I'm back!

One of the best Christmas Presents Ever!

My sister-in-law Darlene and her husband Mike Scafiddi got all of the cousins matching personalized Christmas jammies! The kids (okay, the oldest is now 30 and Chloe is the "baby" and a freshman in high school) had a fabulous time modeling them for pictures. These pictures were taken at the annual Christmas Eve Seafood Fest. My brother-in-law Jonathan and his wife Yolanda host it; there are usually about  50 people there: The Gomez Family (Yolie's family), The West Coast Daly Family and lots of others who are now family, including my and Greg's very special friend, Eric Reasons and his family. We missed his wife, Chantelle who was in Quebec with her family but we were blessed to have ER and Roni join us.

Christmas is always a difficult time for me. I wrote and deleted something that was too much of a downer. Just leave it at I very, very much miss the irreplaceable Rosie and Bill in the Fall and Winter. Our birthdays, Thanksgiving, and so, so many Christmas memories. Why God did you have to take them at this time?

Just to quickly share one of my Christmas memories. One of the things that my Dad and I used to do was to walk around downtown San Francisco on Sunday afternoons. The stores were closed; He had the most beautiful long fingers and I used to wrap my little girl fingers around his baby finger so he would know where I was. We would walk for  blocks, looking at all of the window fronts. So beautiful. He not only taught me to dream but to strive for what I wanted.

My Mother loved Christmas. For her, it was all about the kids. Any gathering that we went to, every child was getting a gift. The gifts weren't anything major, just a little something to bring a smile to the child's face. I have tried to carry on this tradition. I drive Greg and Rory crazy because I always have several kids' gifts in my trunk during Christmas: just in case!

My tradition: I still buy my parents a Christmas gift. Every year, I find someone or some organization that needs. I give/buy what I would have given my parents. You would be amazed. It always reveals itself. This year it was Gift of Love: gifts for women and their children that  are in domestic violence shelters.

One of the things that I have learned over the 19 years that I have been prosecuting domestic violence cases. It takes an amazing amount of courage to enter a domestic violence shelter. Kudos to my Women!

I don't go to Mass every Sunday but I am still Catholic. Jesus is still very much the reason for this season. I hope that all of you enjoy this very special time with your family, friends, and other loved ones. Life is like the flame on a candle; with no warning, it could be blown out. So, please enjoy life and those around you!

Michele

Where Have I Been?!

So much has happened since I last posted. Rory graduated from UCLA and has just started his second year of law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. It has been very different having him all the way in the City as opposed to Los Angeles. Even though we didn't drive in to see him very often, and in his last two years, he didn't come home other than holidays, birthdays, and the summer, I always knew that he was just an hour away. Now he is 500 miles away. The plane ride may be an hour, but I would have to make reservations and then get to the airport here and from the airport there. It seems so much farther. But, I'm glad that he is getting to spend some quality time with my sis and her family, in my hometown.

Recently Greg and I went to the Foothill Aids Project fundraiser. It was held at a beautiful restored hacienda home in Upland. I would love to live there. One of the booths was a woman who did airbrushed tattoos. In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we got matching pink ribbon tattoos. I won three hours of the artist's services in the silent auction. I talked to her and she is going to come and do tattoos at the Power of Pink party 2010. Should be fun!

Michele

Curly Hair

I recently reconnected with a friend from St. Emydius on FaceBook. She posted a picture of me and another classmate on her wall. I very vainly PhotoShopped out the classmate so I could focus on me. I am standing by the wall of the gym. I remember this little girl. She was mischevious and about 7 years old. Recognize the Jackie O style of her dress coat? Her curly hair was the bane of her mother's existence. Every morning her mother would brush her hair and if it was Sunday or a special event, add a headband. If if was a school day, she would put it in a ponytail or in pigtails and brush the tail around her finger, forming a ringlet. And everyday, the little girl would come home with her curls having broken free. Her mother used to say that she looked like the "Wolfman" when she came home.

I hated my curly hair, especially as we got deeper into the '60's and early '70's. The style was long straight hair with a part in the middle. In foggy San Francisco, that style was just not happening for those of us with curly hair. My mother would not let me straighten my hair or iron it. I had to do my best to straighten it by setting it on orange juice cans or the largest rollers I could find. I would brush it out and put on a scarf, tying it as tight as I could. Just before I got to school or church, I would whip off the scarf. My hair would stay straight for about 15 minutes. Then the waves started to appear. After about an hour, the ringlets had taken over, heading off in every direction.

Decades later, I have come to accept my curls. For many, many years I did my best to discourage them by wearing my hair short. My hair is now the longest that it has been since high school graduation. Two years ago, when I thought I was going to have to have chemo, I had my stylist LaMonte cut my hair very short. I was blessed not to have to undergo chemo and other than trims, I have not cut my hair since. My hair and I have finally made peace. It still has a life of its own but I enjoy its freedom. Two weeks ago, I was at Victoria Gardens with my friend, Lianne. I saw a fun plum colored headband with a large suede rose. It looked great nestled in my curls. I modeled it for a while and then put it back, thinking I didn't know when I would wear it. The little girl in the picture would know when to wear it: anytime she felt like it. I hope it still in the store when I get there.

Copic Certification

This past Friday I got to do something that I had really been wanting to do. I became a certified Copic Marker Designer. That fancy title means that I went to a daylong training and learned to use Copic Markers. The training was held in Anaheim, so that folks who were in town for the CHA Trade Show and Convention could attend. I got up early and toodled down to Anaheim, arriving a little before 9:00 a.m. I was alone, but not for long. The group of women at my table were very friendly and fun. I kept thinking that three of them looked very familiar. They were the owner and two workers from Stampers Warehouse in Danville, CA. It turns out that we took a Tim Holtz class together at another trade show that I went to with Cynthia in April. Another one of the women works at Scrappin' in the Hills, a scrapbook store in Anaheim Hills that I went to with Cynthia and Suzanne when we did the ShopHop. One of my fav customers was also there. I ate lunch with her and her friend. Some of the ladies brought cards that they had colored with their Copics: great work that gave me inspiration.

It took me over two hours to drive home from Anaheim, a trip that with decent weather and traffic usually takes about half an hour. But despite the bumper to bumper traffic in inclement weather, I would do it again. I came home and ran to the table to play with my Copic markers.

Thoughts as we enter October

I can't believe that it is October already. October is a special month for me. It is my birthday month and also my cancer survival birthday month. I celebrate these two special days three days apart. It will be two years of survival. Each day is a gift from God. That is truly the lesson to be learned as one battles cancer. Focus on doing one's best each day because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Telling your loved ones that you care as often as possible and letting go of petty annoyances.

I returned to teaching in late August. I have a big class this year: over 30 students! It is amazing how adding 5 or 6 bodies to a classroom makes it feel so much more crowded. It has been harder for me to learn my students names. I blame it on the size of the class but it may also be that I'm having more senior moments. They are a good group of students; they participate in class discussions and demonstrate that they have done the reading before they come to class. It makes it a better experience for all of us.

The Power of Pink Project is going along well. The backroom of Stamp Your Heart Out is overflowing with pink scarves and there are more coming. We will be collecting for two more weeks. I don't know if we will make our goal of 1000 but I'm estimating that we have over 500 now. We are getting some very cool donations for the silent auction. Cheryl, a woman that I work with, is making two stain glass pieces with the pink ribbon. She showed me one in progress and it is beautiful! My friend Marylinn Kelly donated the artwork at the top of the blog. I had it made into magnets. We will be tucking a magnet into each bag with the scarves and give one to our knitters and crocheters. I love this artwork. The woman says to me that she is on the journey of breast cancer but she is at peace with herself. One has to feel positive in order to fight cancer.

I found a great poem on cancer that I want to share:

What cancer cannot do:
corrode faith
shatter hope
destroy peace
silence courage
invade the soul
steal eternal life
conquer the spirit
cripple love
kill friendship
suppress memories

I am wearing a bracelet that has this poem to help me remember. I have had cancer, but cancer does not have me.

Play it forward,

Please support my sister

My sister Lynda is doing the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in San Francisco next month. She is close but needs our support to meet her goal. She is walking in honor of me. I was diagnosed in October 2006, 3 days before my 50th birthday. It was a challenging road but I survived due to the loving support of many people: my husband and my son, my sister and her family, my Stamp Your Heart Out family, my San Bernardino County Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse family (my support went well beyond the District Attorney's Office: judges, courtroom staff, the Public Defender's Office, private attorneys, the interpreters, members of law enforcement, victims, the clerk's office, and so many more), my Stamp Your Heart Out family (staff, teachers, and customers, especially Pat Simpson), University of La Verne, College of Law family (faculty, staff and students: Dave G., you know you will always be special), and last but definitely not least, my Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center family (every breast cancer patient should have Martha Osborne in her life. She is an angel. We just can't see her wings).

I had dark days but I never lost hope because of all of the support that Greg, Rory, and I received from so many people. That which doesn't defeat you makes you stronger. Battling breast cancer has made me a stronger and better person. Please help my sister and I help other women who are fighting this disease. Check out her personal page. You get to giggle at a picture of me when the two of us when I was twelve and she was four. Please copy the following link into your browser. If you have problems with it, email me.

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2008/SanFrancisco?px=3938318&pg
=personal&fr_id=1480&et=VG_E_pLhfDK_zeaGw3iZig..&s_tafId=271867