"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Life has moved fast. It's been a whirlwind of 9 months since I last truly blogged (and no, 9 months is not significant-- no bun in my oven despite many attempts) and it's difficult to know where to start so I guess I'll begin where I left off. October which is usually my favorite month of the year, was one of my least favorites of 2009.
- We went to Arkansas to inter Nana's ashes with Papa. She had passed away in August.
- Rachel (my spirit sister) came down for a long weekend visit. Hadn't seen each other in over 10 years and we picked up right where we left off-- as old, dear friends do. It was awesome!
- Mom got sick (we suspected walking pneumonia) and was hospitalized. They drained 2 liters of fluid from her lungs. After multiple tests the diagnosis was not good: she has 3 tumors in her "good" lung-- stage 4 inoperable, incurable, practically untreatable cancer. Yeah it's ok to say "Fuck" now, I know I did and still do.
- The best treatment option (to slow the cancers growth) was a drug that is particularly hard on the heart. Unfortunately Mom failed all her heart tests, making her ineligible for any cancer treatment whatsoever. We've spent the last few months trying to get her heart strong and "normal". It's improving but it's still not where they want it to be.
- I got promoted at work to a management position. It's been a growth opportunity and I do enjoy the work but the first 3-4 months consisted of 60hr+ work weeks just for me to get the hang of everything and prove myself to my new director. I think I'm doing well though-- my presentations to VPs have all gone well and I've done my best to do right by my employees (despite having to lay one off, ugh! Sucks to pop your mgmt cherry 4 months into the job).
- This intense focus on work resulted in some guilt and remorse at not being able to spend more time with Mom immediately after we found out she was sick.
- Had to go to Omaha, NE in mid-October for work to meet my new boss and the management team. Not much I can say about Nebraska. I mean the trip was fine, the people were all good but the place? Meh.
- Had to go to Albuquerque, NM in November, again for work. It was great! Long days with a ton of meetings and content but we had our evenings scheduled with touristy type things-- great food, sightseeing in Santa Fe, a visit to one of the tribal casinos, etc. My only bummer of it was I was there during New Moon release and couldn't sneak off to see it with all the other first day die hards.
- Thanksgiving week Micah and I spent moving all of my crap, I mean stuff from the condo into the house. Took through Christmas to get it all over and to be honest I still have the extra room full of boxes and junk but slowly I widdle away at it as I can.
- Speaking of Christmas-- Mom requested we skip present purchases and instead go to DisneyWorld in January. Having been to DisneyWorld twice in the prior 12 months, I wasn't jumping up and down with joy at the suggestion but Mom's sick so Mom gets what Mom wants of her children. So we skipped the commercial rush and saved our funds for the trip.
- Surprisingly, the January trip to Orlando and DisneyWorld was AWESOME. It was exactly the break I needed. The weather was fantastic the entire time and other than an accute sickness that hit Mom, Jenni and Micah for a couple of days each, we all had a nice getaway.
- Vincent-- Mom and Dad's 10+ year old Great Pyrenees passed away. He had a big tumor in his stomach that had spread to his pancreas and liver. Mom was depressed; we did our best to keep her spirits up.
- After a few months of grieving Mom was ready to get a new dog. We searched, kept an eye on the local shelter and ultimately they rescued a very malnourished and abused but sweet approximately 9-12month old Great Pyrenees. Mom wanted to go with a Greek God name so I (thinking more along BSG lines) suggested Apollo and it stuck. He's a handful and still being trained but his disposition is so loving and exuberant. He's had a very positive effect on Mom.
- Worried about my own health, I got a full blood panel done. Fortunately my results came back good-- my only ailment? A severe Vitamin D deficiency. I mean so low that the doctor recommended a supplement of 4,000mg a day (she was concerned about my immune system). That's a shit ton of supplement. All the indoor working made for a very vampire-like Heather. I tried 1,000mg a day but it was just... weird. So instead I'm trying to get at least 15-20 minutes of sun a day. I've felt great ever since and I have tan lines for the first time since I left Houston. Love the sun!
- All this working, worrying and whatnot led to a very sedentary Heather. In April I started wearing a pedometer -- in establishing a baseline, some days I didn't get over 1,000 steps! The recommended is 10,000! Situation must be remedied. So I've been forcing myself to stop working, leave the house, and walk. Beau has turned out to be a great partner. Every day around 4:30pm, he comes over to my desk and starts with the sad dog eyes saying "Heather can we go now?" It's effective.
- An interesting byproduct to this? Our animals have shifted alliances slightly. While kitty still sleeps with me and Beau sleeps with Micah, during the day they are hanging around and demanding attention conversely. It's odd.
- I've tried for 6-7 months to get pregnant and it hasn't taken. I'm getting quite frustrated with the process. It's painful, emotionally.
- Due to the hectic work/family schedule and the lack of crafting space, I went without any card-making or scrapbooking for more than 8 months. Happy to report I unpacked it all about 2 wks ago and made my first card! Yay, a creative outlet again!
- Am about to take back up my photography thanks to Dad upgrading his digi camera and passing his older one to me. Yay, another creative outlet!!
- Have been trying to put together a CO trip for the summer but scheduling is proving difficult. May have to abandon the plan :( Fortunately I was able to spend a day with Regina doing the Morro Bay tourist thing while she was in California so I was able to see at least one of my CO crew.
I think that's about it-- the last 9 months in 20 [some quite lengthy] bullet points or less. Now that I've reinstalled Movable Type, hopefully I'll get better about blogging random thoughts. And of course I'll update if there are any changes in Mom's status. For now, she's going strong and still working and living her life and that's the best course of action.
Life does indeed move fast. In the last month or two though, I've been taking the time to look around and enjoy it. I've started to feel more like myself rather than some corporate robot.
