Christmas joy!

December has been an interesting month... The first two weeks were a blur as I battled a nasty cold (or as the nurse practitioner said "unofficially it's pneumonia").  My energy was zapped, 12 hours of sleep each day wasn't enough, and I coughed until I thought I broke my ribs. But after 10 days of antibiotics I woke up from my long winter's sleep and realized it was December and Christmas was right around the corner!

And once I started feeling better I could see Christmas joy and merriment all around me...

Adam and Dane

Unfortunately due to illness, I missed the family "cookie day" this year, a time when family gathers to bake many dozens of cookies.  But this picture of nephews Adam and Dane at the big event definitely made me smile!

Mike on the Melodica

We attended Mike's department Christmas party which was pure bedlam with 20 plus adults and 16 kids.  And the noise level of 16 kids in was surpassed by an impromptu Christmas jam session.

Professors and kids alike sang Christmas carols and played piano, guitar, drums.  Mike played his melodica which was an object of great curiosity.  And then the movie "Home Alone" was on in the background.  Hopefully you get the feel of this fun and chaotic party...







And it's that time of year when we create our own photo Christmas card where we try to inject a bit of humor.

 Some years we hit the mark, and sometimes people say they don't "get it"...

Photo by my friend Elena

And yes, some businesses have a sense of humor (and remind us of manners!)...

Mike, Stacy, Brian, Pat, Kay and me

We enjoyed the annual Boys Night Out (BNO) Christmas Event at the Red Key Tavern.

This is the  BNO event where women are invited.  Why we get invited to this dive bar, I'll never understand, but you just kinda go with it.  You learn to overlook the dust, grime, graffiti and a serious lack of vegetables, and enjoy the camaraderie and laughter with a side of burgers, chili and chips.

Kevin, Kathy, me and Mike

Last night we headed to the 36 Saloon in Rockville for a Christmas dinner with our friends Kevin and Kathy.

Sunset at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

It's also a time when I reflect on the past year. We lost our dear friend Mary to ovarian cancer in February, and we miss her terribly. It is still hard to comprehend that she's gone.


We also reflect on our blessings.
Mike and I are finally together after years of commuting 500 miles between Des Moines and Indianapolis.

In June of this year I became a 5-year survivor breast cancer survivor!  I am so fortunate and grateful to hit that major milestone!

Mike has a part-time job he enjoys, and I love the freedom of retirement!  We are fortunate that retirement gives us time for family and friends and the opportunity to travel, volunteer and take classes together.

And we are grateful for God's presence in our lives...which is what we truly celebrate this Christmas season!

Merry Christmas!

Diane

Another view

on Breast Cancer Awareness month from a friend who shares the experience of being a breast cancer survivor.  We had a lively discussion over dinner last week, and I found out that she raises money for indigent women to get mammograms and cancer treatment  We agreed that October has become too commercialized with many retailers jumping on the pink bandwagon, but this doesn't really bother her because of the money being raised for prevention and a cure.  I also learned that she celebrates each year of being cancer free by adding a pink stone to a beautiful ribbon lapel pin.

After expressing my strong views last week, I thought it was important to describe another point of view.  I appreciate my friend's ability to look beyond herself and focus on helping other women deal with breast cancer.  She may be right in saying that "it's too close" for me.  With only three years since my own diagnosis, everything is still a bit fresh and painful.  Maybe like many other difficult situations, time heals...

Ok, definitely time to get past that subject.  On a lighter note...

Last week I decided to paint the guest bathroom.  With a Halloween party coming up this weekend, it seemed like a good idea.  Nothing like those self-imposed deadlines, huh?

Covering the lovely contractor off-white walls

I learned an important lesson here.  Know what color you want to paint a room before you start on a painting project.  Sounds like common sense now after I made 3 different trips to Sherwin-Williams to purchase sample quarts of different paint colors.  It's hard to be decisive when you don't know what you want.  Given my project management experience, I should know better.  Always know your requirements before building (or painting)!

Chaise mauve walls and silver framed mirror

Anyway, for less than $100 we changed the look of this room. In addition to paint, we removed the 48 inch square mirror over the sink and replaced it with a beautiful framed mirror from Home Goods.  Last year when remodeling my house in Des Moines, we learned how much changing a mirror can update a bathroom. Eventually we will replace the counter top and faucet, but for now we are quite happy with the results.

Eagles concert. Yes, we were in the nose bleed section.

We also enjoyed an amazing Eagles Concert on Friday night with friends Mel and Cathy. Between all the Eagles songs we know and love, the band members interspersed comments on the history of the group and what was happening at the time of a song.  The Eagles totally rocked Bankers Life Fieldhouse filled with baby boomers like us.  Ok, I did see one young person, but they missed the concert because they were texting the whole time...









And after a weeks long media circus about Peyton Manning's first trip back to Indy as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, and an my own expectation that Andrew Luck and the Colts would be crushed, the Colts won!  The Colts dominated this very physical game, and I admit that I was glued to the TV set until after midnight watching the game.










And alas, cool weather has returned.  We've had frost the last 2 nights, and some local areas got snow.  Seriously? It's only October!  So I moved several plants inside and saved my pansies from frost by putting them on the front porch.




















So Mike's frantically putting the finishing touches on his costume, and I'm happy for a simple costume using clothes I already have.  And yes this is the most complicated costume Mike's ever built.  And yes he's slightly crazy!  I'll share pictures of our costumes after the big party this Saturday.

Hope you are enjoying this spooky season...

Diane

Getting this off my chest

so to speak...

I have a problem with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Ok, there I said it.

When I told a friend in early 2010 that I had breast cancer, she responded that she knew I could beat cancer. She went on to say she knew that I would be leading a team in the Susan B. Komen walk in October. It was the beginning of my distaste for the commercialism that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Another friend commented that I might want to visit the Susan B. Komen memorial in Peoria.  Seriously? "Breast cancer survivor" was a "club" I didn't want to belong to.

I understand the need for early detection. My stage one breast cancer was caught early during a routine annual digital mammogram when the radiologist detected a slight change from the previous year.  And I found out in the strangest way.

After a long day at work, I picked up a message on my home answering machine from some medical group wanting me to call them.  I wrote down the number and planned to call them in the morning thinking it was some wrong number.  Did you ever have one of those moments when you wake up in the middle of the night with startling clarity of a situation?  I literally sat up in bed and knew this phone message was bad news related to my mammogram.  Thus began a long journey called breast cancer.

And somehow all of the pink ribbons, pink t-shirts and annual walks kind of rub me the wrong way.  Every TV and print ad during October seems to talk about Breast Cancer Awareness.  I went to a Colts Football game earlier this month, and the players wore pink wrist bands.  Even the mascot was dressed in pink instead of blue.

But the clincher was Tuesday when I saw two men wearing "I love boobies" plastic bracelets.  First was the young guy at the bagel shop, and later that day when shopping for tires,  I noticed the tire shop manager wearing the same bracelet.  Later I researched this bracelet on the internet and learned that it originated at the Keep-A-Breast organization that is geared towards young people and focused on breast cancer prevention and detection. Seems that young people can relate to this "I love boobies" message, and it encourages open dialog about a previously off limits topic: breast health. I am sure it is a well-meaning and valuable organization,  but somehow this message doesn't seem quite right.

I am now 3 years cancer free, and yet hearing I had breast cancer remains one of the most defining moments in my life.  From learning to live with the scars to lymph nodes that swell with a cold to shirts that hang lop sided, and daily hot flashes from a prevention drug, I face this reality every day.

But this experience has also been invaluable to understanding what is truly important in my life.  I finally understood that moving to the same city to live with my husband was more important than living 500 miles apart for my job.  I learned that life is finite,  and I need to focus more on the important people in my life.  I am learning to "go with the flow" and let go of the small stuff that used to bug me.

But really, I don't want to be reminded of breast cancer each October.  I don't want to be part of the cause du 'jour.  I absolutely respect the need for education and ongoing research into the cause and cure for breast cancer.  I just wish we could find a way to do this without wearing pink and bracelets like a badge of honor.  I don't need to be reminded of breast health by the young man at the bagel shop wearing the bracelet "I Love Boobies".  Somehow this just hits me the wrong way...


Diane