Tuesday, August 30

Quote of the Day:  “A women is like a teabag- you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.”   Eleanor Roosevelt

Exercise Log:  I may still be a runner, yet!  Today, Cokie, Sue O. and I met in Holladay and ran, yes ran, 3.73 miles.  We walked a little in the middle of our run and then at the end.  I was so happy that I could go as far as we did without stopping.  I felt really good and attribute it to the foundation I had built before the diagnosis and surgeries but also to being able to keep up the miles during chemo.  I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow, but who cares?  It’s worth it!

I now have to plan my shoes carefully for the radiation staff.  I won’t be able to wear just any shoe.  You lay on a table for radiation and they put a big elastic around your feet so they don’t move.  Today I wore my cleopatra shoes, lime-green, and they loved them.  What about tomorrow?

I talked with Lynne last night and she is the most courageous person I know.  She doesn’t complain, she is just looking to understand what is happening and tomorrow in my blog, I will do a tribute to her.  

I got this e-mail today and wanted to share it because the message is so good:

A Beautiful thought

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America – If you remember, she’s
the wife of Todd Beamer who said ‘Let’s Roll!’ and helped
take down the plane over Pennsylvania that was heading for
Washington, DC back on 9/11.

 She said it’s the little things that she misses most about
 Todd, such as hearing the garage door open as he came home,
 and her children running to meet him. She’s now the Mom of a
 beautiful little girl, Mary.

Lisa recalled this story:

 “I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago
 whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week
 after his death, she shared some of her insight with a
classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came
 streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was
nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her
 desk and sat down there.

 With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and
said, ‘ Class is over, I would like to share with all of you,
  a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is
 very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn,
 share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us
 knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be
taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the power’s way of telling us that we must
 make the most out of every single day. Her eyes, beginning
to water, she went on, “So I would like you all to make me a
 promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way
home, find something beautiful to notice.

It doesn’t have to be something you see, it could be a scent,
perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone’s
 house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly
 rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning
light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the
 ground. Please look for these things, and cherish them. For,
 although it may sound trite to some, these things are the
 “stuff” of life. The little things we are put here on earth
 to enjoy. The things we often take for granted.”

 The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books
and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I
 noticed more things on my way home from school than I had
 that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that
 teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of
 us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that
 sometimes we all overlook.

 Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour
 today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset… there is  

always something to notice in God’s beautiful creation.

…For as we get older, it is not the things we did
 that we often regret, but the things we didn’t do.