Celebrating Fall

I've come to expect it now, that whenever I travel, I get home and get sick. I think all the traveling has worn me out. The back to back trips to Florida, Georgia and Michigan wore me out. We got home Monday night and I was so exhausted I just collapsed in bed. Have had a cold all week and couldn't get up for the past 3 days. I'm finally feeling better today and decided to celebrate the cooler fall weather by baking an apple cake and an apple pie from scratch. It's been a very long time since I made pie crust and unfortunately I didn't find a vegan recipe, so it has good ole' butter. I just hope it takes good. Haven't tried it yet. When we were at Rachel's and Sean's house last Sunday, Sean made this amazing apple pie and he was kind enough to share his recipe with me. He inspired me to bake, so bake I did. I have missed baking and now I know why I haven't been able to do it too much. It was hard to take too many breaks while I was coring, peeling, slicing and rolling out the dough... so now, I am having lots of shooting pain and throbbing on my arm and right chest. But, it's all worth it, I hope :-) I did use organic pastry flour, which has whole wheat flour in it. So it's a little healthier I hope. I just hope it tastes as good as it looks :-) One of these days, I'll post the pictures of the pie and the cake :-)

I'm loving the cooler weather and the leaves falling. Fall is my favorite time of year. Today I was reminded to just 'be still and know that I am God'. My friends 19-year-old daughter, Elyssa, started an online inspirational website. www.messagesonline.wordpress.com. Please check it out. I needed to be reminded that. I've been restless and not feeling well and I was glad to be reminded that God is there and He is in control. No matter what happens, I know that He is there with me. I hope you celebrate fall wherever you are and celebrate God's faithfulness and goodness to us.

Florida Trip 5

Josie, with her 2 kids David and Amada and Olivia...

I was so glad that I could be there to celebrate Ate Baby's birthday with her, her kids and grandkids. They all helped her blow her candles out :-)

Oliva, Ethan, Max, David and Josie, Ate Baby and Amada...
Happy Birthday to you! Delicious marble cake... we had Italian food for dinner which was so delicious I couldn't stop eating the pasta and salads...

Ate Baby and Jae... hey, where's Genie and Kuya?

Ethan with his razor.. he's quite the athlete. That day, he rode his scooter, his bike and practiced his karate moves.... I got tired just watching him :-)

Florida Trip 4

Liv made me breakfast on Sabbath morning: scrambled eggs, toast and fruit. It was delicious :-)

Later on that day, we went to Josie's house and here is Amada beating me at the game "Go Fish!"... she's very good at this game..

Genie, Josie and Amada.... Josie was showing me her scrapbooks and picture albums... she's very creative too

This David, Josie and Wayne's son. He's so cute and very "malikot"....

Ethan and Maxwell (Jennifer and Kevin's son) are both taking karate lessons. They are also both very good at playing video games. So cute, these bosy are

Florida Trip 3

See how tall Olivia is now? Almost as tall as her Mom. I love how Genie and Olivia matched the colors of the posters.. They are quite the fashionistas.
We had a wonderful time at Epcot, inspite of how warm the day turned out to be....

The girls (Jennifer, Genie and Josie) along with Olivia, treated me to a wonderful time at Epcot where they were having their food and wine festival. The day started out nice and not too hot.. but by noon, the temperature had started to climb up into the '90x. Poor Genie was exhausted from pushing me all over the park. We had a great time sampling all different kinds of foods from so many different countries. It was surprising to see how much vegetarian options they had.. of course, we had to have dessert from France and funnel cake from good ole USA :-)

Olivia wanted to go with us and presented a great case on why she should be able to go :-) I'm glad she was able to come

Poor Genie pushed me for most of the day. They all insisted that I ride in the wheelchair to not aggravate my plantar fascitis. In the end, it was probably a great idea. When I got back home to Chicago, my left foot was very painful and I had to ice it and put oils 24/ 7 until we left for Atlanta. Can't imagine how painful it would've been if I had walked all over the park. Thanks for the ride, girls :-)

Florida Trip 2

This is Amada, Josie and Wayne's daughter. She has come out of her shell and is so outgoing now. Last time I saw her, she was clinging to her Mom's dress and didn't want to come to me. She loved that pink hair that Olivia gave her. All the girls wore pink hair in honor of breast cancer awareness month.. and me :-)

Olivia is Genie and Shane's daughter. I can't believe how much she's grown. She is a very good Ate and takes great care of the younger ones. She reminds me so much of Lauren... both of them are very patient and caring to their younger siblings/cousins...

I was so glad that Ethan agreed to be in the picture with us. He is Genie and Shane's son. He's very good at karate and video games. At first he didn't want to be in the picture with just the girls.. but in the end, he consented... quite the handsome boy :-)

Can't believe how much the girls have grown up? I can still remember them being Olivia's age when we all lived in California, both in Armona and La Sierra... now they have kids of their own... Josie and Genie, with Olivia

Ethan is also quite an artist. He is learning how to write the alphabet. I loved how they decorate their doors with their pcitures. I only wish I could have taken a better picture at a better angle. I can't wait to see what he'll have on his door the next time I see hiim :-)

Florida Trip

I love Olivia's door.. she's very creative and artistic and I can't wait to see what she does with this talent. Keep out of her room, boys!! She means it :-)

Ethan and Max takes karate. When I was there, Ethan had to learn a series of moves (can't even remember what it's called. Shane worked with Ethan that week until Ethan was able to pass and get his stripe. After I left, he went on to pass his test and earned his yellow belt! Hiya!!! I thought he was very smart to remember all the moves - he's only 6 years old!

Walking to baggage claim from concourse C at O'hare airport

Chicago lost it's Olympic bid

At the end of the trip, I was so happy to see Mahal waiting for me :-) thanks Darling.. I've missed you

I wanted to post my pictures from my Florida trip. I had a wonderful time with the family there. They pampered me and took such good care of me. It was such a treat for me to be with them and the kids and see how much they've grown. I am so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to be with family and learn from them and just enjoy these times together. Before cancer, it seemed like I was so busy with work and other things that going on trips like these were not always possible. I hope that I have learned to prioritize the things in my life a little bit better now. Hope was abundant as I looked at the kids faces and savored their energy... I hope that I would be blessed and be around to see what they are going to do in college, where they would travel to, who they would date, etc. God continues to show His grace and His faithfulness, sometimes in ways that surprise me.

Catalyst '09

Can't believe we're already back in Atlanta for Catalyst. Time is certainly flying by so quickly these days. Last year at this time, we had already received the news that my tumor was 'highly suspicious for intracystic papillary carcinoma'. Because we were coming here, my MRI was scheduled for when we got back and the first surgery scheduled for the 22nd of Oct. We were getting ready for our mission trip to Mindanao/Philippines.

Today, I had my shot, saw the oncologist, met with the nurse in charge of the study and had my blood work done. I guess I'm behind schedule on the blood work and will need to do it again in 8 weeks, instead of 12 weeks. Dr. Robinson answered alot of my concerns. The numbness/tingling/pins & needles on my feet she said may be just a natural part of my healing. She will monitor to make sure it's not a vascular issue. She does not think it's neurological issues at this time. Regarding the itching on the left breast: if it persists in the next month, we will schedule an MRI next month when I come in for my shot. She does not want to over test but she also does not want to under test. She said that the MRI will reveal other things that the mammogram did not. We shall see. I know she wants me to have peace of mind. I am scheduled to see the OB-GYN for some tests; she wants to make sure I will not develop uterine cancer, which is a possible side effect of my medications.

I asked Dr. Robinson if I'm being paranoid because I sometimes do get worried about the cancer coming back or getting cancer on the left side. She said, "No, it is very normal and expected actually. This is the reason why cancer is more of a chronic disease rather than an acute one; it's because people do worry about it coming back. Most people don't worry about their diabetes or high blood pressure but with a cancer diagnosis, it is always in the back of your mind. I'm so glad that she's very understanding and answers all my concerns. She is excited that I've started doing evaluations again.

After my appointments, Frendell & I took the train (blue to orange) to Midway airport. The walk was quite long from the end of the line to the ticket counter. But it wasn't too bad; there were a lot of people taking this line as well. We got there in plenty of time. It is now past midnight Eastern time and I am exhausted but I'm having a hard time sleeping again. It will be another long day tomorrow... but I am excited to be here and I'm glad we'll be able to attend Catalyst's 10th anniversary. We've been attending for 8 years now.... wow