posted Thursday, 24 November 2005
The initial thought was to hold Thanksgiving dinner in NJ, so that I wouldn't have to travel, but Nancy's parents just happen to live about 10 minutes from my brother, John's, house in Rhode Island. Since I don't get many chances to see the LaRosee (mom's) side of the family very often, I wanted to take advantage of this "small world" coincidence. I caught a ride with Nancy (and Dave, Aviva & Ed -- full car!) to Warwick, RI. On Thanksgiving, Mom, Dad, John, Bonnie (his girlfriend) and I headed out to the cape to Aunt Mary Ellen & Bill's house for dinner. Bill is quite a cook - nobody went hungry! Grammy & Grampy were there, along with Aunt Kathy (my favorite godmother) and my cousins: Alex, Danny, Brian (and Jessica stopped by briefly too).
My family plays lots of games. Lots of games. A favorite: "stories". These are similar to madlibs, but they are stories that my grandmother & aunts have written over the years, starring none other than us! Cards, containing lists of nouns, are handed out to everyone playing. The story-teller begins, and each time he reaches a "blank" in the story, the next person in the circle reads the next word on their card. So I'm not sure how these "stories" will translate to those who weren't there, but it turns out:
• Mike wears a "toilet seat" on his head to protect it from the sun (Mike is almost as follicle-ly challenged as I am currently)
• Grampy brought a "sugar-daddy" home for my grandmother every day after work
• He also gaver her a dozen pickles that she put in a vase
• On their first date, Bill brought Aunt Mary Ellen a dozen dollar bills
I got a chance to meet my Uncle Arthur, who I haven't seen in 25 years, along with my cousin, Dan, and his family, who I haven't seen in 5 years. It's saying things like that that makes me sad that I don't get to see this side of the family very often.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Waste some time...
posted Tuesday, 22 November 2005
I am becoming a master at wasting time on the internet... I'm not sure whether that is really something to be proud of though! These are some fun new toys that I added to my site. The links are found along the right hand side of the main web page:
GUESTMAP
You place a pushpin into the map to show where you are... and you can leave a little message. It takes only a minute to do, so take a look and show me where you are!
FRIENDSTER
Many of you know what Friendster is... ok, so it's a little bit cheesy... but it's fun and a good waste of time!
LC
I am becoming a master at wasting time on the internet... I'm not sure whether that is really something to be proud of though! These are some fun new toys that I added to my site. The links are found along the right hand side of the main web page:
GUESTMAP
You place a pushpin into the map to show where you are... and you can leave a little message. It takes only a minute to do, so take a look and show me where you are!
FRIENDSTER
Many of you know what Friendster is... ok, so it's a little bit cheesy... but it's fun and a good waste of time!
LC
WHAT CANCER CANNOT DO...
posted Tuesday, 22 November 2005
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love, nor shelter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot destroy peace.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot suppress memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot steal eternal life.
It cannot conquer the spirit.
-Author Unknown
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love, nor shelter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot destroy peace.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot suppress memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot steal eternal life.
It cannot conquer the spirit.
-Author Unknown
Monday, November 21, 2005
POD
posted Monday, 21 November 2005
My friends continue to make me feel loved like I never imagined. Abby & Maura drove from Boston this morning, to take me out for a celebration dinner. 6 hours in the car to take a friend to dinner? Crazy. That is love.
Nancy joined us for a fancy, dress-up dinner in Philly at a trendy place called Pod. They convinced me to wear a feather boa (which was a gift from Jess Jarvis), because "when else do you get to wear a feather boa"? Good point.
We could only get reservations at 5:45pm (fairly early), but we were hungry, so it worked fine. Their martini cocktails were color coded -- I had pink, Nancy yellow, Maura blue, and Abby green. We ordered several appetizers & 4 meals & shared it all family-style... yum... the chocolate trio for dessert wasn't bad either...
We were planning to have a night out on the town, but we wrapped up dinner by 7:30... the city isn't exactly "hopping" at 7:30pm... we would have to wait 4 hours before things would really get crazy... and we were all getting tired... so we headed back to my house and watched gilmore girls. just as good!
My friends continue to make me feel loved like I never imagined. Abby & Maura drove from Boston this morning, to take me out for a celebration dinner. 6 hours in the car to take a friend to dinner? Crazy. That is love.
Nancy joined us for a fancy, dress-up dinner in Philly at a trendy place called Pod. They convinced me to wear a feather boa (which was a gift from Jess Jarvis), because "when else do you get to wear a feather boa"? Good point.
We could only get reservations at 5:45pm (fairly early), but we were hungry, so it worked fine. Their martini cocktails were color coded -- I had pink, Nancy yellow, Maura blue, and Abby green. We ordered several appetizers & 4 meals & shared it all family-style... yum... the chocolate trio for dessert wasn't bad either...
We were planning to have a night out on the town, but we wrapped up dinner by 7:30... the city isn't exactly "hopping" at 7:30pm... we would have to wait 4 hours before things would really get crazy... and we were all getting tired... so we headed back to my house and watched gilmore girls. just as good!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
FOURTH AND FINAL TAXOL...
posted Wednesday, 16 November 2005
16 needle sticks... 8 doses of poison... 4 months... fortunately, only 1 episode of "praying to the porcelain gods"... and I am done!
My last chemo was today. Jackson had asked to take me (gosh - what a blessing to have someone *ask me* if he could take me to chemo... so I didn't have to go out and ask anybody...) - I think he just wanted to watch a few more episodes of Friends (on my portable dvd player that the Charest's gave me)!
During my meeting with Dr Cairoli, I asked him what we do from here. Well, he considers me "cured", which sounds pretty good to me. I will meet with him every 3 months, for the next 3 years. He will examine me and they will do a blood test (to look at liver & bone function). I will be on tamoxifen for the next 5 years. Surgery is planned for January (still no date). They don't re-do all the scans anymore (bone scan, pet scan, muga scan, etc). They found that the emotional drain of the scans (because they are so sensitive and come up with a lot of false positives) wasn't worth it, because usually, they were only finding things a few weeks earlier with the scans... usually, you know that something is going on, by the time it starts showing up in a scan... After we discussed all of this, he told me he was proud of me and gave me a hug. I lost it. I didn't cry when they told me I had cancer. I didn't cry when they told me I would need surgery... or chemo... or more surgery (ok- I cried in my car when I got the message, but not in front of the drs)... or that I may never be able to have children (ok- I almost cried then in front of dr cairoli, but managed to save it for home)... but today, I cried in the office... Dr Cairoli told Annette that "Linda is doing really well... but she's all business"... not today. For some reason, all those emotions that I keep buried somewhere deep inside came flooding out... I guess I had been fighting to be tough for so long that the thought of this battle nearing an end was just a bit overwhelming.
It was a good thing this was my last chemo, because Peggy had a hard time hitting a vein in my hand. My veins are pretty fried from all the chemo and it took a minute to get the IV situated and set. At the end of the treatment, all the nurses came over and sang to me. They gave me a "diploma" and all gave me hugs... and of course, I cried again... what a wreck I was.
Here's what my "diploma" read:
The nurses of HOA would like to extend our best wishes to you as you move on today with the completion of your chemotherapy. May the same strength, courage, and determination that pushed you through the challenges and difficult times during the course of your treatment continue to guide you. We celebrate this time with you and want you to know that it is truly our privilege to know you.
To Peggy, Rose, Janet, Sandy, Linda & Peggy - it is truly *my* privilege to know you. Your nursing expertise was apparent from the start -- your compassion and love were too. I will forever be impressed by and thankful for your knowledge, dedication, compassion and friendship.
16 needle sticks... 8 doses of poison... 4 months... fortunately, only 1 episode of "praying to the porcelain gods"... and I am done!
My last chemo was today. Jackson had asked to take me (gosh - what a blessing to have someone *ask me* if he could take me to chemo... so I didn't have to go out and ask anybody...) - I think he just wanted to watch a few more episodes of Friends (on my portable dvd player that the Charest's gave me)!
During my meeting with Dr Cairoli, I asked him what we do from here. Well, he considers me "cured", which sounds pretty good to me. I will meet with him every 3 months, for the next 3 years. He will examine me and they will do a blood test (to look at liver & bone function). I will be on tamoxifen for the next 5 years. Surgery is planned for January (still no date). They don't re-do all the scans anymore (bone scan, pet scan, muga scan, etc). They found that the emotional drain of the scans (because they are so sensitive and come up with a lot of false positives) wasn't worth it, because usually, they were only finding things a few weeks earlier with the scans... usually, you know that something is going on, by the time it starts showing up in a scan... After we discussed all of this, he told me he was proud of me and gave me a hug. I lost it. I didn't cry when they told me I had cancer. I didn't cry when they told me I would need surgery... or chemo... or more surgery (ok- I cried in my car when I got the message, but not in front of the drs)... or that I may never be able to have children (ok- I almost cried then in front of dr cairoli, but managed to save it for home)... but today, I cried in the office... Dr Cairoli told Annette that "Linda is doing really well... but she's all business"... not today. For some reason, all those emotions that I keep buried somewhere deep inside came flooding out... I guess I had been fighting to be tough for so long that the thought of this battle nearing an end was just a bit overwhelming.
It was a good thing this was my last chemo, because Peggy had a hard time hitting a vein in my hand. My veins are pretty fried from all the chemo and it took a minute to get the IV situated and set. At the end of the treatment, all the nurses came over and sang to me. They gave me a "diploma" and all gave me hugs... and of course, I cried again... what a wreck I was.
Here's what my "diploma" read:
The nurses of HOA would like to extend our best wishes to you as you move on today with the completion of your chemotherapy. May the same strength, courage, and determination that pushed you through the challenges and difficult times during the course of your treatment continue to guide you. We celebrate this time with you and want you to know that it is truly our privilege to know you.
To Peggy, Rose, Janet, Sandy, Linda & Peggy - it is truly *my* privilege to know you. Your nursing expertise was apparent from the start -- your compassion and love were too. I will forever be impressed by and thankful for your knowledge, dedication, compassion and friendship.
Monday, November 14, 2005
10TH ANNUAL TRUDGE - FRISBEE THANKSGIVING
posted Monday, 14 November 2005
So every year, for the past 10 years, a group of misfits gathers in troy, ny, to celebrate each other and give thanks for friendship & frisbee. The event was born in 1996, when 10 or 15 of gathered at the first "frisbee house", with laura k, spaeth, alicia and fritz (the rookies) dressed as little kids, while we all decked out for the "frisbee formal". Natale, in true turkey-day style, prepared a feast fit for kings... Steeto said Grace... and we ate, drank and made merry.
Each year, saw the addition of new players, new events and new traditions. Some favorites:
• the year that tate et al told maura, wong and i that we would again be formal... and then everyone else dressed as if headed to a halloween party
• old school vs new school frisbee game in 1997
• alumni vs the undergrads game in 1998 -
• round robin "hat" tourney
• turtle race & boat race added on Friday night
• skillz competition
• t-shirts: designs included "wife-beater" tank tops with super-spaeth, triple boob-sanda/vogel/steeto, old doods
• Tina Shield does a fantastic job filling the large shoes of Matt Natale in the kitchen
This year saw perhaps the largest crowd ever. Friday night was a "rubik's cube mixer", where everyone wore articles of clothing in red, yellow, orange, green, blue & white. During the party, everyone traded clothes, attempting to wind up all in one color. Our team for the hat tourney appeared stacked, with Jim, Rich, Vogel, Pete, Meg & myself... plus some undergrads...but we let brandon's team win, for fear that they would sulk all night. The alumni suited up (me in my fabulous 4 costume) for the alumni vs undergrads game. Historically, the alumni clobber the undergrads. At my last event (2003), we won 15-4. But over time, more and more of the sucky undergrads graduated, becoming alumni... and the day had come that the alumni team had collected critical mass of sucky young doods. The undergrads had finally put together a team with some skill... and it showed. I'm sure that someone has the final score, but I don't (selective memory). I am embarassed to say that the undergrads won the game this year.... perhaps I will see them at regionals this spring (good luck trudge!)
I will not dwell on the loss though... we headed home to shower and then over to the Sage dining hall for dinner. The event has grown so large (and Matt & Tina are no longer around to coordinate the kitchen activities), so the dinner is now catered. I must say, RPI did a nice job with the dinner, and it was nice that nobody had to cook/clean/etc.
Unbeknownst to me, Vogel/Tate/Natale organized a collection and trudge kicked in just over $1,000 for NJ Race for the Cure. Amazing generosity, from alumni & undergrads alike. I was extremely touched & thankful for this gesture. trudge is the best!
So every year, for the past 10 years, a group of misfits gathers in troy, ny, to celebrate each other and give thanks for friendship & frisbee. The event was born in 1996, when 10 or 15 of gathered at the first "frisbee house", with laura k, spaeth, alicia and fritz (the rookies) dressed as little kids, while we all decked out for the "frisbee formal". Natale, in true turkey-day style, prepared a feast fit for kings... Steeto said Grace... and we ate, drank and made merry.
Each year, saw the addition of new players, new events and new traditions. Some favorites:
• the year that tate et al told maura, wong and i that we would again be formal... and then everyone else dressed as if headed to a halloween party
• old school vs new school frisbee game in 1997
• alumni vs the undergrads game in 1998 -
• round robin "hat" tourney
• turtle race & boat race added on Friday night
• skillz competition
• t-shirts: designs included "wife-beater" tank tops with super-spaeth, triple boob-sanda/vogel/steeto, old doods
• Tina Shield does a fantastic job filling the large shoes of Matt Natale in the kitchen
This year saw perhaps the largest crowd ever. Friday night was a "rubik's cube mixer", where everyone wore articles of clothing in red, yellow, orange, green, blue & white. During the party, everyone traded clothes, attempting to wind up all in one color. Our team for the hat tourney appeared stacked, with Jim, Rich, Vogel, Pete, Meg & myself... plus some undergrads...but we let brandon's team win, for fear that they would sulk all night. The alumni suited up (me in my fabulous 4 costume) for the alumni vs undergrads game. Historically, the alumni clobber the undergrads. At my last event (2003), we won 15-4. But over time, more and more of the sucky undergrads graduated, becoming alumni... and the day had come that the alumni team had collected critical mass of sucky young doods. The undergrads had finally put together a team with some skill... and it showed. I'm sure that someone has the final score, but I don't (selective memory). I am embarassed to say that the undergrads won the game this year.... perhaps I will see them at regionals this spring (good luck trudge!)
I will not dwell on the loss though... we headed home to shower and then over to the Sage dining hall for dinner. The event has grown so large (and Matt & Tina are no longer around to coordinate the kitchen activities), so the dinner is now catered. I must say, RPI did a nice job with the dinner, and it was nice that nobody had to cook/clean/etc.
Unbeknownst to me, Vogel/Tate/Natale organized a collection and trudge kicked in just over $1,000 for NJ Race for the Cure. Amazing generosity, from alumni & undergrads alike. I was extremely touched & thankful for this gesture. trudge is the best!
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
TAXOL #3 AND SEARCHING FOR THE JERSEY DEVIL
posted Wednesday, 9 November 2005
Taxol #3 has been and gone, with relatively little drama. Mom came down to take me to chemo and stayed for a few days visit. She came down on Tuesday night, and by the time we went out for dinner, the place I wanted to go to was closed... so we opted for Cold Stone Creamery for dinner... yum! (though I would take halo pub over cold stone any day of the week!)
On Thursday, we had a picnic lunch with Charlene and then took Otis & Quinton to the dog park. Quinton is Otis's new buddy and they LOVE going to the huge dog park in Medford.... but they are also quite happy just hanging out in the dog run at Charlene's!
Mom took good care of me -- cooked me dinner, brought me cookies & cranberry bread and played with Otis while I went into work on Friday (yes - I occasionally go into work... I know... I just can't keep away!)
On Saturday, Nancy and I took Otis down to the Lebanon State Forest in the pine barrens for a little hike... Rumor has it that the Jersey Devil haunts the pine barrens, but we didn't come across anybody except for this beautiful stray puppy who followed us out of the parking lot. Otis and he were like two pees in a pod, and they had a blast frolicking about on the first half of our trip. We hiked an easy 3 miles along a very wide, flat path, out to Pakim Pond, where we rested for a little bit. A couple that was hanging out by the pond offered to take our new little friend and try to find his home, which was probably for the best (since my car was pretty crowded already and I don't think Nancy was looking forward to riding home with this strange dog)... thank goodness, because I certainly couldn't have left the poor guy out there by himself! We hiked the 3 miles back to our car along a section of the Batona Trail, which is a 50 mile trail through the pine barrens.
MOM MADE THIS COMMENT,
It was my pleasure to be able to be there and be Mom for a few days. I miss you so much. Looks like you had a great day in the woods.
Taxol #3 has been and gone, with relatively little drama. Mom came down to take me to chemo and stayed for a few days visit. She came down on Tuesday night, and by the time we went out for dinner, the place I wanted to go to was closed... so we opted for Cold Stone Creamery for dinner... yum! (though I would take halo pub over cold stone any day of the week!)
On Thursday, we had a picnic lunch with Charlene and then took Otis & Quinton to the dog park. Quinton is Otis's new buddy and they LOVE going to the huge dog park in Medford.... but they are also quite happy just hanging out in the dog run at Charlene's!
Mom took good care of me -- cooked me dinner, brought me cookies & cranberry bread and played with Otis while I went into work on Friday (yes - I occasionally go into work... I know... I just can't keep away!)
On Saturday, Nancy and I took Otis down to the Lebanon State Forest in the pine barrens for a little hike... Rumor has it that the Jersey Devil haunts the pine barrens, but we didn't come across anybody except for this beautiful stray puppy who followed us out of the parking lot. Otis and he were like two pees in a pod, and they had a blast frolicking about on the first half of our trip. We hiked an easy 3 miles along a very wide, flat path, out to Pakim Pond, where we rested for a little bit. A couple that was hanging out by the pond offered to take our new little friend and try to find his home, which was probably for the best (since my car was pretty crowded already and I don't think Nancy was looking forward to riding home with this strange dog)... thank goodness, because I certainly couldn't have left the poor guy out there by himself! We hiked the 3 miles back to our car along a section of the Batona Trail, which is a 50 mile trail through the pine barrens.
MOM MADE THIS COMMENT,
It was my pleasure to be able to be there and be Mom for a few days. I miss you so much. Looks like you had a great day in the woods.
Thursday, November 3, 2005
ME & OTIS - ISN'T HE THE CUTEST THING EVER?
posted Thursday, 3 November 2005
JOHN MADE THIS COMMENT,
He's close, but not quite as cute as Molly.
MOM MADE THIS COMMENT,
I think it is a tie. Molly is the cutest girl dog and Otis is the cutest boy dog.
JOHN MADE THIS COMMENT,
He's close, but not quite as cute as Molly.
MOM MADE THIS COMMENT,
I think it is a tie. Molly is the cutest girl dog and Otis is the cutest boy dog.
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