Not lost!

 Sorry guys, I'm kindergarten tired, haha. It's back to school! I'm thrilled to say that I'm also back at school, both subbing and for the month of September at least, being an aide. I'm having a ball in the wing that holds our youngest students, but I also do not have the same energy allotment as the 5 year olds. Attention span, maybe, but definitely not the energy! 

Unfair that kids who fight naps get to have them and adults who need them don't. 

Suck it up, buttercup, I guess.

Anyhoo, our high school home team has lost all three of their football games thus far. The band sure is having a good time, and our kid in particular, who is mainlining Pixie Sticks and sour Skittles and God alone knows what else. Dada and I watched in fascination as he dumped sugar into his mouth, washed it down with Coke, played a snatch of a song, and repeated the cycle with more Pixie Sticks. I'm still amazed the entire bleacher section wasn't vibrating from the vast amount of sugar coursing through just him, but then seeing more Pixie Sticks being launched through the air from one section to another and I can't even imagine how they ever sleep. I bet dentists everywhere rejoice; job security fo' sho'.

My Mommeeee came out for a visit and the weather cooperated so we got to run some errands with blue skies and puffy clouds. September is a favorite of hers. I always wish they could stay longer, but she had good traveling weather and made it back home safe. Thanks for all our treats and Wendy's and your company!

Dada and I putzed our way through the Black Swamp Arts Fest (which we call Dark Arts) both on Saturday and Sunday, perusing all the wares, meeting up with friends, making some fun purchases. Tons of fair food, fun live music, and a Main Street full of vendors, we give it two thumbs up! PLUS, there was a book sale at the library so guess who got more books even though she's already at least 6 books behind her reading goal for 2025... yay! New friends!

Labor Day weekend brought yard work, much to the chagrin of the boys, including chopping off tree limbs and burning them, pulling many weeds and yanking out small honeysuckle bushes. Also got as many small saplings of our zillions of trees out as I could, and gingerly removed dead black raspberry canes. Miraculously, I stayed out of the poison ivy! Soon enough we will be raking leaves or mulching them into the grass, I suppose, but for now we are enjoying the cool mornings and warm afternoons. Especially at recess! Any chance to play outside is a chance I'll take!

My PET scan showed nothing, which is a good thing! My EKG also must have been normal because I didn't hear otherwise. Next month I'll have another oncology check up, and later this week is my 8 week post-op visit from my hysterectomy. I'm fairly certain she will sign me off. 

My two new meds seem to be doing their thing and only causing dried out eyes and nasal membranes. I hope the week off each month from one of them (planned, so that my lowered blood cell counts can recover. You know, important things like platelets) will bring some relief- I'm a little nervous going into the cold season with all the drying effects of furnaces on top of the side effects. I don't want to have to switch meds. One of these I'll be on for forever and the other is a 3 year gig. I'm almost 2/36ths done! Woohoo! I'll let you math nerds reduce that. 

Already had my first back-to-school germs, so I can check that off my list. I had a head cold before the kids even started back. Definitely must be allergic to school. Hehe!

Enjoy the beautiful autumn weather even if it hasn't officially started yet. I refuse to break out my cold weather clothes until the calendar declares it, so I'll be over here in my sundresses with sweaters and leggings. 

I solemnly swear…

...that indeed the usual autumn Shenanigans are happening:

What could possibly go wrong with possibilities like these?

This year Thing One opted for blue black. Having never used this brand of dye before, we actually did the skin allergy test and all that jazz as instructed I mean, like we always do. However, we have questions. How in the world does one dye simply hair and not scalp?! 

While the intention was not to match the karate gi, it is definitely muted compared to what I expected as we put it on and it dripped everywhere, haha! 

 

My afternoon date for Autumn 2018

*Skin photographs ahead- reader beware*

You guys, meet Baymax:

Isn't he cool? The "arms" on the sides come out and can be raised and lowered. The bottom panel also rotates around, and so does the hair dryer looking top part. The table I'm on is called a couch, and it slides in underneath. I lay there and behave myself and admire the beautiful lighted ceiling panels and be still. I also watch the numbers of the variations of the rotation degrees creep up or down and wondered what "No accy" meant on the computer screen I can see. I hoped it didn't mean "no accuracy", so I asked. It means "no accessory", which is an additional machine part that could be added to Baymax. Whew. There's also clanks and whirs and I swear the same exact bing of the seat-belt-may-be-removed notice on airlines. 

The top part that looks like a hair dryer has a square window in the very middle of it which is full of metallic "leaves" that slide back and forth, making bumps and zigzags. I thought they looked like teeth made of nails, but they also remind me of the metalworks in a music box, or those toys where you push your face or your fist in and then back up and the impression you left behind is still there, sticking out in 3D. Anyway, that section rotates over to my left elbow when I'm on the couch and every time I think, "watch it, buddy, don't you bump my elbow"... it never does, but it makes me smile every time. It rotates under me to zap me from behind as well. The nurses recommended certain lotions that I'm to rub on 2-3 times a day and I'm supposed to put it as far down the back of my right shoulder as I can reach, all over my front, and then under my right arm as far onto my back as I can reach also. I'm a bit pink, but doing okay so far. Today will be Day 9, so Dada says I'll be 3/11ths of the way done. 

I have to laugh at this next picture with all my lumps and bumps and marks. This is my right side, showcasing my lovely armpit. Just kidding. I wanted you to be able to see what a hypocrite I am; Carrie has been known to draw on herself in Sharpie, and when I notice I admonish her, "don't draw on yourself. Especially in permanent marker!"

Well, here I am, all dotted and x'd and a general mess, haha. The x's are now tiny dots of tattoo ink, so those and the stickers they're on are gone. The bump with the scar above it to the right of the x on the right is my port. The ring of dots along my center are where the radiology techs line up the bolus, which is a flap of squishy material masquerading as tissue that tricks the radiation into sticking around the surface instead of penetrating farther into me. The actual, God's truth name of the bolus material? Superflab. I am not making this up! The techs keep it in a drawer with bubble wrap, and I've been told even towels could be used instead. How fun! The best part is that since Baymax works best in chilly conditions, the techs often warm up the Superflab in the blanket warmer before slapping it on my chest. Mmmmmm, nothing quite like warm Superflab. I quipped that I wished I had a whole suit of it to wear in weather like this!

The bruisy-looking dark spot under my incision is where the surgical drain was. The lump on my far right (which is actually my left) is the very bottom of what used to be my left boob. As I said earlier, when your arms are straight out to your sides, your chest stretches flatter, which is how I was in surgery. When you stand up and gravity takes back over, things fall into their original position. Am I flat? Not quite. More concave, but way flatter than I used to be. It makes for much tighter hugs, which I love!

Tangent time. Any guesses on the design on my pants? I call them my pizza pants, but on closer inspection you will notice that they have green rinds. I believe they are actually watermelon slices. Dada is not a fan, but they cracked up my radiation team, and they're super soft. If they disappear mysteriously, y'all will know who to blame.

While I'm on my date with Baymax, I get to pick the music I want to listen to. I've been hearing a lot of 60's, some classic rock, and some 80's so far. Songs I haven't heard in years, including this one . I had nothing to do with the song or the video. I hadn't heard it in a really long time- had forgotten about it completely, in fact- but it struck me how pertinent it is still today. My PSA for today is to please remember those less fortunate than you as we head into Thanksgiving, and I challenge you to find some creative way to love on someone in need, even anonymously. I can't wait to hear your stories about what you were able to pull off. Back to my irregularly scheduled blog post...I love it when my tech ladies sing along. It's funny how I'm only there for 15 or so minutes, but they all feel like old friends. I have been in such good hands this entire journey. It's so amazing to know how many people are in the right place at the right time knowing the right things. I thanked Julie once for taking such good care of me and she replied that it was her honor and privilege to take care of me. There were definitely tears sneaking into my ears again. Apparently you shouldn't cry on the Couch of Baymax, either...

Already?

I know there's a bunch of you out there whose favorite season is autumn, so I ask you- what is this nonsense!?

One with flash and one without. Ugh. So not ready. 

I woke up at 4:45 and saw there was snow on the sunroom roof which is right outside our bedroom windows. It's not even Grandmama's birthday, so why the heck is it snowing already!? 

To add insult to injury, my phone died yesterday. One of the apps on it is the Sonos app which controls the music throughout the house. It's a wonderful, magical creation, one of my favorite and most used apps.

Well.

Today Dada used his phone's Sonos app to turn on a Christmas music station in the family room and then went on his merry way to work. My phone is dead and the iPad is so old it can't update its version of the Songs app so I can't change the station. It's either Christmas music inside with snow outside or silence with snow outside. 

Bah humbug.

First world problems, truly. 

Seriously, Mother Nature needs to get it together. Check out Monday's forecast:

Once again, she figures, "a smattering of everything would be nice. Shake well and pour."

What comes to mind is the scene from "Into the Woods" where the witch visits the baker's house after she discovers a 40-foot footprint in her pulverized garden. They debate what species of monster could possibly be responsible. She storms off, the baker looks at his wife, and she then proclaims, "we are moving!" 

Autumn showed UP!

I wanna show you something. These were taken last Tuesday, October 30, 2018. I love the early morning light; to me, it looks bewitching:

See how green everything still was? We had lots that were naked already, yes, but the remaining leaves were mostly green or yellow-green at best. 

I took these this morning, November 5, the first school day after the time change, but not even a whole week later:

Can anything say Fall better than mums and pumpkins? All we need now is some hot apple cider.

"Liam's" tree, above, and one of our majestic oaks, below:

Happy autumn to those of you (Aunt Chris) who are far-flung and perhaps missing the turning of the leaves. It may have begun late this year, but it's sure making up for it in beauty. Happy birthday to Grammy in Heaven. Maybe she got to help paint some of these colors for us. I know she'd have liked that. Now to soak it up before it's all gone!

Visions from yesterday

If you dislike bugs, feel free to skip down to the tree photo and pick up the conversation there. 

I spotted this fascinating guy on the railing of the deck out back yesterday during my lunch. I was afraid to get too close as I had no idea what kind of bug he was and I didn't want to be attacked. The yellowjackets swarming around all our fallen apples and walnuts were bad enough. 

He didn't move when I poked him with the tip of my knife, so I assumed he was dead and turned him around to get a better look. I texted Dada who proclaimed, "it's a flying triceratops!"

I think he might be right.

He's really cool looking, though, from that spiky armor to the long probiscous that was wrapped around his leg. He looks like he sat on a stink bug (more power to ya, buddy). He's about two inches long and I've never seen one like that around here before. Any ideas, internet?

And then there are our trees. I think I've mentioned previously how we have just about every kind of tree which can make a mess here on the property. We have apple trees, black walnut trees (below), pine trees which are tossing both pinecones and needles down at us, Buckeye trees, locust trees that pitch sharp and thorny branches down as well as a bajillion tiny leaves that stick to the dogs until they're inside, and even one Osage orange tree that launches those spider-repelling balls that are green and wrinkly and stinky and don't ever let your dog eat them unless you're trying to induce vomiting and even then I wouldn't recommend them... 

Look at all those walnuts! And we've already picked up a gajillion! Anyone want black walnuts? You may come claim as many as you're willing to carry away! Help yourself!