Remembering

I can't believe it's September 2009 already. What happened to the "turn of the century"??? I'm not sure if its true, but it seems to me that time really does move faster as you get older.

I lost a dear friend last week to the side effects of cancer. She started her battle about 13 years ago when she got estrogen driven breast cancer. She was pregnant at the time which caused the cancer to move at an alarming rate. The doctors gave her steroids and delivered the baby early. Within the week she was in surgery having her breast removed. Chemo and radiation followed. Several of her friends banded together and we took care of that new bundle of joy along with the two other children who were 5 and 12. I have never seen a ward band together so quickly before!! My friend had a horrible battle. The cancer metastasized in her brain. More surgery. More treatments. The cancer settled in her lungs. More treatments. I spent many hours with her at the hospital holding her hand (even when she didn't know I was there). Her battle lasted about 3 years, but she came out on top!

In July of this year she called to tell me that she had breast cancer again. (I happened to be in a hotel room in Branson Missouri vacationing with my sister.) It was a new cancer - totally unrelated to the one 13 years ago. She was going to have the other breast removed and go through chemo-therapy again. I couldn't believe it!!! According to her - this was going to be a breeze compared to what she went through the first time. I'm not sure if she was finished with her treatments or not, but on Thursday, September 3, 2009 she told her dear husband that her stomach was hurting - a lot!! They ended up in the ER. There was the usual poking and prodding. Her last words to her husband were "why are you being so mean to me?" I can just hear her saying that. She was such a kidder!! Her husband told me that she had heart failure while they were in the ER. They found that her bowels had been perferated and she was septic. They put her on dialysis and intubated her. For all intents, she was gone. Her husband, who is devastated by his loss, tried everything he could to keep her alive. He even opted for a surgery, which according to the doctors would give her a fraction of a chance of living. She never spoke again. She was heavily sedated and was pronounced dead on Saturday morning.

She made me laugh, she made me cry. She even made me angry at times. But I loved her.

Thank you Tammy!

Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that follows the seasons. The most common type of SAD is called winter depression. It usually begins in late fall or early winter and normal mood returns in summer. A less common type of SAD, known as summer depression, usually begins in the late spring or early summer. SAD may be related to changes in the amount of daylight you get. (Just so you all know - John wrote this, not Becky)

Sleeping Beauty

I had a wonderful time on Saturday. I took Jackie & Summer; Ashley; Jamie & Lucy; Stefanie & Audree and Angela & her niece Madison to the Hale Theater in Gilbert to see a production of Sleeping Beauty. We had a great time! The girls all got princess crowns. The little girls wore their princess dresses. Lucy (who is 2) had a hard time sitting still before the show started, but once it got underway - she loved it! I only wish I had orange hair like one of the fairies :)

This is a picture of Josh & Jackie's kids praying for Grandpa while he was at the Emergency Room - so precious

On February 5th, John arrived home from work on his motorcycle. Kimber was here visiting so her car was in the driveway alongside of mine. John thought he could fit between the two cars, but was horribly mistaken. His left foot got caught in the wheel well of my car and he ultimately broke his foot. He some how made it to the house and we got him in a chair. We took off his shoe and put his foot in a bucket of ice water while I went across the street to get the neighbor to help me get John in to the car for our adventure to the ER. He actually lost consciousness four times before we got in the car. He turned grayish-green and was speaking non-sense. He swelled up pretty good. It turns out that he has a small fracture on the top of his foot, but he also messed up tendons and other stuff. He loves his crutches!!

So - I had a great morning! I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens today and saw the Chihuly Exhibit. It was really amazing. Thanks Sunny, Tammy, Ariel and Skylar for inviting me to come along!

Mediterranean Cruise

John & I just got back from a wonderful trip to the Mediterranean. We stayed a couple of days in Rome, then got on a cruise ship which made several stops in Italy, Greece & Turkey. It was so awesome, I can't even describe it. John went home the day the cruise ended, but I stayed on with a friend and went to Padua and Venice. I had to pinch myself every morning to remind myself that it was real. The picture on the top is of the Parthenon in Athens and the one on the bottom is the Colliseum in Rome. It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm having trouble sleeping, but it's time to try again. I'll post more later :)

Swiss Days

So - I drove to Utah last weekend with Aunt Janice, Aunt Nancy, Karen W & Jayne. We laughed a ton! I think you should ask Aunt Nancy how to spell Jordanelle - she'll LOL!!

We stopped on the way to visit with Don & Shirley and Dean. We were able to see the wall mural that Dean did this past summer. It's soldiers from several past wars. They are painted to look like bronze statues and it is awesome! We had some soup made from vegetables in Don's garden, then we were on our way.

Jayne, Karen and I stayed with Rex & LeighAnn Ashdown. They have a great new place in Pleasant View. Janice & Nancy met up with Shirley C and spent the weekend at Virginia's. Friday morning, LeighAnn made breakfast (breakfast pizza, waffles & fruit - yummy) for all of us, then it was off to Gateway Shopping Center in SLC for some well deserved shopping. We stopped on the way home to see the new home that Kit & Jerry are building in Plain City, then stopped at Mrs. Cavanaugh's for some chocolates. We all went out for mexican food that night (we let the men come). Saturday morning we left early for Midway to attend Swiss Days. We met up with Sandra & Laura, Ann & Sue, Sherri & Heidi. What a "girl high" that was! More craft booths than I've seen in my life. As if that wasn't enough shopping - we stopped in Park City and hit the outlet mall :)

Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting with Rex & Virginia. It was "Rex and his seven wives :)" We had a wonderful lunch & enjoyed some home-made ice cream before it was time for me to take off for the airport. I love my family and always enjoy being with them.