Ran out of space again. Anyway, Oscar was in the ATC’s culinary program for a short time about 10 years ago. He’s been building his confidence in cooking with the help of a friend who recommends recipes and gives tips. This was the baked chicken parmesan he made. It was delicious and looked good enough for a photo.
This tube of bodily fluid could hold the genetic keys of family health.
For reading this far, you’ve earned an outtake featuring the pug. I decided to scrap the original update but rescued this for entertainment purposes.
I probably won’t get a medal for helping with colon cancer research, and I’m totally okay with that. This however is something that feels like a medal wrapped in a hug. I love getting new ornaments from people. This will fit perfectly in my tree.
My local library dedicates their main entrance to artists. Lately they’ve been paper snowflakes someone takes to new levels and sells for $600 fully framed. Of course this one is my favorite. (Please don’t buy it for me. I’m running out of space to hang things.)
It took some time, but I decided to decorate my three little trees. I normally bring them and most of my decorations to add some life to the cubicles at work. The ceiling fan became the main attraction at home with a faux mantle fir hooked around it. It was the only space safe from the cat’s reach.
The cat passed away last year, and I was 9 other desks short of work space to decorate. The boys helped me put these three up and learned how to space ornaments. My winter wreath stays up on the door through the end of February and matches the trees. I’m thinking of leaving these up until at least end of January. Something pretty to enjoy while starting chemo.
I need to use a “positivity sandwich” like someone recently taught me. First, I tried out a facial mask directly from Japan. All the instructions were on Japanese, but it had pictures.
Now for the hard part that I’ve known about all week but have been stalling on giving updates on because I’m not yet mentally ready to go through it. I’m going to do it anyway. It’s the anxiety and nerves that are getting to me.
Last of all, me talking to a pile of blankets to leave you feeling less down.
As the pug is my witness I won five rounds of Uno in a row against Oscar and the boys. He didn’t realize I built my poker face playing against Mom, Ty, and Brady. I let them each have a win before defeating them for the final round. Didn’t play the cancer card. They’re sure I cheated. I have one thing to say to that.
The boys have been asking me to play Monopoly with them. I gave in yesterday. This was how it looked after I took Oscar and Noah out. Charlie refused to give up.
This was the last move he made. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking your 8 year old’s last $6 once he lands on NORTH CAROLINA Ave. (Wrestling joke.)
Now for the update I put together yesterday but felt too tired to post. You can access the recipes here.
I nearly forgot to show the altar.
Spotify does this cool thing towards the end of the year where it lets me see what song it thought I might like to hear every single day, no matter how much I set the playlist to shuffle or resort it. It’s still better than Pandora where any new playlist will gradually start playing Nickelback. Most of mine made perfect sense, but I’m not THAT obsessed with Orgy’s “Fiction (Dreams In Digital)”.
I love a good podcast. COVID slowed or stopped new episode releases for most of my favorites. I found this one and clearly took to it immediately. I now know how intense flamingos are, where the “Cha Cha Slide” and the Wilhelm scream came from, and that spiders have built-in cargo pockets for their brain and snacks. If you’ve been needing to build or feed your curiosity, check this one out.
I have a playlist for driving around town or a roadtrip or a general “life is good and surprises are around the corner” vibe. I have one for days where I really miss Nessa. I have one that doesn’t get used a lot, thankfully, that helps bring me back from my absolute low days. I started one that focuses on songs I would hear while playing games on our old N64 over 20 years ago.
Lupus won’t be getting its own playlist. The ones I have will work just like they have been.
I’ve been struggling to fall asleep more often this year, because anxiety in a low level is still too much to let my mind relax. I gave this one a chance, and it works well, including nights spent at the hospital. It shouldn’t count because it’s not a typical podcast, but technically I listened to this podcast the most. I might try it with my eye mask to see if taking a nap during a chemo treatment is possible.
Ultimately, there’s the one track that remains the most true. When I saw them live I traveled back to my bedroom with the smurf blue shag carpet. That slice of time was before so much would go wrong, and I owe the band for leaving their music as an audible fixed point I can return to.
Family Health Risk Assessment – Will be used for genetic testing to see if there are any hidden health issues that might be caught sooner. It will only let you edit your information and is completely voluntary. I’m sorry if I missed someone or got the names or ages wrong.
Yes it shows most of my cousins as “siblings”, but I promise it will show as cousins. The weird part will be explaining why I’m an only child with 8 siblings and only three of them get listed.
New items that will be particularly useful for chemo treatments:
The link is under the How Can I Help page.
Living with cancer can make a person take unusual risks. We put the whole family in jeopardy.
I can’t be sure, but I doubt my energy level would have been able to keep up with our usual Thanksgiving Day plans. I brought a small energy drink along but didn’t need it. I’ll be going to bed earlier since I had to skip a nap, but I got my gradual exercise in.
If my incisions don’t have stitches, what does that put me at compared to Ty and Brady?
Also I think I found a murder weapon.
Jiggity jig.
Monday the 23rd, 2 pm-ish
I’m not sure if this is a welcome home party or the chewing out of a lifetime.
11:30 pm
My snoring pug and my rumbling belly are sounding/feeling identical while I try to fall asleep. Too tired to post a video right now.
Tuesday the 24th, 1:45 pm
Team Hedgehog 