Time Flies

I just realized I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks! I just haven't really felt much like writing. I think it's lack of material. Or maybe I've just gotten bored with it after four years. I haven't decided yet if I want to put this blog to bed, so for now I just take little breaks here and there.

Everyone should be getting their prize packs by tomorrow. I gave all the contact info to Victor earlier this week, who sent the packs out the same day. If you were chosen as a winner, then be on the lookout for yours.

My recent tests went well. It seems I was worked up and nervous about nothing. Each scan came back clear. They didn't even detect any cysts on my liver like what was found last time. I'll follow up again in 4-6 months for more scans. It's a huge relief to know everything is still ok. I asked the doctor how long I've actually been in remission. I never knew if it technically began once I started Tamoxifen, or if it began once radiation was complete. Technically speaking, it began with my first clear scan following surgery to remove the tumor. Which was when I hoped it had started. That puts me at 1 1/2 years in remission--half way to the dreaded 3 year mark. Once I get passed 3 years I will feel better, though statistically speaking I won't be in the clear till I reach 5 years. After that, my chance for a recurrence goes down every year.

This is our last weekend with Danny here. He's feeling homesick, so he's going back to Vegas on Sunday. I can't believe that he's been here for 6 months already. Time really does fly! His leaving is going to be bittersweet. It will be nice to have the house back after all this time....will be able to walk down to the dryer in my panties and not worry about someone else being home. Yet, he's been such a HUGE help around the house. Ruben hasn't had to cut grass since spring, and I haven't done dishes in just as long. But I understand he's homesick and misses his momma. Believe me, I tried to talk him into staying till at least Thanksgiving, but he's been ready to go home for a while now. So tomorrow we're going up to Baton Rouge to take him out to the Cracker Barrel to eat.

His flight leaves early Sunday afternoon, so I had to ask a neighbor if they could watch Natalie cause Ruben & I will be going to the Saints game. This is our last game other than the Dallas game in December. Well, unless Ruben's friend gives us tickets to a game cause they can't make it--but with the season they are having, I doubt they will want to miss a game. Ruben still gets to go to one game with Dave, unless the boys let us wives go--which would be nice!! I looked into getting tickets for another game, but this season's home games are sold out. Those who are selling their unused tickets are asking way too much. I'd love to head up to St. Louis to catch them play the Rams, but with Danny leaving we have no one to watch Natalie. Maybe next year we can catch an away game.

Best Team in the League!

OMG, did you happen to catch yesterday's Saints game? WOW! It was incredible! The hubby and I were among the Who Dat Nation in attendance at the Dome yesterday. We got there a bit early to beat the traffic and find a decent parking spot, and boy am I glad we did. The Dome was PACKED. I was surprised by how many Giants fans there were. We had 4 of them sitting a few rows ahead of us, and I almost felt sorry for them cause everyone was giving them such a hard time. But then I remembered they were Giants fans, so I joined in. LOL. We were on fire! The crowd was so loud, and had so much energy. I've never enjoyed a game quite like that. In fact I'm still pretty hoarse today from all the screaming I did.

Before the game started, I was all concerned because as it turns out the rumors are true. Reggie's back with Kardashian. I am not a fan of that union, not at all. But surprisingly, he played pretty good. Unlike some of the previous games where he had fumbled the ball. So maybe she's not the Simpson to his Romo. Doesn't matter though, I still don't like her.

Our next game won't be until sometime in November, not sure which game yet though. We're sharing season tickets with one of Ruben's co-workers, and they don't usually decide who's going to what game till the Friday before. Though I do know we will be at the Cowboy game in December. Other than that, I don't know if we'll be going to one or two other games. Ruben and Dave went to the Season opener, so instead of having four games each, we now only have three games and one where Ruben and Dave will likely go again. Unless of course somehow Erin and I are lucky enough to get the tickets instead. Doubt it will happen, but I guess there's always a chance. Or maybe we'll just get the extra game cause they travel around a lot for their kids BMX races.

All I know is I'm really looking forward to the next game. I was on the Saints website this morning and saw an ad that got me thinking about going to an away game. I don't think we'd be able to pull it off this season, cause in a few weeks my brother in law will be going back to Vegas. Which will make traveling a bit more difficult cause we will have to factor in our daughter and the dog. I was eying the November 15th game at St. Louis. Once upon a time Ruben had been a Rams fan - and they did win the Superbowl the day we got married back in 2000. But it would be hard for me to go there and not see my friends, whom I haven't seen in 15-20 years. Besides, I'm already planning a trip there in January. So I've just got to be patient. I think it would be better to plan something out for next season anyway. Then again, they are having an awesome season NOW! I'm so terribly impatient! However, Ruben just set me straight. With his current workload this class, it's just not possible. Bummer, there goes that idea!

So what else has been going on around here? Just the usual. I know I've been away for a while. I'm really slacking, but it seems that it's not just me. A lot of my fellow bloggers are only posting monthly now, and while I don't want to do it, I find myself doing it just cause there isn't anything noteworthy going on. I mean seriously, do you really want to hear me go on and on about errands or my weight loss? I didn't think so. Though I will say the weight loss is going well, though it has slowed a bit. Which is likely my own fault because I've been cheating on the weekends, drinking and eating regular food. Stadium food is enough to get you every time! On the health front I was reminded last week that it is time for my 4 month check up. So come Friday I will be having chest, ab & pelvic CT scans done - along with lots of bloodwork. I'll be seeing my oncologist ont he 26th for the results. Though I am nervous, I'm sure everything will be okay. It's just the anxiety of waiting and wondering. But I will be sure to keep everyone posted.

Also, I'm still waiting to get info from Kimberlee & Debbie. Once I have their info, I will be contacting everyone to let them know I'm passing along their info to Celebration 4 Life.

Winners

I need the following people to email me their contact info, so they can receive their prize pack:

-Kimberlee Cook
-Enola
-Debbie

Everyone else, I have email addresses for, and will be contacting you shortly to get your address from you.

Please send your email to: MLSSBUGS@AOL.COM

A Celebration 4 Life Giveaway

I’m back with that special announcement I told y'all to watch for! Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we're going to do something special. The folks over at A Celebration 4 Life wanna give away some goodies! Here's the details:

One cap and one cooling neck wrap can be all yours if you enter this giveaway. And if you win, you’ll get to choose the cap and wrap of your choice. Pretty generous, huh? It gets better.

Celebration 4 Life will award 12 winners. Yes, 12. So be sure to leave a comment (but only one) so you have a chance at getting these great goods.

Here’s exactly what you need to do:

• Visit this site and leave a comment below sharing the model number of both the cap and cooling neck wrap you want (note: Caps with the thin reflective bands are standard size, and the ones with the wider reflective bands are smaller).
• Leave your comment no later than 5PM CT on Monday, October 12, 2009.
• You may enter only once.
• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia, who are 18 and older.
• Twelve winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Twelve winners will receive one cap ($13) and one cooling neck wrap, ($5), valued at $18.
• Winners will be notified by email and in a post on this blog, so make sure to check next week to find out if you’ve won!

Before you leave the Celebration 4 Life site, check out their free downloads, and use them if you can. OK, that’s all. Good Luck!

****DATE REVISED TO ALLOW MORE PEOPLE TO ENTER THE DRAWING****

Celebration 4 Life

I owe a big thanks to Jacki Donaldson. Over the past couple years, she has passed along to me several great opportunities. The most recent has been with a gentleman from A Celebration 4 Life™, a company I had never heard of until a couple weeks ago. So, let me start off by telling you a little about the company, then products they carry.

Life™ products are an expression of a State of Mind. The symbol was developed after Victor had lost his Mother to pancreatic cancer. As this is HER symbol, he ensures that all Life™ products are of excellent quality. The products focus on celebrating life by spreading positive and hope-filled statements.

The Life™ symbol offers: Hope, Optimism, Gratitude, Abundance, Empowerment, Vitality, Energy, Freedom, Possibilities, Joy, Aliveness, Purpose, and Perception of Endless Potential.
It reminds us that there are always options. It gives us Belief in Possibilities versus beliefs in tragic outcomes. It allows us to Celebrate each precious moment of Life and it helps us recognize the importance of these moments.

I am so honored that Jacki recommended me to Victor, and thankful to be a part of this. I like the message these products send, and what the Life™ symbol itself stands for. Victor graciously sent me a sampling of his products--which let me tell you were far more superior than what I expected.

My favorite is this Cancer Sucks t-shirt. I like the message it sends, plus I am totally a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. You can pick up the t-shirts for $13, which is really quite reasonable given that they're 100% pre-shrunk, silk-screened cotton.







I'm really excited about this Keep Cool Bandanna. It's going to be great for my afternoon bike rides, since it is still pretty hot and humid here in Louisiana! It's just $5, made from 100% cotton, it cools body temperature for hours and it's reusable.









This hat, which is just $13 will also come in handy for my evening bike rides since it has reflective strips on it. The mesh will help keep my head cool, and it's completely adjustable. But best of all is the embroidered logo on it. I love the raised surface of it.





Oh, the best part of all, is that most of these products are also offered in other 'cause' colors, so it's not just breast cancer stuff. You can pick your color when you place an order (toll-free at 866-756-8078 or online).

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is almost here!! I know in many areas The Race for the Cure coincides. Even though I don't plan on participating in any races this year, I do still try to support them.

My 'sister-survivor' Christina in Texas is participating in her local race in 10 days, and had these great custom t-shirts printed up. Obviously, I cannot be in Texas for the race, but that didn't stop me from making a donation and buying one of the awesome survivor shirts - which I am waiting patiently for the mailman to deliver. I do believe I ordered the black one, but upon further examination of the fine print on her Facebook Fan Page, only the pink t-shirts will say survivor on them. So I'm actually not sure which I am getting, since I am in fact a survivor. Oh well, it doesn't matter much cause it's supporting the cause which truly matters. Either way, are these not some cool shirts?












Today when I went in for my doctors appointment over at Ochsner Baptist Hospital, there was a woman near the check in desk that was signing people up for the race. She had this awesome shirt with her, but I was afraid it would only be available to those who signed up. So I asked about them, half expecting to have to enter. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the shirts had nothing to do with the race, but were just items for sale. All proceeds to benefit Ochsner's Cancer Services. Now, I've never dealt with Ochsner's program before, as last year I saw an MD Anderson affiliate over at East Jefferson Hospital, but I have heard wonderful things about Ochsner's Cancer Services. I really like this shirt because it incorporates the fluer-de-lys that is a integral part of Louisiana. What about this shirt, isn't it just great? I just LOVE the slogan!


















So, with Breast Cancer Awareness Month right around the corner, I just wanted to make an announcement that sometime next week I will be making a special post as I am participating in a giveaway for Celebration 4 Life. Stay tuned for details!!

The Funniest Video I've Seen in a While

New Moon Trailer

While I'm still looking forward to seeing New Moon, I'm not anticipating it nearly as much as I did Twilight. Perhaps it would help if I had someone to go see it with, rather than go by myself on opening day like I did last year. There's no way my husband would be caught dead in the theater. Hell he'll barely even admit to watching Twilight in his own home. If asked, he will say that he was forced to endure it. I'll admit these films are a bit on the cheesy side, and honestly, they don't really do the books any justice at all. But they're not all bad. Yeah sure, I don't really care for the way they did the whole wolf thing....it looks cartoonish, and the acting and dialogue can both be bad at times. But hot half naked men certainly makes up for all the faults - or at least it does in my book. Enjoy!!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Never Forget

Where were you 8 years ago today?

I remember being in my car, on my way to work, listening to KOMP. It was just after 6:30 when they made an announcement about the first attack. I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. I thought it had been some kind of cruel joke. So I called and woke my husband up, who had just went to bed a few hours earlier cause he was working swing shift then. I made him turn on the news to see if it had been true, and was saddened to learn it was. Once at work, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the news. A co-worker of mine had brought a little portable TV with her to work. Most of us had gathered around to watch the breaking news reports.

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years already, as it still feels like it was yesterday.

This Kid Has Some Moves....

I found this video over at VP's blog, so I had to share it with y'all. Enjoy :)

I couldn't resist doing this :)

Ruben's going to kill me for this!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Car Lust

I'm trying my damnedest to talk my hubby into letting me buy a new car!

Kicking it into Overdrive

As many of you know already, in May I began a crusade to lose weight. I've been working pretty hard for the last 4 months, though in all honesty I did not lose any weight while Ruben's mom was here visiting or while at Disney World. It took all I had not to gain weight then!

I started off walking 2 miles a day and restricting my calories to 1500 or less. It was kinda hard at first. I had to give up all my favorite things....steak, soda, junk food. I'd like to think I am living healthier now, though I am by no means the picture of perfect health. I was even able to get Ruben to give it a try. I switched from walking to biking a couple miles. A couple miles then turned to 4, then 5. Last night I biked 7.5 miles and it felt great. So I decided to mix it up a bit, and added 500 crunches and a mix of pelvic thrusts and butt lifts prior to bed.

Sure, I woke this morning feeling a little bit sore, but that didn't stop me from repeating the regimen this morning. It feels good, and I think that somewhere along the lines I've kinda become addicted to working out. Or at least I hope that's the case and I'm not just pushing myself harder, trying to achieve too much too fast. I know that if I stick with this I'll reach most of my goals by my birthday.

I told you how I wanted to lose weight for my trip. Ideally, before going back I'd like to be the size I was when I left. Ultimately, I'd prefer the size I was before we moved to Hawaii in 1991, though I'd be happy to settle for the size I was when my first husband and I split up in 1994 and I moved to Vegas.

Anyway, in the 4 months since May I have managed to lose 30 pounds and a total of 30 inches from my bust, arms, waist, hips, thighs, calves. The biggest loss has been the 7 inches I've taken off my hips, with a 5 inch loss from my waist coming in at second. I still can't really see the difference. I can tell that my panties are too big cause no matter what they are ALWAYS uncomfortable. Even my smaller size shirts can be a bit roomy, but there hasn't been a real major difference. At least not one that I can see.

Ruben's closing in on about 28 pounds now and is wearing pants that are 2 sizes smaller. He's catching up with me FAST, which means that I'm just going to have to work harder cause I'd imagine that I'm probably about to platue here real soon.

Any suggestions as to what to do to keep it going?

Post Op Recovery

I think this has probably been the easiest surgical procedure I've had done yet. Either that or I'm getting too used to it all. I had my surgery on the 24th, which lasted a little over 2 hours. They took me back just after 11am, and I was in my room eating a turkey sandwich by 2:30. By 3pm we were already headed on our way to the grocery store on our way home. I came home and didn't even take a nap or anything. Not just that, but I was up and alert the very next morning. Ruben says I was running up and down the steps, which is a bit of an exaggeration. I wasn't quite running. I truly felt great though. Even the dreaded drain didn't even really bother me much this time. But he placed it somewhere other than my side this time, which made a HUGE difference in my level of comfort.

Yesterday I had my drain and staples removed. I was a little worried going in cause my whole left breast is yellow. But I was told that it is doing real good. The yellow should be the last phase of the bruise. It was bruised because he did a little lipo on one area to try and remove the lumpy tissue. I'm still pretty swollen, but it feels as though I still have some lumpy areas. It's never going to be perfect, but it does look 100% better than it did before, because it's now in the correct position. Not only do I look even, I look like I have so much more volume even though the size of the implants did not change.

So since everything was ok, I was even given the okay to go ahead and resume biking or walking as long as I didn't over do it. So last night I took a 4.5 mile ride. It actually felt really great to get back on the bike again - which means that I have gone completely mad. I mean, who ever would have thought a day would come that I actually look forward to exercising? But I'm glad that I'm actually getting there and not despising it so much. I've lost a couple more pounds, which brings me to a grand total of 40 pounds lost so far. Though, I still for the life of me can't tell where I've lost it at. Yeah, my new pants - which are 4 sizes smaller than what I used to wear, are starting to feel a little baggy. But not quite enough to go down to the next size yet. I'm looking to start doubling my biking miles. I think I'm going to add about a mile a week. I'm planning on going back to see some friends in Illinois sometime after my birthday. It's what I told Ruben I wanted for my birthday, though what I really want is a new Camaro - but I know realistically, I cannot ask or expect him to buy me a $45k car as a gift. So instead, I'm going to fly back for an extended weekend - not sure which just yet, meet up with some friends, have some drinks, reminisce and have a good time. Part of my prerequisite for going is to get back down to the size I was when I left - or at least close to it. I'm pushing towards losing 60 pounds in like 23 weeks. Wish me luck, cause it won't be easy!

Ruben has also done a fab job of losing some weight. He's at like 25 pounds now, but still has a ways to go to get that motorcycle he wants. The only problem is that he just started his first class towards his Bachelors last week, and he's got to figure out some time management cause school is kicking his ass and he needs time to walk, spend with his family, and of course watch football.

Speaking of football, we'll be at Thursday's pre-season game between the Saints and Dolphins. I'm really excited about it. I still don't have a clue about the game or how it's played, but I like being there. Ruben is trying to teach me all the terms. We'll see how much I actually pick up!

The Aftermath of Katrina

New Orleans, Still a Forgotten City

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Every Scar Tells a Story

Jacki Donaldson, writer for That's Fit is featuring my port-a-cath scar revision story over at her Breast Cancer Blog, CancerSpot.org . Please stop by and check it out!

I like this tree

Every day I ride my bike through the neighborhood. And every time I go
through this one area I stop to admire this live oak. Isn't it
gorgeous? Well today I finally remembered to stop and take a picture.
It looks like the ones you see in movies. This is a southern oak at
it's finest.

Today on my ride I had a beautiful stray lab running next to me. I was
going to take a picture but by time I got my phone out of my pocket he
had got tired and stopped. Maybe next time.

Come Monday this should look better

Monday I will be checking into the hospital for my ELEVENTH breast surgery. Hopefully this will be my last one. Aside from removing capsular contracture, and repositioning my implant, my surgeon is going to perform a revision to my port-a-cath scar. It's not much, but this scar hurts like a sonabitch. I can't stand to have my seatbelt across my shoulder. And whatever you do, don't touch it cause I still have some of those nylon sutures in the midst of all this scar tissue. So I'm really hoping that will all change come next week and it's all healed. So say bye bye ugliness!

Rain, rain go away!

Today I was out running errands before my surgery on Monday, and let me just say the weather was god-awful. I got soaked on several occasions. It seems to have let up now, so I'm debating about whether or not I should go for my bike ride or not. I'm afraid it will start raining half way through it.

Facebook Addiction

Alright, I admit it. I'm addicted to Facebook and may soon need an intervention. The problem is they have these games that are so damn addictive. It's like Hotel California I swear. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. The past 2 weeks I've been scrapbooking like crazy. 15 pages, which is more than I created in the last 2 or 3 years combined. Thing is I would probably have done more if it weren't for stupid FarmVille. I don't think I've ever been sucked into a game like I have with that or the others made by Zynga. Aside from the games though, I've really enjoyed talking with old friends. They're all sure to make me LOL daily. I feel bad for neglecting my blog, but most of the blogs I read have also slowed down a lot. Anyway, if you're looking for me, well now you know where to find me. I'll be tending to my farm. LOL!

The Beginning of Fall

Fall is officially here, at least to me it is. I know that technically fall doesn't start for a while. But since school is back in session, it is for all intensive purposes, fall. Now I just wish that we would have fall like weather as well, then I would be absolutely tickled.

Natalie started school this past Thursday, which I honestly don't see the point to. I mean really, what good is it to go for two whole days? Monday will be her first full week. I am thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet. Especially now that I am scrapbooking again, which I didn't get to actually do enough of this past week.

I spent one day attempting to organize all our pictures, which isn't quite as bad as it seems. It turns out that I have not printed any pictures since December 2005. Needless to say I am uploading obscene amounts of pix to have printed. And while I said I spent a day organizing photos, that did not include organizing digital files, which I need to do desperately. Luckily I have files left to go through, cause after my hard drive frying last weekend, I wasn't sure if I had lost everything or not. As it turned out, I had backed up about 6 months ago, so the loss was minimal.

Wednesday Natalie lost her first molar. I panicked when she told me it was loose. For some reason I didn't think it was normal for a molar to be loose. But my friend Joanna told me it was normal and no big deal. I was so relieved cause I thought for sure we'd have to make an emergency visit to the dentist. Natalie got to meet her new teacher at a back to school bash at the school. Afterwards, we attempted to watch a Saints practice game. But due to the weather it had been canceled. It really had me bummed, cause I was looking forward to hopefully getting some pictures and autographs...oh well, I'm going to try to make it to the practice tomorrow mourning if I can. Thursday Natalie came home from school missing another tooth! She had lost her second molar while at school. Thing is, we didn't even know it was loose!













Friday Ruben hooked up my new computer. He had gotten all the parts in on Thursday, and got it all put together. Once Natalie got home from school, we got ready to head to the Dome. Ruben was given tickets to the first pre-season game against the Bengals. We're splitting season tickets with one of his friends from work, so we get to go to half of the regular season games and maybe both pre-season ones. It seems everyone at the office had plans and were unable to go to the game. So we had extra seats. Me, Ruben, Danny and Natalie got to go, and we had two extra tickets to bring along our friends Arlene and Abby. We had a lot of fun, and the Saints won. I have some 500 pictures to go through and post onto Flickr, but here are a few for you to enjoy now.....

Scrapping Away

I've been a busy little bee this past week. Last Saturday I finally decided that it was time to get back into my scrap studio and create something. I completed one layout for each day this past week, and still going strong. That's why I haven't blogged any.

Aside from scrapbooking I followed up at the clinic, losing 10 lbs. since we returned from Disney. Then Thursday, Natalie and I had a girls day out since Ruben was out of town. We went out to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, then we did a little shopping, went to the salon and got her hair cut and brows done. Yesterday Ruben came home just in time for me to fry my desktop computer that was in my scrap studio. I kept getting error messages about corrupt files, and Firefox would just shut down in the middle of whatever I was doing. So Ruben suggested I install this program that would help resolve any issues. Well as I was restarting the computer after install, I got an error message that basically said this hard drive is screwed. It wouldn't boot up at all, not even in safe mode. Needless to say, I was a bit depressed when I went to bed last night. I had no idea if any of my files had been backed up, as it had been several months since I had even turned it on.

I couldn't wait till this morning to hook up my laptop and start checking all my external drives. So far it looks like I have everything, or at least everything that I know of. Ruben's researching parts to build me a new one. It really bummed me out cause I have been sitting here all week scrapping and playing on Facebook, but it's all good now. You have no idea just how addictive that damn Farkle game is - as is the silly farm games, and war games I've been playing while creating.

Oh, I do have some good news to share with everyone. I'm so excited, even though it's not that big a deal.....I just found out that one of my photos of Jackson Square is being used in Schmap New Orleans Eight Edition. No, I'm not getting paid for the use of my photo. But I am getting recognition, and that's just as good for now. So that's what's going on here. Please check out the link above for Schmap and also take a look at my Flickr account. I posted my layouts there along with some pictures of Natalie's new do.

Broken Window

Friday we noticed that something appeared wrong with one of our new
windows. The new windows that are supposed to be unbreakable and
hurricane rated. The windows that withstood Ruben standing on them.
Upon closer inspection we did indeed find the pane was cracked and we
don't know how it happened. It's a second floor window and there's no
sign of anything hitting it or chipping it. Luckily there's a lifetime
warranty on glass breakage. One that also has limits and exclusions. We
called the window company expecting a fight and what we got was no
questions asked. They must know that something like this has to be a
defect in the materials. They ordered a new pane and in a few weeks
things should be good as new again.

Summer's Drawing to a Close

Summer is dwindling down, and will be over before you know it. Not summer the season, but summer vacation. In just 13 more days Natalie will be going back to school. I've already done all her back to school shopping for supplies, uniforms, and necessities. Which is always fun, except for all the money spent on such items. Though I love the whole school uniform thing cause it's no hassle, I hate that we're buying 2 whole sets of wardrobe....one that she only wears to school. I'm both relieved and worried. We've had enough issues in the past with certain teachers, and faculty members at the school that I'm just really not looking forward to do it all over again. I personally cannot wait until she is out of this elementary school and into middle school next year. But I am trying to keep an open mind, and remain somewhat hopeful that this year and this teacher will be different.

One of my biggest concerns is that Natalie has really gotten into playing this one video game, and doing stuff online and I'm afraid that it will interfere with her desire to learn and excel. I'm just not sure how to get her excited anymore. Maybe it's time to try Sylvan, or at least it will be if this year doesn't go according to plan. I checked out their website and found that they have samples you can download for grades K-5, and a partner site called Book Adventure where you can search for grade appropriate books, and quizzes which will come in real handy! This way I can make sure that not only is she reading, but that she's comprehending! I'm going to have to weed through all my old links and check out what other types of tools I can find to help her succeed.

Other than gearing up for school there really hasn't been a whole lot going on around here. I've been doing lots of reading. I finished my Walt Disney book. I read the MJ Unmasked book in under 12 hours - which let me just say that not all the sensational claims lived up to the hype. It did manage to change my opinion on a thing or two, but it wasn't quite the bombshell it was supposed to be. Now I am onto reading Night World.....yes, more vampire books. I'm really having a difficult time finding just the right books. Some I've picked up are just too lame, and others I just can't fully get into. But so far I am enjoying the first book even though it is considered "young adult."
Ruben and I are still dieting. I've lost 10 pounds since we came back from Disney 3 weeks ago, and Ruben has lost 18. Though I swear you can't see it on either of us. The only difference I've noticed lately is that it seems my panties are a bit larger. I know this cause they are constantly bothering me because they shift and ride up. Had they fit right I wouldn't be having this problem. I wish I could actually see the difference. I'd think that with all the walking I've been doing that my legs would slim down some, but they haven't really. Or at least not noticeably. I go back to the clinic next week for another weigh in, so I'm hoping to shave a few more pounds off before then. I'm a little concerned about my surgery coming up for the 24th. I'll probably be resting for about a week, and while I can watch what I eat, I won't be up for walking or biking. I'm hoping that the inactivity doesn't affect me in a huge way!

While I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet that comes with back to school, I feel as if I'm in a race against time. It's not like we have any last minute vacation getaway planned, but I would like to do something before school starts again. Perhaps if the weather isn't too bad we can visit a park or zoo, or even catch another movie or something. Do you have any plans to celebrate the end of summer?

Thank GOD!

According to this report Kim K, reality ho and Reggie Bush, Saints
Running Back have broken up. Maybe now we'll have a winning season!

http://blog.newsok.com/gossip/2009/07/27/kim-kardashian/

New Moon Footage

Just wanted to share some New Moon footage that was shown at Comic Con this year. I'm not sure when there will be an official release of these trailers, as this footage was not to be seen by anyone outside of Comic Con. But someone was kind enough to break the rules, tape this, and post it on YouTube. Enjoy.

Blackberry Cobbler

I was mashing up some blackberries to make blackberry water (it's a Mexican thing, Ruben's family blends water and sugar with whatever ripe berries or melons are around. It is very good!) So I'm sprinkling sugar on them and mashing them up, and it dawned on me that I should actually be making cobbler out of them. Blackberry cobbler was my absolute favorite dessert mom made. Problem is I don't know the first thing about making cobbler. I read somewhere that you can use already prepared pie crust, but I don't think it taste the same. If that is a shortcut, there has got to be a better way to spice it up. I'm hoping that someone can tell me the right way to make a cobbler - and hopefully one that's not to difficult!

Speaking of my mom, tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of her death. I think I can honestly say that it has finally gotten a tad better, but not by much. It's times like this that make things the most difficult. Like thinking about something she used to make, something I never learned how. I think that so much was lost. And not just recipes, but family history, facts, relatives, etc. It's amazing to me how a little thing like blackberries can bring about a flood of emotion. Maybe by using them to make a cobbler I can heal a little.

Distractions, and New Addictions

Like so many others out there, I have seriously been neglecting my blogging duties because of several new time consuming addictions I have picked up recently.

First, all of my spare time was being spent reading. Now that I have finished several different series and books, I have slowed down a bit while I search for new interesting reading material. While I was at Disney I bought a new book after visiting the attraction Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. I found myself both curious and intrigued by what I had learned, and naturally wanted to know more. The book, Walt Disney: An American Original, is a biography of the life of Walt. I'm taking a it a bit slow--so I'm only half way through with it, but so far what I have read, I have really liked.

I've already selected what my next book is going to be. Unmasked: The Final years of Michael Jackson. I know, it's kind of funny. Somehow I've gotten caught up in all this craze since his death....Natalie too. She's been blaring his music at full volume for the last few weeks. Yesterday she was singing Man in the Mirror at the top of her lungs. You could say she's even become a bit obsessed with him and his music. it's funny how much she can take after me at times. In any case, I did the same thing after Anna Nicole Smith died--I bought the book Blonde Ambition.

I've become a Facebook junkie, but not so much for Facebook itself. I accepted a couple invitations and now I'm enthralled with playing Vampire & Mafia Wars. I've even downloaded the apps so I can play them on my iPhone.

All this game time has really interfered with everything else. Though I have been walking at home on the treadmill this past week, I really haven't had much desire to do so. Ruben and I have committed to dieting, and while I've only taken off a few pounds since we returned home, Ruben has gotten off to an excellent start! He's lost 10 pounds already. The first few days all he ate was salad. He even moved the treadmill downstairs to the living room. That way he watches shows he dvr'd while he walks. We made an agreement that if he loses 100 pounds, I'd get him the motorcycle he's been wanting. We really are striving to be healthier. I've just got to get back on track and return to my nightly walks. I just have been feeling like a cold is coming on though--one likely brought on by stress.

Stress has been at an all-time high since we got back. Ruben's company is once again laying off employees. It's quite terrifying when you think about it. I mean here it is hurricane season and we just returned from a vacation in which we spent mostly all of our savings--now add on our new windows, and a review of my case with Social Security. Yeah, all we need now is for Ruben to lose his job. Though it looks like he may be in the clear, at least for now. They laid off and demoted several people from his department across the country, most of whom he knew. On the flip side, he received his 10 year packet from work. It sounds like they have some really great choices this time, lots better than for his 5 year. I was surprised to find out they still offered this given their financial problems. It's a nice surprise. He gets to choose from a foosball table, a Canon camcorder, a Dyson vacuum cleaner among other things. Not bad huh?

Ruben also got confirmation from his advisor. He's all set for classes to begin in September. The school accepted 62 of his credits from ITT. He just needs to take like 18 liberal arts classes in addition to the curriculum for the BSM program. His advisor said everything was all set with his financial aid, and that he's be receiving his books and schedule shortly.

On a final note, my surgery to remove capsular contracture and correct placement issues has been approved. My surgery is scheduled for August 24. I'm excited, and I hope this final surgery really will correct my problems and even things out a bit.

Happy Birthday Ruben!

One of Ruben's friends at work sent him this video for his birthday. I just had to post it here, so everyone could enjoy a good laugh.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Home Again

Hi All!

We're back from vacation, and as I type this, some 275 pictures from our trip are slowly being uploaded to Flickr. We had a wonderful vacation with the exception of the heat and rain. I'll never book another trip there in the middle of the summer. It wasn't just that the temp was in the 90's, it's that with the heat index the temperature was well over 110! Heat like that just really zaps the energy right out of ya! We got back Tuesday evening, and we're still trying to settle in. Ruben of course unpacked as soon as we got home - my suitcase is still sitting on the floor. Luckily, the house we rented was equipped with a washer and dryer, so we brought back very little dirty laundry.

Now that we're back, we're hitting the diet hard! I was fortunate enough not to gain anything while we were gone - but I didn't lose any either. Of course there is no such thing as dieting while on vacation, so I ate like a mad woman. I only broke even due to the many miles we walked daily.

Yesterday I finally got my car back from the Dodge dealership after two full months! Once I got in my car I discover that my stereo and XM reciever were not working - and since it's aftermarket equipment they are not responsible for it. I was completely livid, cause the service manager was a complete jerk about it. He tried to make like since he gave me a oil change on the house, that we were even. Ha! A $30 oil change does not make up for possibly frying more than $1000 worth of stereo equipment. Ruben took it to the place that installed it, Car Audio Connection over in Harahan and the guys there fixed it for free. I'm just so relieved that I didn't need a new unit. When they pulled out the deck they found that the dealership hadn't even re-connected the wires. So now I wonder what else they may have done half ass.

Also, yesterday I had a follow up appointment with my plastic surgeon. Sometime in the near future I will be going back into surgery to correct my left breast. I don't really know when yet, cause first we have to get approval from the insurance company. But I will keep you posted.

Seeing Shamu

Today we're at Seaworld -- and let me tell you it's hotter than hell
here! Tomorrow's our last day, before we leave Tuesday afternoon so
we'll be heading back to Hollywood Studios. But today we're going to
check out the shows and rides at Seaworld. There are two pretty cool
looking coasters I can't wait to get on!

Deadly Crash at Disney

Woke up this morning to this news; Early this morning there was a deadly monorail crash at Disney World. WOW, so glad we skipped Disney yesterday - and so thankful that we were not involved in such a horrible accident!

Happy Birthday America!

Today we are taking it easy and avoiding the parks. It's going to be a
lazy day of shopping and swimming. We slept in a bit late this morning
and now we're kicking the day off with breakfast from Cracker Barrel.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Rawrrrrrr

After a delicious Mexican lunch we headed over to the Outpost so
Natalie could get her face painted.

Hello from Hollywood Studios

So far, our trip to Disney has been a wet one. It's raining already
this morning. We have a 70% chance of rain with a high of 89 -- which
I suppose is better than the forecast for Friday that is a 40% chance
of rain and a high of 96. Either way it's humid.
The rain yesterday shut down several rides, which sucked ass. Since
the good rides were closed, the indoor ones were freaken packed! It
was insane. We weren't getting anyway at Magic Kingdom so we hopped
over to Hollywood Studios, where we rode Tower of Terror twice and the
Aerosmith rockin' rollercoaster. We went on a backlot tour and ate at
a 50's diner. The park closed at 7 last night for some private event.
Which was fine cause after dinner we were just too exhausted and
soaking wet to continue.
Not sure what today holds for us. We're off to a wet start today.
Hoping the rain will stop real soon.
::Fingers crossed::

Grabbing Some Grub

Settled into the house and headed out to Downtown Disney to get some
food at Planet Hollywood. We haven't eaten since breakfast this
morning, so we're absolutely starving!

Backseat Buddies

Lexie has FINALLY settled and laid down. Normally with each bump in
the road or roar of the engine she stands up, but I guess she finally
got tired.
Here is Natalie and Lexie enjoying a road trip.

Goodbye Pensacola

We stopped this morning to gas up before hitting the road. This was
the view from the gas station.

On our way.

Decided to leave 10 hours early. Ruben has some Marriott Reward points
that we'll use for a room in Pensacola. We were getting too anxious to
start our vacation to wait till early tomorrow morning. We hit a nice
spout of rain on our way out of town - which is good cause our grass
needed the water.

Vacation Friday

Woohoo! It's vacation Friday. The Friday before vacation begins. We've got a busy weekend ahead of us prepping and packing for our trip. We'll be leaving about 3:00 am Monday morning. While I'm super excited about the trip, I'm bummed that I didn't get my Durango back in time.

I called the dealership yesterday to find out if by some miracle I'd have my car today. I was informed that they had gotten the instrument cluster panel in, however the part was bad. So now they are waiting on a new part to come in. Hopefully one that works! I have no clue as to when they might receive the part, because once again the payment for the part must be approved for by the government.

Another vacation bummer - I didn't lose the 10 pounds I had hoped for. I did however lose enough weight to be back where I was before Ruben's mom came, so that's the bright side of it all. In truth it's all my own fault. My friend Arlene, whom I was walking regularly with had surgery on the 10th and has been on rest orders. I should have pushed myself to go alone, but it's just not the same. Hopefully when I return on the 8th we will begin our walks again. God knows that after Disney I will need to do something, cause they just have way too many yummy treats there to be good and stick to a "diet".

Was yesterday not a completely devastating day? The mass coverage of Michael Jackson's death practically took down the web. The whole ordeal completely overshadowed the death of Farrah Faucet! It was madness. I was waiting at the pharmacy when I read reports of his cardiac arrest on Twitter. Before TMZ confirmed his death, I was on the phone telling Ruben I thought he was dead. The fact that he wasn't breathing when the ambulance was called, and that a photog was threatened when trying to get a picture of him being rolled into the hospital, told me that things were real bad.
If you're on Twitter, did you catch all the RT's of the shameful post Perez Hilton made about Jackson before he found out the entertainer had died? Once it was official, Perez had removed the post. You can see a screen shot of it here. I swear Perez is a douce bag. There is a petition going around to remove Perez Hilton as Teen Choice 2009 Nominee. You can sign it here. Nobody who posts the content he does, nor uses the hateful words he spews, should be considered for an award at a show aimed at kids. HE IS NOT A ROLE MODEL! There are a few other petitions going around calling for his site to be shut down and such. Check out the article from Hollyscoop.

Right now I'm waiting for the press conference from the coroner's office to begin. E! News has a live feed going, but it looks like it might be awhile before we get the results of his autopsy, as the conference has been delayed again for another 2 hours.
I've been paying bills and taking care of other business online while I waited. While on vacation, I don't want to have to get online cause I have to. I'll only do it if I want to, and have the down time to do so. Likely, I will be posting pictures from my phone - maybe making a blog entry or two, as well. I love having a phone that is capable of doing so much! Sometimes I wonder how I ever lived without it. LOL.

It looks like Ruben may be returning to school this fall. That is IF everything works out. He's gotten some info, applied to a couple schools, and submitted his app for a Federal student loan. We gotta wait and see if his loan is approved. Otherwise he'll have to take one class at a time, as money permits. Right now the loan isn't even our biggest concern, it's the fact that ITT cannot locate his transcripts. The campus he attended in Vegas closed awhile back, and for some reason ITT cannot locate the transcripts in their system. He has a copy somewhere around here, but the transcripts must come directly from the school in order to be accepted. So it doesn't much matter that we can't find his copy. We did find his actual degree, which he is going to have to fax over to ITT as proof. We'll just have to see whether it helps any or not. Cross your fingers!

Pictures from the Party

I posted 30-plus pictures from the birthday party we went to yesterday afternoon. You can find them at Flickr, just click on the link to take you there.

Blog Block

Have you ever gone over in your head, a topic you wanted to post about? You get it all planned out, yet when you sit down to type it all up you draw nothing but a blank. That's the way I've been feeling lately. Each time I've sat down to post, my mind just goes blank. Nada, zip, nothing. All I can come up with are ramblings of various odds and ends. So I guess I'll start with that.

Today is the end of my mother-in-law's 3 week visit with us. Her flight leaves at 6 something. These past 3 weeks have went much too fast! I know Ruben is going to be heart broken come tomorrow. The only upside is perhaps I will once again lose weight. The past 2 weeks I've been unable to lose a single pound. In fact I gained 2! I was hoping to be another 15 pounds lighter by our Disney trip in 9 days. It's going to be hard, but I think I might be able to drop 9 if I walk a lot before we leave. Of course I'm likely to gain some of it back while on vacation, but that's ok cause I'm not going to worry about anything except having fun!

Tomorrow we've got to get Ruben's student loan app submitted. He's put off going back to school long enough, so now he's just going to have to buckle down and make the time to do it this fall. We would really like for him to advance further into upper management, and to do that he needs to get his bachelors. The one thing holding him back has been the funds. We both hate the idea of debt, but really who has tens of thousands of dollars to pay upfront? We also need to find out what credits of his associates will transfer over. Some schools like UoP won't accept his credits from ITT, which I think is total bullshit. So he may end up returning to ITT if Tulane or Delgado won't accept them.

Have you seen Benjamin Button yet? We've already watched it twice now, and I have to say that this movie has made me a Brad Pitt fan. Sure I've liked some of his other films, and sure there are a few scenes in BB that appear to be just a bit overly photoshopped. Specifically where made to make Pitt appear younger. But it was this particular film that made me appreciate Pitt for his beauty, though he's had a body of a god for just about all of his films - and he's looked better in some flicks than he has in others. I think I may just have to go back and re-watch some of his prior work now that I can appreciate his, um, talent.

Also, I'm curious, has anyone else been experiencing problems with IE not being able to open certain sites, aborting the operation? I've been having this problem off and on for several weeks with several of the blogs I follow. It's extremely frustrating and I don't know how to fix it. I ran a Google search on it and it seems this problem has been going on for quite a long time. It's a totally annoying pain in the ass! It's really cutting into my blog surfing time.

Ok, well it's off to the showers for me. We have a birthday party to go to later this afternoon before we take ma to the airport. Hope everyone has a great weekend and awesome Father's Day!

HOT, HOT, HOT

We're all piled in the car and heading to Mo's for a late lunch.
According to the car's thermometer it's 100 here in New Orleans. And
this doesn't even factor in the humidty! Hot damn!

Pictures from the Quarter

Yesterday we took my MIL down to the French Market to do some shopping, which I saw as an opportunity to finally put my new camera to use. I didn't get to snap everything I would have liked, cause it was hotter than hell out and all that walking around was tiring.

I have tried several times to post the pix below, but damn Blogger won't load most of the images. So I guess you'll have to go check them out at Flickr. Some images I processed using Coffee Shop actions, others I left alone. I still have LOTS to learn about using my new camera. Let me know what you think.

So Far, So Good

Yesterday I met with my oncologist to get the results from my 6 month follow-up chest, abdomen, & pelvic CT scan that I had done on Tuesday. Ordinarily I would have had a PET scan done, but my PPO turned it down cause there was no evidence of recurrence - which I find pretty fucked up, since the test is what's used to detect and determine recurrence. Besides, I would think that since I have already had a recurrence, that that in itself would justify the need for the scan. So they denied the test, and instead I had the CT scans done.
I wasn't really sure what I was in for as I've never had an abdomen CT scan done before. I've had enough chest CT scans done before to know all about the nuclear contrast. But with an abdomen scan you have to drink this very disgusting crap called barium. It's like drinking cold Milk of Magnesia. It's basically a near-flavorless, creamy, chalky liquid. It's bad enough they make you fast for these tests, but then to make you drink 12 ounces of this goo is damn near torturous. Making matters worse was the fact that a transformer near the hospital blew, causing the power to go out. Luckily the CT machine was running off a generator, cause man would I have been pissed off if I fasted and drank this crap all to have to do it another day when the power was back. But since the power went out, the hospital was all backed up. I was there for over 2 hours.
Normally I don't handle these types of test all that well. Any time I have to get an IV, I damn near freak out. My veins are in such bad shape, it makes it very difficult to find one and get it working right. Usually it takes multiple attempts, and the more they stick me the more I freak out. So usually taking these tests require a Zanax, which means I get stupid, which means it would be best if Ruben were to take me. But he was out of town this week. He's been traveling a lot for work the last few weeks. I didn't want to put the test off, cause the anxiety of waiting and worrying is just as bad as the whole IV thing. So I braved it alone this time, and I survived. Was it a better experience than past attempts? A bit, but it still wasn't very pleasant. I was fortunate enough to get a good nurse who really took her time finding a spot before attempting to stick me.
Ok, so my test results came back with no evidence of any distant or metastatic disease. The only thing that showed up were some cysts on my liver, which my doctor says is of no consequence. I asked him if he was absolutely sure, given the fact that my mother died from end-stage liver cirrhosis. He assured me that as of now the cysts are completely harmless. Besides, he'll see if there are any changes when I have my follow-up scans done in 6 months. Then he ordered some blood tests and sent me on my way.
It's a HUGE relief to verify that I am still cancer free. I'm trying to think how long exactly I've been cancer free. My recurrence was found in February 2008. I had surgery done in March to remove some of the chest wall area where the tumor was found. In April, I had had a PET scan done to determine if there was any metastatic disease present - which came back clear. My follow-up PET scan done at the end of December also came back clear. So technically speaking, I've been cancer free for just over a year now. But in terms of remission when it comes to oncology, I'm not really sure cause I didn't finish radiation until August, and I didn't start on Tamoxifen till January 2009. A year sounds so much better than just 6 months, but I'm pretty sure it comes down to the 5 years on Tamoxifen. In any case I'll just be happy to make it past 3 years without another recurrence!

Oh, I also want to share a link I found with y'all. The site is called F My Life, and some of the stories shared there are just so freaken hilarious. You have to go check it out. I promise you that you'll be LOL and ROFL. So enjoy! The link is above as well as in the sidebar.

Yum

Oh goody. After fasting for hours I get to drink this nasty, chalky
crap. Then I get an injection of some nuclear meds. This CT scan is
torture!

Chrysler is Making me CRAZY!

I am so unbelievably fed up with Chrysler, I swear I could seriously maim someone. If you recall back in May my dash literally fried. Causing my instrument cluster to go out and my wipers to permanently stay on. Well my Durango has been sitting at Bergeron Chrysler Jeep Volvo for a month now waiting to be repaired. The instrument cluster was part of a factory recall - one that had already been performed back in 2006.
Anyway, given Chrysler's financial problems of late, they are having some serious problems getting parts manufactured because they owe all their suppliers money. In my case there is only one company that makes the instrument cluster, and because of slow or non-payment on Chrysler's behalf this company refuses to manufacture the part until they get paid either some or all of what is owed to them. I had hopes that perhaps Chrysler could just pay in advance or C.O.D. for the cluster panel, but I was shot down when I called Chrysler. You would think they would want to hurry this along as they've already paid some $900 this past month for my rental. But since Chrysler is receiving rescue money from the government in addition to having filed bankruptcy, all payments must go through and be approved by the government. And no one even knows when they will start releasing payments or in what order they will be made. I have no clue when I could possibly get my Durango back, and I am beyond pissed.
When I called Chrysler on Friday to ask if they could possibly pay for the part in advance, I was told that Chrysler will only pay $20 a day for any rental that is not a Chrysler product, but if I could get switched over to a Chrysler vehicle they would pay up to $40 a day. At the time I had been in a Chevy Silverado for about 2 weeks and was furious at the thought that I might have to pay out of pocket for any overages. I had to call Enterprise and ask for a different vehicle cause I didn't want to be responsible for any charges, and I certainly didn't want to be put in some sub-compact piece of crap. Enterprise worked things out so I wouldn't have to pay any out of pocket, and they found a Jeep Commander that fit within the $40 a day. The Jeep is a bit better cause at least it's the same size as my Durango, which we'll need for our trip to Disney as I don't think I'll be getting my car back in time. In fact I wonder if I'll even be getting it back this year.
Oh, and if you're wondering what I get for my inconvenience? Not a damn thing. No oil change or tire rotation, no replacement key that I need that costs $200, not a single thing. They made it sound like I'm privileged just cause they are paying for the rental car upfront, even though the rental is part of my ESP contract. Could you imagine if I were still making car payments on it? Paying for something I can't even use, something that is just sitting at the dealers collecting dust. It makes me so freaken angry! I can't wait to buy a new car - and I'll tell you after all this crap, there is no way I'd ever buy another Chrysler product again. And you can almost certainly forget about that Chevy Tahoe or Camaro I want since GM just filed bankruptcy. It won't be long until they experience the same problems getting parts. This whole freaken economic crisis has really fucked everything up, hasn't it?

My New Camera

Here's the new Nikon D5000 camera Ruben bought me. Like my camera strap? I picked it up last week at Bennet's Camera. I can't wait to take it out to City Park and snap some pictures.

Inches-a-way

Today is my monthly follow up visit at the weight loss clinic, and
while I've only lost 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks for a total of 17
pounds in a month, I did lose several inches. I lost 2 inches total
from each of the following areas: biceps, bust, waist, hips, thighs,
and calves. Plus 4 inches from around my upper belly. I'm down about 4
pant sizes, they fit a tad snug but the next size up is much too big.
I still have a minimum of 30 more pounds that I'd like to lose, though
65 is the goal. Losing 30 will put me back at the size I was when I
moved here.
Since the beginning of March I have managed to lose 25 pounds. Now the
question is will I be able to continue to lose weight and can I take
off another 15 before Disney? Guess it's time to stop cheating and
start working out more.

Angi

"Whoever said winning isn't everything never had to fight cancer"

Http://scrapaddictnv2.blogspot.com/

Sent from my iPhone

A little of this, a little of that, a whole lotta post....

Well, here it is - the start of summer vacation. More than two whole months of no school, cause down here there is no such thing as year round school. So for those of you with kids who are out for the summer, what are your plans for summer break? We don't have much planned really, and luckily I don't work, so there's no child care issues like some families have.

Right now the plan is just to enjoy our 3 weeks with my Mother-in-Law, who safely landed late Saturday evening. After much hard work busting our asses, we managed to pretty thoroughly clean our house before she arrived. If we hadn't cleaned up, I guarantee you that she'd be spending her whole vacation here cleaning. Which pretty much defeats the purpose of a vacation, right? As it is, she's been cooking up a storm, which is making it extremely difficult to eat right.

In the last week, I've cheated quite a bit - we went to see Night at the Museum last Friday and I drank half a large soda and enjoyed a cinnamon pretzel. Then for dinner I had a hamburger at this awesome burger joint. And now she's here cooking things like rice, beans, tacos, and other delightful Mexican dishes. I'm trying hard not to over-do it, but it's not easy. I try to treat myself just a bit. I've not been able to lose any weight this past week, but I have been fortunate enough not to have gained any back. Not helping matters any is the 24 pack of Coke bottles I found at Sam's Club. I kicked my daily soda habit, only indulging in an occasional drink. But I have such a love of soda from actual glass bottles, that it was impossible for me to pass them up at Sam's. So for the time being, I'm not to having more than one a day if even that.

Did y'all watch the MTV Movie Awards? The part where Bruno (a.k.a Sasha Baron Cohen) landed bare-butt in the face of Eminem was funny as all hell. That is until I found out the whole thing was staged.

Bruno Lands On Eminem

I truly think that was the best moment of the night, though the much anticipated trailer of New Moon was right up there with it. So far New Moon looks to be done up a bit better than Twilight was, though I must say that the werewolf is a bit disappointing as it looks a bit cartoonish. What did you think of it?


I found the rest of the awards disappointing. Yeah, I liked the movie Twilight, but Dark Knight should have won the award for best movie hands down. Twilight isn't even in the same league as Dark Knight. So how that crappy little low budget flick beat out the 2nd highest grossing movie of all time is beyond me.

Monday afternoon I got the camera of my dreams. My wonderful hubby decided out of the blue that I should get the camera that I've been wanting for the last couple years. He bought me a Nikon D5000 12.3mp DSLR. It is so awesome, and I have so much to learn about using it. The package we bought came with 2 Nikon VR lenses; a 18-55mm and 55-200mm, and lots of other goodies. I haven't really had the chance to play with it too much, but I plan on maybe taking it out this weekend if the weather is nice. I want to go take some pictures at City Park and Audubon Park. I'll be sure to post pix as soon as I can.

Today we are finally getting our new windows installed, which I'm oddly excited about. Right now I'm sitting here sans air and windows while the guys pull out and replace the old windows. Luckily it's not quite as hot and humid as it was supposed to be, though according to AOL weather it's 80 something degrees right now. These new windows look so nice. I just wish this whole experience had been more pleasant. We've run into some really bad customer service, or should I say lack of customer service from Window World. It's been so bad I doubt I would recommend them to anyone else. With having 30 windows in our house, and the cost to replace those 30 windows we should have been treated a bit better!

Today my oncologists office called. My insurance denied approval for my follow-up PET scan, so instead we are going to do a CAT scan on Tuesday. I will meet with the doctor the following day to get the results. Let's hope this new breast cancer medicine has actually been working for the last 6 months and my scan comes back clear. I can't bear to go through this cancer shit again. Twice in a lifetime is twice too many, know what I mean? Though I have been neglecting my blog the last 2 months, I swear to post just as soon as I know the results.....and I promise to at least attempt to blog more often from now on. I've just been putting it off cause there hasn't been much of anything going on in my life, especially anything exciting. But I've had a decline in visits, so I need to step it up!

Kickin' Off a Summer of Fun

School's out and swimming's in. There's no better way to start the
summer. Here's Natalie showing off her new swim suit that we bought
over the weekend at Old Navy. Several of the neighborhood kids wear
these types of board suits instead of regular swim suits, so naturally
Natalie insisted on getting this the moment she saw it.

Where did May go?

I can't believe it is Memorial Day already, and just around the bend is the end of the school year! Come Saturday my mother-in-law will be here visiting from Las Vegas for 3 whole weeks.
It's going to be super hard having her here while I'm dieting, the woman cooks like no one else - and nothing she makes can be classified as "healthy", it's all Mexican food high in calories and fat. Sure I'll indulge a bit, but mostly I will be trying my damnedest to eat sensibly. It seems that my weight loss progress has slowed a bit. Which is to be expected. After all losing 13lbs in two weeks is a bit much. I guess at this point I need to focus on exercising more while I continue to eat right. For about the last week I've been using the new EA Sports Active for the Wii. I'll tell you that there is no doubt that it works. My legs burned so bad after just one use.
Here it has been nearly a week since I had an allergic reaction to eating a mango and my face is still flared up. I had to call the dermatologists office today cause my hives had gotten worse. He called me in a script for an oral steroid. I guess the shot I was given on Thursday had begun to wear off. I woke up this morning to my eyes all swollen and my face red and itchy. This whole experience has not been fun, that's for sure!
This weekend Natalie and I went shopping to get her clothes for summer. We spent the majority of the day at the mall going from store to store. It was tiring! While we were there we stopped into the salon and got her eyebrows waxed. I'm telling you a little bit of wax makes a world of difference.
Only a few more weeks and we'll be getting ready for our trip to Disney. I'm so excited. I swear it can't get here soon enough. It's been too damn long since we had a real vacation. While Ruben is out of town this week, I need to spend some time online finding the best prices on tickets to all the parks we want to go to. I still think we're nuts for going on the 4th of July, cause I'm sure the parks will be absolutely packed! I need to find out what the park hours are, and get information about them closing the park once it reaches capacity. I also need to figure out what reservations I need to make. Still so much planning to do - plus lots of cleaning before my mother-in-law arrives, and I need to find out when our new windows will be ready to be installed - not to mention all the work that needs to be done before hand like moving the furniture and blinds. Yup, with all that needs to be done vacation will be here in a blink of an eye!

Mangos Make Me Itch

Ever since I began "dieting", I've made a substantial effort to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies daily. I bought a batch of melons and mangos at Sam's last week and went nuts. I never really knew how much I liked mangos. I've never really had them before. So I've been eating a mango just about daily. I had one yesterday morning for breakfast and shortly after I realized that I had broken out with hives along my lips, chin, and neck. I took some Benadryl last night hoping the itchy red bumps would vanish. Instead I woke up this morning with sizably larger lips, and a very irritate rash. I now know what I would look like if I were to get my lips plumped with Juvaderm. I look like Melanie Griffith. The rash is not only itchy, but it burns as well. I've been taking Claritin all day, and keeping a cool damp cloth on the areas but it is not helping. So tomorrow I'll be seeing my dermatologist. I'm not looking forward to going out into public like this, but I think I need something stronger. I did a little research about allergic reactions to mango and found out that they are in the same plant class as poison ivy, oak, sumac, and cashews. The skin of the mango contains urushiol - the same thing that causes rashes from poison ivy plants. According to the information I found, I should be able to eat mangos without incident if I wash the skin thoroughly, and peel the flesh away before eating it. It also explains why I had eaten several before I broke out. The others probably had been washed better. An allergic reaction can start immediately after contact and could possibly last up to six weeks. I'm lucky that I didn't experience anaphylactic shock! The upside to all this is that I've lost 11 pounds in 13 days, which nearly makes up for having the hives!

The week in Review

Yeah, so it's been awhile since I made an actual post. I've been busy reading like crazy. I'm half-way through book 9 of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the final book until #10 is published in October. I've been reading almost non-stop since I bought the books 2 weeks ago. Aside from reading I've also been going on nightly walks with my friend Arlene. We're both trying to lose a few pounds, so we're trying to support each other by walking 1-2 miles around our neighborhood 3 to 4 nights a week. I'm also trying real hard to eat right, which for me is not an easy task. Once I get myself on track I'll be changing the way the whole family eats--that is if I can stick with this. At this point it's only been a few days, and my will power is still weak.
We went out to dinner Friday night for Mother's Day, and while I ate pretty sensibly, I did have a hard time staying away from the rolls and skipping dessert. I've even cut soda out completely, and when I do something like that you know it's serious. I think I'm finally getting over the caffeine withdrawals, as my head isn't throbbing today--however my feet are.
Yesterday I sat by my neighbor's pool reading while Natalie swam, and my feet which rarely see the light of day got pretty sunburned cause I neglected to put sunscreen on. It was a nice way to spend Mother's Day. Ruben spent the day working around the house. He started the day by making pancakes for me, which I was served in bed--dry (no butter or syrup) to make them less fattening. Then he did some yard work, the laundry so I wouldn't have to, then textured & painted Natalie's bathroom. I had bought myself some Cricut cartridges and told him not to get me anything, cause it wasn't like I really needed anything and we're getting new windows here in a few weeks, so I was trying to be practical. But while he was in Biloxi last week for the Southern Gaming Show, he bought me lots of goodies from the Hard Rock Casino. He's been asking me if I wanted to go to Wolf Camera and get something since the store is closing and everything is on sale, but I just got a new camera for my birthday, so I'm good.
In fact the only thing I am wanting is a new car. For some reason I want one so bad I've even began contemplating going back to work. I just haven't found a job yet. Wednesday when I was running errands in town, my instrument cluster panel on my dash fried--so my Durango has been in the shop since then waiting for the new part to come in. While I was at the dealership I fell in love with one of the Challengers there, though it's not the model I would purchase. Then Friday when we went out to dinner at Boomtown Belle they had a new Camaro there that will be raffled off next month. The temptation seems to be everywhere! It was such a sweet looking ride, though still not the model I would want. If I'm going to buy a Camaro I want the SS, not the coupe. But since it's being given away, I decided to get a club card just so my name could go in the drawing. Of course since we only played that night my chances of winning will be real slim....and Boomtown is too far away for me to swing by daily to swipe my card. And seriously, if I am going to gamble all that money daily I might as well use it towards a car payment and buy the dang thing. But I really love not having a car payment, and our lifestyle totally reflects that. Ruben wants to start saving money now so when we go to get a new car we can just pay mostly cash for it again. The problem is that's easier said that done. I'm good at saving money to a certain extent, and then it begins to burn a hole in my pocket.
So, that's been the past week in a nutshell. Don't have much planned for this week except for Thursday. Thursday I am supposed to get my 6 month follow up PET scan, which has me a tad nervous. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to call and reschedule it. One of our neighbors passed away on Friday, and we're going to the service on Thursday. Last year the couple had spent Thanksgiving with us, which kept me from moping about the family holiday and being alone. Sometimes not having family here really hurts. Since then they have been like adoptive grandparents to Natalie. They spoiled that child about as rotten as we do. So we want to be there to give support. I need to go out and buy something suitable to wear to the funeral since I don't have any dress clothes that fit me. I don't think wearing jeans would be appropriate. Then Friday I am seeing my plastic surgeon to have him look at my implants. The left side is still lumpy, and now the right side has gotten a lot firmer to the point that it's hard in some areas. I have a feeling I will be heading back into a 10th surgery--or at least hoping so, cause I don't want to be stuck with these, and I can't help but to worry and wonder if they will ever be "right". I will keep you posted. Hopefully once I finish this last book, I will get back to blogging more!

Fun in the Sun

Our neighbor invited Natalie to swim today even though they were
having a family get together for Mother's Day. It was a perfect day
for swimming--extremely hot. My poor little feet got burned.

I want this car

Yesterday the cluster panel in my dash literally fried due to an
electrical problem that had been recalled. Luckily I was near a Dodge
dealer and was able to drive there despite wipers that wouldn't shut
off and not being able to read the instruments. Well sitting at the
dealership is one of my dream cars....and it could be mine for only
$25,800. Ah, today would be a good day to hit the lotto!

Spring Pictures

Finally got Natalie's school spring pictures back last week. It's one
of the rare times she gets to wear street clothes to school. I can't
believe how fast my baby is growing up - and how grown up she looks
with waxed brows and her hair all done up. Makes me feel old just
looking at it!

Food, Friends & Fun

It's official, we are going to Disney World. I found an awesome 3 bedroom, 2 bath rental house with a private pool that accepts pets just minutes outside of WDW. We'll be there to celebrate 4th of July, and I'm sure it will be not only hot as hell, but freaken packed! I don't really care much cause our last trip to Disney was the best vacation Ruben has ever had. I think we'll be doing Disney for 4 days (a park each day) and some time at Seaworld and Universal. I'm so excited I can't wait!!! Every since we got our income tax return, I just been dying to book a vacation. So now the accommodations are all set, I just need to purchase park tickets. This will be Danny's first trip to Disney, and though he's not one for rides, I still think he will have a helluva good time.
It seems like time is just flying by. Summer break is right around the corner already. Ruben's mom will be here the weekend after school lets out. I'm really looking forward to the visit, and not just cause she cleans. In the years since my mom passed, I've really grown closer to my MIL.
This past weekend it seems like all we did is eat with our friends around the corner. Friday night Ruben played poker with Rene, while Arlene, I and the kids ate Mo's Pizza. They had never had Mo's before, but I'm pretty sure it lived up to the hype. Arlene and I sat out on the porch all night and had a few drinks. I'm reluctant to build a screened in porch here, yet for some reason I truly love sitting on Arlene's. It's so peaceful with the fountain, wind chimes and fans. I'm just not sure if I'll feel the same come the dead of summer though. Saturday Ruben cooked up some carne asada and once again we ate together. Ruben wanted to make something for them since Rene is always making enchiladas and feeding us. After dinner we sat and watched part of the NFL Draft. Sunday we were back over there again for food. Rene got 3 racks of ribs and cooked them up. By time I ate them and all the fixin's I felt sick cause all I did all weekend was feast. We keep it up and we'll all get fat! But can you really turn down good food and the company of friends? I think not.
Saturday afternoon we did a bit of running around, as we had to buy the meat for dinner and some other groceries. Along the way we stopped at Barnes & Noble to pick up some books. I purchased the first 7 Sookie Stackhouse novels - I've already completed book 1, I'm starting book 2, and I just ordered books 8, 9 & 10 (8 & 9 are pre-sales) from Amazon. The Sookie Stackhouse Series, or Southern Vampire Series is what HBO's TrueBlood is based off of. I've never really watched the series, but now that I am reading the books I think I may have to just as soon as season 2 starts up again. The books are more adult than Twilight, similar in several ways - and very good. My friend Heather recommended them to me. Besides, I figure reading is good exercise for my fogged up brain.
Lately I've been contemplating returning to work, though I'm not sure how that would work. I mean would the expenses really be worth it - and what would I do? I honestly don't know if I could return to accounting as I've been out of it for too long, and I'm much too stubborn to just be a drone. I'm a leader, not a follower. I don't know if I could find a job that's not bottom rung. I doubt I would qualify for much of anything as it's been 4 1/2 years since I worked. I just keep thinking how nice it would be if we had another income. I've got a bad burning desire to buy a new car, and what I want isn't cheap. I've been yearning for a new Camaro, Tahoe, Challenger, Charger or Durango, plus I'd like a new truck for Ruben - but I love not having a car payments. We're also toying with the idea of getting new windows; though I am not thrilled at the cost of replacing 30 windows! We have so many remodeling projects we'd like to do, but this economy just stinks. My kitchen needs updating bad, and every time I see those damn Electrolux commercials I want to rush out and buy the whole lot! I mean seriously - a washer & dryer that only takes 36 minutes, and a cooktop that boils water in 90 seconds? I want it all bad. I boiled eggs yesterday to make deviled eggs for dinner, and the water never really boiled, and I had them eggs on the stove for an hour!
I'd love to find some other freelance writing opportunities, but I'm not sure where to find them at....besides, I've been struggling a bit this month trying to write a piece for MBCN. On the upside, MBCN just recently named me as an expert. Something I've been trying to achieve for over a year now. I like helping women faced with breast cancer, I have a lot of knowledge to share - I just want more money, need more money. There's so much I want to do, but I don't want debt. I guess what I want is to have my cake and eat it too, which I know is not realistic. Why can't I just hit the lotto already? Of course you got to play to win, so that could be part of the problem as to why I'm not on my way to being a millionaire. LOL.

Bridge Traffic

I truly hate being stuck on the Huey P. The bridge is so narrow it's
sickening and to make it worse they have it closed to one lane. Making
it worse is the fact that it shakes, and your trapped between a train
and the mighty Mississippi. But I'm glad they are working hard to
expand it. Just wish the work would go faster!

Roaming Armidillo

Ran out to pick up some dinner and this critter walked right in front
of me. My first instinct was to run it over but I didn't want guts on
my tires. I was afraid to get any closer for fear of rabies.
Now that I'm back from Wendy's and Natalie is out playing she just
called from the neighbors house saying she saw it over there. Must
live around here.

A New Spin on Photo Sharing

I found this over at Lora's blog today, and figured that I'd pass it along. Be sure to check it out - I posted a too cute picture of my pup sleeping on my hubby's pillow yesterday.

A fellow blogger, Jiggins, started this new project called "On the Go Photo Blog"... where anyone can upload their mobile photos to share with the masses. I think it's brilliant! More photos are being added every day - so why don't you join us? You can send your photos - whatever you find interesting, beautiful, something that speaks to you - from your mobile phone to otgphoto.onthego@blogger.com - it's really that easy! Come check it out! :)LoraLoo, Suburbia Las Vegas, Apr 2009

Flashbacks and Other Stuff

This past week Ruben and I learned that we were tagged in some photos someone posted on Facebook. For those of you that don't know the story of how Ruben and I came to be, we met through a group of friends; a local Vegas chat room on AOL that would get together twice a week for drinks and fun. We both had many friends within this group, but as time passed we lost touch with most of them. Some people from the group you could go your whole life without ever speaking to again, and others remain very good friends even a decade later. We always managed to have a good time, believe me the proof is in the pictures. An old friend from the group posted a large batch of photos from back in the day that got quite a few of us reconnecting and reminiscing. Ah, the good ol' days. It's hard to believe it's been about 12 years since we met. It was good to see where some of our old friends ended up. Surprisingly, most of them moved away from Vegas like we did. While I was online, I decided to check out some other photos from people I know. I came across a batch from my step-father's recent birthday. We no longer talk, and from the looks of it I don't see that changing anytime soon either. One of the pictures he had posted was of him and his new girlfriend, to which he labeled "the love of my life." Just seeing it made me sick. My mom passed away not even 3 years ago. They were approaching their 17th wedding anniversary when she died. So if this new woman is the love of his life, then what the fuck was my mom? Needless to say the photo was very upsetting to me. It brings back too many painful memories, and it makes me wonder if she is at peace. My friends around the corner are great believers in ghosts and spirits. We've had talks before about it all and she has asked me if I thought my mom was happy with things. I've never sensed otherwise, but I think if she was pissed off, I wouldn't be the one she'd be haunting. Then again, as the note on this picture suggests, it would seem that she knew she wouldn't be coming back and was okay with the thought of him dating again. I just don't think she'd like the way he went on to treat her kids.

It's been a busy weekend here. Yesterday morning we drove out to Slidell to eat at Cracker Barrel. It ended up being a horrible experience. From now on I think we'll stick to dining at the Gonzales location. The drive there was a sad reminder of Hurricane Katrina. There is still so much property damage along the Lakeside area. It's heart breaking. Our old Six Flags just sits there and rots. There was some talk with Disney to buy the lot, but so far no sale. It would be nice if the park could re-open, but that area of town is pretty much a ghost town. Not much has changed in the last 3 1/2 years. Needless to say we didn't do much following breakfast. There weren't a whole lot of places to stop at on the way back.

Last night we went out to eat with our friend around the corner. Went to the Chinese buffet up the street. They serve all kinds of seafood on the weekends. It was our first time there and I was impresses. It was really good. So good I can't wait to go back - but it will have to wait. For now we are planning on grilling up some carne asada next weekend, which we don't get to do nearly as often as we'd like.

Ruben just left for Shreveport. He'll be gone most of the week, which sucks. He'll be working a graveyard shift installing games cause all his techs are in a training class or something this week. It's been about 8 years since he played tech. I don't have much going on this next week except for a follow-up appointment with my plastic surgeon. I'm hoping to get some answers as to when the swelling will go down and when I'll smooth out. The left side has a few bumpy areas, and I'm having some tingling and pain across my chest and under my arms. I'm curious when I can go bra shopping. Since they are smaller than what I wanted, I need to buy a good push up bra to make the best of them. I just think I'm too swollen to be wearing one just yet. Overall I think I am becoming more satisfied with the implants. I feel like I have nothing, but it's because they are virtually weightless - and Ruben and I agree that they feel very natural. I'm surprised at how soft they feel. I still wish they were bigger, but I don't think I'd be willing to go through more surgery for that. My only other option would be a flap procedure and after this last surgery I just think I'm done. Nine breast surgeries are enough!

I'm glad Natalie goes back to school tomorrow. A week off school is too much to handle right after surgery! Thank goodness Danny is here to help! Now that he's planning on staying we have to work on teaching him to drive, getting him licensed (though I don't really know what vehicle he'll drive) and getting him a job so he can get into school and get his certification for computers or whatever it is he wants to do. I'm wondering if he lives here while he goes to school, if I can claim him on my taxes next year?

Checkin' In

Here it is almost a week post-op. The pain has lessened considerably over the last few days. I have weird pain in my right arm depending on how I move it - it hurts to try to raise my arm or straighten it. I am uncomfortable every single second cause of these damn drain tubes. I cannot wait for them to be removed. They've finally slowed down enough that maybe they can be pulled tomorrow. I'm looking forward to being able to lay on my side again. With the pain these tubes cause it's really difficult to focus on much else, and to be honest none of my incisions really hurt much. The drains have stitches right there to hold the tubing in place, so with each move my skin is tugging at those stitches and it hurts like hell. The incisions on my chest concern me a bit. They are a little lumpy - puckered. Obviously my chest is swollen post-op, and until my incisions heal none of it will look right. I'm worried that I set my hopes too high. I'm worried I set myself up for disappointment. Things will never be the same, and I know and accept that (I think) - I just worry that I've went through all this pain for nothing. I currently have the biggest implants approved, yet they are only a fraction of the size they need to be. I feel flat chested, like I don't have anything. I'm worried that I'll never be happy with my post-op results. I think in my head I just pictured that reconstruction surgery would make it almost like cancer never happened or something and that's just not a realistic approach. All I can do is wait it out, time will tell ultimately what I look like post reconstruction - and I just need to be patient and remind myself that results do vary greatly, that things will never be the same, and the most important thing of all is that I am alive. It's hard when you've thought about this day for the last 4 years. I worry that just as I am getting out of a depressive funk, the results will set me back. I don't want to be depressed again. So for now I just breathe, and hope for the best. I know that the sooner I get these tubes pulled the sooner I will be feeling better. I see my surgeon on Wednesday, maybe then I can get an idea of how long till I am healed. Hope for the best....

I hate needles!

It's already been a morning of anxiety hell. The gown is
uncomfortable, the room so warm I feel ill then it was time for the
IV. Obviously I panicked. Turns put it was barely a prick. They used a
small gauge IV since it went in my hand. Now I'm just waiting to go
back which should be soon. Wish me luck.

Pictures from the Picnic

Here are some of my favorite pictures from yesterday's picnic at City Park in Baton Rouge. The park there was beautiful, the weather gorgeous, and the food was awesome!

Up until yesterday I had never really cared much for Crawfish, but the ones we had were huge and very tasty. I came home exhausted and slightly red from enjoying too much sunshine. The weather started out a bit breezy - it was 78 and perfect. Not too hot and not too humid. All in all a perfect day!

Now I'm trying desperately to fold laundry and somewhat organize this chaos before I shower and turn in early. I have to be at the hospital at 5:30. Can't wait! Enjoy the pix, will check in when I'm feeling lucid.

Snap Happy

I'm getting LOTS of good pix on my Sony. It's a beautiful day here in
Baton Rouge. The weather is perfect for a picnic. Not too hot. Not too
humid. And luckily the park isn't overcrowded either. I'll post more
as I can.
Hope you're having a beautiful Saturday as well!

Here's Lunch

40 pounds of crawfish getting prepped to cook.

Pictures from the party

Here are a few pictures from the birthday party we attended last Saturday. Tomorrow we have a company picnic to go to in Baton Rouge.....really hoping the weather stays nice for it. I'll be sure to snap lots of pix and post them on Flickr just as soon as I can! Some of the kids having fun in the bouncy house; Natalie riding the birthday girl's new scooter; and a crawfish the boys caught in the ditch.

Who knew

When's the last time you browsed the card section of Walgreen's? I'm
looking for a card and I come upon a section of cancer/recovery cards.
Wow, what's next divorce cards?

Random Ramblings

Last week as I was laying down to sleep the iPod shuffled this song that sounded so familiar, yet I just couldn't place it. So I had to have Ruben take a listen just so I could find out who it was. He was shocked that I had never heard the song before, or that I couldn't place the singer. The song was "Next Contestant"by Nickelback, from the album All the Right Reasons that was released in 2005. We have just about everything from Nickelback - I'm a huge fan and I thought that I had heard it all. That Chad Kroeger is an amazing artist - just about every song of theirs is a hit! It makes me wish Ruben was the concert goer type, cause I would have loved to see them perform with Seether and Saving Abel - but he's not really into the whole crowded arena thing, though it's not much different than going to a Saints game. Ah well, maybe next time I'll just go alone.

This past week or so we've been experiencing a lot of severe weather, though we aren't quite flooding like Fargo. We've had many tornado watches and flood warnings - lots of rain, thunderstorms, and lighting; problems with the drainage and pumps. Luckily we have not flooded other than the pool we accumulate in the backyard - but still that water is a good 10 feet away from the house. All the tornado watches worry me cause Ruben has been traveling both last week and this week, and when I sleep, I sleep like a log. In the past the tornado siren did not wake me. So it scares me knowing that I have to hear it and wake Natalie up should it go off. We also purchased a severe weather radio that is supposed to let us know what's on radar, but we won't know how well it works till it actually goes off. This weather is both good and bad - the grass is growing like crazy, but I think it's been a bit too much water for some of the plants. We may have to replace a few. I confess, I do not have a green thumb even though my mother grew up on my grandfather's farm. I guess not all things are genetic.

This weekend we went to one of the neighborhood kid's birthday party. Natalie had lots of fun playing with all the kids. It was a nice site to see them all getting a long. Even Ruben joined in the fun. He's just one big kid, and at the end of the day he was wiped out. I even managed to have a drama free afternoon around some of the neighbors I have problems with, but it was mostly due to avoidance. I felt a bit miserable at first, but then I decided to say screw it. The haters can go to hell for all I care. After I loosened up, I ended up spending the evening unwinding by the fire with my friend. It's so great to have a real friend that I can confide in and trust after all the crap that has gone on around here. She's the first friend that I have had in years and I'd do just about anything for her. Hanging around her is pretty effortless, everything just comes naturally. Even our husbands are alike. We all get along so well, we ended up spending part of Sunday with them as well. We were invited over for dinner, which was so freaken yummy. I've finally found someone else's enchiladas that I like as much as my mother-in-laws. They are different, but every bit as good. Perhaps one day I'll learn how to make them. I cannot cook Mexican food - and I dare not try as I would probably insult my husband. When we have rice or beans he makes it, cause I don't know how. I can grill some Carne Asada, cause I do know how to season it, but that's about it. My steak fajitas comes straight out of the frozen food section. I can however make a mean meatloaf, spaghetti, pork & beef roast, along with some soups and chilis.....ya know, your regular "American" food, except I am a really good cook when I actually cook. I can't stand slaving over the stove and doing dishes 7 days a week!

These last few weeks have really flown by. In less than a week I will be having my surgery. As each day passes, I grow more excited. Sometimes I think knowing that the end is near has helped lift some of my depression. We have a busy weekend planned leading up to my surgery on Monday. First off I have some doctor appointments this week, and I need to remember to get with the hospital for the pre-op stuff - they have yet to call, so I need to make arrangements. Don't want any problems come Monday! Saturday we're heading up to the Baton Rouge area for a company picnic. I need to hit up a grocery store, cause I'm down for bringing sweets. I think I'm going to make this chocolate sheet cake that's a family recipe. It's been forever since I made it - which means I will have to put some hours in the kitchen Friday after my eye doctor appointment. I'm also hoping to get in a movie this weekend. I'm really stoked about Fast & Furious opening, but I know I will be laid up resting for the next few weeks following my surgery. I should have planned out some meals for the next week, but we're just going to have to wing it. Hopefully Danny and Ruben can handle the cooking for a bit. We still have taxes to be tended to before my surgery....which I should be working on now. I'm thinking about going back to doing our own taxes again now that we don't have the complication of moving expenses. I'm going to run the numbers and see, cause if I can do it myself I'd rather save the $300 instead of paying Jackson Hewitt. Cross your fingers for a big return!
I'll try to post some pix from the party just as soon as I can!

Sometimes you just have to do what's right.

Today we were given an opportunity that we've waited nearly 3 years
for, and sadly we had to decline. We've been on the waiting list for
Saints season tickets since we moved here. Today a slot opened up,
giving us a chance to root ourself in the organization - but we had to
ask ourselves do we spend nearly 5k for football tickets in this
economy when we have a million home remodeling projects to be done?
It was hard reasoning such careless spending, so we stuck with doing
the right thing. It sucks ass, but at least we have a great 61" HD
flatscreen that we can watch the game on instead. Besides at home we
can pause for bathroom breaks :)
Hopefully we'll get another chance once this recession is over.

Angi

"Whoever said winning isn't everything never had to fight cancer"

Http://scrapaddictnv2.blogspot.com/

Sent from my iPhone

Some of Louisiana's Finest

Home grown strawberries from Ponchatoula. Mmm. I'd bet just about
anything that these taste better than the crap we bought at the market
this weekend!

whatsa been going on around here

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately. Did you miss me? It started out as necessity, as I had to send my laptop into HP for some repairs. I had other computers I coulda used, but the desktop screen in my studio generates so much freaken heat - and that's not really something you want to do when the weather's warmed up and the air is on. So basically I took a bit of a break, and amazingly enough I found that I could live without it. Does that mean that I'm quitting my blog? Hellfreaken no! I just took the time out to enjoy life, and to be honest every since I was struck with cancer in 2005, I think I had forgotten how to live and have fun.

For the past 4 years I've basically holed myself upstairs away from everyone and everything. I didn't have much family time except for maybe once a week and it was my own fault. Dealing with depression is hard. It's even harder when you eat your feelings, cause the fatter you get the more depressed you get. It's all a vicious cycle, and I'm ready to break free of it. I'm just not sure how to do it yet. Which is why I've already decided on Lap Band surgery. That way I can just start new. I'll be forced to develop new eating habits - and quite honestly working out alone just doesn't cut it. I've tried to eat good, I gave up soda, I walked and none of that shit worked. I have too many things working against it all. They don't perform gastric bypass really anymore, so my only other option is a gastric sleeve - but it's a relatively new procedure and the Lap Band just seems so less complicated. Plus I figure if I'm going to shell out my $750 out of pocket expense to get my one surgery done, I might as well get all the procedures I can that I need done this year. I just have to find out if the insurance will cover it, but I'm doubting they will deny it since I have had cancer twice, among other things.

Anyway, these last few weeks I have spent more time with my family - we've watched movies (Bolt, Twilight, Role Models, Zack & Miri, Step Brothers and a few others), we've played video games (Guitar Hero WT, Street Fighter 4, Resident Evil 5, Bolt), we started and finished our landscaping for now (we did our part stimulating the economy with our 2 trips to Home Depot), we attempted a nice Saturday at the zoo (but little did we know it was Earth Fest and the 27,000 people in attendance turned us away after a 2 hour drive to try to get there....traffic and parking were a complete mess.) I've enjoyed a bit of time to myself, meaning my schedule was pretty open compared to my 3 or 4 appointments a week. I've developed another new addiction in the form of fragrance lamps. I've bought 3 within a week, and have already been through 2 bottles of oil. I was skeptical at first, but a neighbor let me use her lamp and I found it's so much better than a regular candle. My favorite scent is Creme Brulee for Orleans Candles. I'm still rocking the glasses, but I'm hoping that will all change tomorrow. I've been sporting them for a month now! My head hurts every night....not to mention my neck, but I'm still not sure why I've had this neck problem. I still think it's cause my expanders are crushing everything and pinched a nerve. Speaking of my expanders, my right one hurts like hell! Ruben and I were throwing the football around Saturday and I missed the ball and it hit me in the chest. I know, it was completely stupid of me to do - and I am paying for it now, believe you me! It hurt so bad the first night I thought maybe I busted the expander or was developing a hematoma....but I never did bruise, so I guess all is okay. I see my plastic surgeon this week for my pre-op. Only two more weeks, yay! I'm hoping that my Vitamin D count is back up enough so it won't interfere with my surgery, as I've really been making an effort to get some time in the sun as of late - and so far it has not really affected my rosacea, though I still have some healing red marks. Yup, life has been pretty good these last few weeks, I'd even go as far as to say great except for the damn pain I've had. Oh and I've still got the insomnia. For some reason unknown to me, I can only fall sleep listening to my iPod now.....and going to bed with Skullcandy earbuds in is not exactly comfortable. I'm hoping that it's just the pain of everything and the stress of waiting for surgery that is giving me sleeping trouble.

Oh yeah, I was one of those crazy Twi-Moms that was standing in a line, winding around the floor of Wal-mart of 100 or more at midnight on Friday. I think just about all the tweens in my lil suburb town were there waiting for 12:01. The two girls in front of me were squealing so much I had to put my earbuds in and listen to music cause I just could take it anymore! I made Ruben and everyone watch it Saturday night, and as I expected Ruben not only disliked it, but he talked crap all through out it. Every time Edward would come in view he called him George and cracked jokes. Yea, I will admit the movie is a bit cheesy. I think the books are far better. Ruben just thought it was a real cheesy chick flick and totally failed to see the love story underneath it all. He just doesn't get that all girls want an Edward - not a vampire, but a man that is hopelessly and endlessly in love with them. I guess I'm a bit of a romantic at heart. There was no doubt that Natalie loved the movie and is officially Team Edward. Can't say that I blame her, though Jacob is cute too - but those boys are much too young for me, even though they are legal. But who doesn't like a lil eye candy from time to time?

We also got Natalie's hair cut this weekend, so here's a shot of her hamming it up, followed by some pix of the yard.....I just realized I've really been lagging on taking pix too. Now that it's spring maybe I can get some good ones outside this next weekend.

...and a new addiction was born...

A few weeks ago Ruben brought home something that brought back many fine memories of 1992, which coincidentally was the same year that I graduated from high school, lived in Hawaii, and worked on a submarine - the year I was re-introduced to gaming. Up till this point I hadn't really played much of anything since I was a teenager playing Super Mario Bros. on my NES back in the mid 80's. I'm the first to admit that I am the furthest thing from a "gamer". On occasion I might play some Wii family games or use the Wii Fit, or even go as far as totally sucking on Guitar Hero. But I rarely ever play other games cause I seriously lack gamer's thumbs. But this new Street Fighter has totally made an addict out of me. I've played so much in the last few weeks that I developed a major callous on my thumb, which is now an area consisting of hard, dry skin. There's no doubt that a few rounds will have my thumb throbbing in pain - but does that stop me? No. I don't know if perhaps we've just found a game that I really do enjoy cause it's not overly complicated (like Resident Evil 5!) or if this all began out of boredom cause my laptop was in the shop for repairs. All I know is that I have been playing it non-stop like some kind of junkie, and I think I dreamt about it last night. LOL. Even right now as I sit here and type this I am just itching to go downstairs and start playing, but I have so much more to do now that my computer is back. I really must get this document put together of all my medical expenses and mileage so we can have our taxes done - like before the deadline, or better yet - before my surgery! LOL.
Oh and I just wanted to throw out there just how much I think the PS3 SUCKS! Every freaken time we put a game into it it takes AT LEAST an hour to install it, which is the main reason we buy most games for the XBOX or Wii. It's total bullshit and takes all the fun out of wanting to play something. I'm officially boycotting the PS3. It's nothing but a $400 piece of shit!

It's been a rough week!

This last injection has really done me in. I can't manage to get comfortable for anything and it's making me miserable. Not only does my chest hurt - but my shoulder blades and ribs do too. And if that weren't bad enough, now my neck has been so stiff that I can barely manage to move it at times. I'm in so much pain that my pain meds aren't doing their job. I haven't slept well all week, which worries me. I was a total insomniac for like 3 years, then my doctor gave me this medicine to help me sleep at night. It used to knock me out, and make me sleep through the whole night. Now I'm having problems falling asleep and staying asleep and I don't know if the medicine has lost it's effectiveness, if it's stress, or if I'm just in too much discomfort to sleep soundly. Not helping matters is the fact that no matter which way I lay I hurt. I have rib fractures on both sides and too much pain to sleep on my stomach or back. I'm concerned that one of these expanders may have caused a pinched nerve causing my neck the pain that it has. I just keep telling myself just a little over 3 weeks left and hopefully most of the pain will be behind me - I can't safely say that Ruben is tired of hearing me bitch about my pain - and I can't blame him cause I'm certainly tired of having it!
Earlier this week Danny came out from Vegas to help out with my upcoming surgery. His flight arrived at 12:30 am, which didn't help sleeping matters any. But needless to say, everyone is happy Uncle Danny is back! He's always such a big help around the house. Last night he helped me prepare dinner - he's getting into cooking, so it's nice that he can help out some with that aspect, cause sometimes you just need a break from standing there cooking and cleaning - especially when you're in pain! His first full night here, Ruben made him sit down and watch both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight since he hadn't seen either and Ruben is really into a Batman phase right now. Well we're sitting there and we're getting ready to watch the second movie. Now remember a few weeks back all the hype over the whole Christian Bale tirade? Well Ruben and I will quote the classic line "oh good for you" whenever it's appropriate. Well Ruben was joking around about something and out of no where Natalie chimes in with "oh good for you" and we started laughing so hard I nearly wet myself. She's never heard the tirade, just us joking around but to hear her quote some classic line is so awesomely Ruben. LOL. Speaking of "Rubenisms" the XBOX 360 wasn't starting up right and Ruben started to freak out that he was going to get the ring of death, though the ring color was green instead of red and I walk up to it and the Scene It controller is plugged into the USB port. I undo it and the problem was fixed. I didn't even know what I was doing, or what was wrong as I don't play video games much. But Ruben was so happy I fixed it for him and it was just a total role reversal cause usually I'm the one that freaks out and he's the one that calmly pulls out the most obvious fix. I guess after 10 years we're starting to rub off on each other! Speaking of the XBOX - tonight is game night. One of the older neighborhood kids is coming over tonight to play Street Fighter 4 with Ruben and Danny. Street Fighter was once my favorite game back in the day. I had it on Super Nintendo in like 1992 - and I thought I was pretty good at it, but I'll tell you not only do the characters in this new version look like they are on steroids, but it is a whole lot harder to play! I'm no gamer, that's for damn sure, so I had to start practicing so I can play tonight - and what happens? I wind up with this HUGE callous on my thumb. All that hard work and I might not be able to play tonight after all. Bummer! I haven't popped it yet cause then it will peel over and hurt even more. Danny says there is something you can buy to put on the controller for people like me who can't play well.....seriously, I am a button masher. I can pull off tricks, but don't ask me how I do it cause I just keep pushing buttons till something works. I even went through the challenge area to try to learn how to do combos, but I don't think I retained anything it taught me. So on that note, it's time to jump in the shower so we can run to Game Stop. Hopefully they carry this thing I need. Otherwise I will really be hurting tomorrow!

Spring Forward

Here it is Daylight Savings Time again - thank goodness! The lab work my doctor ordered last week, the 10 vials of blood they took and did practically every test under the sun on came back with an extreme Vitamin D deficiency, I now need to take medicine for 3 months to help get me back in range. Now that the days are longer maybe I'll be able to get a bit more sun and in return Vitamin D. I know I should be taking some kind of daily multi-vitamin supplement, but I already take so much medicine that I just really can't stand to take anything else in a pill form - and with having Rosacea I don't spend much time in the sun or heat because it triggers the symptoms. I'm hoping that this medicine will help me get the deficiency in check before my surgery on April 6th as I really, really don't want to have to post-pone it. A 4 year wait is long enough. I can't believe the time has finally come to take the next step for reconstruction surgery - which means now that I have completed all my saline fills my schedule in the coming weeks will be open. Yay, cause this past week of running around was especially exhausting! I had more doctors appointments than what I care to have. I put about 175 miles on my car just from going back and forth to my appointments last week. I was driving around so much I swear I started getting road rage - but that's to be expected since they have the main bridge into town closed to one lane. It totally sucks, but more so for Ruben cause he has to battle rush hour traffic day in and day out.
This next week shall be fun. So far the the clocks on our cable boxes have yet to change. I'm just hoping I can get up tomorrow as I have not been able to sleep comfortably in the last few days. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, Tuesday I have my follow up with my eye doctor. I am sooooo hoping that I can go back to contacts soon. I swear my glasses are giving me a headache! This week I need to pack up my laptop and send it off to HP. I'm going to be so lost without it - we have an old one to use in the meantime till both our laptops come back, but it is so ancient it needs a wireless card and it doesn't have a spare USB port to charge my iPhone. It so sucks, but it reminds me of the days when things were so much simpler - our first laptop, when our worlds didn't revolve around computers. Now everything is computer related - paying the bills, banking, blogging, all my pictures and music. Seriously, how in the world did we ever live without such great technology?

Banned to glasses

My eye doc cancelled my appt for tomorrow and rescheduled for next
week. The antibiotics and steroids are working but I still can't see
as crisp as I should in my left eye. I really hate wearing my glasses
as my eyes are just too sensitive for the sun.
I think my dermatologist should be happy today to see how much my face
has cleared up. Still some faint red marks/scars from the rosacea but
overall a major improvement. Yay!
Tomorrow I see my plastic surgeon and get what should be my last fill.
Double yay! Hopefully we'll schedule surgery in a couple weeks. I
can't wait! My current tissue expanders are cock-eyed. One is up high
and centered. The other low and towards the underarm. I feel like I
look freakish. Then again I haven't really had boobs in 4 years. Now
if I could just lose my belly but I don't think it's going anywhere so
I'm going to a seminar next week to learn about the different
bariatric procedures. I'm thinking that since I can't get my tummy
tuck with the breast reconstruction - cause we're using implants
instead of a flap procedure; that I'll get a lap band instead so I can
lose weight. With menopause and all my meds trying to lose weight is
an uphill battle. I'm tired of being fat and disappointed that I
gained most of the 90 lbs I lost in 2004 back. So I think I'm going to
do this even though I've been so against it since my mom died of liver
complications as a result of some gastric procedure she had done in
1980. It doesn't hurt to get info though, right? Wish me luck!

A hospital with a hotel and pool

The view from the parking garage. This hospital has a hotel AND pool.

So What's New....

That would be not much around here. I'm still suffering from so much pain. I get my fills then spend the first 5 days in agony, finally feel better, then it's time for another fill. I saw my PS yesterday, so now I'm at 1050 and only have another 100cc's to go. As usual my left side doesn't hurt much, my right side hurts enough for both. I woke up this morning with a pain on my right side, which I think my be a rib - hopefully not a broken one. I've still got the pain and pressure across my shoulder blades from both sides. And it's not just the pain that's keeping me from blogging, cause trust me I've had many thoughts of posts I'd like to make - but the pain is causing me to max out on my pain meds, which in turn is making me excessively drowsy and I usually end up nodding off. Because of my pain, sitting forward is uncomfortable, and even laying back isn't easy. Not helping matters is the fact that I've been sick for a week now, though I am not nearly as sick today as I was last week. I'm finally getting better, but add cold meds to the pain meds and yep, I'm nodding off. So right now I sit here unable to breathe just so I can make a post. I've got to do it now while I can. We're experiencing some major computer issues in this house. I have one notebook that completely crashed and won't boot up at all, then I have another that the internal connector for the power supply is loose - so one minute it works, then if I move it turns off - so I never know when I might lose it and get it back on if ever. I spent nearly 2 hours last night trying to deal with HP Support. What a freaken headache that was. Unfortunately one of Natalie's friends was here last night while I was trying to take care of the problem. I was in pain and in a bad mood, so I wasn't feeling up for making dinner - mostly cause Natalie never ate her lunch, so that was to be her dinner. Anyway her friend overheard me getting upset with tech support (they couldn't find my name, number or devices) and told Natalie that her mom is nicer than I am. Ouch. I gotta remember to be more careful when others are around, especially kids cause they may not understand what you're getting upset about. It turned out that the girl I was dealing with had enter my info wrong, but it took me nearly an hour to talk with someone else who could find my info in the system.....and of course these tech support people are located in India, so not only do they not know how to spell Louisiana, but you can't understand just what in the hell they are trying to say to you. I think for the price we paid we deserve a little better customer service, I mean these are custom built notebooks, not the cheap piece of crap you get off the shelf for $500 - which just reminded me of an email Ruben got yesterday from one of the many electronic gadget sites that was offering Acer notebooks for under $300, but I'm sure it's a piece of crap. You get what you pay for. So all these computer problems come at a bad time! I've got documents I'm trying to prep for taxes. I have to put all my medical stuff into a spreadsheet and figure out all the miles to and from the doctor's office so we can write off all the co-pays, deductibles, and rx's. The medical deduction is always a big one for me. I average a doctor or two a week and spend nearly $175 in rx's a month. This whole vacation has been spent going back and forth to appointments. Monday I busted a filling and had to go to the dentist to get it replaced - even though I was sick. Wednesday Natalie and I got our eyes checked, cause I realized I was low on contacts and was overdue for an exam. Well low and behold I find out that the little incident 2 weeks ago in which I thought I was getting pink eye was actually something else. It's all my own fault really cause I don't wear my glasses enough - which may just mean that I will be restricted from contacts for a month or more. My eye was all swollen and I had lots of blood vessel growth, so I am on antibiotic and steroid drops for now till I follow up with him next week. Yeah I can see perfectly out of my right, but my left eye everything appears hazy. At first I thought I had a dramatic change in my prescription, but we won't be doing an eye exam till my eye is better. Drops 5 times a day is not fun, isn't having to wear my glasses punishment enough LOL? I hate my glasses cause my eyes are just too sensitive to sunlight, but I guess when things get better I'm going to have to make a point of wearing then every other day whether I like it or not! Luckily Natalie's vision was perfect like her daddy's. Then yesterday I had my fills and Natalie tagged along - we had lunch, ice cream, and played with a cute little puppy at the pet store. She was supposed to get her brows waxed, but the girl at the salon was not in - so I'll have to figure out an alternative. Today she has a check up....I'm trying to make the most of this break from school. Next week I'm hoping to find time to finish my tax docs, but ti will be hard given I have doctor appointments for the first half of the week. I'm just going to have to sit aside Thursday and clear my schedule and hopefully work through the pain - and hope it all makes sense in the end. I'm just going to have to make it a priority to shift some things around and re-prioritize my schedule. Because of the pain, I haven't been walking and I'm not happy about that. I'm limited on what activities I can do as is, so I need to make the time to at least walk even if I feel like crap! I want to lose 20 lbs ASAP and another 30 or more by years end. I need to buckle down, get motivated and start using my craft room more. I procrastinate way too much and let things destroy my schedule, and I know I could be doing things much more efficiently - but I think I'm just suffering from lack of desire. It's all peaks and valleys and right now I am lost in the valley.

A Sucky Sick Weekend

This has been a miserable weekend. I woke up Friday morning my throat hurting. Natalie had a Mardi Gras parade at school that morning, and it was a bit breezy out. I think the chill in the air made things get worse. I don't know if I'd say it's the flu, but it's definitely a head cold with lots of congestion and coughing. Natalie's not full on sick, but Ruben is and he never gets sick! We were supposed to go to a parade Friday evening, but in route Natalie decided that she didn't feel up to going. Instead she just wanted to eat and go home. We hit up a Chili's (that's what she wanted) then went to Target to load up on some meds. Luckily Natalie is on vacation from school next week, so if she ends up full on sick she won't miss any days. Ruben's off Monday and Tuesday, which will be good for him to recover from his cold. Monday I have a dentist appointment cause I damaged a filling. I tried to get Natalie in for a cleaning, but they are always booked months in advance....I'll have to try Easter break maybe. Tuesday if we are feeling up to it, we plan on hitting a parade that Ruben's co-worker is in. Tuesday is Fat Tuesday - the actual Mardi Gras holiday, so I bet it will be crazy out! Wednesday Natalie will be coming with me when I go in for my next fill. Originally I thought she might be scarred for life, watching them stick me with a needle and pump me full of saline - but now I'm fairly certain that she will be fascinated by it.....plus she needs to see that not all needle sticks hurt, now blood tests or IV sticks are totally different - LOL! Thursday we're both scheduled for eye exams. I'm hoping her vision will be fine - she tends to take after Ruben with his eyes and teeth, which are perfect; mine not so much. I'm already practically blind, so I hope my rx didn't change cause I don't want to have to get new glasses. The whole thing kinda pisses me off cause my rx got worse each year, then remained the same for 2 years in a row. I was all ready to consider laser correction surgery, but then it got worse again. I'm already wearing a -5 something, I'm still having problems focusing on stuff, and my doctor already told me I'll likely need reading glasses on top of my contacts....ugh. Damn, how can you be both far and near sighted at the same time? I don't get it! So keep your fingers crossed that my vision did not change this year.

Friday I booked flights for my brother and mother in law to come visit. Danny's coming out on March 9th to help me post-op. He's been unable to find a job in Vegas, so we're hoping he can get a job here and stay for a bit and save up for school. Damn economy took a dump and he's having problems getting a student loan. For the time being he'll be staying till August, but we can change his return flight at any time depending on if he can find a job here. Ruben's mom is coming out for 3 weeks to see Natalie when school breaks for the summer. Southwest was having a sale on airfare. We've been talking a lot about taking a vacation, but it's hard to plan for one when you're not sure when you're having surgery or how long your brother in law might be visiting for. So instead of doing Disney this year I think instead we'll put it off till next year, but plan it now and make payments on it - and this year we'll drive up to where I grew up and see some of my old friends, go to Six Flags, and see the sights along the way or maybe plan a trip to Texas and go to Six Flags and Sea World. First we've got to see how this all works out with Danny staying. It's just impossible to plan for anything when there are so many unknown factors. This week would have been a prime time to take a vacation, but I couldn't book anything cause I originally thought I would be having surgery next week. Lots of locals use Mardi Gras to vacation elsewhere....you've seen one parade, you've seen them all. Hopefully later I will feel up to posting some pix from Natalie's school parade. Right now I'm going back to cuddling under my blankie, just as soon as I take some more Sudafed. Gonna snuggle up and watch a movie, and just chill.

So..much..pain..

Today was my 5th saline fill. I'm now at 950cc's and have only about 200 more to go before surgery. Each week is more painful than the last - the pain continues through the weekend and ends shortly before the next fill. The pain is so bad I've been maxed out on my pain meds, which makes me pretty drowsy. It's not just the pain of my skin and muscle stretching, the pain radiates from front to back as the expanders are crushing downwards and pushing on a rib. So I've got lots of pain in my upper back region. I've been pretty freaken miserable, and I'm just so anxious to get it over with. The pain is exhausting! I haven't been sleeping well. It's cutting into my blogging time. I'm very uncomfortable with sitting upright or laying back....and the pain is even making it hard to walk on the treadmill, at least during the first few days - which really sucks because I've been wanting to walk around the neighborhood with my friend from around the corner. We walked last night - got a nice blister on my foot to show for it, but today I'm just in too much pain. I swear I can feel my chest wall on my right side ripping.
So that's where things are right now. Next week is Mardi Gras. Natalie's school parade is this Friday - so I'll have some pictures from that to post. She's out of school for Mardi Gras, so she'll be accompanying me to my fill next week. I hope the experience won't be too scaring for her. Knowing her interests, she'll probably be fascinated by it. Next week we're also getting our eyes checked, and I have a dentist appointment cause a pita crisp damaged one of my fillings - fun, fun! I just hope that my prescription for my glasses didn't change cause I don't want to have to get new ones - oh and I hope Natalie's vision is ok. Please let her have Ruben's eyes. She has his teeth, which is a good thing! Ok, well time to take more meds now. I'm really uncomfortable and can't stand leaning forward anymore. Just a few more weeks till it's all over!

Picture Time

Today for some odd reason Natalie had school even though Ruben was off work for President's Day. I think it has something to do with the fact that she has all of next week off for Mardi Gras. Anyway, since Ruben was off work today we decided to go have lunch with her. Here are some pictures from lunch, and one of the Mardi Gras float project she had to make for her language arts class. The float had to be based on a book she has read - and though she has read the book, Ruben and I did the majority of the work making this float. It's from the book The Magic School Bus Space Explorers......then of course it has a 'lil bead action for the whole Mardi Gras vibe.

Social Networking?

I've been carrying around a load lately that I'm just not sure if or how I want to unleash it. Yes, it revolves around drama and recent events, and the whole thing is just totally exhausting - that's why I haven't opened up about it yet.

One thing I do want to discuss, and clear up is the use of MySpace and Facebook, and even this blog for that matter. It was recently brought to my attention that others have questioned my use of this social networking sites. I guess someone thought I was a bit old for such sites. Now let me just say that right now I'm emotionally and physically spent. There was a huge dramatic blowout earlier this week with someone and for the last few weeks since I began receiving saline fills again, I have been in a lot of pain - way more than normal. I forgot how much having breasts hurts your back - though my pain that radiates from front to back is from the pressure of my tissue expanders. So anyway, I'm not going blow a gasket on this post - I'm just going to make it crystal clear that my blogging, and use of other sites is strictly for networking. Of the people that are my "friends", most I actually know personally - others I have formed a friendship with because we have traveled down a similar path that is cancer - and the rest are friends of friends who write things I enjoy reading. I partake in these sites to not just keep in contact with old friends, but so that I can "network."

If it weren't for this blog I would not have had the honor or privilege of becoming a freelance writer for the breast cancer communities I work with. I would have missed out on doing something that has been a dream of mine for the last 4 years; and that is to help other women who have cancer. One day when I'm finished with surgeries and cancer, and the economy is in a better place - I have every intention on taking a class or two and sitting down and writing my breast cancer book. This is MY journey, MY dream. That is why I blog and have MySpace and Facebook accounts. There is no age limit to social networking, and anyone who sees a problem with what I do or why I do it is missing out on the bigger picture.

If a person isn't an obvious perv, do you believe that it is acceptable for a 30-something person to use these tools? Do you belong to MySpace or Facebook and has anyone ever questioned why you do?

Give the Gift of Music this Valentine's

Ruben and I spent the day shopping for Valentine gifts for Natalie. Nothing too extreme, she deserves a box of chocolates as we love her and Valentine's Day is supposed to be all about celebrating love. We started with a grand plan of going to the mall to hit up Godiva (my fave) then heading to Home Depot to get fertilizer for the lawn. Well we made it to the mall ok, did a little shopping, walking around. Ruben bought Natalie a small heart shaped cookie cake - I got my box of chocolates, we looked at the puppies at the pet store, checked out the Disney store, then ultimately broke down and entered the Apple store.....Ruben needed a plug to charge his iTouch, plus he was fondling and drooling over the notebooks. His HP died a few weeks ago and we're waiting for the extended warranty repairs to be done on it - in the meantime he's been using this ancient Dell that requires a WiFi card. I've mentioned before how electronic stores are hazardous for us as we have a major addiction, and right now we are truly having a love/hate relationship with electronics from Ruben's notebook dying, his phone breaking, our Blu-ray player not working, issues with our new Onkyo receiver - and now my notebook as just minutes ago my computer just turned off. It seems to be an issue with where the power cord plugs in...great, now I have to send in MY HP as well. Lovely. In any case, lately an old alarm clock that I've been using has been picking up some strange noises. I tell Ruben it's the aliens trying to make contact - it happens near nightly. He says it's interference with my iPhone, but I don't buy it since this problem just began and I've had my phone for about 6 months now. Somehow or another a iHome alarm clock caught my attention - it works with my phone, and it would solve the strange noise problem. The catch is that the Apple store is highly overpriced. I say this because we had bought Natalie the same model for her birthday and it was $50 less at Toys R Us, so we decided to go to the other mall where Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond is at. Sure enough we found it for just $100 - $50 less than Apple. I'm not sure what happened after that because I can tell you that we have 2 iHome products and we love them both, but somehow or another I ended up with a Jensen that offered all the same features for the same price but is actually an HD receiver. We figured why not, and so far I really like the product itself - though it is a little large for an alarm clock, but I can't say I'm too impressed with HD radio. I think I only found about half a dozen channels, but as far as I know it resolved our problem though I'm sure swapping out that old alarm clock for a different one we have in the house would have sufficed. Oh well - we can use this when we walk on the treadmill. It just goes to show that if you have an addiction you will find any excuse to get your fix!

Oh, and while at Target we did get Natalie two little gifts for Valentine's - a Nerf dartboard and this thing that maps out all the constellations and stuff, cause she loves all things science, biology & weather. So the day wasn't a total loss....it coulda been worse, I coulda walked away with that cute little Bichon Springer puppy I was holding at the pet store :)

A Lovely Surprise

The doorbell rang just a bit ago, I thought it was likely the FedEx man cause Ruben said he was expecting a package to come. Well I open the door to discover it's actually a floral delivery. I'm thinking the whole package delivery was just a line he used to make sure I would be home to accept the delivery. He even remembered and sent me one of my favorite flowers.......I say one cause I love roses, but they cost too much for something that dies so quickly, I love carnations in all their cheap glory, and I absolutely love tulips though they require patience to see their true beauty. Most retailers deliver tulips already in bloom, so they die within days - but a few good places get them straight from the Holland, and they come to you as buds that bloom over the next few days......so with them showing up early it means that they should be open come Saturday. Knowing Ruben I'm sure he has a few other tricks up his sleeve. He knows how I love Godiva, so I wouldn't doubt if he brings home a small box of chocolates or a few strawberries. Other than that we don't really have any plans for V Day. Ruben originally wanted to go out of town for the weekend cause he needs a break from the stress, bile and drama that is our neighbors....I'll elaborate more later, but since it is Valentine's weekend, you can only imagine how hard it was to try to find a room, so we gave up. Maybe some other weekend we'll be able to make plans. Though here in town there are some parades going on this weekend, so maybe we'll hit up one of them if the weather permits. What could be better than Carnival and Valentine's?

Kim K; Everything that is wrong with Reggie Bush

Ok, that's it - I'm sick and tired of hearing this big booty nobody talk about her and her man. Seriously, we're talking about a girl whose claim to fame is a sex tape with Ray J. Yeah, she may be the daughter of one of OJ's infamous lawyers, but Kim Kardashian is nothing but a talentless whore who got the brilliant idea from her one time friend Paris Hilton to release a sex tape so that she could climb onto the reality bandwagon. All I can say is shame on you Mr. Seacrest for polluting our TV's with this garbage....and as if that's not bad enough this bitch has got to run her mouth off about everything! She's all over the place the last few months blabbing about Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints Running Back whom she is dating. She's talking about how she's ready to have kids, and posing in his jersey for some magazine article. I'll tell you this, she's the reason behind Reggie having a mediocre season, and spending the final month of it injured. It's because of her, that like Romo & Brady and their significant other jinx, his mind - like theirs, isn't on the game cause his mind is on her. Reggie Bush is no longer my favorite player....it is now Pierre Thomas. Like Heidi & Spencer from The Hills, I just wish she'd be boycotted and no longer talked about, ever!

Here she is talking about Valentine's Day and how Reggie is spending it by taking her to Fashion Week. Here she is sporting his jersey for ESPN magazine - talking about being in a celeb couple. Here she is talking about wanting kids. Reggie, for the love of God please do yourself a favor kick Kim to the curb and salvage your football career STAT!

Finally

Natalie finally got over her fear and used her new electric scooter
from Christmas.

Old News, New Twist

As I'm sure you've all heard the hype surrounding Christian Bales tirade on the set of Terminator by now - and the following apology he made on KROQ saying that he "acted" like a "punk". Personally I think it's all a bunch of BS, as it's old news. The audio clip is from last year! July to be exact. I just think that this is a marketing ploy to attract viewers since the film is being released this spring. You know, viral videos are all the rage now - it's how they drum up PR and promote the work. It's the digital age - who needs a million dollar commercial, when you can leak something taped on set, right? Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing. To listen to it is funny as hell - but when you think about it, he went off on this guy for nearly 4 minutes and dropped like 36 F-bombs! I have a potty mouth myself, so the language used was of no offense to me. You just have to wonder though at what point of listening in or taking this do you stand up and say, STFU? This is why I think it's all marketing, cause I don't think anyone in there right mind would stand there and take it and not walk away or tell 'em to shut up. if you listen to his apology on KROQ he talks about how people are accusing him of being pompous and acting like he's better than anyone else - and I have to say that I didn't really get that from the whole tirade, but I did from the apology. He sounds very arrogant, then again it could just be cause he's British. Anyway, the last few days Ruben and I have been having lots of fun joking around based on this audio clip. There are just too many great quotes, you kinda can't help but to walk away mocking it. Last night I found this lovely little remix. I'll warn you now that this is totally NOT for little ears! Also, I found in the more info section where you can download this mix - which I did. I think I just might put it into my iPhone and listen to it when I walk or something. I'm telling you: instant classic! Enjoy!

What do you mean no football?

Natalie went and asked her daddy if there was any football on this
weekend. Apparently before asking she applied black marker to her
cheeks!

Diabetes Walk

Natalie met her goal and raised $500 for her school walk. I took 100+
pictures that I'll evevtually get around to posting. There were
hundreds of walkers and it was a beautiful sunny 70 degree day! We'll
find out next week where she ranked in her efforts.

Time Flies

Wow, I can't believe February is here already! Like January, it's going to be another busy month. Tomorrow is my brother's birthday, then later this month are the birthdays of my nephew, brother-in-law, and some friends. Then of course we have Valentine's, the anniversary of our very first "real" date, and Mardi Gras which Natalie has the whole last week off from school. I've got two more saline fills to endure then I will be heading into surgery. Personally I'm kinda hoping to do it Mardi Gras week, but we'll see how it plays out.

Friday I'm volunteering at Natalie's school for their diabetes school walk. Natalie has done very well with raising money and is very close to reaching her goal, we're hoping she will raise the most money this year. She corrected me yesterday when I noted that last year she placed 3rd when she actually placed 2nd - this year she's getting a lot of competition, so it's going to be a close call. If you haven't made a donation yet and wanted to, there is still time. All donations have to be turned in Friday morning - so you can still contribute online and receive a tax deduction. We haven't contributed yet as we are going to do it last.

We had a great weekend between Monster Jam and Super Bowl, though I am disappointed that the Cards lost. I think there were some questionable calls made - especially that last one. It should have been reviewed upstairs as Warner's arm was clearly moving forward, so it was not a fumble....and what about the unnecessary roughness of that one Steeler's player that repetitively hit a Cards player? It just was NOT right - however it did make for a good game, and having great food and company just made it all the better! Monster Jam was a lot of fun. I've got like 300+ pictures to go through and post. Grave Digger really tore it up and won the freestyle competition, then again he always does!

So, I'm sure that after my appointment tomorrow I'll be in some major pain for several days. Can't believe I volunteered at school knowing how much I'll hurt and how doped up I may be, but I really want to take pictures and be there for the whole thing. Luckily the walk isn't too long. Natalie also hinted that she'd like me to come to lunch one day, so I told her either Thursday or Friday I would come and bring McDonald's and have lunch with her. I should be good as long as no kids bump into me...hahaha. I'm sure to keep you posted, and I hope to get those pix up soon!

The Big Weekend

Sorry things have been quiet around here since my birthday. Most of
the week was pretty chill except Wednesday. I had court that morning
and just about everything went wrong - wrong parking structure, wrong
building, several blocks of walking back and forth, forgot to ask if
the ticket went on my record and didn't remember till I had gotten
back to my car. Drove to a new spot - which was by the ferry landing,
so I took my camera backpack so I could snap some pix when I was done.
Well they wouldn't let me in with it and was told to either throw it
away (yeah right! $1000 worth of camera equipment are they nuts?) or
put it back in my car - so more walking, then I had to go back into
the courtroom and talk to the judge so it was more wasted time. Then I
walked back to my car for my bag then walked to the landing to get pix
of downtown N.O. Afterwards I had an appointment at my plastic
surgeons office. He gave me another 125 cc's of saline which left me
with near 500. We're going to do two more fills then I'll be going
into surgery to get the final reconstruction done. If all goes well
we're talking in about a month. Thing is this last fill really hurt.
Hurt more than just skin stretching. I felt like my muscle was/is
ripping. Which is possible since radiation ruined it. He's likely
going to have to take a section of muscle from my back. So anyway I've
been lying around in pain.

Yesterday Ruben and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. Natalie stayed
over at a friends house last night so we went out and had a nice
dinner alone.

Today we have tickets to go to Monster Jam. We're going with our
friend from around the corner. Can't wait! Ruben and I have been to
like 6 of 'em in the past. This year we're skipping the pit party
cause it would be an all day event then and it's just too much for me
considering the pain I'm in. Oh and the worst part of this all is how
embarassing I look. My expanders have both shifted in the wrong
direction so I look completely ridiculous!

Tomorrow Ruben is making some carne asada, rice and beans for a Super
Bowl party we're going to over at our neighbors house. I'm not a huge
football fan but I love watching SB. I think it's cause the
commercials - though I am rooting for the Cards to win, and I hope one
of my squares wins me the pool. I have the 7 & 4 square and some
other. Everyone says I have the best square so cross your fingers and
wish me luck!

Angi

"Whoever said winning isn't everything never had to fight cancer"

Http://scrapaddictnv2.blogspot.com/

Sent from my iPhone

Birthday Surprise

Ruben came home just a bit ago with a surprise for me. My Durango has
been cleaned inside and out, my oil changed, the nails removed from my
tires and he walked in carrying these goodies for me.

As you know he had previously bought me a laser/radar detector cause I
was caught speeding last month - he took me to the French Quarter
Saturday to eat and shop -and yesterday he served me pancakes in bed
and scrubbed my kitchen clean. Now I get another present, roses,
balloons and a cake? Damn I must be a lucky girl! I am one loved
biotch :)

Help Raise Money for Diabetes

Natalie is participating again in her school's diabetes walk. Last year she did quite well, raising the 3rd highest amount. I'm hoping she will meet her goals once again this year. If you would like to make a donation for the walk, you may do so here.

Pre-birthday Breakfast in Bed

Ruben made me apple cinnamon pancakes and served them in bed the way I
like - plain. Mmm.

Kickin' Off the Birthday Weekend

Went to the French Quarter to walk, shop and eat as part of my
birthday weekend celebration -- though my birthday isn't really till
Monday. First stop FOOD. I know we should enjoy the local cruisine but
we've never eaten at this Hard Rock in the 2 1/2 years here. So to
kick things off I started with a birthday Waborita.....though good, I
still prefer the one at Olive Garden that comes with an Amaretto
shooter. Cheers!

Trolley

Not the best picture since I took it while turning on Carrollton but
here are two New Orlean Trolleys.

Early morning drive

Since there is a lane foreclosure on the HP I had to get up extra
early and drive the long way to get to my new pain doc's office. Yawn.
Wjen I get home I'll need a nap.
Notice all the fog near the 310?

One day

A pair of these will be mine!

(incase you can't tell, these are breast implants. we're moving forward despite the shrinking skin - I got my first saline fill in a year!)

Wasting time

I got to my plastic surgeons office way too early today - so I thought
I'd share my dermatologist appt. with you. The doctor thinks I have
Rosacea and Acne and prescribed doxycycline, finacea, and clindamycin.
We'll see if it helps any. Rosacea can flare up for months at a time
and triggers include sun, stress, heat, humidity, and sweating. Great.

Oh do you recall the "honest scrap" post I did about a month or so
ago? Well my friend emailed me yesterday to tell me that dude that
was driving well he's been on the news for like the last year. He
impersonated a police officer in a small town in MO. They gave him a
badge and gun and even went on drug raids. He was sentenced to 5 years
in prison. Well isn't that just special?

Ok hopefully I've wasted enough time and can go inside now. The lane
closure on the Huey P has really messed up my drive time and I ended
up over compensating for it...ugh. And one more thing, to everyone who
claimed the inauguration was all paid for through donations is
incorrect. Congress released near $50 million in funds for security 'n
such. Money I think truly would have been better spent on the American
people 'n fixing the economy - right?

Angi

"Whoever said winning isn't everything never had to fight cancer"

Http://scrapaddictnv2.blogspot.com/

Sent from my iPhone