One month and counting....

November 25th!

One month until Christmas.

In our house that means the count is on. When the girls were small, we made paper chains and just before bed they would cut off a link, counting down. Counting sleeps & advent Calendars filled with chocolate were all ways to keep track until the anticipated event. Birthday's, Christmas, special occasions they were looking forward to we count To this day we still count sleeps to awaited events.

This year there are several different counts going on, how many sleeps until we go to Disneyland, how many sleeps until school is out, then the big one.. how many sleeps until Christmas. Part of the fun in life is anticipating is looking forward to,expecting, awaiting, hoping for great things to happen. Last night we were visiting with some friends talking about "surprises" versus "anticipating" I am more of a gal that likes to anticipate than be surprised. Sure I love the surprise of Christmas gifts and such, but I would much rather anticipate a trip or a party than have it sprung on me. That being said, I would quickly recover and enjoy myself if someone were to surprise me with a trip or a party. (just for the record!) Christmas is one of those good things we look forward to each year, and after the year we have had we are anticipating and looking forward to a good December.

History in the making...

It is not very often that we get to see world changing history being made, those events that make you stand up and take notice and think THIS IS a historical event. . . In my lifetime I can think of a few such events:

Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope and the ripple effect that had on cancer research. A legacy that still thrives today around the world.

The fall of the Berlin Wall all that represented for Germany, European countries and the world. I remember being glued to the TV watching as people climbed the wall tossing bricks swinging sledge hammers... thinking, WOW who would have thought...

The untimely death of Princess Diana - how it changed the face of the monarchy. That night the world was in shock!

I certainly know there are more, peace treaties being signed, wars being fought and ended, people in every country trying to make a difference. Every day history is made, by people making choices to change them selves, alcoholics that stop drinking, kids getting off the street, children being adopted... everyday the world changes hopefully for the better one decision at a time, one person at a time.

I am not a huge follower of politics of any kind. It is not that I do not care, mostly I do not understand, my creative mind gets lost in the heady stuff. I do know the importance of and exercise my right to vote. I have rarely missed an opportunity to do so since I came of age. I usually feel that my little single vote will not make or break the outcome, but if I do not vote what right do I have to comment or discuss the outcome. I have to make the effort to make an educated vote based on what I feel would be the best thing for the municipality, province or country depending...


I do however know that tonight in the US history was made. I was impressed with the turn out at the poles, long streams of people waiting to vote. Standing in line WAITING - wow we do not see that in Canada, or at least I have never seen that.... the passion of the people to be part of a history changing event in their country was inspiring.

I see the HUGENESS of the Obama win tonight. Tonight Obama's win as the first African American President will have a huge impact on the world. Dreams have been realized, and many more are being made. I imagine somewhere there is a young black girl thinking... Wow if HE could do it then so can I! Maybe I will be the first African American FEMALE president of the USA. Young boys are thinking of all kinds of things that they could do. How cool is that. Dreams are being made all over the world by young people, hope is being offered to all. Dream big kids! They do come true - you CAN change the world.

3rd times a charm...

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.

~Author Unknown

Or in our house every first aid kit..... because if we did not laugh I am sure that this week I would have gone crazy!

Today at 6:15pm the couch jumped out just as I was walking by and snapped my baby toe to an unsightly angle. OUCH! We pulled the peas out of the freezer and wrapped up the foot and hobbled to the car. Our destination: The local Emergency Room. This is our 3rd journey to an ER in less than a week. 3 trips, 3 reasons, 3 people.

3 photo's of my toe, confirmed what I already knew, the toe was broken. A toe can not possibly be at a 60 degree angle and not be broken. A less than 5 minute consult with the very young doctor one tug and a little pain the toe was buddy taped to her neighbour and we were sent hobbling on our way. In and out, and home inside of 2 hours. Not too bad if I do say so my self.

So just as I was beginning to re-gain some "NORMAL" in life, here we are. I am back to no driving for a bit, T3's are now my friend again and I have to rest for a day or 2. If you do not laugh you would go crazy! I think I may have to redefine "NORMAL"

I said that this was trip 3....

Trip 2 resulted in a 2.5 hour visit, 8$ in parking, an x-ray of one thumb and a plaster splint for Shanna. Who says she "fractured a ligament" when in fact she pulled a ligament and fractured the bone. She just got it a little muddled.

Trip one 5 hours, extensive blood work, ultra sound, 18$ in parking and a diagnosis... just the same old thing... Teryn's IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) was acting up. It is not an odd thing for Teryn and I to spend time in the ER, however you begin to wonder if you are there too many times when the Doc comes in and says..."hmm, I remember seeing you before"

Despite the fact that we have spent so many hours in various ER's this week I am thankful that we have the ER to go to. We are fortunate, we are privileged to have such service provided for us. Sure waits are long at times, but think about how many people in this world do not have that privileged, who may never actually have the chance to see a doctor let alone have an x-ray taken or blood work done. I do not mind waiting knowing that my family will receive the care they need. Perspective is a great thing!

I wonder what experiences this week will have us laughing. Let's just hope we can leave the first aid kit packed.

Better than I could say myself

I do a fair bit of blog reading these days, there are a few that I go to on a regular basis to catch up and keep up. I read blogs from a variety of sources, friends, family, business associates, & scrapbooker extraordinaire. I am often provoked to think, challenged to create and often inspired. Today was no exception.

I thought this worth passing on.... TODAY IS SIGNIFICANT . Posted by Royd's cousins wife Jen, a woman who I have come to admire and respect. Mother of 4 boys, advocate of adoption, and a woman of strong faith. Her post is worth thinking about, it would make a great scrapbook page, and it is truth! I hope you all will take a moment to check it out and think on it.

Remember that today, no matter what today holds is significant. Time is precious and perspective can truly be an interesting thing.

So excited...

Many would look upon this venture as sheer torture, I however am totally excited. I received a phone call last week from the girls band teacher asking me to consider chaperoning the SR. Band trip. 10 days with 20 - 25 grade 11 & 12 students, who would say no. I imagine that many would, however I am looking forward to this adventure.

Last year the trip to Nelson with the grade 10's was a ton of fun. It was great to see my daughter in her own element, away from home, away from family, see her in action with her friends. To see another side of her.

The fact that this trip is to Europe is a mild tug. Who am I fooling, I am one of those people who would go anywhere in this world if the ticket presented itself. And I am totally excited about the possibility of seeing the sights & sounds of London and Paris. The trip itinerary is jammed packed with all the "must see" things in both of those great cities. I am sure it will be an adventure to remember.

I have to confess that I have longed to see many of the sites of Paris since reading of Nichole's adventures in France. I am looking forward to seeing . . . . .

Better late than never...

On October 1st Stacy Julian, scrapbooking friend and mega star issued a challenge. To give yourself a present by recording one day in photo's and create a mini album. Then carry that little album around with you, or put it somewhere you will see it often, for one year, look at it and appreciate life when ever you stumble over it in your purse or drawer etc. Then one year later create a page about the experience. It sounded like a cool idea. I thought, I think I can handle a mini album 10 pictures (mine ended up being more) while I am at home resting and recuperating. I knew I had photo's to pull from. So I took Stacy up on the challenge and created a little album. I love it! It was fun to do something creative.

However I did not follow up part 2 of the challenge and send photo's of it back to Stacy or post the pictures here on my blog because, well I did not think my day rated. The day was not particularly different than any other of late, but it is not one of those cheery life is good sort of renditions. It is a fairly honest look at the things that make up life 8 days post surgery.

Then I thought - hey this IS today THIS is what LIFE looks like for me right now. In the middle of fighting Breast Cancer, having a mastectomy, resting and recovering... it may be hard, it may be painful, it may be sad - but it is what it is and it IS MY LIFE today. I do not want to forget where I am today, or what we have gone through as a family because of this - This will be important, it will be a page in the history books of my life & my family's. Despite the challenge that is this disease I KNOW that I have it pretty good, the tumor is gone, the pathology reports have come back good and there is no follow up treatment required at this time. It could be so much more challenging, ugly and hard. But it is not so it is GOOD!

Life is not guaranteed, there will be highs and lows, challenges and celebrations. Everyday is different - everyday is new - everyday is a chance to make the best of it. Everyday we wake up and have 24 hours to make choices and live the life we have been given. We can make choices that make life miserable or we can make choices that make life worth living. But we have a CHOICE..... it is ours and ours alone.

So here I am 2 weeks after creating my "PRESENT" and I am finally posting. (and I emailed Stacy with a link...challenge complete!) I realized that no matter what this will still be a very valuable exercises - because LIFE ONE YEAR later will be so very different. It may be better, it may be worse, we do not know for sure but one thing that is certain it will look a whole lot different than this day that I recorded. Let's see what the journey will bring, what adventure will follow. I am willing to travel and see what I will learn from this day forward..

Here are some pics of my Present... a photo journey of today ( well actually a 72 hour period) created October 3rd, 2008.

Drain Free... oh so free!

Drain Free

Free in deed!


Four weeks to the day after surgery and the drain has been removed. Four weeks of having this foreign object protruding from my body causing discomfort and pain, when I would walk, sit or stand, or most of all when I would try to sleep. Rolling over was not fun at all. In less than 3 minutes, one quick snip and a tug and the drain and the 3 feet of tubing that chased it is GONE! GONE! GONE! Good riddance! I will not miss it. I thought that it would be in for 2 weeks tops, but long as it was draining more than 30 ml per 24 hour period it was still doing it's job. So having it in 2 weeks longer than originally thought grew old. Today when it came out I celebrated, did a happy dance & called Royd when the nurse left today. This is a big deal.

What does this mean...

It means that the constant pain and discomfort are pretty much non-existent
It means that I can start to use my right arm again more regularly.
It means that I can leave the house and not be worried about the open area and infection
It means that my kids are not grossed out by the sight of the drain
It means that I can give a regular hug
It means that I no longer have to worry about tubes and CC' units of fluid in a 24 hour period
It means that the health nurse will not have to visit any more (I am grateful for the awesome nurses that did visit, it made life so much easier)
It means that I can have a regular bath with out worrying about getting dressings wet.
It means that my energy will begin to return
It means that I will be able to drive soon
It means I can sit & stand without fear of the tubes getting caught or pulled
It means I can walk without pulling my arm in to protect my side
It means that I can begin to move more, and begin living once again away from my couch.
It means that I for the first time in a month I can try to sleep on my right side. My favorite way to sleep.
Which means MAYBE I will get a full nights sleep and put an end to 2 or 3 hour sleeping stints and cat naps through the day.

It means FREEDOM!

It means that my body is healing! And this is a huge BLESSING!

I am truly thankful for the team of medical professionals who have been coming and caring for me. They have been professional and kind. They have taken time to answer my questions both when they were in my home or when I called on the phone. Thank you!

I am forever thankful for friends and family who have been supportive bringing meals, or coming here to cook, picking up the girls and chauffeuring them around town. For the many cards and emails, beautiful flowers, words of encouragement and most of all Prayers. I know that my little family has been blessed over and over and over. I have seen God at work through the lives of many. Thank you so very much my dear friends and family - we would not be thriving if it were not for each of you.