Well, I'm back, and I've a ton to tell about my trip, however, it is best to do so after the jet lag has faded a little more.

A few little thoughts until I can write more:

I used to think London was just another big city with old buildings. Now London is alive to me.

Going to another country where you do not speak the language is an experience that everyone should have at least once in their life. Paris is amazing.

I'm braver and stronger and smarter than I thought I was. I amazed myself many times. For instance, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It's unbelievable.

If you ever go to Paris, don't skimp on the food. Experience it. It is not to be missed.

People are people no matter where you are. And not all French people are rude to Americans, although I was trying to lay pretty low with all the anti-American war sentiment going on.

Seeing the Venus DeMilo made me breathless, shaky, and teary…a reaction I never would have expected.

Seeing a live anti-war demonstration in Parliament Square is something I will never forget.

I can walk 12 miles in one day, and did.

Smirnoff Ice is different in Europe than in America. Can you say VODKA?

There are many things I really appreciate about America. I can see why the rest of the world thinks Americans are spoiled. We are.

I got to see a few examples of “ugly Americans” first hand. And it was all I could do not to spew forth at them and tell them so.

My life has changed. For the better. This trip made me grow up, overcome fear, become a better, wiser person.

And finally, for now, I really miss Mike when I'm gone, but given the chance, I'd go again, with or without my darling. However, it's good to be home.

Well, it's been a week. Parent/teacher conferences are always exhausting, but add in trying to get ready for a trip out of the country and you are wiped by the time Friday comes. The positive thing about that, I hope, is that I will actually get some sleep on the plane.

So, I'm off to London this afternoon and Paris on Monday. I'll be back next Saturday with loads of stories to tell I should think.

Take care of yourselves while I'm gone and keep a good thought for a dear friend who will probably be deployed before I get back.

…it was pouring rain. We were asleep in bed…my mom was in the other room and I could hear her labored breathing through the night. The phone rang at some godawful hour of the morning. The caller ID said my father. Mike answered the phone and my father asked if we had called. No, we said, we were asleep. Strange, he said, the phone had rung and we were on the caller ID. We hung up and went back to sleep for the moment. The phone rang again. Again the caller ID was my father, but this time he wasn't on the other end. We chalked it up to the weather, and I lay there listening to my mother's breathing. The time between breaths got longer and longer. Finally, I didn't hear a breath for a long time. So I got up and walked toward her room. I paused in the hallway waiting to hear another breath. I heard one last long sigh. Then nothing and nothing and nothing. I called for Mike because I couldn't face going in there alone. We walked into the room. She was gone. I knew the moment was coming. It's why I had stayed up so late the night before holding her hand, stroking her hair, telling her I loved her, even though I didn't know if she even knew I was there. I gave her a kiss goodbye. I squeezed her hand. I left the room and started making telephone calls. She was not there anymore, and neither did I want to be in that room. Mike stayed in the room stroking her hair and crying for a very long time. I love that man. He has a heart that is so big I cannot fathom it. I listened to the sounds outside…the cars driving by, the children going to school…the world going on about its daily routine not knowing that my little world had crumbled. My father came over. Friends came and went all day. Arrangements were made. But nothing would ever be the same again. My rock was gone…physically at least. But emotionally she has never left my side. Not once. I feel her there every minute of my life as certainly as I breathe. While it would have been easier to get through the past through months with her physically around and talking to me, she was there, and I knew it. I felt it. She always is. She is part of me and always will be. I miss you mom, but you are never far away. Sleep well. Rest in peace.

Today was the day that I hoped to end my worry over medical things….

Up at 5 to get to the hospital by 6 for my heart test to see if there is a hole in my heart.
When we got there and were walking in I realized that having been half asleep and stressed and in the dark, that I had on one white shoe and one black shoe. I got over my embarrassment, laughed, and said….it this is the worse thing that happens to me today, I can live with it.

So, to make a long story short…they did the test, and there is no hole in my heart. :)

So the saga that began October 18, when my ob-gyn sent me for a mammogram, is FINALLY over.

Thank God. I'm okay. :)

And thanks for all the good thoughts and prayeres.

Time to make a baby! :))))