My New Niece and San Diego Which Means I got into Project Lead!

My baby niece Hana Sierra Sirard was born July 19, 2012 around 5:30pm at NAMC.  Both mama and baby are doing well.  Everything worked out well.  I picked up my mom from the airport on Wednesday and Hana was born on Thursday.  I’m so glad I got a chance to see her because I was afraid I was going to be in SD during that time.  I was able to see her on Friday too. 

Lori who was my roommate, study partner and partner in crime.

8 out of 12 months or 2/3 of the year completed.  I just returned from completing NBCC’s Project Lead.  Over 200 people applied and only 60 got in.  I’m proud to say that I’m now a Project Lead Graduate.  Just a reminder that Project Lead was created to educate and craft strong breast cancer advocates to make a difference in this world.  Don’t’ forget that Herceptin was pushed through and approved by the FDA a few years before it would have because of the work of NBCC.  I was able to have Herceptin in 2006.  My head is still spinning from everything that I learned and from all the people that I met but it all will sink in with time.  I think there were about six BRCA ladies there.  I’m feeling more and more passionate about the work I’m doing with my case.  We’re hoping a decision will be made within the next few months. 

Overall, I’m doing fairly well with my goals.  I can even say that I’ve slacked off on my bucket list but I did something in San Diego that was not on my bucket list but is bucket list worthy.  Therefore I will add it on there so I can officially cross it off. 

I am not a spontaneous person.  I lack that a great deal and I’m working on improving upon it.  On 7/26/2012 Thursday about 4pm PST I went paragliding!  I remember arriving at SD and walking to Black Beach.  I saw people surfing and paragliding.  I was thinking that people there were nuts for doing either of those.  Surfing is obvious since I’m scared of open water.  As you may remember, swimming in 6ft pool was one of my goals but I found out I’m allergic to a cleaning agent.  I’m not a strong swimmer but I’ve come a long way.  Open water of course terrifies me.  Then there are heights.  I never thought I would sky dive, paraglide or anything of the.  Well, we got a 3 hour block off during the day from our training.  Some people planned to paraglide, some to go to La Jolla downtown and our group thought about the Safari tour.  The safari tour didn’t seem that great on the web and some of us went to La Jolla downtown earlier.  Would I consider paragliding?  Definitely not on my own!  I flip flopped back and forth and even searched injury/deaths and was trying to calculate ratios.  Eventually I decided that I would do it unless the weather was not optimal.  Not optimal weather would mean the weather gods didn’t want me to go. 

I got there early to see the ease of people taking off and landing really helped ease my mind about the safety of paragliding.  People landed so gently, nothing like the landings of parachuting.  We did this tandem so a pilot really did all the work.  My pilot was Steve from Austin.  He was calm and cool and got us walking towards the cliff and once we were up in the air I was no longer nervous.  It was surreal and so zen up there!  I was able to see the entire coastline of La Jolla and the beautiful multimillion dollar homes.  It was breathtaking and so calm!  Steve even let me “drive” us.  He taught me how to turn left and right.  He even had me turn 360 both ways and our hanger was angled about 45 degrees and I would see the bottom of the beach perfectly.  It was scary but so amazing at the same time.  My hands were sweaty so I was so scared of accidently letting go and killing the two of us.  I have no regrets doing it and I’m proud of myself.  I’m going to try to force myself to truly get out of my comfort zone more often.  I’ve been saying I’ll be more spontaneous and that is applying to going out on an unplanned outing…ummm…much different from this.  I’m going to do it.  I’ve thought a great deal about my mortality since my diagnosis at 28 so why not actually LIVE?  If I die I can die living!   

San Diego was wonderful!  I was able to walk and to lay out at Black Beach, even if it was only for an hour.  I was able to walk through UCSD.  I went to the Cove and La Jolla downtown.  I spent time with my BFF Maria and her family at La Jolla Beach and Regents Pizza near campus.  Yum!  I may not make it home this Christmas because of little Hana so it was good seeing her again.

Nikki is someone I knew from middle school and was much closer with her in middle school but we connected again on FB.  (What did we do prior to FB?)  Anyway, she saw I was in SD so we got together.  I met her adorable daughter Riley and we went hiking at Torrey Pines Park.  Darn chemo brain because I don’t remember if that is where Abby took Shell and I back in 2002 when I was last there for spring break.  Anyway, it was the perfect way to end my last day in SD because I was able to exercise, enjoy the amazing weather and to enjoy the beauty of SD.  She seems to be doing really well and I’m so happy for her.  We had lunch at Old Town before I departed.  Crazy because when I was in DC I saw Sue and Shala and both were from FB.  Maria and I of course coordinated earlier but such pleasant surprises! 

I’m been out of town a great deal the last few months.  I’ve enjoyed it a great deal but I’m ready to stay put and get my life in Austin in gear.  I have the Brain Power 5K coming up in September.  I’m now volunteering with the Saheli group.  They focus on domestic violence for Asian women.  They have a White Crane Gala in October that I am attempting to help them with and will be able to once I get caught up with work.  Of course I have the Mamma Jamma Ride coming up but the training rides are easy because I doubt I’ll do over 30 to 35 miles.  Training for that I’ll still be able to do 45 on ride day.  Of course then I have my own personal life.  I’m now a new Aunt, I have my friends and I have my love life I’ve been meaning to work on.  Between all that, I want to be the change I see in this world with my volunteer work and then I need to push myself in my actual job.  I’ve been with my job for over five years now so it’s a good time for reflection.  Remember to begin with the end in mind!