Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase. - MLK, Jr.
Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway. - John Wayne
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Catching Up

I’ve been neglecting my blog since I started working again and am moving on to a “normal” life again. September 27th I started work at Ultra Clean Technology in Austin. Currently I’m the NPI buyer responsible for engineering projects. It is more stressful that I had hoped for. Originally I was hired to be the indirect buyer for all of the locations worldwide, but after only 3 days my trainer ran off with her girlfriend to Equador. She quit via text message. Needless to say it has been a crazy couple of months. October 25th I had my first post-treatment checkup with Dr. Gonzales. It went very well. She was really excited and I think really glad to have a good outcome to report. I took a bone density exam and my bones did not degrade from the chemo – YEA! We took off for Houston on Saturday, and took a field trip to the St. Arnold brewery with Sarah. We had a blast, and found a great new place to hang out on a Saturday in H-town.




 Sarah in front of the brewery.






 Who could resist sitting in this cool car??




 Enjoying our free beers!









 St. Arnold







On November 6th we participated in the Wurstride with our friends Tim and Amy. It was 100 km ride from Austin to New Braunfels with free beer and sausage at the finish line. After stuffing ourselves we made our way over to Wurstfest and shared beer while dipping our toes in the Comal River.




Still smiling at the second rest stop in Uhland.



The BEST Wurst Ride in Texas.



Tim, Amy, and Rachel at the halfway point.  It was a cold morning.


Wayne, exhausted from the ride, sleeps peacefully in the grass by the river.




We waited all year for this!







Monday we headed back to MD Anderson for my final appointment with Dr. Chang before getting my expanders replaced. Tuesday I got my new fake boobies. They are smaller than the expanders, and soft like real ones. They don’t push against my ribs and make it difficult to breathe. I think I can live with these.