I share the above quote because Callisto has been having a difficult time recently.  She is not as good academically as her sister.  Since elementary school we have had to reassure her that she is a smart girl, but she has a learning disability which makes it difficult to get what she knows from her head to paper in the typical ways that schools measure these things.  Through the years it has improved, she is in honors in high school after all.  Yet, she still struggles with sibling jealousy from time to time.

She asked me if I was jealous of my sisters.  I told her most definitely, even still today.  My eldest sister (Pamela Beth aka Be-Be) seems to have her life so put together to me.  Three children, all doing well, very active.  They have had their difficult times, but they see through them.  After going to her two oldest's high school graduation parties I know that is not something I could ever pull together for my own daughters.  Plus...nearing 50 years old (yes, I just told everyone you are getting OLD) and no cavities.

The next oldest (Kirsten aka Tu-Tu) also seems to be more sure of the path that she is on.  Working mom but there for her two sons. 

My twin (Veronica aka Roni)...well...what can I say...she gets to be a stay at home mom and her husband makes enough to not only make that possible but to include vacations for the family and even flew Callisto out the summer Sean had his cancer treatments.  (Though, I did point out to Callisto that she was the first and youngest to fly somewhere on her own in our family)

And here are Sean and myself.  Struggling to make ends meet.  Definitely better off now than a couple of years ago.  Sean getting closer to being healthy and being able to say he kicked stage 4 cancer in the butt...attending seminary...but who know what the future really holds for us.

Me...well...I work 6 days a week and we make just enough to pay the bills.  We don't have much of the modern day devices that many of our family and friends have in order to do so, but perhaps that is a good thing.  Though, driving home from bringing Aria back to school when our alternator died I really wish I had had a cell phone.  That would have been less scary then.  Though, it was a great opportunity to prove to Callisto the power of prayer.  There is no way we should have made it as far as we did.

This summer is going to be very busy.  Aria will officially graduate from high school on June 6th.  Both girls go to confirmation camp June 16 - 22 (Aria actually will go the day before because she is a counselor this year)  Aria will also have a summer job at Giant.  Plus she is fitting in two weeks to Germany July 17 - July 30 with the Lutheran Youth Choir.  She should hopefully be getting her license as well this summer which means if we can figure out the vehicle situation she can take herself back to school this year.  Save us time and money and me needing time off of work for all those trips.  (Heck, I can understand why Callisto gets jealousy of Aria...I think I'm jealous of her too)

Sean will be doing CPE at Hershey hospital.  I know that will take up much of his summer.  And not to be outdone by his daughter, he is looking into a class abroad during J-term 2014.  Maybe it wasn't such a good thing that we all got passports.

I will continue working my six days a week...and I am not sure what we are going to do to keep Callisto from getting bored the rest of the summer.  I do have a vacation week that I have been trying to figure out when/where/how I can use it...maybe just me and her will do something with it.  I don't think a vacation is going to fit into Sean and Aria's schedules.

Sean's next scan should be sometime in August or September.  If this one comes back clear then we can officially say remission.  April 18th will be the 2 year anniversary of his diagnosis.  I know I will never forget that day since I had him tell me over the phone while I was at work since I was leaving for my family since the next day was my dad's surprise 70th birthday party.  And a deer ran into my car on the way there...and I was a mess...but a lot has happened in those two years.

I also remember moving Aria into her dorm August of that year...the day after Sean's last radiation treatment.  Talk about some perfect timing.  He was weak, he couldn't talk...but he could be there to move her into college.

His strength is still returning.  Not quite what it was, but a far cry from August of 2011.  And he is still working on being able to eat, but even that improves each day.

We still have a long journey ahead of us.  Not sure where God is going to take us, but "Here we are Lord, send us" (Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8)

We started Spring Break for Aria with a game night.  We had some of her friends, one of Callisto's friends, and a couple of my friends over that night to play games.  We actually only played one game, "Battle of the Sexes".  Usually when we play this game it is over quickly and the girls have won, this time it took nearly 2 hours and the boys actually won.

I had Saturday the 2nd off so we could have a family day.  We went and saw Rise of the Guardians at the cheap theater and just enjoyed the day together.

I worked Sunday - Wednesday but Callisto was lucky enough to get a snow day on Wednesday to spend with her sister even though there was no snow.

Then I was off yesterday and today to spend time with Aria myself :)

I work tomorrow but have Sunday off to return Aria to school.

Sean's test results were good.  It hasn't been long enough to officially say remission though.  His next scan will be in August and as long as that one is still clear then he will be in remission.  He is still doing well at Seminary though he was competing with Aria for highest GPA and so far Aria is winning ;)

I will do my best to keep everyone up to date as life goes on here, but not sure how often I will be on Gather.  Feel free to friend me on Facebook, I keep that up to date more often.

Gather has been acting up a lot on me lately so that is why I have not been around much.

I wanted to give everyone an update on the goings on here at the Dougherty house :)

Sean is at his CAT Scan this morning.  He came home over the weekend since his father was down here to help Mark work on the shop.  All in all it was good timing because we ended up having to open up the pipes to the septic again so Sean had his dad here to help with that.  I'm not sure how much they got done at Mark's shop, but I know the extra hands were definitely a help there.

Sean has doctor appointments next week to find out the results of the scan.

Aria is as busy as ever.  She had a phone interview for an internship at Giant.  She was called back for round two of interviews and will do that in person over her spring break.  She is also applying to be a counselor during the week of confirmation camp.  AND...she was called last night...she is going to Germany for two weeks this summer with the Lutheran Youth Choir.  She is going to have a busy summer for sure.  Just the way she likes things.

Callisto is over 1/2 through her 9th grade year.  She is figuring out what she wants to take next year so that we can go in and get her IEP meeting done.  She is having some struggles, but all in all she is doing well.  This past Sunday she was promoting "Buck a Chick" at church.  During the announcements she was a farmer and there were baby chicks (other youth and out youth director) throughout the church.  Callisto collected them and said she was selling them for $1  to help with world hunger.  She did this at both services and everyone thought it was an excellent way to promote the program.

We also had a baked potato lunch after the service.  That's how we raise money to help send the kids to confirmation camp.

That's about it here.  I've been working...as usual...nothing new there...

I will let everyone know how Sean's doctor appointments going next week.  We are praying to finally hear the word "remission".

Happy Ground Hog's Day everyone :)

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow so we have six more weeks till spring.  Is that really better than six more weeks of winter?

Anyway, it's a fun tradition I suppose.

It also happens to be my mom's birthday.  She is 71 today.  Don't tell her I just told the world how old she is ;)

Here in the Dougherty house things are getting back to a routine.  Aria has been back at college since January 6th.  Sean had gone back to seminary for a J-term class, then home again for about a week, and he is now back since his spring semester began on Thursday.

On a positive note, our church was able to get us a second vehicle.  Sean as able to bring himself back to seminary and will be able to transport himself for any/all doctor appointments.  This is a large burden off of me.  I have less stress of trying to make my schedule around having to pick him up for appointments now which makes both our lives a lot easier.

Callisto finished up her first semester of high school and is now in the second.  She did well the first quarter but struggled some in the second.  We are hoping she gets back into the swing of things for the final two quarters.  This weekend she will be working on a rather large project.  A trip around the world for Honors Geography class.

Sunday is the Super Bowl, but we will not be watching here...no TV after all.  Though it does mean I will get out of work an hour early tomorrow.  I close the Tree House at 6pm instead of 7pm on Super Bowl Sunday because we end up with no one in the store once the game starts.  Which means I can be home to help Callisto as she finished up her project.

Sean has doctor appointments with his radiologist and chemo doctor this month, but no scan was scheduled.  So, he is calling to find out what is up with that.  I am sure they will want something to look at to find out if he is finally in remission.  Then we pray for remission to last so he can say he beat cancer.

I'm still working 6 days a week to make ends meet...some months they barely touch...but we are hanging in there.  I got some kind of cold or flu bug and finally gave in this past Monday and went to Patient First.  For those that do not know it is an urgent care facility.  No appointment needed and I was in and out rather quickly.  I got an antibiotic and some cough medicine with codeine.  Finally beginning to feel better.  I still have a few days left on my course of antibiotics.

March 1st is when I pick Aria up for her spring break.  She will be home for a week.  I am hoping Sean will make it home for one of the weekends that she is home to visit as well.  His spring break isn't until Easter at the end of March.  We are also hoping to get Aria in for her driver's test while she is home.  And, speaking of Aria...she applied for an internship at Giant over the summer.  Hopefully that works out for her as well.

That's everything going on over here.  I hope everyone had a good start to 2013.