Today is Christmas. It is Bella's second and my first as a survivor. Although the fact is that being a survivor is an ever-present and permanent part of my existence now, it actually didn't flavor the festivities at all. This gives me an immense amount of hope that life really will be able to return to some semblance of normal.
It has been a wonderful couple of days. Christmas Eve has been the big celebration day for both.of our families growing up. What that means today is that we combine everyone for a super celebration. We host the huge dinner party at our house. This year there were 33 of us in total. The traditions include a crab cioppino dinner with cold crab and prawns, bacala, Caesar salad and garlic bread, and a rousing game of ornament exchange. It is all so much fun.
Today we woke up late (thank you Bella!), opened our gifts and stockings, went to Nick's mom's house for brunch, opened more presents, came home for a nap, enjoyed leftover crab for dinner and now a relaxing, quiet night in our pj's.
It really is a wonderful life. I am so blessed and grateful to be alive.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Change of Plans
I posted a couple of weeks ago that I was planning on having my implant exchange surgery on December 28th. Today I had my follow up appointment with my Radiation Oncologist. She is very pleased with how I have healed and thinks everything looks great. So great that aside from seeing her before having surgery, she doesn't want to see me until March of 2013!!! Yep, over a year from now!
With that said, she shared with me that statistics indicate a significant decrease of potential risks after six months post radiation. She isn't worried about my skin- that should heal just fine. She also said my plastic surgeon is excellent (actually she raved about my cosmetic results even compared to women with their final implant in, and I only have the expander!), and that his willingness to work on me wasn't wrong per se. However, the main issue is that there is a much higher risk for tissue fibrosis internally. Essentially I want my expander replaced because it feels like a rock on my chest and I am wretchedly uncomfortable. However, if the tissue reacts because it hasn't finished its process post-radiation, then I could end up just as uncomfortable with a more permanent rock on my chest.
So after a lengthy discussion trying to weigh risk versus benefit, I have decided to trust my gut that my body isn't ready. I am still experiencing some swelling from the radiation, and had even tried to do some research to figure out why at least one of the plastic surgeons I met with told me that they wouldn't be allowed to operate on me for 6-12 months post radiation. Now that my doctor has explained to me what the risk is, and how it fits into the time frame, I trust that waiting, at least a little bit longer, is the right choice. Although I'm disappointed that I won't be done in 2011, I feel good about my decision. My doctor also shared with me that the reason I can't have an MRI with my expander (one of the reasons I wanted to have it swapped out) is that they are concerned about the magnet- not me. There is no risk of the expander ripping through my skin or some horrible other interaction. They just don't want to ruin the machine, and the reality is that it really won't do that either. We would also be doing MRIs on my remaining breast, not for the affected side. So using ultrasound and mammogram (and PET scan if necessary) is more than sufficient.
Although today's appointment changed my plans, it left me feeling much more confident about getting through my next year. Life looks a little better to me each and every day.
With that said, she shared with me that statistics indicate a significant decrease of potential risks after six months post radiation. She isn't worried about my skin- that should heal just fine. She also said my plastic surgeon is excellent (actually she raved about my cosmetic results even compared to women with their final implant in, and I only have the expander!), and that his willingness to work on me wasn't wrong per se. However, the main issue is that there is a much higher risk for tissue fibrosis internally. Essentially I want my expander replaced because it feels like a rock on my chest and I am wretchedly uncomfortable. However, if the tissue reacts because it hasn't finished its process post-radiation, then I could end up just as uncomfortable with a more permanent rock on my chest.
So after a lengthy discussion trying to weigh risk versus benefit, I have decided to trust my gut that my body isn't ready. I am still experiencing some swelling from the radiation, and had even tried to do some research to figure out why at least one of the plastic surgeons I met with told me that they wouldn't be allowed to operate on me for 6-12 months post radiation. Now that my doctor has explained to me what the risk is, and how it fits into the time frame, I trust that waiting, at least a little bit longer, is the right choice. Although I'm disappointed that I won't be done in 2011, I feel good about my decision. My doctor also shared with me that the reason I can't have an MRI with my expander (one of the reasons I wanted to have it swapped out) is that they are concerned about the magnet- not me. There is no risk of the expander ripping through my skin or some horrible other interaction. They just don't want to ruin the machine, and the reality is that it really won't do that either. We would also be doing MRIs on my remaining breast, not for the affected side. So using ultrasound and mammogram (and PET scan if necessary) is more than sufficient.
Although today's appointment changed my plans, it left me feeling much more confident about getting through my next year. Life looks a little better to me each and every day.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Disneyland
I should really write posts closer to the time they happen since my memory is just not what it used to be, and details like to fade... Anyhow this is a little recap on our fabulous visit to Disneyland at the end of November.
As you already know, we visited Disneyland in July with Nick's mom and brothers for Isabella's first trip. When we were down there we tried to convince my sister Sarah to bring my niece Mia for a day too. It proved to be too much but we all agreed on a trip after Thanksgiving for Mia. This was that trip. I'm telling you this because I have never had such a princess-centric Disney trip, but this was all about my beautiful little niece and what she loves.
Nick, Bella and I drove down late Saturday night after Thanksgiving number two at my dad's house. Like crazy people we arrived Anaheim sometime around 2:30 a.m. and quickly found a cheap, clean hotel room to grab a few zzz's. Sarah, Alex and Mia flew down to Orange County Sunday morning, and we all convened at the hotel we had booked for our stay. Once we had dropped all our luggage we headed straight over to Disneyland.
Mia didn't know where we were all going so as we approached the park we kept asking her if she had figured out where we were. Finally, once we were in line at the gate, she knew exactly where she was. The house of the mouse of course!
As we strolled down main street Mia was just taking it all in. Christmas at Disneyland is pretty stimulating after all. We quickly found Mary Poppins, and then Ariel! A princess roaming free right in the middle of the park! We stopped for Mia's very first picture and autograph from a princess.
Mia was in princess heaven and we'd barely begun! We then went straight to Fantasyland for some kid friendly rides. We enjoyed the Carousel and Dumbo to start, and then had to get some lunch.
The details from here start to get a little fuzzy for me- where we went and when is a bit jumbled. As you can see from the pictures, Bella was exhausted. She was happy, just really tired. So tired she actually just fell asleep on Nick's shoulder while waiting for the Tiki Room! Mia danced with Mary Poppins, and we found our way on to a couple more rides in the park.
Eventually we worked our way back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We went to the Big Thunder BBQ for dinner and stuffed ourselves on sausage, chicken, ribs, and all the BBQ fixins. Delicious! After dinner we watched the fireworks and Fantasmic! while indulging in some desserts at the French Market Restaurant. Not to give away our tricks, but if you want a seat, and a decent view for Fantasmic! grab a table at the French Market. You can see the whole show, you have a chair the whole time, and you can get dessert (or dinner) at the same time!
After a late night and a long first day, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for day two! Here's the whole group required castle shot! (Yes, we did put the girls in matching Snow White Shirts for the day.)
The second day was my actual birthday, and we had a very important date to attend. I had scheduled us for the Princess Luncheon at Ariel's Grotto! We started off the morning with fruit and bagels (with a birthday candle for me!) and then headed off to California Adventure. The boys went off to ride the big roller coaster while Sarah and I and the girls went on The Little Mermaid, Undersea Adventure! It was sweet to experience the magic with our little princesses. We stopped for a girls photo op along the way.
We rode some rides (I finally got to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, which is insanely popular and always has a very long line), and eventually worked our way to Ariel's Grotto for our Princess Luncheon. This was the highlight of the trip for me. Mia was in absolute heaven. Ariel greeted us at the door, and then Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle worked their way around the room one at a time, greeting each little princess personally. Mia became more and more excited with each princess that approached (we were at the end of the circuit so she watched them work the whole room before reaching us), so by the time Belle joined us, Mia was over the top. Belle also happens to be a favorite, so when she arrived, Mia literally tackled her with a hug. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Bella slept through the entirety of lunch, but I was almost glad because that meant Mia got to have her very special experience all for herself. Bella will get to have her own Princess lunch when she is old enough to appreciate it. Here are some pictures from our fabulous lunch.
After lunch we wanted to hit up a couple more rides (both kid-friendly and adult-friendly) before heading back to the hotel for our daily nap. On our way to A Bug's Land for some fun for the kiddos, we stumbled across Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. We happened to be the last allowed in line to greet them and so lucked out with probably one of the most awesome Disney pictures possible.
We finished up California Adventure with rides for all (big and small) and headed back to the room for a little rest. We had originally planned an earlier dinner with the girls but quickly realized that the park was closing early that night, so we pushed back our reservations for some more Disneyland fun. We went on It's a Small World (always a winner with the kids), the Tiki Room (another favorite of Bella's) and the Haunted Mansion. Once we had shut down the park, we headed over to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen for a delicious birthday dinner! After a tasty steak dinner, we indulged in a birthday beignet and some banana's foster. Yummy!
Day three was planned to be a partial day since we were all heading home at various points throughout the day. Alex left in the morning (or at least he was supposed to, but due to fog in the bay ended up getting stuck in Anaheim until Sarah and Mia left in the afternoon!), so it was Nick, Sarah, Mia, Bella and I for day three. We planned to visit Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell, and the Princess Faire to meet whichever Princesses were on duty. Done and done! We met Tinkerbell, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle.
We finally made it on Peter Pan (the best kid friendly ride in all of Disneyland in my opinion), and got a little shopping done. It was truly a wonderful trip. It made me that much more excited to take my kid(s) and experience the magic time and again as they appreciate new and different aspects of the Disney magic. I know it is cheesy, but it really is the happiest place on earth. I think I should do this every year for my birthday! ;)
As you already know, we visited Disneyland in July with Nick's mom and brothers for Isabella's first trip. When we were down there we tried to convince my sister Sarah to bring my niece Mia for a day too. It proved to be too much but we all agreed on a trip after Thanksgiving for Mia. This was that trip. I'm telling you this because I have never had such a princess-centric Disney trip, but this was all about my beautiful little niece and what she loves.
Nick, Bella and I drove down late Saturday night after Thanksgiving number two at my dad's house. Like crazy people we arrived Anaheim sometime around 2:30 a.m. and quickly found a cheap, clean hotel room to grab a few zzz's. Sarah, Alex and Mia flew down to Orange County Sunday morning, and we all convened at the hotel we had booked for our stay. Once we had dropped all our luggage we headed straight over to Disneyland.
Mia didn't know where we were all going so as we approached the park we kept asking her if she had figured out where we were. Finally, once we were in line at the gate, she knew exactly where she was. The house of the mouse of course!
As we strolled down main street Mia was just taking it all in. Christmas at Disneyland is pretty stimulating after all. We quickly found Mary Poppins, and then Ariel! A princess roaming free right in the middle of the park! We stopped for Mia's very first picture and autograph from a princess.
Mia was in princess heaven and we'd barely begun! We then went straight to Fantasyland for some kid friendly rides. We enjoyed the Carousel and Dumbo to start, and then had to get some lunch.
The details from here start to get a little fuzzy for me- where we went and when is a bit jumbled. As you can see from the pictures, Bella was exhausted. She was happy, just really tired. So tired she actually just fell asleep on Nick's shoulder while waiting for the Tiki Room! Mia danced with Mary Poppins, and we found our way on to a couple more rides in the park.
Eventually we worked our way back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We went to the Big Thunder BBQ for dinner and stuffed ourselves on sausage, chicken, ribs, and all the BBQ fixins. Delicious! After dinner we watched the fireworks and Fantasmic! while indulging in some desserts at the French Market Restaurant. Not to give away our tricks, but if you want a seat, and a decent view for Fantasmic! grab a table at the French Market. You can see the whole show, you have a chair the whole time, and you can get dessert (or dinner) at the same time!
After a late night and a long first day, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for day two! Here's the whole group required castle shot! (Yes, we did put the girls in matching Snow White Shirts for the day.)
The second day was my actual birthday, and we had a very important date to attend. I had scheduled us for the Princess Luncheon at Ariel's Grotto! We started off the morning with fruit and bagels (with a birthday candle for me!) and then headed off to California Adventure. The boys went off to ride the big roller coaster while Sarah and I and the girls went on The Little Mermaid, Undersea Adventure! It was sweet to experience the magic with our little princesses. We stopped for a girls photo op along the way.
We rode some rides (I finally got to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, which is insanely popular and always has a very long line), and eventually worked our way to Ariel's Grotto for our Princess Luncheon. This was the highlight of the trip for me. Mia was in absolute heaven. Ariel greeted us at the door, and then Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle worked their way around the room one at a time, greeting each little princess personally. Mia became more and more excited with each princess that approached (we were at the end of the circuit so she watched them work the whole room before reaching us), so by the time Belle joined us, Mia was over the top. Belle also happens to be a favorite, so when she arrived, Mia literally tackled her with a hug. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Bella slept through the entirety of lunch, but I was almost glad because that meant Mia got to have her very special experience all for herself. Bella will get to have her own Princess lunch when she is old enough to appreciate it. Here are some pictures from our fabulous lunch.
After lunch we wanted to hit up a couple more rides (both kid-friendly and adult-friendly) before heading back to the hotel for our daily nap. On our way to A Bug's Land for some fun for the kiddos, we stumbled across Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. We happened to be the last allowed in line to greet them and so lucked out with probably one of the most awesome Disney pictures possible.
We finished up California Adventure with rides for all (big and small) and headed back to the room for a little rest. We had originally planned an earlier dinner with the girls but quickly realized that the park was closing early that night, so we pushed back our reservations for some more Disneyland fun. We went on It's a Small World (always a winner with the kids), the Tiki Room (another favorite of Bella's) and the Haunted Mansion. Once we had shut down the park, we headed over to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen for a delicious birthday dinner! After a tasty steak dinner, we indulged in a birthday beignet and some banana's foster. Yummy!
Day three was planned to be a partial day since we were all heading home at various points throughout the day. Alex left in the morning (or at least he was supposed to, but due to fog in the bay ended up getting stuck in Anaheim until Sarah and Mia left in the afternoon!), so it was Nick, Sarah, Mia, Bella and I for day three. We planned to visit Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell, and the Princess Faire to meet whichever Princesses were on duty. Done and done! We met Tinkerbell, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle.
We finally made it on Peter Pan (the best kid friendly ride in all of Disneyland in my opinion), and got a little shopping done. It was truly a wonderful trip. It made me that much more excited to take my kid(s) and experience the magic time and again as they appreciate new and different aspects of the Disney magic. I know it is cheesy, but it really is the happiest place on earth. I think I should do this every year for my birthday! ;)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Party in Pictures
I don't feel like I did justice to my amazing birthday party in my last post, and before I move on to new topics (Disneyland and Tahoe!) I wanted to give it another try. So here is my party in pictures. I didn't include most of the people shots just because once I started, I didn't know where to stop since I have so many amazing people in my life. There are a couple though just for variety. I hope you see what a fabulous event it was, and how very lucky I feel. =)
Being my sassy party girl self
I had a wish tree at the door- here are the instructions.
And here is the tree- we will plant it (cherry blossom) in our front yard.
My wonderful sister Sarah and my mom!
The entrance where the guest book, wish tree and cocktails were set up.
Signature cocktail number one- Aged to Pearfection.
Signature cocktail two- Cherry Blossom.
The mantle above the cocktails showing some of the beautiful house decorations.
The beautiful and delicious cake by Cake Coquette.
The food table full of delicious delectables!
My best friend from college, Katie, who flew out with her hubby just for the night of the party!
More decorations in the house.
The tasty candy table!
The parlor where we had music, a slideshow, dancing and the christmas tree.
The prettiest pixies at the party, dancing by the christmas tree.
And the beautiful christmas tree!
And last, but certainly not least, my two loves Bella and Nick. They are my everything.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Happy Birthday to me!
I'm slowly going to work my way through all of the fun and wonderful things we've enjoyed over the last couple of weeks! We've been busy! I told you about Thanksgiving, and what's up with cancer-free me, so now it's time to talk about my birthday!
Last week I turned the big three oh. For many people this is a scary number. It somehow represents adulthood. Once you're thirty you're supposed to be grown up or something. For me, it represents the end of a year I never thought I'd experience. It represents the end of cancer. From the very beginning of this process the plan was that I would be done by my birthday. And I was! I anticipate my thirties will be the best decade yet.
The actual day was spent at the Happiest Place on Earth! Yes, I entered my "adulthood decade" at the biggest playground out there- Disneyland! We had taken my niece, Mia, for her first visit (with her mom and dad too of course!). But that's another post. =) Anyhow, I was greeted in the morning with a fruit plate and a birthday candle for my first birthday wish (thank you Sarah, Alex and Mia). Then we all got ready to head over to the park. We were visiting California Adventure that day since we had reservations for the princess luncheon at Ariels Grotto. Again, I will tell you more about all of these fabulous things in my Disneyland post, but it was such a wonderful way to spend my birthday. The adults got to trade off playing with the girls and all of the wonderful kid friendly rides and activities, and going on the big kid rides! =) After a full day of the parks, we finished the night off with a fantastic dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. Delicious! Complete with another birthday candle in a beignet and some flambeed banana's foster! Yum!
Then this past Saturday was the big party. Ever since my diagnosis, when we realized that I would be finishing treatment slightly before my birthday, we knew we would have to throw a huge bash to celebrate. It was the "I kicked cancer's ass / 30th birthday" celebration. Nick took the lead with help from his mom, my mom, my sister Sarah, and various other friends and family. They did an outstanding job. The theme was cherry blossoms based on the invitation I designed which was done shortly after I wrote my post about cherry blossoms! =) Here is the invitation...
The party was held at Falkirk Mansion in San Rafael. It is a beautiful old mansion that was beautifully decorated for the holidays (Christmas tree and all!). We had music and a slide show set up in one room, signature drinks (the Cherry Blossom and Aged to Pear-fection) and a candy table in the entrance, and food in another. The food was delicious. It was provided by both family (my family's gyoza by my mom, crab cakes by Nick's grandmother, hand rolled meatballs by Nick's mom and aunt, and more), and catered by Meals of Marin. Meals of Marin is a group very similar to the Ceres Project and they use catering as an additional way to fund their work. They also staffed our event. Their food was outstanding, service impeccable, and best of all- it goes to a worthy cause close to my heart.
The party was just wonderful. It is all a bit of a blur as any good party should be. So many amazing people in my life all in the same building- really warms the heart. Here are a few photos from the event!
Overall, I just feel so blessed and lucky. I have a wonderful life.
Last week I turned the big three oh. For many people this is a scary number. It somehow represents adulthood. Once you're thirty you're supposed to be grown up or something. For me, it represents the end of a year I never thought I'd experience. It represents the end of cancer. From the very beginning of this process the plan was that I would be done by my birthday. And I was! I anticipate my thirties will be the best decade yet.
The actual day was spent at the Happiest Place on Earth! Yes, I entered my "adulthood decade" at the biggest playground out there- Disneyland! We had taken my niece, Mia, for her first visit (with her mom and dad too of course!). But that's another post. =) Anyhow, I was greeted in the morning with a fruit plate and a birthday candle for my first birthday wish (thank you Sarah, Alex and Mia). Then we all got ready to head over to the park. We were visiting California Adventure that day since we had reservations for the princess luncheon at Ariels Grotto. Again, I will tell you more about all of these fabulous things in my Disneyland post, but it was such a wonderful way to spend my birthday. The adults got to trade off playing with the girls and all of the wonderful kid friendly rides and activities, and going on the big kid rides! =) After a full day of the parks, we finished the night off with a fantastic dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. Delicious! Complete with another birthday candle in a beignet and some flambeed banana's foster! Yum!
Then this past Saturday was the big party. Ever since my diagnosis, when we realized that I would be finishing treatment slightly before my birthday, we knew we would have to throw a huge bash to celebrate. It was the "I kicked cancer's ass / 30th birthday" celebration. Nick took the lead with help from his mom, my mom, my sister Sarah, and various other friends and family. They did an outstanding job. The theme was cherry blossoms based on the invitation I designed which was done shortly after I wrote my post about cherry blossoms! =) Here is the invitation...
The party was just wonderful. It is all a bit of a blur as any good party should be. So many amazing people in my life all in the same building- really warms the heart. Here are a few photos from the event!
The birthday girl herself
My pretty princess in her party dress
Aged to Pear-fection
Cherry Blossom
Candy Table!
My beautiful and delicious cake from Cake Coquette!
Overall, I just feel so blessed and lucky. I have a wonderful life.
All in a year
I think I've mentioned before that my long term reconstruction plan is to have a DIEP flap procedure. This is major microsurgery that takes tissue from my abdomen to create a new breast. At the same time they will lift the other side so that shape and size all matches. It doesn't make sense to do any of this until after I have finished having babies. Aside from stretching out my stomach again (hey, if I have to have surgery, at least I can get a bonus benefit from it right?), my unaffected breast will surely change shape, and more importantly we don't know how a pregnancy would affect the abdominal tissue that is moved. So the question remained- what do I do until then? I currently have a tissue expander in. This is essentially an implant that has a port so that it can be put in empty or partially filled, and expanded over time without surgery. Aside from the hard rubber port that I can feel, the expander itself is really hard and pretty uncomfortable. Worse than that, I can't have an MRI which is one of the primary diagnostic tools that I am supposed to use for follow up in the next few years.
After my mastectomy my plastic surgeon mentioned the possibility of replacing the expander with a regular implant. My fear was that then my insurance could deny paying for the DIEP flap procedure. He told me that if I am unhappy with the results (which we can pretty much expect I will be) that I say so, and they are legally obligated to cover the reconstruction. With this information I made the decision to do just that. I expected to meet with my doctor yesterday and plan a date for this surgery sometime in February. He indicated that I would need some time to heal after radiation before we could consider surgery and due to some other things in my life, February was the next possible option.
Yesterday I did in fact meet with my plastic surgeon. We discussed the exchange surgery and my options (silicone vs saline, etc). It is an outpatient procedure that can be completed in the surgery center. I don't have to even go to the hospital, let alone stay in it! Plus the recovery should be pretty manageable. Everything had been reviewed and the last step was scheduling. Much to my surprise, my doctor said we could do it before the end of the year!
Yes, I know that I am crazy. This is the worst possible time of year to plan on putting myself out of commission, but the idea of having all of the major medical stuff behind me within the confines of one calendar year is just too alluring. So we scheduled surgery tentatively for December 28th! I have to get medical clearance (just saying I am strong enough to handle general anesthesia) and my insurance has to go through in time, but I don't anticipate any issues with either of these things.
Assuming all goes to plan, I will be done with everything before the end of 2011. I will be happier than you can possibly imagine to ring in 2012. I have great hopes for this next year!
After my mastectomy my plastic surgeon mentioned the possibility of replacing the expander with a regular implant. My fear was that then my insurance could deny paying for the DIEP flap procedure. He told me that if I am unhappy with the results (which we can pretty much expect I will be) that I say so, and they are legally obligated to cover the reconstruction. With this information I made the decision to do just that. I expected to meet with my doctor yesterday and plan a date for this surgery sometime in February. He indicated that I would need some time to heal after radiation before we could consider surgery and due to some other things in my life, February was the next possible option.
Yesterday I did in fact meet with my plastic surgeon. We discussed the exchange surgery and my options (silicone vs saline, etc). It is an outpatient procedure that can be completed in the surgery center. I don't have to even go to the hospital, let alone stay in it! Plus the recovery should be pretty manageable. Everything had been reviewed and the last step was scheduling. Much to my surprise, my doctor said we could do it before the end of the year!
Yes, I know that I am crazy. This is the worst possible time of year to plan on putting myself out of commission, but the idea of having all of the major medical stuff behind me within the confines of one calendar year is just too alluring. So we scheduled surgery tentatively for December 28th! I have to get medical clearance (just saying I am strong enough to handle general anesthesia) and my insurance has to go through in time, but I don't anticipate any issues with either of these things.
Assuming all goes to plan, I will be done with everything before the end of 2011. I will be happier than you can possibly imagine to ring in 2012. I have great hopes for this next year!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thanksgiving, parts one and two
Although I did post my gratitudes on Thanksgiving day, I never told you about our actual holidays! Yes, I did mean that plurally. We celebrate on Thanksgiving Thursday, and then have our second Thanksgiving on the Saturday after.
On the holiday proper, we went to Nick's mom's house for dinner. For our family, it was relatively small and happily low key. There were 12 of us I believe. Lorraine cooked everything for the meal and it was all delicious. All I did was bring some cheese and artichoke dip for appetizers. Easy breezy. =) We all had a wonderful time relaxing with each other and enjoying our delicious meal. Bella really enjoyed herself too!
On the holiday proper, we went to Nick's mom's house for dinner. For our family, it was relatively small and happily low key. There were 12 of us I believe. Lorraine cooked everything for the meal and it was all delicious. All I did was bring some cheese and artichoke dip for appetizers. Easy breezy. =) We all had a wonderful time relaxing with each other and enjoying our delicious meal. Bella really enjoyed herself too!
Friday was spent relaxing and preparing for Saturday since we were planning to drive to Disneyland after dinner.
Saturday rolled around and I felt like we had plenty of time. We still had to pack our bags, load the car, and make mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts for dinner, all before 4pm. In retrospect I probably should have done the packing on Friday. By the time dinner rolled around I was ready for a nap! But we made it and finally arrived at my dad's house for our annual "Saturday after" Thanksgiving round 2. This is more of a pot luck event. My dad and Vicki make the turkey and stuffing (and some other odds and ends depending on the year) and everyone else brings something to share. I'm always on duty for the mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts, which I could pretty much make in my sleep these days. It is a wonderful event. Little miss Bella enjoyed herself immensely. After dinner and dessert Nick, Bella and I hit the road and drove to Anaheim where we were meeting my sister Sarah and her family for Mia's first visit to Disneyland! More on that to come...
Saturday, December 3, 2011
A little behind...
I know I have some major updating to do... It's been far too long between posts, but I've been busy! Between holidays and a trip to Disney and my birthday I have been quite occupied. I will give each topic its due though, I promise... Probably not till Sunday at the earliest however... And more likely next week! Any topic requests? I promise Thanksgiving (one and two), my birthday (day and party), and Disney. I guess I'll add some cancer updates in there too! =) Not a lot in that world at the moment though (amen to that!) so it will be brief. It's been a good couple of weeks to say the least.
xoxo
xoxo
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