Busy, Sad month...

Since my last post...

*We traveled to my mom's in New Bern with plans of spending 4 days there. We arrived there on July 4. On July 6, Mark got a call from his sister that their step-mother had found their dad collapsed in the bathroom. We packed immediately and came home. My FIL passed away the next morning after they took him off the life support. It was such a HUGE shock! We all expected at least 15-20 more years with him! He was only 68...he had a hemmoraging stroke. Just typing that just brought the reality of it all back... In the 2 weeks and 3 days since his death, we (Mark, his sister, step-mom, and me) have been thrown into the Rose business and have had to learn ALOT in a very short amount of time! (FIL was a Professional Rose Hybridizer, grower) We've really been so busy, there isn't time to think about the holes left in our hearts.

*During that week, I was voted out of the Last Scrapper Standing Contest at Memorable Seasons. That's okay. My heart wasn't in it after the week I'd had. But you should go check out the 3 remaining contestants...they are rockin'!

*The Friday before we left for the beach, I took Nevan to the doctor to have his tonsils checked out. They are HUGE! We leave there with an appointment to see the ENT doc about having them removed. That appointment was the week after FIL's passing. And the consensus is that the tonsils AND adenoids must come out! When I get to the lady to schedule the surgery, she informs me that the stuff they call "insurance" at Mark's work will only pay $2000 on the surgery. The hospital bill alone will be in the vicinity of $9000!!! I couldn't schedule the surgery. We simply don't have that kind of money...I mean, who DOES??? So, after talking to some friends, someone suggested we apply for NC Medicaid for the boys. I figured they'd laugh us out of the office at even THINKING we'd qualify. But we DID!!! And now Nevan's surgery will be paid in full and it's scheduled for August 2.

*This past week brought 2 more deaths. The first one was my step-mother's father. He'd been battling cancer for years. And on the same day, the man who built our house passed away...also from cancer.

*In GOOD news...I will be an official YMCA employee by either Tuesday or Thursday of next week! LOL! It just depends on which day I can find a babysitter so I can go for my New Hire Orientation. I also FINALLY received my certification papers for TurboKick! Phew! I didn't think they were EVER gonna show up! And I'll be filling in for Jennifer on August 14th! Gotta get a LOT of practice in!

Then, a few days ago, the president of the Photography Club emailed us to say that a local photographer was looking for an assistant. I replied and told her I might be interested. Well, I met with the guy yesterday and will be going with him to a wedding he's shooting next Saturday!!! If this works out, this has the potential to be something MAJOR for me! I mean, right now, I'm just basically his gopher... I'll be helping set up lighting, getting different cameras/lenses when he needs them, being a go-between between him and the bride while he's doing other shots. But he's talking like eventually, I'd get to help pose the parties, possibly even become a 2nd photographer, and he's talking I could even do some editing for him, up to a point and then he'd do the finishing touches! I've got my fingers and toes crossed that this works out!!! Because he pays REALLY WELL!

*This evening our Photog Club is participating in the 3rd Annual Scott Kelby Photowalk. It's gonna be miserable hot, but I'm still excited about doing it!

I'll quit boring you now! I'd add some pics of some recent scrappy goodness, but I'm on the laptop and don't have the pics on this one! I promise some soon!