Last Chemo!

Yeah! It is officially over.....at least the chemo part. And the better news? The doctor says I am in "clinical remission." Allow me to explain. Clinical remission basically means that there is no evidence of any tumor. I will be in full remission when they do a PET Scan and confirm that there are no more little cancer cells roaming around in my body. Irregardless......I am excited!

The last day of chemo was an eventful one. My mom, sister and husband (Josh, in case you forgot, since it seems like I mention him so little. Don't worry, I am still married), all kept me company. Karen, also in remission, came and partied with me. It was a meaningful day. She gave me this Willow Tree statue that means courage. Karen gave me a lot of courage.

I also met a newby. Her name is Patty and she was in for her first time. My heart goes out to her. Also young and a mom of 5. A wonderful person stricken by hard times. I will keep her in my prayers.

My mom and Sona got their blood drawn for the BRCA test while there. My sis's daughter, Ally, decided she needed a bandaid to feel included.

My sister, her friend MJ, and I decided to play rock band after my treatment. To get into the spirit, Sona shaved my head into a mohawk. I still haven't gotten around to shaving it. I decided I will shave it one more time to be sure everything grows in thick and even.

I didn't last too long in the game. I think I played the drums 3 times, guitar twice and then propped the microphone on my legs while I attempted to sing without falling asleep. Chemo caught up with me and I crashed. Sona and MJ rocked 'til the early hours of....well, at least midnight, but that is late for some moms.

The other minor mishap that happened last Thursday is Drue broke her nose. Ahhhh. Yes. I told her I was sorry for her pain but she got no sympathy for how it happened. She jumped over the back of the couch like I have told her several times NOT to and didn't catch herself. The coffee table was there to break her fall from the nice padded thick carpet. The doc said I need to take her back in tomorrow and they will decide if they need to reset it or not. I keep hoping, in the back of my wishes, that it is not really broken. I don't know. You be the judge.

Life is wonderful and our family is doing well. It looks like all your prayers, fasting and good thoughts have paid off. I owe you all a big one!

Eyebrows......they're overrated.

Well, I have decided that, much like hair, eyebrows are overrated. You all think you are something special for having them and always feel the need to show off in front of me with your neatly trimmed brows and long dark eyelashes. Grrrr. Newsflash! I can draw mine in any way I desire. Yep. I guess you all could too but given the choice, I don't think you would. Nope. I think you would pansy out.

The even better part is that I can draw them on in ways that reflect my mood for the day. Please, humor me in the following pictures to get a full understanding of what I mean.

This is the start picture. There is nothing unusual here. However, I am not perfect in drawing in everyday eyebrows so, often times, they are lopsided. Don't judge me.

This is me without any eyebrows.....well, I guess there are a little bit but nothing worth getting excited over.

This is the "don't mess with me" look. I use this one on my kids alot.

This one I call, "Surprise!"

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Then there is the "I haven't plucked my brows in over a century" look.

To the left is the addition of the "I haven't plucked my brows in over a century" look. This one I just forgot to take care of the unibrow.

Lastly, is the Countess look. I was going towards angry, but I just have to reiterate my lack of artistic skills here. If there ever is such a major as "Eyebrow Artistry for Dummies" I will be the first one enrolled.

My last chemo is this Friday. Yay me!

I will then start radiation in approximately 3 weeks.....I think.

The last pictures are just of me and my boy. He was wondering what I was up to with all my different eyebrows. I decided to include him in the fun.

Take note of his long dark lashes......show off!

Thanks for humoring me in my ridiculous moments!

Glaciers, whales, and fish...

Wow. Alaska was amazing. I don't know how else to describe it. It was just freakin' amazing! I loved it! We got see glaciers and go whale watching. We saw some Beluga whales and Humpback. It was so amazing! Perhaps my favorite part was the deep sea fishing. Humor me for a moment as a tell the story of the time that I was the only gal on the boat and the one that caught the biggest fish. Yep. That's right. Sadly, I couldn't keep it. We had to stay within the bay area because of the storm rolling in. There were reports of 15 to 20 foot swells out on the open see and our captain decided it wouldn't be wise to tread dangerous waters. Which turned out to be fine by me when I listened to the other boats on the radio saying they were being tossed to and fro. We still had our own ride on that little vessel of a boat. It was almost like Thunder Mountain at Disneyland.

Because we had to stay in the bay we were only allowed to keep certain fish under regulations. The first thing swimmer by Josh's little bro was a Rock fish. Okay. Not so bad. The second, a 42 pound Halibut. Oh yeah. Our captain said that was really good considering the average Halibut caught within the bay was only 17 pounds. We were pretty excited about that. We got to bring home half of it. Josh's family took the other half.

The next items caught were Seaworld attractions. Josh caught a Mantaray (Alaskans call them "skates?") and a 13 legged starfish. You can go ahead and tease Josh over his trophies.

Then, it was my turn. I caught the mother load. I reeled in, by myself and my puny little arms, a Lingcod weighing in at approximately 50 pounds. It was a beautiful moment for me. If we had only been about 3 miles to the south, I would have that fish in my freezer right now.

Jason also caught a Lingcod of remarkable size but had to toss him into the ocean as well.

Poor Billy, another of Josh's brothers, didn't catch anything. The only one. He did however keep us entertained by wearing my wig.

I truly think that this Alaska trip was one of the funnest trips I have been on. I am a warm, tropical vacationer but this was too much fun to deny.

On the Prince William Sound Cruise, there were many many Japanese people. Jason, Josh's bro, served his mission in Japan and speaks Japanese very fluently. He explained to me that Japanese people LOVE american babies. They think they are very beautiful babies. It was apparant to me that this was, indeed, a fact. Ethan was loved by every Japanese member on that boat and was passed from one foreigner to the next. Good thing he is used to that. He was a great little guy and a trooper for being so good the entire time in Alaska.

After arriving at the airport, Jason threw my other wig on. We decided he looked like a bum. It was good times had by all.

I am now sitting here getting my chemo treatment. Only one left to go after this. I am very excited.

The doctor said my blood/cancer markers looked "normal." I am guessing that is a good thing. Sometimes I feel stupid asking him all sorts of questions so I will just take "normal" as good.

Sorry this one is so long. I just had to share my joyful triumph of fishing success .