rainbow of colors

I've been bitten by the color bug AND beautiful hand painted yarns! My recent additions have been 2 skein of Dream in Color Classy - Gothic Rose & Chinatown Apple. Uhhh - to see them in person....wow! The colors are so rich and deep and meld into one another like perfection. Gothic Rose is deep burgundy/purple/red & Chinatown Apple deep rust/brown/red/orange. These are going to knit up into beautiful pieces. And then there is the Malabrigo worsted I got in Verde Esperanza - true deep luscious teal green...gorgeous! I've got projects in mind...but not ready to share just yet....

A sigh of relief....

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see an oncologist to have genetic screening, known as BRCA Analysis, done for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome. This is done by simple blood draw and sent off to a company named Myriad Genetic Laboratories in Utah. They run a screen and test you for mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Be sure to check out Myriad for more info on the BRCA Analysis.

I have strong family history with both types of cancer and more importantly, one of my sisters tested positive on her BRCA1 test done last year. Having a parent or sibling carry a mutation on one of these genes gives you up to a 50% chance of carrying the same mutation. This test is by no means full proof, and simply testing positive is not an indication that you will have either of these cancers in your lifetime. But having the information can aid you in your surveillance of the diseases.

Because my sister tested positive, my insurance covered the FULL cost of a Comprehensive Analysis (that's testing on both BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes) which can cost up to $3,000. I had a full consultation and blood draw with Dr. Rebecca Eisenberg on September 10th. My blood was then sent off to Myriad, tested and returned to MA. Today was the day I went in for my results. Dr. Eisenberg kindly asked if she could sit down and then told me "NO MUTATION DETECTED". We both smiled widely and I said "YEESSSS!" This is good news for me and my children (because they need not worry about carrying the mutation). A sigh of relief, for sure. I will continue to be on top of my health and yearly examinations as well as continue to be aware of the various symptoms of both breast and ovarian cancers.

Be sure to click on The Brest Cancer Site each day to donate a FREE mammograms!

Reeling in the last bits of summer....

MA Green clock in downtown Waterbury, CT/NH gals weekend/Spanky the rascal/CT gals weekend

I've had some serious fun this summer. August was just a busy as July and I put plenty o' miles on my V'dub this summer. The poor thing started sputtering and basically freaking out on me and I had to get er' fixed at good ole Montesi Volkswagen while in North Haven. I sat and knit the 4 1/2 hours I waited. One of the women who work there asked me about my knitting. It happened to be my orange Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. She had never heard of Knitty before and by the time I left the shop, she had already gone online and printed off 4 patterns for various stuff! She was so thankful and excited. She said she hadn't knit in a while and this got her juices flowin'! Gotta love unexpected knitting encounters!

So - back to my great summer. I'm a lucky gal - I had not ONE, but TWO 'girls weekends' in August. The first weekend of the month, I headed North to New Hampshire with my local crew, Kristen D, Maria C & Stacey O. We stayed at the condo of Stacey's father, Charlie. Nice spread - great views, beautiful pool and the air there....oh, so fresh and clean smelling. This was our first trip to NH together, but our 4th year getting away for a kid/spouse free weekend. This trip proved to be a great time. We left there with some hysterical phrases (for example: My biscuits are burnin') and a good time under our belts. These girls are good people.

The last week of the month, I headed down to Stamford, CT with my longtime gal pals, Gretchen M, Tara W and Laurie S. We had one missing due to sinus and back issues...yeah, YOU Jennifer C.! Tara booted her hubby and two tikes so we could take over her place with no distractions! You know, only getting together with these ladies a couple times a year, we wind up having a lot of catching up to do! We hoity toitied it up and had dinner at a very nice restaurant on the water, The Saltwater Grill. It was a very nice meal, but the best was eyein' all the flamboyant richies sitting out on the patio. I guess it's not a requirement to have good taste when you've got a lot of money! Some of the get ups were quite interesting. Tara had wanted to show us beauties off at her local tavern too, but we had enough libations flowing at her place, we never made it over there! "No, really - Tara does have friends!" Ah, she's got a picture to prove it!. We had a great time and are already thinking about where to get together next! They may be Boston bound for the next one!

Now it's September, school has started and life is falling back into the usual routines. We all were in need of our routines again. I'm back to working my two little jobs: laboratory technician in the Artavanis-Tsakonss Lab (check me out on the Lab Members tab) and retail diva at Raspberry Beret. Keepin' myself busy and helpin' the family pocketbook out at the same time! I've gotta get back to my knitting group this month too. I just gotta! I'm knitting things on my commutes and in the evenings again...so hangin' with my knitting pals would be a great addition to my "routine".

Enjoy!

July in a blur

July has brought plenty of road travel our way. We took respite on the shores of Lewes, Delaware, sojourned in exotic gardens and chilly shelter in North Haven, Connecticut, trekked to the Big Apple where heights and crowds were navigated and explored the exhilarating, though wet, amusements in Salem, NH.

Basically, we went to visit my parent's place in DE, where the kid's played in the sun and water every day. They hang out with cousins they haven't seen in years and were in bliss. We've also visited my in-laws in CT where my MIL takes great pride in her beautiful garden and my FIL likes a cool house. An added bonus there was seeing my husband's brother, his wife and their gorgeous 11mo old daughter. NYC was hit up for the Empire State Building (compliments of my BIL, Chris, who took my kids solo on that one) but more importantly, for a Yankee's game. (12-4 Yankees vs Twins - great game!) Plus we hit up Canobie Lake in NH with some friends in the rain. All this and July isn't even over yet!

I have been trying to get back into some kind of creative outlet - KNITTING, of course. I've started an Everlasting Bagstopper in orange after reading a couple of my friends from my knitting group have been blasting them out recently. I gotta say, I didn't pick it up and bust it out in a weekend like some of them. I'm slowly re-introducing myself to positive, enjoyable, self gratifying forms of enjoyment. I would say I'm not fully out of my recent stupor and it's having it's affect on my personal enjoyment. I have found a bunch of great knitting patterns on Ravelry and it's getting my juices flowing. Too bad I'm poor, I'd love to indulge in some luscious fibers and beautiful patterns. What I have in my stash will have to suffice for now.

I've still got fun to enjoy for the remaining summer. 2 separate "Girls Weekends" - one in NH with my local BFFs and another in CT with my childhood BFFs. There's also potential to see our B&SIL and baby again too. Plus, each of my babes have their own week in CT with my ILs while they attend a 7 day day camp. My daughter has already done her week, and it appears she greatly enjoyed being the "only child" so much that she's having a hard time dealing with a sibling again. But my son goes off for his week this coming weekend, so it'll be just her and I and she can soak up all the attention once again. It has been a strange experience only having one child at a time like that. I've never left just one at a time like this before. It's a nice break from the daily headache of having 2 kids going at each other all day long.

Enjoy!

suddenly summer

I haven't posted since March? What the heck have I been doing all this time? Well, I generally don't like to spread my misery - so I took a hiatus while I pissed an' moaned privately for a couple of months. Good enough, right? But, gee, considering I last posted about an amazing trip to Paris with my husband, it seems absurd to think I could be sulking about anything. But unfortunately, life deals shitty cards sometimes and I couldn't help myself from getting swallowed up. I'm not saying all is peachy and great, cuz' it's not - but I've accepted my situation and am trying my best to "deal with it". My only venting at the present time will be that the world of the sciences SUCKS! Doesn't matter if you've busted your ass for a decade bettering yourself and obtaining degree after degree - you simply don't get anywhere or anything for all the effort. It just isn't fair. There...I should feel better....nope, not yet:(


This is a beautiful CT native flower, Pink Lady's Slipper, we saw at Miller's Pond State Park in Durham, CT in May. The park ranger's there told us it's endangered. Isn't that just awful? If you see such a beauty, just take a picture, don't pick it - okay?

This Father's Day was lovely. We attended a brunch at Water's Edge in Westbrook, CT with some extended family. Notice the attempts at a "normal" smile as we face into the brightness? Not bad Mom & Dad, kids need some work. I must have eaten 2 pineapples and a cantalope that day! Thank goodness for elastic waists!

My kids are out of school and I've been suddenly thrust into summer. Funny though, it doesn't quite feel summery yet up here in Boston...I guess it'll come like a hammer one of these days. At least I'm saving on my electric bill and helping Mother Earth with the lack of air conditioning use...yay for me! Oh yeah, I'm quite the "earth friendly" natzi these days. Please help by doing a part in maintaining this planet we share. Here are 10 little things that you can do to help. I know I'd sure appreciate it!

This nice little shard of rock almost destroyed my teeth when I came within millimeters of chomping it along with the stewed tomatoes it was canned up with. Good thing I LOOK before I put things into my mouth! Don't worry - the company sent me LOTS of vouchers for FREE goods after showing them this one.