My Anniversary Gift

 If you've met me or been reading this blog in holidays past this will not come as a surprise to you: I hate Christmas.

Actually, it's much deeper than that. I loathe the entire month of December, right up to Christmas (oddly, I'm okay with the 26th through the 31st). I'd give you the whole long, sad saga of why but there's no need to bring you down too. (Let's just say it includes deaths, a coma and cancers--please note the plurals. And please return to your happy holiday celebrations as though you never read that.)

December 23rd is a particularly bad day historically, so I hesitate to write this before the day is completely over. But, I feel I must acknowledge...it was 3 years ago today I got the "highly suspicious of malignancy" phone call from my doctor. That statement was followed by "you need to see a surgeon and have the mass removed; not even a biopsy, just have the surgery." Oh, and that call came at 3:45pm. Merry, merry...uh, quite the contrary.

That was, however, 3 years ago. I'm fine now. Scar is faded, mammograms are clear, hair is grown back and chemo weight gain is finally gone (yeah, it took 3 years; whatever. ).  And dare I say it--I've had a very nice quiet day at home. I've been rewriting, and rewriting and rewriting the memoir (due to my editor in a mere 12 days!) while sitting by the fire with Seamus for most of the day. (Chris is busy at his new wine shop.) It's been, actually, unbelievably, a pretty nice day...but it makes me nervous to say that (lightening will strike soon). And while I'm still not up for celebrating Christmas or any other winter holiday, I have gifts for you. Let's just call them anniversary gifts, shall we?

As my gift to you, I'd like to share some blogs that make me happy. Blogs that cheer me. Blogs that are just so freakin' cute. (Although I follow many cancer blogs, none are listed here...I have a certain mood to maintain!). And as you know, the things that make me happy involve my alphabet life (alcohol, books, coffee and dogs). So please enjoy:

From Sophie's View (please don't tell Seamus I said this, but this is one gorgeous dog who has one fantabulous life)

Mutterings (watch this video in particular; it's so good it almost made me like Christmas!)

Going Gently (in my next life, I want to come back as one of his animals/ pets/ housemates. And only now that I had to grab that URL for you did I see that his URL is disasterfilm.blogspot.com, which gives you an idea of the humor)

Luna, A Dog's Life  (she's a beagle puppy...and if that's not cute enough, she lives in Australia with her two doting daddies who teach her all sorts of tricks.)

Coffee With a Canine (Coffee. With a Canine. Are you kidding me? How does it get better? --well, I'm holding out for Wine with a Canine....but in the meantime, I'm good with this.)

Sara in Le Petit Village (Sara is married to a French guy, has a great dog named Fifty, lives in a postcard French Village and has a terrific sense of humor; I'd hate her if I didn't enjoy her blog so much. And the fact that I won a book called "Dog Trots Globe" on her blog this week? That's just icing on the cake...or the croissant. Whatever.)

Greetings From Texas (Megan is, as her blog says, a "professional blogger, amateur Texan," she also just happens to be a young ovarian cancer survivor with a great sense of humor...and fashion!; This does not mean I lied about no cancer blogs being listed here...this is not a cancer blog. If it was, I might never have found out about UV Cake Vodka.)

And finally...

I Shoulda Been a Stripper  (I guess with that title I don't need to tell you she's funny. But it's worth noting she has two beagles. Which also means she's hip and smart. No, it does. It totally means that.)

And just as a side note, because it's worth sharing should this ever apply to you: American Dog magazine recently posted an article on where to get help paying vet bills if you need it. Now that's something that could really be a gift.

I'm dangerously close to being all perky and holiday happyish here and we do not want to tempt fate. So, let me hasten to add...

Bah, Humbug!!
And to all a goodnight.

My Alphabet Life

 I haven't been blogging as much lately. I'm sure you've noticed. (Um, why no, no you haven't?) And there's a reason for that. I think.

Next Wednesday I head into UCLA for a check-up. July 19th marked my two year anniversary of completing breast cancer treatment. (Yes, yes, I should have gone for an appointment then...did I not mention the epic wine tour we were on?? Also, I wanted to get my left and right breast on the same mammogram schedule, which required the right one to wait until insurance deemed the left one worthy. Crazy, but true.) I'm not stressing about this check-up. In fact in the last few months, more than ever, I feel like I've moved on. I'm back to "normal" and I don't even feel like it's a "new normal."  It's just me. Yes, I know, the cancer could recur (why people feel the need to remind me of this is beyond me--who could forget that???) but I choose not to focus on that. I'm still involved in The Pink Ribbon Place and getting more involved with the American Cancer Society and I'll talk to and support just about anybody else on that cancer odyssey. But....I kinda don't wanna blog about it anymore. My world is bigger than my right breast and I'd like to focus on the "bigger than" part.

So here's the deal. I'll probably give my personal BC updates from time to time. I'll mention the goings on at the pink ribbon place and maybe even interesting articles or books or some such dealing with breast cancer. But it won't be the focus. Instead, I'm going to focus on what I thought I'd be focusing on after my divorce. See, back then (almost eight years ago) I'd decided I wasn't any good at relationships and I was really tired of other people's crap relationships so my world was going to consist of B,C and D. Books, Coffee and Dogs. Then a friend reminded me that I wasn't likely to make it without  Alcohol "Adult Beverages."  My Alphabet Life was born. A(dult Beverages), B(ooks), C(offee) and D(ogs)! Perfect!

Well, Chris had other ideas on the whole relationship thing (he's so smart), but I had a pretty good basis for my new life. I think it will work for my new blogging life now too. If you continue to check in, you'll find musings on wine, books (and writing), coffee (and Chris) and dogs. Occasionally the "B" might be for Breast and the "C" might be for cancer, but...maybe not. I find my own self reading less of the breast cancer blogs and more of the dog, food, wine, writing, book blogs...and that's a pretty good sign of the direction I'm going. Away from cancer. I love to travel and I'm traveling on.

I'm keeping the blog name though. After all, Seamus is the great inspiration for living life.  I'm going to refrain, however, from re-designing messing with the look and layout of the blog though...at least until I've made some progress with this alphabet life blogging (I mentioned my past issues with relationships, no?).
My blogging goal this week is to be well launched into the "A" portion of the alphabet with a day-by-day review of our epic mother of all wineapallooza trips. One post a day for 12 days. Can I do it? Probably not! But we'll give it a shot. Also, as wineries and dogs seem to go together like hot summer days and rose' wines, you'll meet a few of the dogs we met along the way too.  And just to throw in a little "B"--I'm completely obsessed with author Lionel Shriver right now. I've read three of her books right in a row and I can't get over how brilliant she is (I finished "The Female of the Species" in the middle of the night last night). So you can expect more of that too.

Do you know your ABC's??  (That's rhetorical...although apparently the cool thing to do when blogging is ask a question at the end...presumably to elicit comments. So, sure, go ahead and give me your ABC list.)

Coffee With a Canine

I'm interviewed (mostly about Seamus, duh. Winning!) over at Coffee with a Canine. I love this blog. Here's a part from the interview:

How were you and Seamus united?

I love the term "united." It's quite accurate. Seven years ago I went through a divorce and moved with my two old beagles to a townhome. Within five months of moving, both dogs had passed away. I was, needless to say, devastated. I went on a trip to Ireland with my brother and a cousin and when I came home the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center, where I'd been a board member and volunteer for over 15 years, called to let me know they had a beagle in need of a home. I thought that I probably shouldn't get a beagle again since I was single, working a lot and living in a townhome with not a big yard. But I went to see the dog. And we all know what happens next. Caution....meet wind. The beagle was adorable and unusually colored--really red. He also made me laugh a lot. I named him after a cousin in Ireland that was...yeah, you got it, red-haired and really funny (not so unusual in Ireland).

Go check out the whole thing and many other great dog & coffee stories at Coffee With a Canine.   And have a good morning.