One Year!

October 5th marked a year since I finished my cancer treatments, other than having a hysterectomy.

Saturday the 4th I threw myself a party to celebrate that and also my upcoming birthday (the 8th).

I had lots of friends and family join me at one of my favorite Japanese restaurants.

Party favors were passed around. I wore the devils horns (pictured here). I love having party gifts to play with.

My brother made a trip up with his girlfriend, that was really special and I also got a huge surprise of having my friend from London show up unexpectedly. I was like a deer in headlights when I saw him standing there. I had spoken with him the day before and had no idea of his plans. No one has ever given me such a surprise before!

As you can see from the picture I also had my hair color changed. I wanted to do something different to honor this time. I have always wanted to try dark brown or black hair.

I'm just grateful to have hair at all!

I had a wonderful time and am so grateful for everyone who joined me! I felt a bit undeserving but am working on that. :)

This week while my friend is here we'll be doing some more celebrating by driving up the coast of Maine and hopefully seeing some great leaf colors.

So, heres to a year of survival!

I'm still here cancer!!! You haven't beaten me! So there!!

Paul Newman

Another great person dies of cancer.

Paul Newman seemed to me like such a wonderful human being.

From his actions alone he appeared to do all the things I feel people with fame should do.

To not take money and influence for granted. To share his wealth and ability to give in so many ways.

I won't list all his accomplishments, they are many.

I just wanted to note his passing and say how much I admired him and what he did for children, for the earth, for humanity in general.

I also absolutely LOVE his Newman O's, the chocolate/chocolate ones, YUM!

I hope people can learn from him and follow suit.

You'll be missed Paul!

Emails or Phone Calls?

I was thinking about emails versus phone calls this morning.

What did we all do before emails? We hand wrote letters on actual paper and mailed them to people. We also used the phone more often.

I am grateful for emails because sometimes I don't have the energy or time to call someone and want to at least connect with them, so sending an email can be handy.

On the other hand I feel emails have replaced a part of important communication.

I love love LOVE getting hand written letters. I feel so special when someone takes the time to communicate with me this way. I also love to send hand written letters.

I get cards from a fellow survivor and friend quite often and am so happy to receive them. I feel honored when I open the cards to find a personal letter to me.

There are some people in my life that I only email with. Thats the only communication we have.

I have other people in my life that I only speak on the phone with. They don't like to use email unless its a quick hello.

Why is it that some people won't use email no matter how much you write to them? The same for phone calls.

For me I find it easier to email and I feel I can at least communicate with most people that way. If I didn't have email I know that I wouldn't be communicating with certain people at all. Sad but true.

When I'm on the phone I like to make sure I have no distractions and most importantly I want to have the energy to listen and respond back. I tend to get drained of energy after I end a phone call. Maybe i'm not protecting myself well by giving so much, thus the energy drain. I'm not sure what it is. All I know is that I prefer email most of the time. I feel I can communicate without draining my energy supplies via email.

I'm trying to connect with the "phone only" people lately. I put it on my to-do list to call them and make time.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this subject.

Do others feel the same way? Do you have certain people you only email to? Why is that?

Do you hand write letters to people? If not, why?

I am grateful for this blog, to be able to use the computer to communicate with you all.

If only I could hand write a personal letter to you all, to say thank you, that would be lovely.

Happy Mabon!

Its the first day of Fall today. Happy Mabon!

Goodbye to summer, goodbye to wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, goodbye to freshly cut flowers at the farmers market, goodbye to the sounds of the crickets and insect life at night, goodbye to the icecream truck song, goodbye to the outdoor seating at restaurants.

Hello to beautiful colored leaves, hello to warm sweaters pulled out of boxes, hello to squashes and pumpkins, hello to smoke coming out of chimneys, hello to hot soups and stews, hello to a new season.

I'm trying to embrace the Fall and not dread it as I have so many years of my life. The Fall meant back to school and a winter around the corner, cold winds and too many layers. I want to appreciate the Fall and appreciate being alive now, no matter what the calendar says.

I am here now, today, the first day of Fall

....this is an excerpt I found on the web from Patti Wigington about Mabon.....
Mabon is a time of balance, when there are equal hours of darkness and light, and that can affect people in different ways. For some, it's a season to honor the darker aspects of the goddess, calling upon that which is devoid of light. For others, it's a time of thankfulness, of gratitude for the abundance we have at the season of harvest. Because this is, for many people, a time of high energy, there is sometimes a feeling of restlessness in the air, a sense that something is just a bit "off". If you're feeling a bit spiritually lopsided, with this simple meditation you can restore a little balance into your life.

Correction

My mom informed me that I made a mistake with the info on the male and female bald eagles.

The female is actually larger than the male, not what I had stated before...

Thanks Mom!

Linda

I just got the news that a former employer and friend passed away not too long ago.

Her name was Linda Montgomery. I worked for her as a personal assistant. She had diabetes and due to complications with her circulation etc... she became blind and had to have part of her foot amputated. She also went through kidney transplants and dialysis, many treatments and surgeries.

Linda used to be a photographer, loved nature and wanted to capture it on film. When she became blind, you can imagine the heartache she must have felt.

She turned her disabilities into something to benefit others. She would speak at schools, write books of inspiration, spread the word of faith and hope.

There are many memories I have of my time with Linda. I'll mention a few of them here.

Linda challenged me in many ways. She wasn't the easiest person to work for. She wanted things done in a particular way and would fight you on it. I did admire her tenacity and spirit, she was very driven and didn't let much get in her way.

We took a trip to Maine and she got to meet my family. She took a few pictures with my camera and surprisingly they came out very good. She just went with her other senses to guide her lens.

She lived in NC for many many years, thats where I met and worked for her.

She brought me to a wonderful all black baptist church nearby. She had been going off and on for years. I was nervous at the time but.... I believe I mentioned this story in a previous post.....
i'll never forget that experience. The energy of the place, the joy on Lindas face. My finally letting go a bit more, trusting, being in the moment.

The last thing I want to mention is every Christmas Linda would have a card made. Each year it was something more outrageous. She hired a photographer and would put on the appropriate costume for the theme in mind. The card looked like she was actually doing the things she dreamed of. One year she was a mermaid, one year she was flying in a hot air balloon, one year she was driving a race car or something along those lines. She had the biggest grin on her face. I think she really got a kick out of creating the next years card. I'll miss getting them.

Inside the card she would have a typed letter letting us all know what shes been up to. She also had some words of healing and positive suggestions on how to live your life.

I bet shes having a blast now, on the other side, able to see again, able to walk well again, and able to help whomever needs it.

She will be missed.

Eagles Flying High

Saturday I went on an Audubon trip with my mother. We drove about an hour and a half to the dock where the boat took off.

The actual boat trip was about 5 and a half hours.

Apparently bald eagles are coming back in numbers. I think I heard they were removed from the endangered list, which I have misgivings about.

On our way out to sea we saw some harbor seals and a few harbor porpoises (smaller than dolphins), that was exciting.

All in all we saw over 20 bald eagles! We definitely needed binoculars to see them well except this one time when one was flying not far from us overhead. That was my favorite moment of the trip. The eagle soared in circles, graceful and majestic. It was molting time so his wings had some tatters and holes.

I learned that its nearly impossible to tell a male and female bald eagle apart. The females are smaller in size but thats about all the difference. The younger eagles are mostly brown, they don't have their white feather caps on yet.

It was a beautiful day and the rivers we toured were lush and green, with lots of rocks and pine trees to gaze at.

Birds of all sorts were spotted. Great Blue Herons, different types of Loons, Gulls, and more. People would spot something and yell out the location by saying if the bird was at 10 o'clock or 2 etc.... All the binoculars and cameras would be in their positions scoping out each species.

I wondered if the eagles were wondering what we were all looking at, whats all the fuss?

I was reminded of how beautiful birds are and nature in general. I wish I took more time to appreciate my beautiful state I live in.

I listened to Leroy Sievers memorial/celebration of life on NPR.org today. It was recorded for the MY CANCER bloggers, so nice of them to do that.

One thing that Leroy said was something like.... take time out to do something you would have put off for tomorrow. Try something new.

Well I tried something different. Going on that boat ride. It was long and I was totally exhausted by the time I got home but it was worth it. I'm glad I went.

I can picture that soaring bald eagle in the sky and remember the beautiful and precious things of this world.