Now, you know this is ‘gonna be a long one since I haven’t written in several days…you think you’re up to reading all of this (and looking at the beautiful pictures, of course)?!

All right, here we go! Tomorrow is the big day…well, one of the big days. I go in for my isolation, and right now I’m actually not too scared. Knowing that my hospital door is like a Dutch door (you know, the top part is open) makes me feel so much better, because I’ll be able to talk to people outside, and to hear what’s going on…I just can’t touch anyone! I’m thinking lots of positive thoughts, and I’m ready to get this process moving.

It was a wonderful weekend and week, and I enjoyed my time in Seattle and its surroundings…had to get it all in before this hospital/medical stuff starts, right?! My dad came this weekend, and the three of us went to Snoqualmie Falls which is just outside the city. Apparently it’s 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls! I’ve never been to Niagara, but I was surprised because I thought it was the biggest! Niagara has a much larger volume of water, but anyhoo…I’m sure this isn’t what you really want to read about! But it’s beautiful. And if you ever get to the area, there’s a really charming lodge that looks out over the edge of the falls…check it out: http://www.salishlodge.com/rooms.phps …my favorite part is that they have wood-burning fireplaces in every room!!

We really enjoyed our afternoon there, and then we headed to “Szmania’s”, a restaurant in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. We found it by googling “sauerbraten”, my favorite German dish (you may remember from a blog post while I was in the hospital in June!–Laura surprised me with German food from my favorite German place in DC). It turns out “Szmania’s” has been among the top five of Seattle’s restaurants…it was even on the cover of “Gourmet” magazine once! There were articles singing its praises all over the wall, so I guess we picked a good place! We went back last night with Hollie, and enjoyed another delicious dinner.

When you go through the photos below, you’ll see we went to another yummy restaurant this weekend, “Ray’s Boathouse”. What a view! And I can say that about so many different places we’ve been to here in the “Emerald City” (I discovered the tourism department chose that name because there are so many beautiful trees and parks in the area—there’s green everywhere you look!). On Saturday night, we went to Il Terrazzo Carmine, a great Italian place recommended by one of my nurses. It’s cool ’cause it’s kind of secretive…we followed another group of people from the parking garage through an alley to the restaurant, and then we knocked three times so we could get in…hahahaha just kidding about the knocking part. The food was amazing also!

So I’m all full of food…my pants are gettin’ a little tight! Good thing I’m not keeping this up! It was a really special weekend though, stressful at times (especially while maneuvering our car around the city and surroundings…Garmin (or Garminita, as you call it, Paulina :)) is not always accurate and it turns out that ours is just a little bit schizophrenic.) because I think we’re all on edge, but it helped give me strength for what lies ahead. My mom and I both got our hair cut on Saturday, my apartment is really lookin’ good, I now have a new and BIGGER hula hoop (and yes, it works better!), and I feel good.

I have a new song I’m addicted to. Laura made a copy for me…I think it’s Portuguese…the group is called “Dulce Pontes” and here’s the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWnRSIiwGzU&feature=related I think the song is sad because it’s called “Lagrima” which means “tear” in Spanish and those two languages have many similarities, but it sounds so beautiful! Perfect for taking a little nap…I seriously put it on repeat and rested for 45 minutes…yup, that’s right…when I like a song, I like a song! Hopefully I won’t overplay it and get tired of it.

I hooked up my Wii over the weekend, so I’m looking forward to perfecting the ski jump, and practicing my bowling skills! I’ll try some of the other ones too, although I prefer the games that I’m good at, of course. Mostly I was impressed with my ability to hook up the Wii without anyone’s assistance, although I admit that it was really easy.

You’ll notice pictures of doggies in the photos below (what a surprise!). These pups belong to Vera, my other volunteer. I have two volunteers which makes me special! It was a gorgeous fall day…actually, it was the first day of fall!!! So I have two volunteers, Hollie and Vera, and 3 new doggie buddies, Kona, Lucky and Moe. Isn’t that great?

As you can read, I’m doing well, and I’m thinking positively for tomorrow’s infusion of the radioactive iodine. Come on, little mice antibodies and iodine, do your thing! I will not have my cell phone in the hospital, but I’ll have e-mail, and I will have a phone in the hospital. I’ll put that up on my blog tomorrow if I get the chance. I also have calling cards, so maybe I’ll just call you!

It feels kind of strange to be heading in tomorrow, not knowing exactly what to expect, and knowing that all this fun vacation-time will be over for a while, but I’m ready. At Szmania’s the other night, we toasted to a smooth procedure and wonderful family and friends (which we do all the time!). Then, I raised my glass again to thank my parents for everything, and I was getting choked up. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I’m sure it was something amazing. When I was done, my dad looked up and said “I’m sorry…what did you say?” I didn’t realize he was distracted, but when he said that, my mom and I couldn’t stop laughing. This made it an even better moment because it lightened the tone of the evening…laughter always has a way of doing that! Of course, the tears did fall later that evening when I thanked them again, but that actually felt good too…I’m certainly not keeping much in, as you can tell!

I guess it’s time I start wrapping up this post. If there are no problems with the internet at the hospital, I’ll be on there tomorrow sometime. I will be in isolation for 5-7 days, depending on how long it takes for the radiation to go through my system. I feel like I’ve had a lot of paperwork to do while I’ve been here, and I just gave my Power of Attorney and Living Will to my social worker yesterday. It felt weird to fill those out, although I think everyone over 18 should have one. I tried to just think of them as more paperwork, but I know they obviously have a great deal of significance.

But it’s all positive thoughts right now…about the procedures to come, about my outcome, about my support network. BRING IT ON!!!

And you know what?! I have another travel destination. One of my nurses volunteered at the Iditarod this year (I think it was this year anyway), and she talked to my mom and me about it for a while yesterday. A family in Anchorage offered their home to her, and she said it was awesome. One of the activities she did was help hold the dogs before the race begins….each dog is assigned one person because they’re so excited to get going that it’s hard to control them…apparently some people lose control and have to drop and roll out of the way. She said it was beautiful, and the sport itself sounds fascinating. So, how about it? After Ireland and Greece, anyone up for a trip to Alaska to volunteer at the Iditarod?! Then we could travel in Alaska a bit. I’m sure the travel list will continue to grow, and I welcome any and all suggestions. Oh, by the way, did I mention Hawaii?! That’s up there too. I’m getting a little out of hand now, I know. OK, well it’s time for bed, so I’ll sign off. Thanks for reading everyone, thank you for your wonderful comments, your e-mails, calls, notes and gifts. I truly am overwhelmed by your love and thoughtfulness, and as I keep saying, you are my strength!!!!!

Lots of love from the Emerald City (you better know why it’s called the Emerald City now…if not, it means you are merely scanning my blog and not reading every magical word…so read up!! hahahahahaha)

PS Enjoy the photos…that’s it for my tours of Seattle for a bit. Think I should work for the tourism department?!