Conference Update

Wow, what a week!  The conference was really amazing and while it was hard to be away from home; hard to live out of a suitcase; hard to sleep in a strange bed - it was all worth it and I'm really glad I went.

One of the main speakers shared his story towards the end of the conference - after years of a nagging cough that was never clearly diagnosed, a doctor finally did a lung scope and took samples which revealed lung cancer.  This amazingly fit (tournament tennis player), never smoked a day in his life man was told he had Stage 2 lung cancer.  Surgery was scheduled - but during the procedure, the surgeon felt something didn't look quite right in the tissue so he send tissue to be rushed through pathology.  Twenty minutes later the results came back and the status was changed to Stage 4.  The surgeon stopped the procedure and closed him back up.

The surgery was in 2014 and at the time, he wasn't sure he'd be making it to the summer workshops scheduled for 2015 - and 2016 wasn't even something he ever thought about.  But he did make it on the 2015 'tour' and also made it this summer.  On Tuesday, he finds out if the drug trial he's in is keeping the cancer from growing - if it isn't, he will be kicked out of the trial and there aren't many other options if that's the case.

He choked up - as did all of us - when he shared that he wasn't sure how much longer he would be sharing the journey we are all on - trying to work through how to ensure students learn.  He is a masterful presenter - such wit and wisdom - and to hear him acknowledge that he isn't sure he will be doing this much longer was hard to hear.

I still feel in awe of his ability to do the work he loves in the face of his condition and the uncertainty of his future.  He and his lovely wife presented all day, every day of the conference and other than a sometimes cough, we would have never known if he hadn't shared.

To have lived a life doing what you love and to be able to keep doing it even with treatments and scans and appointments galore is really amazing -

I returned home Friday and was so wiped out, I spent yesterday in my pajamas and took one of the deepest sleep naps in history.  Today, I've managed to get dressed and run a couple errands and cooking chicken strips for dinner...but it's just after 7PM and I'm fighting off sleep.

Tomorrow is back to work for four days - I'm scheduled off Friday and all of the following week - and we leave for Reno on Monday.

OH - exciting news - I saw an Eventbrite notice that Ingrid Michaelson is coming to the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa on the 23rd - and I purchased two tickets the minute I heard about the concert - so we'll be spending a nice evening in Napa next Saturday.  We normally spend the night when we go to Napa but we're just going to head home.  The concert ends by 9:30 so we should be able to make it home by midnight.  I had so wanted to see her on her new tour but her schedule only had her at the Fillmore in San Francisco - and there's no way we are doing a standing room only venue...so I was so thrilled to see the winery concert posting and that it was reserved seating.

B. is getting settled at Ft. Campbell and enjoyed a weekend in Nashville for some down time.  He is pretty sure his unit is shipping out to Afghanistan by the end of this year and we are already planning a trip to Nashville to spend time with him in October.  Hoping we will also be able to go to the base and visit the museum(s) there - just to see where he's based.  I've never been to Kentucky so it would be fun to visit both the base AND Nashville - two new states to my list of those I've visited.

H. has one more week of school and his final is a week from tomorrow.  According to him, he's got a 90% so far - he's done very well on the quizzes and is earning high participation marks because he's been helping other students understand.  Guess it's not always a bad thing to be re-taking a class for the umpteenth time.  He and J. have a very full fall semester schedule sketched out....and we are really proud of H. for sticking with it.

I'm going to load the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen and then head to bed.  The minute I say I'm going to go do those things, my sweetest of the sweet husband is going to say 'I'll take care of it'. But I want to try to do what I can - exhaustion or no.  There's still plenty to do around here that I absolutely do count on him to do - but I do what I can.  And dishes?  I can do.  :-)

Thanks to my cousin for her delicious chicken strip recipe - made them again tonight and they are a huge hit around here.  We plan to use leftovers in a salad tomorrow - we planned meals this week.

A list of meals and lists of work stuff litter my desk and it's time to get some sleep.  Super duper hectic four days ahead in preparation for being off - which I absolutely can't wait for.