Christmas wishes for a full and good life

It's 9 degrees outside and that is exactly what I wished for! I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas morning/day with your family. We had an early Christmas yesterday morning with Jack and Davis and despite the incredible excitement they both had over opening all their gifts, Davis said "Christmas isn't about the treats, it's about GIVING and family time and SHARING"! I think then he and Jack headed into the garage to drive their new remote cars into each other, but he obviously got the message that much of the world forgets this time of year. 5-year old logic rules all, once again.




To say the past few months have flown by is an understatement and I won't even attempt to recall or capture everything that has occured in the weeks behind me. Work for many reasons these past months was way busier than expected and I have pushed the limits a bit too far to deal with some client deadlines - one of my 2012 resolutions is to ensure I manage a better balance. Despite that I have been doing all kinds of wonderful things outside of work.

October's highlights included a quick trip to NYC to attend my third Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre's Transplant Survivor Celebration, where I got to catch up with my amazing doctors and give them a first hand look at their fantastic research results. While my portal to the universe Elaine's restaurant is closed now after Elaine's passing a year ago, mom and I managed to catch up with many of our old friends from there thanks to Facebook keeping us connected. When we returned, later that week I was honoured to attend the launch party of Calgary's Avenue magazine "Top 40 under 40" as I was named to the 2011 class. You can check out the article and all the 39 other honourees online.



http://www.avenuecalgary.com/top-40-under-40/tricia-antonini



My friend Michelle nominated me and I was surprised out of 350 nominees that I was included in the group - but what it does speak of is hope. 5 years before the launch party, in October 2006, I had just learned to swallow, breath, walk and go to the bathroom on my own following weeks in ICU after surviving flesh eating disease, and although I was stable, the threat of the leukemia was imminent after having treatment interrupted so quickly after it had started. No one could have convinced me that I would survive let alone get back to work, voluntering and have my story in a magazine 5 years later. So the article reminds you once again that anything is possible.




November included attending a number of charity events - anchored by Tasha's Rethink Breast Cancer Boobyball, which was one of the best and most successful yet in raising funds for supporting young breast cancer patients while they fight the disease. I also managed to fit in a quick trip to see Dr. Aung after over a year and a half gap, which always gives me a boost of energy and joy.




December has been full of fun (in between lots of work!) not just because of our holiday party at work. My cousin Brant who lives in LA and works in the reality TV arena, discovered my addiction (or devotion) to the reality Series Survivor and managed to get 4 tickets for me and my 3 fellow "Survivor pool powerchicks" (Julie, Laura, Shannon - friends from work) to attend the live finale show at CBS studios in LA. Seeing Brant, his wife Juliana and their kids, my cousin Shawn, my aunt and uncle Marcia and Dennis on the Friday night was such an awesome bonus. It was a fantastic Hollywood weekend, complete with premium restaurant experiences, celebrity spotting, Chateau Marmont accomodation, limo pick up and laughing with friends and family. And showing the show's creator Mark Burnett our famous "Survivor plaque" with the name of each season's pool winner engraved on it, and explaining the 23 blank spots showed how long we thought the show would continue ("Wouldn't that be nice" was his response) was also fun. I love LA!




Last night mom, dad and I enjoyed delicious appetizers at Tasha's with her brother Chad and mom and dad Birthe and Jerry, laughing ourselves silly while playing the "present game". This morning we talked to Jack and Davis who were playing air hockey with their Dad after having a visit from Santa.



And on Saturday, I will escape to paradise with mom and dad to meet Colleen, Allan, Grady and Joelle for New Year's Eve in Maui, followed by a couple weeks of sun and relaxation. Life is good. Life is full. Wishing you all a full and good life. Cheers.


Tricia