We're moving ...

This pictures reminds me that moving isn't a big deal ... even though we've had to do it twice within the past 10 months.   30 to 48 hours of labor ... bringing your child into the world...  is a big deal.  I'm sure you can tell from the pic that I'd not slept in, nearly, two days.  The big deal is our son.  He's the reason that we make the decisions that we do.  We'll have a quaint mother-in-law apartment in one of my agent's homes.  She is ALWAYS looking out for me.  So, when we got bombarded, AGAIN, with medical bills, she came-a-calling.  

We'll be living in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood.  We'll have a gorgeous backyard/garden.  Mosey and I can walk up to the zoo.  We'll be living at the end of a long dead-end street:  no traffic.  This is key, as Silas has inherited the Accident Prone gene from me.

  We've made many new friends up here on Capitol Hill.  We'll keep them in the fold.  But, it's time to move on.

  I want to have a garden party, once we get settled.  I think it would be ideal to call it The Summer's Eve Party.  Douche references are ALWAYS fun.  Sorry Mama and Dad.   I'm your child, so it's your fault that I'm brash.  I can ONLY imagine what Silas is gonna throw at me when he's my age.  Holy Hannah.

  Night, night my sweets.

xoxo

Anna

Weekend ...

  I Gotta blog about soul-mates, as I've got a few.  I have a great group of lady friends that happen to have been "blessed" with cancer.   We gals got together this past weekend for a hen party.  I cannot tell you how much fun we had.  We rented a beautiful, and huge, house on the Hood Canal here in Washington state.  We wanted to have a girl's weekend.  We had many bedrooms, many porches, a hot tub, and a pebble beach down below.  We were out in the middle of nowhere ... as we had wished.

  I can't imagine describing this weekend to you and getting my true emotions across.  It would be impossible.  We had the MOST wonderful time.   A bunch of breast cancer survivors drinking and eating way too much.  We are ladies with one/two/no boobies.  Some are real, most are not.  We are living life as cancer survivors, some of which have "no evidence of disease" and some of which have metastisized to stage 4.  Those of us that are considered to have "no evidence of disease" may find out tomorrow that our cancer has metastisized.  It's common.  It's not lost on us.  And we're prepared.  We'd be in amazing company.

   So, we're all trying to live our "new normal."

   It was a blast.  We laughed so hard that our bellies hurt.  We drank so hard that I, personally, ended up with a cheese-puff stuck to my face upon waking up one morning.  I, now have a scab on my jaw where said cheese-puff molded itself to my skin.  I had to peel the damned thing off in the morning and I've been bleeding ever since.

   Nacho hit her head on the fridge door on Saturday night and none of us could figure out how we could get her to a medic, as none of us could drive.  Plus, we had absolutely NO clue where we were ... exactly.  We were in the middle of nowhere.  I mean, I could tell the 911 operator, "we're somewhere on the hood canal (which runs a couple hundred miles).  There is water (duh) and trees (brilliant) and a bald eagle flew over our heads this morning (we could have been doing acid, at this point).  Isn't that coooooollll!"  She would have chalked it up to a bunch of drunk high schoolers.  Luckily, Nacho's pupils looked fine after we, the experts, checked them out.  We loaded her head with ice and settled in to watch The Breakfast Club.   I ended up sleeping on the deck with K-Dawg  - on an air mattress - watching the moving from outside, just so that we could fall asleep under the stars.  Unfortunately, the air mattress got sick of the air and I woke up on a hard wooden deck.  My hip has a huge bruise.  AND, tonight, I still have this damned scab on my face where that frickin' cheese-puff slept.  Kevin is calling me "Scarface" and strangers are staring at me, as the thing tends to bleed alot ... when I am not aware.  Oh well.  I'm glad to gain this new patch.  I'm like a Girl Scout ... without the cookies

xoxo

Anna

  

Judgmental people

  If you are a person who chooses to judge other people, openly, then you should take a step back and reflect.  Think about the person or thing that you are judging ... in it's most base state.  I think that, during your "deep" process of judging, you should take a step back and look at yourself.  Do you behave, regularly, in a way that might cause you to be judged by others?  Do you talk before you think:  no internal monologue?  Do you know what others think about your behavior and opinions?   Chances are, you don't.  Is it easier for you to spend time judging others and not dealing with your own issues?  

  Are you intimidated by someone:  them, their opinions, and their beliefs?   Do you judge in efforts to squelch your own fears or issues?  By the way, if you do that, you're projecting ... it's not their issue:  it's yours.

  I think we're all guilty of judging people without really knowing them.  Myself include.

  But, for God's sake, look within before you throw your own shit on them.  We will all judge.  I do it more frequently than I care(d) to admit.  But, I don't act out on it, regularly, as I know that I should look within.  I try to do that ... doesn't always work

  I'm not saying that that changes much about me.  I talk non-stop.  I'm loud.  I pass gas in public.  I am a road-rager.  But, despite all of that, I choose not to throw someone under a bus in hopes that I can have control.   It's not appropriate.  It's wasteful.  It's non-productive.

xoxo

Anna

  By the way, those of you that do choose to judge:  everyone around you knows you're doing it.  That's your M.O.  

Karin's back!!!!!!!!!!!

  Our sweet friend Karin is back.  I was spelling her name wrong.  Those of you that have read the blog, know what I'm talking about.  Karin had to leave our block, as some douche in our building called the cops and said that she, basically,  shouldn't be living quietly and non-invasively outside of the building.  Get a hobby, I say.  If you have nothing else better to do than unload about a quiet and docile person, call me ... I'll give you a hobby!   In any case, Karin just got a great new job.  She's working hard.  She's trying to work towards a goal.  Good for her.

  We're moving ... again.  So, we've, happily, unloaded some stuff(s) onto Miss Karin.  Candles ... she said she needed.  Food.  Lots of nice-smelling lotions, food for her sweet kitty.  Ice ... it helps her out, as she has a cooler.

  Karin came up tonight to take a shower.  We had told her some days ago, that if she needed to take shower, just let us know.  She sat with us after she bathed.  We offered her a glass of wine, but she said, "after drinking as a teenager, I haven't really wanted to as an adult."  She, also, hates photos of herself:  I can understand.  But, we took one anyway.  Gotta share her.  She's a doll.  She's a great gal.  She is a wonderful Mama to her kitty.  Send your vibes and prayers out to Miss Karin.  She's gonna be something big.  Plus, she put up with the smell of our cat box, as we had just changed the litter.  Smells like an ammonia factory in here.

  Oh, and by the way.  The other pics are of a date that Silas and I went on, on Tuesday.   Breakfast at "Charlie's."  It was sweet.

Bye, bye Mama ...

 Nonnie has left the building.  Our fun 10 days together are over.

 We just dropped her off at the airport.  So sad to see her leave.  Silas had a ball.  Kevin and I had a ball.  We had so much fun out at the beach house.  We had so much fun sitting here in this apartment.  We spent hours laughing about nothing at all, were hosted by many great people, saw Sex and the City, drank until our livers turned blue, and Mama wet her pants again ... this was due to laughing.  I know when you read this Nonnie you're gonna be ticked that, again, I'm sharing your functions with the world.  But, I'm fine with that ... just glad that I was there to witness it.  Glad to know that I'm not the only gal with bladder issues.

  Mama isn't even on the plane right now.  She's waiting.

  I just hate that she's in the same city, but is still "gone."

  Silas loves his family.  He has an unbelievable time with them.  It's simply a shame that my half are 3,000 miles away.

  In other news, we're moving.  We've been bombarded with medical bills lately.  We're spending way too much living where we do ... and it's not worth it.

  My friend/agent has offered us her "mother-in-law" apartment in hopes that it will help us financially.  It's in her new house.  Our door opens up to her backyard.  It's a beautiful garden with a little pond, to boot.  We'll be in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood ... at the end of a dead end road.  No traffic, no fast cars, no loud noises.  It's gonna be great.  I think that Silas will love it.  We will be able to walk to the zoo now.  "T" is going to have surgery soon on her hips.  So, we will be there to help take care of her during her healing process.  PLUS, I will FINALLY be able to have "my dog" Otis with me all the time.  She's already told me that he can stay with us. So, all in all, it's great.  Bills shmills.  

  Enjoy the pics ... if I can get them downloaded from the interweb.

xoxo

Anna  

Pics

This is the only image that would upload/download tonight.  I think that is pretty telling.  These are my new best friends.  How is it that this was the only image that would come through when I've never had an issue before?!

Those Gays!  They are RUINING my computer!  

xoxo

Anna

Mama's here ...

  Good evening.  Had a wonderful weekend and night.  Mama, Silas, Otis, and I went out to T's beach house as soon as Mama got off the plane.  It was a wonderful weekend.  We lounged, drank, spent time on the beach, drank, laughed, drank, watched "Dirt", drank, laughed, made a fire, drank, ate amazing food, and ...

  Pics to follow.

  Tonight, Mama, Kevin, Silas, and I went to dinner/happy hour with new "My Gays."  You know the boys.  The gorgeous guys we met on July 4th.  I can't really call them "my gays" anymore.  They are my friends now.  I'll call them "The Beauties."  They are all gorgeous, inside and out.  We had a wonderful dinner.  The boys are going on vacation and have decided to do the "Gay Diet."  This means that they are not drinking until they get to Lake Chelan.  I was thrown by this ... but, talked them into sharing cocktails on the "girls' night" that Mama and I are planning on Saturday.  It, I'm sure, will prove to be an amazingly fun evening.  They are TOO kind to break the rules so that we can all make fools of ourselves.  We're gonna dance like fools and drag Mama outta The Cuff by her cane.  Mama and me partying at a gay bar.  Fitting.  We're so excited.

  In closing, if you didn't read the previous post, Jayme passed on Friday.  Jayme's only child is turning 5 on Wednesday, I think.  Her dear friend, and a fellow Young Survival Coalition member, Danica flew to be by her bedside.  Danica ended up with a rare side-effect of chemo:  leukemia.  Danica got chemo on Thursday (last week), got on a plane right after treatment, and flew to be with Jayme and her family.  Danica, not even considering her own treatment, was there helping the family ... namely, Kody, Jayme's young child that will NEVER see his mother again.  Danica was with Jayme when she died.  Danica held her hand and talked to her during the process that we all NEVER talk about:  The dying process.  Danica has 3 children, she's in debt, she is just as afraid of death as any of us.  But, she put all of that aside to support her dear friend.  Danica will ALWAYS be one of my true heros.   What an amazing woman.

  Those of you reading this know my story.  I know that you know what we, as breast cancer patients, go through.  Danica needs to find a donor ... a bone marrow donor.  She's selfless.  That is why she deserves to have all the help in the world.  She has 3 children that need a Mama to be there for them for a long time.  If you can find the time/courage, e-mail me or talk to your doctor about being a bone marrow donor.  I CANNOT DO THIS, AS I'VE HAD CANCER.  I'd do it every day of my life if I was able.   But, I would LOVE to find a donor for Danica.  No member of her family has ended up being a match.  She is obviously a selfless and beautiful woman.  Please help us find a match.

xoxo

Anna

p.s. just tried to upload all my great photos and it didn't work.  Damned computers.