A change of season

 Happy first day of Spring! WaaaaaHOOOOOOO!

I'm looking forward to warmth and green, growing things. I've had enough of gray and bleh.

As of next week, I'll have had enough of chemo, as well! As the kids at karate say, "LAST ONE, BEST ONE!" Looking forward to being done with chemical infusions and holding bags of ice to help prevent neuropathy whilst rocking my compression socks for the same reason. Truly, I'm a sight to behold. Especially as my hair is coming back like duck fuzz. Again.

It always cracks me up how inventive nurses are. I ask for some ice chips to suck on to prevent mouth sores and some ice to hold. I've been given small, sealable bags of ice, a big bag of ice with a buffer around it for more comfortable holding, and multiple rubber gloves filled with ice. Bless their sweet hearts for making things interesting!

So here's hoping and praying that next week's chemo will be the last one I'll ever need. Dada's going with me to kick this all to the curb for good, God willing!

I love my nurses and will be sad to be seeing them less regularly, but even they have said, "we love you but we don't want to see you here anymore!" Talk about a sendoff, hehe. I'll also miss some of the little old people who go for iron infusions and so forth. Some are such characters and I'll miss the back and forth teasing. 

But it is springtime and time to move on to the next thing!

It's been encouraging to see my blood count numbers come back up slowly. I'm looking forward to better energy. I've gotten to sub some and it's been so fun to be back amongst my friends big and small. I'm blessed to be somewhere with such a caring staff and fun families. 

I feel like I've been stuck in a holding pattern, so am very much anticipating seeing what's next. It's been hard to blog when everything is stuck in the same gear... just grinding along. I think the end of winter feels like that for a lot of people. 

Anybody thinking about a garden this year? What are you planting? Anybody have seeds started already? I am still debating if I want to do all that work this year or stick to some pots on the deck. Most likely that's the route I'll take. I love playing in the dirt, but I feel like, right now anyway, that we have enough going on in enough different directions. Plus, do I really want to be weeding? Hmm. I'm not good at that! I feel like Fagin in "Oliver"... "IIIIIII think I better think it out again!"

Chins up, everybody- winter is on its way out!

Potato, potahto

 My chemo says to be careful with sun exposure. My brain says, “follow directions- you’re not even wearing sunscreen” but my sun-starved, winter-sick spirit says, “I already look like a potato so I may as well be baked!”

State of the state of the... things?

 Two more chemos to go!

For those of you who have asked how to pray for me, thank you. Um, if you know of any magical means of chemo not stripping nasal passages and eyeballs of moisture, could you send them my way? I'm not getting nosebleeds, but they are CLOSE. Using more eyedrops than I expected too... other than that, my appetite is great and energy is so much better and all the things seem pretty good so keep 'em coming! Dada even had to give me my first hair trim because Thing One announced I had a good monk look going on but not much going on up top. Great. That's the spring look I was aspiring for. Sheesh.

However, extended family members of ours could absolutely use every well wish and prayer you could offer for their young family whose sweet baby was born with his cord around his neck. He hung on long enough to be loved on and cherished, then passed on after some time in hospice care. My heart hurts for his first time parents and his loving extended family who couldn't wait to meet him. There just aren't words. It's like in "Forrest Gump" when he says, "sometimes there just aren't enough rocks." Sending so much love and hope, you guys. You are so loved.

Life just keeps going, ready or not. We are finally getting some sunshine which is MUCH appreciated, though most of us Ohioans realize this is "false spring" and even though I was thrilled to see a killdeer this week, I also have seen them looking completely disgruntled as they stand around in the snow of previous years like, "I TOLD you we should have waited another week in Albuquerque!" The redwinged blackbirds have also been trilling and that makes me happy.

There's no school tomorrow for conferences and/or professional development, so it's a long weekend for us. This week had been spring break for Thing Two so I'm not sure if he's made it out of his robe at all this week...

Enjoy that sunshine and take really good care of you!

A true comedy of errors

 This post will require you to use your imagination to get the full effect of hilarity. I'm not giving you any photos because I didn't get any, so you'll just have to combine my words with your very own brain. Ready?

Our ridiculous dogs love the ends of cucumbers as well as apple slices and various other people foods. I'd set aside my baby cucumber ends from a salad for Liam to add to their dinner of dry kibble earlier this week. 

Honey guards her food and doesn't understand that by eating it, where it is then INSIDE her where Bos can't get it, everyone could continue living our lives in peace. Instead, she'll growl at him and hunch as menacingly as she can, poor old thing. Because of this, and because Bos it a total hog who eats everything and anything including rat poison, crayons and puzzle pieces, we have a baby gate slid across the entrance to our "library" which is the fireplace room and our dining room and where we feed Bosley. He's too dumb to realize he could just push it over, and she can't push it down because it rests against the railings on either side. So he'll stand on the step and stare at her, she will growl and bark at him, we yell at both of them... good times.

Anyway, the gate was up because Liam had already separated them and had given her her dinner. I asked him as he was foisting himself over the baby gate with Bosley's full dog dish in one hand, if he could please hand me, in the kitchen, the broom and dustpan which are in the corner of the library just beside the baby gate and step. He grabs it with one super long arm, but in the attempt to flip it towards me, I hear "oh NOoooooo" as he managed to clip just the edge of Bos's dish, which then rained kibble and cucumber ends all over half of the library. 

Bosley thought it was manna from heaven and was dashing around trying to Hoover up everything in a single slurp, I'm bent over the railing and laughing so hard I can't even take the broom from Liam, and he's bent over the gate and the railing laughing too hard to hand it to me. 

We are still finding pieces of kibble days later which we then toss to Bos who thinks he's getting treats. I don't think he even tastes it as he inhales it. 

I guess the moral of the story is don't try to go over the baby gate in your robe whilst holding a full dish of dog food while ALSO reaching for something else to maneuver.

However, if I'm being honest, the TRUE moral of the story is that even though everyone says, "get a rescue dog; it'll be fun..." yeah, hard pass on that... #NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished

Engine, engine #9...

Now that'll be in everybody's head:

Engine, engine number nine, going down Chicago line. If the train should jump the track, do I get my money back? Yes, no, maybe so, maybe 40 years ago! 

I KNOW Lisa just read that with the claps in the right places. 

I've been dealing with a sinus thing lately. Not a bad one, but the kind where even when your head feels okay, when you blow your nose your tissue then indicates that things are NOT okay. Also, when you bend over to retrieve anything from below knee level it feels like perhaps your head would like to take a field trip to a bowling alley to just roll away down the lane. 

So I was a bit concerned yesterday when I had my blood draw sent to the lab and was preparing to ask for at least a bag of fluids if my numbers were too low to proceed with chemo #9 (and there's the tie in to the title). To my great delight, my nurse said, "You're good to go for chemo- your white blood cells are back up, almost twice what they were last time! They're at 5 today and they were 2.6 last week!" 

Wahoooooooo! Thanks to any of you who have been praying over that. I was fully prepared to get things pushed back despite desperately not wanting that to happen. Yay!

My weight was down a tad from where it had been two weeks ago when I weighed in at my heaviest. That was a little alarming because my doc had told me at the beginning, "I really don't want you over X" and I thought with a scoff, "no problem. I will never weigh X" and then that weigh in two weeks ago was a single pound under X! Yikes! Granted, I did forget to factor in that this is winter so the clothes I'm being weighed in are also heavier than when I'm not wearing anything on my scale at home! 😅 I ALWAYS forget that!

In addition to the wall paper paste I'm blowing out of my schnoz, there's plenty of small blood clots as my membranes are pretty dried out by the combination of heated indoor winter air and the drying effects of chemo. My throat is dry even despite drinking 64+ ounces of water most days and I'm going through more eye drops than usual, as well. I know it's just a season, but I'll be glad when the ickiness is over. I'm ready to air out the house big time and I miss outdoor recess! 

Being inside with small germ factories children is taking a toll on everybody. Our teachers are sick or their kids are sick, and the subs are sick or our kids are sick. We need a 2319 like in Monsters, Inc or, better yet, decontamination spaces like in the movies so everyone who enters or exits school is cleared. Maybe someday. And then I'll probably wish I'd kept my mouth shut. WHOOOOOOOOSH!

No personal doc visit yesterday. I think the next one is at the end of the month, for my final visit. Only 3 chemos to go! Please keep praying that I stay healthy enough. I need to get this over with. I love seeing my nurses, but I'd like to see them OUTSIDE of a clinical setting, haha!

Fat Tuesday

{Incidentally, I love how Skulduggery Pleasant is peeking out between the scissors like he's up to something.}

Thing One took me to chemo #9 yesterday and we celebrated Fat Tuesday by getting FAT. We went to Olive Garden afterwards, ordered lasagna and unlimited soup and salad, and let's just say...

Do you remember what it looks like when Cookie Monster devours food? That was me. I practially inhaled my first bowl of chicken gnocchi soup and my first plate of salad. Then I polished off Thing One's unfinished soup and had another plate of salad whilst somebody dug through lasagna and snarfed down breadsticks. Our excellent and patient waiter then brought me a bowl of the Zuppa Toscana with Italian sausage, potatoes, and kale.

Kale.

Now, I LOVE lettuce. But kale is a different level for me. So I tried a spoonful. And then I tried a spoonful with kale in it. And THEN I inhaled the rest of the bowl, like my body had just discovered raw materials for the first time. I would have had a vat of it if I wasn't already so full. It was amazing! I've even hunted down a copycat recipe! 

Nobody is more shocked than I am.

Our waiter, pleased, asked if we'd like dessert, which was a no-brainer as they'd left the photo of the Black Tie Chocolate Cake on the table the entire time. We split it and then just about split our pants. So. Full. Of. Deliciousness.

We came home with lasagna, breadsticks, and a small bit of salad. Definitely fatter. #WeDidItRight

Glad my weigh in on the rhino scale was BEFORE lunch...

 

Fun date night

This handsome fella had a band concert last night and, as usual, it was terrific. Our band program is excellent, with passionate teachers and invested students. We got to hear from the Jazz Band, the Big Band, the Concert Band, and the Symphonic Band. Each performed three pieces and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them!

(All critical thinkers just crossed me off any type of list for judging panels of any kind, haha!)

Way to go!

 

Final day of February

 February, to me, is always a long month despite being the shortest of the year. How can 28 days take sooooo long?! We’ve had rain, fog, snow, ice, and GERMS. I can’t think of anyone who isn’t ready for March… so now we have WIND.

Just don’t make ‘em like they used to

Thing Three and I needed new bath scrubbies so I found a cheap 3-pack and got his all set in the bathroom for him. The next morning, I went in there to get a washcloth, spied the completely deteriorated scrubbie and laughed so hard I forgot the washcloth. I asked what happened and he said, “I dunno! It just unraveled! I had to use it like a snake!” He shimmied an invisible towel back and forth behind him for my viewing entertainment. This kid! Single use! Sheesh.

 

Offering hospitality

 I’ve no idea how or when this sweet little sister got into our house, but I am offering the bee version of bread and salt and safety. She was on the edge of the dogs’ water bowl and I didn’t want to have to fish her out, so I scooped her and gave her some water and honey. Whether it’s cruel to prolong her life without her hive remains to be seen, but if she wants to hang out inside where it’s warm, I don’t mind. I wonder if she is critiquing the honey and has figured out which branch of her humongous family tree made it and from which kind of flowers…