This past week, the hubs and I babysat our niece so his sister and her hubs could go to a friend’s rehearsal dinner and wedding. She was so good for us both nights and she is always so much fun to play with. As she becomes bigger and more mobile, she is so curious and she’s picking up on so many things. It’s adorable to watch.
Bath time was so much fun. And her unicorn towel is adorable!
Posted in Family
So my family has this horrible genetic mutation (BRCA1) that wildly increases our chances of breast and ovarian cancer, among others (My mom’s mom and one of her sisters died from Ovarian cancer and my cousin, that sister’s daughter, had breast cancer at 30). There’s also a separate mutation that causes cancer of the duct between your liver and gall bladder (this is what my mom’s dad died from). I have been hounding my mom since my last aunt died 5 years ago to get tested to find out if she has the gene mutation. No point in my getting tested if she does not (because there’s no way I could have it), so the sooner she found out, the sooner I could be tested (since we were all 100% sure she had it).
She FINALLY got tested 2 weeks ago and received her results today. She is completely NEGATIVE for all 3 genetic mutations!!! This means her chances of breast cancer are normal, her chances of ovarian cancer are non-existent (because she had a preemptive hysterectomy in her mid-30s), and I’m normal too! No mid-30s hysterectomy for me, just a normal life with less worry. I’m so happy she was finally tested and I’m so ecstatic to know the results!!
Party party party!
Here are a few of the pretty arrangements/plants that were sent to my grandfather’s funeral last week. These were my favorite.
The picture in this picture is the last that was taken of my grandparents – at my cousin’s wedding in May. I think these flowers are just beautiful.
Posted in Family
People say bad things happen in 3s. Yesterday Ed McMahon died, then today it was Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. My dad just called and told me my grandfather died. For me, today, bad things happen in 4s.
Posted in Family
This morning I called my dad to tell him I saw Bruce Willis last night, because he loves Die Hard and, lets face it, I’m still really excited that I saw him. When I finished he told me that my brother spent the night in the hospital last night. Stop. What? I might not get along very well with my brother, but mostly because I worry about him and don’t approve of a lot of what he does, not because I don’t love him.
Apparently he was longboarding in Huntsville when a car pulled out in front of him. According to his Twitter he hit it going 35 mph and then a parked car. My dad says he has to go up there today to get him because his friends left last night. Good friends. His Twitter says he has 5 broken ribs, and my dad says he may have a concussion, may have a broken elbow and has a bunch of stitches. Hopefully this doesn’t result in him having a bunch of hospital bills as well as having to pay for repairs to the 2 cars. I would imagine he at least caused dents. I hope he’s ok…I hear broken ribs are painful. I can’t imagine 5.
Posted in Family
I was going to write this post a few days ago, but decided to keep the depressing stuff to myself. Until…
Tonight after work I was walking through Times Square to the subway. My parents called me and my mom said, “I’m here with Dad. I called to update you on Papa.” Papa is my mom’s dad whose 84th birthday is Sunday. He went to the doctor last week because he had been lethargic and not quite himself. The doctor apparently looked at him and said, you’re going to the hospital. He’s been there ever since. They didn’t know what was wrong with him and thought he was better and they were going to send him home. Then he threw up and forgot where he was and why he was there, regardless of how many times people told him when he asked.
It was finally determined to be a gall bladder infection. They were going to give him antibiotics and let him go home. Then next thing I know, mom calls me and tells me he just got out of surgery and that they took out his gall bladder – also, they determined he has cirrhosis of the liver (even though he’s definitely not an alcoholic).
When I got this call I was afraid she was going to tell me he had passed away suddenly – she sounded like she’d been crying. Instead she told me he does not have cirrhosis of the liver, it’s cancer. And it’s inoperable. He’s apparently going home tomorrow with hospice care.
I have so many questions – what stage is it? Usually hospice means it’s bad. Was it another form of cancer originally, or does he only have cancer of the liver? Are they going to treat it? It seems like most of these questions don’t matter because he is 84. Everyone seems to be thinking – well, a lot of people don’t live to that age – be happy, he had a good life. It’s really sad.
I think what compounds it is that we recently found out that my uncle who had esophageal cancer and beat it, now has lung cancer in both of his lungs. Then I found out my dad’s cousin, who is like an aunt, has 2 different kinds of breast cancer. My 31 year old cousin also recently beat breast cancer, and a few years ago, her mom (my aunt) died after 11 years of fighting ovarian cancer. (Update: Nearly three years after this post was written, I have been corrected, my aunt battled cancer for 6 year, not 11. Somewhere along the way I was misinformed.)
It’s just a little depressing tonight. Cancer is bad.
I have been neglectful. I haven’t posted in so long. I would say it’s because I’ve been busy, but I’m always busy. Everyone’s always busy. I think I’m slowly starting to lose interest. Sad, right? Anyway, I have a funny comment from church yesterday that I want to share.
So at the end of mass the priest made all his announcements about the homeless shelter, volunteering, a group they have for parents raising children in the city with faith, etc. As we were walking out and shaking all 3 of the priest’s hands in the back of the church, one of them said to tbf: “Good morning young man, do you have any children?” He looked at me and said, “no.” The priest said, “well, go home and make some and come to my meeting.” *jaw drop* Can a priest say that?? Haha, I laughed about it for like 5 mins. I even called to tell my mom cause I thought she might laugh. She didn’t find it funny. Oops.
Posted in Church Stuff, Family, Giggles
I went down to Cape May, NJ this weekend. Rented a car for the first time in my life – very exciting. We left about lunch time and decided to find some fast food along the way. We pulled off the highway 3 or 4 times and much to my dismay, it seems that NJ does not believe in fast food. We passed a McDonald’s once which tbf won’t eat. Finally I stumbled apon an Arby’s and by that point it was almost dinner time. Not fun at all.
So we got there about 5 on Friday in just enough time to see a hawk my aunt and uncle had caught right before we got there. We both got to hold it and I think I was the one to release it. Saturday we spend the whole day in the blind with my aunt and uncle. We caught, weighed, banded and measured 4 different kinds of hawks that morning alone. We also saw a few Bald Eagles and a Golden Eagle. It was a very fun learning experience this weekend. To me bird watching and banding is just a really weird family thing that I’ve grown up around and accept. I thought it would be really strange to tbf, but he actually got in to it and enjoyed the experience. It’s really cool to catch hawks, I must say.
Saturday night we went out to a nice Italian place in downtown Cape May and at the table next to us there was this loud, annoying guy who got louder as dinner (and beers) went along. At one point he started talking about the Texas v. Texas Tech game and how he hoped Tech beat Texas because then Penn State would move into the top 2 and go to the championship. This makes me think he’s the kind of guy who gets a good hand in poker and lays down his cards, only to be beat. It’s too early to be sure your team is going to go to to the championship just because they are in the top 2. To be honest, I wanted Texas to win, because I don’t think Tech can go to the championship, and on the off chance that they did manage it, I don’t think they’ll win. I think Texas could. So Tech won – Texas clearly didn’t want it – they didn’t show up to play. I’m happy for Tech, that’s awesome for them, but sad for Texas – and this divide is something I’ll have forever having gone to both schools. Last nigh the BCS rankings came out and I have to say that I am just SO happy that the guy at dinner Sat night was wrong and Penn State is still number 3. Tech is number 2 – Wreck em!
Sunday we went to a different blind with my aunt and uncle that overlooked a marsh and caught more birds. Fun! Getting back to NY was such a pain. Driving the NJ Parkway was no problem, but once we got through Staten Island and Brooklyn into Queens it was damn near impossible to get to my apartment. It took us an hour to drive 4 blocks because all the roads were blocked off for the marathon. We went in so many circles and followed so many wrong directions before finally finding the one road we needed that made it possible to get to where I live. That’s all there was. Only one possibility. So frustrating when the police standing all around are jerks and won’t help you out (read: give incorrect directions).
Anyway, that was my weekend. I know my thoughts are totally fragmented and random. Eh, so be it.
I had a dream this morning that my dad had died while I was at work. I didn’t live in New York…I’m not sure where I lived. Somewhere smaller. And I was a teacher. Someone called me at work to tell me that my dad had died. For whatever reason it wasn’t my mom, which made me mad at her for not telling me, understandably. I was so upset at the thought that I would never get to talk to him again, never ask his advice or hear how he would do something. I rushed home and when I got there, he wasn’t there, but I called his cell phone to see where he was. He actually answered and told me he had died. I started crying and told him how upset I was. He told me that Aunt Kay was having a really hard time with it too. I just remember being on the phone, listening to him talking and never wanting to hang up. When we hung up I woke up and was crying. I can’t imagine life without being able to call my dad. It still really bothers me every time I think about it; I got all teary on the walk to work.
I am so incredibly frustrated right now. I am in Michigan visiting my family in the town I grew up in. A few weeks ago I was talking to my cousin I never get to see and I was telling her she should tell grandma she wants to come too and is trying to figure it out…and grandma will buy the ticket. So I guess she did and not only did grandma buy her a ticket, she also bought one for her brother and her mom. Now, you have to understand that my uncle, who is my dad’s brother, died when I was in junior hight. Understandably, because of this we are not as close to them as we probably would be, so grandma and grandpa do everything they can to try and keep them close. The problem with this is that my aunt abuses it. She knows that they will do anything to be near those kids and she completely takes advantage of the situation.
They came in tonight and forced mom and dad out of the bed they have been staying in for a week, which cuased a whole bed situation. Then all of the sudden grandma and grandpa had rented a camper and stuck it in the driveway and were insisting that they would sleep out there and that my parents should take their bed. Mom said there was no way they were sleeping out there and that they would take the pull out couch bed, which in turn uprooted me to the camper. Then they were all planning on my 2 younger cousins sleeping out in the camper with me. Well, my cousin who is 16 got here, looked inside and swore there was no way she was “sleeping out there.” Then grandma, who doesn’t listen said, “well, someone has to be out there with the kids.” Wait…am I not a 25 year old adult with my own job, my own apartment, and a grown up life?
I’m incredibly frustrated with the situation right now as my aunt and cousin are in my parent’s room and have not seemed to notice, mind or care that they have disrupted everyone’s arrangements here. They have also neglected to mind that there are people who have been here for a week who were previously sleeping there. It always happens that they come here and are spoiled. They don’t consider other people and only want what makes them happy. Well, sleeping in the damn camper when it’s 54 degrees outside doesn’t make me happy, but I’ll do it. People don’t seem to know how to sacrifice…or even be considerate and it really just irritates me to the core. I hope that tonight does not set the tone for the entire weekend. If that’s the case, I might just almost wish I hadn’t taken the time off of work.
Update: My cousin who was sleeping in the camper just came inside. Now the only ones out there are my grandparents and myself. Something seems wrong about that to me. How did my 70 year old grandparents end up in the dang camper?!?!?
And one other thing. Allowing this kind of behavior and this situation does not bring back my Uncle. They should not be allowed no discipline because my uncle died over10 years ago. I suppose I express sadness as anger.
Predictably Unoriginal 