My Weblog

a story of miracles

So here's my little story of miracles...

Not the kind of big miracles like Moses parting the Red Sea, but those things that occasionally happen in life that remind you that there is more than just luck that rule our lives.

Step 1: Find some tickets for the Arizona Cardinals Championship game online the morning of the game and don't even have to pay much over the face value.(the game sold out in just 6 minutes...pesky brokers)

Step 2: After picking up said tickets at a pick up spot in the Westgate Center (which is a shopping and entertainment district next to the stadium) thinking that I put said tickets in the front pocket of my camera bag.

Step 3: Walking from said pick up spot to the stadium with the thousands of other fans headed to the stadium,(about .5 mile) giddy with excitement about actually being there and getting to participate in the underdog story of the NFL. Upon arrival at stadium, realizing that said tickets were not in the front pocket of the camera bag.

Step 4: Unloading entire said camera bag, checking back pockets, NO TICKETS to be found. Starting to really question sanity...

Step 5: Slight panic and upset. (or actually, big panic and moderate upset.)

Step 6: Decide to retrace steps from stadium to said pick up spot. Proved somewhat difficult to walk against the steady stream of thousands of fans who were on their way to  said game with their tickets safely in their possession.

Step 7: Giving up hope...had walked about half way back to said pick up spot. Thinking, "what is the chance that a ticket envelope would be on the ground and NO ONE would stop to pick it up".

Step 8: Slight skip of the heartbeat, when an envelope is spotted in the middle of the street, being stepped on by said thousands of fans.

Step 9: Holding breath as Cait retrieves said envelope, opens it to find said tickets!!!

Step 10: Letting go of breath and making a slight screaming noise in utter astonishment.

Step 11: Returning to said Stadium with thousands of other fans, this time with our tickets safely in Cait's possession.

Step 12: Watching said Arizona Cardinals continue the "Cinderella" story by beating the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25. Superbowl, here we come!

PS. We knew we would win...after all, finding those tickets was our little miracle and so we knew that this would be a miraculous sort of day.

Goodluck Cardinals...we'll be cheering you on from our couches here in AZ and hoping for one more miracle!

silly old dog

I went to the movie, Marley and Me the other day.

I had read the book several years ago and so I knew I should bring some tissues with me but I forgot and so I had to resort to using the napkins I grabbed when I generously buttered my popcorn with that fake butter that I love but leaves quite the greasy mess on your fingers. Let me tell you, those napkins were really rough. They're not bad for wiping grease off of your fingers but if your crying like a baby and having to wipe your nose and wipe the mascara running down your cheeks, they just don't cut it.

Although my face was feeling a little worn out from those napkins I really enjoyed the movie. It was a cute, feel good movie, despite the crying it made me do, and it made me want to come home and give my little old dog a big squeeze and tell him how much I love him.

Yes, that is him.

Certainly a face only a family who has shared the last 12 years together could love!

He's getting old and he is developing some really strange phobias, like my camera.

He is terrified of my camera. If I try and get a picture of him, he starts shaking and licking his nose like crazy and he won't look at you, not even for treats, and he'll do just about anything for a treat.

So, this is what you get when you try to take his picture.

Weird!

 

But, if you consider that in dog years he is 84, I guess I can excuse his strange behavior.

 

Silly, old dog!

 

how does your garden grow

A picture is worth a thousand words...

After 2 years of waiting my cute little lemon tree is covered in

LEMONS

I have been patiently waiting for several months now for these little gems to ripen and turn yellow and today I picked the first ones. If you could only smell how fabulous this tree is you would understand why I am so excited, I mean how amazing is the smell of fresh lemons. Sweet, clean, fresh, ahhh, it is one of my favorite smells, not to mention the colors...green leaves, yellow lemons...it's just a really good thing.

             Fresh lemonade anyone?

 

 

Thank you little lemon tree, you make living in the desert just a little sweeter.

I think they're amazing...

We recently met with a super fun photographer named Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photography for some family pics. These are just a few...and yes it is my mother's perogative to think all my kids are amazing!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas...New York City style

Yes, the sidewalks are crowded with thousands of people and the weather is cold, but seeing the lights and decorations here in NYC puts you in the holiday mood. It's been a weekend of parties, food and shopping.

a bump in the road

I've been having a debate with myself. Whether or not I should blog about this event. It is somewhat private and I'm not really one to "put everything" out there in cyberspace, however, after going back and forth on the subject I decided that I should include this little bump in my road in my blog.

I started blogging because I thought it would be a good way for me to keep my parents up to date while they were living in Fiji. Well, they are home now, and I'm still blogging...why? It's for me now...I don't like keeping a journal, and my scrapbooking of events has come to a screeching halt, so this blog has become my way of documenting life, the good, the bad and the ugly.

So, without any more rambling, here is the situation.

Without going into all of the long details, I have been diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is called an acoustic neuroma and is a benign type of tumor that grows off of the vestibular and auditory nerves in the cerebellopontine angle of the brain. They are slow growing and has probably been developing in my head for some time. Mine is considered a medium size tumor and is now causing me some trouble, mainly vertigo, hearing loss in my right ear, and pressure headaches on the right side of my head. 

Here is my MRI and that white blob near the center is the neuroma.

 

There are several options as far as treatment go and right now I am in the process of deciding which way to go. One option is microscopic brain surgery and the other is radiation surgery (gamma knife or cyberknife). I still have some more tests to do and more doctors to meet with before I make my final decision. Lots to think about with both options. I'm very blessed to have such great team of doctors. I have found while doing research that Barrows Neurological Institute (BNI) is one of the top centers for these types of tumors in the country and my surgeon, knows the pool boy very well, so I have been getting A+ care.

While I was in the hospital they also found that I was severely anemic. I have always battled anemia (especially when I was pregnant) so I wasn't to surprised by this. However, I was surprised to find that my levels were low enough to require medical intervention, so I am now seeing a wonderful hematologist/oncologist who is helping me try to remedy this situation. Once a week I go to the chemotherapy treatment center at the hospital and have an iv iron infusion.

 

All my doctors agreed that I needed to get on top of this so that I can be in good health when it comes time for surgery or radiation. I've done 3 treatments so far and have 5 more to go. The side effects have become less with each treatment, so I'm really positive that this is helping. In fact, someone mentioned the other day, that I looked like I had been in the sun...maybe it's that I'm not so pale and gray.  I have my first labs since we started the infusions this week and I'm hoping my levels are up!

Here is some of the new terminology I've learned in the past month:

AN: acoustic neuroma (acoustic neuroma association)

SSD: single sided deafness

Venefor: brand of iron they give me

MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (I already knew this one, but these are my new reality and I am so claustrophobic that I freak out alot about these)

gamma knife: type of stereotactic radiosurgery

cyberknife: another type of radiosurgery

otolaryngology: branch of medicine that specializes in the treatment of ear, nose, throat, neck and head disorders. This is the dr. that is helping me with my balance and vertigo issues as well as my hearing loss.

BAHA: bone anchored hearing aid

So, there it is...my bump in the road. It certainly will be where a lot of my time and energy will be focused over the next few months and I'm looking forward to being on the other side of all of this.

Musings while at the airport...

I had a 2 1/2 hour layover in the Houston airport this morning. Since I was told yesterday that I was ignoring my blog I figured this was a good opportunity to do some blogging. So here you go, musings while in the airport:
1. Boy, am I glad that I brought my Bose earphones today. They're big and a little bulky but they blocked the crying of the 2 year old in the row behind me. Those cute little iPod earphones would have never blocked that wailing. Thought the guy next to me was going to go crazy before we got here. 2 1/2 hours is a long time to listen to a baby cry.
I felt really bad for that baby and her mom.
I actually didn't have to rush to make my connecting flight today. That's unusual for me in the Houston airport. I think I've run through this airport more than anywhere else.
Some people come equipped for a camp-out...blanket, pillow, lunch from mcdonalds.
Why do airlines oversell their flights and then beg people to give up their seats.
It's funny to travel in the winter. People come off planes from Miami in shorts and t-shirts and then a plane unloads from Minneapolis and people have on boots and coats. You don't see this fashion discrepency in the summer.
It's finally time for my flight. I'll be back here tomorrow on my layover going home. Hopefully, it will be as amusing as today.

the condensed version

It's been awhile since my last post and there's been a lot going on...so let's just do the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the past two weeks.

Halloween Day.

This...

 

ended up with me here, for 3 days!

 

It has been a non-stop week of doctor appointments and tests. In fact, I think I've seen more doctors in the past week than I've seen my entire life. I now have a nuerosurgeon, nuero-otologist, a hemetologist and a radiologist. For the next few months this will be the norm for me and then hopefully, it will all be behind me.

I also had a birthday...

I got a new mixer, since I had sold my other one at a garage sale because I didn't like it and then never replaced it...so excited to have a new one!

 

Surprise flowers from my friends in S.Carolina...how sweet!

 

and fabulous Avocado Pizza from L'Grande Orange Pizzeria...yummm!

Seriously, this is good stuff and so was my day.

7...

Now you know. My favorite number...7.

No special reason, it's just the number that I've always gone for. You know when you play that game where you have to choose a number between 1 and 10. I've just always gone with 7. When I play roulette in Vegas (which I don't do very often), I always have to have a chip on 7. I haven't found that it is necessarily a lucky number for me (and that is why I don't gamble in Vegas very often, I am so NOT lucky) but on an occasion or two my guess of 7 in the 1 thru 10 game or that chip on the roulette table have proven successful.

So, in honor of my favorite number 7...

The 7th picture in the 7th file on my computer.

 

The 7th email in my inbox is from Absolutely Pawsitive Pet Sitting

The 7th letter of the alphabet is the letter G

My 7 favorite TV shows: (that are currently on)

1. Friday Night Lights
2. Gossip Girl
3. Survivor
4. Army Wives
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Prison Break
7. Lipstick Jungle

My 7 favorite things to eat:

1. warm chocolate chip cookies
2. homemade bread
3. penne ala vodka from Patsy's in NYC
4. Aussie cheese fries from Outback (but these I only can have once or twice a year...have you seen the calorie and fat count on these!)
5. creme brulee
6. chips and guacamole
7. pork salad from Cafe Rio

The 7th site on my computer favorites list is Southwest Airlines 

7 places I've been and loved:

1. Fiji
2. Hawaii (Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Kauai)
3. Thailand
4. Mexico
5. France
6. Ireland
7. England

7 places I want to go:

1. Italy
2. Japan
3. Tahiti
4. Africa
5. Spain
6. Greece
7. Holland

The 7th song on my I-tunes is Forgiven by Alanis Morissette.

7 places that I've lived:

1. California (twice)
2. Utah (twice)
3. Massachusetts
4. Colorado
5. Arizona
6. New York
7. Quebec, Canada (it was only for 3 months...but hey, I lived there)

The 7th friend on my facebook friends list is Cami Clay Bready.

And last but not least

7 things on my to do list for today:

1. fed-ex stuff to child #2
2. laundry
3. get gas and car wash
4. bake cookies to take to neighbors
5. send a complicated email to someone (I've been procrastinating this one)
6. follow-up with my pet sitter
7. make dentist appointments (yuck)

Mr. Nobody

These are missing in action...

These are one of my favorite kitchen essentials and I haven't been able to find them since last week. No one seems to know where they are. I love when there seems to be that invisible person in the house that takes things and then doesn't put them back where they belong or who takes just one of your socks so you no longer have a pair or magically makes your shoes disappear.  That elusive Mr. Nobody...he's been here again and I really miss these kitchen scissors. I needed them last night to cut chicken, and I had to use a knife instead. Knives are ok, and they do the job, but, these make the yucky job of cutting raw chicken so much easier and quicker.

I've searched through all the drawers in the kitchen...nothing! Please bring them back Mr. Nobody!