Sunday Bloody Sunday

Ah Sunday, the day of rest - with exceptions to doing the laundry of course. Things at El Casa De Navarro are usually pretty chill on Sunday. We watch a little TV, rest, and prepare for the week ahead. As school's end is nearing, Natalie has something going on every day. Tomorrow she has a Saints Training Camp day at school, then a beach day, Disney day, 50's day, then year book signing day. So we had fun picking out her clothes for each day, as she normally wears uniforms to school, but doesn't have to next week.
Also, some much needed rest was in order for today as yesterday she spent half the day swimming with her friends - because of which we are both a little red in spots. After she was done and had taken a bath, we decided to head out to do a lil ' shopping and have dinner out. We drove the 35+ miles to Houma instead of driving the other way into town. We had an excellent dinner at Olive Garden - and though I probably shouldn't have (cause surgery is coming up), I had a VERY delish Italian Margarita! It was very good! I looked it up on line and this is what I found:
According to the menu, the Italian Margarita is made with Sauza Gold Tequila and Triple Sec. It's served on the rocks and with a shot of DiSaronno Amaretto on the side.
On the rim: Orange-flavored sugar, one orange wedge and one lime wedge. I believe it also has a bit of limeade and orange juice in it. I've never had Amaretto and it was so very good. Instead of a harsh shot like Tequila, it was pretty sweet. I definitely suggest trying it next time you eat there!
After dinner we ran into Academy Sports and bought Nat some pool items - she wanted flippers like some of the other kids have. She also got a new kick board, and a cute pair of Sketcher shoes that are made out of a material much like Crocs. We spent so much time in there looking around for new darts and stuff that we were unable to make it to Sam's Club before they closed. So on the way home we had to hit up a grocery store to stock up on some snack items and usual necessities.
I have so many things swirling around my head the I want to make sure I include in this post! LOL! Let's see, first I'm happy to say I am once again acne free. Yay! I've finally found something that I think helps a lot. Clean & Clear Advantage Oil Free Moisturizer. I used to not be able to moisturize cause I was afraid it would create more acne - and now that I am 34 it seriously hit me that I'm getting old and it's time to take preventative measure against wrinkles. This lotion contains a bit of Salicylic Acid, so it helps prevent blemishes as it moisturizes. Of course the Levaquin antibiotics the doc gave me helped REALLY knock out this last break-out and fast too!
Also I wanted to elaborate on my last post about women. It seems I just always attract *those* types of women that cause problems or are just plain mean into my life. Sometimes it's a cashier at the store that's having a rough day and takes it out on you, sometimes it's people you cross paths with doing errands, or sometimes it's people that find my blog or other "homes" and approach me cause we have a common bond such as cancer or scrapbooking, where we've lived or past occupations. One day I ran into this much older women in an elevator, who so rudely asked me what's wrong with your face. The tone was less than concerning or friendly. It took all I had to bite my tongue and not say nothing, what's wrong with yours. I understand that my acne can look bad, but come on people! It's just plain rude to point it out or make remarks about it. I hate it and how it makes me look - which is why I often hang at home till it clears up. But beings as mine is always stressed induced or possibly a side effect of my meds, it's hard to keep my skin clean and clear and under control. Believe me, I've tried!
And the last topic up for discussion. As most of you know, since my recent diagnosis of recurrent breast cancer earlier this year, I've tried hard to re-gain my faith. I am not a religious person by any means - and no, I am not claiming to be born again or to have found God. It's just since the cancer has come back I've tried really hard to be consistent with praying. I figure that there are so many others out there praying for me that I should at least be praying for myself too. I've struggled a bit with this, as I said I'm not really religious. I asked Ruben for help or guidance, but he was unable as he still prays in Spanish as that is how he was taught. I already receive The Daily Word (both email & booklet - a co-worker of Ruben's sent us a subscription when she heard the cancer came back.) Well the other day I came across some of my old belongings. It's really quite odd because of the story behind it. It had been back in like 2002 when I had just transferred jobs, prior to just having my 3rd miscarriage. I had received an item in the mail from the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows that is in Belleville, IL - near where I had grown up. The funny thing is I haven't been there since I was a kid, and they knew my current last name, and where we had lived at that time. What they had sent me was a card. A card that is a prayer for healing. I had hung on to it at the time because I thought it had an eerie significance. And finding it again after all this time just drives home that point. As I sit here struggling with how to "pray" or ask for help, here is this card that inside reads:
O 'Mother of Mercy, healer of the sick, look with mercy on me and comfort me in my time of trouble.
Pretty fitting right? Well the other side reads:
Dear and blessed Lady of Lourdes, you bathe all in your radiant light, and soothe the suffering with healing waters of the spring you revealed to St. Bernadette. Though I am far from your sacred grotto, look with compassion upon me. See my need for your healing love. See how my body fails me. See how troubled is my soul. I ask you humbly not only for healing, Mother Immaculate, but to wash away my doubts and misgivings, to solidify my faith, to open my heart to you healing love, and the love of your Son, thus to see that this suffering, which now seems overwhelming, may soon be healed.
Tell me, coincidence or not? I may lack faith, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I think this prayer card is just what I was looking for in my quest of "how". Although it doesn't cover everything, it is a very good start. Usually I just ask for all my family, friends, and loved ones to be looked over and ask that they all have health and happiness, but beyond that I struggled. This is very specific for my needs of healing, as I am so done with this cancer thing. I just wish it was done with me! Don't worry, I'm in no danger of becoming overly religious. I just wanted to share that with you. It's weird how things work sometimes! Have you ever had anything like that happen to you? I would love to hear about it!
Well it's about time to wrap this puppy up. So the plan for this week is that on the 20th I get my MRI and I should most likely know more sometime Wednesday. Then the 22nd is the day of my surgery. At least this time I have a much better feeling about it. I'm telling ya, you should always listen to your gut feeling. I'm actually glad things worked out the way they did. I feel more confident with this surgeon and she clearly has no problems involving my other doctors as they have all been in touch with each other, which bottom line means better care for me. Don't you agree? Hope y'all had as good of a weekend as I did. I will keep you posted as I get info this week!

Weekend Recap

What a busy weekend - and losing an hour on top of it. I'm so tired, but this week is no vacation either!

Saturday I got word that a local scrap store was going out of business in Mandeville, and was selling items at 70% off. Well after driving over 40 miles, which included taking the 21 mile bridge across Lake Ponchatrain, we found the store where I stocked up on everything they had left in stock only to get to the register to find out the 110 pcs. of Bazzill cardstock I picked up wasn't included in the sale. It sucked cause we just drove all that way and I really needed cardstock, so I decided that I might as well make it worth it. I would end up paying the same amount elsewhere, and this way I was able to hand pick the colors I needed. Besides I also managed to save over $60 for the other items I purchased. Afterwards we had lunch at this nice little Italian place that was in the same shopping area. After the prior week I had had, it was nice to go out and have a nice meal, as well as an Italian Margarita, which had dashed of Sprite and OJ in it. It was a nice change from the occasional Lemon Drop Martini I get. After lunch we shopped off the meal by going to both Best Buy and Wal-Mart. We stocked up tons of new release movies and Easter items. We managed to put a sizable dent in our checking account by the end of the day. I swear shopping together is quite dangerous for the two of us!

Sunday we spent the afternoon at a Voodoo arena football game. One of Ruben's co-workers gave us tickets, as they weren't able to go. It ended up being a lot of fun. Natalie the ever-changing tomboy wanted a football, so I bought her one. They had the cutest little mini-pink football, but she refused. After the game we came home and played the newly released Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. I'm not much of a gamer, but it was fun. However since I don't know how to use any of the characters powers I gave up and requested Guitar Hero. I really have a lot of fun rocking out to that game, even though my guitar skills aren't the best.

Tonight I'm both excited and scared to start my Photoshop class. It's a 2 hour class that is weekly for the next 6 weeks. It's about time I learn how to use my Photoshop program. There is so much more I could be doing with it, so I can't wait to begin!
Tomorrow I follow up with my plastic surgeon. I'm not sure what he'll do since I don't know yet where things stand. He may just want to check my scars, as I don't know if it's okay to continue with the saline injections until we know more about the cancer and the treatment I will have to complete. Wednesday and Thursday I have blood tests, a chest scan, and bone scan - but the big test, the PET CT scan isn't until Monday the 17th. That's the test that will show if I have any other tumors, or if the cancer has spread elsewhere - and with Easter just after that I fear I may not have answers or a course of treatment until April. All this waiting is so hard to do! In the meantime I have been trying to occupy myself with scrapbooking. I started on the 3 albums for Ruben's co-worker, some of the pages I have posted to Flickr. They are simple yet satisfying. Soon I will also have to start on my circle journal as we finally have a start date set for the end of the month, which at the rate things are going will be here in a blink of an eye!