Sunday, December 14

When I get to church this morning, the first person I run into is Martha.  She has something for me.  She was hoping to give it to me last night, but she didn't see me.  I wondered what she was talking about.  She had been to the Sr. High Youth Group Coffee House.  It had completely slipped my mind.  I had every intention of going to that, and then, completely forgot about it.  Completely.  Chemo brain is such a weird thing.  I hope that when I am done with this my memory comes back.

Martha gives me a bag with something wrapped in tissue paper.  When I slowly unfurl the paper, I find a fine red felt fox.  She is beautiful.  Martha runs the Girl Effect sale, and saw her when she was ordering.  She only ordered one, just for me.  This is just the sweetest thing.  I think I will name her Martha.

It is funny, because I looked at the felted animals that were available at the sale and thought that if there were a fox I just might have to get one.  Martha is a foxy one!

We learn about Hanukkah in Sunday school today.  We play dreidel and make some paper menorahs to help us celebrate when it begins on Tuesday.  It is our last class before we break for two weeks, so we also make felt Christmas Trees.  The children are all so excited about the holidays.  Some of then celebrate both, some are just learning about Hanukkah.  It is a magical time of year, anyway you celebrate it.

By the time I leave church, my feet are so achy, and I don't feel so well.  I am invited to a birthday party for one of my daycare children, but decide it will be best to go home and take a nap.  Friday I am supposed to get my last folfox treatment, and I don't want to push myself and get sick.  Instead I go home and take a long nap.

When I awaken, I still don't feel that well, and my sisters are coming over for dinner this evening.  With much help from Ayla and Alex, we manage to get everything ready before they arrive.  My sister Jill had a birthday just after Thanksgiving, so we are having a little party for her.  She doesn't know, so it will be a surprise for her.  Ayla makes one of my sister's favorite meals, mac and cheese with sausages and broccoli.  For dessert, a cake from Pastiche of course! It is a delicious celebration.
After dinner we test out a game for the table on Christmas morning. It is called WhatchamaDraw it.  There are cards with drawing cues on them, things like draw an animal that has a chicken head, a pineapple body and duck feet.  You then have three minutes to draw.  It is hysterical to see what each person comes up with.  There is a competitive facet to the game, but we chose to enjoy each creation rather than be judged.  We do challenge one person to figure out who has drawn what.  This makes it very interesting.

While everyone is still playing, I go out driving with Allie.  We need to get some night time driving in, and is not just dark, but also a little rainy. 

When I get home, Steven and the kids are still playing the same game.  It is sure to be a hit on Christmas. 

Monday

Allie and I go to driving this evening.  She takes me to Bed Bath and Beyond to do some Christmas shopping.  She is very helpful in advising me about a gift I want to get for my sister Sara.  Since we are in Seekonk, we decide to go to Target too.  I am on a mission to find a hot water bottle for someone with cold feet.  At both Bed Bath and Beyond and Target the sales people think I am talking about one of those sippy cups grownups carry tea or coffee around in.  This is very amusing.  Neither store has what I am looking for though.

Tuesday

We make paper Hanukkah menorahs today.  They are made using rectangles of paper for the candles, pasted onto a backround which has a larger rectangle menorah.  We keep one candle which has a paper flame on it stored on the back of the paper in a pocket with the flames for the other candles.  This is the shammos candle, the one which is used to light all of the other candles.  Each night, the children can light one more candle until they are all lit.  This evening is the first night, so everyone will have a paper candle to light.  We also play dreidel with chocolate gelt.  This is so popular, even my two year olds figure out how to spin the top to play.

In the evening I have knitting, although I arrive late.  I don't get much knitting done, but I do get to eat cookies!  Linda has been baking and brought some in to share.  Lonnie, Sarah and I make a good dent in the cookie supply.  Someone has left some yarn for us today, a nice bag full.  It has some good soft wool that will be perfect for items for our mitten tree, and some needles that will come in handy when we teach newbies how to knit.

Wednesday

I have a nine thirty appointment with Dr. Lentrichia today. He does the usual inspection of my belly, my bag and my stoma.  Everything looks good.  We talk about my chemo and how that is going.  I tell him about my visit to the liver surgeon, my MRI,  and my last visit with Dr. Safran back in October.  It all seems so long ago.

He tells me he has had patients who have had great success with the folfox treatments.  When things go very well with the treatments he tells me there is often nothing there to remove when he checks in on their colon.  He thinks this may be the case with me.  This is great news.  I love that Dr.  Lentrichia always takes time to sit down and understand what is going on with me.  I appreciate his attention and sympathy to my situation.

I leave with an appointment for next month, and a big hug.

When I get home, I find that I an locked out.  I have dropped Steven off downtown to cover a story, and forgot that I didn't take my keys on the way out.  My feet are still feeling funny, so I sit in the car and clean out my handbag while I wait for Sara and Alex to return.

In the evening, Julia and I go shopping on Thayer St.  I am still looking for that hot water bottle and am sure Pleasant Surprise is the place to find a cute one that looks like some kind of cute animal.  I don't have any luck, but we do have a good time.