Christmas 2009

Hello friends,
I am not so sure that anyone reads this anymore, but for me it is like an on-line diary. It is also a gentle reminder of what I (we) went through, and how all of my family and friends helped us. I just got the go-ahead to move from 3 mo. check-ups with my oncologist, to every 6 mos. Wow. That felt good. My hair is back to it's crazy thick, pre-chemo hair. What a journey that was! Shannon, my friend and hairstylist was (is) a saint. This Christmas was a little different for us. I accepted a management position with my company (Century 21) (but still do real estate deals for my clients, in case anyone is reading this!), and had to work until 3 on Christmas Eve. The weekends were consumed with my own clients wanting to buy houses. Needless to say, my shopping was limited to a few hours. Thankfully I knew ahead of time what to get. We celebrated with my sister Julie's family at my Dad's house on Christmas Eve. There is nothing better than experiencing Christmas through the eyes of children. Sonny was on a totally different schedule than he was used to. He typically would be home for a 3 week winter break, but still had to deal with finals upon his return. Of course now that he has graduated, Harvard has changed the schedule so that finals are over before break. But he also had to work up until Christmas Eve. Prior to that he had been studying for the GMAT, in additon to his full-time job. We could really relate!
We will be catching up with my sister Karrie in the next few days to once again celebrate a gift exchange. How fun to draw it out! I did not make it to Christmas cards again this year. It especially hit me when I would go to the mailbox and see the many cards that we received. I love getting them and also seeing the photos of the "kids"..although so many more of them are adults! How did we get this old?
Sonny: working for PAAMCO. He is educating me on what he actually does. It is a Fund-to Fund asset management company. Basically he is learning a LOT. There is an Equinox Sports Club in his building and he is taking every advantage of it. He recently completed his first tri-athalon on Catalina Island. I don't get to see him as much as I would like, my job as much as his, but when we get together we laugh. He is a great guy.
Colin. A freshman at Cal. St San Marcos. He is really enjoying living on his own. He is a "gym rat" and sincerely appreciates the small classroom size that his college provides. He surprised himself by enjoying and doing well in Speech. I really have no worries about Colin. He will be successful in life.
Mairin. She is still dancing hours and hours a week. I finally took her to a foot specialist (concentrating in dancers) in Sept. because of a spot on the bottom of her foot that would become red and inflamed and extremely painful. Turns out she has 2 broken bones in her turning foot. The options were not really going to work for her, considering it is her senior year. The cast would have only given her a 50% heal rate. And she would have had to miss her senior year. She is treating it with advil, ice, and tears. I question everyday whether I made the right decision in letting her continue on . Her DR. said it will not complicate or increase the damage.
She is about to begin her senior year of dance competitions and auditions. Tomorrow she begins a 2 day intensive. She was recently accepted into Univ. of San Francisco, early admisson. This is where she really wants to go. She has her audition for UCLA on Jan. 29. The audition is a 2 min. piece that she has choreographed, then a 8 hour intensive. Tonight she had some girls over for game night. She has forged some great friendships over the years. The girls are all amazing and I think Mair will always be friends with them. They seem to have their sights set higher than being the most popular girls, or the party girls. They know who they are and where they are going.
Me: When Mairin and I went up to SF to look at colleges, it really hit me. When Sonny left for Harvard, I was so excited about this journey of his that I wasn't sad. In fact I still had Colin and Mairin to parent, so maybe this would be easier.
Then Colin left for Cal. St. San Marcos. Now when Sonny was in Cambridge, he would call to check in with me rather frequently. If I called him, he would answer. Colin not so much. Here he was on the same coast as me, and only an hour away, and did I hear from him? See him? Nooooooooo. But that is a good thing. He was doing what college age kids are supposed to do. Become more self-sufficient. Ok. That left Mairin and me. We shared favorite TV shows, make-up, jewelry and ate whatever we wanted. Now she will be up in San Francisco. Another new chapter in my life. My sister Julie moved here with her 4 kids, and I love being Aunt Nan. My career has taken on new responsibilites and I am looking forward to that challenge.
At at the end of the day, I must admit that my greatest joys are when all three of my kids are with me and we are doing something fun together. I am so blessed that they all get along so well. On Christmas Day I insisted that we all go to a movie. I was tired of them packing up their stuff and heading over to their Dad's. We went to the IMAX and saw Avatar. We experienced a really fun movie and got to talk about it for hours. Then they headed off and I went to my Dad's to see how Julie's kids fared from Santa. A great weekend.
If you read this anymore, would you let me know? Thanks.
May 2010 be a year of health, happiness and security.
Nancy