Sorry, it has been awhile since I have written anything. Life has been a little crazy – and I haven’t crashed yet – but I know it should happen. I’m in a state of no emotions right now.

Last Saturday (a week ago), I attended an all day writing retreat with BAYS. It was truly healing. I wrote a couple of stories – or at least made a start on them. I then read the stories. This allowed me to do some emotional processing around mom’s passing. I cried a lot during that session, and I’m so thankful to the BAYS gals and the facilitator for giving me that chance to express myself. Once I get a chance to edit the stories a little, and finish writing them, I’ll share them here. That might take a bit as I have a lot on my plate right now.

Then, last week, I attended the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) Project LEAD Institute. It was an intense week of education about breast cancer science – basic biology, cancer biology, immunotherapy as well as information about the different types of research studies including clinical trials and epidemiology (cohort and case-control studies). I met many really awesome advocates and scientists. I really wish I had more time to spend getting to know the people – but it was a jam packed week. I’ll write more about this when I get a chance to mentally process it.

This week I’m going to try and focus (ya right) on preparing my classes for the fall semester. I’m teaching two courses now: Foundations in Instructional Design and Learning Technology (the first course in the program) and The Design and Instruction of Online Courses (one of the last in the program). I love watching the students grow and build confidence throughout the program.

I also delayed my Lupron shot (hormone therapy) in order to attend Project Lead. This has led to me getting crazy headaches. I get my shot later today, which I hope means the headaches will go away!

I find myself thinking as I write about my mother reading my blog posts – and then I realize she isn’t. It is that kind of thought that I have noticed lately. I wonder how mom will react to the different things I’m doing or posting – then I realize, that I won’t hear or see her reaction.