All These Years Have Gone By

 Over 10 years have past! wow! I made it trouugh the BC and happy its behind me! Lots has happened! We moved from our house of 30 years to start something new. I closed my boutique that had grown so big that it was no longer fun.

Acouple years and a couple moves happened, trying to figure things out? Then we moved into a one level bungalo so that i could have my knee surgery. 

This was where it all started again;

Hey Blog!

Hey Blog! Long time no see.

I can’t believe how the months have passed?? The last time I visited my blog was March of this year, now the months have flown by without notice.

The opening of my little boutique seems to have kept me very busy. Cherry Pick Boutique has been my lifelong dream and it now has been born and is off and running. My grand opening was April 21^st 2012 and what a perfect day it was. Old and new friends, family and more came out to support my little business adventure.

By the end of May my little 400 square foot spot seemed too small and I took a leap of faith and moved across the hall to double the space.

I’m now into my fifth month and have learned so much with much more to learn I’m sure. Some months have been good and others not so much. I’ve come to learn that this is retail and things will be up and down.

The Freight House Square is an old freight house that was built over 100 years ago. Now the Sounder pulls up out back to delivers its daily commuters and picks up some to be delivered to the rest of the stops along the way.

Inside the doors of the freight house are all types of shops and an international food court that is indescribable.

In the mean time I have just had my two year anniversary from the day I found the lump in my breast.  If you’re wondering about that well, I’m good so far and am believing that it will stay that way. I still see all the special doctors and have to have mammograms every six months. I’ve been told that after five years they stop watching so closely. I’m still struggling with the steroid weight but that will take some time too.

So I have decided to take my blog in a new direction and start writing about the people and places at the Freight House Square. I have met some of the best people in my life at the freight house; I call this my freight house family and you will soon understand why.

Still Believing

My hopes and dreams for 2012 are to have a better year than the last. I guess that wouldn’t be to hard considering the stuff I had to do to make it through treatment. I’m not sure what to expect from day to day but I cherish each and every one and consider each day a gift.

The first week of January I found Cozy, she stole my heart from the day I first laid my eyes on her. I was at my youngest granddaughter’s gymnastic meet when I spotted a woman holding her. After a short conversation I learned she was a breeder and I was able to purchase the puppy from her. She had the best little personality and loved me as much as I loved her. The first week I had her she had a problem with her blood sugar and a trip to the vet assured me that she would be fine with extra care to make sure she was eating enough.

My biological father had been ill and was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. I hadn’t seen my dad in years and it was hard to say goodbye. I have many regrets when it comes to our relationship. I wish I had visited one more time and talked to him about many things that were left unsaid. He passed away just days before his 80^th birthday; he almost made it, now he will have no more suffering. I hate suffering. Sometimes I feel like I had two different childhood. One with my dad and then one after he left when I was twelve. Thinking of him makes me remember the young child in me.

By the time February had arrived Cozy was having regular problems with her blood sugar.  This is what I thought was happening. She would act so strange and it seemed to get harder and harder to get her to come around. Some days she would be fine others she would just be out of it?? I called the vet when she started showing signs of pain, she would cry out for no reason.

Yesterday when she tried to walk she was paralyzed. The vet kept her for the day and gave her pain medication to see if she would try to move around. By the end of the day when I returned to the clinic it was quite obvious that Cozy would not be able to move again. I talked with her and she would only respond with her sad eyes and I knew I had to let her go. I told her to go to Rainbow Bridge and I would meet her there one day. I kissed her lightly and said goodbye.  

  

With spring just around the corner I have prayed that the Lord will direct my step and guide me to the next chapter in my life. It’s a new day and I’m more than ready to embrace my life and move forward.

I’m believing for a wonderful  rest of the year!

Busy Bee

I feel like a busy bee, so much to do! Time seems to have sipped by. Rachel my middle child had a Birthday in January and we just celebrated it last week because she had been sick. So for now I’m feeling about a month behind and struggling to catch up.

I have had a few small bumps in the road but nothing I can’t handle. An infection that wouldn’t clear up sent me to the hospital for IV antibiotics and then an allergic reaction. Not fun having hives and hot flashes at the same time. Now I’m on yet another oral antibiotic and keeping my fingers crossed that this one will work
.

The struggle continues to get rid of the steroid weight and then when I had the reaction the first thing they did was pump me full of yes, you guessed it, steroids. I know it had to be done but it wasn’t my favorite part of the day.

I’ve been doing Weight Watchers for the past three weeks and the weight loss is so slow but at least it’s going. I was sure the scales would be up after the steroids but to my surprise I had lost weight. Whoo hoo.  Working out has helped with the fatigue and acupuncture has soothed the hot flashes. Physical therapy is retraining my back muscles to support my old back injury and leg exercises to try to give my knee more support until the day I can have my knee replacement surgery.

The neuropathy in my hands and feet is almost vanished and I’m so thankful. I hate having numb fingers and dropping everything. This means that the chemicals from the chemo and radiation are leaving my body and I am returning to my old self. This time last year I was doing radiation and feeling like hell. Time has passed quickly and I’m so happy to have it all behind me.

I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life and I’m not sure of the path that I will take. My world has been turned upside down and now it’s time to make choices for my new and wonderful life. Many people my age would be thinking of retirement but I’m not ready for that. I’m excited to see what Gods has planned for me next.

  

Jeff had A Birthday

 Jeff had A Birthday, big 19 now, hard to believe how time flies. Jeff is grandson number two and has a soft spot in my heart. From the moment he came into the world he has scared me, for real. His mom had a hard delivery and when he was born he wasn’t breathing. The first hour of his life was pretty scary; as he grew he continued to keep grandma excited.

Jeff plays so many instruments I can’t keep track. In school he played a trumpet, trombone and even the tuba and what an awesome guitar player. He’s in a band now and he plays bass, this kid has a true gift. He knows what he wants but changes his mind every day, it fun watching him grow.  His first band was a jazz band and his new band well I’m not sure, I thinks its rock but they have all kinds of new names for music now and I get lost. I do know they play all original music and they write everything they do, that’s kinda cool.

Last summer Jeff got married, yes I said Jeff got married. After he and his wife graduated from High School they got married. I still have a hard time believing it can you tell? I hope they put off having kids for a long time because I’m no where near ready to be a Great Grandma!

Jeff I wish you much happiness and love! And that job at Guitar Center! Love GG

The Grinch That Stole My Christmas Gift!

The holidays have come and gone and what a wonderful time we had, with just a few bumps along the way. Not like last year when all I could do was wish the time away. I had started chemo the beginning of December last year so I wasn’t in much of a holiday spirit. As for this year I had a renewed spirit and was ready to make up for missing out on last year’s festivities’.

The day after Thanksgiving I started decorating and making plans for my shopping budget. My husband tried to bring me to reality only once and I let him know to not get in my way so he promptly started putting up Christmas lights.

I never shop early, I’m usually trying to get things done at the last minute but this year was so different, I finished it all early and was able to enjoy the entire season.

Our family enjoyed Christmas Eve together at my daughters house and then on Christmas day I cooked dinner and they all came to my house. I missed that last year and was so thankful to have the energy to prepare the holiday meal.

Then the bump in the road; I had told my husband that I was asking Santa for a puppy this year. We have two cats and the entire household is cat lovers. I like them but I prefer dogs. He kinda laughed it off and let me wish. To his surprise, and mine, on Christmas Eve when I was at my daughter’s house Santa delivered my new puppy. She was perfect, the cutest little 12 week old King Charles toy puppy you have ever seen. The kids had named her Bambi, and before the night was over I had fallen in love with her and we had bonded right away.

After taking her home I quickly decided I would sleep in the living room so she could sleep with me and not be scared. We cuddled up on the couch and spent her first night at home together.

Christmas morning was quiet as I started to prepare the Christmas fest. I got the turkey in the oven after making pumpkin pies and my daughter Rachel had stopped by with her puppy Dottie. We took the puppies into the back yard and watched them run and play. Dottie would run and Bambi would try her best to keep up with her. They soon left and would come back over later for dinner.

Everyone started to arrive around 5:00 and I was busy finishing up our dinner, my niece had brought her puppy Lucky and Dottie and Bambi were having a blast running and playing. With a house full of people, I knew the new Christmas puppy would sleep well that night because she had such an exciting day. The kids all passed her around, loved on her and took a lot of pictures. She loved the attention.

About the time dinner was finished someone noticed that Bambi was gone? She had just vanished? We have a fenced in yard with no possible way for a dog to get out? We quickly gathered up every flash light in the house and from every car and started searching for my lost Christmas gift. We searched every adjacent yard and crack we could find. After searching the next couple hours and talking to all the neighbors I had come to the conclusion she had found a hiding place exhausted from the day and had fallen asleep. I again slept in the living room in hopes she would come wondering out from her hiding place. It didn’t happen.

The next morning we were out posting lost dog fliers everywhere we could think of. My husband continued to search the neighborhood and talk to everyone he came across.

By the next day I discovered that someone had removed all of the posters we had pinned to the phone polls and they had even taken down the ones at the local 7-11. I called the city to see if they had taken them down and they informed me that the pole do not belong to the city but to PSE. They assured me it hadn’t been them, not the time of the year for clean up. Even the workers at 7-11 said they had not removed the posters??? Someone has my puppy! So I called the police and did a report. New posters have been hung and are still in place. I still have hopes she will be returned and the Grinch that stole her will have a change of heart.