Another birthday and all it's thoughts

After saying Happy Birthday to Jeff, who shares the same birthday as me (exact day! and year!), and he saying it back to Me upon waking, I woke up today and said to myself "how in the hell did I get to this age?"...And then I thought even more about it, as I stumbled into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and stared at my face. If I was going to face another birthday I may as well look good, so I immediately showered, and did my hair, applied a little make up and started thinking...I know what I did in these years to get here today....I married twice, I had over 12 Radio jobs, I made so many dear friends, I laid my Mom and my Dad to rest, I traveled Europe, the USA, bought myself a Condo near the beach, I started my voice over career, bought a few cars, had some very lows in life and some very highs, and I survived cancer not once but twice. Oh yea and I stopped at that thought...I really could not have even been here from those 2 cancers, they were serious and not to be messed with. So I beat those odds and here I was having another birthday and still grumpy about it. As I was finishing up styling my hair, I heard the phone ring from downstairs. Jeff answered it and went out back to the patio and said "Hey Addie, oh thank you, how nice of you to call"...then I knew this is why I am still here today. A phone call from my son to wish Me Happy Birthday. That is why, and then I peek into my office and see a few voice over project orders on the computer , and I think that is why I am here too, and last but not least, I take a peek into my Facebook page, and there were hundreds of well wishers. Some with the nicest words, and some just a pop in wish. My heart was warm and I knew then it's a good day to be alive.So the laughing little girl from many birthdays ago is now a big girl and can realize it's the littlest things that can keep me living and I am grateful for every single one of them and today is a good birthday to celebrate.

Sully's mindset when I met Him

Being in radio as a deejay has given me the opportunity to meet some very incredible people...of course there was Boz. Not that it was a radio event, but I could quickly pitch in my 30 second elevator speech, "that all formats I worked at in radio we played one of his songs"-at least it gave me some credibility in those brief moments that I will savor forever! , lol, But then there was Kenny Loggins, Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, David Sanborn, Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, the band Chicago, Ray Parker, Sports figures, Rock n Roll musicians, and then there was Sully. Captain Sully, the miracle on the Hudson airline pilot.
I was emceeing a concert at a local venue in Danville. The opportunity dropped in my lap because I had worked with Jim at Primetime Entertainment when I emceed for a KKSF gig. He offered me the summer concert series to emcee at Blackhawk Plaza. A bit nervous, as this is not the Radio booth, this is upfront and in front of everyone, so I strolled around the plaza killing some time before I was to take the stage. I looked across the atrium and there was Sully. I was a bit star struck, I thought how terrific to see him there and approached him for a photo. What a sweet gentleman he was, as he obliged. But his wife stopped Me for a moment and asked what I was doing with the photo. I explained to her I was emceeing and it is always so fun to collect photos of my events, and I might post it on Facebook, she accepted my answer and there we posed. Of course I proudly displayed it on Facebook and received hundreds of likes, and I thought how cool it was that little 'ol Me had that opportunity. Now we have a big screen movie out on Sully- the ever so talented Tom Hanks playing him. (Academy Award material in my opinion) I of course waited for release date and again posted my photo on my Facebook page with Sully, the "likes" came rolling in once again. I knew I had to see this movie, and so I set out to do so today. What happened to Me while watching the movie was a complete surprise. The overwhelming emotion of sadness came over Me within the first 30 seconds of the movie. I couldn't believe the tears streaming down my face, and how my chest hurt and my whole body felt so heavy while sitting there, I quickly calculated when was it that I posed with Sully- it was during the NTSB interrogations. I realized I was clueless as I stood there with him at the plaza that day in July. I realized, as he was our hero, he was tormented, yet I didn't know, I had no idea what this gentle man had endured. What his wife endured, his daughters. Here I was so giddy with being able to brag about my meeting and there Sully was processing all that had reoccured that day back in January 2009, how silly of Me, I can only hope he is at peace with his heroic act, and I can only hope I know in the future when meeting one of my stars I reflect on where they are at in that moment of their life. Radio has given me many opportunities, but this one was the best gift ever. Dang, Sweet Sully, always a hero.

Watch a video about cancer and I cry like a baby

I just viewed the sweetest video about a teacher who has cancer and her kids in the school choir singing :I'm gonna love you through it". Tears streamed down my face as I watched that. Anybody would cry over it, but being a cancer survivor, it brought me right back to it all. The overwhelming emotions that navigate one through the day are endless. You go about the day showering, driving, working and running errands and the whole time in your mind the voice is heard in your head "I have cancer!". It never leaves you. It's an amazing journey. It's a constant battle of fighting it and then cursing it. It has been 5 years for me and the tears and emotions are just as raw. I am reminded daily of it, as I put on my ugly ass compression stocking with my leg wanting to swell because of the removed lymph nodes from my first cancer, uterine cancer, I mutter "fuck you cancer", then I immediately think, "get on with your day, get over it", How one can go from one extreme emotion to the next is crazy. Don't get me wrong I have those very common gratitude thoughts also of "it could be worse" reminding me of the other evening catching a commercial on TV of Olympians who have lost their legs,as I lay on the couch with my legs tingling from nueropathy and feeling sorry for myself and my thought goes to after viewing it "well at least I have legs" Maybe cancer can be looked at as a gift. Maybe my friend was right years ago who said that to Me "one day you'll thank your cancer". Maybe the fact that our emotions shift so quickly from dispair to gratitude, that is cancer's gift. I am currently talking a sweet radio colleague through her cancer journey now. I know the fear, each appointment is so scary because the Doctors and Nurses are doing things to our bodies that we have no control over and yet everybody around us is cheering us on because they are scared for us. Please understand there are days where the cancer patient just wants to weep and feel sorry for ourselves. Let us do it, please let us do it. To have tears so real and raw so many years later only confirms how mind boggling being a cancer patient is. As my cancer surviving friend Cindy told me, "remember the daily mantra, thank you God for my life today", what else can I do?

And how much money can a voice talent make?

So here's the deal. I LOVE performing voice over work. Love, love, love it. I transitioned as a Radio deejay into the field of voice acting. I was comfortable in front of a microphone, and I can market myself pretty well. I didn't get into it to be worth allot of money, but I did think what a terrific way to make a living. I took a year of classes, and follow up classes, and I had one of the best producers out there produce my demo. I built a home studio. I cold called corporations, and local production companies, and I did get an Agent. But the Agent I couldn't just rely on, because I am up against some incredible talent that keeps booking the gigs. I freelance. I follow leads constantly, I meet people daily and tell them about my work, ask them if they could ever use a voice talent in their marketing strategies.What have I made annually? Let's just say I have to rely on my husbands salary to get me through. Let's just say if I was on my own, it would be smoothies for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and a salad for dinner and maybe a scoop of yogurt from the yogurt shop for a treat to myself. It would be creatively finding free means of entertainment, activities, and all the while feeling grateful everyday that I am doing what I love for an income. I won't give up. I have a dream, a dream that I will land the National through my Agent, and then I can proudly claim the income and float above water as long as the residuals are coming through. But damn I work hard for this income. It is a passion.Sometimes I feel extremely defeated. Sometimes I want to crawl in a hole and throw my hands up-but there is this determination that I will do this. I will book the biggie. This is one helluva challenge, I sacrifice allot to stay grounded in this, but as my long time ago mentor said to me, "Trish I practice one mantra constantly, and it is 'I might be down, but I won't give up".I have to resurrect the mantra. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Ed, for that saying.

The most special calendar dates from the Voice Over girl

I have this tradition I do on New Years Eve: First and foremost I transfer birthdays to the new upcoming year calendar and then I spend allot of time reading each months activities of the year that is closing out. There are events, some very huge and some as small as meeting a long time ago friend at a local coffee shop, that I actually transfer to the new calendar. It is usually something like : "1 year ago met LeeLa for coffee", or "2 years ago saw Hall and Oates", "3 years ago booked VO at Fantasy Recording" and of course I will always transfer "x years ago last drop of chemo in my system". That one is always a good one, and by the way I am only 2 months away from that entry I can joyfully look at! I can't wait to see that day again. With the activity entry extreme from a 'small coffee chat meet up' to 'the last drop of chemo', I carry over and over and over and over(!)again: "met Boz Scaggs" Anybody who knows me knows I love Boz Scaggs. Where did this infatuation begin anyway? It all happened back in the mid 70's. There was something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but that voice was butter.,those lyrics were magical, and the guy was just damn adorable. There were a few times I actually met Boz, but not the last one, the one when I had my photo with him.The entry on my calendar every year. Sometime in the late 90's, I saw Boz at Don Ramon's bar sitting alone,talking to his brother, in the city. I approached him sheepishly, did my elevator speech, exited and remained on cloud 9 for weeks. Then in 2007, attended one of his many summer Mountain Winery concerts, only to step into the Inn's elevator and have him come in after Me-I literally froze, said nothing, but jumped up and down on my hotel bed like a crazy kid in disbelief, and then a week later was invited to see him at the GAMH. My silly crazed Boz friend,scored meet n greet passes. It was my opportunity to speak...and I reminded him of being the girl in the elevator speechless, he smiled that sweet Boz grin, and said yes he remembered.There was nothing more to say and we exited again. 2010 was definitely the hardest year of my life. In the Spring I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. I dodged the chemo bullet, it was stage 1. My life was radically changed. You can bet I would celebrate that summer with a Boz concert, and I did. But in Fall of 2010, I was diagnosed with colon cancer, stage 3. I didn't dodge that chemo bullet. I was signed up for 6 months of poison. I really thought if I die it's okay: I traveled the world, I lived my dream of being on air on Radio, became a voice actor, had a beautiful son, beautiful friends, and... I met Boz. Actually my life wasn't to be over. Boz booked a concert in Napa, just a few miles from where he lives. It was a casual night and my friend Erin insisted I drive up and attend. I was very,very sick, thin, cold all the time, hair thinning, and feeling horrible with all the chemo in my blood. Erin had a special treat-she knew Monet, Boz's back up singer, and they arranged it...The show ended, and we were invited down front.Could this really be it? Yes it was....January 28, 2011,there I was in a photo with Boz. I didn't need to say anything. I said everything before, I just had my magical moment. So here in my studio office my calendar hangs and there in that square I scribbled the words "5 years ago met Boz" It's an entry that makes me forget everything else in my complicated life and makes me feel just as giddy as standing before him in a bar, an elevator, or backstage. I love January 28th, and always will.