3 Years Later...

August is here already which is shocking to me. I feel like it is still June somehow. When August rolls around my heart sinks because the 5th is AC's death anniversary and this month it will be 3 years. I can feel myself getting down and sad, but that's okay. I still think it is better to let it take over knowing that life will interrupt my sadness and this week will pass. I miss him so much and wish I could have had him longer than our 16 years together. I think I will call his son David and reminisce over the funny times we shared when he was growing up. He is now godfather to my daughter Shannon's son Wyatt. People tell me that they can see AC in him and certain expressions sound like him, too. That's cool to me. (Below: David, Shannon, Brandon)




My granddaughter Sam is still in the process of moving out into her own apartment which will leave me alone for the first time... ever? Hm... I have never had a place of my own, geez louise. Really? Never lived alone? I guess this year will be the year of firsts: bought a car by myself, started a new job, and will officially be living alone. Wow. That sounds really weird to me.


I was just informed yesterday that I sold my painting entitled "Peace I Leave With You" (the gold angel below), so that is music to my ears! Woot!


I am having a blast being "MiMi" to Wyatt and Maegan, my grandchildren. Spoiling toddlers rocks! There is nothing better than hearing "where's MiMi?" or an excited "MiMi!" when they see me. Ah... babies. I love them.


Maybe this three year anniversary will be okay.

Houston Marathon 2009 - Scott Made #2!

Scott Made #2!!!!!
Scott notified me that he was honored at a luncheon held by the Houston Marathon folks and he walked away with the #2 prize Individual Fundraising Award for the whole marathon fundraising initiative!

WooHoo! Way to go, Scott! All your hard work and perseverance paid off in a big way. I am so proud of you and know that AC would have been so pleased with your accomplishment.

Houston Marathon January 2009

What a great day! The 1st picture is of Scott seconds before he crossed the finish line, he stopped to kiss his wife and my niece, Mimi, and those are my hands applauding his valiant efforts. There was loud music and great crowds to cheer

My Beloved AC is gone...

My beloved AC is gone. He had a massive stroke and bleed-out of the brain due to the Leukemia. I leave for home today and the funeral is planned for Saturday.

I meant it when I said we need to hurry up and create art, we don't have much time. My AC was only 56 years old.

I hope that friends will donate, if so inclined, to the Leukemia Society at the website mentioned below where my nephew, Scott, is running in a marathon to raise money in AC's name, it would mean the world to me. We are working even harder now to get a cure.

Thank you for your prayers during these last 3 months, there were times when I could feel them at just the right time.

Go hug your loved ones for me. Kiss them and tell them you love them, then go create art!

Off to MD Anderson...

It is official, we leave for MD Anderson on Thursday for labs, tests, and Dr. appointments all day Friday. I am packing for a longer trip, we have no idea if they will want to check him in or not, especially after they told us to stop the super drug he was on. I probably won't go online to my sites much the next couple of days. I don't seem to have much tolerance for people that are complaining about (to me) little things that are so insignificant in the whole scheme of things. Normally I would try to help them in whatever situation they were in, offer advice how to fix whatever, yada, yada, yada.
I have started a blog on wordpress to vent, no art, just typing. I started working on an art journal I have and the only colors I used were deep red and black and boy, was it ugly! Composition? Point of interest? Nope, I didn't feel better after doing the spread, so I decided I just need to type what is going on to myself, and if I want to cuss I can and no one will hear me or be offended. I'm pretty smart, eh? Well, I thought so at the time.

Back to Houston... Marathon News

Well, shuckins, it looks like we are heading back to MD Anderson in the next day or two. AC is producing "blasts" which are an indicator the cancer is back. His labs last week showed 6% and the labs today are at 24%. He feels lousy, poor thing. I am trying to remain chipper, but it is like a huge dark cloud hanging over us.

I tried to spend some time painting yesterday and today, but just can't seem to keep a thought in my head and find myself staring at the canvas like a moron. I did get an email from AC's nephew-in-law in Houston that he is running a marathon in January and is going to be running in AC's name and he set up a website for donations and to keep folks up to date with his training:

http://www.active.com/donate/llshoustonmarathon/4unclebuck

We were so touched! To think that someone thought of that... would I have been so kind? I would like to think so, but... it is an incredible gift to see people react to AC's illness in a manner like that. It would be so easy to just wallow in self-pity, but to know that there are people getting involved, trying to do anything that will help, just makes me cry. Big time. Wow.

I think I will bite the bullet and watch HGTV with AC tonight. I can't stand watching other people work on their homes when I could be doing something, preferably art, but I want to snuggle with my honey and just hide from the world for a couple of hours, even if it's just watching someone else paint. A bedroom. Or a bathroom. An awful color that lacks imagination. *grin*