Beautiful blues and a gentle stingray

I was told the water in the Caribbean was beautiful, but I never imagined how turquoise it would be. If I painted what I saw, it would look fake! I returned from Grand Cayman Monday evening, after 4-5 days of snorkeling bliss with Dave and his parents. We had a wonderful time and stayed at a beautiful condo compliments of Dave's mom's boss. Dave and I snorkeled as much as possible in the short time we had and saw every fish imaginable, a couple sea turtles, a barracuda, a squid and stingrays. All the physio I have been doing payed off as I was able to enjoy the water sights fully. I'll post some more pictures once I get them - here are a couple that show the George Town harbour and Dave at the beach where we snorkeled.

One morning we took a boat trip out to the barrier reef where the coral and plant life was amazing. The last stop of the trip was at Stingray City, a sandbar area that dozens of stingrays hang out at. (These are not the same kind that killed the crocodile guy in case you were worried). You literally stand on the sand bar and wait for the stingrays to say "hello" as they brush their rubbery flaps up onto you! I even got to hold a docile female stingray in my arms, with her blinking at me the whole time. It was truly something I'd never imagined doing, but was so incredible, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Seeing the Caribbean water was on my "life list" - but as I crossed that one off, I discovered the stingrays. That really opened my eyes to the significant potential of the life list - if you proactively try to cross off items on the list, you will no doubt discover things you never even knew of to add to the list in the first place. They're kind of hidden treasures you only get to by making the effort to cross off items on your known list. I am curious what other hidden treasures I'll find as I continue on with my list!

My return to Calgary meant blood work of course, and physio. There were a few fluctuations in my blood results, but the doctors will simply monitor results next week and want me to continue the chemo as planned. I feel quite well and my scars from the surgery really liked the salt water and ocean air again...funny how both the mind and body like those islands.

Dad and I leave for Las Vegas Saturday and will see Elton John and Cirque de Soleil when we are there. I'm pretty excited about Elton John and plan to listen to his music on my IPod over the next few days to prepare!

Hope your week is going well...let me know what you've discovered!

Tricia

Smells of Spring

I love when it gets warm, really warm, after the long days of winter. There is something so hopeful about a day with sun and the smell of wet grass, even if there is dirt and slush every where! It's been quite warm in Calgary lately, so we've been enjoying a bit of this springlike weather. Not to say that a dump of white stuff won't come any minute now, but it's now at least a short-term sight to deal with!

The past couple of weeks have been good. I think it's taken me 5 rounds of chemo to realize that the last two weeks of my 28-day cycle are better than my first two. I start "day one" again this Wednesday (I know, can you believe it?!) so I will give myself a break if I don't feel as good next week as I do today.

Physio has been really going well. The range of motion I am getting back is exciting and my strength is coming too. I have even reduced my non-chemo meds in the meantime. Less drugs and more motion....always good! Besides the physical stories, I have continued working on my lifelist, little and big, with the help of my cancer-survivor-coach Tasha. I am excited to be moving forward more now than hovering in limbo so much.

I managed to get to a few movies lately, one with my cousin Barbara, and one with my mom. It's fired up my acting passion again and I hope to get back to that soon. I also had the treat of hanging out with some cute boys - Tasha's Talyn (nearly 2 years old!) at the Zoo,

and my nephews Jack and Davis (9 months old now). My nephews always like to play with my fuzzy head!

So I am a week away from starting my "trip time"....first stop is Grand Cayman with Dave and his parents. I'm excited to see them, as well as the blue Caribbean ocean I've never seen. I'll be pulling out my snorkeling gear again, and surf wear, and hope that my physio allows me to enjoy it all. Chemo day 1 will be a distant memory I am sure!

I hope the warm spring winds find you wherever you are.

Tricia