Back at home.....

Hi everyone!

We are finally back at home! Eden's team made a valiant effort at their final game. They ended up losing 5-3. It was a tough game with some awesome defensive plays, but our bats weren't swinging! We are very proud of Eden and her friends and are so happy to be back at home.

Grant is feeling a little low today. I think I see some "pink" in his eye, so we came home a little early from church. He is enjoying some orange juice and an episode of "Oswald" while I catch up on some computer work, ie... blog stalking! I am not much of a commenter, but I sure do like to read up on what everyone is doing!

Hopefully this week we will return to a little more normalcy, whatever that is?!

I will update soon.......

Update from Wilson

Down East 5 Western Carolina 7

Tough game.... bad pitching machine...... tired girls!

I think we'll hit the movies tonight for a little r & r. Tomorrow's game is at 11.

My car is fixed.... to the tune of a cool $500.

Life is so good!

What a week I'm having!

My car broke down today!

I have to go to Wilson tomorrow for heaven only knows how long......

Its an '06 - relatively new car.....

Relatively large car payment.....

Broke down.

Just stopped working..... engine light on and everything!

I had just vacuumed it out in preparation for our trip.

Maybe it went into shock!

Number 2 ain't that bad!

Our girls played hard today, but were beat out by Wayne Co. After coming back and tying 8-8, they lost their first game in the bottom of the 6th (they only play 6 innings) when Wayne went ahead after a line drive down the 3rd base line scored. This loss forced another game, which we lost in 4 innings. The girls played hard, but didn't seem to be themselves.....

Its 9 o'clock in the evening now and we have figured out why...... at this point 7 of the 12 players are suffering from a really nasty stomach flu! It has yet to hit our house, so we are hopeful that we missed the bug by coming home a little early!

Regardless, we are very sad that Eden's friends are all sick! Please remember these sweet little girls and their families in your prayers tonight. They are very tired from a long tournament, very sick from the stomach crud, and very heartbroken to have lost.....

The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center will honor the girls on Tuesday evening at the kick-off dinner for their Baseball Reunion this coming weekend. Hopefully they will be feeling better by then! I will post pictures.......

Can this be real?

DownEast 4 - Pitt County 3

State Championship tomorrow at 9am.

Yet again, the final game is on Sunday, so we won't be there..... We will post as soon as we hear from Mr. Mike!

Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's game, Down East will play in the Southeast Regional Tournament next week. Both the number 1 and number 2 teams will go. We will play against 8 other states. Lucky for us, the tournament is in Wilson, NC this year, so we don't have to travel to Florida or Alabama! Games will begin on Wednesday.

Congratulations to Eden and all of her friends! They are a wonderful group of girls and are some pretty tough ball players too! G'ville had a great team and you can tell from the score that both teams played some really hard defense. DE sealed the deal with a sweet double play in the bottom of the 6th to take the win! You just can't believe how awesome they are! I'm a not biased in any way, of course!

More later!

Another one bites the dust!

Down-East 9 Johnston Co. - 5

Eden Nelson #18; 2, count them TWO!!! - THREE RUN HOME RUNS!!!

She surely has inherited her mother's athletic abilities!!!! ;)

Joella and crew made it to the game and will be staying with Leah's family tonight in Rollesville. Grandma and Pa, the remaining Nelson's, and Jacy will venture westward this evening!

Next game - Saturday 9 am vs. Pitt County (these girls are good!)

I will post more later!

High School Musical ended today - The girls did a fabulous job. I will post some pictures later!

I am a tired hip-hop "bop to the top" mama!

On a roll!

Down-East 15 - South Granville 1

E. Nelson #18- Single, thrown out at 1st, and HOME RUN!!!!! (sweet line drive to left field!)

You go, Edie!

Next Game - Friday 1pm

Edie the baller

These are a few pics from today's game in Henderson! The Down East All-Stars won 14-0. :)

Mi Vida Loca!

Welcome to my crazy life!

Kevin is on his way to Chapel Hill tonight in preparation for Grant's 7:00 am chemotherapy appointment tomorrow morning. It should be a pretty standard day....standard to us anyway. Grant will have his monthly spinal tap and IT Methotrexate (directly to the spine), and Vincristine. He will also start this month's 5 day cycle of steroids. These are a walk in the park compared to our old steroids, but still make him a little grumpy and a lot hungry! So, I'm stocking up on sloppy joe essentials and all of the necessary ingredients for some yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.

Recently, Grant has complained of ear pain and has had a pretty nasty cough. Although these symptoms are most probably simple side effects of too much swimming and summer allergies, I still find myself relapse-paranoid and, in the most simple terms, anxiety ridden and neurotic! The pressures of life with 3 very strong-willed children, coupled with the fact that one of those wonderful children happens to be a child with cancer, can get to be a little much. Thankfully, I have kind friends and family and a most patient husband who try their best to keep me grounded in reality!

I read this essay recently while surfing.... the web, not the ocean. I tried that once... It was a bad idea!

The Strength of an Egg

by Juliet Freitag

Parents of children with cancer, or really any serious condition, are often referred to or viewed as having strength "like a rock." Albiet flattering,it isn't quite true. It is more like the strength of an egg. An egg, you ask? Yes!

If you'll think about it, you'll see my point. An egg has a polished, smooth outer appearance, with no cracks or weak spots visible. It seems almost inconceivable that the inside might not be so smooth or solid.

Most children, at some point are shown the famous egg trick. An egg set at just the right angle can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and cannot be cracked or broken. Yet the same egg, tapped gently at an ever slightly different angle, will break. The contents, once so neatly concealed, will come spilling out. The no longer perfect shell will be crushed. It looks so fragile that it seems inconceivable that it ever held any strength.

A rock, on the other hand, is solid all the way through. To break it is almost impossible. If you succeed, you will find that there is nothing inside but more rock.

It takes a lot more than pure hardness to hold the hand of hope. Parents of [medically fragile] children are not solid all the way through. We hurt, we fear, we cry, we hope. It takes a very careful balancing act to keep the shell from being shattered. "Balancing an egg" while running a household, going for doctors' visits and hospital stays, keeping the family together, and holding on to the constantly unraveling ties of your sanity can be very tricky indeed! Occasionally, the angle will be off and the shell will break, shattering hope and all the neatly secured appearances of a truly fragile existence.

Unlike Humpty Dumpty, though, parents of [medically fragile] kids will pick themselves up and put themselves back together again.

I have tried recently to explain to some of my friends how my stomach feels all the time. The best thing that I can compare it to is that feeling that you get right before you get in a car wreck.... Stomach drops, face gets hot, you want to throw up.... Yeah, I've been feeling like that pretty much constantly for the past 13 months or so.... Its hard to explain. I guess its kind of like labor, you can describe it all you want, but words just don't seem to work.

I hope it goes away one day. I'm not so sure that it will.

Enough of that......

So, tomorrow I will teach my High School Musical Show Choir Camp (just a fabulously fun camp!) and then meet Kevin in Goldsboro to switch off Eden for Grant. I'll bring chemo-boy home to rest and recover from his Propofol hangover and Kevin will take Eden on to Henderson for the State Softball Tournament. Her team has practiced so hard and is so excited! I am sorry that I will miss Wednesday and Thursday's games, but they have assured me that they are planning on winning, so I will be able to see them play on Friday!

Tonight, Jake and I are planning a little choreography for tomorrow. He thinks that its pretty funny when I dance. I agree! Tonight we're working on "Bop to the Top". He likes it!

I will report on Grant's visit tomorrow.