The SuperMonkey Adventures haven’t stopped - in fact it has felt as though things are going faster then ever. The focus of today’s update is one of transition.
Saturday 6/30/12
We have been in temp housing for 5 nights now and things are going quite well. Gusta has fallen into the new routine nicely. The one thing about our temp housing that is funny and weird is the fact that there is a bird that lives in the trees outside - where we take Gusta to use the bathroom. It is obvious that this bird has small birds because it is very aggressive and has attacked both Matt and I while we are out with Gusta. I have to admit when Matt originally told me about the bird I didn’t believe him - but it is true. This bird is very hostile and attacks almost everytime. I think Gusta is a little freaked out by it when she sees what is happening. Matt and I will try to get a video of this aggressive bird to post on here (more to come).
Matt and I recently won the lottery for entry into the Houston Marathon. We are both excited to have a goal / race to train for. Today we went for a run and the weather was great (mid 70s). It was very cloudy and eventually started to rain with thunder and lightening. Gusta handled all of this great and honestly it made for a great cool weathered run. By the end of our run the temperature dipped below 70 - it was very comfortable (even though it was raining).
Wednesday 6/27/12
Great news, we closed on / sold our home this morning. It’s official - we are homeless and we aren’t sure when we will close on the new house - expecting to close by 7/9 (or sooner). This is an exciting change but also rather strange. We have lived in one home the entire time we have been in Houston - we aren’t moving far (about 6 blocks away) so I imagine we may drive to the wrong house a few times.
Tuesday 6/26/12
This week we have been moving our belongings to our storage unit and let me just say - it has been SUPER HOT! We reached temperatures over 100 degrees more then once. Tonight the house is finally empty and we have moved the items we need access to into temp housing (extended stay hotel).
While Gusta has stayed in an apartment before, she has never stayed in a hotel, this should be interesting.
 |
| Enduring the Heat as a family during our move |
 |
| During the final lawn mowing a frog jumped out of the grass Matt stopped mowing and saved his life by setting him free |
 |
| Gusta in the middle in the room (she looks small inside of our empty house) |
 |
| Temp Living (extended stay hotel) |
 |
| Temp Living Kitchenette |
 |
| Gusta has her own bed (but I don't think she is totally happy with us) |
Saturday 6/23/12
Estate sale Rerun. Today’s sale was very successful and Angela showed up again -- she modeled for this picture with a hat we had for sale (yup that is a pirate hat).
 |
| Are you kidding me Angela? (is it a coincidence that she has a matching mug ... I think not) |
Friday 6/22/12
Today I had another chemo maintenance treatment. This is the 15th treatment of 16 (1 more treatment to go). This treatment was good - mostly because I feel very optimistic about the end of treatment being near. I am finding that going through treatment for this long means that I am more sensitive to the medication they administer. Today’s treatment seemed fast and left quite a big bruise on my skin. I had a metal taste in my mouth - which is a common side effect from the medication. I took a nap when I got home and after that felt much better. We have continued packing and preparing for our move out of the house and this has also been very tiring. We are currently expecting to close / sell our house next week Wednesday 6/27.
 |
| Easier to see the pink outside |
 |
| Self Portrait During Treatment |
Thursday 6/21/12
So I had to take the opportunity to post a few pictures of some adorable people; Our niece Calla and a Co-workers’ daughter Olivia. Some cute pictures of adorable young girls.
 |
| Calla Smelling Fresh Cut Flowers |
 |
| Another photo of Flower Smelling |
 |
| Calla with fresh cut veggies |
 |
| Deep Thought |
 |
| Olivia with a look of surprise (she is my co-workers 15 month old) |
Saturday 6/16/12
We have been preparing for our move and have uncovered things we long ago forgot about and things that will not fit into our new home (as the styles are very different). So we decided to liquidate. Matt coordinated an estate sale and we sold ALOT of things! Although we realized that the more we packed the more we found. Our neighbor Angela came over to help with the sale and she found the need to try out the push lawnmower we were trying to sell. It worked great - but she realized that it was not the item for her.
 |
| Angela Mowing |
 |
| Angela still mowing |
 |
| Self Portrait During the Sale |
 |
| During our clean up we found many things (including bugs ... yikes) |
Thursday 6/14/12
I went into the office today and remember how I said I just added more pink to my hair it was quite interesting to experience the diversity in reaction from my co-workers. I have to admit that having a funky hair color is new to me and I am quite enjoying it. This is much more artistic / unique then I have ever dared to look. It is a fun way to add a little flair.
Wednesday 6/13/12
This week I took a 3 day course to prepare for the Project Management Certification course. This evening I decided to add more pink to my hair - so now I have twice as much pink -- it is even more ridiculous then before ... I love it!!
Saturday 6/9/12
This afternoon Matt and I finally went to Hubcap Grill -- we ate outside despite the ridiculously hot weather - it was a fun time.
 |
| While we were at Hubcap Grill |
Friday 6/8/12
Today I went back in to see my oncologist. She was great as always. She did provide some good news -- she said instead of 17 treatments I only need 16 treatments. So I expect to finish in July instead of August. She said everything is good and I should have another Scan in August. I mentioned that I have been bruising easily and she said it is very normal to bruise more easily. When I asked how long she said always this is one of the side effects of chemo that doesn’t go away.
 |
| Self Portrait at Oncologists' Office |
Gusta has been very loving lately as shown in the below picture.
 |
| Gusta being super sweet |
Jill also sent me this super cute comic.
 |
| Sent to me by my friend Jill |
Sunday 6/3/12
So we are under contract for the sale of our home (currently planning to close late June). We have been looking for a new home to buy and we recently found a house that we wanted to buy. Today was our home inspection. The home inspection took several hours - the inspector assesses the home, goes through the attic, crawls in the space under the house. He takes tons of pictures and reviewed his findings with us when he was done. The inspector did a great job and since we were there during the inspection we were able to get more acquainted with the home. It was a great experience.
 |
| Hanging Out During the Inspection |
Friday 6/1/12
Today I had another chemo maintenance treatment. This is the 14th treatment of 17 (3 more treatments to go). Matt was able to join me today - which helps because the medication makes me very tired - so it is nice to have a ride home. I have to admit that while I find treatment unpleasant - we have developed great relationships with the nursing staff in the infusion center. I think that really makes a difference for so many reasons. Most of them know us and while I am there getting treatment most stop in to say hello. Today in fact one of the nurses had some superb hair and as soon as I saw her all I could think to say was “Chaka Khan”. This probably happened because I recently saw Chaka Khan on American Idol and she looked AWESOME! Anyway - one of my pieces of advice for anyone in long term treatment is “befriend your nurses” it makes it much funner for everyone!
 |
| Me at treatment |
Wednesday 5/30/12
So my hair color has become something fun. I started by adding a little purple in my hair and eventually that went from Purple to a Eggplant (deeper purple). But today I went from Eggplant to Pink. It is a totally ridiculous color - but I thought it would be fun to do something different.
 |
| Going Pink |
 |
| Pink Hair Anyone? |
Thursday 5/24/12
Tonight our friends Tommy, Vera and their son Ryder picked me up for dinner. They picked me up and I rode in the back with Ryder (who is just shy of 2 years old). I spent the time playing around taking our picture which by the way he knows how to say “cheese” and smiles every time he sees a camera -- he is a total ham.
I was reviewing the pictures and suddenly he started to scroll through my pictures on my iphone. I was totally shocked that a toddler knew how to do this. I guess that is the wave of the future --- babies / toddlers know how all about touch screens.... spooky stuff. Matt met us for dinner and we had a great time!
 |
| Self Portrait while I waited for Tommy, Vera and Ryder |
 |
| Ryder and I on the way to dinner |
 |
| This baby is always smiling |
Wednesday 5/23/12
My project management class continues and I get home very tired. Tonight Gusta and I went for a run at the park. But we obviously were very tired tonight and she cuddled with me as both rested. She is getting to be a great running partner (while she used to hate almost everything about it she seems to enjoy going now).
 |
| Cuddly Dog |
Tuesday 5/22/12
Our German Shepherd has been through a lot of change lately - and while I have worked hard to keep her as involved as possible there are times when I leave the house without her. This week I am taking a project management course which requires me to be away all day. Today when I returned home I found Gusta laying on top of a very disheveled bed. There was obviously some type of mayhem going on today. I really wish I could leave a camera set up to see what really goes on. Until then I guess I will just have to continue using my imagination.
 |
| Gusta looking guilty on a messy bed |
Sunday 5/20/12
So everyone has their own “old wives tales” and those that I learned growing up were ones of “mexican old wives” or at least on in particular - being my mother. One of the things she told me when I went on the market to sell my first home was to burn a brick. And for whatever reason it worked - probably for the same reason other “old wives tales” work -- you do other things that make it happen. Anyway - we had yet to burn a brick since putting our house on the market and when I spoke to my mom about our home being on the market she immediately asked if we had burned a brick - I admitted that we had not yet burned our brick. She quickly asked if she should mail me a brick. I said we could probably find one in Houston - but thanked her for the offer. Today Matt finally burned the brick. Hopefully it works.
 |
| Burning Brick |
Sunday 5/13/12
Matt and I have been on the market for a while and today we rode to a few homes on our motorcycles. We have a communication device called a “scala” which allows us to speak to one another while riding - this makes navigating new areas a lot easier. Honestly, riding the Super Monster is so much fun - but riding around a neighborhood on your motorcycle definitely gives a different perspective. At this point we have picked a few areas we could see ourselves living in - but the question remains city or suburb. We expect to see a few houses with our realtor fairly soon.
 |
| Photo After Our Ride |
Stay tuned for more SuperMonkey Adventures,
Nancy
AKA: SuperMonkey
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
- Nelson Mandela
“Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator and change has its enemies.”
- Robert F. Kennedy
“If you want change, you have to make it. If we want progress we have to drive it.”
- Susan Rice
