A time to dance.. and a time to bite

While the Bug and I were at Webelos Encampment, a very special friend celebrated a very special day back home. And even as we hustled from activity to activity on Monday, I held Kennedy Grace close in my thoughts and prayers. In April of 2007, when she was 3, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her family attended my church at the time, and the entire church family was devastated. Once the protocol had been set, her parents had white rubber bracelets made up that said "Pray for KGK--6-29-09". That seemed SO far away back then; over 2 years of chemo and spinal taps, emergency room visits and steroids, lost hair and lost childhood moments.

Monday was THE day for KG; her port was removed last week, and she took her final oral chemo ON the date stamped on her bracelets. The regimen of strong chemicals that wiped the cancer cells from her little body left behind some residual damage, but she is a survivor. No longer bloated by steroids, as she was in the top picture, taken in June 2007 at VBS. Full head of hair, sparkling eyes, beautiful smile that mirrors her mom's; it's like a cool drink in the desert to know that she's doing so well. Here's to KG--I'm doin' a happy dance over here, and I'll still "Pray for KGK"!

Shifting gears, I have to say that Pioneer Woman is making things really, really difficult around here lately. First, the Bug saw her post with pictures of her kids driving the ranch work trucks. He would be on the first plane to Oklahoma if I got him a ticket. Before we reach the end of summer, I may well be scouring Priceline to see if I can find one. Surely PW could use another ranch hand? He's fairly strong, not a picky eater, and he doesn't take up much room. Now that we're done with day camp, and the Destin trip, and the Nashville trip, and Webelos encampment, I'm suddenly staring at several weeks with nothing planned and thinking "hmmmm... what now?" The neighbors had a garage sale today, and Bug had made a bunch of bracelets using some of my old beads. He also cleaned up his old tricycle, and he ended up with $17 (which is burning a HOLE in his pocket, I must say). He also dressed the dog up last night after looking at yet another PW post. Her kids dressed up their basset hound, Charlie, and the pictures made both of us laugh. Blackie, however, was NOT laughing when he did this to her:

I think she might be saying "Curse you, PW--if you come near me, I will bite you!" And really, I don't blame her at all. She just doesn't look good in camo. Sorry, girl.
BTW... this was my 200th post! Wooo hooooo.... and to think, at the beginning, that I didn't think I'd really keep blogging.