Procrastination

It sounds like a monastery upstairs. What is Troy doing up there? How funny.

Well we're down to one condo now. Yesterday we said goodbye to the condo we got engaged in, the condo we had all kinds of parties in, relating to our wedding. The condo we called home for the first year of our marriage. It was sad. I nearly cried. I kissed the wall as I left. Good thing I didn't have lipstick on, that would have been embarrassing.

Today I found out my brother, his girlfriend and her friend are coming for a visit next week. How random, and quick! It'll be cool for them to check out stampede! Its super fun, and I can't wait to go to the Rodeo and Chuck Wagon races. And my favorite part of the stampede....the entire room full of infomercials! I love it. So much stuff I could buy, and want to. Its my favorite. Oh, and the dream house.

How exciting that this time next week, I'll be out celebrating being finished my exams, with my Dad and Paula, and my cute hubby! I can't wait. I also can't wait to have some time off work. Tomorrow is my last day, until July 10th. YIPPEE!

Ok, so I'm supposed to be studying. I wrote an entire post the other day in here, with photo's and all, and my MAC won't let me post in "safari", so somehow it got lost. Oh well. Hopefully this time it works.

So here is our spare room...wanna come for a visit? And also, the long-anticipated, Burberry Bag I promised to post a photo of. Isn't it beautiful?

Settling In

Well we're in the midst of settling into our new home. It sure takes a long time, when you have so much space, and so much stuff. We've figured out we have about 1900 sq feet (including the basement). this is over double what we had at our condo. It feels great to not be so jam packed in. I love every single room so much...even the bathrooms. In our master ensuite, I feel like I'm in a grand hotel or something. Its really cool.

Our alarm system continues to give us trouble, dispite the alarm guy coming to get the system working for us. I think he still has a bit of tinkering to do tomorrow.

So I'm down into "crunch" time for studying again. Why do I always do this to myself? Except this time, is the worst of times. I have 2, 3 & 1/2 hour exams on July 4th, that means 7 hours of exam writing in one day. Normally I hand write for lets say...a total of 3 minutes. Now I will be writing for 7 hours. Hmmmm....that should be interesting. On top of that, of course this semester has been the most brutal of my working career...so with all the pressures of life, on top of work, family issues etc....I haven't had much time to study. So..."crunch" time. Please don't entice me with requests to hang out...and have loads of fun, at least for the next 2 weeks...cause who wants to study? Not me...and that is why I sit here blogging, instead of studying. Good thing I didn't become a teacher!

And now for an update on things concerning Troy's Dad. So things have made a turn for the worst again, about 2 weeks ago now I guess. Dad's throat has been giving him a hard time for weeks, and finally after doing a scope down there, the doctors have told him that the chemo is not working, as the cancer has spread to his throat. They have taken him off all the treatments, and he is being medicated to his preference. We went to Kelowna a couple weeks ago, a couple days after we found this out, to say good-bye. Unfortunately, neither of our jobs facilitate working remotely for too terribly long, so we must remain in Calgary, even though our hearts remain in Kelowna.

It is a very sad time for our family. Thank goodness, for us, we have some fun things to look forward to, to distract us. First and currently, moving, then my Dad & Step-Mom are coming in 2 weeks (also on July 4th) for 6 days, so that'll be fun. We're going to go to the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, and Chuck Wagon races and Grand Stand show. I've been a Calgarian (if I can call myself that) for 7 years now, and have yet to attend either of these events. Needless to say, I'm excited....except if there is that calf-roping. That makes me cry a little bit. I'll try to remember tissue.

Anyways, I should probably get back to studying...oh...woe is me.

Take care,



S

My Dream of Oprah & Brandi

So I had a weird dream last night. I was a guest (in the audience) at the Oprah show...and wouldn't you know it...it was the highly popular "my Favorite Things" show. ("My" being Oprah's, favorite things). (for those of you not educated in the Oprah world, this particular show occurs once per year generally, and they never advertise when it will be, cause everyone on the planet would try to get a seat. Anyways, Oprah showcases some of her new favorite things...I've seen such things as laptops, ipods, luggage, perfume...relaly everything under the sun. She will give away her favorite things, to each person in the audience, so it is not uncommon for a person in the audience to walk away with $20K+ in free gifts.) Anyways, back to the dream. I was at the Oprah show, and it was the "my favorite things" show, except it was not Oprah. It was Brandi Weston.

Anyways, thats pretty much my dream. I can't remember too much else, except when I found out it was the "my favorite things" show, I was so excited I was having trouble breathing.

Anyways, how fun to be there for that show....hmmmm...

Shara

First Night in a New Place

Note to self for next time...don't forget if moving, to check out the alarm system in the house, and find out how to disarm.

Yesterday when we arrived at our new home (which I'm in love with), the alarm was beeping about every 5 minutes or so. I found the alarm box, and pressed the "disarm" button. The alarm guy is coming to hook it up for us on Monday. Anyways, no more problems until midnight, after both of us had worked all day, and were more exhausted than either of us remember being in a long time. Anyways, the alarm starts to beep 6 times (really loudly) at midnight, and then stop. It continued this every couple minutes for a while. So of course, I start to freak out, because I'm sure someone broke into our house. I make Troy go check all the corners and closets. He finally gets back, we settle into bed again (after pressing the "disarm" button, and tried to get back to sleep. (oh yeah, and I unplugged the alarm as well!) (its a wireless thing...who knows how it works really), anyways...

Then it begins goign off every minute, instead of every 5 minutes...so Troy starts to see if he can fix it...only to set the whole alarm off! Oh my word! Its so loud...and he has no idea how to turn it off. The disarm button doesn't work anylonger. He's holding himself over the speaker (at midnight remember), and I'm running around the house truing to figure out what to do.

Finally troy yells "GET THE KEY FAB!" (the wireless disarmer" and wow...who knew. Finally the alarm was off.

Troy found the manual and was able to fix it...and no further problems.

What a night...

7 Random Facts

Since I was tagged by Crystal, so it's now my turn to share 7 random facts.

Here are the rules… Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog.

1. I can not stand to touch, or talk about cotton. It gives me goose bumps, and freaks me right out. I imagine bighting it...I know its weird, but I can't help it.

2. I hate large paper clips, you know those black ones with the silver clippy things? They freak me out and I hate them.

3. I love to sing in the shower, but haven't done it in a long time, cause I don't want anyone to hear me.

4. I am a very intollerant driver, and have no patience. I'm an insurance broker, and trying to figure out a way so my insurance company doesn't rate me for my 2 convictions, but I can't think of anything.

5. I am facinated by animals, (except rodents), and creation. I could marvel at it for hours, and I normally talk to Animals I encounter, again, not so much if anyone is around...except my husband.

6. I think my name is really funny, and I consider writing in to Jay Leno. Shara Bierman. Share-a-Beer-man.

7. I get a runny nose everytime I go for a walk.

So there you have it. Now I get to tag 7 people...let's see....

I tag: Lisa, TroyB, Lexi, Hmmm...who else reads my blog...Kassie, and Tanis!

A few more Things

Tasha will be so proud. Troy got me a Burberry bag for my birthday! I'll take a photo and put it on here, when Troy is done with my macbook. Its so beautiful. I love it.

Is it just me, or are drivers in Calgary getting dumber, and ruder. People no longer wave a sign of appreciation when you slow down to let them in, or they drive 50km/hour when merging onto the Deerfoot. Come-on people. Seriously. I think I'm going to be a great old person. I think I'll rant LOTS. :)

Troy bought us Rodeo and Grandstand show tickets tonight! YEAH, and last night, he bought me Kelly Clarkson tickets. I love her, and can't wait for her concert in September. We have front row, first balcony tickets, straight on, with the stage.

How exciting! I have so many things to look forward to in the next little bit.

So my floor hockey game this evening...wasn't really so much recreational. Those brutes were slashing, and ramming, and running people over. But don't worry...apparently in this league, you're allowed to smash someone, make them trip, and as long as you say sorry, then it wasn't intentional. Interesting. Anyways. At least we won...well killed them really. I think it was 6-3 for us! Good thing...that would be a tough game to lose.

So holy crap flash flooding in Calgary. Check out Craigs blog to read a "in the action" account.

And finally...course I'm taking is an insurance course, for a designation I'm just 4 exams shy of getting. its taken me 3 years...I guess 5 really...cause I took some breaks, and I'm almost there. In April of next year (hopefully) I'll be writing my last exam.

Anyways, I only have 14 minutes left of use on this computer apparently, the battery is nearly dead so I'll sign off.

Please say a prayer for Troy's Dad, (Doug), he's not doing so well right now, and is battling Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Thanks.

I'm 27!

Happy Birthday to me! Troy & I were in Waterton for the weekend. It was awesome. We were celebrating my 27th birthday, as well as the 1 year anniversary of our marriage. It was so fun to go away, and relax for a couple days, and just be a bit extravagant! We ate out lots, we went on a boat cruise down to Montana, (just a short 2 hour one), we went for short little hikes, and discovered the cute town. We had a blast! I would definitely recommend that cute little place. I'll post some photo's when I'm done here.

So I'm in cramming mode. I have 2, 3 & 1/2 hour exams on July 4th. BOO. I actually got quite far today, I'm quite proud of myself. Hopefully I can keep up this dedication. I actually got 10/10 on a quiz I just did with my online course. Hurray.

In 10 days we are moving! Don't worry, we won't try to recruit anyone to help. We've hired movers. Yeah! No back-breaking for us! I'm excited about that. Only 10 days...almost 9.

We had the most awesome thunder storm here tonight. There were so many car alarms going off around here, it was funny. And it was so loud, I nearly fell off my chair a couple of times!

What else...I remember I had a couple of rants for here...what were they...crap I forget. Oh well I'm tired anyways. I should go to bed. I'll put up some photo's first. BYE! Sorry for being so delinquent!

Its Funny

Do you remember as a kid, when you used to think up any excuse to stay up? Time to go to the bathroom all of the sudden, or not interested in water any other time of the day, but bedtime, or forgot to clean up my toys...who on earth is concerned with that! Anyways, its funny how I continue to fight going to sleep. Even now, my eyes are heavy...(I had to contend with Snorance last night) and I'm exhausted. On top of that, I have some cold/sore throat/stuffy nose/head thingie, so I'm sure the extra sleep would be a blessing, but NO...I can't stop thinking of things to do. Things that will not benefit me more than sleep...things, some things never change.

I don't really have anything to post, just...like I said, wasting time so I don't have to go to sleep. For shame...I love sleep!

I've just finished going through my enormous pile of resume's and will likely contact some applicants for interview's tomorrow. That should be fun.

Like I said...nothing to post about! :) We;re going to see the killers on Thursday, that should be fun. I'm excited about that. All I need now, is a Killers t-shirt...hmmm.

Only 12 days till my birthday, and my 1 year anniversary! Being married rocks. I have the best husband, I could have ever thought up. I actually could never have thought him up. He's pretty great. I get a great food massage nearly every day. He buys me flowers often, and other misc gifts. He's constantly serving me. He loves me incredibly, and he's my best friend. What more could a girl ask for? He's amazing.

Anyways, I think I'm ready for bed. I'm getting cranky, and I'm not fun when I'm tired.

BYE!

S

You'd Think...

I have an ad in the newspaper and online, as I'm looking for a new receptionist for my office. You would not even believe the volume of resume's that I receive that don't include cover sheets, include very poor spelling and grammer, or the "resume's" that I receive that are not resume's. They send an email, and detail themselves in the body of the email, instead of sending a proper resume. Its very strange. Its kinda hard to convey this on my blog...hmm.

Its May 2-4 weekend, and I'm thrilled to have no plans, aside from babysitting Jack tomorrow evening while Chelsea and Andrew go see Feist. That'll be fun. I'm hoping Troy will take me out for dinner tonight to that place across form the Cecil, the surf and turf place. I've heard from several people, how great that place is, and I'm hungry and don't feel like cooking. We'll see.

4 weeks form today and we're moving into our new place.

An update on Troy'd Dad, he seems to be doing a lot better. He's been able to start his 2nd Chemo treatment, and is still in the hospital. He can not sit up for more than 7 hours a day, and still can not do anything on his own. He can not walk or stand. But he's doing a lot better. Thank God.

Sorry, not much for exciting things to write about, even after not writing for a couple weeks. I have joined facebook though, the time vortex. :)

I'm off, Troy'll be home soon.

S

Emotionally Exhausted

So we're going to the circus with Vienna aand Eden on Friday. I'm so thrilled for the distraction. My brain has been going crazy with all the things happening. Lets go back to Dad.

So the tests came back yesterday and they're not sure that it was the cancer that caused the fluid on the brain, but they decided it needed to be taken out immediately (the fluid, not his brain). He was then scheduled for emergency surgery. At first Dad said he did not want the surgery, even though he was told, without the surgery he could slip into a coma within hours, and die likely within the day. He said no to the surgery, until he was told by his cancer doctor, that she really thought perhaps the fluid had nothing to do with the cancer. Then he decided he'd like to go ahead with the surgery.

He was in surgery at 9pm last night (Monday). They put 4 holes in his head, to drain the fluid out. Apparently today, he's doing much better than he was yesterday. His physical state however has digressed, and he is back, unable to do very basic body functions such as feeding himself, even scratching his face is difficult.

The tests are not back yet, as to whether the fluid is lymphatic or not, and I'm not sure when those tests are coming.


On a completely different, and equally sad note, some dear friends of mine are going through hell as well right now. (this info is to the best of my knowledge) On Friday Willy Dueck went for a run by himself on his lunch hour, and did not return. He was found by some misc. person, lying on the side of the road, not breathing. This person started CPR, and 911 was called. he was rushed to Emergency, where hours later (after 10pm at night, his frantic family finally located him). He was in a coma. Apparently the doctors wanted to keep him in a coma for a while, to diagnose the situation or something? Sunday, they began warming his body to bring him out of the coma. today I've heard that he's woken up, but a brain scan shows there is a lot of brain damage. he is communicating with only blinking his eyes. How does something like this, happen to such a good man.

So all around me, is talk of hospitals, and illness. its difficult. I'm exhausted. i could hardly keep my eyes open after I got home tonight, but I'm trying to do some things aroudn the house, and post here to keep everyone updated.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Shara

Home Again

After a long drive back, we're home again. Up until a minute ago, I was relieved to be here. It was great to have a night to relax, and not worry about going to the hospital, or if anything needed being done. Now I just feel sick.

Let me get you up to speed. Slowly, they've been taking tubes out of Dad, and he's been learning to do things on his own. Feed himself, drink again, and doing a bit of physio. He's looking completely different than when we saw him last Sunday. His color is returning, and his jokes are coming back too. Then Thursday Mom washed his hair, and his hair started to fall out in her hands. (due to the chemo), so he decided he wanted his head shaved.

We were all a little concerned about how he would look, however he looked great with no hair. He even looks younger than his 65 years. We decided to leave Sunday morning as we needed to get back to work. I think I've only worked 5 days in the last 4 weeks, and I want to go back to work. Thursday they took Dad off the epidural he was on, and put him on morphone. i guess they were concerned that perhaps the cancer had gone into his spine, causing numbness in his legs. We were relieved to find out this was not the case, however they decided to leave him off the epidural, and leave him with the morphine. Since then, he's not been himself. We thought he was just tired. He slept all the time, and could no longer remember things very well. He couldn't stay awake for any amount of time.

I just got a call from Troy, and the doctors think perhaps the cancer has gone into his brain. Apparently they are going to do some tests on him this afternoon, and if he goes into cardiac arrest due to this...they will not recusitate him.

I feel sick to my stomach. If you will, please pray with us. Sigh...I was hoping to not have to think about hospitals, or sickness for a long time. We thought Dad was getting better. Both of us agreed on Saturday after our good-byes that we didn't feel like that was goodbye forever. We were both encouraged.

s

Flowers From Dad's Garden

On a happier note, I'll post some photo's I took in Dad's garden.

Continuing On

Thanks to all of those who have posted words of support. We really appreciate them.

We're still in Kelowna. It is an amazingly beautiful place here; if you get a chance, I'd definitely recommend coming here for a holiday. Our time here, is far from that.

The complications from Dad's Surgery on Friday are working themselves out, and he looks a ton better than he did when we first arrived. The tube going from his mouth to his stomach has been taken out, and he can now talk a little bit. It is hard for him, and labored, but he can do it, if he so desires.

The surgeon scheduled him for a cat scan yesterday, however his oncologist cancelled it as she advised his organs could not handle the scan. Lucky for him, like I said earlier, the complications from surgery are working themselves out, however on the other hand, the cancer is still raveging his poor body. His organs are reaching the beginning stages of shut down apparently.

He can not begin to fight the cancer, until he gets chemo, however he can't continue chemo until he's improved dramatically from the surgery, which could be days, even weeks.

We're hoping to have a family meeting with the Dad's team of doctors, or perhaps one of them at a time, to discuss the prognosis.

It is very difficult to be here. It is very difficult to see Dad like this...and Mom like this as well.

On a completely different topic, I've joined facebook with the extra time I've had here, with nothing to do. So if you are already on facebook, look me up! If not, don't worry I didn't give them my email addresses so you won't be getting an email from me...from facebook...well I hope you won't anyways, those are terribly annoying.

I'll let you know how we make out in the Dr. meeting.

S

Kelowna

Unexpectedly we've had to take a trip to Kelowna. Troy's Dad was diagnosed with some kind of Lymphoma cancer back in November. It was a very slow growing strain of it, and it was found during a routine annual physical. He had no symptoms of the cancer. Since then, he's been fine up until about 2 months ago. First he got a cold he couldn't shake, and then he started to lose his energy. Finally they went to the hospital to see why he could not make it up the stairs without being completely exhausted. They found he had lymphatic fluid in his lungs.

They admitted him to the hospital, and began to drain the fluid. That is when Troy flew out to Kelowna about 2 weeks ago. During that week he was in the hospital he had many tests done, and also found out that he'd acquired another strain of cancer (so now he has 2 types of cancer in his body). The slow moving one is still there, but it was also branched out to a very fast moving cancer, which is now at stage 4. (Cancer is diagnosed from stage zero, which has no symptom's, to a maximum of 4 which is the worst of course...that's what Troy's Dad has now.

As soon as he was diagnosed with this fast moving cancer, they decided to start chemo the following day. This past Friday he started to have intense pain in his lower abdomen. He was sent in for a cat scan, when the found out that he'd gotten a hole in his intestine. He was immediately sent for an emergency surgery to repair the hole. While there on the operating table, they almost lost him, and during, they had to call in some extra doctors to help stabilize the situation.

Following surgery he was in critical condition, and so of course, Troy and I have come to Kelowna. Troy's brother Jason and his wife Shannon are also here. Darren & Nicky are ill, and since Dad's immune system ws destroyed by the chemo, he can have no one around him with any hint of illness, as doesn't have the immune system to fight it off.

Anyways, today hopefully is the day when we'll find out what the new course of action is, to fight off this fast moving cancer. As the chemo didn't work with Dad's body, who knows if it will continue to put holes in his intestine, so we don't know if they'll prescribe more chemo.

Anyways, please keep him (Doug) and Troy's Mom(Rena) in your thoughts and prayers. Please also keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It is awful to see a parent in such a state as he is in.

thanks all, I'll try to keep you posted.

Forgive Me

So many of the pics below are sideways. Sorry, I don't know how to change that. They are the right way in my iphoto, so I don't know what happened. :)

If you can't tell, I'm very excited about our new place. June 15th seems like FOREVER away, but I guess its only 51 days. That's a long time. Yuck.

Tomorrow my Mom & I are off to the West Ed Mall. I'm excited! Shopping is fun! :)

Nothing new really going on with us, Troy's Dad has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I think its lymphatic...but I'm not exactly sure. He's undergoing some very intense chemotherapy right now to battle this off. Please keep him in your prayers. His name is Doug. However on an exciting note, he became a Christian this week...after years and years of prayers of his family members. Praise God.

Anyways, I'm watching Dr. Phil with my Mom, and its a great one...its getting really heated! Tehe!

BYE!
S

More Pics

Going To Get My Husband

I'm up and ready. I'm waiting a few more minutes before I go pick Troy up from the airport. Troy's Dad is very sick, and is in the hospital, so Troy flew out to Kelowna on Friday morning to be with him, and Troy's Mom. He's coming back this morning and although its only been 2 days...its strange how much I missed him. I was bored...I couldn't find anything to do (not that I tried extremely hard). Anyways, I'm thrilled he's coming home today. His plane gets in at 8:59am...and so I shouldn't leave for about 20 more minutes. :)

We are so excited about our new house. I'm going to post another photo...we're going to take a drive by there this morning, and I think we're going to get another viewing when my Mom gets here next week! :) YEAH!

Re. Our new Home

Sorry this new format for blogger on my Mac is weird, and I haven't fogired it out yet. Anyways..despite feeling sick, this past Monday evening we made an offer, and purchased a home. We saw several places, and when we opened the door to this one...I think both Troy & I knew. Its a beautiful (as you can see) townhouse in Renfrew. Not necessarily what we were looking for...but still considered inner city. Its a great place. 3 bedroom, 3 full bathrooms, stainless steal appliances, oak hardwood floor, oak cabnets, built-in cabnetry, built in whole house stereo, gargage, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Its beautiful. We take possession on June 15th...so only 65 short days. :)

Its hard to really get excited about it when I'm feeling so terrible, and I'm so glad we'd agreed to go out looking because we had another competing offer as well...so we had to make our offer a good one. I'd made the arrangements with our realtor to go out on Monday night prior to being sick, and then once Monday rolled around, I felt semi-ok, and unfortunately for us, the next couple weeks were supposed to be booked. Troy's Mom was supposed to come (not I don't think she's going to), then my Mom is coming...and then we're already into May...so...we figured we better get looking. Good thing we did, or we couldn't have bought this gem.

So whether dumb or not, the offer we gave was not conditional, so its actually already sold. :) YEAH.

Both of us are thrilled...and can't wait to June 15th.

Anyways, I'm feeling minimally better today. Weak, and still very ill, but at least I'm mobile. But if anyone missed ANY television from today, I've got it all watched...so let me know. I can give you a play-by-play.

Troy has gone out for dinner with Darin. Darin's going back to Regina on the weekend to work on Corner Gas, and we'd arranged to go out for dinner with him...unfortunately, I couldn't make it.

Anyways...I better watch CSI. I love that show.

(I'm happy to see Hailey go! BYE BYE LEGGIE!)


S

Our New Home

So I went to the Doctor...

Lets put it this way...I'm not at work, and I'm laying in bed, careful not to put anything on my stomach. So my doctor said I have some bug called gastio-blah-blah-blah-blah. He said that I can't eat anything for several days, I can only drink water, and flavored water. He said I'm contageous...so no kissy-kissy.

Boo. So my tummy hurts, and I'm unhappy. I've been laying around all weekend as it is. Oh well. Anyways, he said he'd write me a note to relieve me from my exam tomorrow. I think I'm going to take him up on that because I am feeling so weak...cause I"m not feeling well, and on top of that, I'm not supposed to have anythign to eat, so I'm not thinking I'd have any energy.

He said if I'd gone to the hospital, they would have admitted me...but not done too much, besides put me on an IV and left me for 3 days hoping it'll pass.

So that's my story. So I hope all of you who are reading this, will send me an email, or post a blog so I'll at least have something to entertain me.

BYE!

S