Bloody Internet

Posted on July 24, 2014 by sghamer

Readers- I know it has been awhile and I apologize for the delay in posting. The internet here at Hotel Yorba has sucked. I think I complained in my last post about it and well, it has gotten worse. When it works, it is a slow as a snail, an old, old snail. I have been trying to load pictures up for this post for two days now! I have no idea how long it will take this entry to post. It could be two days from now! We are done with it. On Monday we are changing to a new internet provider. Fingers are crossed that this will be an easy switch.

We finally got a new TV on Tuesday, to replace the one that just stopped worked a few weeks ago. It is 47 inches big (thank goodness for Costco). WOW. That is big for us. It is crazy how big TV’s are getting now a days and how they can’t last past 5 or 6 years.

Updates

Band of Horses

We had a great time last weekend. We went to the Forecastle Music Festival in Louisville, KY. It was the first festival for The Boy and the first I have been to in a very long time. What a wonderful job they did! There was plenty of space, lots of stages, food, bathrooms, places to chill and great music. The Boy had a lot of fun as did his parents!

First Bourbon Mug

Yummy Tea!

Waiting for dinner in Nashviille, TN

Free Photo Booth fun!

Tired of being in pain and being tired!

So I guess I put the fact that I am going through chemo out of my mind for a while. Ignored it. Went along as though nothing was going one. Well, this past week it has made sure I not forget about it. It has not been the best week for me. I am very tired. Been going to bed before The Boy does and been ~~passing out~~ taking naps during the day. When I am awake my side/ribcage has been killing me and I just don’t have much energy to do anything. The pain medication that Dr. Read has given has helped out some but the pain is still there. I have also been having some issues with my left leg, swelling and burning sensations, which I think is a side effect from the chemo. Not good. I had to make the change back to the super soft toothbrush (still had one left over from last summer) and special toothpaste. The inside of my mount is getting pretty sore. I have not been working out either and I rely need to because I have 24 Hours of Booty coming up!

What I would love is some energy to clean the upstairs, the refrigerator, juice more (been drinking bottled green juice), clean out the garage, do laundry! Yes, I want to be able to do these things. Instead I just want to fall asleep. I need some ENERGY people! I wish they sold some in a bottle.

I had more pictures I wanted to post but the internet is not working with me. So I think I will just try to post this and hope for best! Have a great day Readers!

Updates, broken things and shout outs!

Posted on July 15, 2014 by sghamer

Readers! Things have been crazy here at the Hotel Yorba! First we had a full house for almost a week. My parents, brother, sis-in-law and niece where in town for about 5 days last week. They participated in the Merchants Market here in the ATL. They both seemed to have a great show and got the word out about their wonderful products, The Christmas Web and Ginger Leigh Designs. Check them both out!

The Boy and I got to hang out with my youngest niece, ETG, for a few days. We had a blast. She is a great girl. She hung out with me all day Friday and went with me when I hit the bank, chicken feed store and office. She even went to work out with SK and I at the gym. She rocked it. When my hour was up, she was like “we have to go?” Oh to have the energy of an 11-year-old!

Our internet has not been working for the past few days, which is why I have not posted anything. It has been very frustrating. It is crazy how much we depend on a good internet signal. We have a call into a cable company to try to run cable internet but that is not for about two weeks. Our current service sucks! And then on Sunday, our TV in the family room died! Just stopped working. It will not turn on! Everything else turns on but not the TV. They really don’t make them like they use to do they? A TV used to last 10+ years! Now you are lucky to get one the lasts 4 years. Total Bummer.

Round 2

So far the side effects from round 2 have been the same of Round 1. I am tired. Like really tired. Like lay on the couch, pass out, wake yourself up snoring and add in some drool, tired. The pain in my ribs is still there but I am getting some new drugs today and hopefully they will help take the edge off. I am doing my best to keep being active because I know it will only help me in the end. Must stay strong!

2014 24 hours of Booty!

I am off to a wonderful start of my fundraising for the 24 hours of Booty ride I am doing in October. I have halfway to my goal! Woot! Woot! A big shout out to the following donors and recruit!.

Christy M., William H. Family, Judi R., Robert H., Vicki H., Alan V., Geri T., Michelle H. and Dona C.

You guys rock! I am starting to work on my training program to get ready for the ride. I will continue to work out with SK twice a week when I am able. I am also going to start riding the exercise bike during the week, keep up with my yoga and go biking at the park on the weekends. I will admit, it is kind of hard get the energy up to do it all but I will do the best I can.

The Girls and Garden

Nice waddle!

Zazzles and Terrance Peterson are doing great. They are about five months old now and hopefully should be getting ready to lay some eggs in the next month or two. Zazzles cone and waddle are growing in pretty fast and her little chirp is now a lower toned one. Kinda sounds like she has a frog stuck in her throat! I am sure it will settle down soon and she will settle on a nice little chirp. Terry Pete’s black feathers are so nice and shiny. In the sun they have a dark green shine to them. Her cone and waddle are still pretty small but she seems ok with it.

The garden is doing ok. The tomatoes are growing well (cherry is doing the best) except for the fact there is a little bugger who is grabbing some of the lower hanging green ones and eating them. But does he eat all of them? Nooo! He eats half of it and then leaves the other half for me to find. Little bugger! So wasteful!

My corn looks like it is growing well (really I have no idea) along with my peppers, garlic and edamame. I have gotten a few small cucumbers but no squash yet. Whoever was eating the okra has stopped and there are some okra buds popping up. I am thinking next spring about buying more bags good soil and trying to get my soil in better shape. Any suggestions? I have used egg shells, coffee grounds and some compost. The dirt that was originally put in there was not good at all but over the years I have added to it, so you think it would be in better shape now. But really how can you tell? I need a garden guru to come out and give me a few lessons.

Readers! I hope you are all having a good week so far. Stay Strong and Be Safe!

24 Hours of Booty!

Posted on July 11, 2014 by sghamer

Readers! It is official. Team Hotel Yorba is up and running for the 24 Hours of Booty ride in October here in the ATL. What? What is it you ask? Read below!

More than just a ride.

24 Hours of Booty is a community committed to put cancer in its place. This 24-hour cycling event raises local and national funds for cancer-fighting programs.

Held on a traffic free loop, the event brings together cyclists of all abilities. The only requirement is a bicycle (or unicycle!) and a passion for fighting cancer. When you ride, donate or volunteer at 24 Hours of Booty, you get so much more than miles on your bike.

We are community. We ride as family, united by a common goal.
We are achievable. Ride one mile. Ride one hundred miles. It’s a ride to see if everyone can win.
We are survivors. Cancer doesn’t own us. We will put it in it’s place.
We are fun. Cancer is serious business, but the ride doesn’t have to be.
We are focused. We have a one-track mind. We exist to fight cancer. We fight as one.

We ride for your mom, your brother, your best friend and your coworker. We ride for the people just diagnosed and for the people fighting a hard battle. We ride for those celebrating years of remission and for those who are running out of time.

We are all 24 Hours of Booty. Share the videos below with your family and friends to let them know how 24 Hours of Booty is active in your community.

Do you want to ride with Team Hotel Yorba? We would love to have you come down, up, or across and join us. Here is the link if you ant to Ride. Are you interested in volunteering? Check it out here. Are you interested in donating? This would be a WONDERFUL tax write off for 2014!! My page is here. If you want to join my team you can do that from either my home page and click the button on the right of the page or go here.

If you have issues just let me know and we will work on it. Please remember!!!! You DO NOT have to ride for the whole 24 hours. I plan to ride and rest and then ride some more. Read all about it if you are interested or if you are local and have a tent your can lend let me know!

Readers! Come join us!!

PS…Rebecca took a picture of me while I slept during my chemo!

Sleeping beauty

Round #2

Posted on July 10, 2014 by sghamer

I did not draw this!

Readers! Today was round two of chemo. Once again the wonderful Rebecca A. came with me on my journey. She was at my house at 8am sharp and we headed downtown along with half of the citizens of ATL. I was scheduled to see Dr. Read today. They were running right on time and after my port was opened it wasn’t long before Dr. Read came in to see how I was doing. While driving down to the hospital Rebecca took notes for me about items I wasted to bring up with him. I gave him my list of complaints.

1. Have bump/cyst/thingy on my back by one of my incisions.- He checked this out and have happy to see that when pushed on, it moved around. Tumors don’t usually don’t move. He thinks it may be a cyst caused my the surgery last October. He will have a better idea when the scans are done on the 31st of July. He did say I could get a massage if I wanted to but not for them to push down hard on it.

2. Still having major pain under my right boob/rib/incision areas. The pain is pretty bad, worse in the morning and it has effected my sleep. Sometimes I even find it hard to push down my veg when juicing! -He is not 100% sure this is caused by a tumor. He stated that you usually can’t feel them like that. He thinks it may be a nerve growing back and miss firing signals to the rest of my body. I have to agree with him because I can I know exactly what I was doing the moment it started to hurt. I was in yoga and I had just gone up in a should stand when BAM! Son of a Sweet Pickle!. Like the cyst/bump/thing we should know more after the CT.

3. Sleep. It is hard to do. I have been waking up in the night every night in pain and have been having trouble falling back asleep. My won’t stop racing and I am sad to say I don’t always have the most positive thoughts. But that is to be expected.- Dr. Read, Rebecca and I discussed my pain management. I love how he uses everyday situations to describe things. Todays was Tequila vs Beer! Ha! Anyway, I have two new prescriptions that will hopefully help me get my pain under control and gel me sleep through the night.

Before I passed out.

After my appointment we went down to the infusion center and I got hooked up. They gave me a Benadryl and dam! That thing knocked me out. I had such a hard time staying awake that I finally gave up and took a nap. My Man wasn’t pulling my leg when he says I snore. Rebecca said I was lightly snoring too! Wonderful. She was able to sit back and do some work and take a test for her continuing education credits. I got home around 2pm so all in all it wasn’t a horrible day.

I did not draw this!

At this point I feel fine. My white blood cell count was kinda low but not low enough for me not to have the chemo today. It is expected for the count to drop (red blood cells too) while going through chemo but you have to keep an eye on it. I was told to stay away from sick kids and to wash my hands a lot. No licking the floors of bathrooms! I have my barf bucket by my bed just in case it starts to effect the old tummy. I think it will take a few days to hit me if it does this time.

Readers, I hope you are having a nice Thursday and enjoying your summer. It is hot in the ATL but that is the case in the summer down here. More info on 24 Hours of Booty Ride coming soon!

Amelia Island

Posted on July 8, 2014 by sghamer

Readers! Team Hamer was on Vacay! For the 4th of July we decided to head own to Amelia Island, Fl. But we did not go alone! No,The Boy brought a friend, which we will refer to as ZCP. By 9:50am on Tuesday morning we were off our bellys full of bagels, coffee and apple juice and out car pack up with a number of bags, tablets and bikes. The drive took us around 5 hours and 45 minutes. We did not run into too much traffic or construction.

It is very interesting riding in a car with two 9-year-old boys. They were both on their tablets while watching School of Rock on a portable DVD player. The Boy has watched that movie so many times that he was quoting the lines of entire scenes. Pickles! We arrived to the to Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island around 3:30pm with the sun shinning and the temperature around 90 degrees. Hot!

Our Room

We chose a room on the club level of the Ritz Carlton. Why did we pay the extra money for the room and the extras? As you all know, food and drinks at any hotel is $$$$. I mean $20 for a hamburger? Your kidding right? At this point, my appetite has taken a nose dive and I hate paying for food I don’t even finish! We ate lunch and it coast $100.00. Two kids burgers and fries, shrimp tacos, a taco salad (that I thought tasted funny), a beer and a bloody mary. Really? With the club level you get five “meals” and all the drinks, sodas, wine, water, cookies, candies etc you want. We ate breakfast every morning. Two kinds of eggs, oatmeal,bagels, fruit, rolls etc. I can’t begin to think of the $$$ we saved from breakfast alone. Then there is lunch, snacks, appetizers and deserts. If you work it right you can make it work for you. Which is why I am drinking champagne in the club level room as I write this. Waiting for the snacks to come out at 4pm. Ahi Tuna anyone?

We ended up getting a King sized bed room with a chair that folded out into a twin bed for the boys. We also had a roll away bed but in the end chose not to use it. Ok, first thing to say about the room, the outlets! There were so many! Which is good when you have four tablets and three phones. We had a nice balcony with two chairs and a table that over looked two of the three pools and the beach. Wonderful to watch the nightly sunsets from. There was a flat screened tv and the largest closet in a hotel I have ever seen.

I think someone is up.

The boys started out sleeping on the twin pull out but at some point The Boy says he woke up with ZCP on top of him and moved to our bed. ZCP said he was using The Boy as a pillow.

Daily activities

ZCP brought a boogie board so of course we had to find a surf shop so The Boy could get one. It cost a little more than we thought it would but it was a well made one that provided hours of fun for The Boy. The waves were large on Wednesday due tropical storm Arthur but were pretty calm the rest of the week. The boys had a blast. Much more than at the pool, although they did enjoy the indoor hot tub and enjoyed going there at night.

How cool is this? They moved the club level room to the beach! Woot! Woot! My Man was thrilled! We walked up and was shown to a set up chairs, towels and beach umbrellas (a must for me). There were sodas, waters, beer, wine and snacks too much on while hanging out by the water. it was nice to just hang out, watch the boys ride the waves and read my magazine.

The weather was very nice most of the trip but there was some rain. Once while we were visiting downtown. The sky just opened up and the rain poured down. There was thunder and lighting and The Boy kinda freaked out. Not a fan of lighting.

The Boy and ZCP

My new voodoo doll!

Yummy!

Overall we had a great time. The Ritz is known for their service and they did not disappoint. Everyone was so nice, introduced themselves and went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed.