Well, November...

didn't end in a very good way for us. We lost (my mom, actually) a very dear friend of the family to cancer. My sister also lost a very dear friend to the same thing. That's why I wanted my Christmas gift this year to go to the American Cancer Society (we draw names in our family so we only buy for one person - except for the kids - and our limit is $75, so instead of getting a gift this year, I wanted to donate). I did it in the memories of two people that we lost this year (the friend I mentioned above and my brother's mother-in-law) and my aunt, who we lost almost five years ago from pancreatic cancer.

I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and a joyous and safe New Year. Please let us remember the reason for the season. I'm hoping and praying that 2008 brings the family adopting from Africa the precious gift they're anxiously waiting for.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Well, a few days after...

we got home from being evacuated from the fires, we flew up to San Jose for a memorial service for my sister-in-law's mom. The service was beautiful and all planned out. May sat down with a dear friend of hers and said exactly what she wanted. She was cremated and buried right there in their church's Memorial Gardens. Out of my three nieces that were her granddaughters, the middle one took it the hardest. Obviously, I know it was hard on all of them though. It was a short trip; we flew up on a late Saturday afternoon and came back on a Monday afternoon.

But, luckily everything's back to normal now. Sunday, my eldest niece is making her Confirmation at her church; and then we're celebrating her 15th birthday with family and friends afterwards. Her actual birthday isn't until next Sunday.

If I don't post beforehand, I want to wish everyone a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Our family, in particular, has a lot to be thankful for (pertaining to the fires) this year. Thank you, Jesus, for protecting my parents', brother's (and his father-in-law's) and sister's homes.

I'm sure...

you've all heard that San Diego is currently on fire. I wanted to let you know that my family and I are all ok and we just got home (after spending two nights in a hotel). The only ones that I'm asking that you all pray for is my brother and his family; and my sister-in-law's dad. They live in Orange County and their houses are very close to the fire up there. Please pray that God keeps their houses safe as He did for my parents and sister's homes. I (Mira Mesa) was never in the danger zone; but there's no way in hell that I was gonna be stranded up here alone wondering.

There's been...

a death in the family. Just heard about an hour ago that my brother's mother-in-law went to be with her maker this morning. She was ill for a very long time with emphysema and other medical issues. Please pray for May; along with her dear husband Len and the rest of the family. She had two other children along with my sister-in-law and seven grandchildren.

15 years...

and counting. Tomorrow I start the first day of my 16th year of being cancer free (15 years ago today was the big surgery).

I don't usually...

post this soon after another one, but just had to tell you the weekend I had. Again, I went up to Apple Valley and saw my aunt and cousin that are up there (high desert, about 1.5 to 2 hours east of L.A. - little over two hours north of here). Needed a weekend getaway. It was nice. I'm used to having all of my cousins and their families there, but understand that that can't happen very often because of schedules.

Another cousin (the younger brother of the one in A.V.) just bought a house in the mountains. So next month, I'm going up to a housewarming/open house he's having and will see just about the entire family (which'll probably end up being about half the people there). There's a few birthdays in that family in October, so we'll also be celebrating those as well.

If you haven't noticed, I LOVE talking about my extended family. LOL

Ok, so...

today wasn't the best of days. My mom's first cousin died extremely suddenly a week ago Monday. Today was his funeral/memorial mass. It was so cool to meet family that I hadn't met yet; this was on my maternal grandfather's side (Roger, the one that died, his mother was my grandfather's sister). Very cool to meet 'em. It's a shame that we don't see THAT side of the family as often as we should, especially since some of them live here in San Diego County. I did get to see the cousins that I see ALL the time (the ones from my aunt that lives in Apple Valley); a lot of them came down for the funeral.

Other than that, everything's fine. For the last few weeks, it has been HIDEOUSLY hot here; but it started cooling down yesterday - thank god.

My nieces start school tomorrow; one's in high school, one's in sixth grade and the baby's in first. My other niece and nephew started back yesterday. They're in second and fourth grades respectively.

Nothing new to report...

Not much...

new going on here. My oldest niece starts high school in two weeks. When the newest "Harry Potter" came out, she spent all night reading it (yes, she's done...took her all of nine hours). Just had to very nice family gathering yesterday at my parents house; all 13 of us. I have a prayer request though...I think I said that my dad has early signs of dementia (has for a while now), so it's getting very tough on the family. My dad may not be able to drive for too much longer; my siblings are having to shoulder the burden of taking my paretns places now (mom can still drive, but she's got some medical issues also).....we're definitely being tested right now. Can you please pray for us, that we get through this?

Other than that, everything's been great.

WOO-HOO...

I am officially off the Coumadin. Had a doppler study on my leg and the blood flow is excellent!! I shouldn't need to go back to this doctor unless something happens. Mine and my family's prayers were definitely answered (not to mention my friends prayers). Thank you to everyone who prayed for me.

This month...

isn't too exciting for us (other than celebrating this country's birthday; and counting out blessings that we can live in such a great country). There's a ton of birthdays though...my mom, dad, brother and aunt. I might also make the trip to L.A. that didn't happen in April.

Pretty good healthwise as well. Leg's just ok though. I hope to get off of the blood thinner at the end of the month when I have my (hopefully) last appointment with the Vascular surgeon (I'll have another ultrasound just to see how things are)

Hope everyone's having a great summer so far.

We celebrated my parents birthdays separately (usually we celebrate them together, since my mom's birthday is July 12 and Dad's is the 18th). It was very nice. For Mom, we went to a very nice restaurant called Carver's (formerly Hungry Hunter); it was just the six of us - no in laws or nieces and nephew; I think the last time just the six of us had dinner together was when we lived in Los Angeles 25 years ago - and for Dad, we went to my brother's house for a very nice BBQ. My oldest brother and his family couldn't make it due to prior committments (not to mention my niece being in the hospital - she's fine though; couldn't find anything wrong - just growing pains).

Today,

my eldest niece graduated from the eight grade (she'll be 15 the end of Nov). We went up to my brother's in OC last night because we had to get there so early this morning. It was awesome, except for one thing......we sat in the HOT sun for about two hours (thank goodness i put a ton of sunscreen on before we left). Being that there were 803 (no, that is not a typo - bigger than my high school graduating class 18 years ago) graduates, they had to use a high school football stadium to fit everyone. It was a lot of fun though. After the graduation, we went to lunch to celebrate with just the family. She had her own pool party with her friends back at her house this afternoon.

Here's hoping everyone has a fun, safe and blessed summer.

Next year we'll have two graduates. My second eldest niece will say farewell to sixth grade (on to middle, which for them is only two years) and my one and only nephew will say "Peace out" to fifth grade (on to middle; for him its three years).

Please go to...

www.lifetomotion.com - click on the three kids on the left side of the page. These children were killed in very tragic traffic accident on May 4th. The mother and grandmother were badly hurt, but are recovering. Please say prayers for this family that they continue to get through this.

Ok, so May...

was a pretty busy month with Mother's Day and birthdays. June holds more birthdays and a graduation. My eldest niece is graduating from the Eighth Grade; high school next year....YIKES. I remember my eighth grade graduation; the trip was to Disneyland. She was able to go to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Virginia...NOT FAIR! She ended up having a fantastic time; and took a grand total of 450 pictures!! The birthdays are my sister-in-law and my second eldest niece, who's turning 11 next week.

May birthdays included my eldest brother and my youngest niece (father/daughter), who turned seven.

Health wise, I'm having problems with my leg again (still); I'm supposed to be going in for another ultrasound, but have no clue when. Still on the Coumadin and will be for another three months or so.

I've been tagged...

Here are the rules. Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. You need to choose seven people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Seven random things...

1). I must've had my face painted on cuz even though I graduated from high school 18 years ago, people still recognize me (and I usually don't have the foggiest idea who they are...)

2). Even though I don't know what it is yet, I know for a fact that God has a purpose for me here (I was born with a lot of medical issues and wasn't expected to live...even today, I've had some pretty serious stuff happen and here I am)

3). I'm still close friends with a person I met in the sixth grade.

4). I've lived in San Diego now for almost 25 years.

5). I have 31 first cousins (my mom's the youngest of nine)

6). I've always wanted to travel across the country.

7). I absolutely love being a tourist here in San Diego.

I saw the...

doctor yesterday for a follow up from my procedure. Everything looks great. A correction to my previous post...the blood clot had resolved itself (the body automatically resolves clots on its own), that's why there wasn't any. The clot had done damage to the vein though, leaving scar tissue. After they had inserted the stent, blood flow was well restored. I go back in another three months to see if things are still holding...

Great news

Well, it turns out that I didn't have a blood clot after all. Think it was just a collapsed vein; I now have a stent to keep it open. Thank you all for all your prayers that we sent my way. I truly believed they helped.

Hospital visit (con't)

Turns out that my procedure's going to be postponed until Monday, the 23rd. My coumadin level came back to high for them to do it safely. So, barring anymore complications, Monday it is...

Hospital visit

Well, I've decided to have the procedure to dissolve my blood clot. I go in this Wednesday and probably'll stay in the hospital until - maybe through - the weekend. I unfortunately had to cancel my trip to L.A., but I'm glad I'm gettin this done; even though I'm getting a little nervous and scared.

Happy Easter

I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and Blessed Easter. As you know, today is Good Friday, which is when our Lord went to the cross for us. For those of you who don't know, during Lent, us Catholics couldn't eat meat on Fridays; which symbolizes the 40 days and nights Christ spent in the desert.

Love ya'll.

Prayer request

I have a difficult decision to make. As most of you know, I have a blood clot in my leg. I've had nothing but trouble (with pain and swelling) since being diagnosed at the end of January. I briefly saw a vascular surgeon yesterday - through yet another emergency room trip. He said he could perform a procedure that would dissolve the clot, which would essentially give me my life back (meaning I can walk long distances and not depend on my parents so much for rides everywhere). I need your prayers in helping me decide what the right thing to do is. The other option is to wear this hideous looking stocking that would alleviate the swelling.

I want to have the procedure and just be done with it; but that would require a 3-4 day stay in the hospital. I need to get back to him sometime next week, if not Monday.

Please say prayers.

Happy Birthday

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She passed three and a half years ago, but today (March 28), she would've been 101.

ROAD TRIP!!!!

Ok, so in four weeks from Friday, I'm going up north. My travels are going to take me to Carpenteria (just south of Santa Barbara), to see cousins that just had their baby last week. I'm also going to Moorpark, which is southwest of Simi Valley (about 15-30 min. from where we used to live in L.A.). I'll be staying in Moorpark at a cousin's house. This cousin in Moorpark is one of eight children. He's my first cousin (his dad and my mom are/were siblings; his dad died probably 15 years ago). He's about 20 years older than I. Yes, I have quite a few cousins; to give you an idea, I'm the youngest of 35 grandchildren of my maternal grandparents.

New parents

This is a picture of my cousin, Brian and wife Michele. The baby didn't come in too well, but they had a little girl on Wednesday. As far as I know all is well.

The picture

The picture I posted are of my friends in Tennessee. I worked with Crystal, the mom, about 10-12 years ago (gosh, are we that old already?) at a before and after school day care, here in San Diego. Crystal's brother, Scott, was the Director of the day care.

First timer

Hey there. A couple of my friends have blogs now, so I thought it'd be a good idea to get one also.

Well, so far this year has been kind of hectic medically for me. I was sick most of January with bronchitis/asthma/pneumonia; being in the hospital for a weekend. Ten days after I was discharged, I was diagnosed with a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis - Blood clot). I seem to be doing good with the blood thinner I'm on. Because of that, I have to get my Coumadin levels checked every week to see if I can keep taking the dose I have been, or need to either increase/decrease it. Too much, and I'm more likely to bruise and bleed. I don't know what happens when I have too little Coumadin.

But all in all, I'm doing pretty good. This past Saturday marked the five year mark of being out on my own.

I'm also very happy to report that I am 14 1/2 years cancer free this month (the 25th).

I'll only post something when something huge happens, since I don't have any children.

Let me know what you think; and any helpful hints you may have for posting.