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Thursday, May 30, 2013

48 Hours Until Relay for Life

I am nervous for Saturday.  There, I said it.  With the Fight for Air Climb, I had my whole family surrounding me - and some joining in the fun.  Saturday, it will just be me for much of the day, as my incredible family has other places to be.  I'll be honoring Mom while Kevin honors the anniversary of his grandfather's passing with his family.  And the Bookheimer men (and my dad) will be honoring the ever amazing Maynard Rothenberger at his services.  Each and every one of us will be honoring and supporting a wonderful person, just not together in person.  

It is going to be a hot one on Saturday, and I'm channeling my race track/running track self to get prepared.  I've got Gatorade, Sunscreen, and sneakers ready to go.  The rest of it we'll be playing by ear - since I'm a rookie at this.  
 
Thank you to all of you that have supported me thus far - and thank you to those that continue to support.  My poor new house will have to wait for another week to really look like home, but I know Mom will understand why the mountain of laundry is a mile high and the garage looks like some hoarders live there.  If you are still interested in donating, please use the link below (or on the right side of the blog site), and know that I appreciate all you have done for me, for our family, and for the fight against cancer! 


Love,
Jess

Friday, May 3, 2013

Letters to my 8, 10, and 16 year old Self

There is no end to the things I have learned about myself, my family, and life in the last two years.  But really, there are a few things I wish younger me had known - so here goes nothing. 

Dear Eight Year Old Self - That bratty kid with the dog bite, you probably should not throw Trouble at him.  I know he deserved it, and Mom/Dad are acting like he got half his face bitten off - but seriously, he did.  Someday when you're a grown up, you'll look at those scars on his face and remember the most frightening car ride of your life - the one where no one was allowed to stop singing, and keeping Chris awake was the most important mission of your life. Enjoy the fact that Mom is going to let you eat Mickey Popsicles for dinner and have Kool Aid before bed.  

 Dear Ten Year Old Self - I know you are incredibly sick of having "gym head" and that one more all day wrestling tournament may make you lose your mind.  Those gyms stink, the mornings are early, and for the love of god you'd like to eat a donut! But pay attention to the scoring, the refs, and the smiles on parentals/kids faces! When Christopher is rocking the STATE of Pennsylvania in High School, you'll be really glad you can keep score, know exactly what needs to be done to win/tie/score ride time or a stalling penalty! You are however allowed to smack him around a little when he is being a moron about losing - and then walk away.  Yep, Mom is right on this one - let him fume under the bleachers, he'll be just fine and you know he and dad are going to take over the living room anyway to reenact whatever he did wrong. 

Dear Sixteen Year Old Self - You are partially correct in that Chris's main use in life is to clean the snow and ice off the Camry before you leave for school in the morning.  And correct that his major malfunction is thinking that he is the boss of anything (kidding). Do yourself a favor, enjoy your 15 minute jam session on the way to school - there are a finite number of days you'll be able to do this.  Try not to be mad when Mom and Dad have to flip a coin for Saturday sporting events, they find it just as hard as you do.  Also, embrace your mandated bedtime - you, mom, dad, and Chris will all be a hell of a lot happier when everyone has slept before a long day.  *For you and boy wonder, this does mean that you need to stop reading under the covers.  The books can wait, and will still be there in the morning.*

I would write a letter to 18/19/20 year old self but that is called living - and would be more of a book than a blog post.  What are your lessons/letters to your younger self?