80 Years and Still Going Strong

Was able to go to my father's 80th Birthday celebration this past Friday evening in Chino....with the blessing of my doctor. Was something that I really did not want to miss....and it was the great evening that I anticipated. My father is a tough old bird, well known in Chino and actually across the state as an excellent cow man. He just completed merging 2 of his dairies together and is still going strong. Some people say "Why does he do it?" Well, if you truely know him, you knows he does it because he loves it. And I say "Why not?" And hope to be doing what I love at his age and be in the great shape he is.

He also loves his quarter horses, which are his passion. Ask his about his horses and you better  be ready to sit down and listen for a while....we knew early on they were his other children~!

It was a great evening full of family and friends...my sisters and brother stepped into overtime to make his dinner party plan execute perfectly. And I was oh so happy just to be there~!

As a little update, I saw my surgeon last Friday before heading out of town and got the go ahead to return to work this week, as long as I feel up to it. Have completed the CT scan of the abdomen that Dr. Patel ordered and got the PET scan done this AM. I started on the Femara a week ago and my body is adjusting to it and I am figuring out what time of day is best to take it. Just making me feel a little "ick" but not anything bad.

Am so thankful to everyone for their prayers and support....I feel blessed to have each and everyone one of you in my life~!!

Gonna Make Pink Lemonade

You know what they say about when life gives you lemons....well sometimes there is just nothing else to do except put it in God's hands and do your best to make some lemonade. Well, life has thrown me a curve and being who I am...I have decided that my lemonade is definately going to PINK...and just might have a little kick to it too~!!

I know I've been lying a little low lately....not that I really wanted to...but sometimes need to take care of yourself and have not been too public on facebook until today as I really did not have many answers...just alot of questions....So here is the deal....

I'm going to cut to the chase and just say it, since I don't know of any other easier way to do it....have had some issues with some fluid in my right lung since late January which was initially diagnoised as pneaumonia. So took care of it....did a spa weekend at San Joaquin Hospital here in town...took a week off as the doctor prescribed...and thought that was it.

Well, not quite.....had a reoccurance of the fluid a few days after going back to work and this time needed to take a deeper look into why. Thank God for wonderful doctors who do their jobs and were very diligent...as all tests and scans were showing nothing...but had surgery to remove the fluid on Feb. 12th which was a Friday so it was a long weekend plus one President's Day waiting on results...but they finally did come and were not what I was hoping to hear. The surgeon had found some very small bumps with his handy scope and they had tested positive for a reoccurance of breast cancer........Sucks....hate that word, but best description there is. So surgery went well and needed to be done, was released, and still feel so good to be home to wait again for more pathology results.....most of you know, I am not a patient person...but sometimes we don't get to choose in life.

Now let's fast forward to today, had an appt with my oncologist who is an awesome doctor with a wonderful Cancer Center here in Bakersfield that works very closely with UCLA Cancer Center. The visit went very well and baring any additional findings in the upcoming PET and more advanced scans....he thinks the best form of treatment is with a drug that I can take once a day at home....so NO CHEMO  or RADIATION in my future at the moment~!! Was wonderful news and his whole deminier made me very much at ease. He explained that the cancer is probably some renegade cells that somehow avoided chemo six years ago...but the good news is that they are very slow growing and he feels that we can take care of them through this type of treatment. So not totally out of the Chemo Woods yet....but just waiting at the gate to escape. Nothing is still showing on the most recent CT scans and blood work numbers are really, really low for cancer. I was hoping for radiation only at the best....so this was awesome news. So I asked him, "You mean I can recover from this surgery, do my treatment and return to my regular life?" And his answer was, "Absolutely!" Best word I ever heard.....

Now I must discuss my fabulous family and friends supports system.....you guys are amazing~!! Your prayers, support, shoulders to lean on, love and good thoughts are something that I have no way of explaining in words~! And absolutely is the best medicine that God every inspired and created~!! To those of you that have not known yet....please don't be upset with me for not sharing sooner...I needed some answers and to get my heard around this entire thing as best I could without going really public. I know that the word has spread and I really appreciate all your love and support. I am going to ask one thing of you and that is to keep me and all who are fighting this terrible disease in your prayers...the Power of Prayer is an amazing thing....and it works~!!

I'm going to be drinking Pink Lemonade for a long, long time....maybe we need to add a little Grey Goose~! Well, with or without the GG...it tastes pretty damn good~!!

French Santon Nativity

On a trip to France about 20 years ago to spend Christmas with my in-laws, I discovered the wonderful French tradition of the Santon Nativity sets. Each home set up a crèche, but they all varied. There were all the usual characters: Virgin Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus. The shepherd's and the sheep; along with the stable animals cows, donkeys, and the like. But what was amazing about these displays is that they also incorporated the local town's people, and that always varied by family.

Santons are, literally, “little saints.” Part of a typical French Nöel crèche (Christmas Nativity scene), santons come in work clothes to visit the Holy Family. They bring the Christ Child presents they have made or grown, hunted or sold. They perform or offer simple gestures of thoughtfulness. I found this utterly charming and so I started to collect them as I found them in little shops, even the local Supermarche (supermarket) had them.

With the exception of the Holy Family and kings, all the characters are delightfully attired in late 18th century or 19th century Provençal costumes. In my collection along with the Holy Family and some stable animals (we only have one of the Three Kings ~ the other 2 eluded me) are: the mayor (looking very official), his wife, a priest, a Basque drummer, a hunter, along with a few shepherds and angels. My poor woman bringing lavender has lost her head and one of the donkeys head is broken off...quelle dommage~!

For the last few years, for one reason or another, I have not set up the creche. But as I put it up this year, I found that two pieces were broken, so I decided to use 21st century technology and do a Google search to see if I could find a replacement. Was I amazed at the total history of the Santons and the true meaning of how they became so popular. Plus, the litte figurines, mine are the small ones made of clay which are about 2.75" tall, for which I paid a few French francs (yes, it was still the franc back then) for many years ago, are now more than I would ever think to spend.

Some of my Santons are marked by the artist, some are not...but it really doesn't matter to me. Many have chips and broken ears on the cows, because my son used to play with them when he was young. Best of all, they all have a sweet memory of Christmas spent in France and here with family and friends.

Joyeaux Nöel~!!