Clay, Doogie Meowzer, Higgins O'Fishley, and I are all one big happy family. Yes I have officially moved in with Clay. I still have my room at home and I try to go home one night a week but my mom has realized that I'm pretty much living with Clay at this point. I never made a grand announcement, I just kinda slowly moved out week by week. I'm very happy with the situation. Except for the fact that we really need another dresser. We each have our own closet but we're sharing a dresser and I really just need my own. I don't want to buy a new one so I've been looking for used ones on Craig's list. The problem is that Clay and I are still looking at houses and Clay has made some offers so it would be silly to buy a dresser now; I should just wait until we move into our new house. But then again that could take several months. Correction: that will take several months. And I'm so impatient! But I need to wait wait wait. Then I can go crazy looking for furniture.
Another problem: my mail still goes to my mom's house. Again, I don't want to change my address only to have to change it again maybe 4-6 months later. And I have so many cute address labels from my charities! I had to throw away the not so cute ones and only keep the best. Sorry charities....... On another note, this year I have chosen a few charities and have decided that these will be the only ones I donate to. Before, I sent a check (granted it was only $10-$15 but they add up!) to any charity that sent me address labels, calenders, charms, or notepads. And even the ones that didn't send me anything got a donation from me. This year I can't give to everyone anymore. So the winners are: spcaLA, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, and Habitat for Humanity. So basically animals, babies, cancer people, and homes. That's it, no more! I'm sorry but I had to cut down! Write me when I make more money.
Anyways, I got the fish a bigger tank and he seems to really like it. When he lived in the little bowl he would spend most of his time laying at the bottom of the bowl. He looked like he was dead most of the time and would only swim around after I feed him his little pellets. But now he swims around the bowl alot so I realize I was just fish abusing him by making him live in his tiny bowl. His new tank is big enough where I was able to put a filter in it as well so that I won't have to clean the bowl often. He seems happier so it was worth the effort (it took 2 trips to the exotic fish store and cost about $60, mind you, Clay bought him for only $5).
The kitty is good too. She is one hyper crazy kitty though. Clay and I have scratches and bite marks all over our hands because she keeps using them as playthings. It's starting to get embarrassing though because our hands are literally covered with angry red lines. We tried screaming "Ouch!" when she bites us but she just runs away only to come back and bite us again. We realize it's not because she hates us but because she wants to play. However, I really have no idea how to get her to stop biting. It's all fun and games now that she's still little but it won't be so harmless when her adult teeth tear out chunks of our flesh. We still haven't spayed her either and Clay thinks she'll calm down once she's been fixed. I hope so. Other than that, I love her! She makes me so happy! My favorite is when we go to bed and she comes and settles down in the crook of my neck, her little head near mine. Ahhhhhh, I love her! That is until the next day when she suddenly goes into attack mode and I'll be laying in bed and all of a sudden she comes racing toward me, smacks me in the face with her paw (no claws), and then takes off running again. Yes my kitten somethings slaps me in the face and then runs away. It's scary and funny all at the same time.
I had a wonderful birthday, Christmas, and New Year's. Clay gave me the 2 things I wanted most: tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera and money to go shopping. Of course I will be taking my gay husband Erasto to go see Phantom of the Opera February 13th and Clay is happy he doesn't have to go.
My sister came home for Christmas and it was so wonderful to be with her again. I miss her so much. I promised I'd go visit at some point within 3 months so most likely in March I will try to go up to Seattle to see her. While she was here my brother Sergio introduced us to a Nicaraguan restaurant he found near our house and it is actually really good. We all went as a family and ordered way too much food but it was really delicious. I took Clay and Erasto and they liked it too so I was really pleased. I like introducing people to Nicaraguan food and it makes me happy when they genuinely like it. Sergio was like, "How dare you go without me!" I jacked his spot, hah!
So Christmas was fun too. I gave Sergio and Eduardo Coal gum as their first gift. I thought it was a cute idea and it made them laugh so it was cool. Sergio wrapped Diego's present in an ad that had a woman wearing just a bra which of course made everyone laugh. Overall a great night. The only thing that sucked, which I almost forgot, was that my gums became extremely sensitive and I couldn't brush my teeth or eat really hard food for a week because I was in so much pain. Turns out my blood count dipped really low that week, which explained the bleeding gums. It was terrible. In order to avoid that happening again I have started the Neupogen shots again. I am always glad I learned how to give myself the shots, makes me feel so nursey, lol.
New Year's we had a dance party at home and of course I partied like it was 1999 and then passed out at like 11pm and missed the new year. Turns out I wasn't the only party pooper: Eduardo went to bed at 11:30pm and Fatima doesn't remember she fell asleep at around midnight. So basically Sergio, Diego, and my mom were the only ones who actually welcomed the new year, with the Moet I bought! And of course Sergio took pictures of each of us passed out with a little yellow post it near our mouths that read,"Happy New Year!" It was really funny. To us at least.........
Clay was in Virginia and ended up staying later because he got really sick while he was there. I freaked out a little when I didn't hear from him for a day because I was worried about him and it made me realize what it felt like when I did that. Last year there were times when I got really sick and because I didn't feel well I wouldn't answer his calls and he would tell me he had been really worried about me. Now I realize how important it is to let the other person know you're ok so they don't worry and he realized how much you really don't feel like talking to people when you feel like shit. But he got better and he came home only a few days later than expected. He had purchased tickets to go to the Rose Bowl but he canceled them because he didn't know if he would be back in time. He came home New Year's Eve and was waiting for his luggage at midnight. I told him he didn't miss much.
So my parents are officially divorced. My dad moved out the beginning of January and my mom got to keep the house, she has to pay for it though. Honestly, they had refinanced so many times over the years that the house at this point has no equity but she was adamant that she wanted it so she got it. I hope everything works out for the best. She also got full custody of Diego but my dad can see him anytime. My dad moved into a small house not too far away so he still takes Diego to school every morning and picks him up after school most days as well. I told my mom that even though I won't be home anymore I will still help her in any way that I can. I am.................. relieved it is finally over. I never felt comfortable at home knowing that my parents didn't speak to each other and avoided being in each other's presence yet continued to live in the same house. I hope they can both be happier now.
I am in my fourth cycle of British MOPP; 4 more to go. I had a CT scan earlier this month and............... the best results I've had in a year! All the enlarged lymph nodes had significantly reduced in size, some had returned to their normal shape. Ever since the no breathing incident I had had liquid in my left lung, it's gone now. Really the best results I've had in a long time. I almost couldn't believe it. As long as my results don't plateau........... I can't even explain what I felt when I heard the results. I had gotten so used to hearing the usual: a little bit better, a little bit worse, no change. It's been 2 1/2 years and frankly I was starting to worry that nothing was going to make my lymphoma go away. I never said it aloud but the idea was there. Would I live to see the next 5 years? Was I going to be that person who lost her 3 year battle with cancer? It was a terrible thought but one that I couldn't shake, especially after every test result revealed that things were not getting better. It had gotten to the point where as long as it wasn't getting worse it was ok. But I also wasn't getting better. And every time I stopped receiving treatment, I got worse. I just didn't see any end and I was suffering the side effects of the treatments. But finally positive results. Getting better results. Finally......... FINALLY!
So......... British MOPP is not too bad. The worst side effects are the lowered blood counts which sometimes require a blood transfusion, the occasional nausea, and achey body. On the plus side, the apartment has never been cleaner. Because of the Prednisone, I get so hyper sometimes that I clean for hours at a time because I can't sit still. Clay's not complaining.
My new project is a spreadsheet Clay made me that will help me figure out where my money is going every month. I decided to fill it out for last year and it's taking me awhile to go through my bank statements. I'm hoping this will help me become more aware of what I should be cutting back on. My savings account has unfortunately no savings and I'd like to change that this year.
For 2009 I decided on a few resolutions:
- Eat healthier. This means cook more, microwave less. More fruits and veggies.
- Eat out less. This relates to #1 but also to #3.
- Try to find ways to save money. This includes quitting my tea latte addiction. Good bye Coffee Bean!
- Get my driver's license. I know, I say this every year, but really this time.
- Read more books. I am still slowly getting through One Hundred Years of Solitude. I am halfway done. It really is a great book so far and I had wanted to read it in Spanish but I realize now it would take me a year if I did.
- Stop buying things I only use a few times. By this I mean clothes and shoes. Obviously I'm still going to shop but I need to stop buying things I only wear once. This year I will try to really think about how often I will use something before I buy it. I'm crossing my fingers that I really stick to this.
Movies I saw that I loved:
- Changeling
- Gran Torino
- Son of Rambow (loved loved)
- The Duchess
- Notorious (By the way Juicy is my all time favorite song in the world, in case you didn't know.)
- Weeds (Yes I know it's not a movie but I've watched Seasons 1-3 and am now addicted, waiting for Season 4 to become available on Netflix. I love Celia! She is just too much and I love it.)
Oh and Clay bought a 52 inch plasma TV and it is amazing. I'm like that flea on the cat in that one commercial, "Wow."
So I think I've covered everything I wanted to. Oh my goodness I almost forgot something. I just got my first Fendi purse and it is beautiful. Thanks to my wonderful generous boyfriend. And yes I love it. I'm a girl who loves purses and shoes leave me alone!
