Scary time at dog park!

Yesterday afternoon I thought I'd take the girls to the dog park a couple of miles from my house. There was only one family there (on the small dog side, that is) with 3 bulldogs. I unleashed my dogs and immediately the 3 bulldogs came running from across the park to "greet" my babies. The greeting started to get a little out of hand and my dogs were getting really nervous. I started out kindly telling the owners that my dogs were rather skittish around other dogs. Things started getting intense, Bella and Stella started freaking out and soon I was screaming at the insensitive owners to get their dogs off mine! They took their sweet time doing so and I was throwing water from my bottle at their dogs. I managed to grab Bella, but then all 3 were on top of Stella and she was yelping. I kept yelling and throwing water. The owners FINALLY grabbed their dogs and I screamed at them to have better control of their beasts. They said that's never happened before but I don't believe it. My dogs weren't hurt, just very scared and upset, like me. It made me realize how fast things happen and how ugly things can get. I'm going to buy pepper spray this week and I won't hesitate to use it. I may just forgo dog parks in the future, but will carry pepper spray even when I walk them. What a nightmare that was! I was VERY upset. Sigh.

Tonight will be very boring. I'm not a big fan of New Year's Eve anyway. Really don't like being out when you know the majority of the people out for the night are drinking (then driving). I will stay home, watch a movie and sip some Pinot Grigio. How thrilling!

Wishing you all a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous 2008!

So very bored

My dogs would like nothing more than to go to the dog park. I've started taking them there again. But today, as bored as I am, I don't feel like dragging them and myself to the park. I feel bad for them sometimes. And it's not like I don't have anything to do around the house, but my motivation level is nil.

How bored am I? I dug out my counted cross stitch junk and started on a simple pattern. I haven't done cross stitch for at least 10 years. I'm sorry to report that it doesn't look like designs have changed much in that time. I'll probably get bored with this, too.

I AM in the mood for a serious road trip, but that won't likely happen before the end of February. I'm starting radiation on Jan. 7th. Yes, I met with my radiation oncologist this past Thursday. I had first met him in early November. I interviewed his staff for an article and press release. I told him at that time that I would soon become his patient. How ironic, huh? Life is funny. HA HA.

Anyway, I'll have 5 weeks of your run-of-the-mill rads, then the last week and a half, I'll get zapped with higher dosages directly to the (former) tumor site. It shouldn't be too bad. I'm anxious to get it started and over with.

I promised I would write about last weekend...so I'll bore you, too! Most of you know that my brother Joe, his family and I are applying for dual citizenship (USA/Italy). It's taken about 1 1/2 years to cut through the red tape to get all the documents required to submit. And after getting all the paperwork in order, we needed to find someone who could translate everything into Italian. Joe's networking led him to a couple who were willing and able to do just that. Peter is from Sicily and Dory (his wife) is from Argentina. They are great. They worked their butts off for us to get everything done. They moved into a new home recently and invited us to their home to celebrate along with some of their other friends last Saturday night. We had a great time, met some cool people and ate and drank. AND sang Christmas carols! I was SO tired the next day, but what else is new? Getting back to the dual citizenship thing again...now that most of the bureaucratic stuff is done, we have to wait for the Italian Consulate in Miami to clear out their backlog and begin processing documents again (more bureaucracy). Why are we doing this, you ask? Joe and Linda are seriously considering moving there after Elizabeth graduates from high school. Joe would like to teach English there for a few years. I'm just doing it because I don't have anything better to do!

On Sunday, Joe and I went to Barnes & Noble in Daytona Beach. My favorite bookstore! That's where I picked up a cross stitch mag to inspire me. Funny thing is, nearly all of the publications were from the UK. What, no one does needlework in this country anymore? Actually, I found a lot more info online. Thank you, Internet! Later that day we all had burgers on the grill. Love that. Once again, I was tired Monday morning. I guess it will take awhile to rid myself of all this fatigue. It would be nice if I had some patience.

Think I'll go find something to eat. Speaking of eating, I've started my list of New Year's resolutions. :)

How was your Christmas?

I hope you all had a good day. Christmas in DeLand was good. It was overcast and a little rainy with a slight chill in the air, which I preferred to a hot, sunny Christmas day!

Stella and Bella love the new toys and chew sticks that Santa brought. Santa also brought Levi a new catnip toy (in the form of a little squirrel) and treats. My job is to keep the the dogs away from the squirrel.

Linda and Joe had turkey breast stuffed with spinach, ham, and lots of garlic. Linda also made green beans almondine and cranberry salad. I made lasagna (for Marissa, the vegetarian) and brought a spiral ham. I managed to bake several varieties of cookies for Christmas: wedding cookies (my mom's recipe), turtle brownies, peanut blossoms and cream cheese chocolate chip cookies. I really wanted to make pizzelles, but I don't have a pizzelle iron (yet). Linda has a small one and I brought it home. I'll try to make them for New Year's Day. I used to help Mom make them every year, but I've never attempted to make the batter myself. If they turn out well, I'll buy a pizzelle iron the next time I visit New Castle (which I plan to do for Easter). I really missed everyone back home in PA, but it was great to talk to some of you on the phone.

No surprise that I was absolutely exhausted when I got home last night. My back is still bothering me. The last 3 days I've managed to take the dogs for a walk, so I HAVE to continue to do this, for their sake and mine!

Gonna take it easy today. Watch a movie and do some laundry. And maybe take a nap.

I was in such a crabby mood on Christmas Eve that I didn't post about the really good weekend I had. I'll try to post about that later.

Blessings

I was blessed by my church's candlelight service this evening. The children performed a little pageant and it was really cute. Joyce came with me and we hung out at my house for awhile afterward.

I'm so very appreciative of all your prayers and support. I wish you a peaceful and beautiful Christmas day.

Permission to Complain...

This seems oh so not festive, but I'm tired and my back hurts! I forgot to take Advil PM last night and I did not sleep well. Tossing, turning, hot, cold, really BIZARRE dreams... grrrrr....and it does not feel like Christmas Eve at all! I'm going to church this evening so hopefully my mood will change from crabby to grateful.

I think I'll stare at this pretty picture for awhile to improve my mood....

Is it Friday Already??!!

Wow, time flies....not much has been going on...been baking cookies and doing other Christmas-related things. Not as tired, but I notice that it doesn't take much activity for me to get tired anymore! I think that will go away as time goes on.

I had bloodwork on Wednesday, nothing new there. I think my RBC is going to remain low all through radiation. I don't go back to my medical oncologist till after the first of the year and I'm about to schedule an appointment with the radiation oncologist. I'm very grateful that the chemo is now behind me. YAY!

Tired again!

I don't know if was the excitement (and the cheering) of the Steelers almost winning or the disappointment of them losing (and the yelling).....but I'm tired today! Thank goodness Troy is back playing or it could have been worse. Enough about football. Gah!

Safe Room

Tornado warnings this morning. Woke up to lots of thunder and lightening around 6:00 a.m. Linda called around 6:30 to tell me about the warnings. I put the TV on and as usual, the meteorologists were beside themselves warning us of the danger like Armageddon was right around the corner. I shouldn't complain, though, the technology enables them to tell us where things are real-time and how many minutes away you are from disaster and complete annihilation. It seemed the nasty stuff was headed right to Deltona, and they encouraged everyone to get to their safe room. I gathered up Levi and the dogs and camped out in my bathroom with pillows, phone and radio. I decided that the bathroom is probably not the best place to hide, but I really don't have a room without an outside wall. The power flickered a few times, but didn't go out completely. Fortunately, the weather dissipated quickly and all was well. Not sure of the damage, if any, in Volusia County.

Not to minimize the horrible weather those of you in the Northeast are experiencing, but yesterday it was around 80 degrees and so far today we have had tornado warnings, fire weather watches and wind chill advisories. What a combo! I will still take all that over a bunch of snow, ice and sub-freezing temps!

Today I'm meeting Joyce at Frogger's in Oviedo to watch the Steelers. Frogger's is a Steelers restaurant/bar on football Sundays. One side of the place shows a variety of games and the other side is pure Steeler country. Haven't been there since last season. Should be fun!

Interesting Study Results

I just read an article about a study showing Taxotere improving survival rates over Adriamycin. I had posted a few weeks back that my medical oncologist switched my chemo regimen not just from Adriamycin, but also from Taxol to Taxotere based on another study's results. Well, I feel better knowing this now and also it demonstrates the Cancer Institute's desire to be at the forefront of new cancer treatments.

Article here: http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cancer/news?NewsItemId=20071213elin033.xml

Congrats Joe!

My brother Joe was selected to teach Advanced Placement (AP) English at DeLand High beginning after the holidays. Way to go!

He keeps pretty busy teaching and playing music....check out his music blog (link on the right) if you haven't already.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Miss you

Happy Birthday Dad....RIP.

Sounds of the Season

I highly recommend http://www.zradio.org/ for your online Christmas music listening enjoyment. :) It's an Orlando Christian music station and they've been playing Christmas music exclusively since Thanksgiving. A nice selection of classic and contemporary holiday music for ya.

Went for weekly lab work today.... no surprises there....red count still low. I wonder how long it will take for that to get back up to normal?

I don't see any Christmas templates on this site, so the red and green colors will have to do for now.

Grapes!

I found the green grapes I've been craving. Yahoo.

I've moved the essentials from my old PC to the new one, which I'm now using. Still have a bit of cleanup to do on the old one. I feel like I've fast-forwarded 3 centuries! My other PC is 7 years old and was barely chugging along. Marching forward!

Still tired....

Stuff to Do

I'm over the football game....I predict, however, the Steelers will not venture far into the playoffs this year. Just sayin'.

I am less tired today, but in a crabby mood. My eyelids have been twitching since chemo #5 and it's driving me nuts!! I mentioned it to the doctor and he said he hasn't heard that one before. Just like me to have an unusual side effect! It's gotta be from the Taxotere; it's never happened before starting it. Annoying!!

I hope to get a lot done this week.....still haven't written Christmas cards. I have a new PC...which isn't hooked up yet. I have to transfer a lot of stuff from this one to the new one. And I have to get all the receipts turned in for reimbursement for the computer (from my severance package). The dogs need a bath and I have to get them and Levi to the vet soon for their shots. I'm tired just thinking about it all!

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

...sigh

STILL Tired

Another day of power napping. I'm still super tired. Hopefully, I'll have some energy tomorrow. :-)

The Word for Today: T-I-R-E-D

I seem to be more tired this time around. No other problems noted, just very fatigued. Everything tastes funny, but that will pass in a couple of days. So to sum everything up, I've been sleeping a lot!

I don't why I thought the Steelers-Pats game was supposed to be last night (it's Sunday). A family member clarified this for me at the beginning of the week. It was a "flex" game, so maybe it was originally scheduled for Thursday, but moved to Sunday? That doesn't make sense, though, because it's a big game and you would think it would be on national TV. Oh well, just another reason to blame good ole chemo brain! Cheers all.

Round Six, Day Two

Linda and I went to the chemo cafe today for my IV fluids and Neulasta injection. I woke up REALLY tired this morning. Other than that, I'm feeling good. I'm ready to go take a nap now. zzzzzzzzz......

Went Well

Everything went well today. Linda and I gabbed with a woman sitting next to us. I made my (famous) turtle brownies and they were a hit. Three people gave me their email address for the recipe and the woman sitting next to us gave me her phone number because she wants me to make them for her. I probably will.

I'm getting that flushing feeling in my face again, but I've been experiencing lots of hot flashes, so it's not much different than that. I'm really not that tired right now, but I imagine I will be in the next couple of days. Tomorrow is Neulasta and fluids.

My medical oncologist said I would more than likely start radiation after the first of the year. I would miss several treatments over the holidays and they prefer that you don't miss any. I'll be making an appointment with the radiation oncologist very soon. I'll still go back for blood work the next few weeks and my medical oncologist wants to see me again Jan 2nd. He told me he spoke with a colleague from UCLA last week and they concurred that Adriamycin will probably be phased out as a chemo agent for breast cancers like mine in the next year or two. That's great news. There are changes going on all the time to improve treatment for breast cancer. Good stuff.

Round Six, Last One!!

Today is my last chemo treatment....I'm anxious to see my doctor and see what's next. I know radiation is right around the corner, but I'm curious to see how much follow-up I'll have with my medical oncologist. I'm sure I'll have weekly blood work for at least a little longer. And I imagine there are tests to take to make sure everything is A-OK. And at some point I'll need to have my port removed. Yay!

I haven't been sleeping well, even with taking Advil PM every night. I stayed up late last night and I got up to take the dogs out about 6:20 a.m. Could not get back to sleep after that. I was hoping to sleep until about 7:30-8:00, but no go. I'm sure I'll be napping later this afternoon!

For once, I was rooting for the Baltimore Ravens. I only saw the last few minutes of the game last night (forgot it was on) and it was a nail-biting end. Too bad the Ravens couldn't upset the perfect Pats. Now it's up to the Steelers to do it on Thursday night. Maybe the Patriots will be sluggish with only a few days to prepare? We shall see.....

Finally!

I finished Under the Tuscan Sun. I had to renew it 3 times! Hope the next book doesn't take as long for me to read. By the way, the movie is nothing like the book....except that the main character bought a run down house in Tuscany to restore and watched a local man place flowers at the shrine of Mary at the end of her drive nearly every day. I'm actually surprised the movie took the same title as the book. That's Hollywood for ya. :)

Oh No I Didn't!

Oh yes I did. A really stupid thing yesterday. I went to Wal-Mart to get a few baking supplies, walked my cart to the very end of the row where I was parked. Then I drove to another store looking for my latest food obsession...green globe grapes. Wal-Mart hasn't had them the last two times I've been there. I pull into the parking space, get out of my car and turned to grab my purse. Purse? Where's my purse? Nowhere in the car. Oh, I must've thrown it into the truck before I closed it. Ummm, no, not in the trunk. Panic starts to set in. What did I do?? Did I leave it in the cart? Did someone steal it? How stupid!! I race, and I mean race, back to Wal-Mart, praying to Jesus the whole way. I careen into the parking lot looking for the end of the row where I was parked. Now I almost always return my cart to the cart corral. This time I didn't and left it at the end of the row between cars. I found my row and see two guys collecting carts. I stop the car, roll down the window and frantically ask them if they found a purse in a cart. They did!! One of the guys grabbed it and gave it to me. I PROFUSELY voiced my gratitude and appreciation. Nothing was missing! When I got home I immediately called the store and spoke to a manager, relaying what happened and how grateful I was. She thanked me and said it's nice to hear positive comments from a customer for a change. Based on my experience, I could relate to that. It's much easier to complain about something than it is to share something positive.

The relief I felt was palpable. In my purse are my house keys, spare car key, cash, license, a couple of credit cards and a gift certificate. Someone could've stolen my identity (who would want MY identity, lol?), stroll into my house, steal my car, clean out the house, and God forbid, take my dogs and cat (I know what you're thinking: Who would want my pets?). I clearly averted a disaster and THANK GOD it didn't happen. Where is my brain? People, I tell you, it's shot!!

Anyway, everyone at the Malley household is sick, so I'm keeping away. I'm going to bake this afternoon! I'm doing laundry now and I'll start writing Christmas cards, hopefully. I haven't done that in years!

I've noticed that my eyebrows and eyelashes are really thinning. Big time. The hair on my head is really growing and I've been using the Bain de Terre stuff for thinning hair ever since I noticed it starting to grow again. So I guess there's some sort of trade off going on. I met someone who lost her eyebrows and eyelashes AFTER she completed chemotherapy. Maybe since my last infusion is next week that won't happen, but time will tell!

Steelers play tonight and it will be interesting to see if I can stay awake and also to see if they begin playing like contenders again instead of pretenders! Rah, rah.