To the beach!

Well, by the time I finished all my treatments, and finally got to have my thank you celebration, and got through the holidays, I was ready for a total break. So I emailed my buddy Lori (in Texas) and asked if she was up for a road trip. Lori is ALWAYS up for a road trip! So the day after Christmas I loaded my little blue bug and drove to my cousin's near Ft. Worth and spent the night and enjoyed a good visit with her and her daughter, Tanya - and our little side trip to Ikea was fun, too! Then the next morning I drove to Love Field Airport and picked up Lori and we were on our way - destination Port Aransas, Texas, a wonderful seaside town with miles of beaches. We spent three glorious nights and days just wandering the beaches, and laughing and talking, and drinking a tiny bit of wine. It was exactly what the doctor would've ordered. Oh, and while I was there, I also got a tattoo!!! It was my cousin's idea and it turned out beautifully - a pink awareness ribbon, emblazoned just above the body appendage responsible for my incredible journey of the past year. Heck yeah, it hurt! But no worse than some of the other stuff I went through, so it was bearable. And ABBA connected us with some amazing people while we were there. You absolutely cannot go anywhere or talk to anyone that isn't touched somehow, closely, with breast cancer. We got mardi gras beads from 2 shop owners who lost a dear friend to breast cancer; our motel manager is knitting a prayer shawl for me because she was so touched by our attitude and joy, and had friends and family touched by the disease. So it was a trip that fed my mind, and my body, and my soul. I've posted photos below, and hope you enjoy. Just to help you understand them better... the pink stuffed flamingo? That's Pearl. Ya see, I don't really want my picture right now... I'm losing the weight, and I'm getting the hair back, but I'm still not up for lasting memories of this body image. Soooo.... Pearl became my "stand in" girl, and she was a real trouper! She helped to make the trip a hoot! Thank you, Lori, for playing photographer, and accompanying me on this wonderful respite journey, and for helping to heal what I didn't even know was wounded. It's so good to laugh again.... and thank You, ABBA, for the entire journey otherwise known as my life. I love You. Now it's time to birth DORCAS! WOO HOO!!!