We had a great weekend at Buck Creek! The weather was beautiful, albeit a little chilly and windy...but the guys got to take out the sailboat so the weekend was a success! Ted and Jeremy worked many hours to repair and repaint the boat...it looked pretty sharp!

Carli commented that she was warmer this time...she had hair :)

So, everyone is now back to school and things are quiet again. Carli's dress is in, so she will probably come home soon so that we can pick it up. Have no idea how we're going to store it, but oh well!!

Time...goes by so quickly. My mom said that time goes faster as you age, and I never believed her until now! The days fly by and sometimes I don't know what I have done to positively impact my world. I see folks every day that I should help, but in my busyness I don't do what I should do. I wonder if God looks at us and wonders why we are so caught up in things that don't really matter.

My dad was in the hospital this week, please keep him and us in your prayers. They didn't find a cause for his problems...

I have really been thinking about what Carli endured this past year with a heavy heart recently. Many times out of the blue I will see her lying on the couch so sick...in my mind's eye...and I want to be picturing the whole, healthy Carli!

She is really stressing about her grades right now. Her Anatomy and Physiology class is one of the most difficult offered at GCC, and she says that she really needs an "A". Most PT schools look at that one particular grade to see if you can really handle the difficulty of PT. She is doing well, but I can tell that she is really worried. She is also taking Calculus (and the poor thing gets her math "smarts" from me...not good) plus other difficult things. She will be so glad to be done in December! It has been trying for her to be at school without her close friends, who graduated last May. It was really important to her to graduate in the class of '08...at least she is making it right under the wire!

Homecoming is this weekend at GCC and Carli's best friend/prior roomie is there from the DC area. I am sure that they are having a great time catching up on everything. Another friend from Dalton is also there, and she has really missed having Keegan on campus. So, lots of fun with friends this weekend!

Kelsie made me laugh...she was with the alumni sorority sisters on Friday night and she had such a good time...said that it was fun to be with the ladies that graduated 25 and 30 years ago :) Back in the 70's...when GCC was a wild place! SO, their college life was much different than it is now! I think that I am glad that my girls are experiencing the more conservative side of things....even if they don't always like it!

Tara got her first choice job at the James and is working with a preceptor until NOvemeber, then she starts working night shift on her own. She is having many great experiences and calls to tell me, which I so appreciate. It is fun to "compare notes", even though I am not working in the hospital any more. Some things have really changed (technology) and some will never change (difficult patients and doctors).

Next weekend we are going to Buck Creek State Park and staying in a cabin together...all 7 of us...pray for good weather or things might not be pretty...the cabins are fairly small :)

Oops!

The wedding website is mywedding.com/JeremyandCarli

Carli set up a wedding site:
mywedding.com/carliandjeremy

It is fun, tells their story, etc. It is fun doing the wedding planning...we now have a caterer, but no florist yet. Have some ideas in mind...if anyone has suggestions, please let us know!

Carli and I had dinner together Friday night. She mentioned that she is doing a research paper on the Epstein Barr virus and Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She said that she didn't realize until doing this research how serious her diagnosis was/is. Her staging (IIIB) was very life-threatening and she didn't really realize it! She said that it was probably good that she didn't realize it, because then she would have been even more stressed out! (duh...I just wish I would have been like that...would've saved lots of gained pounds and sleepless nights). She also didn't really realize the toll that chemo takes on your body...her chances of heart attack and respiratory problems are much greater now. She also mentioned that her chances of getting leukemia in the near future are high...that is one that I don't think that I knew, and might have been better off not knowing! She remembered that her chances of getting pregnant might be affected as will going into early menopause.

How do you handle this at age 22?? I am at the same age as my mom when she was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer...and I don't know how she handled that so well, either. Many tears shed in private for both of them, I am sure. Carli stays so upbeat and positive, but I could hear the fear in her words. "Cure" does not mean all certainly be well. Keep praying for her and Jeremy, especially as they are trying to plan where they will be in the future...depends on getting into PT school...

Tara interviews this week for specific positions at the James Cancer Center at OSU. God placed her there in the first place, so I am sure that He has big plans in store for her!

Kelsie is coming home for a few short hours to go try on bridesmaids dresses..Fun!!

Carli is participating in the "Light the Night" walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society again on October 2. The following website is an easy way to donate if you would like:
http://www.active.com/donate/ltnPittsb/2484_carligerber

Thanks!

It is so much more fun to post things when it is good news! Carli found out this week that Grove City will give her a "W" for withdrawn instead of the "F" that was on her transcript. She withdrew from her chemistry class in the spring of '07 after the withdrawal date...and the other classes let her make things up but she couldn't with labs/chemisty, so they were going to give her an "F". She fought this fight by herself, Ted and I didn't go to GCC this summer and complain...so I am proud that she stuck to her guns and got the decision reversed! Now her GPA looks much better for applying to PT schools. I am so thankful that GCC looked at the individual case, instead of just following policy.

She is trying hard to make her essays and cover letters look good without overplaying the "cancer card". She really wants to get in a good program...keep praying for her!

The wedding plans are moving along...still have to find a caterer and florist. The date is August 1. It is fun to plan and see what she and Jeremy are planning. Looks like a good time. I wish that we could invite the world! It will be such a celebration!

Also pray for Todd and Tara...am not sure if all of this financial turmoil will effect Todd and his job at Merrill Lynch. He hasn't said anything yet, and Tara said that he doesn't seem stressed...so maybe things will be OK. Tara is loving her rotations at the James Cancer Center, and will have to bid on which position she wants next week. She has seen some amazing things...many hurting and disfigured people, but she is really feeling like she made the right choice by working there.

Kelsie is loving her business courses...don't know whose child she is :)

After 2 days of looking, trying on what seemed like hundreds of dresses...Carli found a dress!!! It is very beatiful and very Carli. It will be fun to plan this wedding...here we go again!! Ted was right when the first words out of his mouth when Kelsie was born were ... "three weddings...."

Now the fun will be to find bridesmaids dresses to fit a variety of girls.

This really was a great weekend with everyone home...the empty nesters still like to have the kids around.