June 20ths

I am sitting on my new sofa in my new condo, blogging on my new wireless network serviced by my new wireless router. New, new, new! I finally got possession of my place June 16th and spent that week gradually moving in and accepting deliveries of furniture. The Antonini moving group (mom, dad, my brother and I) were pretty exhausted by the end of it all. Dad's friend Wade generously donated his truck for us to transport the large items (mattress, boxspring and BBQ), and the rest made it by way of the Jeep Liberty, Jeep Commander, and Nissan Xtrail. Dad and I also tested our logic skills when assembling my new bed and the BBQ I won last year in the Home Lottery. You start to hate that guy "Allen" who invented the Allen wrench after too many assemblies!

While it took a few days to get used to living alone again, with no roommates to talk to and no Daisy greeting me in the morning, it's quite surreal being in this place now. I really love the space and while starting from scratch again (not even a fork!) has been expensive, it's really been refreshing to create everything. My patio even has furniture on it now. The location is awesome - every time I drive the 10 minutes to work I smile and say "unbelievable". My first night that I slept here was June 20th... a year ago June 20th I was in the hospital and had just had a CT scan to confirm I had severe typhilitis post transplant #3, and I was waiting to hear if the doctors were going to need to do a very risky surgery to deal with the inflamed small and large intestine. If someone had of told me "don't worry, a year from now, you'll be sitting in your new condo, be back at work, and feeling better than ever" I probably would have screamed at them. I guess you just never know what can happen in a year, or twelve. 12 years ago June 20th was the day I played golf and ended up in the hospital with leukemia.

Speaking of health, the week before I moved in, I had all my one-year post transplant tests (add another hole in my back-bone) and so far so good. Now, remarkably I don't have to see Dr. Brown for 6 months and only need bloodwork in 3 months time. I've had a cold for just over a week now, but it's just a cold and otherwise I continue to feel great.

Lots of action packed into this past month before, during and since the move. The boys turned 3 with a fantastic pirate and princess party...they are really little boys now and the babies are gone. "Wanna play golf?" and "Hey guys" are repeated phrases now - they are so funny pretending and discovering and commentating the entire time. Certainly one of the best benefits from my NYC life being interrupted 3 years ago has been getting to know those little guys every week.

Speaking of birthdays, Tasha finally caught up to me in age after a long three week period of being reminded that I was older than her...we celebrated her birthday with a barbecue and even dragged the entire guestlist at her party into a group Sing Star competition. The birthday girl herself won the challenge, after a final sing-down against her husband!

I've even been golfing this month. I joined a women's league that a bunch of girls at work joined, and have golfed 9 holes after work about 3 times. Lessons were included in the league membership, so I've made it to 3 of those as well. My first one was the evening after my bone marrow biopsy - Dad had to drive me as I had sedation for the biopsy - I was extra "relaxed" and my swing and results were pretty good! It's been pretty wonderful to be able to get out and play on some beautiful days.

I'm looking forward to enjoying the summer in Calgary with a few plans here and there for some weekends away. Last night mom, dad and I had plans to go to dinner for mom's birthday - I secretly picked up Colleen from the airport and took her to the restaurant! She was definitely surprised and excited. We're heading to the Stampede grounds shortly for some rides and some fun while Colleen is in town for the weekend.

Who knows what the next June 20th will bring. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the summer on my new patio. Happy summer!