like the one that came today. We went out for lunch. I wonder if she'll ever truly understand how much I enjoy her company, conversation, kindness.
Father, thank you for friends who show Your love through their visits.
I intentionally do not have a Caring Bridge blog at this time (several of my friends have both. - one blog is quite enough for me for now.) My reasoning may be flawed; but in my mind, the CB blogs tend to focus on the medical issue of the author, whereas I tend to think of my cancer as just one more piece of my story. But that means that sometimes you may be "bothered" here with information, stats, and updates relating to multiple myeloma and kidney dialysis. I continue to think of myself as "living with", even as I witness the debilitating effects of my disease/s.
Living it one day at a time and grateful for each!
This is a single mom's version of a "VACATION" day:
take Jhinel to dentist; while she is getting her cleaning/check-up, Starbucks run - cause I know this one's gonna be "a doozy"; fill up car and check air in the tires; pick up girl from dentist; auto parts store for new windshield wiper blades; Walgreens for passport photos; Dad's for a kiss; county government office so Nel can submit her passport application. THEN wash car; lunch; Jhinel to doctor; post office; me to oncologist; county animal care and control for cat licenses; home to pick up Angela and Alana; Dad and Nancy's for dinner; grocery store so that Nel and Alana can bake a pink cake before Jhinel heads back to college. I can ONLY take so many of these "days off" - LOL!!!
Hoping that you see the blessings in THIS day!
Ang and I had the most interesting discussion about the literature of William Shakespeare and evolution of the English language. Actually she did most of the talking. The conversation was wonderful. The fact that it was with MY baaaaaaaabeeeeeeeeeeeee is kinda freaky!
God is Good.
It's 10:30 p.m. on my coast. In my living room are four college girls, a kid sister and a wii. They are all in PJ's, I hear their laughter. I am whelmed over with joy, peace, happy.
The last time that they were all together was their high school graduation and "little krupa" was considered a nuisance. In just a matter of weeks, she's grown taller than two and has physically matured in a way that none of the others were prepared for (yet). Tonight she is invited to be part of their group. I am glad to have them home, even though the visits are brief these days.
THIS is the bucket list.
AT 12:21 a.m. southbound on I-95, me with wet pants and Angii half dressed, she noted the numerical palindrome. I tellya!!! I'm BLESSED!!
That was the ending of an unusual and wonderful day.
Plan A was that I would be out of town attending an Emmaus Walk.
Plan B was that we would be enroute to a camping trip with our church family.
There was no Plan C. But I had already scheduled the day off from work, so I fiqured I might as well schedule that mammogram. After that I went over to the lab for my "annual" blood/urine. filled up the tank then "swung by" the nail place where i used to go to......no line. got a pedi. Ran over to the optometrist to schedule an eye exam and they had an opening then. ALL this before NOON. wow!
Home for lunch and a nap.
I'd gotten an email from a texas girlfriend that she was going to be in town for a couple of days.......was going to a favorite dive in the old town.........We met for wings and a beer. a dozen or so of us, some we hadnt seen in a couple of years, others became new acquaintances. And of course, we "ran into" several others along the way. I asked Angii if she wanted to take a ride over to the beach.......as we were saying our good-byes, others decided to join us on that favorite beach. It ended up being a "best friday night", it was amazing how almost perfect strangers felt like friends. And that is how I ended up with wet pants, and Angii half dressed driving down the interstate at 12:21 a.m.
NOTE to self: next time you go out to dinner with susan, bring bathing suit, towel and bug spray.
Yep. I'm 49 and a half years old and I sleep with a teddy bear.
It just dawned on me a couple of days ago (get it? "dawned") (Angii would call that one a "knee slapper" - ha!) ANYWAYS, I am sharing my bed with a very large teddy bear.
Apparently, amidst the sorting and cleaning and packing and purging of "stuff", Jhinel's teddy bear found it's way into my bed. Maybe he was deemed too valuable for the space sacks or to be crammed into a box. Of course the new bear from her boyfriend is the one that took the trip to Tally.
The realization brought a reminisce. It was a gift from her God-father. Was it birthday? Christmas? Angii's baptismal? I don't quite remember. What I do remember is that the gift was considerably larger than the child.
He never really was a "pretty" bear nor fanciful by any stretch of the imagination, but he was always squishy. Many others have come and gone. "Dependable" or "reliable" would be good descriptors, "always there in a pinch". "Comfy" another. To me he's also symbolic of the love of the giver, geographically he may be far away, nonetheless "always there". That's real friendship.
Our lives have been blessed with a few real comfy folk.
Thank you, Father.
Angii has now seen "water falls". She has also been outside of the state of Florida, has experienced a new time zone.caverns, cooking over a campfire (shrimp on the barbie!) and Smores. Only took her fourteen years!
It's the most beautiful, rainy Sunday in south Florida.
The sauce is on.
Naptime!!
Today reminds me of when I was a child and we would go to Grandma's house after church, take our pretty dresses off and climb into her big bed in our slips to nap. (so as not to mess up our "good" clothes). Often dinner was home-made spaghetti with meatballs -- did jar sauce even exist?? Sometimes Uncle John's homemade kielbasa or Grandma's fresh pierogis or golumpki were the fare. But nothing compared to Grandma's homemade pies. Apple, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, banana cream, coconut cream. Warm memories.
Jhinel left today for Tallahassee. She'll experience campus life for a few days. And although they, "can't stand each other", she and Angii sat next to each other in church this morning and were quite affectionate in that "teenaged sister, sibling rivalry" sorta way.
It feels like a trial run to me but I didn't cry.
I was awakened by some "stirrings" at 1:00 a.m.
Saw my girl coming down the hall, and told her to get to bed Puh-leeeeezzzzzzzz
She replied, "I got in"
My girl is a Seminole!
A neldream realized.
Yay!
Last nights dinner was two slices of bread with (your choice, mayo or mustard) deli meats and cheese, a bottle of water, banana if you please or cheetos if you want. On a beach in the dark with family and a friend. It was waaayyyyyyyy kewl!!
oh! and there was a space shuttle involved too.
who forgot the flashlight in the car??
Yeah, funny things happen at my house.
Blogs get "hacked" into and embarrassing video's appear for all the world to see.
This morning I'm taking a shower, washing my hair. I look up to see graffiti all over the tile!!!
Someone (obviously) "borrowed" the granddaughters soap crayons, "Have A Great Day".
I smile
I laugh
I almost cry
The people I live with are such a blessing.
it's a wooHoo day. again.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
please disregard the black sock which is hanging on the side of my purse (hmmmmmmmm which child is wearing only one sock today???) And yes, it is "sock weather" in South Florida today.
It started with an ear of roasted corn to share with Alana. He approached saying, "If you like corn, you should come back for the CORN FESTIVAL in April", then a comment on how beautiful Alana looks just like her "momma"; "oh! you're her grandma?!!"; I knew then. but when he commented that "some of us men"..."like a woman who doesnt look like a stick" I about lost it.
I'll admit that I do not, and have never been confused with a stick, but did that guy just call me fat???
ROFL
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