Catch-up 2012: May

Need I even state that I’m the worst blogger ever and I’m now doing a catch-up post from over a YEAR ago?  No, I didn’t think so.

May 2012.  Mom had a PET scan on the 3rd to check on her progress with treatment.  On the 6th, my mom’s cousin and his wife had us all over for dinner.  I enjoy getting together with my older relatives and hearing about “the old days!”

With the gift cards from her birthday, we got Hope a cool water table!  (Actually in April but I guess I figured I had enough April pictures!)

Oh, or maybe I realized the pictures were kind of blurry and not that great!  Oh well.

For Mother’s Day, my sister and I decided to take my mom to The Betsy Ross House for their Mother’s Day Tea.  We were running late as usual; and my sister was pushing my mom through the city in a wheelchair.  My mom was scared and feeling out of control, I guess, so was freaking out at every intersection and bump in the sidewalk. She kept yelling at my sister to stop, slow down, not step into the street, etc. etc. etc.  I know I’m not explaining it well here, but it was kind of a nightmare.  Ugh.  Once we got there, it was nice.

Before:

Mom and Betsy:

Hope with her lemonade:

Hope making me a necklace!

Betsy Ross House

On the 18th we went to a local carnival with friends.  Hope loves having someone her size to go on rides with!

That weekend I participated in a consignment sale.  (I can’t remember if I’ve posted about this before or not.  Ugh.)  I was a volunteer, consignor and of course shopper!  I LOVE these sales because I get almost all of Hope’s clothes there; and I make some money too!  (To offset what I spend, of course!)

On the 23rd Mom started new oral chemo drugs called Xeloda and Tykerb.  It was convenient because she could take the drugs at home and not have to go to the office for infusions.  They were some very strong drugs, though, and bound to make her sick.  And it was a lot of pills per day – large pills – which she did not like.

On the 24th, our complex had their annual resident appreciation party.  Hope got to climb up into a fire truck and explore a little bit!

We also found out that evening that Eric’s uncle Mike, his Dad’s brother, had passed.  He had been ill, although we weren’t aware of how serious it was at all.

Eric’s Uncle Mike & Dad:

Cool old photo of Mike:

On the 25th I got to go to a new Philadelphia museum, The Barnes Foundation, with a friend and some of her family members.  What an amazing collection.  I highly recommend it if you live in the area or are visiting Philadelphia!

My 43rd birthday came and went with no fanfare.  It was also on Memorial Day.  Hope enjoyed her water table again — and Daddy pouring water all over her!  (That is until Daddy threw an entire bucket of water directly into her face.  Men.  Why must they always take things too far??  Oy.)

Catch-up 2012: February

February 2012.  Had some medical tests myself including annual mammo.  No problems.  My good friend Lisa came for a weekend visit.  Always too short and too few & far between!  🙂  I decided to try to babysit a child or 2 in my home for some extra income.  Had a couple of leads that didn’t pan out and never really pursued it further.  My sister and her sweet baboo came to celebrate her birthday.  My mom continued treatment.  She got a tumor on her neck that was giving her severe pain and she ended up having to have radiation.  Thankfully the pain went away quickly as they shrunk the tumor.  I participated (as a consignor, volunteer and shopper) at the “all-season” consignment sale.

Hope & my sis on her birthday:

My sweet girl on Valentine’s Day:

Catch-up 2012: January

*Insert obligatory comment about how I haven’t blogged in forever and I can’t believe I haven’t posted since August and I’m the worst blogger ever.*

There.

Gosh, even when I did post last it was political, and before that, about couponing, consignment sales, etc.  And while I know my blog doesn’t need to be a day-to-day journal of my life, it IS kind of nice to be able to look back on it in that way.  So … I’m going to bore you with a re-cap of sorts.  Of like, the whole year.  Sorry.  🙂  I’ll do a post for each month to break it up!

January 2012.  Not too much was going on.  My mom was still going through chemo.  Hope was playing with her BFF while my BFF watched her while my mom had appointments.  One of my mom’s high school friends passed and we attended her funeral.  My BFF’s mom had a lumpectomy (yes more breast cancer – UGH.)  Joe Paterno died.

I never did post here about the whole PSU / Sandusky scandal business.  I really did want to.  At this point it’s old news and I’ll be brief.  Glad Sandusky got his due.  Sad they fired Joe.  I understand that he could have done more, but I still feel like he and the football program at large were made into scapegoats.  Think the NCAA sanctions were / are WAY too strict.  I don’t 100% trust the Freeh report / findings, especially with news that has come out about it over the past several months.  And I don’t think they should have taken Joe’s statue down.  Anyway, as a PSU alum, the whole thing sucks / sucked and really did sadden me.  If you didn’t go there, you don’t understand.  Period.

We had the winter’s one and only snow in January.  My mom got Hope a sled and boots for Christmas; by BFF handed a great snow-suit down to us.  All of it got used exactly once.  *sigh*  Here’s a picture!

Or two!

Or three!  She really liked eating the icy snow a lot!

And Hubby turned 37 in January!

I know – I should have my own show on cake-baking.  And decorating.  And inserting candles.  I mean, it’s totally fabulous, right?  LOL.

Catch Up

It’s been mostly the same old, same old around here.  Mom is feeling about the same — weak and very tired.  Everything tastes bad so she’s been having trouble eating.  She has chemo coming up on Tuesday, and then hopefully she’ll be done with it, at least for a while.

Miss Hope turns 2 on the 29th and her party will be next Saturday!  We’re just doing a small, mostly kid party at home.  Hope is wild about “Yo Gabba Gabba,” so it will be a Gabba-rific day!  We have great party supplies and decorations, activities off of NickJr.com, and lots of fun plans!!  I can’t wait!

We’ve been going to My Gym for the past 3 weeks.  They offered a Groupon several months ago that I snatched up, and finally just signed her up.  She really likes it!  As with everything, it took her a time or 2 to get used to some of the things there, but she gets more comfortable and better at the activities each time!  Yesterday, out of the blue, she did a somersault right on the living room floor!  LOL!  We only have 1 more week of the classes I already paid for, so we’ll see after that.  It’s $75 for 4 weeks which I think is pretty steep.  If you only go to the scheduled class, that’s almost $20 an hour!  You can, however, also go to Free Play sessions during the week.  If you go to a couple of those, I guess the price is better …

I’m also going to sign her up for swimming at the Y again.  We did it last spring and summer, and I don’t want her to completely forget everything!  Much more economical, too, at $37 for 8 weeks!

The weather has been turning nicer and it feels so good to get to be outside more!  We had a great day Friday – went shopping with a friend in the early afternoon, and spent much of the late afternoon outside playing.  It is so much fun to see Hope grow and learn, hear the funny and smart things she says, watch and hear her giggle when I bounce her big blue ball as high as I can.  What a joy!

So … cleaning this weekend, Hope’s party next … then packing and preparing in April, because we’re moving April 30th!  We all went up to the office and signed the new lease yesterday.  We’re getting a completely renovated 3 bedroom townhouse here in our same complex.  I am SO looking forward to the extra bedroom, extra bath and larger living room!  We will definitely sacrifice some space to get that extra bedroom — we’ll lose the great laundry room we have now; we’ll gain a small foyer and coat closet, but lose an upstairs hall closet.  The linen closet is half the size.  Our bedroom closet will be smaller and so will Hope’s.  But … Hope and my mom will have their own rooms; Eric and I will have a master bath; the living room is huge; and EVERYTHING will be NEW!!  Can’t wait.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday!  Happy Spring!!!  And don’t forget to go get your free Rita’s today!

Two Months?

Yes, it’s been two months since I’ve posted here.  But we’ve already established that I’m the worst blogger ever.  So.  ‘Nuf said.

It’s been a little crazy around here.  Mom did start chemo.  She did ok after the first one, but the second one hit her pretty hard.  She lost most of her hair.  She lost most of her taste and appetite.  She got sick with bronchitis.  She was so weak and tired, she slept around the clock for about a week.  She barely ate.  Since this past weekend, though, she’s been feeling better.  Then yesterday was time for chemo #3.  But since she had lost a good bit of weight; and was still pretty weak and tired, they decided to hold off until next week.  Maybe she’ll be able to eat some Thanksgiving dinner!

Yep, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  I’m cooking the turkey and having everyone over here.  Then Friday we leave to meet Eric’s parents and sister and her family in Gettysburg for the weekend.  I’m looking forward to getting away.

BTW, Halloween was a lot of fun with Hope!  Here are a couple of pics!

We did venture out to the mall once and got my mom a wheelchair.  The perfect illustration of my life at this time:

It’s 1AM on Thanksgiving and I’m falling asleep writing this!  Happy Thanksgiving to all!  I’ll try to be better at this!!

Just “The Worst”

I know … I am THE worst blogger ever.  Like … ever.  *sigh*  Occasionally it occurs to me: ‘Oh, I have a blog.  I really should post there.’  And my time is consumed with other things.  Well, anyway, I know you weren’t holding your breath!  LOL.

So, as far as updates go … Mom is doing pretty well.  She had surgery on her hip; was in the hospital for a week and then rehab for a week.  Then she had to have radiation (10 sessions), which she just finished on Monday.  We have an appointment this coming Tuesday with the oncologist and I assume she’ll start chemo as soon as next week.  She is tired, but otherwise ok.  Her leg has healed really well!

The hubby is / we are now leasing a truck from his company, so he is an Owner / Operator now instead of a company driver.  We’re expecting his first paycheck as an O / O on Friday!  It’s an exciting step for us to have our own business, albeit small!

Hope is 18 months old today!  Happy Half Birthday, Hope!  She is super cute and is talking a blue streak!  No, not really, but I’d say she says a good 40+ words and most of them have come along in the past 3-4 weeks.

2 weeks ago we went to CT for the weekend and met Eric’s parents there.  It was so good to see them and we had fun at a local fair and a couple of parks!

I am quite ready for Fall as it is my favorite time of year and summer is my least favorite time of year!  It is finally a little cooler today and I’m doing some Autumn cleaning and decorating.  I’m really looking forward to taking Hope to a pumpkin patch, dressing her up for Halloween and all that other fun stuff!  (Apple Festival at Peddler’s Village!  YUM!)

Then Thanksgiving and Christmas!  Definitely heading into my favorite time of year!  🙂

The Worst Thing That Can Happen

The last time we saw the oncologist, my mom asked him, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?”  I think she meant, like, could I die.  His answer, though, was, “a fracture.”  The cancer is in her hips and femurs (and lower back) — weight-bearing bones.  So he said a fracture would be painful and would really compromise her quality of life.

She had an appointment with the oncologist again yesterday to plan her treatment.  While she was getting dressed, she tripped and fell in her bedroom.  She fell against my daughter’s dresser and fell onto her right side.

After a trip in the ambulance, ER visit, XRay and CT Scan … yep, it’s broken.  UGH.  So … they admitted her.  They were going to do surgery today but pushed it until tomorrow so they can do an MRI.  Unfortunately, the cancer is in that hip and femur, so that complicates things and most likely means a more complex procedure.

Wrangling the toddler in the ER yesterday was so much fun!  LOL.  She was tired … she wouldn’t stay in the stroller, wouldn’t let me hold her, wouldn’t eat.

Satisfying the toddler at this very moment is actually impossible, too, so … gotta go!

Hi, I’m New Here

I’ve been toying with the idea of blogging again for a while now.  I’ve had lots of ideas of things to blog about.  Now that I’ve set the thing up, I can’t think of any.  Figures.  But you can go read my “about” page for starters.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

So, yeah, that’s our current situation.  Not all good, not all bad, always a challenge!  Actually, I think the biggest challenge may lie ahead, as we found out about a week ago that my  mom’s breast cancer (she’s had it 3 times, but most recently in 2007) has metastasized to her bones.  I think it’s going to be a tough road – for her and for me – once she starts treatment.  Yes, we’ve been through it (the chemo) together twice before … but not with a baby in tow!  That’s the sandwich thing!

I think some people think I have it made in the shade … staying at home with the baby, not working, and having my mom living here and helping to boot.  And it may have started out that way a little bit.  (When Hope was first born, I mean.)  It truly has been great having my mom here to help!  But she has been having a lot of issues with memory loss over the last year or so … and other typical issues that go along with aging … so we’ve been dealing with all of that even before this latest cancer diagnosis.  Anyway, to anyone that may think that I have it easy, I say, “YOU try it!”

So, like I said on the “About” page, I really just feel like writing about … whatever!  So sometimes it might be about Mom and baby and life challenges … but sometimes it might be about what we’re having for dinner or what was on sale at Rite Aid or the beautiful rainbow we saw today!

OK, hopefully not as boring as what we’re having for dinner.  LOL.

Then again, I really do want a roast beef sandwich now!