Hi there.  Only a few more days before my surgery, it's so strange that later this week I'm having my heart opened...yet today I feel perfectly normal.  I've been trying to exercise daily, hoping that will help my recovery.  Today we attended mass with my parents and family.  Fr. Chateau at Our Lady of Fatima offered a prayer of healing.  The kids each annointed my forehead with oil and many of my extended family were there to pray with me.  It was quite moving.  This whole experience has been eye-opening, I'm awed by how many people care about me.  What a comfort and a joy.  Thanks so much for being in my life. 

I also find myself feeling humbled.  I think about Dave's cousin Robyn -- who recently has found herself battling an aggressive breast cancer.  Her strength, stamina and faith have been unbelievable.  I think about her challenges (she and her husband John are raising four children....), and find my own faith strengthened by her approach to life's difficulties.   

Well, we promised the kids ice cream tonight -- (in typical Michelle fashion, it will be lowfat frozen yogurt....) -- so I'd better go.  God Bless, M