Happy ANniversary!!

I'm celebrating my 4th ANniversary today.  Life is good.

To celebrate, I'm working on my first (and possibly my only) one-woman show being produced at my local community theater.  It's one of those things that was on my bucket list before my surgery, and has been on ever since.

I've had all kinds of excuses why I couldn't (or shouldn't) do it.  But I am, and I will, and I'll have three performances on February 20, 25 and March 1.

I almost cancelled it.  I woke up Saturday morning and thought, I'm just not going to do this.  It's stupid, It's not going to be perfect, and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my friends and strangers. (Like that's ever stopped me before.)

Honestly, I was (am) scared.  But in the wise words of John Wayne, “Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway.”

A friend posted Ira Glass' "The Gap" video on Saturday, I'm telling you, it showed up at the perfect time.  I was just about ready to cancel!  But thanks to Mindy and Ira Glass, here I go, and thanks for your continued support and encouragement this year.  It's been great, the book, the ANA board appointment, meeting lots of amazing people in person and on line all over the world...

I'm a lucky woman!




(text of the video)
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

Empty Nesters

I cannot believe I am the only person happy to be an empty nester. I love my kids. I loved watching them grow up. I loved being around them and their friends and watching them become their own people, whether that included me or not. I'm just so proud of them both and happy that they appear to be on a path that will lead them to their goals and happiness.

Yes, I am realistic that shit will happen in their lives that no one will be happy about. Good experiences will be on that path as well, I expect, but at the end....I believe there will be no criminal activity in their future.

As a parent, can you/we not say that that is the minimum we would hope for??

....ok..when my kids pick their “career” I think the reward of their personal and professional experience is more important than the big celebrity/business powerhouse/public servant making a difference.

Of course I would hope also that there might be financial reward supporting a middle to upper class lifestyle.  

Monday Musings

I posted this “private message” on my Facebook status, on Facebook pages for the six AN groups I am proud to be part of. I'm also posting it on the Acoustic Neuroma Association Member Forum. And on my blog. Because some of you have been with me since the beginning, and some of you I have only met since starting on this journey.


I figure if you are reading this, then you are like me, a little voyeuristic (God I love spell-check.)


Through the ANA Forum, my CarePages, and the many Facebook Groups I have connected with since my diagnosis, I have been supported, and I hope, supportive.


I promised I would keep in touch with you. So, first of all, I want you, yes you, to know, that if you even considered coming to my book reading this week, I so appreciate you. Even if you didn't, just by reading this right now means you are still with me on this journey, and I appreciate you. If you don't know what I'm talking about and want to know, ask me.


And when (and if) I look out into that sea of 10-20 faces (?) and I don't see you, I know you'll be with me. And if there are faces in that sea that I don't recognize, I'll know they are there because your support and encouragement throughout brought me to this place.



Love.