thanks

I haven't listed any individual thank you's so far because I have been truly uplifted by everyone's comments. I look forward everyday to see what people are saying and each comment you leave is truly a monumental present to me, no matter how small the comment. This last week was a tough week. I felt okay yesterday, but am back to not feeling so great today. While I'm going to go get in the shower and enjoy a shake and be in a fine mood for the rest of the day, all your comments help, also.

I did want to list three individuals to thank because they are three people everyone should thank. The first is Robert Renninger. Robert and I are good friends and ran cross-country and track and field together in college (and together pushed each other into more trouble than Seattle U could handle). Also, Robert broke my 5,000 meters school record in track in field, although I don't think he ever beat me in any race in college and I still have the 10,000 meters record. (See previous post about what a harder race the 10,000 meters is.)

But it was Robert who suggested I start the blog and set everything up for me. This was a great idea and has really helped me out. Looking back, I can't imagine going through all this without having this blog. I probably wouldn't have written this thank you this early, but Lydia rightly pointed out that Robert deserved a lot of credit.

That reminds me of one story from college. The track team was flying from Seattle to Boise in a very small plane, the kind with two seats on either side, and I had an empty seat next to me. A few other runners did too. Well, Lydia (a runner on the team) comes up to me from the front of the plane and says "Paula, (with her baby Ellie) only had one seat and had to sit next to someone, and that I should switch with her." Well, of course I felt terrible so I went up to the front of the plane and switched with Paula, only to see that right nearby Lydia had her aisle to herself. I said Lydia, "why wouldn't you have just offered," and she said that is was my job as the captain. The only reason I tell this story is to point out that Lydia has a knack of getting me to do the right thing.

The second person to thank is my Uncle Jim. Every single song that was ever suggested on the comment boards was put on a brand new iPod nano. Whether or not he could get the song on iTunes or not, he tracked it down and put it on. And most of you have your songs on your own playlist! Shelli, that meant he even put the whole Juno soundtrack under your playlist. I am looking forward to listening to all the songs everyone suggested. Also, I was really touched by what an incredible act this was for Jim. It meant a lot to me and won't soon be forgotten.

Lastly, I want to thank Tim Pickrell. Tim has been the epitome of selflfess through this whole process. For those of you who don't know Tim, he is a friend of my dad's. Tim lives in Phoenix, but as he says, he votes and his heart is in Pima county (where Tucson is). He is very involved in the University and lived in Tucson for many years. He still has a house in Tucson in a beautiful area, the Catalina Foothills. For those not familiar with Tucson, the City is surrounded on really all four sides by mountains. But the closest are the Santa Catalina mountains, with Mt. Lemmon being the largest mountain in the Catalinas at about 9,150 ft. Several times a year snow will cover the entire mountains, and Mt. Lemmon has skiing every year. The southernmost ski lift in the entire United States is on Mt. Lemmon, with the ski resort being "ski valley." So you can come down to ski if you want! It is actually open now, but the vertical drop is only around 900 ft, so don't expect too much.

But, back to my point, "the Foothills" area is a beautiful area to relax in. The desert surroundings are untouched, with no grass yards or anything like that. There are javalina, bobcat, and all sorts of desert wildlife around. From the very start of all this, when I was diagnosed with cancer, Tim has let us stay here, and has pampered us by fixing up the place with big screen TVs and new furniture. I can't imagine having to do all this in my small studio apartment. I will publish some photos to show how cool the area is, and Tim, it has meant a huge difference in my recovery and treatment to be able to stay at your house.

Of course, I should mention the unsung heroes: my dad, my mom, and Jen who have really had to endure all the hard parts of this. Without them I couldn't do all this, and yet they get almost no gratitude from me because I am usually in a bad mood around treatment time. I just want to say thanks to you guys and that I truly couldn't do this without you. You are directly responsible for my future success.

Amie and Ryan have been great, driving down every weekend to keep me laughing; it is a very long drive for Amie. Like I said, there are many of you to thank, and you should all know how much I enjoy your cards, books, visits, soups...so much support. Please keep your comments coming because I really do look forward to your words of encouragement and anything else to make the day brighter.

Also: I do plan on a post on the state of the economy soon and an analysis of what the candidates are saying.