Sunday

We've had a big Spring Break. Last Saturday we went up to Snyder for a few days. Got hailed on a little, dodged a tornado at Carla's, got stranded by all the weather and came home a day later than planned. Both going and coming, we stopped at my friend Stephanie's house in Ft. Worth. Just a quick stop either way to make sure she and her family know they're loved. Steph is the Team Talent gal from Ft. Worth who we met in L.A. The one who is dying from breast cancer. At this point, she has hours, days, weeks left. Only God knows. But it's so very hard to watch her family going through this -- especially since I feel like I'm still walking this road in many ways. I feel cheated. Like we came to the dance late and never got to know the healthy Stephanie. In the grand scheme of things, we're all dying to some extent or another -- none of us will be here 100 years from now. But it's different when you meet someone whose in the midst of coming to grips with that reality -- now. My heart is just breaking for them. For Jennifer and David -- her kids. For John -- her best friend who is having to say good-bye. For her parents who are just the neatest people. Please pray for them.

While I was on my way out to Fluvanna, I had a call from Cissa -- another Team Talent girl (hers is the face in the Oprah ads.) She and I agreed that when we finally find a cure for cancer, we're going to have to find a more positive cause to work with. Like literacy. Something that isn't this draining.

Brantley and Abbey came out and spent the night with the girls on Tuesday at Paw-Paw's. They had a large time!!! I love it that they all get along so well and love spending time together!

We came back to Houston on Wednesday. We were here about 24 hours, then headed down to the Creek for a working holiday -- at least for me it was a working holiday. Before we left, though, we got the word that Elise Goertz' bone marrow transplant was successful -- she's 100% donor. That is just the BEST news!! She's still not up and running around, but she's gaining ground.

The Creek was great. I painted all day Friday and Saturday. If you've ever been down there, you know it's always been pretty bare-bones-minimum. We've all been working hard on it. Pete has built a new storage shed under the house. Biggs helped me paint. And we're working to clear out some of the junk that has accumulated in the last 18 years. We painted the living room and hallway kind of a khaki, the dining room a green, and the kitchen a lighter green. I still have two bathrooms and three bedrooms to paints, and all the trim, but it's progress!! I had planned to paint the baseboards, but I think I'm going to wait until we do the floors at some point. Hopefully that won't be too far off.

The girls just had the BIGGEST time at the Creek. They caught a crab in the traps, put up the baby pool to play in, knee-boarded (YIKES! The water was COLD!), played outside most of the time... You name it, they did it. Jake chased boats up and down the Creek -- wore himself out. This morning we had an Easter egg hunt on the front lawn. It was great.

So we're back at home, and I'm trying to do another quick turn-around. It's crazy that in less than 72 hours I'll be in Costa Rica. I'm so unprepared for this. I've done nothing to get ready -- not to mention losing the requisite 10 pre-vacation pounds. Oh well! At least I have REALLY great biceps now!

That's it for now. Pictures soon! Softball games start this week!!!
- d.