Saturday, January 31, 2009

Round 5

I began round 5 Tuesday night and it hasn't been pleasant. I have been extremely tired with body aches and stuffiness. These symptoms normally didn't hit me until week 2 of the round. so I'm not sure what to expect for the next 10 days. If you don't hear from me for a week or so, I'm not ignoring you. I just don't have the energy or brain power to get back to you.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Fun Filled Days

The last week has been pretty eventful. Last weekend my great friend CB ran a 1/2 marathon and I went to cheer her on. Her husband, Jon, and I was with her at the start and was then joined by CB's sister and family at the mid-mile point. Her family made a awesome support sign that we held up for her. We all then went together to the finish. It was a great day and I am glad I was able to be there for her. CB is a wonderful friend who has given me so much support over the years. Her support over the past 2 has been amazing and I am so grateful I have her for a friend.














The most amazing thing happen, thanks to Facebook. About 6 years ago, I lost touch with one of my best friends from college, Cheryl. Last Saturday I was browsing on Facebook. I had a CMU (my college) shirt on and thought, I should see if any of my college friends are on here. Well, when I searched for Cheryl, her profile popped up and to my surprise, it said she was living in Phoenix, AZ. I wasn't sure it was her until she replied back to my message. Her and I had dinner Friday night and it feels so good to reconnect with her. Although it had been 6 years, there were no awkward moments. It felt like no time had passed. Sure sign of a great friendship. I can't wait for her to meet Todd and Teya.

Another fun thing; we received some certificates for Christmas that we used to buy a Wii (Thanks Penny!). We spent last night playing and had a great time. It is a lot of fun and wow, what a workout you get. It is nothing like the old video games we grew up with where you are sitting on your butt for hours getting a hand cramp. The night ended good for me as I won 3 out of the 5 games. Finally something I can beat Todd at. Teya really enjoyed playing and she is good at it. Soon she will be beating the both of us. This morning as I am typing, Todd and Teya are playing again. Teya keeps coming into the office jumping and saying "I win! I win!". She loves it.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Round 4 of treament

This round of treatment, which began the day before New Year's eve, is ending as bad as the last. I've spent this weekend on the couch feeling like crap. Body aches, chills, stuffy nose, sore throat and foggy head. I had all of the side effects at once and nothing got rid of them. Yesterday was the worst and I'm thankful that I felt better this afternoon. It is good to be able to salvage some of the weekend and not feel like it just passed me by. I was able to do some cleaning, laundry and baking. Teya and I just got done baking muffins. It is my favorite recipe and I make them about every two weeks. The recipe makes 18 muffins and they freeze well. The recipe is below if you are interested. It is actually for bread, but I make mine as muffins.

This past week I began working everyday and all day with the exception of Friday mornings as I have weekly doctor appointments. I was a little on the tired side, especially since I am on treatment (luckily these flu like symptoms waited until Saturday to throw their party). I was glad when Friday came. I'll see how it goes and if it becomes to much then one of my partners in my class said she would take some of the hours. It is good to have options. The school has been really really good to me through all of this. It has been great to work with such understanding and compassionate women.



Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread

Ingredients
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2 ripe bananas -- mashed
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (unsweetened & organic if possible)
1/4 cup canola oil – I replace with 1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs (I use flaxseed substitute 1/3 cup of water & 2 tbsp of Flax)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole spelt flour (or wheat or white whatever you prefer to use)
2/3 cup turbinado sugar or ¼ cup honey (I prefer using honey to sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Bread – preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a large loaf pan (approx. 8 ½ x 2 ½ x 2 ½). Bake until top is deeply browned and springs back when touched gently, about 60 - 70 minutes.

Muffins – preheat oven to 300 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and vanilla until combined well. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and salt. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in large bowl and stir until just combined. Fold in Walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan or muffin tin.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and shared with your family and friends. We sure did.

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. All in all everything is going well. Round 3 of my treatment began right after Thanksgiving and it was draining. I was really tired and my legs felt as if they weighed a ton. The worst was I was in a fog all the time and had a hard time concentrating and remembering things. These side effects lasted well after the round finished. I finally felt pretty good around Christmas and then this past Tuesday night I began round 4.

For Thanksgiving, Todd's family came to town. They were here for a week and we had such a great time. Lots of food, drink and laughs! Here is a picture of Teya with her cousins Alec (oldest) and Brian.



My parents are still here and we are really enjoying their visit. I'll post soon about their visit.
Again, Happy New Year!