Active August

So, in case it's not obvious from my lack of posts, it has been a busy month! Since the last chemo treatment, I've participated in my sister-in-law Paula's wedding, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, numerous playgroups, a bridal shower, a birthday party, my Finnish course placement test, a friend's wedding, the girls' first week of daycare and Paula's wedding reception, among other things. All of this was on top of being at home on my own with both girls for most of the month and having a cold during the last week. So it's no wonder I had little time or energy left for blog posts. :)

Here are some photo highlights and a few more details from a few of the events:

Elisa and I waiting for Paula and Topi's wedding ceremony to start.

Leila giving some encouragement to Topi (a.k.a. the groom) before the ceremony.

One of the most personally gratifying events of the month was the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I organized a team on behalf of the American Womens' Club, and we had about 22 people. Although I've participated in many charity walks before, none of them have been for a cause that affected me directly. So it was extra special to be walking with so many of my friends and acquaintances in honor of my own fight. I was also walking on behalf of two other friends who were diagnosed with breast cancer in January. So it was an emotional day for me.

Adding to the general excitement of the day, I got a couple of great surprises. First, my dear friend, Elizabeth, who moved to Stockholm a year ago, came to Helsinki with her family for the weekend and joined us for the walk. I had no idea she was coming, although most of my other friends were in on the plan. So, when she turned up next to me as our team was gathering, I had to do a double take before I realized that she was actually there! As you can see, I was really happily surprised and touched!

Thanks to my friend, Sarah Frechette of Pikku Arkki Valokuvaus, for capturing this moment and for the photo below of some of our team before the walk!

I was a bit worried that I might not be able to complete the 5K walk so soon after having had a treatment. However, I managed to do it even while pushing Leila in the stroller most of the way!

As we were getting ready to head home after reaching the finish line, the MC for the walk started announcing prizes for the biggest teams. I hadn't even considered that ours would be in the running, but a friend called my attention to the fact that the third place team only had five people. It turns out that we got second place! So I received a gift basket of Avon and Marimekko products for organizing the team- another unexpected, exciting moment in an already emotional day!

Although all these events kept me busy, the most tiring part of the last few weeks was actually the day-to-day effort of taking care of the girls. As those of you who are parents know, taking care of two small kids is work enough in itself. However, if you are sick or feeling generally tired or unwell, it's exhausting. It was all the energy I could muster just to get through each day on my own. (There were a few in there when I thought I really might not make it!)

So I'm extremely pleased/relieved/grateful that the girls have started daycare. We eased into the new routine starting last week by having me stay there with them for parts of the last four days. Since everything went well, today they will go for the full day on their own. This means that after tomorrow's chemo treatment (my third), I'll be able to rest a bit before they come home. Even more importantly, they'll be out of the house and having fun next week (when I'll be feeling my worst) so that I can focus on recovering. I'm hoping that, by conserving energy during the day, I'll have more to spend with them when they're home in the evenings and on the weekend.

Leila eating lunch on her first day at daycare.

I won't be able to keep up this level of activity in the coming months, especially with cold season coming on, but I'm thankful that I was able to muster the energy for so much this month. Despite the challenges, it was a great end to the summer!