Eureka!!

Today is a rare day. A day of happiness and accomplishment!! It didn't start out that way - a slight hangover after last night's Kings of Leon concert (well worth it though - they were bloody brilliant!!) and the prospect of my first solo attempt at filing taxes did not encourage me to leap out of bed.

After last year's tax traumas - a less than competent tax advisor, hours at her office while Peter asked the same questions 20 different ways, and a $10K tax bill - I was amazed to find myself back on the street after 40 minutes with only a couple of pieces of information to find, and the prospect of a little money back - hurrah!!

The main source of my unadulterated joy today, though, was the eureka moment when I came up with an idea for a novel. A really good idea, even if I do say so myself! I have wanted to write a fantasy novel for years but have never been able to come up with a theme or plot that hasn't either been done to death or just sounded lame.

But today it came to me, all shiny and glowing with potential! It started with a throwaway thought, and before I knew it I had a possible trilogy outlined in my head! I had to get out of the shower and find a notepad before I lost my train of thought - I barely had time to write each idea down before a new one came along, and I was literally shaking with excitement as I wrote!

It's still very early days and i know that it will take a lot of hard work to flesh it out and organise my thoughts into a coherent storyline, but this is it, folks! This is my story! This is my novel! I'm actually going to do this!!!

Watch this space for future updates ..... :-)

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

And now for a long overdue happy post!! Please allow me to introduce little Savannah, the latest addition to Clan Kavanagh!

About 10 days ago I got a cryptic call from my friend Rachel to say she had found a stray dog in our street playing with the traffic and could I come help as she didn't know what to do with her. Intrigued, I postponed my busy afternoon of back to back episodes of Boardwalk Empire and went to investigate. 

What I found was very sweet confused chihuahua with a ratty collar, no tags and claws that would have made Wolverine jealous! Not knowing what to do, we fashioned a makeshift leash and took her for a walk round the neighborhood to see if anyone recognized her or if she would recognize her home, but had no success. 

We thought for sure that when the after-work crowd hit the park at the end of the street to walk their dogs someone would recognize her as it is a very dog friendly area and everyone knows everyone, but no-one could help.

I offered to keep her overnight rather than taking her to a dog home, and we put up posters around the park and the neighborhood to see if anyone was looking for her. I certainly wasn't planning on keeping her at that stage, but as one night turned into five nights we started to bond and I began to think that maybe a puppy was just the distraction I need right now!

We kept the posters up over the weekend but got no response, and on the Monday I took her to the vet to see if she had a micro chip, which I was very happy to find that she did not! 

Despite the signs of neglect, she is really well behaved and has obviously had some training as we have had no toilet accidents in the house and she is (mostly) very calm and has quickly made herself at home. If I were to pick a dog for myself I probably wouldn't have chosen a chihuahua, but she has all the personality traits I would look for so we are a perfect match!

Having Savannah has been really good for me as she has put some structure back in my day and given me a purpose again. I am getting up at a reasonable hour instead of lying in bed til lunchtime, going to bed at a reasonable hour rather than staying up til 2 or 3am watching tv, getting out of the house 4 times a day where before days could go by before I saw outside, and she is wonderful company, whether we are just curled up on the sofa or chasing balls around the kitchen. She is without a doubt the best thing to happen to me this year!

Lousy timing though as I am off to Scotland tomorrow for three weeks! Luckily Rachel is a dog lover too and will be taking care of Savannah for most of my trip - thanks Rachel!! I am a little worried though, as by the time I get back she will have lived with Rachel for longer than she has lived with me and she might decide she prefers to stay!! I have told Rachel that I will be expecting regular Skype dates with my puppy while I am away, and I plan to leave a photo of me beside her bed so she doesn't forget about me!!!

Well, on that note I should probably go start on my packing as I am notorious for running around at the last minute throwing forgotten things into my suitcase, but I think we all know how I will really be spending my day ...... WOOF!!

(Re-posted from Adventures of a Puuurplemonster - 23rd February 2014)

Milestones

It's been a funny old month since I wrote last. There have been a lot of fun times peppered with some very quiet days with nothing to do and lots of time to dwell on my loss, and on these days it has been very hard to motivate myself to do anything positive or productive. I have also experienced the first of my Post-Peter milestones which were a bit strange but thankfully not as traumatic as they could have been. 

First up was my birthday at the beginning of the month. My wonderful friends made a huge effort to help me celebrate with a week full of activities, and while I definitely had a lot of fun it didn't really feel like a birthday without him. The best gift I received this year was a visit from my dear dear friends from Scotland, Lynsey & Kieran, and they provided a perfect distraction! It was so wonderful to have a chance to catch up with them properly, and we packed their week with lots of drinking and pizza and laughing, and sadly for Kieran a wee bout of food poisoning :-(

Next up was Valentine's Day. Now, Peter and I never really celebrated Valentine's Day - going out for dinner always seemed such a con as the restaurants were always over-booked serving over-priced restricted menus, so we would usually stay in and spend the money on a couple of nice steaks or a takeaway and a really good bottle of wine. Once again, though, I was fortunate enough to have a perfect distraction in the shape of the lovely Chika & Casey who came round to entertain me with some deeeelicious wine, and a small adorable stray chihuahua that Rachel had found playing with the traffic outside our complex and I had agreed to look after while we tried to find her owner (more on her later).

I won't lie, I did get a bit tipsy and weepy later on that night, but my new canine buddy did a grand job of cheering me up - it was quite hard to stay sad with that adorable face staring up at me!!

The third milestone was a less formal one and really caught me by surprise - my first concert without him. Last Thursday I went to see Imagine Dragons, and while they were bloody brilliant, it was hard to fully get into the night. My mind kept straying to how much he would have enjoyed it, how much I would like to have told him all about it when I got home, and then all the brilliant times that we had had at concerts together over the years. 

Randomly, the concert was the milestone that upset me the most, but I guess I'm going to have to get used to that as our life together was full of happy memories and fun times that we had together and unless I plan on becoming a hermit (nae chance!) I will come across more and more of these as the year goes on. Hopefully they will get easier, and perhaps I can at least be a little more prepared in future!

That's pretty much all I have to say for now. I think the puppy deserves a post all to herself so I will tell you all about her in a day or two - we're off to the vet tomorrow to get her checked out and make sure she is healthy so hopefully I will have happy news there! I will also post full details and directions for Peter's Scottish memorial, which is happening on Saturday March 1st, as soon as I have them confirmed. 

Right, I'm off to make some lunch. Catch y'all later!! x

(Re-posted from Adventures of a Puuurplemonster - 20th February 2014)

How am I doing ....?

A question I get asked several times a day is "how are you doing?", usually followed by "Oh that must be a stupid question!" But it's not a stupid question, it is a caring one, and I am grateful that I have so many friends who care.

It is a complex one though, and the answer can change on an hourly basis depending on my current  mood and activity. My responses, however, rarely vary from "Oh, I'm doing OK" or "Y'know, good days and bad" as it isn't always easy to elaborate (and sometimes I simply cant be arsed!)

So I thought I might try a little blog therapy and see if I can clarify, as much for myself as for my concerned friends. OK, here goes ......

I know I haven't fully come to terms with the loss, although I am painfully aware that my baby isn't coming back. There's a dullness, an emptiness that is always with me. I haven't just lost my husband. Ive lost my best friend, the man I have spent pretty much my entire adult life with. 

He was the man I shared everything with - the good and the bad. I feel frustrated when there are things that I want to tell him then remember that he isn't here. I still talk to him though - I wear his wedding ring and somehow that feels like he is still with me.

I feel the emptiness most when I have an evening to myself - not that I have had many of those since he passed! The days don't feel too bad as there is usually something to occupy myself. I'm trying to get back to the gym (although Ive only made it once!) and I've been trying to get back into my cooking (although I don't find myself home alone at dinner time very often) There is a lot of paperwork and companies that need to be notified of his death, but I try and spread those calls out as it is rather depressing having to explain over and over why I am calling. And of course, there is the everyday housework and laundry that doesn't stop just because I am grieving.

But the evenings can be very lonely. The novelty of being able to watch all my shite TV without being called a sadcase wears off quite quickly when I remember that he isn't out with friends or away on business. I always used to treasure a few days by myself to sit in my PJs all day and watch back to back episodes of Battlestar Galactica or Fringe or whatever else I couldn't get away with when he was around, but the pleasure was in knowing that he would be home soon and calling me a sadcase once more!

Ive lost the man that made me want to be a better person. Ive lost the man that gave me direction and gave me a reason to get up every morning. Ive never had much personal ambition, but Peter had more than enough for both of us and it was my pleasure and my privilege to stand by him and help him achieve his dreams.

I find myself quite lost as I try and decide what to do now. His final gift to me is the financial security and opportunity to choose my own future and do something for myself, although I have no idea what. The winner at the moment is something involving writing, but what kind (fiction, some kind of journalism, publishing, PR) I don't know, or even if this is a realistic option.

What I do know is that I want to stay here in sunny California as this is where we have both been happiest, and to leave would be to lose yet another part of him. But to stay here I will have to find a career that will allow me to maintain my current lifestyle and still be able to afford some of the little luxuries that make life over here so wonderful. If I cant do that then I would be better moving somewhere where the cost of living is lower and spending my vacations here - but we'll call that plan B for now!

Surprisingly though, even in these dark days there is a joy that I didn't think I would find. I spent the weekend with a few of our closest friends who are grieving almost as much as I. We shared so many stories and laughed so much that I realised that with the wealth of wonderful memories I have, I am the richest woman in the world! How lucky am I that he chose to spend his life with me?!?! I know that If I had the chance to go back to the night we met, in full knowledge that we would only have 15 years together, then I would do it all again in a heartbeat as 15 years with Peter is worth more than 50 with any other man, and I am glad that I was able to tell him that before he died.

At the weekend while laughing with our friends I also realised that, while there will always be a Peter shaped hole in the room and in my heart, there is a future for me where I can be happy. In truth, there has been a lot more laughter than tears over the last few weeks. A popular game has been "What would Peter say?" and that is always guaranteed to raise a smile!

There is also an undeniable comfort in knowing that my baby is at peace now. I knew for some time that I wasn't going to be allowed to keep him, and it was devastating to watch my powerhouse of a husband fade away and suffer as he did. Although I would sell my soul to have him back, and would have gladly nursed him for another 50 years if I'd been given the opportunity, I am happy that his release came sooner rather than later.

Well, that is probably enough for now. My apologies if this has been a bit long winded, but as I said at the start, this is as much for me as it is for you so deal with it! 

And know that if I tell you I'm doing OK, for now, I really am!

(Re-posted from Adventures of a Puuurplemonster - 22nd January 2014)

Part 1

Hello friends. So much has happened since I last wrote, most obviously the passing of my dear dear husband on the 4th.

As I had reported on New Year's Day, Hubby's breathing had started to deteriorate and while the changes that we made to his medications helped a little, by early that Saturday morning it was clear that something was wrong. 

I called the hospice around 8am to report the changes and they said they would get a nurse out to us, and I called his parents, who had arrived the week before and were staying at the end of the street, to let them know that Peter was asking for them.

I didn't think at this point that things would move so quickly, but as soon as I had hung up to his parents Peter told me that he knew his time was coming and we were able to tell each other how much we loved each other and say our final words. 

His parents arrived shortly after, and we had time to wake his sister, who had arrived the night before and was staying with my friend next door, and they too were able to say their final words, and we were all together when he passed away around 9am.

I cant even begin to describe the pain of feeling your soul mate take his final breath in your arms, and it is something that I think will haunt me forever. But there is also comfort in knowing that he no longer suffers. He was so terribly ill in his last few weeks, and he suffered more than I could bear to watch at times. 

I have been blown away by the response online to Peter's passing. Very quickly both our Facebook pages were awash with messages of condolence, touching tributes and memories, and wonderful pictures, some of which I had not seen before. These all made me so proud to have been married to such an amazing and well loved and respected man, and they give me comfort still.

There is simply no way I can adequately thank my awesome army of friends who have supported me since that awful day. Within about 10 mins of his passing they started to arrive and they have been on hand ever since, either dragging me out when I need distraction or making sure I have space when I need down time. 

There are too many of you to name individually, but I hope you all know who you are and how grateful I am. 

I have to say a special thank you though to Katy, Cameron, Rachel & Heather for going above and beyond the call of duty. For taking care of all the paperwork and formalities, for all the time and effort you put into planning Peter's spectacular memorial, for giving me somewhere to stay until I was ready to stay at home again, for donating your guest rooms to overseas visitors, and for being there for me when I need you. I simply could not have survived the last two weeks without you and I love you all dearly.

That's probably enough for today. I will share more details about his memorial in the future once his parents have had their memorial for him in the UK, and I will let you see where we scattered his ashes once I have copies of the photos. 

And as always, I will share all the ups and downs and adventures that my new life brings me. It will be a much duller life, and most definitely not the life I would choose, but I intend to live it in a way that would make my husband proud!

I love you baby. Rest well xxx

(Re-posted from Adventures of a Puuurplemonster - 22nd January 2014)

When life hands you lemons .....

..... throw them back in the bastard's face and hope at least one bursts in his eyes!!!

As you may or may not have heard, life has recently handed us a big ole sack of lemons. My wonderful hubby has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer which started in his stomach and has spread to numerous other parts, including his liver, lungs and some bones, and as you can imagine, we are pretty fucking devastated about it!!

He had been having back problems all year which were diagnosed as arthritis in April and had been losing a shitload of weight which we had attributed to an ulcer caused by taking too much ibuprofen for the back pain. Sadly this was proven false after he was sent for an endoscopy while on holiday in the UK for his sister's wedding.

Anyhoo, here we are back in sunny California and dealing with a new future. He has started his chemo and is currently on round 2. He will be on a two weekly routine of one day at the chemo centre for a 4 hour infusion, followed by 48 hours of take home chemo, then 11 days to recover before the party starts all over again! This will go on for 6 months and then we will re-evaluate.

He seems to be recovering a lot quicker from this round of chemo which we are very relieved about, but the good painkillers are causing him a lot of digestive problems and it is hard to find the right balance. It is still early days though, and I am confident that we will figure it out soon!

All in all, we are staying pretty positive and doing our best to get on with it. I am so proud of how Hubby is dealing with it - I'm fairly sure I would have gone to pieces by now if it was me!! Luckily we have the best friends anyone could possibly hope to have, and they've been keeping an eye on both of us and have been absolute God-sends giving us lifts to all his appointments and making sure we have everything we need. There really aren't enough words to express how grateful we are to everyone and how lucky we are to have you all in our lives - if love and support cured cancer then Hubby would be cured already with bags to spare!!

Our oncologist has said that he should start feeling an improvement in 3 to 4 cycles so hopefully in another month or so he will start feeling a bit better and be able to get out and about a bit more -  I bloody hope so as he will be off work for the next 5 or 6 months and it will be rather intense if the two of us are stuck in the house together the whole time!! On that note, if anyone has any suggestions for Hubbyish books, movies, games, hobbies or other pass times we would LOVE to hear them - he is not used to being house bound and I suspect it wont be long til the boredom kicks in!!

On a happier note, today is our 12th wedding anniversary - hurrah! We wont be celebrating with our usual fancy meal out, but that hasn't stopped me dressing up (who says I cant sit around the house in a leopard print dress and wedges with spikes?!?! ;-) ) and we will be making a nice romantic dinner to have at home. You can expect to hear about that tomorrow ...

A wee silver lining (sometimes you have to really dig deep to find one, but when you do you should grab it!!!) is that Hubby needs some serious feeding up and that will let me indulge in my hobby - cooking and baking!! Although we do have the unfortunate situation where Hubby is trying to gain weight while I am trying (as always!) to lose some, yet I seem to be the one eating most of the goodies! Bah!!

Well, that's probably enough for you to digest for now! I will be posting updates about Hubby's treatments and general health and adventures here, and please feel free to ask any questions or post any messages for him - I will be sure to pass them on!!

Laters .... xxx

(Re-posted from Adventures of a Puuurplemoster - 28th July 2013)

Introductions

Hello! My name is Andrea. I was born and bred in Scotland but have lived in San Jose, California for 3 years. I am 5ft 5 and my star sign is Aquarius. I am 36 years old and this year I became a widow.

In July last year my beloved husband of 12 years was diagnosed with stage 4 GI cancer, and 6 short months later he lost his fight. He was only 35.

I now face a future which, quite frankly, scares the shit out of me! This blog will be a continuation of a series I began on my other blog, Adventures of a Puuurplemonster Abroad, where I keep my friends and family updated on how I'm doing, and also work through the challenges that I now face - my therapy, if you will.

I will re-post the relevant entries from my other blog here, in case I have picked up any new readers who aren't up to date, and get a new update to you very very soon!