One week and counting...

My sweet Rachel graduated Tuesday night! I'm so proud of her! She delivered the invocation at the ceremony and did a beautiful job. Thursday night she spent the night at Eva's apartment in Tuscaloosa so she wouldn't need to get up at 3 on Friday and drive down for her Bama Bound day. She registered for her fall classes, and oh what a load she has! She's majoring in music therapy and on a pre-med track, so she has a lot of music and science classes. Watch out world! Here comes Rachel!

One week from today, I'll have a new daughter. God brought Eva into David's life in August of 2010. They literally met under the stars in an observational astronomy class. What a story they'll have to tell their kids one day! Since that day, they have become the best of friends and Eva has become more like a daughter to me all of the time. I could not have hand picked a better wife for my sweet David. God is so good! We prayed for her all of his life and here she is! I am one proud mom!

I am so glad I decided to postpone my treatment. These last few weeks have been very exciting but very stressful. If I had tacked that treatment on there, I don't know how I would be making it right now. As you know, I take chemo pills every day but the every three week treatments are rough on me as well. It usually causes me to have flu-like symptoms and I certainly don't need that now! To top it off, I'm still in school and my last day isn't until Thursday. Please keep me in your prayers. This next week is going to be a trying one and I want to be at my best for my son and my new daughter. Most of you who are reading this know how important my family is to me and I want to be at my best for them. Whatever happens will be part of God's plan, but I just pray that it will be for me to feel good next Saturday!

In all that you do, do it for the glory of God. Live each day to the fullest. Love to all!

And so it begins...

And so it begins. Tomorrow morning is Senior recognition at our church, tomorrow night my sweet Rachel has her Baccalaureate service at our church, and Tuesday night she graduates. Then, shortly after she graduates, David gets married June 2. Good heavens. Where did the time go? It's just not right. I'm not old enough to have grown children! But I am so proud of them both. 

I have been feeling okay. I postponed my treatment until after the wedding. I've been so stressed about all of this stuff that I've been more sick lately. I'm still tired, but I'm still here! God is so good. He has blessed me immensely. I am so proud of my sweet children and I am blessed with a dear husband. I am so thrilled to be here to see all of these events happen. My next life goal is to see both David and Rachel graduate from college and then to play with grandchildren! I also have a big goal to be there at Rachel's wedding if she chooses to marry. Our God is an awesome God and I can't wait to see what He brings from day to day.

Senior Piano Recital--Fantabulous!

What a great job Rachel did! I am so proud of her. It took a lot of guts to be the featured and only performer at her senior piano recital last night. She did a fantabulous job! Thank you to all who came. She appreciated it SO much. She has worked extremely hard on all of the pieces. As you could see, they were quite challenging to say the least. And today was her teacher's annual recital for all of the students. With the pressure off her senior recital, Rachel played even more beautifully today. I am one proud Mom!

Now, to focus on graduation. I can't believe that it's just nine days away! It seems so odd not to compare the Madison County school calendar where I teach with the Morgan County calendar where my children have attended school for 16 years. And then, just 11 days after that, David will be married! Unbelievable!

It has been so great to focus on these wonderful milestones in my children's lives and not to care so much about mine. However, I have been quite tired. Keep praying for my strength! TTFN! Tata for now!

Rachel describing music between songs

Performing

Proud moment

Playing "Mendelssohn's Concerto in G minor" accompanied by Michelle West--she rocked the house!

Rachel and her wonderful piano teacher, Michelle West

SO MUCH STUFF!!

So what's up with Cindy these days? What's NOT up with Cindy?! Rachel's senior piano recital is today at 6 PM. She is the featured, or should I say, the ONLY performer. She is quite stressed, which in turn makes her mother quite stressed! I know she plays very well and I'm sure she'll do a great job, but she is so stressed that she'll probably mess up because of that. She keeps asking herself why she agreed to do this. She has so much more courage than me. I don't think I could have had a recital where I was the only performer. I'm quite the proud mom!

She also graduates from high school in ten days. My baby. My little baby girl. Time is so weird. How is it that we can remember some things that happened years ago like they were yesterday, and yet some things that happened last month seem eons ago? I remember so well the days when she and I would be at home together before she started Kindergarten. Her favorite lunch was mac and cheese. We often made this lunch and pretended. She was Jessica (since that would have been her name had David been a girl) and I was Sarah. She was always excited when I was asked to substitute for a teacher at the last minute and couldn't find a babysitter. I simply took her with me. If I subbed for Kindergarten, as a three-year-old she fit right in. In three months, she'll be moving to Tuscaloosa to begin her life at Bama. This...is...not...possible. Not my baby! But I am quite proud of her. She will do well. She is majoring in music therapy and pre-med. You go girl!

Three weeks from today, David is getting married to our sweet Eva. Again--not possible! These are my babies! How can this be? Eva was here last night and they were talking about children. Children? Me? A grandmother? I'm not that old! Am I? Well, I guess I am. Ready or not. Here it comes. Once again, that time thing is so weird. I remember so well standing in Ricky and Anita Crow's front yard when he was probably about 18 months to 2 years. David, Jillian (the Crow's daughter), another boy names Wes and a girl named Megan were playing. They were all about the same age. Megan and Jillian were kind of chilling, and David and Wes were being quite rambunctious. We were commenting, even at that point, of the differences in boys and girls. Jillian and Megan were just looking at David and Wes as if they were saying, "What in the world is your problem?"

I also remember when Rachel and David became such good friends with Meredith and Emily Childers. A large storm swept through our neighborhood and blew down a portion of the Childers' fence. Later, David and Emily were in their perspective backyards. Emily saw David on his swing set and came over to play. Not long after that, Rachel and Meredith started playing together. David and Emily were five; Rachel and Meredith were two. They've all been best friends since then. It's really cool since I graduated with Emily and Meredith's parents, Tim and Kathy. They're such good friends that Emily is going to be in David's wedding. IN THREE WEEKS! I still can't believe it!

Obviously, all of this has me quite stressed. As tired as I usually am, I'm even more tired now. I am supposed to have a treatment this coming Thursday. Well, as I told my family, my doctor can bite me! LOL! It will be fine. I'll wait until June 4, the Monday after the wedding. I've gone five weeks between treatments before. It would be an EXTREME challenge for me to have a treatment this week, five days later the graduation, and 11 days after that the wedding. I'll be fine. God has me in His Hands.

Obviously, I need a lot of prayer. I ALWAYS need a lot of prayer, but I just need a different sort of prayer right now. I still need healing prayer, but I need extra prayers for peace as well. I am so thankful that I can ask my blog friends for it and know that I will get it. You all rock!

God is in control. He always has been, and He always will be. Time is fleeting. Enjoy each and every day.

Just an update...

I haven't felt well lately. I know this will pass, but I just get tired. I have also been sick off and on since my last treatment. I'm just ready to be able to kick my feet up this summer and do nothing, but at the same time I'm not ready. When school is out for me, Rachel will have graduated and David will get married two days later. I am extremely happy for both of them, but as any mother knows, they are my babies and I'm not ready for them to fly the coop. David will begin a new life with his wonderful and beautiful bride Eva. God has so richly blessed us to have sent her to us! And Rachel will move to Tuscaloosa in August. Yes, the floodgates are about to open full force! I am very proud of them both, but there is definitely going to be quite a hole to fill.

Keep me in your prayers. God is good!