Yappy Hour

Aston's birthday was great. Victoria at Hampton Hound holds a "Yappy Hour" every Saturday so I thought it was the perfect venue for Aston, the kids, and of course the Housewives to come and celebrate with us and brings along their pets. I didn't expect Ramona to come with a lizard. Then again, you never know what to expect from Ramona!

Here I was getting an award from The American Cancer Society, the biggest award of my life, and I made the biggest faux pas by talking and not listening, which I'm truly mortified about. The American Cancer Society is dear to me and I deeply regret my thoughtless comment on the show. I'm a living example that everyone makes mistakes, which I talk about in my book. Learning from mistakes is what matters. Don't forget: "The moment you think you're ripe, you begin to rot."

My father's battle with cancer was very difficult for my family and me. I was very close to him and feel lucky I got to be with him to help him through it! Being a nurse definitely helped. I was so happy my mother came and that she got to share the evening with me. I think it was emotional for her to see my father up on the screen. She hardly spoke, as she was nervous and very camera shy. She's never been on TV before.

Having seven children in our family, (typical of the Canadian/American Indian) we were like our own tribe. All the kids came to our house to play because there was always something happening. We had our own team for every sport! Having a big, genial family proved to be a great experience for me later in life.

Everyone was talking to the point where we couldn't hear anything (myself included) but there was a point where I couldn't stand it anymore and so I felt the need to get up and announce that we all needed to quiet down. I was happy I did, because everyone seemed to listen after that and the rest of the evening was a lot of fun.