Tonight I am once again reminded of the blessings in my life and my relative lack of personal trials.
A very good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer today. Through self exam she found a lump in her breast last Thursday. On Friday she had a mammogram which revealed 4 more lumps. Today, Wednesday, an MRI confirmed a 6th lump. Biopsy results should be in on Friday to determine what stage she is in, and Monday she has an appointment with a surgeon to schedule an mastectomy.
There is never a "good" time to have cancer, but this is an especially hard time for her. She is in her mid-forties, has a son getting married next week, and another one leaving on a mission in July. This should be an exciting time for her and her family, and instead they are thinking about chemo, mastectomy and even death.
Talking to her tonight however she sounded very upbeat. She's been able to find a few silver linings in this diagnosis, even if they are silly. Her doctor told her today that she can drink as much Dr. Pepper, her personal drug of choice, as she wants. There's also the likelihood of sudden menopause...I'm not sure which one she is happier about! And she told her husband to start saving his money because they were going on the Breast Cancer Survivor's Cruise to the Grand Cayman Islands next year.
Her sons and husband gave her a priesthood blessing before her doctors appointment. She feels very peaceful and sure that she will beat this. I am grateful that I belong to a religion that believes in the positive power of prayer and priesthood blessings. I am grateful that we believe in hope rather than doubt and fear.
I pray that my friend will be able feel my love for her and that I will know how to be there for her. I pray that her cancer will be treatable and that she will be strong mentally while she goes through this very physically draining ordeal. I pray that one day science will discover a cure to this ugly disease.
May 6, 2009
May 1, 2009
April 17, 2009
RIP dear friend
Today I mourn the loss of a dear friend.
When we met 2 years I had no idea that you would become such an integral part of my life.You've been with me through thick and thin..mostly thick. Through working out at the gym (twice I think?), superbowl games, poker nights, visits with our friends, and just relaxing at my house hanging out watching tv, you were always there at my beck and call. I noticed a few months ago that you seemed to be getting worn out. I should have known then that something was wrong and paid more attention to the signs.
It was 2 years ago on a Tuesday (ok, I don't really know what day it was) and I was feeling a bit blue at work. I decided to go to Mervyn's for a little retail therapy (and also because my pants were too tight). I felt this beacon of light drawing me to the athletic wear section. There you were, hanging on the rack all shiny and new. Well, not really shiny, but there in your navy blue glory with a cute green stripe up both legs. I took you in to the dressing and room and tried you on. A perfect fit! You were my new favorite lounge pants!
I spent the next two years snatching up cute green shirts and sweatshirts that would match you so I could be color coordinated. You didn't mind when I wore you 3, 4, 7, 11 days in a row...never complaining. You didn't protest when I got grass stains on you while gardening...in fact you even tried your hardest to repel these stains and worked with the washing machine to remove them.
Then the other day, tragedy struck! I was working out at Curves, and my sister gasped in horror! "Stacy", she said, "you have giant holes in your pants"!!! What?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew right then that your battle had been lost and it was time to lay you to rest.
Yesterday at T.J. Maxx I found a new pair of lounge pants. They are black capris, with a white stripe on both legs. I do love them, but they will never take your place. RIP my little (ok, X-tra Large) friend!
March 24, 2009
I've been getting a little flack about not blogging lately. The truth is that nothing super exciting has been happening AND I've been involved in a marathon of America's Next Top Model, Season 6. Yes, I realize they are on season 11 now, but I got hooked on Oxygen's reruns.
Anyhoo....since my life is pretty boring lately, I thought I'd talk about a couple of random things from my daily commute:
a) The other day we had a huge snowstorm (What? Snow in March you say? Isn't it Spring?! Ha! Welcome to Utah). I cleaned off my car...all 5 windows, the hood, lights, blinkers, etc, and headed off to work. I didn't clean off the top of my car for 2 reasons. 1. It is too tall for me and hard to do with the ski racks and 2. I am lazy.
So I was almost to work and stopped at a light. All of a sudden the SKY WAS FALLING!!! I was trapped in an Avalanche! Ok, nothing that extreme, but the the 6 inches of snow that was piled on top of my car came barreling down on my windshield at break neck speed. I couldn't see, and the snow was too heavy for my windshield wipers to work. So I had to throw my car in park, hit the hazard lights, wait for all of the cars behind me to drive past me, get out of the car, and brush of my windshield. Did I mention that I had rolled a bit in to the intersection before I got my wits about me? It was an adrenaline rush for sure.
b) That same day I was driving home from work, sitting at yet another stop light. I looked briefly at the car to my left. The guy in the car was eating cookies. Normally I wouldn't consider this strange, because I often eat cookies in my car. I mean, who doesn't! But the dude had a really long beard and was getting cookie crumbs all over it...he kindof looked like a homeless guy in a car. I looked away (because I was staring!), but then looked at him again briefly. At this point he was drinking milk from a gallon jug. What Stacy? You say he was drinking milk, from a gallon jug, while driving in the car? Why yes, reader, that's exactly what I said! It was really weird.
c) There is a store front on my daily drive to work that I find strange. It used to be a purple building and housed The Blue Boutique, which is a naughty lingerie store. That store moved down the street to a larger location, and someone painted the building orange and black. There is a sign above the store which says House of Chuckles. Now, I love to chuckle, and imagine a whole house of chuckles! What do they sell you ask? I have no idea...the store is empty and has been ever since I noticed it. I often wonder what happened to it. Was it ever in business? Did people walk in and immediately start chuckling and they laughed themselves silly so they never bought anything? I have no idea, and will probably ever know. But I do get a chuckle when I drive by it anyway.
Anyhoo....since my life is pretty boring lately, I thought I'd talk about a couple of random things from my daily commute:
a) The other day we had a huge snowstorm (What? Snow in March you say? Isn't it Spring?! Ha! Welcome to Utah). I cleaned off my car...all 5 windows, the hood, lights, blinkers, etc, and headed off to work. I didn't clean off the top of my car for 2 reasons. 1. It is too tall for me and hard to do with the ski racks and 2. I am lazy.
So I was almost to work and stopped at a light. All of a sudden the SKY WAS FALLING!!! I was trapped in an Avalanche! Ok, nothing that extreme, but the the 6 inches of snow that was piled on top of my car came barreling down on my windshield at break neck speed. I couldn't see, and the snow was too heavy for my windshield wipers to work. So I had to throw my car in park, hit the hazard lights, wait for all of the cars behind me to drive past me, get out of the car, and brush of my windshield. Did I mention that I had rolled a bit in to the intersection before I got my wits about me? It was an adrenaline rush for sure.
b) That same day I was driving home from work, sitting at yet another stop light. I looked briefly at the car to my left. The guy in the car was eating cookies. Normally I wouldn't consider this strange, because I often eat cookies in my car. I mean, who doesn't! But the dude had a really long beard and was getting cookie crumbs all over it...he kindof looked like a homeless guy in a car. I looked away (because I was staring!), but then looked at him again briefly. At this point he was drinking milk from a gallon jug. What Stacy? You say he was drinking milk, from a gallon jug, while driving in the car? Why yes, reader, that's exactly what I said! It was really weird.
c) There is a store front on my daily drive to work that I find strange. It used to be a purple building and housed The Blue Boutique, which is a naughty lingerie store. That store moved down the street to a larger location, and someone painted the building orange and black. There is a sign above the store which says House of Chuckles. Now, I love to chuckle, and imagine a whole house of chuckles! What do they sell you ask? I have no idea...the store is empty and has been ever since I noticed it. I often wonder what happened to it. Was it ever in business? Did people walk in and immediately start chuckling and they laughed themselves silly so they never bought anything? I have no idea, and will probably ever know. But I do get a chuckle when I drive by it anyway.
March 6, 2009
This morning I woke up at 5:19 a.m. with terrible heartburn, not an uncommon event for me. I went in to the kitchen and rummaged through my sister's purse looking for tums. Unfortunately they weren't in there. As I looked around the kitchen, debating whether or not to go downstairs to Jen's bathroom where I knew there were tums, but then risking waking Jen up, I saw a sleeve with some green chewable medication.
Elation! It was a package of Gas-Ex. Now, I know this sounds old lady-ish, but Gas-Ex is my new best friend. Being cursed with chronic stomach problems, I take it ALL THE TIME! I popped that little green "life saver" from the packet, prepared myself for the bad taste (I would like to speak with whoever makes chewable medication and force them to try all the things that supposedly taste good) and popped it in to my mouth.
The taste was horrible as I had expected. But it was not the correct horrible taste. Instantly my mind screamed NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and I spit out it out. I realized my what I had done....what I had mistaken for a minty chewable Gas-ex was really a minty chewable dog breath mint. GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, my heartburn was not cured. But on the plus side, I no longer had morning breath!!
Elation! It was a package of Gas-Ex. Now, I know this sounds old lady-ish, but Gas-Ex is my new best friend. Being cursed with chronic stomach problems, I take it ALL THE TIME! I popped that little green "life saver" from the packet, prepared myself for the bad taste (I would like to speak with whoever makes chewable medication and force them to try all the things that supposedly taste good) and popped it in to my mouth.
The taste was horrible as I had expected. But it was not the correct horrible taste. Instantly my mind screamed NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and I spit out it out. I realized my what I had done....what I had mistaken for a minty chewable Gas-ex was really a minty chewable dog breath mint. GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, my heartburn was not cured. But on the plus side, I no longer had morning breath!!
February 25, 2009
I am the first to admit that I have many fears and phobias. For instance, I am a hypochondriac. If I hear of someone with an ailment, I'm constantly evaluating the symptoms to see if I might have this same ailment. I recently watched 3 back to back episodes of Mystery Diagnosis and I'm pretty darn sure that I have all 3 of those rare diseases. So what if I'm not a black man in my 50's with recent travels to Zimbabway. I could still have what he has!
I am scared senseless of mice. There is a little hole in the fence between my garden and the neighbors garden that often times in the spring plays home to a tiny little mouse. I brace myself every time and tell myself not to be afraid, but when I hear it's little feet scratching my heart stops, my feet become cement and my mind cannot make coherent thoughts, except oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh...well you get the picture.
I am VERY afraid of the dark...especially being outside in it alone. I am getting better, but there are still times, ok- every day, that I will run to the house from my car just in case someone is out there lurking in the carport.
But by far my biggest fear is of nakedness. Yes, you read that correctly...NAKEDNESS. You might think this is ridiculous, but this is a lesser known phobia and even has a name...Gymnaphobia. And no, I did not get that from Mystery Diagnosis. My whole life I have been uncomfortable with nakedness. It may have something to do with the fact that I grew up in Nakedville with the Nakedsons. My family LOVES to be naked. Except me. I don't even like to walk around naked in my own home, when I am all alone. And I'm pretty sure my dogs are judging me on the rare occassion that I do risk running from the bathroom to my bedroom after a shower.
I am currently house/dog sitting for my friend Carrie in Park City, UT. She has a nice big house that I have all to myself complete with a steam shower and a hot tub. I had not really taken advantage of either because I also do not like water on my face, especially hot water. Alene and Amber at work were making fun of me for not using the hot tub (did I mention it's outside...in the dark??) and they both said that they go in their hot tubs almost every day....NAKED. WHAT? Are they C-R-A-Z-Y? I laughed at them and told them they were weird.
But then I went home that night and was sitting around with nothing to do, because this house does not have TiVO or a DVR (how do these people LIVE here??!!) and decided it was time. I would use the hot tub. So I locked all the doors, put the dogs in the laundry room (I didn't want them judging me too), turned out all the lights, and went in the hot tub. Naked. In the dark. With hot water on my face. IT WAS LIBERATING!!! I felt alive and slightly brave. Until that is I heard some scratching, which I'm pretty sure was a mouse, so I ran back in the house and went to bed.
I am scared senseless of mice. There is a little hole in the fence between my garden and the neighbors garden that often times in the spring plays home to a tiny little mouse. I brace myself every time and tell myself not to be afraid, but when I hear it's little feet scratching my heart stops, my feet become cement and my mind cannot make coherent thoughts, except oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh...well you get the picture.
I am VERY afraid of the dark...especially being outside in it alone. I am getting better, but there are still times, ok- every day, that I will run to the house from my car just in case someone is out there lurking in the carport.
But by far my biggest fear is of nakedness. Yes, you read that correctly...NAKEDNESS. You might think this is ridiculous, but this is a lesser known phobia and even has a name...Gymnaphobia. And no, I did not get that from Mystery Diagnosis. My whole life I have been uncomfortable with nakedness. It may have something to do with the fact that I grew up in Nakedville with the Nakedsons. My family LOVES to be naked. Except me. I don't even like to walk around naked in my own home, when I am all alone. And I'm pretty sure my dogs are judging me on the rare occassion that I do risk running from the bathroom to my bedroom after a shower.
I am currently house/dog sitting for my friend Carrie in Park City, UT. She has a nice big house that I have all to myself complete with a steam shower and a hot tub. I had not really taken advantage of either because I also do not like water on my face, especially hot water. Alene and Amber at work were making fun of me for not using the hot tub (did I mention it's outside...in the dark??) and they both said that they go in their hot tubs almost every day....NAKED. WHAT? Are they C-R-A-Z-Y? I laughed at them and told them they were weird.
But then I went home that night and was sitting around with nothing to do, because this house does not have TiVO or a DVR (how do these people LIVE here??!!) and decided it was time. I would use the hot tub. So I locked all the doors, put the dogs in the laundry room (I didn't want them judging me too), turned out all the lights, and went in the hot tub. Naked. In the dark. With hot water on my face. IT WAS LIBERATING!!! I felt alive and slightly brave. Until that is I heard some scratching, which I'm pretty sure was a mouse, so I ran back in the house and went to bed.
February 21, 2009
Happy Fake Spring!
Today was a great day! Last night my sister and a couple of our girlfriends came over to where I am housesitting and we stayed up til 2:30 in the morning laughing and talking (inappropriately at times I must admit). Jen and Kristi headed home at 1:00 a.m., and Peggy and Shana spent the night, along with little Makayla who made it to 10pm before falling apart...she was so excited to sit in the tub with LoLo (that would be in the hot tub with me).
We woke up at 7 and made pancakes and the girls headed home around 9:15. As I let Sid and Snickers, the dogs that I am watching this week, outside for trip #1 to the potty, I realized that today was the first day of "Fake Spring"! For those of you that do not live in Utah, Fake Spring comes around every year around this time. It's a beautiful sun shiny, bird chirping, warm breeze blowing, dog barking kind of day. I walked outside on the large wrap around porch and surveyed my sunny kingdom...or at least my borrowed kingdom for the week. The dogs and I played tug of war with a nasty dog rope and then fetch with some icycles that were melting off the porch. Then we all went inside and took the first nap of the day.
As I headed back down in to the valley, I had my windows partially rolled down, my sun roof open and a good song on the radio. Man I love fake spring! I pulled in to my neighborhood and was instantly reminded of a down side to fake spring. The smell of poo...everywhere. Horse poo and Cow poo...ah! The joys of living in farm country. Except that I don't live in farm country. I live in a suburb of Salt Lake City. In West Valley. The hood. Oh well. Determined not to have this day tarnished, I visited with my sis and my own dogs, then settled in for nap #2. Glorious. Then off to dinner at some friends house, the church for dessert and games, and then back up to Park City where I am writing my blog with 2 sweet dogs laying at my feet. Yep, it was a good day.
Oh, and the reason I call today Fake Spring? We are expected to get 2-4 inches of snow on Tuesday.
We woke up at 7 and made pancakes and the girls headed home around 9:15. As I let Sid and Snickers, the dogs that I am watching this week, outside for trip #1 to the potty, I realized that today was the first day of "Fake Spring"! For those of you that do not live in Utah, Fake Spring comes around every year around this time. It's a beautiful sun shiny, bird chirping, warm breeze blowing, dog barking kind of day. I walked outside on the large wrap around porch and surveyed my sunny kingdom...or at least my borrowed kingdom for the week. The dogs and I played tug of war with a nasty dog rope and then fetch with some icycles that were melting off the porch. Then we all went inside and took the first nap of the day.
As I headed back down in to the valley, I had my windows partially rolled down, my sun roof open and a good song on the radio. Man I love fake spring! I pulled in to my neighborhood and was instantly reminded of a down side to fake spring. The smell of poo...everywhere. Horse poo and Cow poo...ah! The joys of living in farm country. Except that I don't live in farm country. I live in a suburb of Salt Lake City. In West Valley. The hood. Oh well. Determined not to have this day tarnished, I visited with my sis and my own dogs, then settled in for nap #2. Glorious. Then off to dinner at some friends house, the church for dessert and games, and then back up to Park City where I am writing my blog with 2 sweet dogs laying at my feet. Yep, it was a good day.
Oh, and the reason I call today Fake Spring? We are expected to get 2-4 inches of snow on Tuesday.
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