Oh to be in England now that April's there.....

I'm so pleased to discover my last treatment will be Apr 7 not the end of April as originally thought. So as a reward for my shitty year, we fly to London that night for two weeks. A fitting reward I think, for what I've put up with since January 2007. I hope I'm up to a big trip again. We'll attend a wedding April 12 so I have time to get over jet lag before then (I hope.) We'll spend a week with Ted's 88-year-old mum who is overjoyed. Then a week in Chiswick (west London) with my sister. From there we'll be able to see both families. I have my final oncology appt Apr 25 so we have to be back by then.
As you can see I did get out skiing ten times this year. Ted is still waiting to see a surgeon about his knee so ramped up another ski-less season.
I can't say how much I'm looking forward to NOT driving up to Tom Baker Cancer Centre every 3 weeks (or oftener.) Still get very tired - like today I am going out this evening, so have to have a little nap in the afternoon! The allergic reactions to the immunotherapy seem to be resulting in hay-fever-like symptoms but I hope, like the cough, they will go away eventually. I'm still losing finger and toe nails due to the toxic chemo drugs, and the mouth sores still stop me from really enjoying a range of foods and, more especially, wines! The good news - I can drink champagne and icewine and eat salmon caviar! And this week, I've consumed a fair number of chocolate eggs and bunnies...

Accolades...

Not blogging much - must be a good sign.
Realized my blog was pretty out of date and that's good, I'm too busy to write! Some interesting news:
A nice night out with friend Don Druery recently to Calgary Philharmonic's Night at the Opera. A great performance by budding opera tenor Roger Honeywell. Don's tickets were almost on stage, so every time the tenor and the gorgeous Brazilian soprano came on and off stage, they smiled or acknowledged our bravos. Imagine my surprise when at the end of the performance he handed me his bouquet! Honeywell all right! As we left the hall, I asked people how they had enjoyed my singing and they all agreed I was terrific. Note: HAIR! Not a lot, but, hey, an improvement on bald!

Feb 25 - Treatment #15 - only 2 to go

Today I had my 15th Herceptin treatment and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am very tired today, a result of enjoying too much socializing the last week and weekend. I think I am back on track but the next day catches up on me. I can do two late nights in a row but have to have afternoon rests in between.
It was great to have our friends Deidre and Warren here last week. We caught up with 16 year old daughter Jennifer and 8 year old granddaughter Aurora (and met her dad) over lunch Saturday. Ted enjoyed his late night chats and single malt sessions, something he misses with my early nights these days. Deidre and go back 20 years or more from working days and still never run out of things to talk about.
Interesting facts: One thing they noticed was the high price of everything in Alberta compared to Ontario. Of course, there is a boom on here but also a much smaller population. The huge differential can only be attributed to "what the market will bear" forces. Also they commented on the lack of trees south of Calgary, which is semi-prairie even though it's in the foothills of the Rockies.

Feb 24 - A Dream come true

Today a dream 4 years in the making came true. The Calary Canada-China Friendship Association (of which I am president and Ted treasurer) joined forces with the University Chinese Scholars & Students Association to kick off our Shou La Shou (Hand in Hand) program. Families with an adopted Chinese girl were matched with Chinese nationals studying at the University. It is a win-win program for us all. CCCFA will bear any costs and we have volunteers from both associations helping make it work.
Sheila Power (past president) and I attended a forum in China in 2004 and learned about a similar program in Australia, and were inspired to establish a similar one here.
We held a reception for about 65 families, scholars and volunteers, in a large community room at a local supermarket. The venue was free, a beautiful location, full of light and sun yesterday.
It was a joy for us to see how well they all bonded and shared with one another. Now each matched pair will meet for at least an hour a month. It is a great opportunity for foreign students to extend their networks by helping families keep in touch with their adoptive children's homeland, history and culture.
We made up loot bags of cheese, fruit, chips, juice and lucky red Chinese NY envelopes. The students also made colourful paper table flower arrangements and had a wrapped gift for each child. It was so much fun.
After their bonding and snack time, a local Chinese mandarin teacher led a fun Chinese song and dance session aimed at kids 3 to 93.
So far we've recruited 11 families with 13 kids - a great start.

It's spring somewhere

This last two weeks has been weird weather. First we had freezing weather and huge winds. Last Tuesday we had a big dump of snow with a storm overnight, about 5 inches on our deck when we woke. Today it was +12 and sunny, and will stay that way for about a week. The big hares are back inour garden and we see prints from Mr. & Mrs. Skunk, who appear to be living under our front deck this winter. They take nightly strolls but don't bother us at all - so far! We make lots of noise to let them know we're about and we're fine as long as some stray cat doesn't nail them! I guess they are after the same mice for food.
Liz and Clive are tormenting us with photos of spring flowers (inset) in the parks in England already. It's hard to believe spring is somewhere while we still have gobs of winter. Looking at my photos of Puerto Vallarta, it would be nice to be in the sun again...
Today Ted and I went walking in Glenmore Park for an hour or so and didn't need jackets. We are so fortunate to be around so much parkland and green space. Ted is waiting to hear from a surgeon about orthroscopy for his knee, but walking is easy. If it stays this warm all weekend, we'll have a quagmire before long.

Feb 12 Social Butterfly again

Feb 12 we said a sad farewell to our CEO at Prospect. Geoff Braun has served Prospect for over 12 years, latterly as CEO. He's transformed the group and done a remarkable job. Now he needs some self time to get back on track and finish his Masters degree. I played host at the board's farewell at the Art Gallery of Calgary, a lovely venue. A great team and one I've been proud to be associated with for over 10 years. Sometimes board work isn't so glamorous but we change lives, especially those of people with mental and physical disabilities. Note, a sprouting of hair at last!
(Above with our past president Dr. Jim Graham and 25+ years treasurer, Flora Stupich.)

Can't keep those wild women down

Baker Creek ski weekend. Two of the Wild Women (WW) became the TTT instead. We are now the two tit twins - we have two between us - one right, one left. If you don't think that's funny, that's your problem. Sally was just out of mastectomy surgery 6 weeks when we skied at Baker Creek. Two tough broads. She is 70+, even more remarkable. And since then skied 6 days out of 7 last week at Lake Louise. It's 20 years since Calgary hosted the Olympics. We won't be going after any medals but I think we can be proud of our achievements nonetheless.