Italy. Ike.

Since my last blog, life has been pretty crazy.

Mom - she was released from the hospital the following day, September 2. All of the heart tests came back fine, and they believed the reactions were a result of the stress her body was experiencing. She's finished with the chemo and is getting prepared for her last surgery, which was just scheduled for October 21. This will be to reverse the ileostomy. Needless to say, she's pretty excited about that.

My granny came to stay with my mom on Sep 3, while I headed to Lake Jackson 1) to chop of the hair to donate it and 2) to help with Allison and Jacob, my niece and nephew, while my SIL had surgery. So that Thurs, Fri and Sat was filled with getting the kiddos to school, hospital visits, school projects, etc. I left on Sat afternoon to pack up my stuff for my trip to ITALY...

I'm not talking Italy, Texas. That amazing husband I have decided I was due for a trip and sent me (with a friend) to Italy...for which I left on Sunday, Sep 7. I actually met her in Georgia that day, and we left the following afternoon for a 9.5 day trek through Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Rome. I'll post pictures soon. It was the BEST thing ever at the BEST time ever. Thought it wasn't a sit-by-the-beach-and-relax kind of trip, it was completely refreshing.

I missed the whole Ike thing. My family is fine, though. They all evacuated and went to Dallas and New Braunfels. THANK YOU all for your concern. I'm so sorry I didn't get back with you, but I was in the middle of Venice and Florence...and it's not always easy to respond to texts or emails while traveling abroad. Anyway, I've only seen a bit of the aftermath...it's quite messy. Apparently Ike was 1 MPH short of being a category 3 when it landed, but it did quite the damage to Galveston and even our beach, Surfside...even though Surfside is west of Galveston and didn't get the brunt of it all.

Okay, so that's a basic nutshell of the past couple of weeks. More to come soon.