Category Archives: Daily Update

Armpit Hair Already? What the h@LL….

Posted on by
7
I did not draw this!

I did not draw this!

Readers! The. Boy. Has. Armpit. Hair. What the heck!?! He is only nine years old! What is happening (Don’t worry, I know what is happening…). Yesterday and today all he has been talking about is how he has armpit hair. More on the right then the left. At first I thought he was talking crazy. However, in VERY bright light, you can see about 5 hairs under his right pit. He is over the moon! Takes his shirt off and pets it. Runs to the bathroom mirror to look at it. Shoves his pit in my face so I can look at it. Nice. He says he is the only one of his friends who has any armpit hair and that he is advanced for nine. I asked, “How do you know you are the only one?”  “They would have told me Mom, they would have told me.” OK….

My Man being my man, googled it and sure enough boys start going through puberty beginning around 9 years old. Today we went to the store and while I was picking up a prescription I asked him if he needed anything. To my surprise he said yes but wanted to wait until I had paid (got it free) for my medicine. Once I was done, he whispered to me he wanted deodorant! What? what? Who is this kid? He is gone a week and comes home with hair under his pits and the need (want) for deodorant! Pickles.

I did not draw this!

I did not draw this!

Aparently all of his friends were wearing deodorant at camp. In fact, he wore some on his friends deodorant. Lesson #1- DO NOT share your deodorant with your friends. I told him we would ask his dad. My Man said why not (he thinks he was in the third grade when he started) and we found him a travel size of deodorant, showed him how to use it and once again, The Boy is thrilled. Puberty is the best thing! Sweet Sweet Pickles.

What’s next? (I know what is next and I AM NOT GOING THERE!)

Night Readers…..

The Boy is Back!

Posted on by
2
IMG_4440

The Boy


 Readers! The Boy is back! We made the two-hour drive to Alabama early yesterday morning and picked him up from Camp Winnataska. It was so nice to give him a big hug. I think he grew. He talked non stop for 20 minutes about everything they did during the week. To say he loved it would be an understatement. He even said the heat and falling asleep where not bad at all. Bugs? No problem. The obstacle course was a favorite.

SO cool

SO cool

He also said that he won the award for muddiest camper and by the looks of his shoes and beach towel, I can see why. He loved the care package items he got, played cards with his buddies every day and loved his shorts and new shirt. He even met a girl!!! WOW! Her name was Izzy and she is from Birmingham. They held hands at the country dance. That is all I could get out of him. Nice! I am so happy we sent him to camp this year. Perfect age. He is all ready to go back next year too.

Best Buddies!

Best Buddies!

IMG_4439

New Sacroma Pj’s! Thanks Devra!

On Friday night My Man and I spent our last night childless and went out to dinner and watched the Braves play when we got home. They won! For a second there I wasn’t to sure they were going to pull it off.

Once we got home from picking up The Boy on Saturday, I went out and water the garden. I pulled more carrots for my morning juice and watered the plants by the pool. Then The Boy and I got in the pool and guess what happened? It started to rain. Of course it did. My plants should be good for the next couple of days. I was kinda bored and had no idea what to do to keep me busy so I ended up working. I got a lot done, ready for next week and finished a financial plan. The Boy and I will be going to the lake to stay with his best buddy, Zach, and his mom and sister for three nights next week. I will have a couple of conference calls but no wifi! Pickles. Hence getting everything ready this weekend. We will be going to Lake Martin in Alabama, not far from Auburn.

Hi.

Hi.

Their lake house looks wonderful. Jennifer said she was going to get me out on the paddle board. Wait. What? They also have canoes and a pontoon boat. I know The Boy will have a blast with Zach. It should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to it. I ended up downloading a new book for the trip. Still reading Radical Remission but know I need another one. I picked The Giver by Lois Lowry. I had been looking at it for a while and thought I would give it a try. But there is a problem. I am pretty sure I could finish the damn thing before we leave for the lake! I have really gotten into it. Pickles! Any suggestions?

Today the sun is out and My Man and The Boy plan on getting in the pool and do some cleaning. I will be heading to Costco where I hope not to buy too much! (It is just like Target!)  I hope you all have a nice and peaceful Sunday!

A letter from camp

Posted on by
2

Readers!

The Boy's letter

The Boy’s letter

The Boy has written!! Granted, I got this letter today, the day before we pick him up, but it was still very cool! He seems to be having a very good time and is one busy little dude. I love how he asks for more stuff. It never ends! I did set it up that he get a little something everyday along with his letters and cards. One day he got a camp shirt, some playing cards a water gun or camp shorts. More than he actually needs. I just hope he come home with 75% for his stuff. One of his friends already wrote his mom that he has lost his towel and camo shirt. Pickles!

The Boy and his buddy Sully

The Boy and his buddy Sully

How you doin?

How you doin’?

I wanted to let you all know that so far, I feel pretty good after my chemo. I did bring the barf bucket by my side of the bed last night just in case but I slept fine and only woke up when Timber barked around midnight. No crazy zombie dreams either! I was able to go to a morning appointment and then workout with SK today. The pain in my ribs isn’t as bad either. Still hurts but not as much. Maybe it was the yoga I did last night? Who knows.

My Man are going to go out to diner tonight and then wake up early to drive to Alabama to get The Boy. I can’t wait to see him and hear all about it. I bet he will pass out in the car drive home.

Sleepy Panny

Sleepy Panny

Have a Happy Friday!

Round 1 Chemo post

Posted on by
8

Readers, I slept in today till 8:30am. I mean what the hell right? I was going to have a busy day today anyway. I did a little work, spoke to a client about new  a job offer she got and around 11am my parter in crime, Rebecca, showed up.  We made great time and got to the hospital around 11:30am. I was hopping since I was there so early, that I could get the show on the road so that we weren’t at the hospital all day. HA!

IMG_4413

First they accessed my port. I have a duel one so they have to do it twice. The needle looks like a long push-pin needle. It doesn’t hurt that bad if you have a good RN doing it for you.

IMG_4414

Look at all the stuff they use! And that is just half of it.

IMG_4417

Ouch!

IMG_4420

Boob shot

After that was taken care of we went back to the lobby and to another set of elevators to take us the 4th for my Echo Cardio Gram. I have never had one of these done before and had no idea what to expect. Basically it is an ultra sound for your heart. My appointment was at 12:45 and we got there in plenty of time. However I did not get in till 1:15pm and chemo was to start at 1:30! I hate to be late!

IMG_4422

The test took about 30 minutes and it was pretty cool to see my heart up on the screen doing its thing. It looked good to me, pumping away but what do I know about hearts. Not. A. Thing.
IMG_4423

We made it to chemo at 1:45pm to find out that when they accessed my port, they should have taken blood. Instead I had it taken late and now we would have to wait an hour to get the results back! Son of a Pickle!

Got my port all fancy!

Got my port all fancy!

IMG_4426

After the RN took blood Rebecca and I took a walk outside, went into the cafe to get a drink and snack and then sat in the lobby to people watch.

My snack

My snack

At 2:45pm we walked right into the fusion center looking like we were at a restaurant waiting for someone to set us at our table! Soon they found me a chair that had its own tv. Nice. Rebecca and I watched HGTV.
IMG_4428

IMG_4429

Chemo is more fun with friends!

IMG_4431

We were next to a woman who was not feeling well at all and had a 103 temperature and the chills. Poor thing. We felt so bad for her. I think she was going to have to be checked into the hospital. She and her husband were watching the World Cup on their TV. I was the youngest one in there by far. After 30 minutes of premeds and a 30 minute break, the chemo began. Rebecca was really into everything and asked all kinds of good questions.

Red Devil

Red Devil

About a minute into the chemo she was like “It’s RED!”. Oh no! I have heard of the chemo that is red. My friend Gerri had it and they call it the RED DEVIL. NOT GOOD. I sure as hell hope it won’t make me as sick as her or lose my hair all over again. Sweet Pickles!

The chemo ran about an hour and then we were all done. It was 5:30pm. Though I hated that we had to wait an extra hour (never agin will that mistake be made) it wasn’t all that bad. I credit this to Rebecca being there. She was able to come into all the rooms with me and watched all what I had to go through. She was really into it. Asking a lot of questions and keeping me company. I am really glad she came. THANK YOU REBECCA!

I will be going back in three weeks for round 2. I hope in a couple of weeks I start to feel the pain in my ribs ease off a bit. That is all I ask. Shrink a little LT. You can do it!

Tomatoes, Peppers, Edamame Oh My!

Posted on by
4

Hey Readers!

Alomost ready to pick!

Alomost ready to pick!

I am happy to say that the garden at Hotel Yorba is coming along. I am very pleased with how things are growing. The only issue I am having thus far is that something is eating all the leaves on my okra plants. What would do that? I have been able to pull up some carrots that I have used in my morning juices.  One thing I am excited about it my Edamame! How cool is it that I am growing it! Very cool. I love the little pods. It has taken to my not so great soil really well.

Edamame

Edamame

I have spotted one cucumber growing but there are a lot of blooms. The cucumber/squash have done a good job of attaching itself to the trellis. I hope keeping the veggies off of the ground will help them grow larger.

IMG_4400

I am not sure if I mentioned but when I bought my green peppers, I accidentally bought a jalapeño pepper by mistake. Now, I don’t like hot things. Pepper, at times, can be too much for me! But My Man is looks spicy, hot things and it very excited about the mistake I made. He will be happy to know that his pepper plant already has a peppers growing on it.

HoT! HoT!

HoT! HoT!

IMG_4407

One of the lemons on our lemon tree

One of the lemons on our lemon tree

Yesterday evening I was looking at chicken coops on Pinterest (I do this all the time) and came across one picture that inspired me to decorate The Majestic some more. I have old photo’s (me and my big brother taken by my dad) and artwork that has been sitting for years in my garage gathering dust and I thought what the heck! The Girls deserve some art in their lives and it will make the coop look nice. So I went to the garage, grabbed the artwork, a hammer, some nails and a step stool and went to work. I think it turned out nice. What do you think?

The Majestic

The Majestic

I also found this old shell mirror that use to hang in my grandparents bathroom. I loved that mirror and thought it would make a good addition to the coop. I think my Honey might have made it, so it is very old. Some of the shells have come off so I am going to glue them back on with the help of a glue gun, clean it up and hang it up over the coop door. Maybe the girls will see their reflection and be like “Wow, you’re a good-looking chick!”.
IMG_4406

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will be going in for my first regular dose of chemo. Round One. I will get my port accessed, have a EKG (not a big deal) and then at 1:30pm get hooked up and the chemo will start flowing. My very good friend, Rebecca, will be making the trip with me. That is making my parents very happy (me too! :)). They are out west on a trip and can’t be here. I told her that I am going to have her take pictures of everything so I can share it with you guys. She is also brining her lunch. It’s like a field trip! I am not nervous, just ready for it to start, work and shrink LT.  LT is ready too.

 

Readers, are you growing a garden this summer? Whatcha growing? Having issues?

Day 1-Camp Winnataska

Posted on by
Reply

 

His cabinmates

The Boys Cabin

Readers!  The Boy seems to be having a great time at camp so far. Here are some pictures I was able to find of him.large_7baf9ba21a

Fun!

Fun!

large_b0449c12f5 large_6606c40c85 large_0823bb9ab1 large_52bf37fc2d

It is strange not knowing what all he is doing every day but the pictures help and it looks like he and his friends are having a blast. Last night we went out to dinner with some friends and I had oysters. So good. It was a nice dinner and good to get out for the night.

Yummy!

Yummy!

IMG_4394

IMG_4396

How are you Readers? Did you have a good weekend? Good Monday? Let me know!

My LT (little tumors)

Posted on by
6

IMG_4387

It’s Monday Reader’s! How are you doing? I woke up an empty nester! The Boy is at sleep away camp. My Man and I dropped him off yesterday at Camp Winnataska in Alabama. Four of his friends from school are also going so we feel much better knowing his best buddies will be there with him. I think he was excited but also a bit nervous. He told me he is just going to think about like he is spending the night at a friend’s house. We wrote him letters also with his grandparents so he will get mail each day. I also purchased him some goodies that he will get throughout the week.IMG_4391 IMG_4379On Saturday we celebrated Timber’s “Gotcha Day”. I can’t believe it has been one year since he has come into our lives. He has brought such joy to our house. We went out to lunch and then to his best friend, Rebel’s, house. Rebel’s mom bought Timber a beer made esp. for dogs. How nice!! She also got him a yummy cookie.IMG_4376

Yummy!

Yummy!

Whatcha Reading?

41EppiIFn6L._AA160_

The Son by Jo Nesbo- I finished listening to this one a few weeks ago and like with his Henry Hole series, I loved it. Jo Nesbo is a fantastic writing and I suggested anyone who enjoys crime/mystery books check him out.

Unknown

Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Dr. Kelly Turner- I started reading this after I saw an interview Kris Carr did with her.

n her New York Times bestseller, Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds, Dr. Kelly A. Turner, founder of the Radical Remission Project, uncovers nine factors that can lead to a spontaneous remission from cancer—even after conventional medicine has failed.

While getting her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkley, Dr. Turner, a researcher, lecturer, and counselor in integrative oncology, was shocked to discover that no one was studying episodes of radical (or unexpected) remission—when people recover against all odds without the help of conventional medicine, or after conventional medicine has failed.  She was so fascinated by this kind of remission that she embarked on a ten month trip around the world, traveling to ten different countries to interview fifty holistic healers and twenty radical remission cancer survivors about their healing practices and techniques. Her research continued by interviewing over 100 Radical Remission survivors and studying over 1000 of these cases.  Her evidence presents nine common themes that she believes may help even terminal patients turn their lives around.–Amazon.com

So far I have read the first three chapters and am hooked. The stories of the survivors are very uplifting and encouraging. I am using what I am learning in my own fight to get my LT’s (Little Tumors) healthy again. I have decided not to hate them. Not to want to kill them. They are just blood cells who minding their own business, working hard for me and the bam! They get sick. I know the feeling and I want to help them get better. I want the big LT to lose some weight cause he is really hurting my ribcage. So I am going to be positive, tell them I will help them get better. Watch what I put in my body, how I treat it and to breathe. Most people don’t really breath. I don’t need the negative energy in my mind and body right now. Who wants to go around being angry all the time? I know there are some out there who think the chemo, radiation and drugs have all gone to my head and maybe they have but this feels right for me. Of course when I told My Man about LT he said he would just be happy to kill the little fuckers. Oh Well!

 Whatcha Reading?