New Canadian Citizen!!

On Friday Matt & I had the privilege of attending our first Canadian Citizenship Ceremony.  It was a wonderful (and quite emotional) experience.  Our friend (and neighbour) Adolfo was presented with his Canadian Citizenship.  We are so happy and proud of (and for) him!

The presiding Judge Sharon Robertson was excellent. She was animated and did such a great job with the ceremony and making everyone feel comfortable and welcome.  There were 46 people (from 22 countries) receiving their citizenship and she took the time to speak to each one of them, as did our MP Peter Braid.  

Adolfo with Judge Sharon, Peter Braid and his sons Gabe & Alex.

Before the ceremony started, the clerk walked us all through how the ceremony would proceed, when we should stand, etc.  The place was packed and he told us it was the fullest ceremony he'd ever seen.  When it came time for the new citizens to take their oath, Judge Robertson encouraged anyone who wanted to renew their oath to join in, including those that had been born in Canada and may have never had the opportunity to say the oath before.  Matt & I both joined in.  I should clarify that I tried to say the oath, with tears streaming down my face and my voice cracking it was a little more difficult then I might have anticipated.  I won't tell you what happened when we sang O Canada!!

It was a really great experience.  I am so proud to be Canadian and that pride grew exponentially at the Citizenship ceremony.  I totally understand why a person would choose to become Canadian!!

The fun continued when we were invited to join Adolfo and his family (including his lovely wife Heather - who is my awesome tennis partner!!) at a "new citizen" party on Friday night.  It was a lot of fun to raise a beer and eat some good old deep fried Canadian food in celebration of a fantastic achievement!

Decked out in a new tuque and scarf!

We got Adolfo a new Canadian tuque and scarf to keep him warm this winter!  He's already experienced many Canadian winters...but somehow I suspect his first as a Canadian citizen will be the best one yet!!  Congratulations, Adolfo!!

xoxoxoxooxoxoxo

One Year!!

Friday marked my one year anniversary for finishing chemo!  One year ago I was celebrating being done my chemo treatments (there was cake involved)...and now it's been a whole year!  Some days it feels like a lot longer than a year, and other days it's wild to think a whole year has gone by!

So Friday night we went to visit some friends and they were happy to celebrate my one year anniversary with me...again, cake was involved!!  Thanks Rob & Steph for the hospitality and for cheering me on the whole way!!

It's actually been a great weekend for celebrating. On Saturday we had the privilege of attending an 80th birthday party with Matt's family for his Aunt Ruth.  It was a bit of a surprise for her, and it was fun to see everyone there for her!  After the birthday party, we went to an annual "Rink Building" party at our friends the Andrews.  It was a good time...albeit a little crazy with many little ones running around!!  Always good to sit around a big table and have a beer with friends!!

And today I got to meet up with my good friend Tracy for our birthday pedicures...ok...two months late but man do I have pretty blue toes tonight!!

Hope you had a good weekend too!!  Cheers to one year!!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Scrappy Weekend!!

I just had a FANTASTIC weekend!  I was at a Scrapbook Retreat with two great girlfriends!  We were at the Elmhurst Inn in Ingersoll.  It's a beautiful spot, and the grounds are awesome!  It seems to be a choice destinations for weddings...and we did indeed see a bride each night we were there!

We arrived Friday mid-afternoon and spent from Friday at 5:00 until Sunday at 5:00 scrapping with the great people from ScrapMuch?  It was awesome.  While we did get a little bit of sleep, we also ate some good food (and snacks!!), had lots of laughs, played a little Price is Right and, oh yeah, we had a great time working on Christmas cards, layouts and I even made a rocking Advent calendar!!  I am not quite as fast or productive as Mindy and Amber (hello...Amber got 37 pages done and Mindy completed ALL of her Christmas cards...but damn my advent calendar is cute!!!)

Thank you to Anita and Elaine for being such wonderful hosts this weekend! And thank you to Mindy and Amber for being such great roommates!!  I'm already looking forward to the next one!

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

KISS This!!

Start with a beautiful, loving, mild mannered family...

add a life long KISS fan with a makeup brush (and decades of practice)...

four willing faces...

awesome home made costumes...

lots of enthusiasm, energy, attitude and star power...

and you end up with the winners for BEST costume!!!

And like any good rock band...they have a crazed fan!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

What a Week!

This was a really tough week for me.

I made the REALLY difficult decision to end my participation at Well-Fit.  It was a really difficult decision because I've been going to this fitness group (for cancer patients only) since after my second chemo treatment.  These wonderful girls saw me twice a week during all my treatments, recovery and return to work.  They supported me and guided me and helped me embrace the road to better health.  Hey...they worked miracles!  I'm moving my butt more!!  During chemo, when my immune system was seriously compromised and I wasn't hugging anyone or going anywhere near anyone who might possibly be sick, I still went to fitness.  They operate a sterile environment and if you're sick, you don't go because you know there are others in treatment who can't fight off a little cold.  These girls developed a personal program for me every six weeks or so.  They pushed me when I needed to be pushed, and kept a close eye on my heart rate monitor when they thought I was pushing too hard.  They made a HUGE difference to my cancer journey.  So leaving them has had me in tears several times this week.  So, I'll bet you're asking "Why go??".  Well, with the return to full time hours at work, there are only two classes I can attend - Monday & Wednesday at 5:30.  And at the end of the day, I'm just a little too tired to push myself at fitness, and if I miss one of my classes, it's too hard to make it up at another time.  Damn this work thing!  To Lori, Maddy, Erin & Steph I send out my heartfelt thanks.  You girls rock!  Thank you for your encouragement, comfort and caring.  Thanks for pushing me!  Thanks for providing such an awesome support network.  And thanks for helping me to embrace fitness!  I'll definitely be seeing you!!

Part of the reason I could decide to leave Well Fit is because I am joining the new Athletic Club on Ira Needles.  It opens mid-December and I'm pretty excited to check it out.  It does mean that in the next six weeks, I need to do some weights at home, go swimming and go for some walks.  And of course, I'll continue to push myself at tennis (have I mentioned how much I love playing tennis??!!).

So, on Wednesday I went to my last Well Fit class.  I didn't even say good bye to my fellow survivors.  I was just way too emotional.  I hardly talked to anyone all class, on the verge of tears.  Who is this emotional girl??!!

To make my day just a little bit better on Wednesday, someone hit my car while I was parked on the side street near my apartment at lunch.  Crap.  My street is getting repaved, new curbs, new sidewalks and they redid the plumbing underground...so it's a mess!  You have to park a street over and walk.  And leave your car out for people to hit!  Damn.  It's not a really bad dint...but it will have to be repaired.  Not a good day.

I hosted a little Stampin' Up party for some girlfriends on Friday night and am so grateful my beautiful man gave me a hand getting ready for it.  It was a fun time and amazing how a few hours with your girlfriends can turn your week around!!  Thanks girls!

While I was hosting on Friday, Matt was in London painting the faces of my good friends the McGonigles for their Hallowe'en party.  Of course if Matt is there painting their faces, I'm sure you can guess that they went as KISS!  And who better to do their make up then Matt?!  Judy made their costumes and from the picture Jude posted on Facebook they looked awesome!  I'm still waiting for a couple of pics to scrapbook...and if I'm granted permission I'll maybe throw one on here too!  Matt was so excited that they got into their characters and hammed it up!  Great job you guys!!  And congrats on the best costume win!!

I was very happy to get a short visit in with Eileen and Markie Thom today.  Mark was playing in a hockey tournament in Mississauga this weekend, and while they didn't have any wins yesterday, they had an awesome game today (must have been the good luck charms in the stands!!).

You know, I really don't have very many bad days.  So I guess having one (or two) this week just provided me with perspective.  Life is good!

xoxoxoxoxo

Three Month Check Up!!

On Friday morning, Matt & I were at the Cancer Centre for my three month follow up.

I'm on a three month rotation, which gives me comfort and makes me feel confident that if anything was to go askew, they'd be on it right away.  The appointment is easy peasy.  Lots of questions about how I'm doing, how work is going, any discomfort I'm experiencing and how the fatigue is going.  Then, there's an exam (check out the mastectomy site and my remaining boob, check to see if there are any issues with my lymph nodes, a listen to my heart and my lungs and a funny little check they do to see if there are any changes to some other organs).  All and all it's about half an hour.

And I passed with flying colours!  I'm good to go!  And she got a kick out my curly hair!!

So, I'm cleared until January when I go back for my next three month appointment!

I love having a good follow up. Every time I get a thumbs up, it puts a little more distance between me and my diagnosis and treatment.  And that has to be a good thing!

I've had a great weekend!  Dinner out at The Cambridge Mill last night (big yum) and how awesome was the weather today!  What a beautiful sun shiny day!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Athletics Rock...and a Thanksgiving Update too!

So, again I've been a bad blogger and knew I should definitely come up with something to blog about today.  So, I turned to my other half and said "Honey, I need a blog topic."  His response "OK...your blog topic should be that Athletics rock and you should give a Thanksgiving update too".  Really?  You think I should write about how Athletics rock?  Me?  The most un-athletic person EVER??!!  OK...here goes...

I'm starting with the Thanksgiving update because it's definitely the easier of the two!  We went to Clarksburg (near Collingwood) last Sunday to celebrate with Matt's family.  There was a party for Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this fall!  It was a really nice lunch - a turkey dinner with the fixings so the "ladies" wouldn't have to go home and make one on Monday.  Works for me!  After the party, we drove to Barrie to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Yep...you guessed it.  More turkey.  Twice in one day!  My sister, being the rock star she is, also made a prime rib.  Yummy!  So, I had a bit of turkey (Sandy's was better) and a bit of prime rib.

My Mom and her husband Ian have decided to relocate to Barrie and took Matt & I to see their new condo on Sunday night.  It's very close to the college and not too far from my sister's place. I think they were moving in this weekend (I should probably follow up on that progress...such a bad daughter!!).  We also made a quick stop for a hug in Cookstown.  It was a whirlwind Thanksgiving tour.

I have mixed emotions about Thanksgiving.  It's definitely not my favourite holiday.  However, I do love the colours that show themselves in the fall (and the trip to Clarksburg last weekend was a great opportunity to check them out along the escarpment)...and I'm always happy for any occasion that makes me stop and think about all I have to be thankful for.  I am blessed.  I am grateful.  My plate is full and for this I am truly thankful!

Now...about that "Athletics Rock" thing.  Hmmm...well, the Rangers won both their games this weekend (and Sharon & I are going to the game this Friday!)  And I am sitting downstairs right now watching motocross on the 50 inch...and it's pretty cool.  These guys are beyond athletic!!

I had a fantastic tennis lesson this week.  Yes, I am LOVING tennis!  My serve is coming along and this week we were hitting balls that came at us from the ball machine.  That was super fun.  So, I think I'm making progress and I'm so glad I still have lots of lessons to go!  I got a new racquet that weighs pretty much nothing and I think it helped me a ton this week that Matt and I got out on the court last Saturday to try it out!  I can't wait to play a game and kick Matt's butt!!  Ok...that may be a ways off...but a girl needs a dream!!

Speaking of Matt, he ran a 10 km race today (the Oktoberfest Run).  He did his personal best!  I'm very proud of him.

And Alex is playing on the Sir John A MacDonald junior football team!  They won their game on Thursday (by one point) against Bluevale!!  Go Highlanders!!

I think what I'm most excited to tell you about today though, is the sweet voice of Lauren.  Her band, Winchester, has a website and their music can be downloaded for free.  I think you should definitely check them out. They were featured on the radio for an hour on Friday night (88.3 fm - CJIQ - Conestoga College). My favourite track is Fade Out.  I am so proud of her and Monty and I'm so amazed at how beautiful her voice sounds.  And I love that I figured out iTunes so I can listen to her on my iPad!

While I know Thanksgiving was last weekend, I think we should take a minute every day to count our blessings.  Make a list, it'll blow your mind!

xoxoxoxox