Hare, Oops, I Mean Hair, Loss On Easter, But At Least I've Never Been Attacked By A Bear!

The title is catchy, isn't it? Come with me, dear reader, and I'll enlighten you.
I believe I mentioned that my nurse, Cathy, told me last Monday that if I made it through this week, very likely I'd be keeping my hair. Well, irony of ironies, on the last day of this week, in the shower this morning, there were my handfuls of hair as I shampooed. Bummer! A small victory snatched at the twelfth hour by defeat! I hope to look as good as Hunter does when I lose it all. I'll post photos when the time comes.
Yesterday, about 200,000 hairs bushier, I had a busy sports Saturday with the kids. Hunter and his AAU team were involved in a big basketball tournament that turned out to be a challenge for them. They did well in their first two games, but struggled in their 2 Saturday games. To further complicate things, Greg had sick employees (yes, he infected them) and had to be at work so was unable to coach the boys in the early game. The team was competitive and gave good effort in both games, but shot a miserable percentage for the day and was unable to overcome those shooting woes. Hunter doesn't like to lose at all, so as a result he was miserable Saturday night.
Kate also had a sporting event on Saturday. She played goalie for the first time ever for her soccer team, and took to it very well, allowing only 2 goals during her time in net. I was happy to see her attack a new challenge with confidence instead of fear. It was a beautiful day at the soccer fields, I sincerely enjoy watching my children play sports, and so I was happy. There are so many lessons to be learned by participating in athletics. I see it almost every time one of the younger Nettles participates. Hunter is learning to be patient, to believe in himself and in his team and in their potential for improvement. He's learning to have self control even when he feels frustrated by officials calls, opponents, and even teammates. I hope he's learning that although the goal is to win, many quality lessons can be learned through a loss. Kate's learning she's strong and capable. She's learning to use games and play as a way to keep her body strong and healthy and she's learning a team working together makes her a much more succesful player.
Kate's game gave me a chance to talk to Scott Ursenback, a friend from church who just reached the 10 year mark being cancer free. How nice it is to have a conversation with someone who has been through a similar experience and knows the emotional and physical toll cancer takes on those who have it. It's also encouraging to see a young, vibrant guy who used to have cancer and now doesn't. I look forward to reaching that 10 year cancer free mark.
After a very busy day of games (very theraputic!), Greg and I decided to have a late dinner out and do a little last minute Easter basket shopping. The food at Red Robin was good, the shopping at Walmart tiring. NOT my favorite place to shop, to say the least, but I don't want my kids feeling life has lost its lustre because of my diagnosis. In fact, Easter, family celebrations, and even everyday living has become more celebratory and more meaningful since cancer.
Today it was great to be at church again. Between Conference and family illness it's been too long. The special music for Easter, taking the sacrament, teaching my Sunday School class, and being with my peers in Relief Society were highlights for me. I felt so much more in communion with the sisters at church than ever before in my life. I have a tendency to be independent, to do my own thing at my own pace, and to be preoccupied with my immediate family. Because of these tendencies I don't spend a lot of time cultivating friendships. Being in a situation where I have accepted help, instead of feeling guilty or needy like I thought I would, I feel interconnected, humble, accepting, and forgiving instead. That has been one of the best changes in me over the last few months.
Church was followed by a great meal with Greg's mom and Ron. They did all the Tadman chasing so I could just enjoy my meal. (Tadman adores his grandparents and their truck!) After dinner the kids and I enjoyed a back yard Easter egg hunt. Hunter didn't really enjoy it because he had already eaten too much candy. Tadman enjoyed it because he liked opening his mini m&m's, dumping them on the cement, and eating them off the ground like a doggie. Kate seemed to enjoy it the most. She enjoyed it so much, in fact, she wanted Rachel and I to rehide the eggs again. What perfect weather, and what a great opportunity to enjoy all the little plants, flowers, and birds re-emerging for spring.
So when we were back inside for the evening and I was trying to write my blog, Hunter was watching TLC. For any of you who are not familiar with that network, they have all kinds of shows about people with interesting physical challenges, extra large families, or people who have had unusually harrowing life experiences. So as I was trying to think and write and make sense of what I was writing, I was also listening to shows about the lady with the 200 lb. legs and another show about people attacked by bears, so yes, I have cancer and that stinks, but at least I've never been attacked by a bear!
Thank you friends for commenting on my blog, thanks to my mom and sister for continuously picking up and doing my laundry, thanks to Jesse for the concern and the cookies, thank you to everyone feeding my family with meals and freezer meals, and thank you to Justine Powell for making sure every need I can conceive of is filled. Yes, it seems my hair will fall out, but I am having a hard time NOT seeing all the blessings being poured upon me since the Monday morning Dr. Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon my head (little Beatles reference). You are the conduits of all those blessings.