a holiday note.

seasons greetings to you!

there have been just two years (since having Audrey) i’ve been motivated and organized enough to put together a photo greeting card and this year is definitely not one of them… but i’ve been feeling like the end of another surprising year is upon us and while i’ve had very good intentions to sit down and write a blog, i’ve clearly found reason to put it off. so, all of that changes tonight with this!

you know all of the global, national, societal, and systemic issues that the year brought, so i’m not going to spend any time there, but BOY… is LIFE A TRIP OR WHAT? at the beginning of the year, making metaphors about the trip felt appropriate to be travel-related but 2020 was certainly more of a psychedelic-trip kind of year, in my opinion.

where travel is related, i was able to visit Brooklyn and Tucson in January and February before having to cancel trips to Key West, Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio, and Europe — i’m still sad about most of this. i’ve booked one trip for 2021 at this point and whatever happens, it at least feels nice to have an adventure to look forward to!

i completed radiation in January and was scheduled to begin my reconstruction procedure at the end of March but i was 6 days too late for the cut when elective procedures were halted. through May i was on the first of my targeted maintenance therapies, ibrance (that just auto-corrected to vibrance… oh, for cute!). while i stayed functioning and relatively speaking, healthy, on it, it completely tanked my blood cell counts and i was back to experiencing a lot of ups and downs, so when i was able to take a break, i was grateful.

in March, July, and October i had routine scans which all showed no active disease!!! this, of course, is excellent news! at the end of July, i was able to have the reconstruction surgery which, so far, has been a two-step process. first, the lat-flap (in which my plastic surgeon used my right latissimus muscle and flap of back skin, to create a thicker wall of skin and tissue on my right breast) as well as getting tissue expanders, which are a fillable device used to slowly stretch the skin, muscle, and tissue before placing an implant. then two and a half months later, when they were full, i had the implant placement procedure to finish it off. so, HOORAY for new foobs!!! (a portmanteau of fake + boobs commonly used in the breast cancer community)

tomorrow i start on a new targeted therapy, Verzenio, perhaps you have seen it advertised on the television? i’m not thrilled about it, it will definitely be an adjustment so please feel free to send prayers and vibes for side effects to be low-key!

okay, now that that’s out of the way… what else? ah, yes. we moved! first to the farm in Aitkin for a month with my mom and dad. after quarantine and a co-vid summer, it was nice to get out of the suburbs and slow down to the pace of the cows, the country roads, and a poor wi-fi connection. seeing as we only get to see my parents once or twice a year in their home, and we don’t live in the city i grew up in, we were able to make a lot of memories in a place i visited often as a child and that shaped my mom’s youth.

from there, we moved in with our close family friends in Eagan. Audrey’s school district has been 100% virtual, so it worked out pretty conveniently to be on the opposite side of the metro, until we could find a HOUSE to buy! i somehow lucked out in one of those put-an-offer-in-on-the-first-day-you-go-looking situations and 24 hours later was in a contingency period! it wasn’t without a few hiccups to get to pending, but on November 4th, with the help of my mom and dad, we closed on our new home in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of Minneapolis! home ownership was more a dream of mine when i was a kid (and i could draw my ‘dream house’) than it has been for me as an adult but i gotta say, it feels good! i’ve got a lovely sun-soaked foyer for my plants and a GREAT backyard for entertaining which I can’t wait to do come spring! my realtor, Rhea, was awesome to work with, in case anyone is in the market!

i’m happily working part-time, as a professional organizer and as an administrative accounting assistant at a local glass art gallery. this of course has been in addition to distance learning with Audrey. she started winter break this week and when she goes back to school in January, will be changing schools to a Robbinsdale magnet school called FAIR Pilgrim Lane. distance learning a language immersion program just created too much conflict and distress for us both. she is really excited about this change and i am hopeful it will be nothing but positive for her! prayers and vibes for this switch to help re-ignite a love for school and learning in my girl would definitely be welcomed!

Audrey hasn’t been able to do any of her extra-curriculars since COVID but we did recently start her with virtual ukulele lessons, which she seems to be enjoying. we did a lot of biking over the summer, and she now happily identifies as a “gamer” after all of her peer contact has moved to online methods. she loves to play Roblox and learn dances from TikTok. we have been enjoying the Harry Potter series together and lately have been having a lot of giggles playing Just Dance in our living room.

so, from me and mine to you and yours… i know it’s been a weird year and wherever you are, physically or emotionally, spiritually or politically, i see you and i wish you a new joy each day.

with love, be well.

hana, audrey & tassie

2020