Just returned from a lovely lunch with my local Crones McMahon, Brady and Hughes. We went to this great little restaurant in Glen Cove called GLYHOP which stands for God Loves You (I can't figure the HOP out.) Crone Hughes reminded me that I have not been blogging of late. There is a reason for it.....a good one actually.....there is nothing to say on the cancer front which is good news as it is keeping its status quo and do you all really want to hear about my day to day activities?
There is another reason and that is we are finally having the laundry area of my kitchen fixed up. It was never completed with the renovation 26 years ago and just as my finally nag ran out, Jack decided it was time to get it done. So, Jim C. came over on Saturday, ripped out the old cabinets and put in new mold proof wall board, a light and did all the plastering, etc. I had to keep the computer equipment covered during this process to avoid dust and mold spores getting into the computer. Jack is supposed to paint the area and we are to order a new washer and dryer and then Jim will come back and hang the shelf and finish up whatever else needs to be done to complete the job. Thus far, it has been 3 days and Jack has not even looked at a paint brush so I have no idea when this job will be completed. It might actually be another 26 years but I am not going to nag one bit. That is the beauty of having faced cancer, stuff like this becomes chicken poop. Who cares if it ever gets done? Not me. I have grown really good at ignoring dust and dirt as long as it doesn't affect my breathing.....and when it does, I just use the inhaler and try to stay out of the room.
So, if there are long pauses in my blog, don't worry about me - it is probably a good sign. I will try to do better as it still amazes me that some of you actually enjoy reading this!
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
April 01, 2009
March 24, 2009
Identity Theft Can Happen
I cannot believe it but today I became another victim of identity theft. I had a call today from an internet firm to confirm an order that I placed to have a personal "domain" on line. I had no idea what they were talking about and told them that. The gal said it must have been fraudulent and I assumed canceled it. It took awhile for it to sink it that someone was using my name to order something.
I went to pay my Amex bill on line and decided to check my "Recent Activities" which is what will show up on next month's bill. Well, someone had a rollicking good time at my expense on March 21. I called Amex and they took care of my problem, canceled my card and erased the charges. They told me a charge for a Hewlett Packard computer for over $1000 was requested but turned down because Amex thought it was not quite right. I love Amex. I haven't been using the card very often except I did order something from "TV Products on Line" recently and I just learned from Kate that you should never order anything unless there is a yellow lock appearing that assures you that the site is "guarded" against theft of information. This one did not have that and I suspect - since it is the only "new" site I've used - that whatever happened was caused by that stupid order of sponges.....but I really love those miracle sponges and they used to have them on QVC and they are no longer availabe that way.
Anyway, Karen and Joe advised me to contact one of the credit bureaus which I did and now there is a lock on all of my personal information, including social security. Amex is tracing the culprits and if they find out who did this, I will press charges if given the opportunity. They wracked up almost $1000 and it would have been more if the computer was allowed and if the domain company wasn't honorable enough to alert me - even if it was by accident.
Sorry I haven't written for awhile but nothing much has happened. I fear being a bore.
I am feeling pretty good - a little tired but that is to be expected from the miracle pill. My big toes are swollen red and I have an occasional rash on my hands and other parts of my body which comes and goes. When it comes, Bag Balm is the solution as it appears a burned skin - actually it does burn a bit. But, I can live with these minor inconveniences. Tomorrow I am going out to lunch with two neighborhood friends who were unaware that my health was fairly good. They were going to visit because they thought I was too weak to go anywhere. Ha! I am never to weak to go out to eat.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
I went to pay my Amex bill on line and decided to check my "Recent Activities" which is what will show up on next month's bill. Well, someone had a rollicking good time at my expense on March 21. I called Amex and they took care of my problem, canceled my card and erased the charges. They told me a charge for a Hewlett Packard computer for over $1000 was requested but turned down because Amex thought it was not quite right. I love Amex. I haven't been using the card very often except I did order something from "TV Products on Line" recently and I just learned from Kate that you should never order anything unless there is a yellow lock appearing that assures you that the site is "guarded" against theft of information. This one did not have that and I suspect - since it is the only "new" site I've used - that whatever happened was caused by that stupid order of sponges.....but I really love those miracle sponges and they used to have them on QVC and they are no longer availabe that way.
Anyway, Karen and Joe advised me to contact one of the credit bureaus which I did and now there is a lock on all of my personal information, including social security. Amex is tracing the culprits and if they find out who did this, I will press charges if given the opportunity. They wracked up almost $1000 and it would have been more if the computer was allowed and if the domain company wasn't honorable enough to alert me - even if it was by accident.
Sorry I haven't written for awhile but nothing much has happened. I fear being a bore.
I am feeling pretty good - a little tired but that is to be expected from the miracle pill. My big toes are swollen red and I have an occasional rash on my hands and other parts of my body which comes and goes. When it comes, Bag Balm is the solution as it appears a burned skin - actually it does burn a bit. But, I can live with these minor inconveniences. Tomorrow I am going out to lunch with two neighborhood friends who were unaware that my health was fairly good. They were going to visit because they thought I was too weak to go anywhere. Ha! I am never to weak to go out to eat.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
March 17, 2009
Top the the Day to Ye!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you!
Sorry this will be short and sweet as I can hardly keep my eyes open today and I haven't had a drop to drink! My report, thank God, was excellent. My CAT scan showed no change from last month which is a blessing. Of course, I would like to say that the lung tumors have disappeared but they have not gotten bigger and they did shrink last month. It was truly wonderful news that nothing has spread and that the pancreas scare seems to be truly over.
Forgive me for being brief. We are very upset here over the loss of a dear friend, Jimmy Forgione. He was an incredible guy whom we all loved dearly. He'd been through a truly rough year after a motorcycle accident but had done remarkably well with his rehabilitation. He and his wife of 30 years, Lisa, became grandparents two weeks ago. Jimmy's angel came for him on Sunday morning leaving the world an emptier place. May he rest in peace.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
Sorry this will be short and sweet as I can hardly keep my eyes open today and I haven't had a drop to drink! My report, thank God, was excellent. My CAT scan showed no change from last month which is a blessing. Of course, I would like to say that the lung tumors have disappeared but they have not gotten bigger and they did shrink last month. It was truly wonderful news that nothing has spread and that the pancreas scare seems to be truly over.
Forgive me for being brief. We are very upset here over the loss of a dear friend, Jimmy Forgione. He was an incredible guy whom we all loved dearly. He'd been through a truly rough year after a motorcycle accident but had done remarkably well with his rehabilitation. He and his wife of 30 years, Lisa, became grandparents two weeks ago. Jimmy's angel came for him on Sunday morning leaving the world an emptier place. May he rest in peace.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
March 12, 2009
What the Dickens?
It does not seem possible that almost a week has passed since I last wrote to you. It has been an interesting week with lots of contacts from the past. I have heard from another of my aunts in North Carolina with whom I have not been touch for many years. We picked up right where we left off. She is the widow of my Uncle Robert, my father's brother. Aunt Louise was always a Renaissance woman - so far ahead of the trends and so creative. She was always an amazing person and she still is. I remember she had a closed in porch on the back of her house where she made silk flowers and silk flower arrangements long before anyone ever heard of them. She also made the BEST pound cake ever and she did give mom and I the recipe but it has long since disappeared - it was so good that we may have actually eaten the recipe by mistake!
I also received an e-mail from my childhood friend George and his wife, Maureen. We are in touch fairly often so hearing from them was not a big surprise. What was a surprise was that he had been contacted by another group of old friends who are having a reunion in Maryland this summer. It is just the fellows but some of the names he mentioned in his e-mail brought back such memories! I said to George that we had such innocent and gentle childhoods and teenage years - the things we did that we thought were naughty are laughable in retrospect - except that damnable smoking......but that is subject for another posting not this one filled with happy thoughts.
Perhaps it is one of the side effects of facing down one's mortality that causes you to dwell on the past and remember all the people who touched your life - perhaps this is where the expression "my life flashed before my eyes" developed. I suppose if you have time to prepare, the flashing is slow motion. (Not that I am expecting anything but good news next week from MSKCC!)
Many afternoons were spent in Sid's Stationery Store where Sylvia and Sid ran a small luncheonette, sold newspapers, tobacco products, cards, comics, - their family consisting of Sid and Sylvia, Mark and Alan lived in the back of the store. They were so good to us when we were kids and teenagers. They never chased us from the store and we knew we were in a safe place to try out those new flirting skills with the soda jerk who might have been filling in for Sid. Sylvia worried that we were not eating enough and would take us back into their home and feed us some wonderful, tasty treat that she was cooking up. This is why I do not understand why none of my Jewish women friends cook. I grew up with this incredible woman cooking on a tiny stove in a tiny kitchen with such love and kindness. When I finally reached the age of going to business (got a job in Manhattan), I would stop in Sid's for coffee each morning. The coffee would be poured and sitting on the counter as I raced in from the cold.....there was never a charge from my friend Sid, who always called me "Polly." Not, not because of my endless chattering but because he said I looked like Polly Bergman. No wonder I am confused about who I am, I look like so many people that I don't recognize myself! (Jack always said I looked like Susan Pleshette when we started dating.) I guess the only thing I have in common with any of these beauties is that I had dark hair and fairly nice eyes. Now my hair is silver and my eyes are OK if I remember to put on some makeup.
I digress. The point I want to make is that there is a chance that I might be able to be in touch with some of these people who made me, me. I might have the chance to tell Mark how much respect I had for his parents and how sorry I was to have lost touch with them after I married and moved away from Flushing. I might get to find out where life took the rest of Sid's Sandlot Football team - Virginia and I were the down markers only we did not know what that was! We held a ten foot chain stretched between us on the sideline and were annoyed because we were so far apart. I imagine we drifted together occasionally for a word or two much to the chagrin of the "players."
One of the people I remember most fondly is a fellow named Paul who was at the same Molloy dance as Virginia, Eileen and I on Saturday night. I was being as silly as any fourteen year old can be and he equally so. I breathed a sigh of relief when that dance was over that I would not have to see him again because I was mortified for being so silly - that is until I walked into Sid's the next afternoon and found Paul sitting at the counter. He lived right across the street from the stationery store! Life's funny that way, isn't it? I would love to hear about his family and tell him about mine - especially that the silly fourteen year old is now the proud Nana of beautiful Agnes Rose and, by the grace of God, Jack and I will celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary in May.
Life spins its mystical twists and turns, fashioning us, polishing us, prodding us and if we are really lucky, gives us a chance to revisit that which has made us, well, us.
Keep those prayers going for my CAT scan on Friday. I'll have the results of Monday.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
I also received an e-mail from my childhood friend George and his wife, Maureen. We are in touch fairly often so hearing from them was not a big surprise. What was a surprise was that he had been contacted by another group of old friends who are having a reunion in Maryland this summer. It is just the fellows but some of the names he mentioned in his e-mail brought back such memories! I said to George that we had such innocent and gentle childhoods and teenage years - the things we did that we thought were naughty are laughable in retrospect - except that damnable smoking......but that is subject for another posting not this one filled with happy thoughts.
Perhaps it is one of the side effects of facing down one's mortality that causes you to dwell on the past and remember all the people who touched your life - perhaps this is where the expression "my life flashed before my eyes" developed. I suppose if you have time to prepare, the flashing is slow motion. (Not that I am expecting anything but good news next week from MSKCC!)
Many afternoons were spent in Sid's Stationery Store where Sylvia and Sid ran a small luncheonette, sold newspapers, tobacco products, cards, comics, - their family consisting of Sid and Sylvia, Mark and Alan lived in the back of the store. They were so good to us when we were kids and teenagers. They never chased us from the store and we knew we were in a safe place to try out those new flirting skills with the soda jerk who might have been filling in for Sid. Sylvia worried that we were not eating enough and would take us back into their home and feed us some wonderful, tasty treat that she was cooking up. This is why I do not understand why none of my Jewish women friends cook. I grew up with this incredible woman cooking on a tiny stove in a tiny kitchen with such love and kindness. When I finally reached the age of going to business (got a job in Manhattan), I would stop in Sid's for coffee each morning. The coffee would be poured and sitting on the counter as I raced in from the cold.....there was never a charge from my friend Sid, who always called me "Polly." Not, not because of my endless chattering but because he said I looked like Polly Bergman. No wonder I am confused about who I am, I look like so many people that I don't recognize myself! (Jack always said I looked like Susan Pleshette when we started dating.) I guess the only thing I have in common with any of these beauties is that I had dark hair and fairly nice eyes. Now my hair is silver and my eyes are OK if I remember to put on some makeup.
I digress. The point I want to make is that there is a chance that I might be able to be in touch with some of these people who made me, me. I might have the chance to tell Mark how much respect I had for his parents and how sorry I was to have lost touch with them after I married and moved away from Flushing. I might get to find out where life took the rest of Sid's Sandlot Football team - Virginia and I were the down markers only we did not know what that was! We held a ten foot chain stretched between us on the sideline and were annoyed because we were so far apart. I imagine we drifted together occasionally for a word or two much to the chagrin of the "players."
One of the people I remember most fondly is a fellow named Paul who was at the same Molloy dance as Virginia, Eileen and I on Saturday night. I was being as silly as any fourteen year old can be and he equally so. I breathed a sigh of relief when that dance was over that I would not have to see him again because I was mortified for being so silly - that is until I walked into Sid's the next afternoon and found Paul sitting at the counter. He lived right across the street from the stationery store! Life's funny that way, isn't it? I would love to hear about his family and tell him about mine - especially that the silly fourteen year old is now the proud Nana of beautiful Agnes Rose and, by the grace of God, Jack and I will celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary in May.
Life spins its mystical twists and turns, fashioning us, polishing us, prodding us and if we are really lucky, gives us a chance to revisit that which has made us, well, us.
Keep those prayers going for my CAT scan on Friday. I'll have the results of Monday.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
March 05, 2009
Geography Quiz
Carol B. sent me this link http://jimspages.com/States.htm and I think it is great fun. I enjoyed doing this exercise in US geography and it reminded me of a puzzle I had when I was a kid - a puzzle of all the states. (This is probably why I never liked puzzles, mine was educational.) Anyway, I thought you might enjoy taking a few minutes and seeing if you know where those square states go. I am sharing this because I did not do too badly and I feel proud of myself.
Tomorrow I go back to Dr. Seventeen. My big toe has gotten really bad - not the one I did surgery on but the other one which I resisted doing myself. I was supposed to go last week but it was a day I was really not feeling well and then ...blah...blah....and then it snowed. So since I can hardly walk on it today, I made the appointment for tomorrow. I went to the bank with Jack and between limping wearing open toed Birkis and socks and my Chia pet hair, of course I ran into someone from SCO. Although Amparo was as kind as usual and told me I looked great, I suspect she was thinking that I looked like I was losing my marbles. I told her, amidst hugs and kisses, that I was having a bad day. What an understatement! I knew I should have at least slapped on some lipstick and mascara. Too bad about my shoes, my toe really hurts. As a matter of fact, I am going to go soak it right now.
Don't ask me to dance, I don't want to.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
Tomorrow I go back to Dr. Seventeen. My big toe has gotten really bad - not the one I did surgery on but the other one which I resisted doing myself. I was supposed to go last week but it was a day I was really not feeling well and then ...blah...blah....and then it snowed. So since I can hardly walk on it today, I made the appointment for tomorrow. I went to the bank with Jack and between limping wearing open toed Birkis and socks and my Chia pet hair, of course I ran into someone from SCO. Although Amparo was as kind as usual and told me I looked great, I suspect she was thinking that I looked like I was losing my marbles. I told her, amidst hugs and kisses, that I was having a bad day. What an understatement! I knew I should have at least slapped on some lipstick and mascara. Too bad about my shoes, my toe really hurts. As a matter of fact, I am going to go soak it right now.
Don't ask me to dance, I don't want to.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
March 03, 2009
Chia Pet
I'm ready for the snow storm. See story below.I did not want to hurt my hairdresser's feelings by writing about my latest haircut but I can't resist. Before I say anything further, she is the BEST hairdresser I have ever had. She did our hair for Karen's wedding and we will follow her anywhere. Kate comes down from Boston to have this gal cut her hair. I had put off having a haircut for literally months....everything seemed to prevent me from getting a trim since before Halloween. I really had in mind a short pixie haircut like Jaime Lee Curtis or Posh Spice - short and sassy. My hairdresser just would not go as short as I wanted so when I made my appointment for Valentine's Day, I made up my mind I was going to insist on a pixie.
Well, the receptionist called and asked me to come in several hours earlier as the father of my hairdresser was dying and she was leaving early. I should have been understanding and said forget about it. I'll come in a few weeks but I was not thinking and rushed right over. I said cut it short - short as can be. NEVER say this to a person wielding a razor or scissors who is awaiting sad news. As sure as can be, just as the hair was finished, the phone rang and she had to rush out. I did see the obituary in the paper the next day. I was very sorry for her loss and will tell her so when I see her in June or July when there is enough hair on my head to be cut. My hair has been standing upright like a Chia Pet in shock - remember the original Chia Pet which was a man's head that you planted grass seed on? Then the lovely green grass grew in an upright pattern on the man's head? Well, my hair is not green but you get the drift. I have not left the house in two weeks as I have what could pass for a modified Mohawk.
The joke to all of this is I did not look at my hair before I left the salon as I felt upset for my friend. I did go next door to the drugstore to have my passport photo taken but thank all the angels and saints, no one seemed to be available. (Thinking back, they might have been afraid to approach this wild haired woman.) I did not look at my hair until I got into the car and thankfully I was sitting down. I am so glad I did not have my passport photo taken.
Today was the first day the hair actually lay flat on my head so maybe it has grown a tad. Karen and Joe were good on Sunday as they did not stare at my head or smirk or laugh. I've decided if anyone makes any derogatory comments I will simply say cancer.
I know my hairdresser reads this blog and I hope that this does not offend her. I understand how upset she was and I should have had the compassion to wait another week or two for a haircut. I was sorry she lost her father and hope her heart heals with the love of her beautiful son and loving husband.
As you may or may not know, we had a lot of snow here Sunday night into Monday morning. Agnes Rose was here Sunday and enjoyed keeping her hat on. I think she knew the weather was going to be bad. I am inserting the photo and am not sure where it will land.
Meanwhile, hope all is good in your life.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you!
March 01, 2009
Lost Lamb
I'm like the lost lamb in the gospels. I had such good intentions of attending Ash Wednesday services and celebrating the Eucharist this morning but as they say, sometimes good intentions pave the way to hell. I spent a good part of Tuesday and Wednesday in bed with some intestinal issues. Then the quiet throbbing I was feeling in my upper arms got stronger. Although the left is a little better, I can barely lift my right arm. I am putting off seeking medical help until I can speak to the doctor at MSK tomorrow to make sure this is just a bursitis or muscle spasm and that I can be prescribed some type of cortisone to calm it down. I have been awake most of the last two nights as the right arm hurts so much that I can't even pull the covers up over my head! Call me a WAAAAAAmublance as we used to say at work! Needless to say, I did not get to church today either as I don't actually think I can turn the steering wheel. Joe and Karen are leaving Agnes Rose here for a few hours this afternoon but Grandpa is here to do any lifting....I'm just here for the fun - even though my arm hurts, I can still sing along with Gingie!
It has been said that I have a touch of the psychic in me. It is most powerful between Karen, Kate and I. For instance, I'll be talking to Jack about one of them and the phone will ring. I'll know before I answer that it is whichever name was on my lips. This sometimes drives Jack around the bend. Friday night, I admit I was just being a nosey mother, I was checking out real estate ads in the Newsday - big Long Island newspaper. Of course, I was doing this on line. I randomly picked a site in Port Washington (I'm still rooting for PW) and began to peruse the houses for sale. Saw one that I thought matched their criteria and planned to e-mail it to Joe and Karen on Saturday. Before I had a chance to do that, Saturday morning Karen called and I told her I had been nosing around and found a house that fit within their parameters. Karen said was it the blah blah house on such a street? Now this is out of hundreds of houses for sale in the Newsday - talk about psychic connections! It was the very house and they had already planned to look at it today along with others in Garden City.
With the snow that is predicted for here tonight and tomorrow, I'm not sure how much looking will be done today. I feel sorry for my family in the south as they are not used to snow of any kind and according to the news this morning, they seem to be being pelted.
Have to go blow dry my hair - left handed - it is in bad enough shape already but that's another story.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you.
It has been said that I have a touch of the psychic in me. It is most powerful between Karen, Kate and I. For instance, I'll be talking to Jack about one of them and the phone will ring. I'll know before I answer that it is whichever name was on my lips. This sometimes drives Jack around the bend. Friday night, I admit I was just being a nosey mother, I was checking out real estate ads in the Newsday - big Long Island newspaper. Of course, I was doing this on line. I randomly picked a site in Port Washington (I'm still rooting for PW) and began to peruse the houses for sale. Saw one that I thought matched their criteria and planned to e-mail it to Joe and Karen on Saturday. Before I had a chance to do that, Saturday morning Karen called and I told her I had been nosing around and found a house that fit within their parameters. Karen said was it the blah blah house on such a street? Now this is out of hundreds of houses for sale in the Newsday - talk about psychic connections! It was the very house and they had already planned to look at it today along with others in Garden City.
With the snow that is predicted for here tonight and tomorrow, I'm not sure how much looking will be done today. I feel sorry for my family in the south as they are not used to snow of any kind and according to the news this morning, they seem to be being pelted.
Have to go blow dry my hair - left handed - it is in bad enough shape already but that's another story.
Believe! Hope!
As always, love from me to you.
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