School shenanigans

I'm so excited to be back to school! I'm having a blast in preschool most days, and we've even had two butterfly releases. The open one, above, had about three days of containment before we let him go, and of course, his neighbor had erected the chysalis right under the zipper of the container we needed to open to release the first one! And when we removed the remaining Very Hungry Caterpillar to use his container to corral the first butterfly until we could get him outside, said Caterpillar made a break for it. Fortunately, everyone ended up where they belong and it looks like our caterpillar is done gorging himself and is now upside down, contemplating his perfect spot on the roof of his container. Here's hoping the temps don't drop tremendously during the two weeks he's doing his thing out of sight before his release....

Here's me on my first day as a preschool aide. We've decided to take it month by month as there's a lot of moving parts like kids who need one on one attention now who may not later, thus shuffling personnel around. For now, I'm thrilled to be part of this team, loving on these kiddos, and having a ball singing songs, supervising lunch, lamenting that children don't always want to nap though adults usually do, helping with crafts, reminding that we go UP the ladder and DOWN the slide, and so on. It is a LONG day for small people. Don't forget to tell a teacher how much they are appreciated! There really are heroes without capes- I work with a bunch of them!

"First" day of preschool!

 

I'm still kickin'

 Hiya and happy almost holidays! The title is something my Nana used to say when asked how she was doing. I felt it was fitting to sum up how I'm functioning these days.

For those of you who are panicking because you're not ready, take a deep breath and know that we are right there with you. For those of you who keep getting more things tossed at you in this game called life, take another breath and be still a moment. You're allowed. There is hard stuff happening, and you, too, are not alone. For those of you experiencing a very Blue Christmas, big hugs from us, and more deep breaths, and just do what you can. And if you can't, that is okay, too. Just be. Just breathe. Please know you're loved.

I had the last of the AC part of chemo on Tuesday last week and you guys must have been praying hard, because I was expecting next-door-to-end-of-the-world awfulness but experienced next-door-to-exhaustion instead. Thank you! The nausea has not been fun, but it has been manageable, and I'm still taking as many naps as possible, which helps. The brain fog is real; I've caught myself making out multiple Christmas cards to the same person, so if you end up with three or end up with none- it's my fault either way. Sorry. Next year will be better. Doing a lot of facepalming over here. But, as my Nana said, "I'm doin'."

The next step will be weekly infusions of Taxol for all of the next three months. Supposedly that will be easier on my system and my doc thinks I will handle that well. The new wrinkle will be hands and feet neuropathy, which I'm a bit nervous about as I've been fortunate to never have to deal with that yet... guess we'll see how it goes. Doc said if it's terrible they can dial back the dose of Taxol, but I want this round of cancer to be the last ever round of cancer so I kinda don't want to inhibit any of the meds... no sense stressing over it. It'll be what it'll be. We will figure it out. 

Since that doesn't start until January, I have the rest of this month to recover, gain weight I mean "enjoy Christmas goodies", attempt to finish my cards before Christmas, get my far and wide ranging ducks back in a row, take the boys to the dentist for their appointment, enjoy time with loved ones, hopefully bake some and take more naps. I am very much enjoying not waiting at the bus stop while the temps are in the teens, but I'm sure there will be plenty of that in 2025. 

Don't exhaust yourselves this season chasing down the Stuff or trying to do All The Things. Make the time for the people and activities that fill your spirit back up, and know that you're loved more than you realize. Be good to yourself! You are worth it!

Drink water and wash your hands. The germs are legion!

Check in

 Just checking in. How's everybody doing in the relentless lead up to Christmas? Those of you missing loved ones due to distance or the afterlife, are you doing okay? Text if you need to talk. I'm here. Church workers, do you have the support you need? We appreciate all you're doing to get ready for Christmas; thank you. Teachers, you hanging in there? I've been hearing varying descriptions of the classroom craziness and am praying for all of you heroes, haha! You can do it. Just a few more days. Keep breathing!

Another reason to celebrate: I am officially done with my Red Devil side of chemo! My doc said all my blood cell numbers were good to go, told me I looked wonderful, asked if I was up for it, and I declared, "let's get it over with!" I had a good day with my Zita- thanks, babe! Hooray for another thing crossed off the list. Whew! It has been a YEAR of ridiculousness, no doubt. And as for 2025...

My next appointment will be in January when my Taxol treatments kick off. Doc claims that one will be easier all around though I should expect neuropathy in my hands and feet for a few days after each treatment. Always some new wrinkle to add to the learning curve. We'll see how that goes. Right now, I'll just be over here pumping myself full of water and salad to keep things flushing out and moving along and doing small things as I can accomplish them. Looking forward to Thing Three's holiday concert, I have a visit with my plastics doc and PT this week, and otherwise it's real life and Christmas prep. 

Hang in there, everybody. Be safe, stay off the egg nog, sneak a cookie when nobody's looking, and take care of yourselves, not just everyone else. You're allowed naps. You're allowed coffee with a friend out of the house. You're allowed to decorate the tree with every ornament you own or just leave it lights only if that makes you happy! Go for a walk if the temps and the ice aren't intimidating. Play the Christmas carols or blast you own favorites. Have a bubble bath- when was the last time you had one? The only thing in our tub is spiders... it is sadly neglected and I may need to have a date with it after evicting the small predators since NOT all drains lead to the ocean...

My point is, the year is rapidly drawing to a close. I know you parents with kids at home are overwhelmed and everyone is counting down the days for school to be done for awhile. Wash those hands and eat real food and remember to hydrate. Breathe. You are all so loved. Enjoy your holidays the best that you can and don't stress about perfection. Be merry and bright! xoxoxxo

Red Devil

 

In case you haven't figured it out already, my superpower is finding silver linings. I don't just lean towards positivity, I'm pretty much rooted there. If there is good in a situation, I'm likely to trip over it. 

So I added googly eyes to my "Red Devil" chemo. My doc asked me why. I told her it was to remind me that it was a friend, not a foe, and that it is to help me and not hurt me. She said she'd never seen anyone do that before. 

I'd heard stories of other patients who have had it and how it wipes you out. Zero energy. But it's also, from what I've read, excellent at killing cancer cells at every stage of growth. Sounds like an excellent weapon to employ. 

Am I tired? You bet. Do I still plan to take my 3 mile walk today? Also yes- not gonna squander that sunshine while it lasts! Do I have laundry on the line? Also yes. Am I drinking my water- the goal is 64 ounces daily- yes. I'm at about 32 done right now, so not too shabby. 

(Here is where I fell asleep the first time attempting this post.)

So to back up, my first AC chemo (Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide) was on Monday. They started me with about 4 anti-nausea meds, at least one of which that lasts 72 hours. I just looked up some more stuff about those and, holy cow, I should just stay off the Internet. Adriamycin also goes by Red Devil, hence the googly eyes to remind me it's a friend; it kills cancer in every stage of its life cycle and prevents replication. Also some serious side effects in addition to less serious ones like hair loss. (Been there, done that, Jeep hair, don't care.)

But effects on the heart is nothing to sneeze at, so they'll be keeping a close eye on me just as they did with my year of Herceptin. As far as I know, this is only 4 cycles AND I have the benefit of some wiggle room: since it used to be given every three weeks, I can do that so I don't have a treatment right before Thanksgiving, wahoo! They've discovered when they add a Neulasta patch to bump up your cell production that they can shorten the cycle to two weeks between each treatment, but also can give the grace week for scheduling purposes. Whilst I don't mind being a lightning bug (the patch attaches to your arm and blinks for 27 hours until it does your 45 minute injection and then the light clicks to red and it turns off. Then you remove it.) it is on my left side because of the risk of lymphedema being elevated on my right side. Well, guess who generally sleeps on her left side? Haha. Them's the breaks. 

Round One is done. 

I started this post yesterday afternoon, then had to pause to take a nap. Did my 3 mile walk later, had a good sleep, all that jazz, and had a two hour nap today before I got back to the blog! Then whilst reading the "how to get through chemo" parts of the literature it said take naps if you need to but try to keep them to about 30 minutes. Whoops.

I'm to drink tons of water and am doing well in that regard. Might just float away. People are asking how to help and our fridge and freezer are FULL, so remind me to drink water. Not rum*, not Fireball, no Mike's Hard Lemonade. 

Water.

And ginger ale and Gatorade and schedule IV fluids if I feel I need them. Thankfully ice cream is not forbidden, though I don't think that counts as liquids. Shucks. And I know half of you just shouted, "MILKSHAKES!" I hear you. =)

So far, so good. I am a bit alarmed that I already feel more... chemically... than I feel like I should- this is cumulative and that was only my first and yikes- but maybe cells in my body are now on full alert running around hollering, "enemies foreign and domestic! Move, move, move!"

The election coverage isn't helping, haha. Dada hears my hugs sighs of exasperation and doesn't even look up from what he's doing to remark, "why do you even READ about it?" *Grumble, grumble, grumble* 

Go vote. You have a voice. Go use it. 

Anybody needs a napping buddy, come on over! 

Apologies in advance for future continuity issues and/or lack of proofreading. I dunno how people hold down jobs during this unless it's love for and support from their coworkers (which I can absolutely see). Hang on to your brain cells, friends, cuz I'm gonna need 'em!

* Also, and yes, Mom, it took me this long to figure it out, but I think I now know why stereotypical sailors head straight for alcohol upon landing. After months at sea, becoming used to the six different motions of a ship on a sea, then landing to discover only gravity is working against you has gotta feel WEIRD. I think they use alcohol to recalibrate their fluid looseness that is their "usual/normal" state when at sea! Self medication. Makes sense to me!

Now what?

Well, it was a close thing, but we survived "Spring Break". That's in quotes because we had three days of wind measurements higher than temperatures (and they were none too high, though mostly double digits, thank goodness) so I couldn't even boot the kids outside. Spring Break when it is still officially winter is baloney in my book, but since I don't run the world I guess we'll just have to deal. 

So here's how we deal. I order seeds. Lots of seeds, or as Carrie told Aunt Chris forever ago, "yotsa" seeds. If you click on the pictures you can see everything larger. I picked out multiple kinds of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, herbs like cilantro, basil, sage, and creeping thyme, some corn (Dada laughed at me), many flowers such as borage, zinnia, non-culinary sages, and marigolds. Now all I have to do is the Herculean task of cleaning off the bar so we can get seeds in trays and under grow lights. Nooooo problem... 

And I baked. These are Kamish of the Mandelbrot tribe. In other words, yummy almond bread that is crispy like biscotti. I'm trying very hard to not eat them all myself.

We played Settlers of Catan. Those of you who have played this are probably noticing that we have the expansion set going also. And some stray Legos. And a blank spot we named Oz which would yield whatever the person camping around it most needed. Needless to say the boys set up camp around Oz mighty quick!

There was even a Carrie sighting or two! I like this one as it looks like the kraken plant behind her is gonna get her!

Dada made pancakes for Fat Tuesday and then we had them again last weekend. Never enough pancakes, teehee!

And there were some naps. This is Damon in what I call my Cookie Monster blanket, sacked out in the big chair. 

There will be more photos because {unbelievably} the big kids are testing for their second degree black belts this spring. Test one is done, they all passed, photos eventually!

Thanksgiving 2013

 

I was very impressed at Zach's puzzle concentration. Those were 100 piece puzzles, and he dove right in and was amazing! It also made me realize how I never get them out for Damon... another one of those things that you stress with your firstborn and forget all about by the time the poor third child rolls around. Dada got some 24 piece ones out once we got home; Damon had more fun undoing them than piecing them together. More practice is in order!
 

 

Pap displaying his prowess at one of the things grandpas excel at: naps!

The table, pre-food, with all its lovely decorations. Aunt Becky has a good eye!
 

 

The kid table. Lizzie rode herd over the three year olds. I'm pretty sure they were done eating before we'd even finished passing all the dishes at the big people table...
 

Camp is exhausting

Damon's a pretty consistent sleeper.
 

 

 

 

 

Then again, he's not too picky about where he sleeps.
 

 

 

 

 

Here's our sweet friend baby Chloe. She snoozed all over camp too! The boys were completely enraptured with her. She is an excellent baby and is super kissable!
 

 

Droolybug

If this post is a bit disjointed, I apologize. There's a football game streaming on my computer and my brain is trying to compete with the announcers and the marching band and the refs and... you get the idea.

Our Doodlebug has become a Droolybug. I don't feel any teeth in there yet, and he's almost 4 months old, but he is going through an amazing amount of bibs. He's found his thumb, and while he still likes his binkie, his thumb is sneaking in more often than not. We all think it's pretty precious. Especially when he's sleeping.

For no good reason, my camera chip reader has become "unrecognizable" by my laptop, which means that I don't know how to upload photos right now without it. I'm not sure how long it will take or what it will take to get that remedied, but that's why pictures (and posts) have been lacking. Sorry. We're working on it. =/

Care Bear still has one stubborn front tooth poking straight out, with another big kid tooth right behind it. She still looks rather shark-like as she has two rows of teeth in places, but it's a pretty cute little smile!

She's really enjoying second grade with their centers, specials, writers' workshops, and computer games. Her class will be painting the oceans and continents on pumpkins this Wednesday, so that ought to be pretty fun!

Liam is having a great time at preschool and has made two especially good friends. When you hear him chattering about Sammy and Cordelia, you'll know they are his boy friend and his girl friend from class. His new teacher seems to be holding the crew together well and he still hops out of bed gleefully when I tell him it's a school day.

We're spending National Frugal Fun Day today by taking naps. We had chocolate chip homemade waffles for breakfast, Dada sealed his homemade tomato sauce cans in their hot water bath, and now we're pondering what to make for dinner... hope everyone is having a good time celebrating Frugal Fun Day!

Gotta go. Tiny Tyrant is M.A.D. and binkie just isn't cutting it. I really hope it's not teeth! =/