Need to get back on that horse...

Two Thursdays ago was pretty normal. We went to the gym and price chopper etc. all in all it was a good day. Maddie did not nap and feel asleep just before I was ready to cook. I figured I would give her a little bit of time.

I had some veggies i put in the over I roast and the rest of dinner was going on the the grill. I went out and lit it. Came back in house and gathered my food while I let it warm up. I put the chicken, peppers and mushrooms down and opened the lid. This is where my normal Thursday got a bit exciting.. My grill flashed in my face. I moved quickly back. I had my witts about me and before I ran in the house I made sure my hair wasn't in fire. I ran to the bathroom and saw my face very pink and my hair singed. I texted Dan and called Aunt Carol. I calmy said to her, I am going to need you to come down now. She said now, I just made a steak. I said yes now, I am sorry and told her what had happened. Dan said to get check by the ER. I was shaking and knew I could not really drive myself. So uncle Joel came to the rescue. For those of you that know my uncle know that he is not good with things like this. I am shocked he actually came into the er with me. I did send Jeff a text. I started it with Don't panic. I had not heard from him do I had no clue he was actually on the train on his way home. It's hard for most to understand. His day does not end at 5 or 5:30. His time to come home Changes with the day and it is never the same. So Maddie and I have a set dinner time and if he is home great if not we do a second seating when he is. Since I had not heard from him I didn't want to call and disturb him. I did call once I was in the car with uncle Joel. My nose and hair got the worse of the burns. My hair looks like I let Maddie cut bangs for me. And my nose is looking 100% better now. I do have pics but they are not on my iPad yet. I will update once I up load. Needless to say we did not have chicken for dinner we all ended up at Mary Janes for ice cream. Along the way aunt Carol picked up Emma and Timmy and Tracy met us at MJs. In the end it was a nice evening.

I did call weber, the service person came out yesterday and changed the manifold. The insides of my grill. One of my knobs was sticking and I did turn it on that day. I usually do not turn that burner on. The guy explained to me that to it was probably stuck in the ignite setting allowing a lot of gas to build up in the lid and when I opened it it flashed. I will be fine. I have more hair than I did this time last year and the burn was nothing like radiation. I took out chicken for dinner, unjust have no clue how I am going to cook it yet.

"In my country"......

My fellow recruiter friends will understand this title.

We have been back from our trip to Curaçao for a couple of weeks now. I will pay my self on the back here, ok I scratched it.. I have a great sense of direction. Especially when I am hungry or there is the promise of food at the end. This has been a quality I have possessed since I was little.

We went on our trip with Aunt Eva, Mary-Lu and Mike, and Petrina and Chicky. Both couples are great friends of Aunt Eva's. They where in the villa above us.

The country of curaçao is pretty, the scenery at the beaches where breathtaking. However you quickly caught it again once you stubbed a toe on the massive amount of rocks on the ocean floor. The people are not friendly. They are not rude but no one really went out of their way to make us say, "same time, same place next year".

We arrived on a Saturday. Our flights where great and Maddie was a champ, considering we had to wake her up to be at the airport for a 6 am flight. I know.... When we got to curacao the heat and humidity hit us like a ton of bricks. Maddie of course took a nap. We found the car rental area and got in line. It was he longest line there and it seemed very slow. When they got to us it seemed to take longer once they checked us in and took the rest of our payment they directed us to walk around the building and they would assist us. They had our car but not a car seat. The one they had was broken. So we had to wait. Aunt Eva had ordered a van and called ahead to make sure it was automatic. When it was here turn, they took them to a brand new van that looked like a tour bus, and of course it was standard. So that was a no go. After what felt like hours and it probably was, we got our car and an acceptable car seat and broke away from our pack to find it in our own. Everyone said how easy it was to get there. So off we went. After driving around for a good hour and asking for directions from anyone I could we by accident found the place. Funny we got there the same time the rest of our group did. Don't worry they got lost too. English is not a primary language there, nor is Spanish, they speak popeamento or Dutch. Great...
This made asking for directions very hard. We settled in our rooms and headed back out the the grocery store which I knew where it was since we passed it on one of our many tried to find the resort. I am also using the word resort loosely here. That first night we decided to stay at the Blue Bay and eat there. The food was good but the service was long.

Sunday we went up stairs and all had breakfast together. And we headed to the beach. Aunt Eva had promised Maddie that they would play in the sand together and they did. it was great Maddie had 10 other eyes on her besides the usually four. Jeff and I actually went for a walk, it was odd. We usually do not have people say go, get a drink we have her, and they meant it. Maddie had a blast with her new "friends". Which is what she called them all as a group. Jeff and I took Aunt Eva and "friends" up in the offer and we went to get a drink. I ordered a strawberry margarita, Jeff a kalula colata. The bar tender said he could not make either. I ordered something else and he could not make that either. I said what can you make, his retort was "anything you want" I ini in my nicest "please don't spit in my drink", said, "obviously not because we have asked for three things and you can not make them". He offered to "freestyle" it was pretty good. We later found out he was the towel boy. Sunday evening was our first venture to leave the resort for food. We went to the front desk and hit directions. We took the lead. We found the restaurant with ease. It was about 15 minutes. The signs in this country are terrible. I mean really bad, there are none. This prompted Petrina to ask if I have been to this country before. I said no, never. And Jeff went in to explain how I am pretty good with a map and if there is food at the end I can get anywhere, he did say that once I am full I am useless. Which is true. I have no clue why my sense of direction is tied to my belly. Dinner was great and so was the service. So attentive. We actually went to this restaurant twice. Monday we went to the market area for water shoes. Jeff cut his foot Sunday when he stumbled on a rock. The market was an experience. They sold fresh fish, not on ice and used a news paper to shu away flies. Sorry no picture.. We got our shoes some kick ass bread pudding and headed To find the distillery. We all read about the awesome tours at the distillery. Curacao makes/ has its own liquor. By the time we got there they were closed for lunch. We walked across the street and ate lunch in a local restaurant. It was great. The distillery on the other had a lot to be desired.

Tuesday we decided to try another beach that they said was not as rocky. The rocks where as plentiful at Casa Abu, they where just smaller. I again with directions and a map found it. We had to go down a dirt road and when you got to the bottom we could peak around some trees and see the amazing view. It was amazing. The water was clearer than bath water. We only had to go in knee deep to see fish. Maddie could even see them it was great. We stayed there for most of the day. We decided to leave so Maddie could nap. The second car decided to leave as well since they might still be there if they didn't.

The rest of the week went on. We would get terrible directions from the hotel, drive around and ask for direction issuing charades. All in all we had a blast. It was a great week, however we have no plans to go back to this country. We will however piggy back on another vacation with any of Maddies "friends"

Endorsements

I know what your thinking, who am I.. Don't worry I agree. I have a few things we have purchased lately that are awesome, and worth spreading the word about.

As I mentioned my washing machine bit the dust. As much as I hated to spend the money on a new one, Honestly why couldn't Aunt Carol continue to do our laundry... Except when she does Maddie's towels they are not soft enough for our princess. Anyway my new top loading whirlpool is awesome!!!! My clothes are clean. My whites are white again. They have even gotten the Caca seal of approval. Just a little background on that. Aunt Carol hated that my whites always looked dingy. I couldn't help it she insisted that it was my electric dryer and that I do not hang my clothes outside. I will never hang my clothes outside, we are all too allergic to the outside and I just hate the way that looks. So when AC did our laundry she would always pick on my whites. She was highly annoyed that Jeff's undershirts where not as sparkling and starched as his dress shirts. She actually said I should get a second hamper and more shirts and she would do them weekly for Jeff. I am super anal about things. More so than people may know. I can spot a cheap suit or bad shoes (men's) a mile away. This was a quality I had even before Jeff. I also hate when a man has a dress shirt on an no undershirt under it. See told you I was a bit crazy. A button down collar with a tie also drives me nuts. The list can go on and on.... Sorry for getting off track. Now my whites bothered me but honestly who sees Jeff's undershirts. No one.. So I was not loosing sleep over it. I had a black shirt that was stained white from deodorant and now it is all black again. Amazing. It is also quiet. I mean my house no longer sounds like a landing pad. My house no longer shakes. I actually leave the laundry room door open so I can hear when it is done. My new washing machine is awesome!!

I got a Mani and pedi a couple weeks ago. The guy doing my nails pushed this gel manicure. He said it would last two weeks. I though yea right. Unusually can not leave the nail place with out a smudge or chip. I am almost at the two week mark and it is still going. I am pretty impressed.

My pillow. Both Jeff and I had heard the infomercials. Since there was a money back guarantee we figured what the heck and ordered them. They are great. Maddie loves hers. I usually slept with my head built up high and I don't with this pillow and Jeff is even sleeping on his back. I feel like I fall asleep faster and I feel refreshed in the morning. AC and UJ ordered them too and seem happy. Check out retailmenot if you plan to order for coupons.

Lastly Jeff has us all hooked on kind bars. They are fruit, nut granola bars. They are all natural with ingredients you can pronounce. While shopping this week I saw they had a bag of cereal. Both Maddie and I had some sprinkled over Greek yogurt for breakfast. This stuff is great and good for you. It is even cancer approved!! I get a lot of articles about Heath and nutrition. One very alarming one last week on nitrates, one hotdog a week can increase your chances of colon or rectal cancer by 40%. That is just crazy. Good thing we never eat them but we do love bacon. Oh well guess we will be giving that up too, unless I can find some natural nitrate free bacon. There must be a farm around here somewhere.

Making every birthday count

On Friday night Jeff and I went to an event for our local chapter of the American cancer society. It was lovely. The theme of the event was making every birthday count.
I also ordered shirts for us from stupid cancer. They say "get busy living".
I think both these themes sum up how I feel. Make every day count. And get busy living it is never too late.

We did not decide until last minute to go to the event. We (I) had a little problem securing babysitting. However in the end Caca came to our rescue. Sadly I do not have any pictures of Jeff and I. We both looked very nice. We ran into Dr Z there yes there is a flash from my past. He was glad to see I was doing so well. And I wanted to make sure he got my note on why I left his practice. It had nothing to do with him. However in the end the practice I chose was a much better fit for me. There was a silent auction during the cocktail hour which had pretty tasty food. At the dinner portion we where seated right near my oncology offices table. We actually spent most of the evening chatting with them. We got home fairly early. It was a very very nice night. Next year I expect to see more people support the event. :)

My head

I have given this post a couple days of thinking before I wrote it.

I was upset the other day when I heard about MCA from the beastie boys passing. Jeff knowing how much I love them wanted to make sure I was ok. Now I did not cry or anything but it is just an odd feeling I get when I hear of someone passing from cancer. I think it just shines a light that at any moment we cold be gone. I completely understand that in the end I may not even die from my cancer, but it is a factor.

I had to meet with a fitness coach for an assesment when I re-joined the gym. I will be 37 this month. When they did "actuall age" entering my weight and health they said my body feels like it is 42 however if I loose the 10lbs I want it would drop to 33. That whole cancer thing just spiked it way up. It's annoying.

I have done a lot of reading on cancer and how you feel after etc. I don't sit here and ponder every Ache and pain and wonder. But if I have trouble sleeping that is where my mind wonders. I think or wonder if I am doing everything to prevent a "relapse" (what a crappy word). It's crazy how your mind can wonder. I don't remember being like this before my diagnoisis. This whole cancer thing completely changes you.

I try to get up with a positive attitude each day, I try not to get bogged down with useless nonsense or caught up in other peoples drama. Life is to short to be miserable. Try to enjoy each day because you never know when it can be your last.

Another one bites the dust....

Appliance that is.. Mothers day came early this year, only because We do not have enough clean underwear to hold us over. Monday I put a load of laundry in set everything up and hit start. Only to hear a god awful noise. After speaking to a repair guy, Jeff, uncle Joel I ended up at Sohns. Aunt Carol came to the rescue and picked up our dirty laundry and washed, dried and folded all of our clothes. She did not iron (which I find funny since she says it is her talent) and delivered then back to us. I almost for a brief moment thought this system could work. But my new washer arrived today. I have not used it yet since we need new hoses. But I am excited. I never felt my old machine cleaned the clothes well and it shook the whole house when on spin.

To nipple or not to nipple....

I am healing very nicely. My reduction side is no longer bleeding and looks good. My cancer side, fake side what ever we call it looks good too.
Yesterday I went into the city for my check up with David and he said it is up to me but I could get a nipple as soon as the 14th. I spoke to Jeff and aunt Carol about it and they both think I should wait until after our trip. Jeff stressed to me that this is entirely up to me, that I do not need to donut if I do not want to. I think I will do it. I just don't know when.
I have also been ok'd to wear a bra with underwire. I know most people shutter at the thought but I am so excited. I have not had matching underwear in years.