Sigh

I was just fixing to post and tell y'all about the Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper that is AWESOME. does not remotely taste like a diet soda. but then, i decided to take my "beating cancer with nutrition" book with me to the rads onc today, and i got to the Sugar Chapter. Not only is sugar evil, but so is aspartame, and saccharine. Sigh. 95% of the diet drinks out there are sweetened with aspartame. i know, because i went to the grocery store after the dr, and checked.
Near as I can figure, my three choices in regard to diet, non-aspartame sodas are: Diet RC, Pepsi Zero, and Diet Rite. I bought a 2 liter bottle of Diet RC, and tried it. It's not repulsive, but it is not fabulous like the aforementioned Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper.

The Tally

DD1 sold over 150 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies! This was perfect, as it earned her the 6" stuffed dog she wanted, and will logistically be easier to deliver than the 251 boxes she sold last year.

Oh, Bats!

So, I go to the normal Tuesday morning planning meeting at church, where we go over the order of service, and I find out there are BATS in the sanctuary. [insert joke here]

So, all three services will be in the worship center, which is where I coordinate the services. The first one is at 8:15, which means ChemoGirl's going to have to get up early!

100 Days!

Today was DD2's 100th day of school. I went by to be part of the festivities for a bit. One of the moms was asking the kids questions, as part of compiling their 100 favorite things.

Absolutely true quote:

Gabby's Mom: Caleb, what's your favorite vegetable?
Caleb: Chicken nuggets!

Apparently

If you're a 7 year-old, and yr mom says, "Go clean up your bathroom," what that means is, "Go shove all the wet towels and clothes that are on the floor of the bathroom into the cabinet with the clean towels."

Can I Still Blame Chemo Brain?

So, today, I needed to go to church and help the media guy build the slides that would show during the services tomorrow: song lyrics, responsive readings, blablabla. And I'm looking for my blue clipboard where I have the order of service on a piece of paper. And I look all over for it. Twice. In all three cars, in the office, the bedroom, everywhere that would make sense. Where do I find it?
ON THE WASHING MACHINE.

The Way Things Go

Some of you may remember the Elfa shelf installation debacle of last January, where DH and I accidentally drilled a hole into a water pipe while installing some Elfa shelves in DD1's bedroom last year. And, of course, the plumber cost more than the shelves.
This year, when the flooring guys pulled the fridge away from the wall, the coil started leaking. So, here come the plumbers again!

It has been balmy in Houston for weeks now. People sweating, wearing shorts.
Until this week, when the flooring guys come, and they need to have my front door open almost constantly. Now, it's 37 degrees. Inside and out.

They're Still Here

The flooring guys are still here, and I'm still doing laundry. My children will be happy, as they will no longer have to root around in the laundry basket for a pair of clean socks. The girls enjoyed playing and dancing in the empty living room last night.
I just caught Winston, the kitty butthead, peeing on some not-quite-dirty clothes I had on the chair in my closet. They're dirty now!

The Way Things Are

You know how delivery guys will always give you a time frame? Like, say, between 9 and 1?
I talked to the flooring people yesterday to see if we would need to move out of the house while the flooring is being installed, and the lady couldn't make up her mind, but she did mention that the installers would be here between 9 and 1. They only move 5 pieces per room, no breakables, and no electronics, so DH and I spent some time last night unloading the living room.
I was really tired and grumpy because I was tired, and so I went to bed last night with the living room still needing some stuff moved: Christmas tree, etc. But, I reasoned, the guys won't be here till 9, and I'll have time in the morning to finish before they get here. Because usually delivery guys show up just before the expiration of the arrival parameter, e.g. 12:45. Which would have been fine with me. I could have gotten the LR unloaded, the floor of the pantry ditto...all kinds of things.
But no. On this day, when I wanted and needed them to show up late, THEY SHOW UP AT EIGHT O'CLOCK IN THE BLESSED MORNING.

Eating Lots of Turmeric Makes You Indian

I'm not kidding. Since I've started adding turmeric to stuff, I have started listening to Indian music, eating Indian food, watching Indian movies, listening to Indian books on tape....now I just need to get me a sari....

The Weekend

Saturday, DD1 went camping with her Brownie troop. She was very excited, and appeared at my bedside fully dressed at 7 a.m. DH took her to her leader's house, since I was semi-comatose.
The three of us made our weekly pilgrimage to Target where! I found a new pair of workout pants for $3.47! I love saving money.
DH wanted to take the new car on a road trip, so we went to Brenham, about 40 minutes away, and ate at the airport. Thanks to ninaloca.com -- this list that tells you fun and/or cheap places to take your kids in Houston -- I knew that the restaurant at the airport had a) waitresses dressed in poodle skirts and b) awesome burgers and onion rings. Then we shopped a little bit in historic downtown Brenham. I found a scrapbooking shop which was, surprise!, going out of business, and bought a few things since they were 20% off. DH found a Conan comic book at an antique store. DD2 still had $12 of her Christmas money left, but couldn't find anything she liked that was under $12.
The funny thing was, Friday was Crazy Hair Day at DD2's school, and she hadn't taken a bath Friday night, so her hair was still spiked, orange, purple and green. I'd gone to DD2's school on Friday afternoon to be the Mystery Reader, so I'd sprayed my hair purple as well. I took a shower Saturday morning, but the purple was still there in a pinkish sort of way. DH was wearing one of his Iron Maiden t-shirts. So, there we were, in small town Texas, two of us with multicolored, spiked hair, and one wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt. We fit right in.

Thursday

I went to the gym THREE TIMES yesterday. In the morning for my first ever racquetball lesson, which went like this:
INSTRUCTOR: blablablabla, court, blablabla, rebound, blablabla racquet.
ME: (daydreaming, trying to pay attention)

She had to take a call at one point and left me alone with the ball and racquet. I would serve the ball, and then without exception fail to hit it and have to go chase it around.

Then, I had a meeting at church for 2 hours. Lunch, then back to the gym to meet with Jake the Trainer, who is a cute young man, but he keeps shaving his head. He is not losing his hair, and I fail to see why anyone would CHOOSE to be bald.

Picked up DD2, did some stuff at home, DD1 came home, and then we went to swimming lessons at the gym.

The Strike

The television writers' strike continues apace, and this has led me to re-discover the joys of READING.
Right now, I have the following waiting for my perusal:
Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas
Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo
The Deity Formerly Known As God, Jarrett Stevens
Idiot's Guide to Complete Nutrition
You:Staying Young
Beating Cancer With Nutrition
Derek's Bane, MaryJanice Davidson
Fruit-Sweet and Sugar Free: Award-Winning Recipes

and purportedly on its way is "Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God" by Tony Campolo. Most of these i bought cheapcheap secondhand from half.com.
You will notice that most of those titles are non-fiction. i must be going thru a phase, because i am normally a fiction girl all the way.

Oh.

So, my life has slowed down since Christmas is over, (praise God), and I have been able to scan the newspaper and listen to NPR. Now, let me just say that in my getting-paid-for-working years, I listened to NPR religiously, and as such, was politically aware, if not savvy.
Since my transition into not-getting-paid-for-working, my exposure to the news is hit and miss, depending on what's going on that day.

All that to say, I just figured out Ron Paul was running for President.

My two uberpolitical friends, Mr. Lightbulb, and DanielleM, had both mentioned him -- the former to ask in his blog what Ron Paul had ever accomplished, and the latter to ask if RP was my Congressman. And I couldn't figure out why Mr. Lightbulb was bothering to attack RP over any of the other Texas Congresspeople, and why DanielleM cared who my congressman was.
Now I get it. I just wonder how much longer his campaign will last. I wonder why some of these people run for Prez. Really. Is it just to increase name recognition so that they'll be considered for future appointments or legislative committees? Or do they like spending other people's money and traveling and speaking non-stop for months on end?
As a faithful Republican, I haven't decided who to vote for yet. I was all decided on Huckabee, until BOTH Mr. Lightbulb and DanielleM posted anti-Huckabee rants on their respective blogs. (This is interesting also because those two are diametrically opposed on almost every issue: Conservative Repulican vs Liberal Democrat And yet, I still like both of them.)
So, Mr. Lightbulb likes Giuliani, which, eh. I'm closest to Thompson and Huckabee in my political views. I don't think Thompson has a chance, and now that I know of Huckabee's wont for tax hikes and his reputation for delusional narcissism, viciousness, and ruthlessness (see masurskyland.blogspot.com), dang, I ain'ta voting for him.
I've got until March 4th to decide. Guess I'll see who drops out between now and then.

Sorry

I haven't posted in a while, but nothing particularly funny has happened. And do you really want another recital of the errands I did? I didn't think so.

Here's something funny (kinda) that happened last week:
Thursday DD2 had to go back to school, and DD1 didn't. So we drive DD2 to school, and come home, and sharp-eyed DD1 notices that there is a DEAD RAT ON MY DRIVEWAY. Why is my driveway becoming the place for neighborhood rats to die?! Is it like Mecca? What, are they crawling along, on their last legs, thinking, "If I can just make it to ChemoGirl's driveway, pant, pant, I can die a happy rat"?
So, this time, I pulled my big girl panties, and got a spare tile and a brush, and dropped the expired vermin into the trash without the help of Tom My Knight In Shining Armor. It took me two tries, but i did it.
Anyway, halfway through the process, DD1 comes out to check on me. I tell her to go back inside, as it was nippy, and she just has her nightgown on. So she goes inside, LOCKS THE DOOR, and promply goes to the back of the house to watch TV. I am dressed in a longsleeved tshirt, sleep pants, and tennis shoes.
So after the deceased disease-carrying rodent was in the trash, I went to knock on the door. Nothing. I go to the front door and ring the doorbell. Nothing. I pound on the door with my fist. Nothing. By this time, the thin flannel of my sleep pants has ceased to provide any protection against the cold.
i go back around to the back door and pound on it for a while. Finally, DH calls, and DD1 answers the phone, and then goes to find me to give me the phone.

The Weekend

Saturday, i went to a writing workshop, where they would say a word, and you would have to write about whatever came to mind for 15 minutes. For example, "earlobes" - go! It was interesting and fun.
came home, drove DD1 to brownies, then checked my messages, as Home Depot was supposed to deliver the laminate between 1 and 5. Surprise! They called at 10:08 a.m! I was at the workshop, and DH obviously didn't hear the phone.
so, when i called HD back, at 1:15, they said it was too late, the driver had already gone, that they can't guarantee a time frame for delivery, just a day. did i want to reschedule? well, quoth I, i want to talk to the installation guys first, to see when it can be installed. i don't want cases and cases of laminate in my house for 3 weeks before it can be installed.
sure glad i ordered that laminate before halloween. you know, so the house could look nice for christmas and all.

A Sad Day

It was a good day: worked out, lunch with the girls, DD1 and I made bracelets, then the 3 of us went to see Mr. Magorium.
It's just that, every now and then, I get the thought that the cancer will come back, and I will die. Today's one of the those days. Perhaps because Mr. Magorium deals with death, as does the movie I watched at home while I tidied: Marilyn Hotchkiss' Charm School and Ballroom Dancing.
I believe in God, and i believe in His plan for my life. And if I do die, I know I will go into the arms of Jesus. But, man, I don't want to go any time soon.
That's one of the main differences cancer has made in my life. i deal with the fear of death. Pre-BC, it simply wasn't an issue.

Most. Exhausting, New Year's Eve. Ever.

Get up, take DH to the bus stop.
Eat b'fast.
Drop girls off at play time.
Drive to the Woolands (40 min away) to meet with financial advisor.
Drive back, pick girls up.
Eat lunch.
Drop by car lot and talk to salesman, who advises me to get a car loan outside of the dealership.
Go to credit union to re-open account. They need $5. I don't have $5.
Drive around looking for an ATM who will take my ATM card. 3 tries, no luck.
Pick up DH from bus stop.
Go to grocery store where DH gets money.
Go back to credit union, finish opening account, get approved for loan.
Drive to dealership. Sit there for OVER TWO HOURS.
Finally, salesguy lets us take the car even though we haven't met with the F&I guy yet, as it is almost 8 o'clock at night.
Go to grocery store for party food.
Go to Debbie and Mark's house. Arrive around 8:30.

I felt kind of cheated (as well as exhaused) because i'd planned on getting there around 6:30, and I didn't get the chance to spend as much time with them as I'd wanted. We ate, talked, plaved movie trivia -- Debbie being the reader of questions, and Mark and I playing against each other -- and blokus, which is a fun game even tho I always lose.

We went by the dealership today and signed all the forms. So, we are now the proud owners of a 2008 Dodge Charger R/T, sandstone color.
http://www-5.dodge.com/vehsuite/dispatch.do
The digital camera is still broken, so I can't show u a pic yet, but there's the link so you can see what it looks like.

We went to Best Buy so DH could spend his gift card, and went to Pappasito's for lunch, where since DH was proudly driving us in his new car, I has a margarita. Came home and took a nap. I love naps.