Ho Hum......

Not much going on. I'm all decorated for Christmas (inside and outside), much to my amazement. Now I'm pondering what cookies to bake.

I went for my weekly blood work today and as usual, red count is low. White count has been fine. Next Tuesday is my last chemo treatment. WOO HOO! Then on to radiation. Not sure when I'll start that. As always, I truly appreciate your prayers.

Strange....

Oddly enough, I'm finding myself in the mood for Christmas! I usually adopt Ebenezer Scrooge's attitude of "Bah humbug!" but not this year it appears. Last year I didn't put my tree up, but I already have it together and as soon as I can figure out why the top looks like it's about to fall off, I'll decorate it. Wish I could get a real tree, but I will opt for the fire-retardant type this year.

Nothing new to report, I'm feeling good, just tired. Thanksgiving was relatively quiet. Marissa is still in New Castle, letting my family run her ragged, lol. They went to the USF-Pitt football game Saturday then did the Christmas window shopping thing in downtown Pittsburgh which included two of my great-nephews. I have to admit, I'm a little homesick! And you all know how much I (DON'T) like the cold!

Off to the store for a few groceries, then the pups and I will go over to my bro's house later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a blessed day with family, friends or a combination of both. There is much to be thankful for and I thank God for the gifts of friendship and family. I also thank Him for His faithfulness throughout my little adventure. God is good!

I'm spending the holiday with Joe, Linda, Angela and Elizabeth. Marissa is traveling to Pennsylvania today to spend Thanksgiving with our fam in New Castle. Have fun!

Crank Fest

I still have some residual crankiness from the weekend. I've been telling the dogs to stop barking (and they're not listening??) ALL day and I'm trying to list groceries I need to pick up today. I think I'd rather go back to bed! Sigh.

Oh yeah, as a testament to my chemo-brainness, I thought my weekly lab appt. was for today. I called yesterday to confirm, since I don't remember writing it down anywhere, only to discover the appt. was for yesterday at noon! And it was 2:30 p.m. when I called. Into the shower I went and trekked down Interstate 4 pronto. That poor staff is trying to cram in 5 days worth of patients into 3 this week, but they were very gracious. There was an accident on the interstate coming home which gave me an uninvited flashback to my commuting days. Good grief! Thankfully, blood counts were good. :)

Okay, off to Crankyville again!

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Linda, so glad you won some money on that game yesterday! What a crappy game to watch.

I'm not as tired or as cranky as I was yesterday. Goody.

It's taking forever for me to finish "Under the Tuscan Sun." I haven't picked it up in over a week, but I read some before bed last night and I've read today, too. Blame it on my short attention span, chemo brain or whatever. I guess right now I'm in the mood to escape to another locale. I keep reading about the author's terraced olive trees that she's trying to rejuvenate and before you know it, I'm opening a can of olives to eat. I never knew the power of suggestion could be so strong as while undergoing chemo.

Bella's better....thank God...not sure what upset her stomach over the weekend, but she's back to her little self. :)

The Lost Day

Yesterday came and went. I think I slept through most of it. Weird day. I had really bizarre dreams during the night. Bella wasn't feeling well yesterday.....didn't eat or drink much of anything. She seems to be better today. I'll be keeping a close eye on her.

I think today will be only slight more exciting than yesterday. Go Steelers....

Day Three

Got a lot of sleep last night and already had a 2 hour nap today. Better though than the cycles with Adriamycin. Becky and I planned to do nothing today, so that turned out to be a good plan. She goes back to Pennsylvania tomorrow morning. The time has flown by and it's been great to have her here!

This morning Robin Roberts shared her head-shaving ordeal on Good Morning America. She's a classy woman and handles things with such grace! I had trouble uploading the 6 minute clip so you'll have to click on the link to view it...

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCallPlusBreastCancerCommunity/story?id=3869529

Round Five, Day Two

All went well today, but I am definitely tired this evening! I'll be going to bed pretty soon. :)

Round Five

Becky and I went to New Smyrna Beach Monday, but it was pretty icky. Beach erosion and seaweed everywhere from bad storms the previous weeks and the tide was high again. We didn't even sit on the beach. We sat up above it on this little mini-boardwalk. I could've looked up beach conditions before we went, but didn't think anything about it. We did some shopping afterwards then went to Joe's for burgers and hot dogs.

Got my 5th (and next to last!) chemo infusion yesterday. I don't feel too bad. A little tired and I'm getting that periodic flushing in my face. It doesn't last too long. It's probably from the Decodran (steriod) that I take for more days with Taxatere/Cytoxan than I did with Adriamycin/Cytoxan. Becky came with me to my treatment and we talked about food the entire time! We were looking at magazines full of Thanksgiving recipes. I was hoping we weren't making any other chemo patients sick listening to us talk about food, food, food. We went to eat afterward (naturally) and went to Sam's to pick up my new glasses and contacts. I luv my new glasses! I'm going to wear them today when we go back for my Neulasta injection and IV fluids.

Hope you are well! xoxoxo

Sun Day :)

I didn't realize I haven't posted since Tuesday. Time flies....

Becky arrived from Pennsylvania yesterday evening for a visit. I've spent the last few days getting things done around the house (with Linda's expert help, of course). I even got crafty and took a plastic plant pot and spray painted it with faux stone texture. I got the idea from my Garden Gate magazine. You run rubbery piping insulation around the top to make a rim, spray it then coat it with a sealer. It looks pretty good. I put mums in it and placed it outside my front door.

The weather has remained cool, dry and sunny. Becky, Joyce and I are going to a friend's house to watch the Steelers-Browns game. Tomorrow we're going to the beach! Tuesday is chemo day-- my next to last one! Woo hoo! My hair has been growing back-- another woo hoo!

Whoa...

Wow, the Steelers really did run over Baltimore last night! In the ugly throwback uniforms, no less. I think that's part of the key-- distract the other team with those atrocious things. It works! And it was great to see the Super Bowl heroes of yore together again....Linda B., was it as much fun as it looked? Naturally, I couldn't stay awake for the whole game, but it was over in the first half anyway. :)

Beeyooteefull weather!!

It feels like fall! Absolutely gorgeous weekend....lots of sun, cool temps, dry....perfect. More of the same forecasted this week. Over the weekend I worked on killing weeds and pesky vines. Going to have my enormous arborvitae on each side of the garage pulled out this week....they are so overgrown and very dry inside. I have 2 huge pots of sturdy snake plants to put in their place. There is so much stuff I'd like to do to increase the curb appeal of the front of my house, but I will have to do what I can and afford little by little. The 2 Sago palms out front are infested with insect scale (for the 3rd time). Insect scale on Sagos is a real problem in Florida. I swore the last time I clipped them (makes a mess and you get pinched by lots of spiky fronds) would be the last. I just don't know what to put in their place...flower beds, other small palms? What to do, what to do.

After church yesterday I went to Sam's Club with Joe, Linda and Elizabeth. I finally picked out frames for glasses and purchased contact lens from a new prescription. I now need bifocals, ugh. Pretty soon I'll need a hearing aid. :) Took the dogs for a walk in the afternoon. Linda made eggplant parmigiana and chicken for dinner. Yum. Good weekend.

Steelers will run over Baltimore tonight on Monday Night Football.

The Sun!!

I woke up to sunshine today! Yahoo....was beginning to wonder why Florida is called the Sunshine State. Our sunshine means TS Noel is churning north and ready to dump rain along the Eastern Seaboard. Turns out Noel is not in a yuletide mood. Nasty stuff.

My stomach is settling down, but not completely, so I'm trying to be careful about what I eat. It doesn't seem to take much to get it roaring again. :( The dogs and I need to catch up on our walking this weekend. I hope to do a little yard work, too, since it's supposed to be cool.

A BIG congrats to my sister Anita for being chosen a 2007 Woman of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Beaver and Lawrence Counties (Pennsylvania). Distinctive, indeed! Wish I were there to celebrate with you this evening. xoxoxo

Happy Friday everyone!