We survived the Fight for Air Climb!

We did it! We climbed 828 stairs and ran 1.14 flat miles for the American Lung Association's Fight for Air Climb race at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday! We did it to honor Mom. At the race, there was a dedication wall of sorts where you could write why you were climbing. My answer?

Because my mom has COPD and continues to fight for a life that continues to take her breath away.

In the kitchen at Mom and Dad's, there's a plaque hanging in the kitchen that says life isn't about how many breaths you take, but about the moments that take your breath away. I'd like to think that lung disease has made that a very good lesson and reminder for all of us.

I transformed my race T on Friday night, turning it into a boatneck tank and adding a red heart on which I wrote, "I climb for my Mom."

Sincere thanks to all of you who have donated or pledged to our fundraising efforts. Our total pledges and donations add up to $485!

My mother-in-law Janice joined us Saturday so she could watch Westley and cheer for us while we ran.

Another fun element was that my friend Lindsey ran the race, too. Here we are yesterday ...


... and here we last April, both about eight months pregnant. We had babies five days apart in May 2010.


Click to see a couple of additional photos from the event.

Fight for Air Climb in honor of Mom

Above is a photo of my beautiful mother Ann, who has been diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Mom is among more than 35 million Americans who suffer from chronic lung diseases.

In May 2008, Mom suffered respiratory failure and was raced to the emergency room. She spent 26 days in the hospital, much of the time in critical condition. During the scariest days, she was in a coma and on a ventilator. She underwent a successful tracheotomy, recovered and was released. You can read more about her ordeal and recovery.

That was a frightening time. Prayer, Mom's strength and faith and the love of family and friends saw us through it.

Since then, Mom has welcomed a son-in-law and two new grandsons (including my precious little Westley) into the family. She is the glue that holds us together, the one who reminds us to keep the faith and to relish the beautiful moments that take our breath away.

In the past three years, Mom has attended physical therapy weekly to maintain her lung capacity and her strength.

I am running the Fight for Air Climb in her honor, to raise awareness and funds and to support the woman who has done so much for me in my life.

To train, I've climbed 836 floors so far this month at the YMCA and have avoided elevators on *most* occasions.

I am asking you, my family and friends, to help me meet my goal to raise money for the American Lung Association to prevent lung disease. Even better, please join me in the race that day!

Please also consider donating to Brian Buselt, my loving husband whose dedication to me and my family has led him to join me in the race.

During the race April 9 at Intrust Bank Arena, I will run a 5K that includes climbing 34 floors. I will remember the same advice Mom gave me in a handwritten letter she mailed to me when I was an overwhelmed journalism student at KU: "Take deep breaths!" It's a wonderful way to approach life, and something I want to help others have the chance to do.

Thank you,

Lori

Bringing home a baby bumblebee

We continued our Halloween celebrations by bringing Westley to The Eagle's newsroom trick-or-treat last week. It was his first time to wear his baby bee costume. Cute as it was, it held a lot of significance, too. Brian and I called him Baby B. through my pregnancy. (Remember all of those months of blog posts labeled Baby B.?) One of his favorite baby toys right now, by the way, is a baby bee book.


The costume has a fun back story. I found it online for a ridiculous price of $40. But then I got excited when I found it half-price on eBay. After waiting two weeks for it to arrive and worrying about whether it would be here in time for Halloween, it finally arrived. But I was hot. It was listed as in perfect condition, but it had a busted zipper. Thanks to my Mama for saving the day. The night before The Eagle event, she whipped together some Velcro tabs with materials and supplies she had on hand. What a Queen Bee!


Look at these beautiful photos Brian took of our little honey bee. I mean, stop the presses. This kid is adorable.

Big thanksgiving for the tiniest blessing

This Thanksgiving, my heart overflows with gratitude for the incredible blessing God has placed in our lives. Above is the image of our baby's heartbeat, captured during our first sonogram on Sept. 22nd, seven weeks into our pregnancy.

Today marks day 117 of my pregnancy, and this is today's entry from my "Your Pregnancy Day by Day" book:

"Your baby's eyes remain closed, but underneath his eyelids his eyes have grown larger. He has eyebrows and eyelashes."

Amazing to think that in a couple of days I will reach the 17-week mark, meaning I'll be 42.5 percent of the way through my pregnancy. Wow. It's moments like this that have had me thinking a lot lately of the lyrics from my favorite song from the musical Godspell:

"All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love ... "

A few of the many additional blessings I'm counting on this special holiday:

• Pets who remind me how simple and sweet life really is.

• My silly nephenewsers, the youngest member of our growing extended family who never ceases to make me smile.

• A smart & handsome hubby who is my best friend, my biggest cheerleader and my No. 1 sidekick through thick and thin (and we've seen both in 2009).

• Celebrating the start of my third decade, certain to be my best yet.

• A mother who has made a dramatic and remarkable recovery after a health scare in 2008.

• Family & friends who helped me through a very difficult obstacle I faced earlier this year ... and the faith and strength that saw me through it.

• My many travels this year, including to a long golfing/shopping weekend in Dallas, a family reunion in the Ozarks, a work conference in L.A. (my first trip to California), a dear friend's wedding in Iowa, a cousin's wedding in Kansas City and a September vacation to Petit Jean State Park. And all of that's on top of several weekend camping trips and football excursions to the Kansas City area. Whew!

The most precious and cherished blessings in my life are the ones I can hug (and especially the one I'm carrying). May your blessings be as plentiful and your heart as full today. Enjoy, savor & celebrate!

Vacation days

My Thursday & Friday off work this week provided a healthy balance of work & play.

Brian showed Dakota a little puppy love before heading off to work on Thursday ...


... while I went to play. I met Mom that afternoon at her rehab at Via Christi. Mom has been going to physical therapy twice a week for more than a year now. She does cardio, resistance bands and weights. It's kept her healthy and keeps her on her toes. I think she looks fabulous:


We did a bit of Christmas shopping and went to a few of our favorite places, as well as some new ones. Our stops included Bella Luz and Lucinda's in Old Town Plaza, where I snapped this pic of Mom "snapping" a pic of me with a cute little camera key chain. (Clever, isn't she?)


I also introduced Mom to The Spice Merchant and Monica's Bundt Cake on East Douglas. We ended the day by meeting up with Brian & Dad for dinner at Jason's Deli. (A few tips regarding their Pollo Mexicano potato: order when hungry, ask for a box and prepare to have enough leftovers for lunch the next day.)

On Friday morning, I caught Meow Meow enjoying the sunlight:


Brian also took the day off so we could get underway with an exciting project: cleaning out our guest bedroom, which will be home to a very special guest in 5.5 months. We reorganized, sorted, moved out furniture and planned donations. For five years, the room has been known as the Lion's Den. As a kid (and, really, even now) I love lions. So the room was filled with stuffed lions, lion artwork and trinkets, a gorgeous pencil sketch of a lion Brian gave me as a Christmas gift when we were teens and more. I parted ways with most of it to make room for our little one. Brian & I had to borrow his parents' minivan to haul all of our discards from the room and around the house (we've been nesting, can't you tell?) to Goodwill this afternoon. What a sense of accomplishment!


After we cleared out the room and our garage, we headed out for a special birthday party and saw a gorgeous sunset along the way:


We made another trip to Monica's Bundt Cake (Notice a vacation trend here?) to pick out some surprise sweets.


Then we joined our friend Tony's parents Mario & Madeline. Mario recently came home after suffering a heart attack last week. He underwent open heart surgery and had six bypasses. (Please keep him in your prayers!) Meanwhile, Madeline celebrated her birthday today. Tony is in Arizona to ref the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association soccer tournament. But Nicole and our friend Rob stepped in to mark the birthday. It was a fun evening with friends who seem more like family to us.


Not too shabby for two weekdays! It was time well-spent. Now on to the weekend!

Miraculous Mom: One year later

Mom reminded me this afternoon that she was admitted to the hospital a year ago today after suffering from respiratory failure. She spent time in critical condition, part of it sedated and on a ventilator. She underwent a successful tracheotomy. She spent her wedding anniversary and birthday in her ICU room. After 22 days, she was released to a regular hospital room. After 26 days in the hospital, she came home.

Since her release, she's welcomed a new son-in-law and grandson into the family. She's sewn baby quilts, traveled and is now helping my dad renovate the house. She attends physical rehab to grow and stay strong. The past year has reminded me to keep the faith, to rely on friends and family and to never take a day for granted.

Brian & I met my parents for dinner tonight, where we toasted Mom's recovery. Brian snapped this gorgeous photo of her. To me, she has never looked more beautiful.



Thanks again to all of you who have shared your love, prayers and support with Mom, me and my family in the past year.

Mom, you've come a long way, baby. I love you and couldn't be prouder.


Click to revisit the posts I've written in the past year about my miraculous mom.

Welcome, April!

OK, OK, OK. I cannot take one more call, e-mail or text from my sweet sister Amanda demanding that I update my blog. And I do so with this reflection: How have I not blogged in more than a month?! That's a first in Life is Golden history. For that, my dear friends, I apologize.

And now I give you the Top 10 Reasons Why Lori Hasn't Been Blogging:

1. I was busy celebrating 30 spins around the sun. Among other things, Brian surprised me with dinner and a night out with family and friends. He even arranged it so our friend and musician extraordinaire learned one of my favorite songs ... for us to sing on stage at The Shadow. Surprise! See for yourself in my friend Jaime's video.


2. I got Wii Fit for my birthday.


3. Brian & I bought Rock Band and have been partying like rock stars. My favorite character is a drummer named RubyRed. She ROCKS!


4. I finally joined Facebook and have been networking with friends new and old, near and far. Go ahead. Friend me. Do it.


5. Brian gave me the amazing gift of a volunteer drive in my honor for my birthday, and I've been spending some extra time volunteering. Projects I've worked on with friends from church include a morning clearing out the basement at GraceMed Health Clinic ...


... and an evening baking dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies for local Ronald McDonald Houses with the youth group.


6. I've stuck with my New Year's tradition of working out at least three times a week. Tonight's installment? A four-mile run followed by strength training and yoga on the Wii. (Please see No. 2.) And if you have a YMCA membership and live in Wichita, let me know if you'd ever like to try TurboKick.

7. I've been enjoying the 75-degree weather, thunderstorms, snowstorm and crazy wind that makes Kansas springs oh-so-exciting.


8. I was overcome with March Madness. (Rock Chalk!)

9. I've been spending some quality time with Mom, who is doing amazingly well. We're working on a quilting project together and have escaped for shopping trips in Newton and at the flea market. The flea market adventure was a meaningful one: It's the first time Mom has been back since before her hospital stay. It's those little milestones that can mean so much to us sometimes.


10. I've been pumping myself up for my next 30 years and many, many more opportunities to see that Life is Golden.

Best photos of 2008

To continue a tradition I started last year, I have selected my 12 favorite photos of the year:

Sedgwick County Park in Wichita, January

New Mexico highway, February

At home in Wichita, March

At home in Wichita, April

Backyard in Wichita, May

Wichita's Wesley Hospital, June

Padre, July

Wichita sky, September

Downtown Wichita community garden, September

Wichita's Wesley Hospital, October

Rocky Mountain National Park, October

University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, November

Merry Christmas, part duex

Other wonderful December happenings include that Brian & I kept our annual tradition of visiting Botanica's Illuminations:


I sang in The Eagle's choir at the holiday open house with, from left, Annie, Suzanne, Rod and Molly. (Photo courtesy of Travis.)

And I took a vacation day to hang out with Mom. We each picked out new glasses at our optometrist's office (she chose adorable new frames and I purchased my first pair of prescription sunglasses). We checked out some local boutiques we've never been to, Christmas shopped for our hubbies, made a visit to our favorite fabric store, chatted over lunch and topped it all off with a peppermint mocha and gingerbread latte from Starbucks.


Having Mom well and happy this Christmas has no doubt been one of the greatest gifts of the season. She and Dad attended a Christmas Eve service at Aldersgate with Brian and me. Afterwards, one of the pastors who had visited Mom in the hospital several times this summer told Mom that she got a little choked up seeing her sitting among the congregation. "It's so wonderful to have you with us this Christmas," she said. Mom and I both cried. God bless us everyone.