El Paso

Spent the last week in El Paso. I went to have Patrick (my brother in law)take a look at my teeth. I was dreading the checkup because chemo does a number on your teeth. Turns out that it was both better and worse than I expected.
I arrived on Sunday and Patrick picked me up at the airport. I hung out with the family that evening and had a great time. The twins are so big! This is their senior year and they are applying for schools. Andrew is a giant! I determined that it had been almost 3 years since I've been in El Paso. Thought it was more like 1 1/2. Patrick and Lauren have done some remodelling and the house looks great. Melissa has grown into a beautiful young lady and Walter is a great kid. We had dinner together and watched a movie.
The next day I went with Patrick in to his office and had my xrays done and teeth cleaned. The news was pretty good - two cavities and a cracked tooth that really didn't need anything done, but we were going to be proactive. Hoppy (uncle in law?)was at the office for some work and we went to lunch at Chico's. Love Chico's!! Can't go to El Paso and not hit Chico's. In the afternoon I had my teeth filled and we went back to Patrick's house. We had pizza and watched some Gilmore Girls. I now have to find the series...
The next morning we went back to the office to do the crown (that's what we decided to do about the cracked tooth) and I was hoping to be done after lunch so I could go and hang with Danny and Lisa for a couple of days. No, it was not to be. Patrick tried every which way to numb me and it wouldn't take. Turns out the reason it wouldn't numb is that I had some issues and would need a root canal. Short version: Spent all day in the chair and had no fun at all. Lauren had accidentally cut her finger and we all (the whole family) were planning to go to lunch at a Korean place. I couldn't really enjoy... I was finally numb and had a hard time eating.
That evening I went over to stay with Danny and Lisa and had an amazing time. We watched a lot of movies and just hung out. I really miss having them close by. Wednesday was my birthday and we spent it watching movies (I haven't seen LOTS of movies and needed to catch up) and eating Indian food. It was great. I accidentally bought a ticket for my return flight on Thanksgiving day, so we were trying to figure out what to do about that... Turns out I decided to "miss" my flight so I could spend Thanksgiving in El Paso. We went to Leah and Tom's house and had a wonderful time. We had lots of food and fun and I felt like one of the family. We also played Rock Band and I sang. Leah was so complimentary - she loves to hear me sing. It felt good to stretch those muscles. The only drawback was that my tooth was hurting. Good thing I had brought pain pills. Later that night my tooth was throbbing and I had taken all the pain pills I could, so I had to put ice on my jaw. Things were not looking good. Good thing I had not gone home...
The next morning, Friday, I decided that I should talk to Patrick about my tooth pain before I tried to reschedule my flight. This was a good idea! Patrick went out of his way to see me, adjust my bite, prescibe some meds (antibiotic and analgesic) and get rid of my pain. Thank you Patrick!!! Later that day, we went back to Leah's for round 4 & 5 of the food orgy. It was great. I have rediscovered Brussels Sprouts! We watched Gladiator, which I hadn't seen. I scheduled my return for the next day. Later back to Danny and Lisa's to put Phoebe to bed (she's adorable!) and watch Coraline. Came back to Galveston on Saturday.
Teeth are fine. I'm taking the Ibuprofen and antibiotics.
Had to do an on-line component of a teacher training thing today, but otherwise it has been laziness. Chris and I finally watched the first few episodes of Glee!

Thanksgiving

Going to El Paso tomorrow! I am excited to see old friends and family. Patrick has agreed to do some dental work on me...

I am so thankful for...
Chris
Chris
Chris
a job I love
a healthy(ish) body
a future
my mom -who saw me through the worst, and is always there
Carolyn and Pat -who took me in, cared for and nurtured me, and shared soup
Steve -who did more than I could expect
Mary -who sent care packages, love and prayers
Joel -who sent support, love and funny comments
family
my friends (they are the family you choose for yourself)
Drs. Hatch, Sylva, Arristea, Basille...
nurses (chemo and other) who made it a little easier
Haas
massages (Merry and Katrina)
the radiation techs
Brandon, David, and Sherman (last year at work would have been unbearable without you)
audio books

Not much going on/Too much going on

Sorry about my infrequent posts. Between all the "trainings" I've been to recently and stuff coming due at work I've been swamped. I come home from school, putt around for a while and go to bed!

On the 5th, I went to a Reading and Writing Conference -which was great. I got lots of useful information. On the 6th, I went to a video conference about how to teach the Holocaust. This was wonderful! It was co-hosted by the United States Holocaust Museum and they gave us LOTS of materials and information. I hope to go there some day... I also hope some day to go to see some of the sites of the atrocity.

As usual, I had double work because I had to leave my kids for two days... Also, I was volunteered by my principal to be on the committee for adopting the new Reading and Language Arts textbooks. This committee meets every week for a few months AND I have to leave school early to make it to the meeting. Luckily my last class on Thursdays is one where I have the kids 5 days a week and they are doing well. I will miss about an hour of instruction with them every week!!!

Health-wise I'm doing OK. My surgery site is still hard and swollen, but I rarely take anything for it. I have been having a few headaches lately, I guess the hormones have to settle, huh?

I have a trip planned to El Paso, November 22-27. Pattrick, my brother in law, has agreed to do some dental work on me! I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm grateful. Chemo does a number on your teeth, not to mention the rest of your body. I hope he finds very little wrong, although that's not what I expect.

Chris is doing Jacksonville and Chicago early this week...

Reminder...

I have just been reminded of how far I've come. I was assigned the bowling booth at our Fall Festival on Friday night and spent about 45 minutes constantly bending and putting bowling pins in place. At that point I was really tired and sweat was rolling down my face, so I asked another teacher to take over. I am paying for that activity today. I feel kinda like I did in the worst stages of chemo, at least from the neck down. Sitting and standing are tough and I had to stop and rest while walking in the mall. I have been reminded how far I've come and that it wasn't so long ago that I was the "lady in the wheely cart." I guess I've been feeling pretty good recently and was starting to take it for granted. I have become accustomed to having enough energy and ability for my day to day activities, and have found myself doing more and more. I just did too much this time.

Today Chris goes to Corpus Christi for another Residency Interview. He didn't like Milwaukee much, but really liked Connecticut. Keep the fingers crossed that he does well at the UTMB interviews. I want to stay, now that I have a job I love.

This next week at work will be weird. Monday we have no school due to parent/teacher conferences and then on Thursday and Friday I will be out for training. Since we are on a MWF and TT schedule I have one day with each of my classes! Trying to figure out how to not have the time wasted. Those of you who teach know the low likelihood of them doing anything with a substitute...

Mauri Howell (McGloughlin) had a baby! She now has another girl in the family. Welcome Sarah, you are a lucky girl.