It’s all uphill right now … but I have a hammock.

Stealing this picture from Kevin’s blog because this is just what I need right now:

And lucky for me, I have an awesome brother and friends who invited me to go hiking/camping with them this weekend in Roan Mountain, Tenn. We will be leaving tomorrow evening and hiking 3 peaks (a total of 12 miles.) I really hope it’s warm enough to use my hammock this time, although I probably won’t be tying it over water like this girl did. Not quite that confident in my ability to properly hang a hammock!

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Mia update

It’s been a rough few weeks. My grandmother’s been in the hospital, my former colleague died, I had a lingering cold that would just not go away. I got to a point where I just felt like I could not take one more thing. But I guess I don’t have a choice in that, which became evident two days ago when Mia went back to the hospital. She has an infection from the surgery she had a couple of weeks ago. She also has fluid in her lungs. Her new urologist says that the old urologist never should have done what he did with the first two surgeries so he wants to undo it all. Deep breath.

The good news is she’s at CMC, which is a hospital system we trust. I’m possibly staying with her in the hospital again tonight. Maybe I should do a blog post reviewing the area hospitals’ visitors’ perks – if I stay tonight, that will be facility number 3 in as many weeks (Piedmont Medical Center, Mecklenburg Healthcare, and now she’s at Carolinas Medical Center.)

The silver lining: I have been given a reminder over the past few weeks about how wonderful it is when you have people cheering for you and your family. I have so many friends that have gone above and beyond when it comes to support. Sometimes, friends become like family and it’s a really strengthening feeling to know there are people to rely on, to lean on, that would take my phone calls at any time and be at the hospital as soon as their cars would get them there, if I need them to be. Thank you to everyone who has offered to bring me dinner or movies or books or magazines; who has offered to meet me at the hospital for a run or a coffee; who has offered to help me with any work I may be behind on; who has offered up their homes for a shower or a nap; or who has asked if we need any help taking care of our four-legged children. Many of my friends know Mia but some of them have never even met her and they are as concerned as they would if it was their own grandmother. Thank you for the love and support, for the texts and Facebook messages and comments and everything else.

And of course, family is not just like family – and mine is a close one. Those of us who live in the area have been taking turns staying with her – my aunt Josie stayed the first week, I stayed the second week, and my dad has been there the past two nights. Mia is extremely independent so when she says she needs someone to stay, she really means it. We take turns bringing dinner or blankets or doing laundry for the person staying. We all tend to go a little stir crazy (Mia included), and so just having other people there helps. Of course the best part is when Kevin and Jenn bring their girls to visit. I freakin’ love those kids, and Mia does too – her face just lights up when they are there. Jenny brought Cai up too, and unfortunately I missed that visit but I know Mia was happy to see them.

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I’ll share a comment Mia said at the rehab center that I already posted to Twitter and Facebook, but in case you missed it:

Me: “If it gets too crazy (at rehab) I’ll break you out of here.”

Mia: “If we do that, maybe we could go to a movie and get our toes done.”

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Famous friends

Speaking of friends, I have another friend who is totally famous now. Amy is going to be on the Suze Orman show, and the local press has been talking about it. How awesome is that? Read about it here, and set your DVR!

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It’s not just me

And speaking of my cold, it’s finally over. I talked to my aunt last night, who works in a doctor’s office, and she said there are viruses going around this season that resemble colds in symptoms, and they seem to be lingering a lot longer than people expect. So I guess it’s not just me. In a way that makes me feel better – I was wondering what the heck was wrong with me!

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Designing a healthy living magazine makes me want to hike …

And now, I’m going to wrap up some magazine layout (Earth Day edition of Natural Awakenings; be sure to check it out!) and then I’m going to pack for a weekend in the woods! (after a night at the hospital. Will make the woods feel like a resort …)