Today

busy day today, till about 3:15 when DD2 and I got home. the only thing of note -- i went to the optician to order another pair of glasses, as I have lost mine and I need glasses for when my eyes are dry -- the optician lady said the frames i picked out were "1/2 millimeter away from being perfect". i'm not exactly sure what that means -- but hey! compliment! i'll take it! she also said i did such a good job picking out frames, i should work there....

oh, funny thing i forgot to mention from last week.
i'm at the eye dr, and the little gal is going over the form i filled out where u have to check off whether u or a family member has had this disease or that. keep in mind, i am not wearing a wig. i am wearing a hat, and you can tell there's no hair under the hat.

little gal: (looking down at form) So, someone in your family has had cancer?
me: yes.
LG: who is it?
me: uh, me.

TMI

If you don't want to read graphic details of my chemo SEs found below, may I suggest the very fine political commentary of my friend Mr. Lightbulb. http://thelightbulbblog.blogspot.com/

You have been warned.

Can I just tell you the diarrhea has stopped, which, Praise GOD, but everything else has stopped, too? for like, 3 or 4 days now? And I didn't even take an Immodium or anything.

So, on the one hand, it's nice not to have the big D anymore, but on the other hand, i'm still eating on a regular basis....so.....i'm kind of wondering when things are going to start moving....'cause that traffic jam can't last forever.....

OK, OK

I am informed that "Seventh Generation" comes from an Indian saying that we should remember that what we do affects the next seven generations.
Fine.
It's still a funny name for toilet paper.

At Whole Foods

Friday night, I went to a book signing inside the Loop, and then went to Whole Foods, which is a grocery store that offers organic food. I wanted to get some brownie mixes that didn't feature partially hydrogenated stuff, and ketchup made without high fructose corn syrup.
I love going there. It's so different from shopping in the suburbs. I am clearly the only republican in the whole store.
Anyway, while I'm browsing, I see some toilet paper for sale. And we need toilet paper, as I made the mistake of asking DH to buy toilet paper last time, and he came home with some single-ply sandpaper substitute. And since I am the one who goes to the bathroom the most in our family, I get to pick.
The name of the toilet paper offered at Whole Foods?

Seventh Generation Toilet Paper.

Uh. I think there's such a thing as carrying recycling too far.....

We Have A Location

The DDs and I went to our neighborhood's Pool Opening Party today. It was fun. There was free food, games, prizes....I basically lay on a chaise lounge the whole time and read my new book, "Grave Surprise" by Charlaine Harris.
I ate 2 hotdogs, some chips, a dr. pepper, and 1/2 a brownie. My mouth isn't metallic right now, so everything tasted really good.
I didn't go in the water, as it was FREEZING. Well, i did jump off the diving board two times to cool off, but i sure didn't stay in the pool. the DDs were in there almost the whole time.
but! the cool thing! they had a bunch of door prizes: gift cards to here and there, beach bags, blablabla. i went over and scoped out the prizes, and saw that there was one for a free pool party.
hmmm....
all along, i'd been assuming the BuhBye Chemo Party that i'm going to throw this summer would be here at our house. But a pool party...hmmm......the kids would have somewhere to play other than our miniscule back yard, and, the biggest plus -- i wouldn't have to clean the house twice.
so, while i was scoping out the prizes, i mentioned to the lady standing there that the pool party was the prize i was hoping to get.
they had a drawing for a few of the prizes, including the pool party, and announced the winning numbers. apparently the people who had the number they drew for the pool party had already left, because a little while later, i noticed the lady i'd spoken to earlier walking toward me.
"The committe voted," she said, "and we're giving the pool party to you."
I could have hugged her.
so, yay! stay tuned for details of the upcoming Chemo Independence Pool Party!

The First Official Chemo Moment

I was fixing to take a shower, and the cats were complaining that they were thirsty, so i plugged the sink, and let the water run, AND THEN TURNED AND WENT IN THE SHOWER STALL TO TAKE MY SHOWER. yes, completely forgot to turn the water in the sink off.
Luckily, a) i take really short showers these days, as i don't need to shave, shampoo, or condition anything.
and b) we have tile in the bathroom now, so no wet carpet to deal with.
sigh. can't blame in on being a blonde. gotta blame it on the chemo.

Wiped Out

Went to a meeting at church today, which was fun. We're planning the next 224 -- a quarterly marriage event at our church, where we have music, food, games, prizes, a short talk by a speaker....
then, i had been informed by dd1 that i was expected at her school for a volunteer luncheon, so i went to that
then, it was Mess Day at dd2's school, where the kids wore old clothes and got to spray paint, and paint with toilet brushes and plungers outside....parents were invited, so i went to that.
then, dd2 desperately needed a hair cut, so we got her hair cut...
then off to buy stamps and mail invites to DD2's bday party in a couple of weeks.
then home to collapse.
my friend Susan came by with chicken spaghetti for us tonight. this was a Bonus Meal, as normally we get meals on mondays from church folk, and meals on wednesdays from neighbor folk. susan used to be a neighbor, but moved to Cole's Crossing, Land of the Large Back Yards, a few years ago. she heard about me, and basically called up and said, "i'm cooking for ya on Thursday." so, woohoo! bonus!
which is a good thing, because the food that Dragana cooked for us yesterday was so good, it's about all gone. we kept going back for seconds and thirds. even the DDs, who took one look at the mashed potatoes (which were slightly orange because Dragana had added sweet potato) and declared they were Not Eating That, once they TRIED said spuds, were going back for more.