Let me share last week with you.

Thursday of last week was "The Beach Girls Day Out" and we had a fine day indeed (even if it wasn't a trip to the beach!  We (Sharon Jones, Mary Crites, Sheila Stoltz, Debbie Weiler and I)  headed to Salem, Il to meet my sister, Lisa. After grabbing coffee/Lattes? and taking a picture under the sign at the coffee shop, we moved on the The Rusty Nail which is a huge antique/primitive building full of good things! We all spent a wad there and then headed toward Fairview Heights where we shopped at Old Time Pottery. We had lunch at What A Lotta Creek and it was great food! We stopped at another antique store and I think we just about got kicked out...I found a set of drums and was playing Dinah Won't You Blow as I saw a lady out of the corner of my eye (it was the store owner people) and I very gently put the drum set to rest and scooted along.  We left at 8 that morning and I arrived back at Suntone Road at 8:30 that night. It was a long day but a good time even if we didn't get any sand between our toes! We have taken a trip to the beach in the past....Ft. Myers Beach, Gulf Shores....somewhere warm. But since I got the big C word, we just haven't made the trip. I am sharing a few pics of our day trip. Enjoy.

Moi, Lisa Syfert (my sister), Mary Crites, Sheila Stoltz (my sister in law), Debbie Weiler, Sharon Jones.

Now, I will move to the weekend. Some of you don't have Facebook so I have to re-share my pics from this most memorable weekend I won't soon forget! It was the 5K Evansville Color Blaze and we headed out at 8 am to Evansville. The race started at 11 but we didn't want to miss out on anything....pretty sure we didn't! I was so pumped after getting on my tu-tu. Along came the Kauble mobile with a car load and one handicapped momma. They parked beside us and then everything got even wilder. There was cornstarch colored powder flying everywhere. We were covered before the race even started. Then came water spraying people, hoses spraying water, and more colored cornstarch right after the water so it stuck to you really bad!  I was on a singing LOUD kick as I jumped around throwing chalk on any moving object. My song of the day was Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World. It has been a favorite of mine for a very long time.....God created a wonderful world for us but we sure have a way of making a mess of it. That's a story for another day.
When we lined up at 11 am (Amy Kirby, Jill Weiler, Debbie Weiler, Lisa Corcoran, and myself)....along with Dave and Logan Kauble and a couple other rug rats that came with the Kauble's. We also ran into the Amy Kincaid family from Olney. So we didn't feel totally like aliens.
I would say they ended up with about 1500 people in the 5K. We were in the second lot of people they released to run/walk. Like dogs in a horse race, we all paced ourselves as the first quarter mile was all uphill. I was thinking....boy, this is going to be a loooong journey. But, it was easier as we topped that hill and moved on to flatter ground. It was 90 degrees at 11 and HOT! There were sprinkler hoses to wet you down as you walked over them only to have a couple people with another box of colored cornstarch to throw all over you again. Atlast, I could see the finish line...and then my niece, Rachel Yockey came running up along side me. I forgot she said she might come down. It was a great end to finish with her. I was hot, thirsty and full of cornstarch rainbow colors all over my bald head. Then I had sweat coming off my head and it looked like a cracked earth up there....with hair growing for grass. We were all just pooped!!!  After two showers and a pool swim, we all pretty well got the dye off of us. Then came some much needed shopping and supper at Madeleine's where I treated myself to a Filet Mignon, Asparagus, and Mashed Russetts (potatoes). I also had the best French Onion Soup ever!! I think we were all in bed by 10 ish. The next day, I sang for the crew again with my Louis Armstrong song. We shopped a little more...made a Macy's stop after an IHOP breakfast. As we headed home, it started to sprinkle, then it just got worse the closer we got to home. It was a weekend FULL to the brim with laughter, hugs, and just downright good clean fun! I had to turn my head a couple of times as I could feel a tear coming in the corner of my eye. Just to stop and look at us...all full of energy, the vision of walking over the FINISH line....feeling so healthy when I knew I still had that big C word inside of me. I feel God is working through me in ways I sometimes don't even realize or understand. To feel so good most of the time and also know my prayers are answered every day...that there are so many people praying for me and it truly is why I am still here. I am just an ordinary person that finally woke up and realized I wanted God front and center in my life. I can't even describe the joy I feel inside of me...the peace I feel that calms my day and lets me sleep at night.  Here are a few pics from the Color Blaze:



This is me BEFORE the Color Blaze even started!!!

Jill Weiler, Amy Kirby, Moi, and Debbie Weiler

POOPED after The 5K Color Blaze in Evansville, Indiana

Lias Corcoran (Pat's sister) and Moi

Amy Kirby, Moi, and my niece Rachel Yockey at THE FINISH!!!!

Why do I always get the CAUTION tape?  I was just playing around!!!!
 



All Purdy....before the race started.

We earned every bit of that cornstarch dust!!!  It was truly the best time!!!

OH MY.......Now I see why I got the caution tape!!!!
 

I MUST SAY WE CLEAN UP NICELY.......

  Back row: Jill Weiler and Amy Kirby
  Front Row: Patty Corcoran, Linda Burgener (our coach) and Debbie Weiler.

A HUGE HUGE THANK YOU AND MANY KISSES TO PAT FOUST FOR HELPING WITH OUR TU-TU'S AND HEADBANDS. LOVE YOU TO PIECES, MY FRIEND!!!!!

It is Thursday evening, and I have 1/2 of a day left at a place I also consider home. My workplace. Time is ticking as I leave my job Friday at noon. As Mark Allen (a local tv anchorman who is retiring the same day I am) says...it is bittersweet. Packing boxes of memories into boxes at my office this week has tugged a little at my heartstrings.....I will miss my job with all my heart but I will love the sweet moments with my husband, my mother, sisters and brothers, my children and grandchildren. My friends who ARE my family.....I look forward to spending time with all of you.....and with most importantly, God.
As I  read my Bible almost every night, I soak it all in and then as I pray, I thank God for all he has done, gave up, and gave to us all here on earth. I thank God for all of you who read my blog and pray for me, I thank Him for allowing me to stay so stable and to share my cancer story and that God is the reason I am still here....I still have a lot to share of this journey I am on.
I plan to bike to town more often....maybe on Thursdays to meet with the prayer group at Ophelia's.....they are not Catholic like me, but God loves us all...and we all love the same God, so I don't think God will mind at all if I devote some time to pray with some great Christian ladies! I will close for now as I could ramble on and on. If I haven't said it before, I will now. I love you all, my brothers and sisters. There it is...I put it out there on the line for everyone to see. Oh, WhAt A wOnDeRfUl WoRlD!!!!!!

Hugs and Love to you all,

Patty