Bit by Bit

In an effort to get back to some sense of normalcy, I have started taking baby steps back towards the real world.The first step was getting through all the doctor appointments and follow up blood tests and diagnostic exams. Since I was discharged from the hospital last September I have had TWENTY different appointments back in San Francisco. It is incredibly satisfying to me every time a doctor signs off of my care. I am just so close to being on a routine schedule of doctor appointments. So far I have said good-bye to my endocrinologist, infectious disease doctor and neurologist (provided that my MRI comes back clean).  On Friday I will have a final (hopefully) CT scan and MRI to determine if my health issues are resolved.Yesterday, my physical therapist gave me her blessing to stop going to therapy as long as I continue to go to yoga classes. Yay! Another graduation!

My next step was to start volunteering somewhere. This was important for me because I had started to develop a bit of cabin fever from being at home alone all the time. I realize that I am not ready to go back to work on a regular basis because I still tire so easily. I felt that volunteering would give me the opportunity to bump up my activity while increasing my strength and stamina. Luckily for me, the people where I last worked before my hospitalization were willing to take me back as a volunteer. My primary care physician approved of this idea and was happy to write a letter authorizing me to work as a volunteer for a few hours one day a week. It's wonderful to be back out in the world among people again.

So what's next for me? The truth is that I am enjoying my life the way it is now. I don't think that working full time is in my immediate future. It would be ideal if I could find a part-time job close to home. I will continue to work on improving my strength and stamina and then we'll just see what the universe has in store for me...baby steps...

Something new...

I got a beautiful, brand new Nikon D3100 for Christmas last month. I had had my Nikon D50 since 2005 - it was getting old, the batteries weren't holding a charge and, truth be told, I dropped it a couple times. Oops! I was lucky that it hadn't stopped working altogether.

The new camera is much like the old one - I have always been partial to Nikon - even when I was shooting with a 35mm camera and film. Remember film? Anyway, the new camera obviously has more bells and whistles than the old camera, so when I got an email from Keeble & Shuchat (an amazing business in Palo Alto that sells all kinds of photographic equipment and even has processing services), advertising  some photography classes, I decided "Yeah. Why not?" Now that I have this fancy new camera, I might as well get the most out of it, right?

The class was called "Basic Photography" and was advertised as "designed for the beginner - basic, but informative." Basic? Sure it was. ( I am being sarcastic here). Last Saturday I attended the class. I was surprised by how many people signed up for the class and felt pretty good that I wasn't the only one that needed a basic class...this was just until the other people started asking questions including words like aperture, f-stop, ISO...huh? My saving grace with this camera is that it has an Auto function that makes it as easy as a "point and shoot." But why have a camera that I don't know how to use? I sat through the 2 hour class and did get a little out of it - I learned how to use some of the different modes on the camera so that was good. The best thing that I found out was that the instructor gives private 1 hour lessons!

Guess who has a private lesson scheduled for a week from Friday?! Hopefully, I will start turning out much better photos afterwards...and there is a "Fundamentals of Photography" class coming up next month that I'd like to take...

Mixed Bag

On Friday, I went with a friend to see Les Miserables - yes, it was my second time seeing the movie and I have to say that it was just as good, if not better for me the second time around. I have gotten some grief about naming Les Mis as my favorite movie of 2012, but I stand by my choice. Although, I did look at Russell Crowe with a more critical eye than I did the first time...he was definitely the least talented in the cast - all the other cast members sang and acted so passionately. I do agree that his performance was mediocre. Anyway, after seeing the movie again, it's probably going to take another week for me to get the movie soundtrack out of my head...

"Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!"

UNFORTUNATELY, the rest of the weekend was a bust for movies for us. Ron and I make a conscious effort every year to see all the nominated movies before the Academy Awards. Every once in a while there will be a movie nominated that we have absolutely no interest in seeing. This year there are two such films - Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained. Although we have heard that Zero Dark Thirty is an excellent film and all the controversy has made us curious, the fact that there are apparently very brutal torture scenes in it totally rules it out for me. I don't need to see that. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. As for Django, I am not a fan of Quentin Tarrantino AT ALL. I can't stand the brutal violence in his movies. So, we won't be seeing that one either.

So, having ruled out either one of those movies this past weekend, we decided to come home and see what was on pay per view. The first movie we decided to see was The Paper Boy. This was mostly interesting to us because of the cast - Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron. OMG - what a horrible HORRIBLE movie! It was so bad that I wanted to stop watching but it was a train wreck that I couldn't turn away from...had to see what happened at the end. I heard that this movie did well at Sundance or Cannes, but honestly, save yourself and DON'T SEE IT. It just left me feeling icky (like that fancy technical term?).

To try to lighten the mood after watching such a dark, ugly movie, we next opted for what we thought would be light and funny - To Rome with Love. In general, I am NOT a Woody Allen fan - especially when he acts in his own films. Although there were some very good actors in this movie like Judy Davis, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin and Roberto Benigni, this was just silly. In fact, Ron fell asleep about 1/2 way through - he was that impressed. The best part of the movie was the location, but the story lines were just dumb. My recommendations is to skip it all together.

Thank goodness for Downton Abbey otherwise the weekend would have been a total bust!

Best Movies of 2012

I am writing and posting this much later than I usually do. But since Oscar nominations came out over a week ago, I was reminded that I haven't given you my Top 10 Movies for 2012. Upon reviewing the full list of movies that came out last year (there were 246!) , I found that I only saw a small fraction of the movies released in 2012 - 53 to be exact - averaging one movie each week - but only 21.5% of all the movies released. You don't have to take my list seriously since I saw so few films last year. I really feel I will have to do better during 2013.

So without further or do here is my Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2012...

10. Silver Linings Playbook
9. The Avengers
8. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
4. People like Us
3. Argo
2. Lincoln
1. Les Miserables

We will have to see what happens at the Oscars next month to see if my list lines up with any of the big winners. I haven't gotten around to seeing some of the movies that are in contention for the big prize (Life of Pi, for example),  but I will have to try to remedy that before the Academy Awards on February 24th. That gives me 5 weekends to squeeze in a few more movies...

Argo

Everyone else has probably already seen this movie since it's been out since mid October. We FINALLY got around to seeing this movie this weekend and if you don't mind, I feel like putting in my 2 cents in...this was an excellent EXCELLENT film. This movie tells the true story of the CIA's incredible mission to get 6 Americans out of Iran in the days after the American Embassy was taken over and 52 other Americans were taken hostage.

I was a high school senior when the hostages were taken. It was the first time in my 17 years of life that I became aware that such terrifying things could take place. I watched the news, read the newspapers and ached for the hostages and their families. It was such a frightening time.

This movie took me right back to that time. Although I knew going into the movie that there would be a happy ending, it didn't lessen the intensity of it for me. I sat on the edge of my seat until the very end of the film. These days it's easy to doubt how realistic a movie is when put in the hands of Hollywood, but I felt that Ben Afflek was probably very dedicated to tell the story as it truly happened. Under his direction, Argo was an incredible telling of the little known story of the clandestine operation between the CIA and Canadian government to get 6 Americans who had escaped the American Embassy at the moment it was overtaken safely out of Iran.

What an amazing story and movie! Since it has been nominated for several Oscars and other awards, it should continue to stay in theaters at least until the end of February. Really, go see it if you have the opportunity.

A Quarter of a Century

My babies are 25 years old today! It's hard to believe, but it's true...

I always get a bit nostalgic on my girls' birthdays. I started going through the old photo albums to find pictures of me with them. Since I am usually the person taking the pictures (it has always been this way), I had a difficult time finding photos of the three of us. What I did find is a little embarrassing, but I will share them anyway for the sake of nostalgia.

Our very first portrait together - right before we left the hospital to go home - 1988!

A little later that same year - Christmas 1988 (Beckie is on the left and Mandi on the right)

Ron and I took the girls and their boyfriends to brunch today to celebrate their 25 years on the planet. We had a nice time and the only thing missing was JB and Causten. Ah well. It did give us the opportunity for some photos to mark the occasion.

All grown up!

The Beeson 5 - 1

So Mandi and Beckie are 25 years old today. I wonder how long it will be until I stop thinking of them as my babies...Happy Birthday, my Darling Girls!

A good stretch

Today I attended my very first yoga class - talk about being out of my comfort zone - I really didn't know that my body could bend and stretch that way! Well, to be honest, I did take yoga when I was in college, but that was 30 years ago. I wasn't sure that my 50 year old body could handle it, but I got a lot of encouragement to do it from Ron, my girls and some friends (Thanks, Eileen!). One of my doctors actually recommended that I start yoga to help with my balance and pain management.

I selected a beginning yoga class that was held at the San Leandro Senior Center. Yes, this class was for seniors (50 +). Aside from the instructor, I was the youngest person in the room! In all there were 8 of us which allowed for the instructor to keep an eye on two of us that were newbies to yoga. I was surprised to find that I was really perspiring about halfway through the class. Good exercising - great stretching.

This class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 am. I am feeling that this is going to be a very positive step for me. "Today is the first day of the rest of my life."

Namaste.

Uh-oh!

I waited longer than usual this winter to get my flu shot. I just kept forgetting (I had a lot of things on my mind!). Every year I am told by healthcare professionals that I should get a flu shot especially with a compromised immune system like mine. I've been fairly isolated from other people and random germs for most of the winter, but since I'm starting a yoga class soon and hopefully some volunteer work, I decided I'd better get down to getting that flu shot.

On Monday, I got the shot.

Today is Wednesday. I woke up with a headache, slight sore throat and have been sneezing. Granted, that sounds more like a cold than the flu, but the bottom line is that I feel crummy. Is it a coincidence? I will have to say that I was triple-whammied over the last three days with exposure to germs from 3 different people who weren't feeling well when they came to visit. I'm not naming any names because I love them all and they didn't mean to give me their crud.

So, today I'm gonna lay low, get some rest, drink a lot of fluids and keep my fingers crossed. Believe me when I say that I have lost all patience for illness. I don't have time to be sick ANYMORE!!!

Deconstructing Christmas

It's that time of year. I've started the tedious process of UN-decking the halls. It's my least favorite part of the holiday aftermath. So far I have painstakingly removed all the ornaments from all 8 decorated trees and have started to put them in their designated boxes and bins. Is there anything more forlorn looking than a naked Christmas tree? I feel very strongly about organizing my decorations by color and theme because it makes it so much easier when I decorate for the next Christmas. It is a little obsessive, but so am I when it comes to my trees and decorations. 

I have just finished filling a big plastic bin with all my white and silver and snowflake ornaments - filled it to the top because I haven't yet met a snowflake I didn't like. It's one of my "things." I have another bin dedicated to my Santa collection - also filled to the top - I LOVE all things Santa as well. Packing up the stockings, tree skirts and silk poinsettias and the rest of my Christmas this and that...it's time.

What a mess!

Usually I dread January. Everything seems so empty and dull after all the decorations are down and stored safely back into their bins. This year is different. I am excited for all the new things that will happen this month...yoga classes, volunteer work and hey, truthfully, I'm just happy to be alive. 

Today I'm especially happy - it's Ron's birthday and I'm making a special dinner and his favorite cake. Simple pleasures are the best. 

Busy Busy Busy

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels still trying to get caught up on all the movies I missed during the late summer and early fall. There are also quite a few current movies that we just can't seem to get to - like The Hobbit. Got to see it before it leaves the theaters. If they would just quit opening new movies til I get caught up that would be helpful. Otherwise I get distracted. What follows here are very brief descriptions and reviews of movies we have seen recently.

Once I was not a huge Matt Damon fan, but that has changed. I think he is an excellent actor and I think I'm also impressed that he is a daddy of 3 or 4 daughters! Anyway, he produced this movie because the issue of fracking is so important to him. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't understand what fracking was until I saw this movie. I get it now and I understand the concern on both sides of the issue. We need to be more self reliant about our energy sources, but we have to find a safer way to get the natural gas out of the ground. This movie really handles both sides of the issue pretty objectively, I think. Go see this movie. If nothing else, it's educational. Oh, and Dave Eggers wrote the story!

This was a movie that I didn't necessarily want to see, but I knew that I had to see it because there is so much Oscar buzz about it. I'm glad that we forced ourselves to see it. Daniel Day Lewis was nothing less than amazing as Lincoln. The movie focuses on the beginning of his second term in office and what he had to do to get the 13th amendment passed. Politics hasn't changed all that much in all these years! You must go see this movie. Yes, it's like sitting through a history lesson, but a very enjoyable one. 

P.S. Also, Sally Fields is very good in this, too, and I like her...I really like her!

OK, this movie is pretty cheesy and silly, but if you like Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, you will get through it just fine. Marissa Tomei is good as well, and the child actors are cute and funny. Of course, the humor is a bit slap-sticky and silly, but there are some touching moments as well. And leave it to Bette to find a way to include a little song and dance into the movie. Wait for this one to come out on DVD.

 I keep waiting for Paul Rudd to be in a really good movie because I like him as an actor, but I'm still waiting...I had looked forward to this movie because it looked like it would be pretty funny. There were some funny spots, but I found a lot of the humor to be crass and it made me a little uncomfortable. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are a married couple with 2 daughters who fight constantly and seem on the verge of leaving each other all the time. I keep trying to remember if I was so self centered 10 years ago...well, yes, but NO! This is probably my least favorite Judd Apatow movie so far. Wait for this one on DVD, but it's ok if you miss it altogether.

Now here are a few that I caught on pay per view...

 This was a very interesting movie. Made me think of the film Memento a little bit. You definitely have to pay attention because there is time travel involved. Also, it's more than a little bit gooey with blood - not my favorite. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the younger version of Bruce Willis and the filmmakers decided to CGI Joseph's face to look more like Bruce. It was terribly distracting at first, but I got over it. Bottom line, though, I did like this movie.

This is a sweet little movie about a couple who aren't able to have a child of their own. They imagine what their child would be like, what all his characteristic would be, write them down, put them in a box and bury it in their garden. Thunder rolls, lightning strikes, rain pours and then the magic happens! Timothy appears, although it seems, not for very long. He is with them long enough to teach them some important life lessons and prepare them to be parents for an adopted child. I probably gave too much away here, but it's worth a look.

 Finally, here is what I think about The Bourne Legacy. Wow! I always had a hard time keeping up with the previous Bourne movies - somehow I would fall asleep during a couple of them. Ron loves the series! Well, this one didn't have Matt Damon in it, but Jeremy Renner instead. Maybe that why I loved it! The action was intense and there is a chase scene with motorcycles that kept me on the edge of the couch! I liked it so much that I'm going to go back and try to watch the other Bourne movies again. Definitely put this in your Netflix queue if you haven't already seen it. It was very good!

OK, I think I might be all caught up now. Time to think about my Top 10 Movies of 2012...that's coming soon.

More street art

I got a fancy new camera for Christmas. In a couple weeks I will take a two hour class to help me figure out how to get better pictures out of it! In the meantime, I am still on my quest to photograph as much street art as I can. The problem has been that many times when I saw a piece that I really liked, I didn't have my camera. I have started taking my camera with me every time we go to San Fran, but trying to get Ron to slow down enough so that I can take a good picture from the car is nearly impossible. I guess I will have to wait for warmer weather when I can just walk around the Haight-Ashbury area at my leisure. Until then, this is what I have to offer.

I love the colors of this one.

And this one as well.

I can barely draw stick figures - I guess that's one of the reasons I am impressed by these paintings.

this one is a little fuzzy - Ron didn't slow down enough!

This was in front of someone's house

part of a GORGEOUS mural on the Women's Building on 18th Street

this is also on the Women's Building

Had I had more time I would have taken many more shots of this building but we were trying to make our dinner reservation. Oh well, next time...

Photo Quilt

This is a picture of the quilt I made for my mom for this Christmas. It is a replacement for the one she lost in the fire in 2011. It includes photos of all of her grandchildren - a baby picture and a current picture of each one. There are also some photos in it of her with the kids. I'm only sharing this with you now because I didn't want to spoil her surprise in case she might see it in my blog. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and she really loved it!

Excuse me?!?

I know that there are much more serious things going on in the world today, but I wanted to share something that happened to me last month...twice!

Last week, while all the kids were here, they decided to go rock climbing leaving me and Ron free to finally go see Les Miserables. I was so excited to finally get to see the movie and off we went! We drove to Ron's favorite theater in Fremont, he dropped me at the front entrance, then went to park the car. I got in line to buy tickets. Short line...Yay! Now it's my turn. I step up to the counter with a big grin on my face. At this point I was almost giddy with excitement.

Me - "Two tickets for the 4:30 showing of Les Mis, please."

Dork behind the counter - "Would you like the senior discount?'

Me - After a moment of stunned silence, "How old do you have to be to get the senior discount?"

Dork - "62 at this theater." The guy looked like he was 19 or 20.

Me - Not giddy anymore and more than a little deflated. "Well, thanks SO much for thinking that I look old enough for the senior discount, but NO I'm not that old!"

Dork - "Then your total is $18." I hand him a $20 bill. He prints my tickets and hands me my change with a big cheesy grin on his face. "Enjoy your show!"

Me - "Yeah. Thanks SO much."

To be fair, I wasn't wearing any makeup, I had a hat on and what you could see of my hair did look white, but really?! A senior?! Maybe I was more sensitive about this since something similar had happened just the week before...

I've been spending quite a bit of time sewing lately. This means that I have been making regular trips to the fabric store. I was waiting in line to have fabric cut. During the holidays there are a lot of people making gifts so the line was pretty long. There were two clerks working at the cutting table. As I was waiting I watched and listened to another customer at the counter. She had at least 8 bolts of fabric in her cart and was asking for multiple and different sized cuts from each one. She constantly asked the clerk to remeasure before she cut the fabric. While she was being helped, she also kept busy by asking whoever was at the cutting table next to her what they were making. She told a novice sewer how much fabric she needed to make a blanket. Her manner was loud, bossy and intimidating - she actually took the other woman's fabric off the cutting table out of the hands of the clerk to demonstrate what 2 1/2 yards of fabric looked like. Everyone around me looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything.

Finally it was my turn at the counter. I kept thinking to myself "I hope that lady doesn't ask me what I'm making" because I didn't want to hear how I was supposed to make it.  The clerk asked me how much fabric I wanted. "One and a half yards, please." She measured and began to cut. Next, a tap on my right shoulder..."Excuse me," the obnoxious lady says in a loud whisper. "I don't know if this applies to you, but make sure they give you the senior discount." Excuse me!?! Really!?! Of course I was rendered speechless...I just stood there with my mouth hanging open...indignant. I took the fabric to the check out counter, waited in line while contemplating what had just happened to me. Do I look like a senior? Yes, I did turn 50 this year and yes my hair color does look grayish/whitish, but a senior?! Really?!

Believe me when I say that I love and admire my friends who fall into the senior category. I'm just not ready to be in THAT club yet. Being mistaken for a senior twice in the span of two weeks isn't a coincidence...it's time to act! Maybe it's time to dye my hair red?

Happy New Year!

For all my friends whose addresses I don't have - I thought I'd post my Christmas letter here. Please forgive me if you've heard some of what follows...

The Beeson 5 + 3

Dear Family & Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I bet you thought I wasn't sending out a holiday greeting this year, huh? Well, this year I decided that a “Happy New Year’s” greeting would be more appropriate. I also wanted to wait until JB and Causten got here so that I could include a photo of the entire Beeson 5 + 3.

At the beginning of 2012, Ron was out of work and I had a job – oh, the difference a year can make…but more on that later. Let’s start this with our amazing daughters…

JB is still working at CFY in New York City. She has done so well at her job that she was promoted to Chief of Staff! She was enjoying running for fitness and fun until she developed tendonitis and had to wear a boot on her left foot. She and fiancé Causten spent some time apart this year as he was persuaded by the Obama campaign to move to Denver to be in charge of training staff and volunteers. He returned to New York before the election to get back to school and JB. Living with them are our grand-kitties, Luna and Thunder.

Mandi spent the first half of the year in New York with JB and Causten. She worked as an executive assistant. During her New York adventure, she met a very special guy named Bryce. It made coming back to California to go school very difficult for her. However, she did come back to California and started graduate school in the UCSF Physical Therapy program. Not too long later, Bryce hopped on his bike (yes, that’s a bicycle not a motorcycle!) and rode from New York to San Francisco. It took him 2 months to complete his journey and he is now acclimating very nicely to the west coast. Mandi is happier than we’ve ever seen her and is doing very well in graduate school. Only 2 ½ years until graduation!

Beckie continues to be one busy gal. Her list of jobs this year included tutoring, working as a barista at a local coffee shop, babysitting, and facilitating the afterschool writing table at 826 Valencia. Her volunteer work there included editing and illustrating publications of her students’ work. This year Bec moved out of our house and into an apartment in Oakland with her boyfriend, Brian. He is a great guy who is definitely the yin to her yang! The New Year will find Beckie working full time at a high end coffee shop in San Francisco called Four Barrel. She continues to pursue her passion for writing and hopes to finish her novel soon. Interested family members will receive an advance copy prior to publication!

After a well-deserved break from the 9 to 5 grind, Ron went back to work in March as the corporate controller of a company called Picarro. This company manufactures a device that detects greenhouse gasses. PG&E is the first utility to adopt this technology. The company is expecting this to be a game-changing approach to natural gas leak detection not only for consumer distribution but for the emerging fracking industry. Ron is never happier than when he starts a new job and digs into the details to make the company run more smoothly and efficiently. Shortly after being hired there, he found a significant mess that he has been working hard to clean up ever since. Otherwise, he has had his hands full taking care of me this year…I’ll get to all that in a minute….

2012 was a year of ups and downs for me. It started happily enough with a trip to Las Vegas to gather with my crazy family and a friend to celebrate my 50th birthday. Attending the big shebang were our kids jb & Causten, Mandi & Bryce, Beckie & Brian; all my siblings-Ginger and her two boys, Jeronn and Joshua, Stef and her husband Paul and my nephew Chance; and my brother Tim and his wife Megan. The party would not have been complete without cousins Kevin and Andy, Kimi & Randy, Leah & Tom, Derek & Cesar, Lisa & Danny and Mickey & Phoebe. To top it off, my friend Audrey made it to the party as well. Ginger hosted the event at her restaurant and it was amazing! There was good food, a beautiful cake and a live band. The whole thing made turning 50 not quite so difficult. It was wonderful seeing my family and I was humbled to think that they all came to celebrate with me.

Things took an unexpected turn for me at the end of spring and I “lost” my entire summer. It’s a very long and complicated story, but I will try to keep it short so not to bore you with the details. Or you can skip the next couple of paragraphs if you've heard this story before. In March, I had started receiving infusions of Benlysta. This is a fairly new lupus medication and has done amazing things for some patients, but does have some adverse side effects. For me, the side effects really kicked in at the end of May and caused me to have to leave my job and go on short term disability. As June and July wore on, I became more fatigued and weak. I was really hoping that the new treatment would work for me so I tolerated the side effects. It was only when my doctor started prescribing medications to deal with the side effects that things went horribly wrong. To make a very long story short, I got very sick, ended up at the UCSF emergency room with very high blood sugar, hallucinations and delirium. I was admitted and spent the next 17 days at UCSF Medical Center. It took a while for the doctors to figure out exactly what was wrong with me. As it turned out, I was suffering from Cushing’s Syndrome which was caused by all the steroids I had been prescribed to combat the side effects I was dealing with. I was found to have a urinary tract infection that became septic – this probably caused the delirium. I was also found to have a fungal infection in the right upper lobe of my lung called Nocardia. I was receiving insulin since my blood sugar was out of control and during the first couple days of my hospitalization I experienced two seizures. Much of what happened in the hospital during my first week there is lost – I just don’t remember, but maybe that’s a good thing.

Once my health stabilized, I was transferred to St. Mary’s Acute Rehabilitation unit. I had lost much of the muscle mass in my legs and had overall weakness.  I stayed there for 15 days and received physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. I had wonderfully great care at both hospitals. I feel lucky to be alive and so grateful for the love and support I got from my family. Ron rarely left my side and took very good care of care of me. Talk about “through sickness and health”! It was a real blessing to have Ron and the girls, my sister Stef and cousin Leah here for support.

As a result of my illness and the uncertainty of when I would be able to return to work, I lost my job. Hopefully, I will be able to return to the working world and find something fulfilling to do in 2013. At present, I am still receiving physical therapy and keeping up with many follow up appointments with my NEW doctors who are all affiliated with UCSF. My recovery is almost complete with only a few residual effects – fatigue, weakness, muscle stiffness and the small issue of my hair which fell out in huge clumps. I am now sporting a very short blonde “do” and hope that someday my hair will grow back in. Otherwise, I really am feeling much better and have resolved to do a much better job of taking care of myself in the future. Thankfully, now that I’m on the mend, we are slowly working play-dates with Viliamu (who turned 6 and started kindergarten this year!) back into our schedule.

Ron and I are thrilled to have had all three of our daughters here with us during the holidays. There were sweet reminiscences and so much laughter about times past. It is so rewarding for us to see how well our girls are making their way in the world. We are just so proud of them.

Mandi, JB & Beckie

Every year I end this annual letter by saying something about how glad I am that the year is coming to an end and how I hope the New Year will be better.   I hope the Universe is listening this time because 2012 almost did me in! Here’s wishing you all good health and great happiness in 2013!

Married 29 years and going strong!

With love, Laura & Ron