I really can't believe it's December 1st. I realized I better post before I have to do a Christmas one!
Time continues to evaporate and October and November are a blur...work in October included a number of activities including the United Way drive in our office, which concludes with a "slave auction" - my auctioneer extraordinaire brother once again amazed my coworkers and made them laugh as he auctioned and got the bidding up on various items, including my paintings for a child's room, with the grand total exceeding $56,000 at the end of 1.5 hours. It's always fun to have him there, and introduce him as a mortgage broker, auctioneer and a guy who donated bone marrow not once but twice!
Speaking of my bone marrow donors, we finally managed to have a Skype visit with my family and Oliver's family in Germany. After a few technical glitches on my side, we were able to see Oliver, Judith, Noah, Jona, Claudia and her 2 sons! On our end, the boys had fun with the webcam (and I could see Noah giggling) and everyone on our end got to meet everyone on their end. Dad got meet them all finally and say a few words of thanks to Oli, and my brother and Oli got to share a beer as my 2 heroes. Of course mom and I were happy to be reunited with them all, such wonderful friends. The power of technology....I look forward to more virtual visits.
Tasha's Rethink Romp came and went with a big successful bang, raising funds for Rethink Breast Cancer, and getting a dozen or so of my coworkers out for the fantastic night. The theme was Superheroes, and while not everyone dressed in theme, my Gotham Girl costume worked well, although I think I will retire it! I wore it the week before the romp to Shannon's awesome Halloween party, so it got double value.
Certainly a highlight in October was becoming the godmother of Mireya Marjorie Lukiwski on October 31 in Regina - I had an excellent weekend with her and she is definitely one of my favourite girls in the world. I am so looking forward to watching her grow up - we even got another visit in November when Amy, Ellen and Mireya were in Calgary while Amy attended a conference. Mireya is very special and I am a proud Godmom.
My planned trip to Vancouver mid-November started a bit early as news came that Grandma Gunn was not well and in hospital. I flew out a couple days earlier than planned, and after a bit of a roller coaster week, she rallied again and the following week was discharged. It was great to spend time with her, even though she can't say anything and at times was in some distress. I love her very much and often worry about the lack of quality of life she has after being such a wonderful person. But it is clear she still wants to be here, and I know personally that at a point, a person can make the final choice when they want to go. So I guess I'll take her cue and just enjoy the time she is here.
While in Vancouver I also got to visit a bit with Colleen, Allan, Grady and Joelle and saw my good friend Shelley who recently moved to Vancouver. It was great to spend time with Shelley as we don't often end up in the same city lately...but old friends don't change, so we enjoyed a few good dinners, hanging in her fantastic place, and catching up like no time had passed. And while we shared a lot of time at the hospital, it is always fun to hang out with Colleen and her family...I am really looking forward to hanging out in Maui come December 31 as they are going to be there when we are. I can almost smell the ocean now....(and last week when it was -40 I was dreaming of the beach).
My little boys have all been keeping me entertained lately. Jack and Davis got over to my house a couple of time in November, and showed me how to really play the Wii. They loved snuggling on my bed, munching popcorn and watching Spiderman. Talyn and I hung out a bit in October (he likes my Wii too) and I just gave him some signature tickles this weekend. Alex, Doug and Michelle's little guy, saved up room for "breakfast with Tricia" when we met a couple weeks ago at Cora's for waffles. They are all growing so fast.
A couple weeks ago would have been Ryan's birthday and we went for dinner at a restaurant that we went to last year with him. Tonight I will join Tasha, Talyn and some of Ryan's friends and family at a Candlelight service that the funeral home holds. It's good to share some fond memories of him as it's still hard to imagine he's gone.
Healthwise things continue to be superb and my skin issues even seem to be improving. I avoided the neck surgery with diligent work and think I will be able to leave the bandages behind heading into 2011. The experimental drug I went on a couple months ago to help the scleroderma seems to be improving things a bit, so that's positive too. Other than that, the only thing that stops me from taking over the world is my fatigue. 4 days of work and a full life otherwise is sometimes a bit of a challenge, but given my track record I know it's incredible I can do all of that! I celebrated 13 year since transplant #1 this past weekend....
As Ferris Buller said once, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."
Stop. Look around. Cheers...Tricia
