The Assassin

The Assassin by Shauna Berglund-Immel

Deadly. Silent.
He goes undetected.
Stalking my every move.
There is no where to run. No where to hide.
He doesn't give up. Doesn't back down.
Ever.
A relentless hit man.
Unforgiving. Uncaring.
Evil.
Stealing life without a second thought.

Protect and Heal by Shauna Berglund-Immel

Protect my heart and soul because it is under attack.
It is the center of my being, giving life to my body and soul.
My bones. My brains. My muscles.
It breathes life into my very being.

Heal my body and spirit because I want to live and breath.
I want to experience life's treasures.
I am not done living yet.
I have so much to give. So much to do.
Two children to raise.
Roads to travel.
Journeys to take.
Avenues to explore.
Mountains to climb.
Heal my body and make me whole again.
Give me my dreams and future back.
Fill the emptiness that is growing inside of me.
Light the darkness that is falling.
Heal my body and spirit.

These pieces came out of a timed writing at the begining of our writing workshop today. We focused on the body. We first made a list of different parts of our body that came to our mind.
My list:

heart
soul
bones
brain
lungs
muscles

We were then asked to pick 1-2 parts and write. Or we could use the prompt:
"Praise my ______ because...." or exchange "praise" for "thank/celebrate".

We then listened to a piece of jazz music and were asked to write a piece afterwards. Or we could use the prompts: "The memory is..." and "Inside the sound..."

The Orchestra by Shauna Berglund-Immel

The orchestra of organs inside of me
keeps beat with the beating of my heart.
A base drum for the rest of the instruments
that play together to create the tune of my life.

Only one more workshop is left and I am so sad! I am loving the writing workshop. I love the writing. The sharing. The listening of others works. The feedback. The prompts. The time alloted to write. What am I going to do when it ends? I'm going to go through withdrawals! I'm going to try and keep the group together. I just don't know what's going to happen with me and my health, so I am afraid to officially organize a group and run it myself. Maybe we can all participate and each bring a prompt or something?

Brain MRI update: still waiting for the results. My oncologist is going to try and track it down for me and get back to me tomorrow.

CA125 update: the last CA125 before I started my chemo last Monday was 127. That's up from 97. But it should be going back down with the chemo I just did and hopefully follow that trend.

Spring break update: it snowed today! What's up with that? We've been laying pretty low. The kids are enjoying time at home to play with the neighbor kids. They've been playing outside, playing boardgames (Spencer is into Dungeons and Dragons and finally found someone to play with!), playing video games and computer games and just being kids and having fun. We've been going to the movies (Drillbit Taylor - Spencer's kind of humor!) and hanging out at bookstores and reading books. Staying up late watching American Idol and Big Brother together. Going to soccer practice (in the rain, hail and snow???). I was hoping to get a few things done around the house but still haven't gotten to it!

Birthday alert! Kaelin turns 9 on April 1st (next Tues!) and I have yet to plan/organize anything! I don't know what to get her. Where to have her bday party. Or when. Birthdays are always so overwhelming for me! They just seem to come bam bam bam right after the other in a very busy season of wrapping up before schools out. So I need to figure that out before the week is up.

I hope everyone is enjoying their spring breaks!
xoxox
Shauna