They say it's your birthday!

Ok, technically it was Monday, but I haven't really been feeling up for much this week.

Here's a recap:

Sunday was a horrible night. Then Monday night got even worse...with kind of a big deal in between.

Monday morning around 10am my stem cells were transfused back to me. It was actually all very anticlimactic, and only lasted for about 30 minutes. I was completely exhausted and nauseated, but still managed to take my new "self" for a little stroll around the halls with Todd before going back to bed.

As Monday went on, my nausea got worse and worse. Nothing I put in my mouth ended up staying in and non of the anti-nausea medications seemed to be touching it. Monday night when they came to do vitals, they discovered a fever of 101.9, which set into action a flurry of blood work, chest x-ray, cultures, etc. and a phone call to the on-call physician.

After all that, Tuesday was a very slow day. I did nothing but sleep, or at least it felt that way. I've honestly never felt so just sleepy before! I am now on two different anti-biotics, an anti-fungal, anti-nausea, a scopolamine patch, and steroids, too. Along with another handful of pills...not wonder my stomach is so queasy! My temperature is back down to normal, and (knock on wood) today I've not needed my puke bucket at all. Not to say I don't still keep it close by, but these things take time.

It's been a week now of being in the hospital, which seems to have gone by fairly quickly, probably because I've been so miserable the whole time...and since today is only +2 (day zero is transplant day) I've got at least a good week left.

My counts this morning still show that I'm totally depleted of white blood cells, and the guess is that tomorrow I will probably require a red blood cell transfusion, which seems to be right on par with what is expected. Now is time to shower while I'm still unhooked from my IV pole and maybe take a little pre-dinner nap :)

Gotta pass the time in some way

My dad, uncle and cousin took a quick detour on their
motorcycle trip to visit me on Sunday morning

It's happening!

This is the stem cell guy. He basically brings them in and
thaws them. Big job, I know.

My new cells going in

My BFF never left my side

Todd and I during the transplant

So now I have two "birthdays". October 8th, 1979 AND June 11th, 2012!

Mark your calendars!

It's finally all starting to come together. This week I heard back from Chicago with some tentative dates for my transplant. As exciting it is to finally have a date, it also makes it very real and very stressful. I feel like I have so much still to get ready and figure out before April 30 (that's the first day of testing on my schedule, I would actually go down the day or two before). I also am feeling the stress of having a person there with me. It's a lot to ask of people, and there are only certain people I would want there anyway, but I have to have someone with me.

Today we also got confirmation on a place for the silent auction!!! This has been stressing me out as well because I have all these people willing to donate, but I haven't had specifics to give them yet. Anyway, MARK YOUR CALENDAR and please help SPREAD THE WORD! The silent auction will be April 7th at the Quarter Deck in the Captain Cook. I'm still thinking about a timeframe, we have the room from 5-10pm...so in there somewhere :)

Lunch Date

Mason and I had a whole day off together last Tuesday, which hasn't happened in a LONG time. We had so much fun. We went to Petco so Mason could pick out a new toy for each of his dog-siblings. Then we went to get Mason's haircut, which he LOVES doing because there are toys there and he gets a lollipop after. After the haircut we went to the Sears Mall to see Santa (he's the best one in Anchorage, I think). Mason was so excited to see him and sat right up there and told Santa he wanted Legos (which, luckily, Santa had already thought of a bought since this was the first I'd heard of wanting more Legos).

Once the Santa visit was over it was about time for lunch, so I asked what he wanted to do for lunch, home or a restaurant. He, of course, chose restaurant so we headed across the street to Table 6.

He was so much fun to hang out with all day, and a great lunch date, too. After all that excitement he took a really good nap, too. To keep the excitement of the day going, after nap and dinner we went over to see some friends and exchange gifts. Haily and Ashton are so good with Mason, they love playing with him and he thinks it's so fun to be around the "big kids" and see their rooms and toys.

Long hair is good for bath tub mohawks but not much else

Showing off his new quilt his Aunt made him. This
picture also shows how long I had let his hair get.

Post haircut (and Santa) at Table 6

He had to wear the reindeer antlers Santa's elf gave him

Playing his new game that Haily and Ashton got for him

The elephant shoots butterflies out his trunk, and
you have to catch them with your net

Or, when catching them with the net doesn't work, just
put it on your head and look cute

HAIR we go again!

Our season tickets for the Anchorage Symphony came in the mail the other day. I can't believe it's just a few weeks until the season opener!!! I'm really excited about the concerts coming up, especially the Planets concert this winter. I have been saying for years that I want ASO to perform the planets, and it's finally happening.

And of course, the start of the ASO season means the start of another season of ogling at Randy's hair!

Riding the rails

This morning Mason had a big surprise after he ate his breakfast. My mom and my aunt were taking him on a train ride! A REALLY, REALLY, HUGE TRAIN (these are his words)

They boarded the AK Railroad downtown and road to Girdwood. He was so excited when he got home, he could not stop talking all about it. He also got a new ARR shirt, hat and toy train. When he was going to bed tonight he told me that he wanted to go on another train ride...we'll see, kid...maybe. He also kept telling us "All Aboard" and that they missed their train home (Papa picked them up in Girdwood, they didn't really miss the train).

My mom sent me some pics of the big day.

Girl Time!

On Wednesday morning, I leave for a weekend trip to San Francisco to visit my "number 1" friend, Mariah. I am so excited to just hang out, have girl time, drink, soak up some CA sun, maybe check out a winery, and go on the night tour of Alcatraz! I saw this article on Yahoo today and it made me even MORE excited, and admittedly a little more creeped out by the whole idea of Alcatraz at night!

I feel like I've been leaving my boys a lot lately, which is sort of true. I went to Oregon in May, Chicago in June, and now I'll be going to California. But this is the first trip I'm going on that will be FUN and relaxing. Not one filled with either classes, workshops, doctor's appointments...or any other form of stress! I definitely feel like I've earned this trip.

Petaluma, here I come!!!!

Good old brother/sister bonding

A couple of weeks ago, Todd and I went bowling with my baby brother, Cameron and his girlfriend, Sarah. It really was a lot of fun, and of course it was an awesome opportunity to embarrass my brother in public. And to make it even better, his girlfriend joined in on the fun, too. Of course, the best part of the whole evening was that I had the high score for the night! Whoohoo!

The photo quality sucks, but it was neon bowling
and I only had my iPhone. Oh well, still a cute shot!

Just had to document this

Like father, like son

I've been meaning to post on the latest Anchorage Symphony performance. Quite honestly, I don't have the words.

Dave Brubeck has been one of my favorite composers for many years, although, at times in high school trying to master "Take Five" he was my nemesis. He has absolutely passed on his amazing talent to his son, Chris Brubeck. A few years ago, ASO premiered Chris' piece called "Spontaneous Combustion", which he wrote for Nick Kendall (I'll get to Nick soon) and it was amazing. This time, Chris was back with Nick and ASO with "Travels in Time for Three". Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it. Seriously. Like I said, without words.

Back to Nick, or Violin Boy as he is affectionately called by myself and Mariah, or just VB for short. Any kid who ever went through Suzuki violin lessons has a tie to this kid...or at least his grandfather, who basically brought the Suzuki method to the U.S. Anyway, VB came back to Anchorage (his third (?) trip I think), this time bringing friends along for the ride. Time for Three + Chris Brubeck = me being without words (I know I've mentioned this a lot here, but I'm not sure you understand how incredibly rare it is that I find myself speechless)

Here's how I can sum up how much I loved Tf3 and this piece...I have (almost) forgotten about Randy's hair and how it still hasn't quite grown out enough. This is huge for me. HUGE!

The one in which Mason realizes one of life's greatest pleasures

On Friday I picked Mason up from daycare, and he asked to go to the bookstore. Actually, to be more accurate, he said "Go bookstore, get new Curious George book". He has been obsessed with Curious George lately, and I was growing increasingly tired of the same two books we had...I had no problem heading to TitleWave to get a couple of new ones.

We had a fun time picking out three "new" (it's a used bookstore) Curious George books to take home. It was getting pretty close to dinner and Mason asked to eat at the bookstore. I explained that there wasn't any food there, but that we could probably go to a restaurant to eat dinner.

We soon found ourselves at City Diner in a booth. I was listing the items off the children's menu for Mason, and he chose blueberry pancakes. I'm not 100% sure what he thought was going to be on his plate, but when they came he was so happy. "Mama, blueberry is IN there!" A few bites later, he also told me "This exciting!" He was so happy to be eating out and I was so proud of how well he was behaving. Then came the funniest part of our night's conversation. Mason starts giggling a little and tells me "This funny, Mama." When I asked him what was funny, he looks at me with those wide, blue eyes and says "Breakfast at dinner. That funny!"

Welcome to one of life's greatest pleasures, my son...breakfast for dinner. Yum! I can't wait until our next "date night", little man.

Minimalist

I've been trying to write about our last symphony concert for a couple of weeks now.

I'll start with the easy part...the actual concert. I have to admit, it left Todd and I both with a kind of "eh" reaction. It wasn't that it was particularly bad, with the exception of some french horn issues, it just never seemed to really take off. The oboe soloist was good, but the piece didn't really do much for me. While I wasn't terribly impressed, I am always amazed by anyone who can play the oboe (or any double-reed for that matter). When I try to describe to people what having asthma is like, I describe it as trying to breath through one of those tiny, red coffee straws. This is also what trying to blow through an oboe reed is like. Not easy.

As always, though, it's so nice to get out of the house with Todd, just the two of us. Our favorite babysitter, Ashley, came over to watch Mason. Actually, Ashley is our only babysitter, but this doesn't take away from her awesomeness at all!

And now for the hard part...Randy's hair. We all know by now that swooning over Randy's hair is my favorite part of having season ASO tickets. It's ok, Todd has come to terms with my little love affair. You can imagine my great shock and disappointment when Randy walked onto the stage with his new, very short haircut. I think I literally gasped. I'm still upset about it. My only hope is that by the time March rolls around and we have our next concert I can look forward to one, the return of Violin Boy and two, the quick regrowth of Randy's hair.

Until next time...

El Naturalista

First, this blog isn't about shoes, but I will say for the record that the title of this blog is also the name of a favorite shoe brand. Second, Todd and I went to another symphony concert last weekend, and I will post the blog I've been working on soon. Let's just say I've been mourning over the loss of Randy's hair for almost a week now, so I haven't gotten around to posting it.

Recently I have been thinking of alternative ways to help deal with my MS symptoms. I made an appointment at Avante for Tuesday with a naturopathic doctor I was referred to, Dr. Babij. I'm not really sure what to expect, or really even what I'm hoping to achieve, but I'm definitely open to trying out other options. The main symptom I'm hoping to address is the fatigue. I've worked in health care long enough to know that western, or "traditional" medicine doesn't always have all the answers. I've had great luck in the past with acupuncture for various things, but we'll see what this ND has to offer.

I'll be sure to let you know what happens.

Quick break

I'm sitting at Kaladi Brothers by TitleWave. Alone. It's crazy. Actually, I came here to get some work done for the UAA students who will be starting tomorrow, and my time is about up before I have to be home so Todd can go to volleyball. It's kind of a strange deja vu, being at a coffee shop with my laptop and a bunch of papers. It definitely makes me thankful I'm not in school! I can't imagine when I would find time for any homework...I can barely find an hour to get things ready for my job!! I definitely can't complain about having a quick break from being Mama, though.

I do have time for a quick story about Mason...I guess I don't really ever stop being Mama, do I? Anyway, he is really into Play-doh lately. He just loves it. For Christmas he got a new Play-doh toy that is a dog. We were playing with it the other evening and made the puppy mold, which he put into the bed. He then asked for a blanket for the puppy, so I flattened out some Play-doh for a blanket. Next thing I know, Mason is holding the puppy and rubbing his back, singing Twinkle Twinkle to him. It was so cute! I wished I had a video camera ready, but was only able to snap a couple quick pics with my phone.

Feeding the dog 

Rubbing puppy's back and singing Twinkle Twinkle

Close up of the puppy with his blanket on

Yesterday was also a big day in Mason's world. He got his haircut again, which means he gets a lollipop from the lady who does it. Then we went to the pet store to pick up dog food, and came home with a beta. So he has his own fishy now. He's pretty cute with it. He knows he isn't allowed to touch him, or the bowl. "Only eyes" he tells me. We also have to be sure to blow kisses to the fish and tell him night-night. That kid cracks me up!

Welcome to the World!

Our dear, dear friends (who also happen to be our neighbors) had their beautiful baby girl! We've been waiting for a playmate for Mason, and of course we're all sure they're going to be the best of friends. It will be fun to watch them grow up together. Two years apart is just like Mason and his cousin Landon are and it's been great. We went over the other night to meet the newest member of the Robinson family. Mason was curious about the baby, and wanted to hold her...but he had a few problems being as gentle as I wanted him to be. He also was not a fan of his mama holding the baby for too long. He kept telling me to put her down and then he'd crawl up in my lap. It was actually pretty cute.

Here she is...my future daughter-in-law! Atalaya, born December 30, 2010, she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces. Congratulations again, Tim and Cheska! Welcome to the wonderful, wacky, insane world that is parenthood. Glad we have someone to share this awesome journey with.

"Want this. Want this."

"What baby doing? Kiss it"

I almost forgot

The other fun thing Todd and I did last weekend was go to the Firefighter's Ball. It had been quite a few years since we have gone, and I was super excited to hear that this year was a "formal/semi-formal" year. (It alternates between a "theme" year and a "dress up" year. It should be no surprise to anyone that knows me that I'm not as big a fan of the "theme" years).

The drama that unfolded that morning was poor timing to say the least. All I'm going to say about the Mark Hall incident is that I hope people are able to remember that the poor decisions/actions of one do not always accurately reflect the masses. It's unfortunate for the men and women of AFD that this is how the public now perceives them. Ugh. That morning I also had my Tysabri infusion, so my face was a little flushed and my tummy was a little upset. After 6 months of this stuff, though, I am getting used to it.

We had dinner at Crush. It was the second time I'd been, and Todd's first. SO GOOD! Definitely one of my favorite new places in Anchorage.

Anyway, here we are at the ball. I had a lot of fun, and I think Todd did, too. I drank a little too much, but I figure it evens out since Todd doesn't drink at all. I even got Todd out on the dance floor a little! Crazy!

And here are my awesome shoes. They pinched my feet a little after a while...but they sure were hot!

A Match Made in Hair Heaven

Saturday, Todd and I went to another Anchorage Symphony concert. This one was titled "Story Time" and I was really looking forward to the "line up" for the night, and of course to see Randy's fantabulous hair.

The first half of the concert went by so quickly! They started with the William Tell Overture. While I admit, it's hard to hear this without thinking of either Warner Bros cartoons or that woman singing her own Mom version of it, the ASO did great. And, seriously, Randy's hair was MADE for this piece! I did notice it looked like he had gotten a haircut since the last concert, though, so it wasn't quite as poufy as usual...but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Next up was Debussy, which was beautiful, but the piece that really trumped all others was the Suite from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Wow. I was really looking forward to this, and the ASO did not disappoint! It really makes me want to go back, re-read the entire series, re-watch all the movies, and then head to the theater ASAP to see the latest Potter movie. Bravo!

Now, as for the second half of the concert....Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my top 10, for sure, and I was excited for the women's choir to be joining the symphony, but the switching back and forth between the music and the acting just really didn't do it for me. And, to be honest, I noticed a lot of people checking their programs and shifting in their seats. Also, on the walk to the parking garage after, it was a topic of many discussions. Most people weren't totally against it, but almost everyone commented that it was "different".

All in all, it was another great night. Thanks to Mariah's Mama for putting in a good word to turn the heat down (it was so nice, a lot more comfortable). And, hey, 2 hours to stare at Randy's feathered locks? A girl can't complain about that.

The (non)artsnob

There were a couple different articles/blogs on ADN today about ASO's opening night concert, so I thought I'd add my own take on my own blog.

First, Randy's hair was as fantastic as ever. The perfect combination of pouf and feather. Although, I did notice during a bow or two that it may be *gasp* thinning a little on top. I'm still not sure what you call Randy's haircut. It's certainly not a mullet, but it's not crazy long 80's rocker hair either. I could definitely see him with either of those haircuts in a past life...maybe someone should dig up some old 80's pictures of him to compare. This is like the reformed version, right?

Second, parking. Holy crap, when the symphony sells out, it really does a number on downtown parking. Luckily, for me, it wasn't super cold nor was I wearing super cute (high-heeled) shoes so parking down by Snow City wasn't a big deal.

Third, the heat. Ok, I know that a good number of symphony goers are, how do I say this...well, old. Is this why the PAC cranks the heat up so high? It was seriously so hot in the Atwood my right leg was completely useless the rest of the night.

In all seriousness, the ASO did an amazing job. It was so wonderful to see them sell out a performance, and I hope this is an indication for this seasons ticket sales. Todd and I decided that getting season tickets would be a great way that we could guarantee at least one date night every other month. Todd was a season ticket holder when we met, but we haven't gone to the symphony together since before we were married, and I think it was definitely something we both missed.

Icing on our cupcake? A sweet thank you card and gift card taped to our seats as a surprise from Mariah's Mama. THANK YOU!!!

It was a super-sized concert, because of the usual season openers (star spangled banner/ak flag song) but also because they recognized both Arthur Braendel Sr and Ted Stevens. There was some debate over whether the Stevens tribute was necessary, since other notable AK figures haven't been given the same, but I think it was both appropriate and beautifully done. And for once, the people of Anchorage didn't applaud when they weren't supposed to! Oh, not for the entire concert (no, there was plenty of poorly timed applause to be had), just not during the moments of silence for these two men.

Fourth

Happy Anniversary! What a jam-packed 4 years of marriage Todd and I have had. We have sold and bought a house,  bought, sold, and bought another boat, remodeled a kitchen and built a garage, finished our degrees, changed jobs, had some amazing adventures and travels, shared many, many joys, including our greatest source of joy, Mason, and held eachother through many sorrows and struggles.

I am so lucky to have an amazing, supportive, loving husband who makes me laugh and feel safe. He truly loves me just as I am, including all of my bitchy and crazy. And just when I think I can't possibly love him any more than I already do? I see him with our son and my heart just about bursts.

Ti amo con tutta l'anima!

Counting sheep and catching up

Oh my goodness...where has the time gone? I cannot believe it's almost Halloween. Sorry that I'm such a bad blogger lately...life is just, well, busy!

Where should I start? Todd and I managed to find one weekend to get the boat out. We dropped off Mason and headed down to Whittier. Typical weather (awful) but we still managed to have a pretty good time. Hopefully next summer we will get the boat out more and I will feel like it was a good investment.
Typical rain and fog in Whittier.
Even in the rain, it's still so beautiful.
Me...wet and cold and trying to still smile.

Todd and I also had our first long trip away from Mason. Until this point, one night was the longest I'd ever been away from him. I had a seminar in Portland for work, so Todd tagged along for a long weekend. Since we were there for Todd's birthday, I got us tickets to the Jason Mraz concert too. The weather was fantastic and we got in a lot of shopping...including OUTLET SHOPPING!! Todd was able to meet my Uncle & Aunt and 2 cousins that live in Vancouver, WA finally. It was so great to see them...it's been way too long! It was wonderful to get back to Stump Town, and sleep without having to have that extra ear open for baby noises...but I missed Mason like CRAZY and was so glad to see him when we got back. Five nights was a long time for this mommy to be away from her baby.

My uncle let us borrow the "clown car". It was so wonderful being able to have the freedom of a car.
At the concert.
Ahhh, this must be what heaven is like.

I know there has been more going on than just that, but that's the problem with being a bad blogger...if you don't write about the super exciting things when they happen, well, months later they don't seem to be so exciting (or you just plain forget them)

Oh ya, there is one more thing that happened. I turned 30. I have been freaking out about 30 since I turned 23 or so. Now that it's here, it really didn't bother me. Todd invited a bunch of friends and family over for a "surprise" party...that's in quotations because it wasn't really a surprise (oops). It was a great time and my parents did actually surprise both of us by stealing Mason for the night so Todd and I could relax and stay up "partying" with our friends. In truth we did manage to head out to an actual bar...but had 2 drinks and came home to get some sleep. Actually, the best part was the next morning when I got to sleep in!
Mason helping me blow out my candles.


There is so much changing and happening every day with Mason that I will have to save all that for another post. Which I promise won't take as long as this one did to do. I also have lots of new pictures of the little monkey to share!

Wine and Sleep

Last night Todd and I went to the ASO Wine Tasting. It was crowded and hot as usual, but a lot of fun. We tried some really great wines, and I even remembered to mark the ones I really liked so I'll actually remember the names next time I'm out to get wine.

Mason stayed the night (yes, the whole night) with my parents. It was my first night away from him, but of course he did great with Nana and Papa. It was wonderful to sleep all night, and even sleep in until 9am today, but I was excited to go pick him up and spend the rest of my day with his smiling face.

1st Christmas and other news

Mason's first Christmas was a busy day, but so will all his others, I'm sure. We did have a break in the afternoon that allowed for a good nap (for me, too). Christmas was also the day that Mason became a one month old, and with that milestone, I think we've also welcomed either his first cold or he officialy has colic. (We actually went to the doctor today after a long, screaming weekend. I hate to be "that" mother, but I would also hate to be missing something. Official word...not anything major, like illness/injury, could be a cold, could be colic...helpful, right?) In more exciting milestone news, Mason has started to smile real smiles. They are so cute, and can almost make me forget how awful all the screaming has been...almost!

Here's a couple pics from Christmas. Landon is showing more interest in his cousin every time he sees him, but this was the first time he actually got close enough to touch him. He was so fun to watch! Landon was really gentle, and seemed so amazed that this little creature (Mason) had a "button" (belly button) and hair and fingers....just like he has! They both also had shirts on that said "What Santa doesn't bring me...Grandma will!" Isn't that the truth!!!
















In other news, my parents did manage to bribe Todd and I with a gift card on Saturday to get us out of the house for dinner. I think they were mostly just dying to babysit. It was hard to leave Mason, especially since he had been fussy all day and I was worried he was sick, but it was so nice to get out. I even had my first glass of wine! Mom had her surgery today to fix her Achille's tendon. Everything went well and she's home resting. I had my MRI today, without any Valium or Ativan I might add! My unofficial opinion is that it looks worse than my previous, but I'll have to wait and see what the radiologist says. More on that later.