Back Up to Speed

Remember me? Let me bring you up to speed, as Wayne from Wayne's World would say. My name is Connie. I've been in remission for 3 months. Awesome. I spent December celebrating remission, my 36th (*&%$#) birthday, and of course the holidays. There was a lot to celebrate after a long year of cancer treatments! Oh, and I was pretty sick at the end of month too. But you don't want to hear about that, trust me. It was awful, but I'm all better now.

I have wanted to go to the Georgia Aquarium for the past 5ish years, but for various reasons it never worked out. My mom made my birthday month extra special this year by taking me to Atlanta to experience the Aquarium. It totally rocked. My mom totally rocks, too, by the way. This is the largest aquarium in the world and the only one that has whalesharks. Four of them, in fact. I could have sat there, mesmerized by them for days. Seeing these whalesharks was one of the most majestic experiences of my life. I took over 350 pictures, but I'll just share my favorites. You're welcome.

                                                                                        

I celebrated my actual birthday with my mom, my sister Heidi and her 2 Peeps. We usually have cake, but this year in an attempt to save at least some calories I choose to have gourmet cupcakes. Mine was red velvet and was totally delicious. My other sister and her Peeps, who had moved to Texas just a couple weeks before my birthday, were greatly missed. 

We enhanced the celebration with some of our favorite wines and a special edition of Kalua. My favorite was the Root: 1 Carmenere!! To me it was rich, smooth with just the right amount of sweetness. My mom, sister and I really like the Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Select Harvest Riesling, too. 

The day after my birthday I had the great pleasure of going to Healing Planet's Spa night which is a fantastic ministry to women with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. I got an amazingly wonderful massage and chatted with some lovely ladies. Oh, and I sat on Santa's lap, too, which was really fun. Many thanks to Healing Planet!

I wrapped, shopped, decorated and prepared for the arrival of my Texas Peeps and Christmas. I, also, couldn't help but remember how I felt at that time the previous year. I still lived in south Florida then, but was happily home in Memphis for the holiday. I was waiting to hear from my oncologist if the tumor in my pelvic area was indeed cancerous. It made for a tense holiday for my whole family. I found out later that my doctor knew on Christmas Eve that I had cancer, but the nurse didn't want to ruin my holiday. I would have much rather preferred to know on Christmas Eve so I could process the news with my family. Of course, I can't do anything to change that now. Still, I think it was wrong of her to make that decision for me, but I think she had my best interest at heart. I am so thankful that Christmas 2010 found me and my family healthy!

The presents, joy and toddler chaos of our big family Christmas was enjoyed and appreciated by all. We are truly blessed, and thankful. My big present this year was a Wii, Wii Fit Plus and Your Shape with Jenny McCarthy!! Whoohooo!! Mom totally surprised everyone with this awesome gift. My sisters and brothers-in-law had fun learning to play Wii Sports and finding out (old!) Wii Fit ages. The whole Wii world is totally new to me, and it's been fun to explore and learn. It's a wonderful tool to improve my balance and yoga postures, and burn some calories playing fun games together as a family. I'm open to any Wii advice and tips!

I am filled with thankfulness to spend this holiday at home with the whole family. Onward into 2011 now...

A Thanksgiving Miracle

My Thanksgiving celebration this past weekend was truly wonderful! The food was delicious and I am very thankful to be home to have the honor of helping Mom prepare the feast. Our strategy this year was to prepare most of the side dishes a day or two in advance which meant trying out a couple new recipes. It worked out beautifully!!! We chose Herb-Rubbed Turkey with a Butterball bird this year. It came out juicy and yummy! My family's traditional mashed potatoes were replaced with this make-ahead Luxurious Mashed Potato recipe. Divinely smooth and, yes, luxurious. Definitely a splurge worthy recipe for a holiday. We exchanged the traditional green bean casserole for this make ahead Spinach and Cheese Puff recipe. These 2 recipes were a HUGE hit! We also baked then mashed the acorn squash and sweet potatoes two days before The Meal.

That left us with the turkey and the gravy to cook on The Meal Day.I'm very proud to say that my gravy talents continue to improve each year. The White Wine Gravy turned out silky smooth and delicious! The meal was completed with cranberry sauce, my brother-in-law's Aunt Barbara's heavenly rolls, and 3 bottles of wine. This year we decided to try a Gewurztraminer, specifically Chateau Ste. Michelle, and we were all pleasantly surprised with how well it complimented the meal. We have a new family favorite!! We also had Barefoot's Sauvignon Blanc, which I used to make the gravy, and a bottle of Yellowtail's Merlot.

My family has a long standing Thanksgiving tradition of going around tables and sharing what we are each thankful for this year. It's been a tough and dramatic year for my family and for me personally, but you wouldn't have known that if you had heard the touching tales of thankfulness from each member of my family. We all took our turn sharing, most of us with tears in our eyes. It's very clear to me that this family truly loves and appreciates one another, and that's something to be treasured.

We feasted and later that evening we feasted on the leftovers while playing Sequence. We feasted again for lunch the next day. And that brings me to my Thanksgiving Miracle. I didn't gain an ounce!! Unbelievable, but true and that's a Thanksgiving miracle in my book. This week, I'm aiming to see a loss on that scale!