April... May... June

Hi there~

Wow, so much has happened in the last couple months. I feel really bad about being out of touch. I know I've gotten emails I simply haven't had time to respond to. That's terrible of me, but I was really overloaded. Things are calming down now, so I'm here to apologize for being away and to post an update.

I've just updated Cassidy's blog, too, so check that out at http://babycassidy.blogspot.com/. Here's a recent picture of the two of us at the mall play area....



She's just the cutest baby ever! And she has the most delightful personality.

The main reason my life has been overbooked the last couple months is that a dear friend needed some help (lots of help!) getting ready to move and I pretty much spearheaded the effort. I believe I've mentioned this friend before on my blog... she goes by "RM" and we were walking partners for over a year. But then last year she began to have some balance problems and gradually needed to use a walker. (She's close to my parents' age, FYI.) After seeing 4 different neurologists, she was finally diagnosed as having ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). By March of this year she was in a wheelchair and having trouble living alone; there's just too much she can't do anymore. She decided to move to Portland, Oregon, to be near her 3 grown kids and their families, and to live in an assisted living place. So I spent April and May essentially working part-time as a caregiver to RM and coordinating a whole team of volunteers to try and get her ready to move. The last week of May her son came to town and loaded up three PODS units with RM's furniture and belongings. Then last Saturday I took RM to the airport to catch her flight. It was a tearful goodbye, to say the least. She spent the first week in Portland in the hospital because the stress of moving was really hard on her body. But she rebounded well and should have moved by now to a rehabilitation facility for the next few months. There is a medical center in Portland that specializes in ALS, so she's receiving excellent care. I'm in regular contact with her daughters, as I'm still coordinating some details on this end, such as getting her house ready to rent out.

Aside from this, all the ordinary elements of life continued non-stop. Business has been brisk because of summer movie season launching. I still work full-time in my role as financial partner for Cinema Advertising Agency. I haven't done any publicity projects this year and I don't think I'll be going back to that career. It just feels like I'm over it.

All the usual May/June birthdays happened on schedule: Brenden-May 22, Dad-May 23, Breanna-May 30, and moi-June 4 (thank you for the happy birthday greetings, those who remembered!). We had a family b-day party for the whole bunch of us last Sunday, which was fun.

My sister, Lori, has finished chemo and radiation for the breast cancer. Radiation was cut a little short because she was getting too burned. But they believe the dosage received should've done what they wanted. My other sister, Julie, and I are flying to San Francisco the last weekend of June to visit Lori. We are already booking dinners at some of the fabulous Bay area restaurants! Should be a fun "sisters weekend."

Divorce update: papers have been filed and all should be finalized in November. By doing our own divorce (i.e. by MY doing it!) we didn't have any expense except the court fee of $320. Not bad, huh?

I guess that's about it. I hope your summer is fantastic. God bless..... stay in touch.

Lots of Love,
~Kim