My sweetie and me!

My favorite picture of Ted and I, taken on our October 2009 cruise.

Before, During and After

My eye surgery,

Before

During

After

July 4th picnic

Our new living room furniture...

You'll never see it this clean again!!

Here's a few pictures of our visit with Kristina and baby Kazem. The first picture is of my sister Lois with her new grandson. The second picture is my grandaughter, Sadie, playing with the dogs through the glass door.

Dutch Winter Wonderland

Here's some pictures of our trip to Dutch Winter Wonderland last weekend. We had a cold but fun evening. Sadie had strong objections to sitting on Santa's lap but didn't mind Duke so much. Sadie and grandmom squeezed into a Monster Car and took a little ride with Mom in the back seat.

Pink Party

Last week my sons and daughter-in-laws surprised me with a Pink Party to celebrate being a One Year Breast Cancer Survivor. It was a total surprise, even though, as you can see, I showed up in pink. They had pink everything - streamers, balloons, paper goods, 3 different pink candies, pink ribbon shaped bagels and even pink deviled eggs! The whole family was there, Ted, my kids, parents, siblings, even my daughter-in-law and grandkids from California. We had lots of good food - all my favorites! - and great fun together. I'm really grateful for the support of my family as I went through treatment. I have a great family who supports you when you're down and celebrates with you in the good times.
Thank you Bradd, Brett, Heather and Jenn for all the work that you put into the party. I love you all so much!
(I forgive you for all of the lies you told to keep it a surprise!...I especially liked Heather talking to me on the phone the night before the party and pretending she was in sunny California when she was really in cold Pennsylvania...then Jenn let me babysit so that she could clean and prepare for Brett's/MY party.) . You guys are the best Daughter-in-law's in the world!

Our cell phone saga...

Our cell phone contract with Verizon ran out last week and since Bradd and Brett are with AT&T we decided to switch carriers thinking the mobile to mobile would be beneficial. We needed new phones anyway since Ted’s died just before vacation and mine doesn’t hold a charge for very long at all. On Thursday night we went to AT&T, had our phone numbers transferred (or “ported” for you techno geeks) and took our new phones home. We spent the weekend setting up our contacts, voicemail and the Bluetooth headsets that we already had. When we went to use the Bluetooth there was no voice command. We spent several hours Saturday night researching Bluetooth on the AT&T site and the only thing we could find was an additional “Voice Calling” service for 4.99/month. This service required us to enter our phone numbers online and you had to dial *8 to use it. This defeated the purpose of the Bluetooth (IMO). On Sunday we went back to Verizon, apologized for leaving them and asked them to get our phone numbers back and restart service with them. Because it was a weekend, this was not as easy as it should have been. Long story short, we spent 2 and a half hours there and it could not be done on Sunday. (Again, for you techno geeks, the porting was post dated to Monday and could not be undone as there were no IT guys working). We had to leave Verizon, go to AT&T and cancel service/return the phones and hope that Verizon would be able to get our phone numbers back on Monday. Ted went back to Verizon after work today and they had worked it all out for us. We have our same phone numbers, cool new LG phones and our Bluetooth works the way it should. They copied our phone numbers and photos over to the new phones for free which was a great timesaver for us. It was a very long and frustrating weekend and we are staying with Verizon for our wireless service.

Our Cruise to Mexico with family

Here's some pictures of our cruise to Mexico with Bradd, Heather, Taytum and Kaelan on RCI's Vision of the Seas. We visited Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Valarta. As you can see from these pictures, we enjoy our grandchildren. For additional pictures, check out my Facebook page (http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo).

Almost one!

Sadie will be ONE in a few weeks. Here's some new pictures of her. Isn't she cute!

Fun in California

Here's some pictures of the fun we had with our grandkids last week in Southern California. We went to a kids science museum that was really fun for kids and adults. At the beach we had a great time splashing in the waves, despite the lack of bathing suits. We had a fun and relaxing week with Bradd, Heather and the kids.

Fun with Sadie

Sisters!

My sister Lois and I at Kristina's bridal shower.

Bald is beautiful!

Here it is, finally, a bald picture of me...

Good humor...

Last night we were watching American Idol and Aisia'h was introduced.

I turned to Ted and said: I want a name with an apostrophe!

Ted paused, looked at me and said: Don't

It still makes me chuckle...

So...Shir'lee...Sher'li...Shi'rley...Shirl'e...

In sickness and in health...

In sickness and in health…most of us think we know what that means – a bad stomach flu, birthing a child, surgery – but in reality most of us never really put this vow to the test. This weekend was our test and we passed with flying colors. It was chemo weekend for me - which means about 5 days of sick stomach, extreme weakness and no appetite (despite the need to eat). It was also two weeks after Ted’s foot surgery leaving him in a cast and crutches. What a pair we made! Ted would balance in the kitchen preparing whatever I felt I could eat and I would carry it in to the sofa. Afterwards I would carry things back to the kitchen and Ted would clean up. So many people give up on their marriage before it’s even been put to the test. I’m glad mine is strong and getting stronger!

Before and After

Here's a picture from Christmas and my new gypsy look. I had my first Chemo treatment on Dec. 27. It took 13 days for my hair to start coming out. Last night we went and had it shaved off. This morning, in an act of solidarity, Ted shaved off his mustache. Doesn't he look younger? I love that man!!

Alot of things have happened since I last posted...Ted had his cast on until Nov 7 and is still out of work due to problems with his foot, my Dad had a severe stroke on Oct 31 and has been in Moss rehab for the last 4 weeks and I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. There is alot I could say about all of this but most of it is too private and emotional to share right now. The thing that stands out the most at this time is the love and support of family. Ted has been my rock and my physical and emotional support through all of this. My siblings and their spouses have teamed up, supported, prayed and cried together. I don't know what we would have done without each other. So, while we still have some obstacles to overcome, I'm grateful for the husband, children and family I have.

Our Freedom of the Seas Cruise

Ted, Bradd, Heather,Taytum and Kaelan.


Our little Adventure Ocean pirates.


The H2O Zone was sooo much fun. It also had a (donut shaped) whirlpool pool that was really fun.

Ted's feeling blue!

This week Ted found out that the pain he's been experiencing in his foot since March is due to a break in one of the heel bones. Today he acquired a "blue" cast and a pair of crutches. Ted has two weeks to adjust to walking with crutches before our vacation cruise. I guess we'll be doing some "old people" stuff like getting a ride to the gate at the airport.