I guess I'll start since the last time I updated the website, which was the end of March. I had gotten back into my bodybuilding training earlier in the year, so much of April and May were devoted to my training. I actually quit drinking for a while, which means I didn't really go out much... why go out if I had to refrain for enjoying tasty martinis? The end of May and beginning of June was pretty fun, then July came around and my whole life changed forever.

My grandmother wasn't breathing very well for a couple of days and was admitted to the hospital on July 7th. She would never return home :-( She was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. We expected her to go to rehab, which she did, then go home and start getting treatment. Never in a million years did we expect that 6 weeks after the diagnosis, she would be gone. After being in the hospital for a couple of weeks, she was moved to rehab where it appeared she was regaining strength and would be able to go home soon. Then one day she wasn't breathing well again and was moved back to the hospital. She passed away one week later on August 14 at 9:00pm.

Anyone who has ever been close to me knows that my grandmother and I were beyond close. She was my second mother, since my mom moved to Louisiana and lived so far away. My grandmother was part of my soul, and when she passed away, part of me went with her and will always be with her. We weren't just grandmother and granddaughter, we were great friends. I can't count the number of times in my adult years we went to the movies together, went to lunch together, went shopping together, laughed at my dog Spotty together, watched and laughed at Judge Judy or the Golden Girls together, emailed each other bitching about the Red Sox... you name it.

I find myself still almost in denial that she is gone. There are endless amounts of times I'm just about ready to start writing her an email about the Red Sox or something I saw that reminded me of her. It is so hard to believe she is gone when she was always there, and as illogical as I know it is, I sort of always thought she would be there. Getting used to life without Gram is awful and sometimes seems impossible, but I have the most amazing memories of being with her I can even imagine that I will always hold deep in my heart. We had such a close, loving relationship, and I know she knew I loved her more than anything. Above all, knowing the last words she said to me and my mom was "I love you," is one of the greatest things I will ever have to hold onto.

As if losing my grandmother wasn't enough, four days before she died I broke my wrist!! Tara and I decided to go rollerblading early one Sunday morning (August 10) on a bike trail in Marlboro/Hudson. I haven't been on blades in years, and even back then I never knew how to stop the damn things. So as Tara and I hit the trail, she showed me how to use the brakes. I practiced for a few minutes, then decided I'll just deal with stopping when the situation requires it. Smart thinking. About 20 minutes into our trek, my skates start speeding up and I notice we;re on a slight decline. Well slight decline turned into what seemed to be a steep mountain at the time (it was barely declining more than level, but to me with no clue how to brake, it seemed like the steepest decline on earth), and the next thing I know I'm flying uncontrollably down this hill, yelling, "Oh shit!" several times. I knew what I had to do... make a controlled fall into the grass. Just as I was about to put this brilliant plan into action, my skates started swerving into each other and the next thing I know, BAM! I'm on my ass. I felt nothing except excruciating pain in my wrist, even though I didn't land anywhere on my wrist or hand. Later on that day, after assessing the situation in our minds over and over, we surmised that I fell right above my elbow, which was the only place I had any kind of wound), and the force sent my radius up into my wrist, shatterning the radius.

Tara rushed me to the hospital, and surprisingly enough I didn't pass out from the shock of the pain. I'll tell you, I have an all new respect for broken bones. I have never felt that much pain in all my life! The break was so bad, they had to put me under and reduce the break right away. The splint they put me in after the reduction was enormous to say the least. So I was in a sling and that arm was completely useless for the rest of the week. My grandmother passed away that Thursday night, and the next morning I had to go to the hand specialist for x-rays and a real cast. Fortunately, the reduction had kept its position and I didn't need surgery. So they decided to cast over my giant splint in order to keep the reduction as safe as possible. So now I'm walking around with a cast that resembled a boxing glove for 2 weeks. I cannot tell you the misery of the month of August!!

Without the help of my amazing friends... Tara, Val, Stacey, Renee, Suzanne.... I have no idea how I would've gotten though any of this!! They are my rocks, that is for sure. I have been cast free for a few weeks now and am almost back to normal. I can FINALLY start lifting heavy weights again in 3 more weeks!!! As you can imagine, my first question in the ER to the attending orthopedist was, "when can I lift weights again?" Having one arm put quite a crimp in my training, which pissed me off beyond belief.

So that's what I've been up to. Between that and running the studio, life has been just a tad busy! So hopefully you will forgive me for taking so long to update the ebsite. At least I had valid reasons this time!!