had been a while. I enjoyed today, but everything was set up to eat outside and I knew it probably wasn't the best idea for me. Last year I got very, very sick from allergies on Easter Sunday and missed a week of work. Geeee, sounds sort of familiar, but I'll say this year has been nothing in comparison to last year (knock on wood). Anyway, I ended up sitting inside and one of my cousins joined me so I wasn't all alone. :-)
I know it seems like all I've been talking about lately is my health, but whatever - I'm more cognizant of it now than I usually am. That reminds me that I have only a few days left on this oral antibiotic, and a doctor's appointment next Tuesday. We'll see how all of that unfolds...
Although I am all talk regarding my book, I've been thinking about it a lot over these last couple days. I think that the revelation I had at the end of the year is gonna get tossed by the wayside and I should take a slightly different approach. Sometimes I wish I was better at acting rather than talking my way through things. I'm getting annoyed with myself by how badly I've been procrastinating. However, to go easy on myself, I haven't had much free time on my hands and, when I've found it, I've ended up using it for life's essentials - i.e. sleeping and eating.
Speaking of sleeping, I'm just finishing up a round of vesting so I can get a good night's sleep to start my week off... and so I'll get up to exercise!
I haven't had any of the same pain that I had on Friday. However, I've also been taking the prescription Motrin pretty regularly, so I don't know if I'd be pain-free without it. I was experiencing some shortness of breath (again) Saturday and today, but I do think I'm on the road to recovery. Fatigue has been trying to hold me back, so I'm hoping tomorrow won't be too difficult at work.
Guess what! Today I went to the gym for the first time in what felt like forever. I haven't tried to run in at least two weeks, but probably more like three. As I mentioned recently, I was starting to feel like I needed to work out - just that my body was withering away or something. The gym was tough, but I walked for three minutes, ran for five, walked for two, ran for five, then walked for three again. I then did twelve minutes on the elliptical, and finished with a ten-minute walk. It felt a little measly compared to how I usually push myself, but it was the most I felt like I could do. I have high hopes of getting up and going over there again in the morning to start my week off on a positive note.
Yesterday we went for a get-together at my aunts' house, and today we had a gathering at my grandmother's house. It was fun to get to see everyone on my dad's side of the family; it seemed like it had been a while. I enjoyed today, but everything was set up to eat outside and I knew it probably wasn't the best idea for me. Last year I got very, very sick from allergies on Easter Sunday and missed a week of work. Geeee, sounds sort of familiar, but I'll say this year has been nothing in comparison to last year (knock on wood). Anyway, I ended up sitting inside and one of my cousins joined me so I wasn't all alone. :-)
I know it seems like all I've been talking about lately is my health, but whatever - I'm more cognizant of it now than I usually am. That reminds me that I have only a few days left on this oral antibiotic, and a doctor's appointment next Tuesday. We'll see how all of that unfolds...
Although I am all talk regarding my book, I've been thinking about it a lot over these last couple days. I think that the revelation I had at the end of the year is gonna get tossed by the wayside and I should take a slightly different approach. Sometimes I wish I was better at acting rather than talking my way through things. I'm getting annoyed with myself by how badly I've been procrastinating. However, to go easy on myself, I haven't had much free time on my hands and, when I've found it, I've ended up using it for life's essentials - i.e. sleeping and eating.
Speaking of sleeping, I'm just finishing up a round of vesting so I can get a good night's sleep to start my week off... and so I'll get up to exercise!
Friday, April 2, 2010
GOOOOOOD Friday
Hi y'all!
I write you tonight with a smiling heart. Today has been such a great day, primarily due to the major advancements made by Drew's Crew! I, as an individual, raised $577 today - through a mere four donations! A really great friend left me in complete and utter shock with her generous donation, and it's like that positive energy carried into other people as well. It seemed like every time I logged onto Facebook, someone new was posting my link, which means a lot to me. Drew's Crew's up-to-date online total is $6,762!!! While it's not officially official yet, there is approximately $1,000 in checks that haven't been posted online yet. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF HOW HAPPY I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today I stopped by my mom's school to meet her kindergarten students. I haven't been able to go there in quite a while (pretty much since I finished college), so it was super-exciting to get to see all of the children. The kids were participating in an egg hunt today, and immediately upon entering the classroom, a student asked me if I was the Easter bunny. Man, that cracks me up. I've considered teaching and seeing those little kids today pulled at my heartstrings. I typically have a problem with children, but they were sooooooooo adorable.
I'll throw one tiny little twinge of negativity in here, more for informational purposes than anything. I have been doing really great pain-wise in the lungs since Tuesday, but today I got some more dagger-like pains. It's tough to imagine pain like this not being caused by something of concern, but they stopped shortly after taking the prescription Motrin. I had one 30-minute episode of being short-of-breath, too, so I guess I'm still monitoring this... That headache is lingering, too. I wonder if it has to do with a lack of oxygen or something.
ANYWAY! I'll end on a positive note. Tonight I got a post on my Facebook from a father of a CFer who said that my posting has motivated him to start fundraising again. That makes me very happy, so a shout-out to him!
As you go to sleep tonight, send some positive thoughts to a blog friend of mine who ought to be in the throes of a double-lung transplant right now. Someone's about to be breathing easy!
I write you tonight with a smiling heart. Today has been such a great day, primarily due to the major advancements made by Drew's Crew! I, as an individual, raised $577 today - through a mere four donations! A really great friend left me in complete and utter shock with her generous donation, and it's like that positive energy carried into other people as well. It seemed like every time I logged onto Facebook, someone new was posting my link, which means a lot to me. Drew's Crew's up-to-date online total is $6,762!!! While it's not officially official yet, there is approximately $1,000 in checks that haven't been posted online yet. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF HOW HAPPY I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today I stopped by my mom's school to meet her kindergarten students. I haven't been able to go there in quite a while (pretty much since I finished college), so it was super-exciting to get to see all of the children. The kids were participating in an egg hunt today, and immediately upon entering the classroom, a student asked me if I was the Easter bunny. Man, that cracks me up. I've considered teaching and seeing those little kids today pulled at my heartstrings. I typically have a problem with children, but they were sooooooooo adorable.
I'll throw one tiny little twinge of negativity in here, more for informational purposes than anything. I have been doing really great pain-wise in the lungs since Tuesday, but today I got some more dagger-like pains. It's tough to imagine pain like this not being caused by something of concern, but they stopped shortly after taking the prescription Motrin. I had one 30-minute episode of being short-of-breath, too, so I guess I'm still monitoring this... That headache is lingering, too. I wonder if it has to do with a lack of oxygen or something.
ANYWAY! I'll end on a positive note. Tonight I got a post on my Facebook from a father of a CFer who said that my posting has motivated him to start fundraising again. That makes me very happy, so a shout-out to him!
As you go to sleep tonight, send some positive thoughts to a blog friend of mine who ought to be in the throes of a double-lung transplant right now. Someone's about to be breathing easy!
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