Monday, August 10, 2009

Pink Tulip Has Moved

Due to unfortunate circumstance, Pink Tulip has been transplanted to another site. If you still want to follow her time in the sun please feel free to either drop me an email or comment on this post with your email address (I won't publish the comment...) and I'll forward on the new address.

Thank you for all the love, water, food, sunshine and everything else that helped this beautiful flower bloom!

Love to all of you,
Pink

Monday, July 27, 2009

Tiger Lily is home!

Tiger Lily is home finally and I’m so happy she is back. She had a great time playing with her cousins, shopping, riding horses and just being on vacation. She flew home by herself and even had to change planes in Houston. She was rather offended though that someone had to escort her between gates but…in true Tiger Lily fashion she managed to get the guy driving the cart to stop along the way so she could get something to eat. As always she managed to make friends on all the flights as well. On the way out she sat 1 row in front of my sister and before they had even left the gate she already knew the names, where they we going and why of both her seat mates. On the way back she met someone who works at Fannie Mae that showed her his house along the Potomac as they flew in (my favorite route!!). She told me we need to go visit him sometime at work…. I wish I had her gift.

Our week is somewhat up in the air, she leaves Thursday for a long weekend with Ted so no camps. We are hoping to get a manicure/pedicure in today and she is getting her hair cut tomorrow. We are also hoping to squeeze in a movie and a bike ride. I’m flying to SC Thursday night and we will both be home Sunday. She then turns around next Tuesday and flies to Iowa for a week to spend time with more family. She is looking forward to time with her grandma and is hoping to see her brother and sister-in-law (she is supposed to email them to let them know she’s coming but…). Again, she’s flying by herself and I can hardly wait to hear about the new friends she makes on this trip. After this trip the rest of the summer will be with me. We have some busy times ahead and a few trips planned as well to look forward to.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Getting ready for a quiet weekend

So, Tiger Lily is still visiting my sister, my oldest nephew and very good friends are all off to a crab feast and my SC friend is spending the weekend on the softball field with his kids which means… I have no plans for the weekend!!! Lately I’ve been so busy I need a short breather!!! I’m also all banged up with a bum ankle, an eye infection and a leg full of spider bites so maybe a few days of rest wouldn’t hurt.

Have talked to Tiger Lily multiple times a day and she’s enjoying herself but has had a few dramas along the way. She lost the ring I bought for her at Tiffany’s last Christmas just before she left and almost lost the necklace we bought during our shopping day in May! My sister actually had to have one of her employees break into her office at 8:00 at night to make sure the cleaning crew didn’t clean up the necklace—not sure having an employee break into the boss’s office is a good thing…. She has also reached the point where she realizes that having thick curly hair isn’t so great—she can’t get a comb/brush through it some days without a struggle (I feel her pain) and she called today asking if I would make a hair appointment so she could cut it all off. We'll see if she actually goes through with it, as always I'll post the "new do". She will be home Sunday (yippee) and will be home for a few days before she heads off for an extended weekend with her father. August is already shaping up to be just as busy and I’ll update everyone on all her plans in the next few weeks. I don’t think she’ll be home for a weekend until sometime in late September (she has already started planning a trip for my birthday). Her fall schedule is also beginning to shape up and I’m starting to get emails about volleyball and acting class already. My fall is also filling up with trips planned to give talks in Chicago and New Orleans (two of my favorite cities!!!), to visit family and a couple of races that I missed out on last fall.

For those of you that have signed up for the Army of Women, thank you. They are looking for women to participate in a study in the Baltimore area if anyone is interested. Blood draws and a few other minor tests are the only procedures listed Again, these are all studies designed to determine the cause and hopefully prevent breast cancer. They also are listed in the causes section on Facebook and a big thank you to all my FB friends that included this on their pages. I’ll stop bugging everyone soon, I promise.

Whether is quiet or busy I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lake fun and concert screams

We are just about recovered from our weekend (actually, Tiger Lily was recovered by Sunday evening since she flew out yesterday morning to visit my sister for a week). We had a good time as always. The weather was a little chilly (still haven’t figured out why July is so nice this year!!) but the kids still got in the water and enjoyed riding on the inner tube. Tiger Lily even went fishing with a few old friends.

So, Taylor Swift…. She puts on quite a show!! The opening act is Gloriana which sings the song “Wild at Heart”, Tiger Lily knew it. The second opening act is Kellie Pickler and she opened with a rather significant song for me. She sang for about 45 minutes and included several introductions to her songs. I enjoyed the fact that about half way through her set she kicked off her 4 inch heels and ended the set barefoot—I would have lasted about 10 minutes in those shoes…. Of course, Taylor Swift was greeted by an entire civic center of screaming girls (it was hard to find many men in the crowd) and she opened with the song Tiger Lily sang in the talent show this year. Her show was about 2 hours long. About halfway through her set she repositioned herself in the civic center and sang a song in the back, walked through the crowd to a stage in the center, sang a few more songs and walked through the crowd back to the main stage. Along the way she hugged the fans, smiled for pictures, and even thanked many of the people for coming to her concert. For a 19 year old girl she handles herself with a sense of grace that many people twice her age still haven’t mastered. We stayed until the very end which was well worth it since the end of her encore has a surprise (won’t tell in case anyone gets to go see her in concert). I will also say that for the first time at a country concert I actually wished I had brought hearing protection (yes, after not being able to hear for two days after a White Zombie concert I learned to always take earplugs to rock concerts) since she has several guitarists that are definitely fans of Edge (lead guitarist for U2).

My week ahead is quiet, Tiger Lily will be home Sunday and of course I really really miss her. She called last night to say it was 112 degrees and really hot!!! They are not having the lovely weather we are having… Hopefully I can catch up on all my chores, work in the yard and finish up my chair this week.

Have a good week.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Army of Women

I have a new cause to talk about which I found out about at work since the founder of the movement, Dr. Susan Love, is coming to give a lecture next week.

The cause is The Army of Women (website is www.armyofwomen.org). This is a new movement to recruit up to 1,000,000 women to participate in a wide variety of research to try and discover the cause of breast cancer and also to prevent it. They are looking for women from all walks of life (there is a study looking at lesbian women, a study specifically for African American women and a study looking at the benefit of yoga for survivors) as well as survivors and healthy women (not that survivors aren't healthy...) to participate in the studies. If you're interested please join, if not please pass along the website to someone who might be.

As always, early detection is the key to survival but prevention would be so much better.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Happy Summer

Hope everyone had a good weekend and is having a great week.

I ended up going to Stonewall Jackson Lake last weekend where I am lucky enough to share a boat with some great friends. It was a very low key weekend and my friend from SC ended up riding his Harley up to join us as well. We spent most of our time motoring up and down the lake and enjoying the scenery. We also got in a winery tour and an evening out and about. I missed my Tiger Lily though and am happy that we are going again this weekend.

Tiger Lily had fun at the beach and came back very tan although the tan is now peeling away as I think it started as a burn. Hopefully we can get back some of that tan at the lake this coming weekend. She is in swimming camp this week and had a great time the first day. She was very tired at the end of the day though… We got tickets to the Taylor Swift concert Saturday night so our weekend is full with the lake and a concert.

We have company coming later this week (my sister) and it’s always great to have her visit. She even gets to go to the lake with us!!! I’m looking forward to some relaxing time with her—she works too hard and needs some down time!

Have a great rest of the week and I’ll post a picture of us from the lake (or the Taylor Swift concert…).

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Home again

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

My trip to South Carolina was great and I enjoyed seeing a part of the country where I’ve never been before. My fireworks show this year was put on by my friend’s children as SC is a state that allows fireworks. Several other neighbor’s also stayed home and enjoyed their own shows so the neighborhood was filled with fireworks. We went on several rides on the Harley and I can see why people enjoy riding so much—but boy the seats aren’t designed for passengers. The city he lives in has a revitalized downtown area so we rode there one night and had a glass of wine on a patio overlooking the river that is central to the redesigned area. Our second ride was in the mountains near his house to Starbucks. Obviously, we don’t fit the “Harley” stereotype… All in all it was a relaxing weekend spent enjoying time together.

I haven’t spoken much to Tiger Lily and miss her terribly of course. She was in a parade on Saturday and enjoyed herself! She is actually coming home earlier than planned (Monday, yippee) because of her father’s work schedule so I will post all the stories next week.

Hope everyone has a great week. Since Tiger Lily is out of town mine will be filled with longer hours at work and plans to go into DC for Happy Hour one night. I’m off on another adventure this weekend and will post more as the week progresses.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

The past year

My dear friend SG commented on my last post and talked about how her outlook on life changed after being ill for so long. I am blessed that my cancer was shortlived but she is right, things like this do change who you are. I mentioned in my last post on how much my life has changed in the past year. Last year my 4th of July was happy because I was with family but shadowed by the fact that I was still so uncertain about my future due to both my cancer and the debacle that was the ending of my marriage. I have come so far in the past year both in terms of my cancer and my personal growth.

I posted in December that I was beginning to spread my wings and live again although it was by baby steps. Beginning in January every morning when I woke up I told myself you will be happy and I spent most of the winter and spring doing everything I could to fill up my life with happiness. Yes, along the way I did have some rough times as I fully discovered what was the real story behind the end of my marriage and a few scares that perhaps I wasn't done with my journey to beat cancer but I kept moving forward. In April I began to notice that when I woke up in the morning I wasn't saying I will be happy anymore, I was beginning to say I am happy!

The life I rebuilt is so full of so much. Until last year I never realized the true meaning of friendship and how friends can fill up your life and your heart with so much. Without the last year I would have never thought to actually go out and build that chair I always wanted and also have the opportunity to enjoy my father again. Without the last year I would have never had all the adventures I've had with my amazing Tiger Lily (who still is the best thing that ever happened to me). I have experienced so much joy in the past year, it just took me awhile to appreciate all of it. And yes, my outlook on life has also changed. I forgive much more easily, I judge so much less, I let things go that in the past I would have held on to. I also see joy in the little things, I laugh so much more and I have expanded my horizons and done things I would have never dreamed of doing by myself. Along the way I've met some great people, renewed friendships and discovered the true depths of some old friends.

I hope that I never experience the sorrows that accompanied my past year but I hope to continue to relish the joy that grew from those sorrows.

Thank you to everyone who helped to me grow so much.

Monday, June 29, 2009

It’s almost July!!!

Hard to believe it almost July… A year ago at this time I was still coming to grips with the fact that I had early breast cancer—now I’m simply celebrating great check ups and looking forward to many years of adventures with Tiger Lily.

Our weekend was somewhat quiet for me and exciting for Tiger Lily. She spent the weekend at the lake with her father and had a great time. She has skateboarding camp this week and has already sent out an email letting everyone know that she fell going down the 1st ramp—luckily when I talked to her a little while ago she wasn’t hurt and did go down the ramp again (that’s my Tiger Lily!!!!). The camp is in the morning and will go through Thursday. She is then off with her father for about 2 weeks (I have to take a couple of deep breaths every time I say that—but this isn’t about me). They are headed to the beach for one week and what ever they can cook up for the second. I’ll post updates as I hear from her. We are going into DC Tuesday night to meet my friend from South Carolina for dinner and then to the Melting Pot to celebrate all A’s on Wednesday night. Summer time didn’t slow down much obviously.

I started a new project over the weekend. I have always wanted an Adirondack chair for my deck off the bedroom. Well, I found some plans online and my father and I are now building one!!! Not only do I get a piece of deck furniture out of all of this I get to spend some time with my father. He is not in the best of health and I am beginning to appreciate any time I can have. He is infinitely patient with me and this will be a labor of love for both of us. I’ll post a picture when I’m done. I’m off to South Carolina for the weekend on Thursday and am looking forward to seeing a part of the country I’ve never been to before. My friend has a Harley and is very excited to get me out on his bike so we have several rides scheduled. Me, well still nervous about the whole motorcycle thing but I’ll try it, he’s already promised to stay on the back roads and no freeways!!

Hope everyone has a great Fourth of July and enjoys the fireworks where ever they are. Happy Anniversary to Tiger Lily’s brother on the 5th too!!!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Beach weekend is over

Our beach weekend was a success and we had a great time just being lazy and enjoying our time together. We had more rain on Saturday but still managed to get some beach time in as well as some movie time. I love just being there, of course the water is still way too cold for me so I spend all my time watching not only Tiger Lily but all the very interesting people that were all around us—men who read Playboy on the beach are really creepy.

We came home Sunday and Tiger Lily spent a couple of days with her father. She came home last night to say goodbye to my oldest niece who leaves today and will go back with her father for an extended weekend starting on Thursday. Even my niece noted that it was very very quiet at my house while she was gone.

Our Fourth of July plans are pretty much set, Tiger Lily will be going with her father for an extended beach week (she will be one very tan girl!!!) and is very excited about her vacation. She has skateboard camp all next week and is hoping to show off her new skills on the boardwalk if she can.

I will be heading to South Carolina to visit a friend for the long weekend. He is the reason why I’ve been so distracted lately and bad about updating on a regular basis. Yes, finally, I have started dating again. He is, of course, an amazing person and someone who I’ve know since college but hadn’t spoken to or seen for more than 20 years. He lives in South Carolina, we have a great time together and as I said a couple of weeks ago (you guys just didn’t know who I was referring to at the time…) it is amazing how easy it was to restart our friendship even after 22 years. Yes, I know we live 500 miles apart but we all know I never do things the easy way, I’m way too independent now and if anybody can do this and make it work it would be me. As I said a few weeks ago, this summer is going to be great so stay tuned.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

Friday, June 19, 2009

At the beach

Our trip to the beach started out cold and rainy but has improved exponentially!! We woke up to rain (lots of it) yesterday and spent the morning at the outlet malls where we shopped until we dropped. The rain cleared out yesterday afternoon in time for a couple of hours in the waves. Today was absolutely gorgeous with plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze off the water so we didn't get too hot. I even have tan lines.... Our hotel is on the beach and there is a free concert in the band shell just across the street so we are being entertained while I sit on the balcony and write. We're getting ready to go for a walk on the board walk but I figured I'd check in and say hello.

Have a great weekend and I'll report more when we get home!!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Graduation Day and All A's!!!!

Friday was a big day for Tiger Lily. She was her usual poised self and looked way too grown up for the ceremony. She received a Presidential Academic Award and today we found out she also received all A's (FINALLY). She also received a citizenship award for being kind to others. Of course I cried but just for a second. She is ready for middle school.

Friday night we ended up having the parent-daughter softball game followed by the softball team party. I got two doubles but unfortunately could never make it past the third baseman who kept tackling me (and all the other parents) when they went by (the third baseman was Tiger Lily by the way). We had our usual blast, I really like all the families that were on her softball team and I will miss sitting out on the field and watching the girls play. Tiger Lily's award was the "Catch, Look, and Dance" award for when she caught the pop fly a couple of weeks ago--after she caught it, noticed the ball was still in her glove and preceded to dance around the field.

Saturday was the last softball game (I know we had the party a little early but most everyone is leaving town this week) and it was hot and the girls were tired after their big day before. They finished with a bang and I can hardly wait until next year to see how much they will improve. Tiger Lily went to her first boy girl party Saturday night which is just another rite of passage (mom is having a hard time with all these grown up things going on...)

Sunday was fairly quiet thank goodness. We went shopping to get ready for a trip to the beach later this week.

Our week ahead includes dinner for friends tonight and a trip to the beach later this week. I love the beach!!!! and can hardly wait to sit on the balcony and watch the ocean. We also have to plan our celebration dinner for all A's (Melting Pot again!!!) and enjoy having my oldest niece stay with us for a few days.

I promise to report from the beach and will finally spend some time talking about some positive changes in my life.

Have a great week.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Tomorrow is Tiger Lily's big day

Tomorrow Tiger Lily "graduates" from 5th grade. I have mixed emotions, she is growing up so fast and this means in many ways she is no longer a little girl but she is so excited and so ready to begin the next phase of her life. I have on more than one occasion said to friends that soon she will no longer think it's cool to go to the movies with me or hold my hand or even snuggle on the couch. I treasure those moments and would hang on to my little girl forever but...I can hardly wait to see the young woman she will become!

After graduation we have the softball party (they were actually winning last night when they called the game due to rain!!!!!) which includes the annual parent-daughter softball game. As long as they don't ask me to throw or catch the ball I'm good... Saturday is softball playoffs, a birthday party and the arrival of my oldest niece who is a treasure!!!! I can guarantee dinner on the deck Saturday night!!!!

I will post a picture of her and report on the ceremony this weekend I promise, I have been a little sidetracked lately. I'll talk about that another day.......

Monday, June 8, 2009

NED

Very quickly: results from the MRI are NED--No Evidence of Disease!!!!

Woo Hoo, we're going to celebrate!!!! I love having a reason to celebrate every 6 months.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Still Waiting

Well, still waiting to hear but being patient. If there was a problem they would have contacted me by now...

Our weekend was quieter than usual which was nice. Friday night was the annual talent show and Tiger Lily did her usual great job. She and another friend sang along to a Taylor Swift song and then somehow she ended up center stage for the finale (not sure how she worked that yet but...). Her softball game Saturday was cancelled due to the fact that the field washed away with all the rain this week but we managed to get some shopping done for a dress (more about that later). We then had a surprise sleep over Saturday night (surprise as in, one of her friends showed up and Tiger Lily turned to me and said "didn't I tell you....") They stayed up late and ate all the microwave popcorn in the house so I think the 4 of them had a good time. The rest of the day was spent running errands and picking up my oldest nephew at the airport!!! We're happy to have him home again.

Our week ahead is quiet early and busy late. Tiger Lily has her last softball game on Wednesday and I will miss spending evenings on the softball field. She is graduating from 5th grade on Friday which of course she is excited about and I just can't believe she's this old. I'm sure I will cry buckets during the ceremony. That's what we needed a new dress for! I promise to post pictures...

So, again, I promise to post once I hear!!!

Have a great week.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

No news is good news so far…

So I apologize again for being so lax in updating!!! My MRI was Tuesday and it was uneventful. I have to admit a certain amount of pride in how patients are treated here and although it’s not something I want to go out and do everyday they do know how to make the process as comfortable as possible here. As soon as I hear anything I will post my good news.

So, it has been a busy hectic week since I last posted. We ended up not going to the O’s game and went out for dinner and a movie with friends instead. We went to our new favorite sandwich shop and saw a more appropriate movie this time (Night at the Museum). Saturday morning was spent on the softball field where Tiger Lily caught a pop fly (she was pretty surprised the ball was in her glove when she put her hand down!!!). The girls played well against a very well coached, larger team. The rest of our weekend was spent catching up and doing stuff around the house.

Our week has been busy as always. A good friend of mine from college is in town and we’ve spent the week catching up and remembering all the trouble we got into (although we couldn't find anywhere that had $5 pitchers of Killian's Red we have managed to drink a few margaritas). It’s funny how sometimes friendships can take a 22 year break and still be good when they start up again. In between we’ve had another softball game, this time the ball didn’t stay in Tiger Lily’s glove but she still managed to get the ball and throw out the runner at third!!! We’ve had talent show practice with the big show being tomorrow evening and are planning to have friends over for dinner tonight.

And on that note I need to get to work!!! As soon as I hear anything I promise to post!!

Have a great rest of the week.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

where does the time go

I keep meaning to post an update here since Monday morning and everytime I sit down the phone rings, someone rings the doorbell or I just get side tracked!!!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. My social calendar filled up quickly as I hoped and it was a busy weekend starting with margaritas and corn hole Friday night at friends, a winery tour in Northern Virginia on Saturday, a BarBQ on my cleaned off deck Sunday and being really really lazy on Monday. Tiger Lily also had a fun weekend and came home early on Monday (yippee) so we got some unexpected time together.

It's a good thing we got some rest on Monday since I haven't been home before 9:00 last night or the night before. Tomorrow is just as busy as Tiger Lily and I have a date planned since we haven't seen much of each other. We are then headed off to an O's game Friday night which should be interesting considering I have no idea how to get to Camden Yards.... Guess I need to go out and buy myself a GPS!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week, someday I may actually have time to catch my breath--then again I'm having way too much fun....

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Happy Memorial Day

Summer officially starts this weekend and I'm ready, as I told a friend the other day this summer will be so much better than last summer. Of course after my whirlwind week I really need a break.

My plans to head south were stymied since my friend has to work but we'll meet up another day. I also decided that a weekend with a bunch of college kids in Daytona was a little too much--I'm old enough to be a mom to most of them!! I'm sure my social calendar will fill up though. I do hope to have some time to work on my new project though--a friend suggested I write a book about the past year of my life and I think I'm going to take her up on it. Something to do while I'm waiting around for Tiger Lily to finish what ever event she is involved in for the day.

Tiger Lily did great in her game Monday, the team as a whole has really improved and I believe next year they will be really good. She had her chorus concert tonight and she was her usual enthusiastic self (she was robbed of the enthusiasm award...). She is off with her father this weekend and as always I'll miss her terribly but she will enjoy herself I'm sure and that's the important part. I'm sure our transition talk at Starbucks will be full of exciting details.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the extra day.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

As always another fun weekend

Our weekend is almost over and it's back to work/school tomorrow. Tiger Lily had fun doing the Relay for Life and talked all the way home about it, then promptly laid down and took a 4 hour nap. I think we can say she was tired...

We went on our movie date and X-Men Origins: Wolverine was the choice. I did a first at that movie--after 20 minutes we walked out which is something I have never done before. Tiger Lily didn't argue at all and both of us were sad that this one wasn't more like the original series. We then shopped til we dropped and ate at Pot Belly which is a place I've wanted to try for about 4 years now. A big hit and we'll be going back again. I'm hoping we like the movie a little better on our next date...

We originally planned on going to DC for the day but it was rainy and cool so we spent the day running errands and getting our nails done. Tiger Lily has been growing out her nails so she was really excited about her manicure. We watched the opening scene of Quantum of Solace afterwards and have decided to add Sienna to our list of cities to visit in Italy when we go (I would love to add Daniel Craig to my list of men I think are amazingly handsome...). Our evening will be quiet (I hope) as she has a big week ahead. Tomorrow is softball, dinner with friends on Tuesday, Thursday is her chorus concert, Friday she goes to Strathmore Hall for a tour with school and Friday afternoon she goes with her father for the weekend while I head south...

Summer will be here soon but somehow I don't think our lives will slow down!!! I have the usual gaggle of summer students starting in two weeks so I'm trying to finish up all the things I can before they come since I always end up getting nothing done for the first 4 weeks they are there. After all this time none of my papers are finished and I am beginning to loathe statistics (I just hated it before). I guess it's a good thing I didn't get the job at Notre Dame since most places don't like you to leave until you finish up what's on your plate.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a good week, I'll post about Tiger Lily's game and concert from the road (I love this laptop!!!).

Friday, May 15, 2009

Weekend is here again

I’ve been a little remiss in updating this week. We’ve been crazy as always and time has gotten away from me.

Tiger Lily had a softball game Tuesday and they were trounced again but she is doing great. She had the game ending play at the plate and even the coach talked about it in his weekly reminder email. Unfortunately, I missed it since I was presenting at a PEO meeting—this is the first game I’ve missed too. She was pumped and went to Jimmy Cone afterwards with friends for celebratory ice cream.

Wednesday was talent show auditions which are always fun to watch, she is singing a Taylor Swift song (surprise surprise) and they have choreographed some moves etc. A lot of her friends are also participating so I think it ends up being social hour for the parents just as much as the kids. If I can find a video camera I’ll tape it and post a short clip.

Our weekend ahead is full as always. Tonight Tiger Lily is walking in the Relay for Life in Frederick with her father and his friend—she says she’ll go all night, I hope she has fun and gets some sleep. She made her donation goal and is excited. She wrote a short posting on her donation page and I was very impressed with what she said about all the members of her family that have been touched by cancer. She’ll be home tomorrow morning and after a long nap (hopefully) we have a movie date planned for Saturday night and a trip into DC on Sunday to see the sights before the summer crush begins.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Monday, May 11, 2009

really quick

So my first follow up went well, I'm scheduled for an MRI on June 2nd so I won't know anything for a few weeks. The MRI is for several reasons, first off I never had one done at the place where I was treated. Second, the radiation changed the density of my breast and the mammogram may not be the most accurate picture for the first follow up and lastly (and I love this when your 35 year old radiation oncologist says this) I'm considered to be a young cancer survivor so they will be a little more thorough in their follow ups. Unfortunately, it means I have to wait a few more weeks to celebrate my good news, but usually when you're not at the top of the list for something like this it's a good thing.

Have a good rest of the week, I'm running around trying to fix dinner and watch Tiger Lily and a friend make up their routine for the talent show so as always, it's busy.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Best Mother's Day

I have had the best Mother's Day today. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in the world.

My Mother's Day started a little early as the present that Tiger Lily bought on Monday night arrived on Thursday. I was out with a friend for dinner, didn't get home until after 9 and on my nightstand was a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a book. The flowers were beautiful and the book is one I've always wanted to read.

Saturday was softball in the morning and Tiger Lily got a hit and did much better all around which was great to see. We spent the afternoon at the theater and watched the new Star Trek movie--we both really liked it a lot. Afterwards we went shopping and had our usual Starbucks--Tiger Lily bought since it was our Mother's Day weekend.

This morning I woke up to a busy household as we got ready for our first annual Mother's Day brunch. Tiger Lily and I cooked for several hours, set up all the tables and food and finished up just before the first guests arrived. We had a houseful as usual and I think everyone had a good time. I now have a houseful of flowers and we actually ran out of vases. One note to self, buy 4 bottles of champagne next time for mimosas.... As always we ate too much but were able to clean up the kitchen in record time and spend the afternoon enjoying the beautiful day. Tiger Lily helped the neighbors plant flowers on the corner and several friends stayed and helped mow the yard-with all the rain we've had lately it really really needed it.

We are winding down now and getting ready for bed. My 4 days worth of Mother's Day has been great and I thank my lucky stars everyday for my amazing child. Tomorrow is a big day for me so stay tuned--it's my first follow up appointment!!! Hard to believe it's been 6 months since I finished up my radiation. We have big plans for next Saturday night to celebrate the good news from my checkup....

Monday, May 4, 2009

Home again

I had a great weekend, saw a great race and spent some time with some amazing friends. My driver did well and even led for awhile. Several people commented on the fact that I seemed happier compared to in the past and I have to admit I am. I laughed and lived this weekend and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, whenever my friend "the amazing E" laughs so hard she can't talk you know it's funny and she did that several times this weekend.

The week ahead is quiet for us which is nice. Tiger Lily has more no child left behind testing--ugh, and a make up softball game on Wednesday (forecast is for rain so doubtful). With acting class done and all the rain our schedule is surprisingly open (of course as soon as I say that the craziness will start up again...). We are enjoying Netflix on our rainy days and the snuggle time is an extra bonus for me. Right now she is on the computer in the office with my credit card shopping on the Internet for my Mother's Day present. I know, I'm pretty brave.

We are having a Mother's Day brunch/open house on Sunday which is all Tiger Lily's idea. She made the invitations, addressed the envelopes and delivered most of them. She has planned the menu and already started the shopping list. It will be a Mother's Day to remember I'm sure.

Hope everyone enjoys the week ahead and remembers to mail their Mother's Day cards.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Going racing

I’m off to Richmond this weekend for my first NASCAR race of the season and I’m ready. My driver is doing well, I’m happy to be seeing good friends and excited for some good racing.

Someone said the other day they were very surprised at my love of racing and simply thought that it was something I picked up from Ted. When I posted something on Facebook about the fact that I was getting ready for Richmond one of my high school friends responded with a “holy s*** you’re still into racing after all these years”. One of my senior year boyfriends had a stock car and we spent a lot of Saturday nights at the dirt track near Lake Roosevelt. After him I still went with friends even after I moved away. So, no Ted isn’t the one that got me interested in racing, although I’m not sure that he ever even realized that fact, it all started years ago. Besides I love fast cars and always have, I inherited that from my wild, Harley riding, Porsche driving father….

Tiger Lily is off to her fathers while I’m racing. He and his girlfriend bought a boat over the winter and she is excited to get to spend the weekend on it. We have been crazy busy as the school year is starting to wind down and softball is winding up. She is playing in a 10-13 year old league with kid pitch, they are the smallest team out there but are holding their own. She has been hit with a ball that last two games and in true Tiger Lily fashion she has shaken it off and kept on going. Most of the other teams are made up of 12 and 13 year old girls so the games are a little one sided but for the most part the coaches of their opponents are aware of that fact and haven’t demoralized them. Acting class is over so we now have one free night a week. She has big plans for us for Mother’s Day so stay tuned….

H1N1 flu—formerly know as swine flu. Well, the jury is still out for me, there are cases reported here and we now have a fatality in the US but my opinions from the other day stand. But the ramifications are beginning to be felt as schools are beginning the process of shutting down. Is the media over hyping this—it’s too early to tell but in true media fashion I read an article that stated that WHO had raised the threat level to an unprecedented level 5. Well, considering the fact that the current levels were developed in response to SARS and there haven’t been any real disease outbreaks since then of course it’s unprecedented. I am concerned that there will be more loss of life here and abroad though and this isn’t going to go away in a few weeks. Again, wash your hands…. But to keep a sense of humor here's something to click on: http://doihaveswineflu.org/

Have a great weekend and I’ll report on the race when I get home. Woo Hoo, going racing!!!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Am I panicking?

So, someone asked me if I was panicking over the whole swine flu thing and is that why I put the widget up. No, I'm not in panic mode over this, I put the widget up since the whole purpose of widgets is to disseminate information and since that is the main reason why I started this blog I guess it's fitting that I put it here.

Why am I not panicking? First off, these are my opinions and not the opinions of anybody that I work for, secondly, I'm not a virologist so this is also not the opinion of an expert in the field. There isn't enough known about this virus to begin to really panic, no one knows exactly how it's transmitted (probably like other influenza by the respiratory route) but in the past hand washing and awareness of where you hands of been (okay, get your mind out of the gutter-and you know who I'm talking too....) is probably one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of any disease. So, hand sanitizer and good old soap and water is the first line of defense. Secondly, no one knows why it is only fatal in Mexico but my guess would be the standard of care in the other locations where the disease has been confirmed may be different. Mexico in the end is a very rural nation with great health care in the cities and not so great health care in the rural areas. So before I panic I want to see what happens else where. What does worry me about the possibility of a global pandemic you ask? The economic ramifications of this are staggering and probably what most of the world governments are more worried about. Mexico City is a ghost town, what would happen to the global economy if New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo all shut down?

So, am I panicking about catching swine flu? No, but the far reaching consequences of a global pandemic are pretty scary....

Monday, April 27, 2009

FYI

Some of you will notice I put a widget up from HHS/CDC about swine flu (yes, it was also unfortunately juxtaposed to the picture of Tiger Lily with a gas mask on for awhile). They want the correct and most current information disseminated. Knowledge is power and one consequence of pandemic flu is the potential it has to disrupt our day to day life both by the spread of misinformation as well as the actual disease.

It is interesting to see what we have talked about and prepared for actually come to fruition (and saddening too). Even with all we know about human diseases we still are always one step behind evolution. The scientist in me is fascinated, the mother in me just put hand sanitizer on her grocery list, and Tiger Lily’s ferret she named last week just became more important (ferrets are used by researchers to study human influenza).

It will be an interesting few weeks I think.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Tiger Lily speaks

Hi it’s Tiger Lily, I’m so happy to be talking to you. I’m here to talk about bring your child to work day in these next paragraphs.

First I went to something called Healthy Kids. We were divided into two groups, I went in the second group. What I did first was learn about fitness. The second thing I learned about healthy drinks, it was very delightful because I learned about how many calories the drinks I drink have in them. Did you know the Big Gulps from 7-eleven have 800 calories and I got to hold the bag with all the sugar in a Big Gulp and it was heavy.

The next thing I did was I saw all these cute little animals. First I saw the mice, they were so cute when they were running around. Next I went to go see the rabbits and three of them were named after Twilight characters. Then I saw Guinea Pigs and we got to feed the Guinea Pigs lettuce and they went crazy. I also saw ferrets and I named one of them Po-Po and our tour guide said she would tell everyone in the building the name since she didn’t have one before.

Then I saw a magic show! His name was Magic Mike, he was a total magician. His first trick was he stuffed a ribbon in his hand and it was nowhere to be seen. Then, he did the coloring book trick where there were pictures then we said the magic words and they were colored, then he started singing a song and there was nothing in there. And, he didn’t believe us when we told him. His last trick was my favorite. He called up my mom’s friend’s nephew and another girl and he had a little bag, took a wand and we said the magic words and a bird came out. But, my mom’s friend’s nephew was scared of the bird so Magic Mike called me up and the bird came onto my hand, it was soooo cute. My mom says it was a pigeon and it was disgusting but I don’t believe that (she still made me wash my hands).

That was mostly the funnest part of my day, then I had a taco for lunch, it was pretty good. It had lettuce and pulled pork, it was delicious. Then I put sauce on it that I thought was BBQ sauce on it but it wasn’t so I didn’t eat my third taco.

So, before this I was scared of police, they are so tall and big and they carry guns so I was scared. But not after bring your child to work day. We went to something called the K-9 show. I saw all the weapons they use, I got to sit in the cop car and speak on the loud speaker. I got to pick up the battering ram which was so much fun, I got to put on a gas mask (see the picture), then I K-9 show. Those K-9s were sooo smart. The officer put something in the boxes and the bags, they sniffed it out and they were right every time, Wow.

Then I had a softball game to go to and I left. I had fun that day, you should think about working there.

Love from Tiger Lily to all.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

take your child to work day

Today was take your child to work day and so Tiger Lily came to work with me. The program is well supported and they had activities planned all day. We walked all over the campus and our feet hurt when we left. I'm not going to go into details today since Tiger Lily has requested the opportunity to post what she did here. Unfortunately it'll have to wait until tomorrow or Saturday since we just got home from softball and it's too late.

Softball season has officially started and it's always funny how it starts out cold and by the end of the season we're all complaining about how hot it is. I have to admit that since I lost all my weight I'm actually looking forward to warm weather for the first time in years--I stay cold most of the time now days. Tiger Lily is sitting at the table in summer pajamas and I'm in jeans, two t-shirts and a fleece pullover.

Our weekend is booked already which is not a big surprise. We have soft ball practice and a movie date tomorrow night, a softball game on Saturday, friends coming for dinner Saturday night, and will probably head into the city on Sunday. In between I'm sure things will change and be added--I'm enjoying the fact that my life has become much more flexible in the past few months. I like to know what I'm doing but I have never been much of a "we have to do this now and this later and nothing else inbetween" type of person.

Have a great weekend and check back later to see what Tiger Lily has to say...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

TV turn off week

Well, it's TV turn off week and so far we seem to have survived just fine. Of course, we're always so busy that I don't think we watch that much TV during the week anyways. We were all ready to go on a short hike today to celebrate Earth Day and it started pouring so that put an end to that idea. Hopefully it will clear out soon and we may actually get to play a softball game on Thursday.

Our past weekend was packed with activity as the Friday night sleep over ended up with a few extra people and dinner out at Ledo's Pizza with friends. Everyone left about 4:30 on Saturday afternoon and Tiger Lily left at 5:00 for another sleepover so I hardly saw her until Sunday afternoon when we went to get pedicures before our big night out at the Melting Pot for dinner. I skipped lunch just so I'd have enough room to do the meal justice and I still was so full I could barely walk. I did get some yard work done and planted a few trees along the side of the house so it was a productive weekend! I even managed to sort of repair the wall where I hit it with the trailer (thank you to everyone for not telling Ted...).

Finally, a big huge hug to a friend who had a beautiful baby boy last week!!! Hopefully she is getting rest and recovering! Tiger Lily and I loved the pictures she sent out today.

Have a good rest of the week and stay tuned, I'm sure our weekend will be just as crazy as the last.....

Oh, and, No Country For Old Men...definitely not a feel good movie but "and then I woke up" is a good closing line.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Funny what you learn

It’s funny how much I used to depend on Ted to do all the “manly” things and never thought I could do them. Today I hooked up a friend’s trailer to my parent’s SUV and drove up to Damascus to pick up a lawn mower (don’t tell Ted I hit the wall he built with the trailer when I pulled into the house though). 5 years ago Ted would have done it and I would have been happy to let him. Over the last 4 years of our marriage as he pulled away it is something I would never have thought of doing. It really is true when they say necessity is the mother of invention. Once he left I found out there are a lot of things I can do and if I had enough confidence in myself I would have been doing them all along instead of waiting for him to come home. Same goes for all the computer stuff, I would have never bought my own computer, set up the new desktop we also bought, figured out how to use the easy transfer cable, loaded all the software, learned how to connect to the wireless router or even how to hook up my dad’s computer to the contraption in the LAN closet so he can have internet on his computer. As I become more and more independent I continue to discover new talents and abilities that I think were always there, I just never took the time to look.

Also have to say I’m really enjoying my laptop, I’m posting this while sitting on the deck enjoying the sunshine and watching Tiger Lily and a friend play in the yard. Life is good.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Weekend is coming

As always, it's about time for the weekend and Tiger Lily is booked. Softball practice Friday night along with a friend sleeping over, Hannah Montana Saturday and a sleep over at another friends on Saturday night (Maybe I'll finally get to watch No Country for Old Men). On Sunday we're off to The Melting Pot again to celebrate another amazing report card (She got all A's except for Spelling this time--anyone who knows me well knows where her lack of spelling came from). I'm so proud of how well she's doing in school. My weekend is a little less exciting as I have tons of yard work to do and the weather is finally nice.

I'm trying to decide whether or not it's finally time to cut my hair again. Everyone who knows me knows how about every 5 years or so I grow it out for about 8-10 months and then finally just get sick of it. I started this trend in February 2008 and last fall I was so happy that I got to keep my hair that I just kept growing it. Well, now I'm starting to think about the extra sleep I could get if I went short and curly (then again, sleep is overrated...). I guess time will tell if I post a picture with short hair again you'll know I caved. Feedback is always welcome.

Lastly, I'm posting this sitting at the dining room table on my NEW LAPTOP!!! The one I took on vacation last week was from work and has too much security on it so I decided to splurge. Still figuring out everything but it has all kinds of extras (and yes, it has pink on it). Looking forward to being able to just plug in my SD card from the camera and learning about webcams...

Have a great weekend everybody.

Monday, April 13, 2009

We're home


We made it home safely if a little tired. We had a great vacation and I can't wait to do it all over again in the near future. Tiger Lily is the best!!! I love traveling with her--she doesn't sweat the small stuff and we enjoy everything that comes our way. Where to next I wonder?

Back to work tomorrow!! I hope everyone finshed their love notes I left them...

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Vacation is nearly over


We had a fun time at the beach yesterday, it was overcast and cool though so not alot of sun which was nice. Tiger Lily got a chance to boogie board and watched my cousin do some kayaking. The water was too cold to surf without a wetsuit. We did see a lot of dolphins though and some came pretty close to shore.

We're planning on going to the Sugar Mill today for breakfast. It's an old sugar mill where they have a griddle in the middle of the table so you can make your own pancakes (Tiger Lily's favorite breakfast). It's located at DeLeon Springs which is one of the many state parks built around the natural springs in the area--we'll walk off our breakfast I'm sure.

We're heading home tomorrow so I'll probably post something and pictures later in the week after we recover.

Happy Easter everyone.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Busy two days!


We have been busy the last two days!!!

Yesterday we slept in and lazed around the house for a couple of hours before we headed up to Stetson University to visit my nephew and see my Alma mater. Tiger Lily got to see her first fraternity house (smelled like stale beer and other stuff) and then we toured the new science building. I actually got to meet up with a few of my old professors and the new building is very nice. After touring campus and visiting the bookstore we headed off to Belinni's which is a landmark sandwich place in Deland. The sandwiches were as good as I remember. After lunch we headed over to Daytona and walked on the Pier and put our toes in the water--it has been chilly down here and the water was pretty cold. We visited a couple of surf shops and waved at the speedway as we went by. We went to a Stetson baseball game last night and saw a couple of home runs and some pretty good plays which was good for Tiger Lily since she has started softball again (unfortunately, the Hatters lost 8-3).

Today was our big Disney World Day and we did it all!!! We purposely went early and rode all the big rides first and then spent the rest of the day finding little rides and enjoying ourselves. One big highlight was The Laugh Floor where you can text in a joke while you're waiting for the show--Tiger Lily texted one in and they used it!!! Why did the cow cross the road? You'll have to wait for the punch line... It was crowded today and when at 2:00 this afternoon the fast pass for Space Mountain was good for 11:00 tonight I knew we weren't going to ride it again. We still had a good time. I'll post some pictures when we get home.

Tomorrow is beach day. My cousin surfs so we're headed out early to watch him catch some waves. Yes, I promise to wear sun screen but...what's the worst that could happen? I'd get cancer??? Ha, beat that already....

By the way: Because the chicken was out of town.

Til tomorrow.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

We made it

Just wanted to check in and say that we made it. It took a little less than 13 hours and was an easy drive. We missed the DC, Richmond and Jacksonville traffic and our car flew down the interstate (I didn't go much over the speedlimit I promise). Tiger Lily is an amazing travel companion and we had a good time together. She didn't get bored until just after Jacksonville which was more anticipation than anything else I think.

First thing she did when we got here was jump in the pool which is a balmy 68 degrees due to the cold weather they've been having down here. We had a quiet evening and Tiger Lily got to go for a ride in her "uncle's" convertible...

We have a full day planned for today and I'll post an update either tonight or tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Getting ready to go

Well, our vacation is almost here. We're loading up at 4:00 tomorrow morning and driving south. It snowed (flurries only) here today so I'm really ready to head south and warm up a little bit. It's funny how relaxed I am about this trip. This time, we've each got a bathing suit (not a new bikini tho, shopping was a bust), a beach towel, sunscreen and a credit card (well, maybe just me with the credit card)--what else do we need? No huge list of things to bring and no planning party, we're just going--it's a vacation. Strange how things change...

We had company on Saturday and made a couple of batches of paella--Tiger Lily's turned out better than mine. She's an amazing cook and enjoys it. I enjoy spending time in the kitchen with her.

I'm bringing a laptop so hopefully I can post a short report from sunny Florida along with some pictures of us and Mickey Mouse!

80 degree weather here we come!!!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Cost of Breast Cancer

Consumer Reports magazine has an article in its May edition that talks about health insurance and how different plans can vary widely in their coverage. If you read the article I’m lucky I have the same coverage as most of the members of Congress (trust me, I pay for it too…). It was surprising to see that the total care costs for most breast cancer patients is about $104,535. The article also discusses how individual health plans depending on the state and how the plan is written can have large coverage gaps and sometimes patients can end up paying about 1/3 of the total cost. So where am I going with this? Not sure, but people pay premiums therefore people expect coverage and perhaps one universal health care plan that at least eliminates the coverage gaps that leave breast cancer patients paying upwards of $35,000 isn’t such a bad idea after all. Just don’t tell my father I said this—he already thinks I’m a heathen since I’m a Democrat, I can hardly imagine what he’d think about my socialist tendencies….

Lucky for me I have great health insurance, I was treated at a premier institution and I don’t have $35,000 in bills (but I did have just about enough to claim the costs on my income tax). I count my blessings every day.

The weather is getting nice, is everybody getting ready to go walking?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Girls Time!!! (tiger lily came up with the title)

It's been a week of girls time so far. My sister and her husband flew out for a quick visit to help go through what is left in my parents house. They were a big help in persuading my dad to part with a few of his treasures. My sister is pretty much the opposite of me, she holds a management position with one of the big ambulance companies in Arizona and she is excellent at what she does (she runs a tight ship) which isn't surprising since she has 7 children. We have always gotten along really well (she was the best roommate I ever had in college) and I wish she lived closer.

I had cooking class last night and learned a few new things (and ate some really good food). I went with a friend who also enjoys cooking and her daughter is a big rice fan so the paella was a welcome addition to her repertoire. Of course Tiger Lily loved it. We also made a Spanish tortilla (fritatta) and a manchego cheese and date salad. We paired it with Tempranillo and Grenache wines and I can hardly wait to have people over to try everything I learned.

We are spending the rest of the week getting ready for Spring Break next week and are heading to Florida towards the end of next week. We are going bikini shopping this weekend (yes, for me...) so obviously the beach is involved. Disney World is also on the list as well as spending time with family.

I'll post more as we get ready to leave.

Adios amigos....

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Quiet weekend

It’s a quiet weekend for me so not a lot to say today. Tiger Lily is with her father for the third weekend this month (okay, she was only with him half a weekend the first time) so I’m catching up on stuff around the house and going in to work. My house is too quiet without her and we all know since I’ve said it enough times that I miss her when she’s gone. I don’t think there’s a mother out there that doesn’t say that on visitation weekends. That being said, I also know that spending time with her father makes her happy so I don’t begrudge any of the time they get to spend together. Our agreement was purposefully written to be flexible and it seems to be working—of course Ted can’t chime in here and correct me if I’m wrong so I guess this is a one sided observation….. I hope I'm not.

We have company coming this week so we will be busy. Tiger Lily’s cooking classes start up again after Spring Break so that will pretty much fill up our weeks until the end of the school year. I’m taking a foods of Spain cooking class this week so I can not only learn how to make paella and but also how to pair wines with it. Sounds like another idea for a happy hour/party, paella night…..

Have a good weekend.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

all tiger lily news today

Today was a big day for Tiger Lily, she had her palate expander removed!!! She was very excited and called me immediately afterwards from the orthodontist's office. The difference it made in her smile and teeth is amazing and I am a big fan of the process. Now, no more getting food stuck in between it and the roof of her mouth.

Another week of testing--still not happy but I figure I ranted enough last week about it. She is calmer this week and will be happy when it's done.

Softball starts up again this week and we're back into being busy just about every night again. I wouldn't have it any other way though and I'm looking forward to a busy spring/summer.

As the posting title says, it's all about Tiger Lily today. Have a great rest of the week.

PART II

We had acting class tonight and it was parent participation night. Surprisingly I enjoyed myself (we all know that being on stage without a lectern and a laser pointer just makes me way too nervous), I learned some things and Tiger Lily told me I shouldn't quit doing what I do. Acting isn't my thing but it is hers and I was happy to share the night with her. She wants to visit Ford Theater and maybe we'll just have to make an evening of it and see a play soon so she can see the theater in action...

Saturday, March 21, 2009

It is really the middle of March???

It's hard to believe March is already more than half over. Where does the time go?

We had a great time last night and had 27 people over for the first happy hour/Wii tournament of the year. I'm glad I have a big room to fit everybody. The Whoopsy Daisy was a huge success and will be a signature part of all future events. I'm lucky to have such creative friends that she even make special tags for the glasses.

We spent the day in DC today and visited the Holocaust Museum. Tiger Lily went through the public exhibits several weeks ago with her dad and expressed an interest in going to see the whole thing. They recently read a book in class about a young Jewish girl during the Nazi occupation of Denmark and how they escaped to Sweden (I learned just recently that Sweden was actually a neutral country during WWII like Switzerland). We took it slow and mainly discussed the rise of the Nazi party and why they did what they did. We went very quickly through the floor that details "the final solution" and spent some time again on the floor that talks about the resistance and the world's discovery of what happened. They make sure that anything truly graphic is behind barriers that someone of Tiger Lily's age must stand on her tip toes to see (we didn't spend much more than about 15 seconds on our tip toes before she was eager to move on and I wasn't going to disagree). I went to Dachau when I was 17 years old and it is something I don't think you ever forget.

We bought the movie "Twilight" on the way home and plan on snuggling up tonight and watching with a huge bowl of popcorn. I'm sure we will have at least one friend over by the number of phone calls that have come through while I'm posting this. I read the series during radiation last fall and she's half way through the second book. We'll talk when she gets to the fourth book....

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. The Henri Matisse pictures didn't display right so hope you like the new gadget I put on. I became a huge fan of his work after spending a way too short afternoon in the private collection at The Hermitage.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

No Child Left Behind

Tiger Lily had the first day of "no child left behind" testing today. I have some pretty stong feelings about this and am still not sure whether or not this is the best method to hold the schools accountable. There is so much emphasis placed on these tests and Tiger Lily was so nervous last night she couldn't go to sleep. They focus on these tests for most of the school year so are they now teaching to the tests or teaching what the students should learn? I don't have a better way but I do know that the teachers don't like the mandate, the students don't like the mandate and as a parent, I don't like the mandate. I guess the big question is: Who does?

We finally entered the 21st century and signed up for NetFlix so tonight after acting class we'll stay up a little late and watch one of our movies. A treat for a hard day. We just have to go through this all over again next week....

The picture was actually taken by my nephew, it is the space shuttle when it launched earlier this week. We used to watch them from the balcony of my dorm when I was at the same university as an undergrad. I still think it's pretty cool and it was even better in person.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

What people think....

As I looked at my posting from Friday, the caption on the picture and the comment I realized that I was worried what people thought about me. I didn’t want people to think that just because Ted left me I had suddenly become one of those women who goes to the bar every night and leaves her child at home. Before Tiger Lily was born I used to go out to happy hour, when she got old enough for me to start again Ted was too busy going to happy hour with someone else so I just didn’t go. As I have said, I am in the process of rediscovering myself and I do enjoy going out occasionally with friends. I know that I will not drink until I can’t see straight and I don’t go to meet guys (the last, and only, time I met a guy it was such a great experience I’m in no hurry to repeat it (sketchy detail guy who couldn’t tell the truth)) and what I know is what is important here. I need to stop worrying what others think about me and, more importantly, that concept needs to be an essential part of my rebirth. So, no the glasses weren’t ours, our table had more!!!

Our week ahead is going to be quiet, Tiger Lily has “no child left behind” testing this week. She is worried but will do fine. I will admit she is very strong in verbal studies and not so strong in math but that’s how most people would describe me. I think we can all agree that anyone who breaks into hysterical laughter when they see the question “plot the course of a heat seeking particle on a concave surface” on a test definitely is not a math whiz.

We are having a happy hour/Wii tournament at the house on Friday which will hopefully make up for the quiet work/school week. It will be nice to have a house full of people and we do love to entertain. One of the guests is designing a signature “adult beverage” for the occasion and she’s already named it a “Whoopsy Daisy”, could be interesting….

And finally: Yes!!!! I survived another “visitation weekend”.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Weekends Away

Tiger Lily is off again for her weekend with her father. I absolutely hate it when she goes away, even if it is just for two days. She is adjusting well to the schedule, the whole situation and not seeing her father everyday. In some ways his distance for nearly 5 years now made this whole situation easier on her. Probably the roughest is still the transition time when she comes back, it is easier when Ted allows me to pick her up somewhere since this gives her time to readjust to our lives. We usually will stop for Starbucks on the way home so that she can talk etc. She does not have her own personal space at their place which sometimes worries me but since she doesn’t spend a lot of weekends in Frederick I guess it is the way it will be. In some ways having to deal with the whole weekend visitation schedule thing with Ted’s two older children has allowed me to have a better understanding of the emotions she has.

I usually spend my “single” weekends doing stuff around the house that I don’t do when she’s there. I actually have homework from her this weekend—we are looking for something to volunteer for. She wants to do the Big Sister program while I’m thinking more along the lines of a soup kitchen so I have to find a few things somewhere in between.

Oh, and the new picture, I couldn’t resist since it was funny to see all those glasses lined up—they really weren’t ours.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

YouTube Video

I put a link here for a YouTube Video that sort of touches home. Although my days of cancer research are over (by choice) it's still something I identify with. The video was put out by a group that supports the use of animals in research just to warn you. They are asking for people to visit it to get a certain number of hits to show that people do support the responsible use of animals in research. That's not the reason I'm passing it along though, it just made me glad to be where I am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT4lLIDsjGA

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Goodbye to my nephew

My nephew leaves to go back to school today and I always hate when he leaves. He's a great person (I can't call him a kid anymore since he can now go to the bar with me) and fun to be around. He also keeps me young, reminds me when I'm being to serious and happily walks Babe for me. He's always up for a new adventure.

One fun thing he did was convince me to sign up for Facebook so if you know what to look for you can find me. I can see how so many people get addicted but given the fact that I don't write on here everyday I can't see myself posting daily things to my status and all that. The government blocked access for its employees for a reason obviously. I have found an old friend from grad school and happily found out that she is moving back here so it's already served its purpose.

We enjoyed the warm weather yesterday and did some much needed work in the yard. It looks like rain today so we'll have to see if I get much more done. Besides which, tamoxifen makes your hair curly so guess what I have to deal with now whenever it rains!!! It's 10 times worse than it ever was. Now I wish I had taken Ted up when he kept offering to get me the Japanese hair treatments to straighten it...

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

fun in the snow

Crazy crazy day but I just had to post that when I got home today I spent some time sledding with Tiger Lily! Nothing like a face full of snow to remind you how much fun being a kid is. My nephew tried to show off his surfing skills, he got more than a face full of snow. We tried to build a snowman but the snow is better skiing snow than snowman snow. Gives me an idea for the next adventure, spring break is just around the corner....

We've decided to try Peruvian food next--anyone got a good recommendation?

Looking forward to the 60 degree weather this weekend but I'll miss the snow too!

Have a great rest of the week.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Next adventure

So we decided to head into DC for dinner tonight and ended up in Adams Morgan and had Ethiopian food. A very good friend and my oldest nephew joined us. It was great, Tiger Lily enjoyed herself and thought the whole idea and set up was cool. We walked back to the Metro in the snow and caught a few snow flakes on our tongues on the way.

My house stays at sixes and sevens but we are settling in. I need to stop boo hoo hooing and just deal. Of course, right in the middle of the move I discovered another pin hole leak in one of the pipes in the basement. My usual tricks to patch the hole didn't work so a big huge thank you to my friend that just left--we have water again.

Have a great week everyone and stay tuned, with my oldest nephew in town we always end up doing something fun.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Moving In

Most of you have followed my journey long enough to know that as part of my divorce I am selling my house in the hope that I can start a new life and move forward. Unfortunately, as the housing market continues to crash I am near the point now where I can no longer sell it for what the mortgage is. To help me keep my house my parents will be moving in with me this weekend and we will begin to share expenses in the hope that I can save enough money to be able to pay the mortgage when Ted stops. Of course all of this is a bitter pill to swallow. I had so many hopes and dreams that I would be able to start over and even maybe begin to live my dream of being a professor. Unfortunately, without the sale of my house those things will not happen. That I now have to have my parents move in with me in order to hopefully keep a house I don’t want and avoid financial ruin is difficult. The hardest part of this is probably the fact that if the house had been finished soon after things began the market was so hot then we could have easily sold it and even made a profit.

Of course, Tiger Lily and I will make the best of it and I am blessed to have parents who are willing to live with me in order to keep us in the house. I think Babe is probably even happier since she loves my dad!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Let's go Caps! 1 and 2

We're off to a hockey game tonight with some friends and we're very excited!!! I got tickets pretty close to center ice, but several rows up since I'm such a puck magnet (no comments!!!). This will be Tiger Lily's first hockey game but hopefully not the last. I promise to take pictures and will post them....

Let's go Caps and a rousing "he shoots, he scores, hey goalie you *#!K" for old times sake. Only the Ice Cats fans out there know that one but....

More later.

Part 2
Figured I'd just add to this post rather than start a new one. We had a great time and will be going again. We had great seats, the game was a good one (two fights!), the Caps look good and Tiger Lily is hoarse from shouting.

I do want to say thank you to my anonymous friend that is always encouraging me to rediscover all the fun things I used to do.

Have a good weekend everybody.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

How to measure success

A couple postings ago I wrote about using your mind well and I touched on what makes someone successful. I recently had a conversation with a friend who is a teacher. She works with at risk kids and she was very proud of the fact that several of her students who had never earned any other grade besides an F were now earning Bs and Cs. She was also disillusioned by the fact that she received a poor performance review because her supervisor felt that she did not have “proper classroom control” with students sitting in a row being quiet. It made me think about how we measure success in our jobs and our lives. For my friend, success was helping her students earn good grades, for her supervisor it is keeping the students under control. Whose measure is correct?

We all measure success differently, for some having lots of money, toys, a job with a fancy title and a house that others envy is the only measure of success. Although this is a perfectly good measure of success I’m not sure that how others perceive me is the measuring stick I want to use to determine how successful my life is. As I travel along the journey to rediscover myself I want to be more like my friend who measures her success by how she positively impacts the lives of those around her. I consider myself to be a successful parent because my child is such a joy to have in my life and the lives of others. The next step for me is to figure out how else I can be successful…

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Weekend Fun

As you can see from the picture Tiger Lily and I spent Saturday getting our hair done. I, hopefully, have lost the blond streak that has taken over my life and Tiger Lily is expressing her fun side!! We had fun together and she is absolutely thrilled at how great the highlights turned out. She kept her eyes closed the whole time so that she would have a great "reveal" when it was done and I wish I had taken a picture then!!

We spent Saturday night curled up in bed watching "Grease" and being girls. Still one of our favorite movies. It's snowing today so we watched "Pride and Prejudice" this morning (the one with Kiera Knightly). It still amazes me how a woman who lived 200 years ago could write 3 books that are the basis of 90% of the romance novels and movies that are still being written/produced today. Of course, everyone wants to meet their very own Mr. Darcy.... We are going to watch Madagascar 2 and the race this afternoon and enjoy the fact that we don't have to be anywhere!

Hope everyone has a great week.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

ASCO Update

I promised to give a brief summary of the ASCO meeting from December but was so busy being a single again it sort of got pushed down the list, sorry.

I’m only going to talk about the news for premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, sorry a little self centered but if you want to know about postmenopausal or receptor negative let me know.

Still the only hormone treatment for premenopausal women is Tamoxifen, there is a lot of exciting research into aromatase inhibitors (AIs) but these are only for postmenopausal women. These are superior to Tamoxifen but I’m still premenopausal so no luck.

The only exciting news for women in my category is the addition of Zometa ® which is used for the treatment of cancer-related hypercalcemia (high levels of calcium in the blood) and of bone metastases in patients with advanced cancers. Zometa has been found to have anticancer effects and also prevents bone loss which is a side effect of using anti- estrogen therapies. The current clinical trial is in its fourth year and so far women that were treated with tamoxifen and Zometa had a 94% disease-free survival rate compared with 90% disease free survival for women who received hormonal therapy alone. The trial is still ongoing but an increase of 4% can mean a lot. The results are even more promising for women with later stage disease.

There wasn’t much discussion about tamoxifen resistance except that they are developing tests to detect it in women taking the drug. They do know that tamoxifen loses its effect over time which means that more research needs to be done to find other treatments for premenopausal women.

So, not a lot of exciting news for women in my category but, we have such a high survival rate I think the research and the money is going to the patients who aren’t as lucky, as it should be.

If anyone wants to hear about other news from the meeting let me know….

Monday, February 16, 2009

Weekend is officially over

Well, Tiger Lily is home after her long weekend—I missed her terribly as always. I don’t think that will ever stop.

We had a great time at the DC101 Daytona party and I hopefully will post a picture of two of us at the party. The party was hosted by Miller Lite so we got a few gifts for a racing buddy that is a Miller Lite fan. We met a lot of people and enjoyed the crowd. The race wasn’t so great and luckily none of us are Jr. fans since he was definitely not the most popular guy there. It was fun to stick my toe in the water the big question now is, do I return a phone call or not?

Back to work tomorrow—since I was there most of the weekend it always makes the work week longer but I did get a lot accomplished. My paper is probably delayed again as we now have more experiments to do to prove our point. It never ends and this is what I really love about science!

Have a great week.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Use Your Mind Well

Rene Descartes once said “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”

Someone asked me the other day what is the most important quality someone should possess if they want to get a PhD in science. I can’t really say there is any one in particular but I have seen people who aren’t brilliant get a PhD simply because they have the perseverance to keep looking until they find the answer that they know is right. Perhaps that is the best quality to have. I would never say that I am a brilliant scientist, I love what I do and I love science which is important. What got me through grad school was probably more perseverance than anything else. Anyone who has worked with me as a scientist knows that I will sometimes repeat the same experiment many times if I get an answer I don’t believe—most of the time the answer is just too good to be true which is why I’ll repeat it. Anyone who knows me outside of science knows that I will not stop until I have the full story and completely understand why, how and when and if I can’t get resolution I’ll just keep asking until I find what I need to know. So to answer my friend’s question, to get a PhD in science you must be stubborn, curious, love to solve things, and above all use your mind well.

What does this have to do with my journey, nothing but I did say I was going to sometimes just blog about off the wall stuff. If in the end it starts a discussion about what people think it takes to be successful so be it, if not well….at least I answered my friend’s question. My personality quirks are all my own, but I do not give up until I know the answer which is just me.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Good News

I had what I think will be the final appointment with the dermatologist today! My breast is clearing and they are now convinced the problems are due to radiation damage so NO BIOPSY. As such I will now just have to wait for my skin and breast to regenerate which will take around a year. I’m relieved, happy and just elated that it wasn’t a recurrence.

Tiger Lily is away with her father and his family for a long weekend out of town so I’m really a single woman this weekend. I have a lot of work to do still from last fall and will probably spend most of the weekend working. I am going out with friends for margaritas tonight and on Sunday I think we are going to the DC101 Daytona 500 party downtown. This is one of those things I have always wanted to do and now I can.

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

February is half over????

I was reminded today that I never updated everyone on whether or not I achieved my goals for January.

No trips to the emergency room for me--still don't walk like a supermodel but I'm getting better.... I didn't sign up for a yoga class but I did start back on the treadmill. I would like to run a 10K this summer and running increases my appetite so maybe I'll also gain weight. I didn't finish my paper but it's interesting how you can spend months looking at data and think it's all junk until you start writing what you think will be a negative paper. We now realize that if you interfere with the pain receptor we work with it is harmful if you look at survival during sepsis. The main reason this is so interesting is one of the drugs that we are using to interfere with the receptor is going to be used in the clinic (yippee, this is the goal of everyone at NIH) and we now know that special care needs to be taken to avoid sepsis in these patients. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why yet. I guess that's the next paper.

So, my goals for February (even though it's half over) is to be able to run a 10 minute mile, finish my paper and take a Zumba class.

Stay tuned...

Sunday, February 8, 2009

breast cancer site

I did promise that I would continue to keep posting any updates on breast cancer and here's a link to a site that has compiled a bunch of the literature out there as to what are the highest risks factors associated with breast cancer.

http://sciencereview.silentspring.org/index.cfm

It's interesting to see what things you can control for and the factors you can't control for.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Dinner Out

First off, thanks to Anon for the suggestions of where to eat and Bonefish Grill made it to the finals. The Rainforest Cafe is now in Colombia Mall and we didn't want to drive far.

We ended up going to The Melting Pot. It's one of those places I've always wanted to go to and I was happy that Tiger Lily wanted to try it. She said it was the best place she had ever been to and wants to go again next week. For those of you that don't know it's a fondue place. The waitress even gave Tiger Lily a special gift in honor of her amazing report card. We were so full when we finished that we came home and just sat on the couch.

She is having a slumber party tonight and has been making plans all week for a scavenger hunt, movie fest and all night gab session. It will be a fun evening for all, the three girls she invited over are all fabulous friends.

There is some improvement for me and I'm getting very hopeful that we may be at the end of this. Keep your fingers crossed.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Report cards

Tiger Lily got her report card yesterday and she continues to do amazing in school. She got all A’s and O’s with one exception, an S in Music. She is bummed that she won’t get to go to the “All A’s party” but I am still so very very proud of her. She has worked so hard this year to be organized, do her homework on time and study for all her tests.

We are planning a special evening on Friday, dinner and what ever else she wants to do in order to celebrate. Any suggestions on where to eat would be greatly appreciated!

Hugs and kisses

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

News and Me

So, we have had some computer problems at home and I’m sorry for the delay in the updates—I’m trying to post using my Blackberry, we’ll see how it goes.

Tiger Lily did not get the part in the play. She was disappointed for about 10 minutes and then decided to try again. That’s my girl!!! There is no progress for me, we are trying one last ditch effort and if there is no improvement I will have a biopsy. They still do not know what the cause is but the general consensus is simply radiation damage and not cancer again.

Every once in awhile I’ll probably just spend some time here talking about me which is perhaps a little self centered but I sometimes forget about me in my rush to be so much else. Everyone wants me to start dating as if this will somehow heal me and make me feel better about everything that happened. A friend asked me the other day what I would look for this time around when I reach the point where I feel I’ve done enough emotional house cleaning to put myself out there. I don’t know what I want, I know what I don’t want which I guess is a start. There is a father in Tiger Lily’s group that has made it clear he would like to get to know me better and it is nice to know that at least someone noticed. Stop jumping up and down everyone, group is over.

I would like to remind everyone that beating up Ted and his friend (she was never ever my friend) doesn’t do much good. I am the one in August that said enough is enough and you need to either be prepared to dedicate yourself to helping us or you must leave. Before you start to comment etc. please remember that he played a pivotal role in the discovery of my cancer and I never would have discovered it as early. The hopes and dreams that he would want to stay with us were all on my side, he was honest even during the times when I thought that maybe we were trying to reconcile that he didn’t want to change his mind. He had already begun his new life and had been sharing dances and his soul with someone else, in my heart I knew that all along. That being said, we have tried very hard to be friends, we even exchanged Christmas presents and I used mine the other day when I installed new locks on the doors (we’ve had a few strange incidents lately where I’m sure someone has been in the house and everyone knows the code so…). He knows that friendship does not mean forgiveness, we just feel this will be better for Tiger Lily and as everyone knows, she is worth a few sacrifices along the way. So I will now say in defense of my friend that enough is enough, please.

I’ve had a few rough weeks lately while I continue to adjust to being alone but it is all part of the process. Tiger Lily and I will be fine. If anyone knows a single guy that is intelligent (let’s face it, I’m smart and I refuse to dumb down my conversation), loves children, doesn’t mind a few scars, will go to a NASCAR race and the theater (and fits in at both) and has the proverbial sense of humor, well send him my way. I guess I do know where I want to start.

Moving forward with baby steps everyday.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Stay Tuned

Hopefully lots of good news will be coming our way this weekend.

I meet with the dermatologist, radiation oncologist and surgeon today for a more or less definitive answer as to what may be going on with me. I keep hoping that things have improved and I'm still just an anomaly (I really don't want to think about the alternative).

We will hear this weekend about Tiger Lily as well. I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that she gets a part in the play. She loved being on stage. If not, well try, try, and try again. I am just happy that she is enjoying herself.

Of course, we will be rooting for Arizona this weekend. NASCAR starts up soon and I can hardly wait to watch Denny make a run for the Cup this year!

Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Auditions!!!

Tiger Lily had her audition last night and she did amazing! She sang the song Tomorrow from Annie (can't remember the grammar rules so I'll just leave it all out...). Since we didn't bring the sheet music with us she sang without accompaniment and did great--she has a good voice. They learned a short dance which she put all of her usual enthusiasm into and did a short "cold reading". Her acting teacher was there and he agreed with me.

We'll know something this weekend. Rehearsals start next week and the play runs for three weekends in late April and early May. It is a musical called Honk and is a play on the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling. We learned something and she had fun so it was worth it.

For those of you who noticed once again that I'm off on the dates--I know I seem to have lost my ability to remember times, places and dates in the past year. It'll come back some day--I hope.

Keep your fingers crossed everybody!!!!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I can't think of a title for this posting so I'm keeping it blank. We stay busy as always.

Tiger Lily just finished her second grading period and is close to getting all A's again. She had a rough teacher last year and I'm happy to see her enjoying school again. She amazes me sometime when she comes home and gets her homework done right away. She is also practicing her song for her audition on Tuesday and I'll make sure to post whether or not she gets a part. I have my fingers crossed (and my toes too!!)

There is some improvement for me and I have more doctor's appointments on Friday so I will know better then. I continue to hope that we have made the right decision as the alternative really stinks....

We enjoyed our company over the inauguration and were happy to host family that could experience such a historic event. Tiger Lily's brother has become a man and I am proud to see that he has become what I always saw underneath the layers. His wife is a welcome addition to our family.

As always, hugs and kisses.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

It keeps going

Perhaps a better title for this posting should have been "Breast cancer, the disease that keeps on giving". I've had a couple of worrisome weeks due to a new complication and am finally, I think, okay. In December we noticed an abnormality in my nipple and my radiation oncologists were so nice about following up and kept asking me to come back to check on it. Well, after Christmas they informed me that they were concerned I had Padget's disease. Padget's disease is traditionally considered a hallmark sign of breast cancer--ductal carcinoma cells slough off and travel along the ducts to the nipple. If you have Padget's disease you will have crusting of the nipple--which is why all the breast exam pamphlets tell you to look for it. Basically, they were concerned that I had cancer again. Because the treatment for Padget's is radiation and I had finished my radiation 6 weeks earlier they were very perplexed as to what was going on. We decided to be conservative since a biopsy of my nipple was not something I really wanted.

They are treating it as a rare but reported delayed side effect of the radiation and keeping a close eye on me. I joked with the surgeon the other day that I figure I'll be some interesting case study and my breast will end up in the literature and she laughed (I'm not sharing any information on that so don't ask) but didn't rule it out....

So stay tuned...

Friday, January 16, 2009

My Divorce

I know that there are some questions surrounding my divorce and I figured I’d take some time to clarify a few things.

The nuts and bolts details are as follows: in Maryland, you can only get an immediate divorce on the grounds of adultery, desertion, or physical and mental cruelty. Otherwise you must voluntarily separate for one year before you can file. I chose not to pursue an immediate divorce for reasons I will keep to myself. In August of this year I can file for my divorce and will then simply have to wait for a court date. We have already separated all our property, decided on the custody arrangement for Tiger Lily which is the only thing that was important to me and finalized all the details. Ted has moved on and will not contest anything so it will be a quick divorce. I refer to Ted as my daughter’s father, even when we finally do divorce I will probably continue to refer to him this way.

Some of you have questions about the circumstances and details that led to my divorce. Given many of the articles etc. in the media lately I have every legal right to put everything out there in the blogsphere and there are those who would say I have a moral right to do so as well. If you are continuing to read my blog simply waiting for me to spill all the sordid details then please stop wasting your time. Tiger Lily still occasionally reads this, she doesn't need to know the details so I will not share here. It is enough to know that he left things behind in his rush to get out in August so that I know when plans were made, lines were crossed and kisses were asked for. Ted knows what I know and the discussions between us about the details ended months ago.

I have learned a lot about myself in the past 8 months and will probably never be the same person but I need to move on and now I need to begin to heal my soul. We can never forget the betrayal of a loved one or those who were, in truth, never our friends but in time the bitterness and pain fades and I hope to reach that point in the near future. Rehashing all that happened does not set me free, although I will admit there are days when a good “dish” about it all helps!

Moving forward with baby steps every day!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

January is begining to get busy

Our quiet time is gone and we are beginning to get busy again.

Tiger Lily is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and I lost a bet last weekend so I'm now feeding the dog every night this week. I'm happy to see her finally enjoying football, I remember watching the Dallas Cowboys with my father when I was her age and she was lucky enough to have the time last weekend to do the same with her father. We will be watching the game this weekend, please don't call if they lose I will be consoling a devastated 10 year old. Of course, then she has to do the dishes for a week....

Tiger Lily has been asked by her acting class teacher to audition for a play at the Montgomery Playhouse and she is over the moon. Although I do not see a future Hannah Montana here (please no, I would never wish such a life on a child) I know of several people who truly enjoy acting and it is something she can do for the rest of her life. I hope she gets a part for all the obvious reasons and if she doesn't we will consider trying again. For those of you that know her, she is not afraid of failure which is an important trait for anyone to be successful.

My life, well, my goals for the month of January are funny, work related and simple. I want to learn how to walk gracefully in 4 inch stilettos (Tiger Lily suggested the shoes when we were shopping and I never realized how hard they are to walk in)--that's my funny one. I also want to finish up at least one manuscript at work--I have 3 on my desk and am getting nowhere so I'm going to focus on one and leave the other 2. My simple one is to sign up for a yoga class. At the end of the month I'll let you know whether I actually accomplished the walking part. I guess if I don't have any trips to the emergency room I'll be successful...

We have a busy weekend ahead of us and I will enjoy having Monday and Tuesday off to finish up all the things around the house that I have been putting off. As I said before, we have company coming and will have a good time as well.

Pink

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Here comes the new Pink Tulip

I left my post up saying Happy New Year for a little while to give everyone who reads Pink Tulip at work at chance to catch up and now it’s time for this to become my blog.

Tiger Lily and I are settling back into our routines after our long warm vacation. We had an absolute blast in AZ even after the adventure that we started with. One thing I have to say about my Tiger Lily, she is always up for something new and is an amazing travel companion. She spent most of the time playing on the tramp, selling lemonade and basically playing with all the cousins. The weather was warm and she blended right in with my sister’s very large family. We also spent a day at the Desert Museum where she saw a Harris Hawk up close and talked a lot about the area. I miss home and if I could find a job out there I would probably go back.

We are in a lull right now with activities so our evenings have been quiet. Acting class starts up again in Feb, she is taking a break from cooking classes to attend a Math Academy but will start those up again soon and she really wants to play touch football so I’m trying to find a league for that (if all else fails she said she’d play softball). She goes to her father’s this weekend so I will probably rattle around the house all weekend missing her.

We had originally thought about driving to Florida for inauguration weekend to escape the crowds but will be hosting several out of town guests and displaced DC residents instead. If anyone needs a place to stay that weekend I have tons of room still. I have to admit I would love to go just to see the events but am not sure I want to deal with all the extra security and crowds. We all know I never supported the previous president and missed Bill Clinton’s second inauguration for some reason which I can’t even remember now. I am excited about the prospect of change and hope that the new president can accomplish some of the things he promised. Since I’m taking baby steps and getting used to blogging I’ll wait awhile before I start to expound on my political leanings. Everyone is welcome to comment if they want to start a debate....

Like I’ve said several times before my life isn’t exciting, I’m a single parent with an amazing child but it’s my life and I’m starting to rebuild it to be what I want. Since I’ve held back so many of my dreams etc for 4 ½ years while my husband pursued his it’ll take me awhile to remember but I will and I promise to share.