Pics of Thanksgiving with Family

This is my sister, Doretta. Can you believe she turned 79 on Thanksgiving day? She doesn't look a day older than me.... :) She and her husband, Jim, drove in from the great state of Texas. We are so glad to get to spend the holiday with them....these times are precious for us.

Here we are working on a Norman Rockwell puzzle....The Family Feast.

This is Doretta's husband, Jim working it with me. He is the master puzzle worker.....

Got the Port Inserted and Had 1st Chemo Treatment All in TWO Days!

I got my port inserted on Tuesday, November 18th. Here it is in all its glory....I really am not as sad as I look in the picture....I just didn't think my face was going to be in the picture...

This is where I sat for my 1st treatment....I am wearing a prayer shawl made by my daughter, Traci. I actually thought I would probably get cold, but to my surprise I was hot for most of the treatment. Others seemed to be cold....I don't know if this will be normal or not.

The people around me who were also receiving treatment were very upbeat and friendly. There is even a nice little outdoor patio that we can go to if we have enough battery power on our pumps.
Thank you for your continued prayers and cards. They are working and very uplifting.
When I went home, I had a very designer...black fanny pack I got to tote around for 46 hours. I had it removed on Friday and got to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family on Saturday.
Please continue to stop in for more updates.....

Have You Ever Seen This Guy?

This is Terry Fator, the guy who won America's Got Talent! He is a ventriloquist and can sing/imitate just about any celebrity.

He came to town and I got to see him!!!

This is my 2nd time to see him in person....I went in May while in Las Vegas....both shows were AMAZING!!!

If you ever get the chance to see him, please take the opportunity...you won't be sorry.

My New Haircut....

This is my new haircut done by my granddaughter, Cortney. I can't do any color until I know how my hair is going to react to the chemo....so, you are going to get to see the REAL ME!!!

I am in the same outfit as my last post because I went to get the haircut right after my Dr.'s appointment that day.

Didn't she do a lovely job?

Update on My Colon Cancer

Well, here is the latest....

I have been accepted into the colon cancer study group...

They tested the tumor and it had an elevated risk of returning which meant that I would be in Group A or Group B.

Group A = Traditional 6 month chemo treatment

Group B = 6 months of traditional chemo with a booster of "Avastin" that would continue for an extra 6 months beyond the chemo.

The randomizing put me in GROUP A

I will be getting traditional chemo for 6 months.

I will go in every two weeks....get my lab done...see the Dr....if all the labs are ok....I will do a chemo treatment...which will last about 2 hours.

I will then be sent home with a designer fanny pack...just kidding...a fanny pack that will continue the chemo pumping for 46 hours.

I will return to the Dr. in 2 days and have the pump removed and the cycle will begin all over again for 6 months. I am being treated at Cancer Care Associates in Tulsa.

They SAY that I will lose little if ANY hair.

They SAY that I should not experience nausea....

I'll let you know.

This is a wonderful little lady that has Stage IV Ovarian cancer....

The family is just amazed at her progress....

She was so precious...please say a prayer for her and her family.

Could Someone Throw Me a Bone PUHLEASE....

While Terri was cleaning the gunk off my mouth....she accidentally got too close and I TASTED THE SWEETNESS OF LIQUID....so I latched on and wouldn't let go....I think I sucked every bit of water out of that washcloth. I was parched and no one, not no one, not no how was going to give me anything to drink....

(This is Traci....just to let you know, she told us to NOT DELETE any pictures....and she is now freaking out because she KNOWS I'm going to post them.....)

I'm AWAKE......

This is just as I got in my room...see that lovely RED bracelet? It was discovered that I have an allergy to LEVAQUIN while IN SURGERY....HellloOOOo! I'm pretty certain that is why I have that GIANT WHITE patch on my neck....unless there were vampires in the surgery room....hmmmmm.

I have a giant incision on my stomach, so I'm sure they didn't remove my colon through that thing on my neck either.....

Also, if you called while I was in the hospital and heard a loud beeping in the background, it was probably that thing on my finger....if I touched the phone, pressed my finger to anything, picked my nose....the thing would send off alarms. Now, you know me better than that....I do NOT pick my nose! (In case you can't tell, Traci is typing this update)

The Squirrely Thief......

I've never been able to photo this little squirrel while he is stealing feed from our bird feeder until this year. Do you suppose he realizes my camera doesn't shoot bullets?? That I just want to share his antics with the rest of you?? In any case, I got him and it looks like he posed for every shot...enjoy!

He's looking and listening for my dogs and/or me. He knows I'm close but just doesn't seem to mind.....he's headed for the food!!

Did you know squirrels had FINGERS?

These humans, did they think a little pole would stop me from getting to food???

Now isn't that just too cute!...He's posing or could he be resting???

He made it to the feeder without anything stopping him......Here doggy, doggies!!!

Things are a little squirrely at our house....

Is he just losing his grip?...or?.. is he trying to tell me something?????

After all that work can you deny him a meal???

I've been tagged...6 things you didn't know about me.

My dear daughter, Traci, has tagged me to tell 6 things not known about myself that I am having a hard time coming up with. First off, what you don't know about me is better kept that way, right?????? RIGHT!! But here goes,

1. My mother, my sister, me and my granddaughter all were born on the 27th and my mom and dad's wedding anniversary was on the 27th. All are in 3 consecutive months.

2. I hated shopping with my mom when I was very young and used to walk behind her and limp like I had a severe birth defect. People would look at me and then at my mom like she was really cruel to let a poor crippled child walk by herself. Of course, she would turn around once in a while and I would have to straighten up really fast! She never did see what I was doing.

3. I wanted to learn to dance when I was about 9 or 10. I signed up for tap lessons and after about 3 months my teacher signed up for the armed services and it was a woman. I still believe she signed up to get away from her students!!!!

4. In the 9th grade our class was going to a zoo and park for the last day of school. We did not have an abundance of money and I desperately wanted some new shorts. A girlfriend and I went into one of the shops in town just to look at clothes. I tried on a pair of red bermuda shorts, a white blouse and knee high socks that I absolutely fell in love with. In strutting around the store showing off, the OWNER advised me I could have the clothes on credit. Credit, what is credit??? You take the clothes home with you and you can pay for them when you get the money (or we call your parents, which will obviously come FIRST). Well, I certainly was NOT prepared for the blowup when I got home and showed Mother my new clothes and explained how 'nice' the owner was to let me have them on credit. She loaded me and my new clothes into the car and drove direct to the store. Now mind you my mother was always quiet, not easily agitated and had a soft voice, but not at this moment. She began chewing on the store owner like he was raw meat and she a tiger. That poor man never had a chance and could not apologize enough. I would suspect he suspended all credit transactions after that encounter. Well, I'm sure you are thinking I didn't get my new clothes and I was thinking the same thing at the time, but before we left the store mother slammed the money down on the counter and I got to keep the clothes. But I'm sure she only did that cause she knew how much I wanted them and it really wasn't my fault I didn't understand credit terms.....or did I?????

5. On my wedding night I had to be home at 11 pm....my parent's home, cause I ran away to get married, was under age and still living at home and didn't tell anyone till almost 6 weeks later.

6. I got to have a tour of Elvis' Graceland before it was open to the public. A girlfriend and I were traveling thru Memphis and stopped for gas and asked directions to Graceland. It turned out we were asking his postman for directions. He said he would get in his car and take us there. Upon arrival he asked us to wait in the car and he would ask Elvis' uncle, who was the gate guard, if he could bring in some relatives from out of town. We were let into the gates amidst a crowd of onlookers at the gate in front of the fence shouting "how come they are getting to go in?" We just turned and grinned and walked right on up the drive like we lived there!! A moment I will never forget!

Okay, Traci, I know you are surprised I completed this project, and frankly, so am I..... but going back in time is good for the soul. Thanks for taking me back in time....

Roaming Music....

This is our roaming musician, Dallas. Too bad I couldn't put sound on here for you to hear him play. I think he takes tipping....anyone want to donate?

TWINS

This is Jayson and Noah, my great-grandsons. Don't ask me which is which....I have no idea unless his mom or dad tells me. They are our little Easter eggs...born Easter of 2007. Wasn't the Easter bunny good to us that year?

DIVE OR FLOP?

(Click the picture to get the FULL effect of the picture)

This is STUART, my grandson-in-law. Time is frozen in this picture...does he turn that pose into a dive or a bellyflop....YOU DECIDE. These pictures were taken with a NIKON D50....it takes amazing pictures. The girl in the background, is Laura...yes, my namesake. She is my beautiful granddaughter whom I do NOT teach to shoot firecrackers at dogs!

Papa and Great-Granddaughter Special Moment

Awwwwww, isn't this special? That is Maddie and her Papa having a special moment of lighting a bottle rocket.

(I won't even MENTION that bottle rockets are ILLEGAL in our state)

I also won't mention that 2 seconds after taking this picture, he shot the stupid firecracker at the neighbor's DOG!

What a role model PAUL!!!

Even More Reunion....

Enjoying the kiddos fishing is Doug, my brother-in-law. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!

More Reunion....

My 83 year old Mother In Law, Nalma, LOVES to fish and now she is passing on her hobby to the younger generation. She is the overseer of several youngsters fishing at our pond.

Our 4th of July Reunion

This is a picture of SuperRED, his name and identity have been changed to protect his innocence. At least he isn't peeing in the POOL!

These are additional photos we just had developed of the three daredevils Parasailing. They said they went up 1200 feet and it was totally awesome! None of them got a drop of water on them.

This is Carly
This is my DH, Paul. He's signing that he loves you instead of 'hang loose' (:
This is Vernie "Hanging Loose"!!!!!!!!

Hawaii Trip for Carly's Graduation

Me, the US Navy and Carly at Pearl Harbor
Carly on her balcony of the cruise ship
Paul, Vernie, Carly and Terri snorkeling
Carly & Laura (another granddaughter) going to an "all white" dance on the ship
Paul, Me, Carly, Terri & Vernie - the helicopter crew.
We took our granddaughter, Carly, to Hawaii for her high school graduation gift. The trip was originally planned by my middle daughter, Julie and her husband, Donald, for their 25th wedding anniversary and 8 more of us in the family decided to horn in and join the trip. We had an amazing time. Spent 3 days in Honolulu and saw Pearl Harbor Memorial, the Punch Bowl cemetary and spend an entire day at the Polinesian Culture Center getting royal treatment all the way! On the 4th day we boarded the Pride of America, NCL cruise ship and sailed to different islands for 7 days. We snorkeled in front of Clint Eastwood's summer home on Maui, shopped, parasailed, shopped, rode a submarine, shopped, rested at the beach, toured all the islands and of course shopped. Took a helicopter tour over Kauia that was the most breathtaking site I have ever seen. Helicopters are mine and my husbands favorite way to tour sites. Carly had never been in a helicopter and she was selected to sit in the front seat (lucky) and had an awesome view and got some really good pics. Food is never a problem on a cruise ship and this was no exception with free style dining....eat when and where you want. If there is such a thing as a 'bad' part of a trip it would be the flying time, 8 hrs. We were all pretty tired when we got home but it was a trip not ever to be forgotten especially by us, Carly's grandparents. What a thrill to watch her and help her experience so many firsts on such a grand trip!! Next year we have another graduating granddaughter and she wants to go to Disney World and take a Disney Cruise......can't wait!!!

I'm a Blogger!!!

I'm trying out my new blog....test, test.