Author: edebock

Fighting the third enemy

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On February 7, shortly before our trip to Mexico, I had routine PET and CT scans to check on my neuroendocrine tumours (NETS). Diagnosed in September 2013, they are Enemy #1. NETS is a little known, slow growing cancer that’s usually considered incurable. Fortunately, in my case, treatment has been successful in shrinking the tumours and controlling the symptoms related to the hormones that they produce. For the most part, I feel 100% healthy and I’m able to lead a normal life.

Enemy #2 was a second completely unrelated cancer discovered in one of my salivary glands in March 2014. After seven hours of surgery and six weeks of radiation it was gone.

So what is Enemy #3?

Fear is not usually part of my vocabulary. I’ve placed my life in the hands of the creator of the universe and I trust Him completely. For the most part, I’ve held onto His promises to take care of me and I’ve experienced great peace, but there is an adversary who does his best to shake that confidence. He, or at least the anxiety that he instills, is Enemy #3.

Anxiety often begins as a little thing, but it feeds on itself. That’s what happened to me over the past couple of months and by this morning, when the phone finally rang to give me the results of last month’s scans, I was approaching a full-blown case of scanxiety.

When you have or have had cancer, it’s easy to start second guessing every ache or twinge and wondering if it’s related, if it’s a sign that something’s going wrong. That’s what happened this time. Back in January, I had a cold. It wasn’t even a particularly bad cold. It started in my sinuses, moved briefly into my ears and then settled in the lymph nodes in my neck. I knew that that’s a pretty normal scenario and that it can take awhile for the swelling and discomfort to dissipate, but I began to worry. When I’m stressed or anxious, I carry the tension in my jaw, neck and shoulders. I’m sure that that didn’t help. Add to that the fact that even almost three years after surgery, nerve damage to my face and neck is still gradually repairing itself. Sensations are constantly changing and feeling is returning where only numbness has been. I don’t even know what my neck is supposed to feel like anymore! Foolishly, I started wondering if maybe I was actually experiencing a recurrence of Enemy #2. Logically, I knew that that wasn’t the case, but Enemy #3 is insidious, sneaking doubts in where they don’t belong.

Then came Mexico. I relaxed, had a wonderful time and forgot all about my neck! On the way home, we spent a couple of days with grandchildren. The two year old, who attaches himself to me like velcro, had a nasty cold. Not surprisingly, I started to experience minor cold symptoms again and with them came a recurrence of the swelling in my neck. Enemy #3 started to poke and prod again.

Long story short, however, this morning’s phone call brought good news. Enemy #1 is still entirely stable. There’s been no growth or spread of my neuroendocrine tumours. Better yet, there’s absolutely no sign of Enemy #2; nothing unusual growing in my neck!

What a relief! Regardless of how weird my neck might feel, I can get on with living life. I will continue hanging on and not let Enemy #3 overcome me!

 

Shopping Sue’s closet

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logoMy sister-in-law, Sue, loves to shop and has a larger clothing budget than I do. She has excellent taste and knows what looks good on her. Many of the sales clerks in her favourite mall know her by name and are familiar with her personal style. I am often the lucky beneficiary!

As a child I didn’t wear hand-me-downs, not because we were well off or because I didn’t want to, but because I was the oldest daughter in the family and had only one female cousin who is ten years older than me. There wasn’t anyone to hand clothing down to me. As an adult, however, and a frugal fashionista, I am more than happy to wear pre-owned clothing, especially Sue’s! Though I’m taller, we are very similar in size and can usually wear one another’s clothes without alteration. Though Sue tends to wear dramatic colours (she says I need more colour in my wardrobe!) and I favour neutrals, we have similar taste in clothing and we love to shop together.

Last month, we got together for our annual girls day out… lunch and shopping. Though I bought a couple of items, most of what I came home with came from Sue’s closets! Before I arrived for the weekend, she had done a major closet purge and I was met with several large bags of clothing to sort through and try on. What fun! I came away with one dress, one skirt, four sweaters, three golf shirts (like me, Sue is an avid golfer), three dressier tops, a warm fleece pullover and two handbags. That was just a tiny fraction of what was in the bags which then went to my daughter and, after she chose the items she wanted, to a thrift store.

Here’s my favourite item from Sue’s most recent castoffs. I love its loose fitting blouson style. With elastic at the hem, it’s great at camouflaging a midsection bulge and the colours coordinate with so much that is already in my wardrobe. I know I’ll wear this one a lot especially when the weather gets warmer.

This is far from the first time that I’ve benefitted from Sue’s extensive wardrobe and her generosity. In the past, she has also acquired a few items from me, but I’m a minimalist in comparison, so her gain has not been as great as mine. Shopping Sue’s closet started me thinking about clothing swaps in general. I’ve never taken part in a clothing swap party, but I’ve been reading up on the idea and I’ll share what I’ve learned next week on Fashion Friday. See you then!

Seven hours in Vegas

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When you travel with Air Miles you don’t always have the choice of the shortest or most direct flights and sometimes that’s okay. When we flew to Mexico on February 9th, we left Calgary at 10:25 AM and after a two hour layover in Houston, arrived in Mexico City at 7:50 PM local time. Yesterday’s return trip was a lot longer, but also much more fun.

It was 5:15 AM when the alarm clock rang in our Mexico City hotel room. Forty-five minutes later we were in a taxi on our way to the airport. After being in the air for four hours and crossing two time zones, we touched down in Las Vegas at noon. Our connecting flight didn’t leave until 7:20 PM. We had seven hours to kill in Vegas!

After claiming our suitcase and passing through US Immigration and Customs in record time, we rechecked the luggage and caught a cab. I had the driver drop us at the Excalibur, close to one end of the famous Las Vegas Strip, where I stayed in November 2014 with the Rav4.

This was Richard’s first taste of Vegas. We started by dropping into the Excalibur’s lobby casino to try out a few of the penny machines. I soon turned my dollar into $2.50, but Richard lost his and it was time to head out and explore Sin City, USA! It was much chillier than my previous visit, but that didn’t seem to put a dent in the happy crowds strolling up and down the Strip enjoying its shops, restaurants and street performers. We joined them, stopping at Tom’s Urban for a late lunch.

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Continuing our walk, we arrived at the Bellagio just in time to watch the famed fountain show and then went inside to see the spectacular Chinese New Year display in the opulent hotel’s conservatory.

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Crossing the Strip, we made our way back to the Excalibur where we spent another half hour on the machines before catching a cab back to the airport. Seven hours in Vegas was definitely the best layover we’ve had in all our travels!

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Stripes and other trends for spring and summer

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logoMy oldest son was born on February 21st. That was back in the day when they kept you in the hospital for a full week following a c-section. Though 37 years have come and gone, I clearly remember entering the hospital in the depths of an Alberta winter and coming out a week later into what felt like the beginnings of spring. Of course, we saw more of winter before it finally relinquished it’s icy grip, but ever since that year, as the end of February approaches, I begin to think that spring must be on its way.

What does that have to do with fashion, you ask? It will be awhile before those of us living this far north can begin switching over to our warm weather wardrobes, but it’s time to start thinking about the trends. What’s new for spring and summer 2017?

My favourite trend for the coming season is stripes! Stripes were all over the spring and summer catwalks in every form you could imagine. Horizontal, vertical and diagonal stripes; stripes of all colours and sizes; broad bands of colour and skinny hypnotic stripes. There were striped t-shirts, striped pants, striped dresses, striped swimsuits, even handbags and shoes with stripes. Stripes everywhere!

There’s nothing really new about stripes which is one of the reasons that I’m happy about the trend. I already have a couple of classic striped tees in my closet as well as my Ernest Tee from cabi and the striped swimsuit that I bought last summer. I don’t even have to go shopping to be on trend!

If stripes aren’t your thing, what are some of the other trends for spring and summer that you might find more to your liking? Apparently pink is the colour this season, especially shocking pink and shades of fuchsia, but bubblegum pink is also trending. Sadly, there’s only one pink item hanging in my closet right now, a t-shirt that’s past its best and only good for wearing around the house or to exercise in. Come to think of it, there’s also a bright pink sleeveless golf shirt and cap waiting for the snow on the golf course to melt, but perhaps another basic t-shirt like this one would be a good addition to my wardrobe. After all, it would kill two fashion birds with one stone.

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Apparently shoulder grazing statement earrings are also going to be big this spring and summer. Though I don’t have any that are quite that dramatic, I might have to go through my earring collection and pull out a few dangly pairs that I haven’t worn in quite awhile.

Speaking of shoulders, apparently shoulder pads are also coming back this season. Romantic ruffles will also be popular and so will t-shirts bearing slogans, particularly of the feminist variety.

Do any of these trends appeal to you? Which ones will you be adding to your shopping list?

Café Finca La Cañada

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My Richard is a coffeeholic. Coatepec is known as the coffee capital of Mexico. Visiting a coffee growing operation seemed like a no-brainer.

Through another expat friend, Richard M was able to arrange for us to tour Café Finca La Cañada yesterday. Located just outside of Coatepec, up one of the roughest roads we’ve ever traveled, is the beautiful canyon estate owned by retired University of New Hampshire professor, Clifford J. Wirth, where he has now been producing organic, fair trade coffee for several years.

At first glance, the lush valley appears to be wild jungle, but on closer inspection one can see not only coffee trees but macadamia, banana, lemon, orange and tangerine trees growing on the steep hillside.

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Coffee “cherries” ripening

Cliff started our very enjoyable and informative tour by walking us through the coffee harvesting process. The “cherries” are all hand picked by the Mexican family that works for him and lives on the estate. He explained the two processing methods that can be used, a wet method and a dry method. He uses the wet method. First, the freshly harvested cherries pass through a pulping machine to separate the skin and pulp from the bean.

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Then the beans are placed in a cement tank of water. The lighter unripe beans float to the top, while the heavier ripe ones sink to the bottom. The husks and unripe beans are  composted.

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Ripe coffee beans

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Composting the husks

After separation, the tank is again filled with water and the beans remain there for 3 or 4 days to remove the sweet gluey layer of mucilage that is still attached to the beans. While resting in the tanks, naturally occurring enzymes cause this layer to dissolve. When this process is complete, the beans feel rough to the touch.

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Drying beans

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At this point, the beans are placed on outdoor drying racks where they are turned regularly until most of the moisture has been removed. The racks are tented with plastic to protect the drying beans from rain.

Once the beans are ready, they are sent off-site for roasting and packaging. In addition to selling his coffee in a number of local shops, Cliff supplies several hotels and shops in the Cancun area. According to his Facebook page, his coffee is “Cultivated naturally below the tall trees of the Veracruz cloud forest without using agrochemicals, thus protecting the delicate ecosystem of the Suchiapa River, its flora and fauna–particularly the birds that migrate between Mexico, the United States, and Central America. The cultivation and processing methods protect the environment and workers’ welfare.”

Sadly, a fungus called coffee rust, or roya, has swept across Central America in recent years, withering trees and slashing production everywhere. Cliff told us that his trees are slowly dying and the estate now produces only 40% of the coffee that it did before the roya hit. When he took us hiking down into the beautiful canyon, he showed us examples of leaves that have been affected. He is now in the process of planting a new hybrid variety that is resistant to the blight.

I don’t drink coffee anymore because the acid bothers my stomach, but we bought a kilogram to take home and I’ll definitely be tasting it. I’ll just have to be careful to leave most of it for my coffeeholic husband!

Naolinco, where everything is leather

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In this part of Mexico, the small town of Naolinco, nestled in the mountains northwest of here, is famous for its leather products. Apparently more than 200 shoe stores and cobblers line its narrow cobblestone streets.

This morning, we took the bus into Xalapa and then a taxi the rest of the way. The landscape was rugged and beautiful.

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From Xalapa, the drive to Naolinco is only about 33 km, but it took close to an hour as the road winds its way higher and higher into the mountains and passes through a couple of tiny towns. Even though it was a cool, cloudy day, the views were spectacular and our driver, realizing that Colleen and I were snapping pictures out both sides of the vehicle, began to stop along the way to allow us better opportunities to photograph the panoramas spread out below us.

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As the taxi drove up what appeared to be the main street lined with shop after shop selling shoes, boots, leather jackets, belts and handbags at a small fraction of the price that we would spend for similar products in Canada, we could actually smell the new leather all around us!

img_3789img_3791img_3800Once again, we felt as though we’d stepped back in time as we wandered the narrow streets. We also discovered a much more modern looking mini mall with three storeys of tiny shops all selling leather goods.

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Amazingly, though there were many very tempting boots and handbags, all we bought was a harness for our new Mexican friend, Layla, the 7-month-old boxer pup that shares Richard M and Colleen’s home and hearts.

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Jalcomulco

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According to the weather forecast it was supposed to be overcast and rainy in Coatepec today, but when we awoke to another gloriously sunny day we decided to make the 30 km trek into the foothills to Jalcomulco. We flagged down a taxi around the corner from Richard M and Colleen’s place and when they asked him where we needed to go to catch the bus to Jalcomulco, he told us he’d take all four of us there for a total of 120 pesos (about $7.50 CAD), only a couple of dollars more than it would cost us to go by bus. Perfecto! The sights along the way were worth the trip.

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Jalcomulco is a centre of outdoor adventure and ecotourism. Whitewater rafting on La Antigua River which runs through town is particularly popular. We thought it might be very touristy, but it wasn’t at all. Jalcomulco is a charming colonial town, much smaller and quieter, but similar in appearance to Coatepec.

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We crossed a rickety suspension bridge and enjoyed a delicious lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the river.

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This was my view from the table. Exquisite!

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After strolling around and checking out a couple of shops, we caught another taxi back to Coatepec. On the way, we were reminded of the fact that we’re in a third world country. Our young driver received a call from his dispatcher and, joining several other taxis that were pulled off beside the road, informed us that he couldn’t go any further. We would have to wait about 30 minutes until an issue with the police in Coatepec had been resolved. Apparently, to the best of our understanding, the police had suddenly imposed a “tax” on the taxi companies! We were told that this kind of thing isn’t uncommon. Can you pronounce “graft” and “corruption”? Fortunately, we were able to be on our way in less than ten minutes.

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It has clouded up and cooled off a bit this evening, so perhaps the anticipated rain is still on its way. It was even hotter and drier in Jalcomulco that it’s been here in Coatepec.

Doors and windows

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I’m quite madly in love with the architecture here in Coatepec, Mexico. I adore the bright colours, but the doors and windows are most amazing. In the downtown core, many of the businesses have huge, ornately carved wooden doors.

Some have a door within a door. Only one panel actually opens to allow access.

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These are some of the windows above that amazing door! The balcony railing is a great example of the beautiful wrought iron work found all over Coatepec.

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Most windows in both homes and businesses have wrought iron bars for security purposes, but rather than being plain and ugly, they are usually delightfully decorative.

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Climbing Cerro de las Culebras

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Richard M and Colleen use a laundry service here in Coatepec. For approximately $1.40 CAD per 2 kilograms of laundry, you drop it off one morning and pick it up the next afternoon washed, dried and neatly folded! When Colleen and I were on our way to pick up the laundry yesterday she pointed out a green hill in the distance. On top was a bright yellow circular tower of some sort with a cross its side. I immediately wondered if there was a trail leading up to it.

A quick internet search was all it took to discover that Cerro de las Culebras (Snake Hill) and the lookout tower on its top are easily accessible from the centre of town. This morning was warm and sunny, so after a hearty breakfast the four of us set out to find the trailhead and climb to the top. Forty-five minutes later we were at the bottom of a series of steep cobbled steps leading up the hillside.

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The lush greenery on either side made it a beautiful climb and soon we began to catch glimpses of the town spread out below.

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Before we knew it, we were at the top where the lookout tower with a white statue of Christ at its top stands in the middle of a grassy clearing. The views of Coatepec and the surrounding mountains were spectacular. In the distance, we could even see the snow covered peak of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest mountain and a dormant volcano that last erupted between 1545 and 1566. It is the third highest mountain in North America and the world’s second highest dormant volcano, behind only Kilimanjaro in Africa.

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If you can’t spot Pico De Orizaba in this photo, I’ve circled it in the next one which was taken from the top of the observation tower.

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What’s your best sleeve length?

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logoSleeve length can enhance or detract from a woman’s appearance by drawing the observer’s eye toward or away from specific parts of her body. Though we’re probably not conscious of it, our eye is automatically attracted to the part of the body where the sleeve ends thus emphasizing that spot.

Let’s take a look:

img_1955Even if they aren’t perfectly toned, your arms will usually look longer and leaner in a sleeveless garment as it has the advantage of the unbroken line. In my younger years, I was self-conscious about showing off my arms feeling that they were too skinny. It wasn’t until I was almost 40 and started to work out with weights that I felt comfortable going sleeveless. Now it’s my favourite look for summer. I especially like the freedom of movement that it allows when I’m golfing and it also ensures that I don’t end up with a “farmer’s tan”.

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img_1799-version-3If you are truly uncomfortable going sleeveless or you work in a corporate environment where it isn’t considered appropriate, you might prefer a cap sleeve. Depending on your body shape, you might also appreciate cap sleeves for their shoulder-widening and therefore hip-balancing effect.

 

Short sleeves tend to fall parallel to the bust. This is great if you want to emphasize that part of your body, but not so great if you’d rather not.

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3/4 sleeves, considered by many to be the most flattering length, are my all time favourites for several reasons. I have long arms, so finding long sleeves that fit properly can be difficult. 3/4 sleeves eliminate that challenge. They’re also cooler than long sleeves when the weather is warm, but they usually provide adequate coverage when it’s cooler. Unlike longer sleeves, they don’t get in the way and, as a cancer patient who often has to deal with blood tests and IVs, they make it easy for me to expose the crook of my arm. They do tend to end close to the waist, however, so if that’s a part of your body that you’d rather the eye was drawn away from, they might not work for you.

Long sleeves draw the eye down providing a good option for anyone who would like to distract attention from their midsection, but they do place more focus on the hips. On me, long sleeves often end up as 3/4 length!

Do you have a favourite sleeve length?