Hi Stacey! Er, no one has written on this page for a while (hint hint!) so I thought I would be the first to do so this year. :)? It was great to see you last month and this month. Wishing you a great 2008! -Felix
Happy Birthday!!!
Hey Stacey! Just wanted to wish you a Happy, Happy Birthday!!!
We think of you often, and wish you the very best. Congratulations on reaching 40, and thank you for teaching us how to live.
Love, your Friends from sheclimbs.
Nice Sign
Hi Stacey! Last weekend I did a long bike ride through Northern Colorado and saw this in the town of Windsor. It made me think of you. I was really surprised someone else came up with that combination of words!
Anyhow, as I write this, I think you are on your way back to CA from FL. Hope you and Ann had fun out there! Wave to Denver from the airport for me 🙂
Re: Recent News
Hi Stacey! First, sorry about your friends Gwen and Ana. Best of luck to Ana in getting a transplant; I will keep her in my thoughts and hope that a transplant will come and that she continues to keep her spirits up in the meantime.
Anyhow, I was happy to see you last week and thanks for inviting me to Jenny’s party… that was fun and maybe Jenny is even out of her brace by now! I esp. enjoyed meeting Ann; she was very fun with lots of energy and good humor. Of course, it was great to hang out with Alyssa and you on Wednesday too! Thanks again!
Recent news
A lot has happened in the last month…some sad, some glad! Some of the sad news is that my friend Gwen passed away; she had a transplant one month after me. She was a loving, affectionate young person and we will all miss her. She suffered a lot all through her life, but I am happy she got to get married to her boyfriend David before she died. She was very religious and I am sure she has gone to rest in peace.
My friend Ana is also having severe troubles with her health. A year ago, she earned a gold medal in the Transplant Games in the butterfly stroke, and now she is having trouble walking, even with oxygen. She is keeping her sprits up, and has many people to love her as she awaits another transplant. Ana had her first transplant 7 years ago, and she recovered beautifully. Please keep her in your prayers.
Rock Climbing
Ciao Stacey!
Thanks for all of your guidance and tips re rock climbing. Lead climbing is awesome, but you’re correct in that it requires undivided attention and lots of practice! I’ll be climbing with Mario tonight at the gym – hope to see you there. Again, you’re my inspiration! Climb on!!
Libia Busalacchi
Rock Climbing!
Hi Stacey – Sorry to hear about Jenny’s accident — 50′ fall’? We all need to be so careful, and she’s in my prayers! Hopefully I’ll see you this week at the gym. In the meantime…climb on!
Libia Busalacchi
Scrabble and Duck Tongues
Hi Stacey! Glad Dave is getting better, and that you have been able to entertain yourselves with Scrabble! I got to play a little bit of Scrabble in Panama for one of my Spanish classes, although I’m not sure that was a very effective way to learn new Spanish words since most of the words we were coming up with were only 2-4 letters long!
Anyhow, cool about having some good Chinese food. Now you are making me hungry… even with the duck tongues. I probably would have tried them, but that’s just me! 🙂
Social Times
The past couple months I have had some nice times with friends. On March 1st, I helped organize a?birthday party for Cindy Chiu. Cindy is one of my best friends; she was the caregiver/friend organizer while I was on the waiting list for a lung transplant two and a half years ago. Back then, I really needed a lot of love and help and I will never forget how she cared for me during hard times. We went climbing at Planet Granite in Belmont, then went out to dinner at the Joy Luck Palace restaurant. It was great celebrating her special day. We ordered 12 different dishes, including “duck tongues.” I didn’t have the courage to try that one!
Dave has been off work, but he continues to get stronger and walk without crutches. He has recently started climbing, biking on a stationary bicycle, and hiking. We have spent a lot of time together during these months he has been on disability, including playing Scrabble. He has started to beat me, so I’d better study some word lists!
I have also been climbing with Rhona and her young twin girls, Maya and Zoe. They are all developing in their ability to climb harder routes. The girls now have harnesses, and have ordered shoes! I made little achievement charts for them to record their progress.
I have been climbing with my roommate Tyndall quite often. We sometimes climb the same routes at the gym. I have been working on mostly 5.10c/d’s but I got up to the top of a 5.12a overhang with only three rests on Monday night. So climbing is going well.
My latest joy was going over to the Levin family’s house to celebrate Joshua’s birthday, which was?back in February. I got him a light-up Frisbee, which we tried out after dinner, along with table tennis and Scrabble, around 11 p.m. (much to his mother’s dismay.) Dinner was delicious; it was made by Richard; it was a tasty orzo pasta dish. Â I had to have three servings of it, and skip the dessert. Later, Carrie beat me in both table tennis and Scrabble–I will have to practice more!
Good Job!
Hola, Stacey! That is great you are climbing such hard levels! In contrast, last week (actually with Tori) I failed miserably on an outdoor 5.11a in Panama, and then I could not really do anything for the rest of the day. Maybe I should eat some spinach next time. Oh! I guess I too should heed the warnings on the blenders that say to place your hand over the top when operating it. I thought mine had that warning due to some silly lawyers but maybe it is a good idea!
Take care and ttys!
-Felix