Who I am

I may have spayed, but not neutered.
I may have lost my breasts, but not my beauty.
I have God-given, family-given strengths and character.
I have amazing friends I love and cherish, I am loved and cherished.
This is my life, everyday.

I celebrate my safe return home from the hospital today after having a hysterectomy. It all went well, and the area we were concerned about is 99% not cancer. We will have definate confirmation next week, but at this point I am not worried. Love

2013

I know this is only for my eyes, but I love reading over these last years. Howver if you are reading this, let me know so I can thank you! Sonny is working in SF with BCG and loving it, so far. He then heads bach to Chicago to finish his final year at Booth.(MBA) He has again managed to make some amazing friends. Mair is in the City working at JCC doing summer camps, and realizing that she would really rather work with the 3 and 4 graders. They don't wet their pants as much. She will be a senior and doing her dual degree in Sociology and Education, and graduating in 2 years with a Masters in Education. She is very happy with her decision. She also is still very involved in dance and just recently had her piece accepted into the Festival for Women Choreographers in NY. Colin is working at Buffalo Wild Wings and has created a great network of friends. He is anticipating his girlfriends move to AZ for her 2nd 2 years of school with some trepidation. He has a huge circle of great friends and could sell ice to an Eskimo. Maybe one day he will join me and sell a house to a buyer. Wouldn't that be fun? This year my beloved Thatcher passed. It was really hard. He was my little man that was there for me through so much. I love my job. I was the branch leader for the NOC office that started up in 10/11. I came back to the RSM office as Training Director for the company and get such immense pleasure in helping the new agents get up and running. I will be undergoing a hysterectomy on Mon. July 1. How weird is it that 26 years to the day, I birthed my first-born, and then had my reproductive organs removed. Oh well. They served me well. I have said a prayer for them, and how appreciative I am. Sonny, Colin and Mairin will all be here Thursday, July 4th. Happy day.

wow. just like a journal

Mairin decided to do a speech for her class on my BC. She said she went back and re-read my blog. I decided to do the same. I really can't believe how my kids all dealt with this and handled their own stuff at the same time. I think now that I really can see the effort it took for them to just forge ahead. We had some setbacks, but we all pulled from each other and came out the other side OK.
Again, thank you to my family, and friends, and people that became my friends throughout this incredible journey.

update on my life May 2010

hello outthere...is there anyone still reading my blog? I went back in time last night. I re-read my entire blog. It will be 3 years on June 13. (I always wondered what that "5 year survivor rate" was based on. According to my oncologist, it is based on the day of diagnosis.) That year is like erased from my mind. It was really emotional for me to re-read my blog entries and of course the comments from family, friends, and well-wishers. So much has happened since my last entry. Colin is finishing up his freshman year at Cal. St. San Marcos. He just became a full fledged member of TKE! They are also starting a lacrosse club team.
Mairin has accepted the scholarship opportunities for the University of San Francisco! She will be far enough away to make me miss her, but still close enough for me to catch a plane to see her for a weekend!
Sonny loves his job and of course loves living in Newport Beach. We love having him close by, and get to see him at family gatherings.
I have accepted a job with my real estate company in management. I have been the Dir. of Continuing Education for the last 8 months. Now I am also handling the responsibilites in our north OC offices, with a co-manager, Glen Holmes. Glen and I will make an incredible team. We have known each other from our sons, (Sonny) playing basketball, and Christy his wife and I have become great friends. I look forward to learning from him, and he me. We are looking forward to this challenge.

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

crazy month!

Since I wrote last time, Sonny has offically moved out on his own. He got to experience the thrill of assemblying his first piece of furniture from IKEA! He also rented a U-Haul truck for the first time and recruited his brother and sister to help him load it up and drive away.......leaving me with a broom in hand to sweep out his now empty bedroom. I did shed a tear or two, I admit. I did follow along and offered my support and help with making the bed etc. It is such a cute place located on the penninsula side of Newport Beach, over a bike-rental shop and a cigar bar. A new business has moved in also, a ballroom dance studio. His place has 2 gorgeous bathrooms with marble and travertine. I'm jealous! The kitchen is small but has stainless appliances and granite counters. Once the summer winds down it will be a lot more peaceful. However, city-boy Sonny who was accustomed to living in Cambridge doesn't mind the noise. He has had lots of visitors. He started his job today. I am a proud Mom!
Mairin had her National Dance Competition in Long Beach. She did very well and is psyched-up for her senior year of dance! She left yesterday with Aunt Karrie to New York City! She has never been and is really excited. She will be taking dance lessons at some of the big studios there and seeing some Broadway shows.
Colin had his orientation for Cal. St. San Marcos on Sat. and is getting very excited about heading off to college. He met a ton of other students and also one more of his roommates. At the end of August I will be driving him to his dorm and then it will just be Mairin and me at home. Most of the time.
My sister Julie moved up here from Mexico City with her four adorable kids. Joaquine and Diego are 5 and will be starting kindergarten. Isabelle is 8 and will enter 2nd grade, and Rodri is 10 and will be going into 4th. They have moved into Dad's house to assist him in getting his feet back under him. She is a saint! I help out by having the kids to my house or down to the pool. I love them to death!
Maybe having them here will help with my "empty-nest" syndrome!
My hair is growing out, almost ponytail length. One of the gentle reminders of what I went through.
As my role as a Mom winds down, I am looking for new things to push me personally and professionally. I have started a "vision-board" to inspire me. I know that I am blessed to have such a close family around me, and amazing friends.
Until next time,
Love,
Nancy

whirlwind days!

Mairin's recital, 4th of July and work, work, work!
Oh, and then Michael Jackson died! Seemed to take over all of the network news.
Strange to know that my sister, Karrie, went to his dermatologist, Dr. Klien, and also knew Debi Rowe, the incubator of Michael Jackson's first 2 kids. Just another day in the office of a Bev. Hills dermatologist! Now everyone believes that the Dr. was the bio dad! I got side-tracked..sorry
Mairin's recital was fantastic. Can't believe that she will be a senior next year.
We are now focusing on her college plans. She and I will be here together, Sonny will be moving out, starting his new job and getting his first apartment.
Colin will be heading off to college. He is so excited. But he did say that graduating from HS the same year that his older brother graduates from Harvard really sucks! OK,,,OK.. I am doing a re-enactment of his cap and gown photo,,,in order to do a graduation announcement.
Sonny and Colin are now back in NY at Uncle Michael's country house. Sonny's roommates are there too. Today they went kayaking..and went off a waterfall...not planned. Made it through. Tomorrow they are all going sky-diving. I am so scared. I am so fearful of heights myself. It makes me sick to think of them doing this. Sonny did it on his 18th bday. I put my head in the sand. Last summer Sonny wanted to take Colin out for his 18th, but I said no, since Colin still had another year left of lacrosse. I am saying my prayers tonight! Here is a really cute picture of Mairin and her big bro celebrating his 22nd. I am so blessed that my kids all get along so well.