It is August already?!

Today I was in yet another training for the upcoming school year. This is a 4 day thing and should be fairly interesting. It has to do with the new 9th grade Pre-Advanced Placement class I'll be teaching.

Hope you like the new layout. New name. Maybe I'll change the name monthly?

Just booked a ticket to go to El Paso on August 11 for a few days. A crown that I got the last time I saw Patrick, my brother-in-law the dentist, seems to be "faulty." I am heartened by the fact that I'll get to see family (Patrick and Lauren and clan) and friends, particularly Danny and Lisa. It is almost enough to make me look forward to the trip! I am so fortunate that Patrick will squeeze me in to his schedule. I also have a whole week without any trainings so I'm available to go.

Had an appointment with Dr. Silva, my surgeon, last week and she feels I'm doing well. I am on her schedule for December to check in again, but there are no new concerns. Interesting thing happened at that appointment: I was speaking with the Resident and he asked me all sorts of history questions. I had a hard time placing the events of my cancer treatment in order. I find it curious that, the human mind - at least mine- copes with stressful stuff like cancer by "forgetting." Then, he asked me to estimate, from before treatment to now, where I "was." He meant, am I now at 80%, whatever... I was feeling pretty good that day and said 85%. When I told Chris about the conversation later he estimated 50%! Perhaps he's right. MENTALLY I'm at 85+, but physically more like 50. Still get tired very quickly.

I tried to make an appointment with Vickie, the lymphedema therapist, and she has the temerity to be on vacation! Yes, more evidence that the world doesn't revolve around me. I suppose I'll connect with her later.

Our house is starting to come together. Chris has been doing a lot of work. Today, while I was at work, folks came and cleaned the ducts and put new grills (registers?) in the house. Chris has finished my bathroom - new shower curtain with a curved rod! We also picked up Haas yesterday. I missed him. We were worried he may have forgotten us (or maybe he was just pissed?) but he seems happy enough today.

Mum is steadily unpacking at her place. Oh! By the way, she celebrates her 70th birthday on the 15th! Donna and Michael(Chris' brother and his wife - they took care of Haas) are going to come down and we'll go out to eat. i've also invited my friend Jessie. Mum loves a good steak.

More soon. I mean it this time! I might even be able to update with my NEW iPhone!!!

I'm home AGAIN.

Was in Houston for 4 days doing a training and got home last night. Stayed in a hotel and had a good time, but was glad to come home. I don't intend to leave home again anytime soon. Goal is to get enough unpacked to be able to do all the "home functions." Cooking would be useful. I'd like to use my shower... I'd like to use my computer... Lots of cleaning and unpacking to do.

Oh, yeah. Chris and I got new phones! Same numbers, though.
More later.

I'm home!!!

Got home last night at about midnight. Chris wasn't expecting us until tomorrow and was surprised. We were driving (Mum and I) and it was 7:30 p.m. We saw a sign saying "Galveston 88 miles" and thought that it was silly to spend another night in a motel. Oh. You are asking yourself why did it take so long to go 88 miles? Well, we went down 87 to Sabine Pass, not realizing that the road no longer goes all the way through. They still haven't rebuilt it since Ike. So, we had to go back and retrace our steps. THEN we had to wait a good long while for the Ferry, since they only run one an hour so late in the evening and we had just missed one.

We are still waiting to hear word on where Mum's stuff is. The truck broke down somewhere and they missed the scheduled delivery date of Monday the 12th. Good thing we didn't rush.

The house looks beautiful. The mountains of boxes in the center of each room distract a bit, but we will get to them eventually. Anyway. Home safe and sound. I will write a bit about the journey later...

No name

No new name yet.

Packing is getting done. Carrie and Kimon (DeLa Garza), who may as well be cousins, since we were raised together, were here this past weekend. Carrie is the daughter of my Mum's BFF Sally and Kimon married into the family. Point is: They are family. Their son Karl is 14 and HUGE. A string bean, but very tall. I saw him last when he was a toddler! They helped by packing a lot of stuff. It was nice to see them. They moved here to Florida just as Chris and I were leaving in 2001. Mum and I plan on visiting at their place in Cleremont for a day or so on our way out of Florida. They are really great people and good company.

Today we went running about. Mum and I went to Chase Bank to deal with the condo. Mum has applied for a "deed in lieu." We await the answer. The lady there made it as pleasant as possible, and was very kind. Then we went and ate at an Amish restaurant-to celebrate our bravery and tenacity. Never had Amish food before and it was amazing. The coconut cream pie is(I say IS because the pieces are HUGE and I brought some home - still working on it) to die for. We also returned something to the bookstore and went to the library...

It has been raining every day in late afternoon and we haven't been to the pool. I wish we could make more use of it. Before we leave here we DO plan to get to the beach.

Health: my chest has been just a bit swollen and uncomfortable, and my knee has been letting me know it is still there. Otherwise I feel pretty good.

Mum has misplaced her keys and we are searching... Since this is a 3 bedroom condo and there is stuff in various states of packing EVERYWHERE, the search is frustrating. She has extra keys for everything except the mailbox, so we are just going to camp out and wait for the mailman to appear tomorrow. You know how this works: As soon as she "writes them off" and decides to stop looking, they'll turn up.

Hope everything is OK in Galveston. Hurricane Alex caused them to close the schools (summer programs) in anticipation. I think they may have some high water and winds, but our house should be fine. Chris tells me that they have stained the entire floor!!!

New Name?

My dear friend Joel suggested it might be time to re-name the blog. I suppose I should continue with writing here...

Anyhoo. I'm looking for suggestions. Please leave a comment with your ideas - the ones you are willing to share.

Brief update: Things are going well here in Bradenton. Mum is getting packed. I'm resting and reading. We have been to the pool a few times, after dark of course. I got a new swimsuit that accommodates the foob and doesn't look too weird. We had the inaugural swim last night and it did OK. There's a weird balloon thing that happens at the base of the straps though... Swimming has made me mindful of the knee and ankle issues and seems to exercise them in a way that they do not like- much. My sister, Becka, told me that her ankle was talking back to her after she spent time at the beach. The next day mine started making itself known. Coincidence?

Haven't had any arm/hand swelling. I had a little pain, but I iced it and that seems to have done it. I received my new CUSTOM sleeve in the mail and tried it on. Woo. It took both of us, Mum and I to get it on! I understand it will stretch a bit, and I'm glad I don't have to wear it all the time like some people do.

I was able to see my massage therapist from when I was here in Bradenton getting my chemo. Katrina really helped me through the rough stuff. Funny thing, I didn't recognize her. I guess I was really not too "present" during that time. She gave me an excellent massage and I hope to go back to her before we leave. Actually, I MUST. Turns out we got so involved talking and so forth that I left without leaving her a gratuity. I gotta go back and make it right.

Chris sent me pictures of our house which is finally getting painted! The floors got stained today!!! The photos of the floor after it was sanded are really interesting because the floorboards (original to the house circa 1890) warped in the flood from Hurricane Ike and so the sanding looks all striped. The outer edges of the boards cupped up. What shows in the pictures is the stain down the middle of each board. I hope it will be done before we head that way. It will be so wonderful to be back in a restored house!

Greetings from Florida!

I am in Florida at my Mum's condo and we are packing... Actually, she is packing and I'm "encouraging." There really isn't much I can do since she has all those tiny decisions to make about whether each object is going with her to Galveston, into storage or to Goodwill. I guess I'm really here for moral support and/or nagging. She has made a lot of headway and there are boxes EVERYWHERE. She also is pretty realistic about it. Whatever doesn't get packed by her, the movers will do. I have taken over the floor plan. We have a mostly to scale plan of the dollhouse and are trying to figure out what furniture will fit. The answer: not much - the place is TINY.

I've been lounging and decompressing since I've been here. Since school ended, I've been to the CEDFA(Council for Educators in Fine Arts - I think)conference, been to two different trainings, moved out of my house and into the dollhouse, celebrated Chris' graduation, gone to see a lymph specialist, gotten measured for garments... It is nice to just stop and breathe. I actually read a book! Mum has a couple of Carl Hiaasen novels that I haven't read so I just finished Tourist Season last night, or should I say this morning? As a teacher I guilt myself out of reading for pleasure. My thought process goes something like this: If I'm driving I can listen to books chosen for pleasure, but if I can actually put on the eyeglasses and read, I feel I should be grading papers or reading one of the "young adult" novels that I have class sets of. The list of books is HUGE. There are nearly 70 novels that I haven't read and should- and these are books we own! This looming list makes me much more empathetic with my students - if I'm not interested in reading it, why should they be? I try to give them choices, but the challenge is I have to read lots of books first to give them options.

Well, I wore my new glove and my "loaner" sleeve on the plane and followed directions to keep it on for a few hours afterwards. I didn't get any swelling, just a weird tingling/burning sensation in my arm, so I guess it worked. I have asked my Mum to keep me away from the hot tub, because although I love it, I understand that the heat can cause me to swell. There are lots of things I shouldn't do, like getting sunburned, mosquito bitten, scratched or cut. So far I only have swelling (edema) in my chest below the scar and on the back of my hand. I would like to keep it that way. I MUST be really careful because once any body part starts having swelling, the body part will swell (and have pain)for the rest of my life. Lymphedema is not reversible. There are worse things than not being able to enjoy a hot tub. I should be grateful that I am still here to make the choice! I am. Grateful, I mean.

My mammogram came back clean. I had it done on the 2 year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. Yay me! The technician gave me congratulatory hug! She also offered to track down Dr. Leonard, who was on vacation, and have him read my mammogram. Now Dr. Leonard has been very good to me(he has done my biopsies and all the other major stuff, as well as my recent ultrasound) and is the big expert, but I didn't think it necessary. Nice of her to offer - she wanted me to feel secure!

While I was in Austin for CEDFA, I was able to go see my brother Steve's new house. It is very nice, it has 3 bedrooms, two stories and a nice yard. It is a big space, but Steve is a big guy and has lots of books. It won't be long before he has it filled. He is really enjoying his first house, planning how to decorate and so on. We also went out to dinner - Cuban of course!

Well, gonna go and shower so we can go to the grocery store. Gotta get back on the eating plan. Later.

It is OFFICIALLY summer

Friday was the last day of my 2009-2010 contract and I locked my classroom up for summer. I had an appointment with the lymphedema therapist, Vickie, so I wasn't able to go to the staff get-together. I wish I had. I really LIKE the people I work with and would have enjoyed the opportunity to hang with them.

About the Lymphedema- yep, I have it. I already had lymphedema in my chest, but now I have some in my right hand and arm. It is NOT reversible, but may be controlled with therapy (massage- not the feel-good kind) and use of a compression garment. I will need a custom made lymphedema sleeve that I hope to get measured for this week and a glove which can be off-the-shelf. I just have to work all this into my busy summer schedule which is as follows:

Saturday (yesterday) 7:45 a.m. took Chris, Pat and Carolyn (his parents) to Moody Gardens convention center for Chris' medical school graduation. Then attended and hob nobbed at the Dean's reception at 12:30. Back to our house for a party/open house. We had more people in our house that we ever had before. It was odd because most of our belongings are not here now and we had lots of folding chairs. It felt like a different place. Guests included Lori, Paul, Ashley and Emily (Chris' sister and family; Pat and Carolyn (his parents); Will Godwin (a high school bud of Chris')and his family (Olga, Max and Clem); Michael and Donna (Chris' brother and wife); Patrick and Lauren (another brother and wife); Cynthia and Lee Onxley (across the street neighbors); and Sherri (neighbor.) We had Subway sandwiches, WAY too much sweet stuff, fruit and veggies. It would have been a wonderful day except that Chris has been "suffering some intestinal distress." Yes, that is a euphemism for "cannot be far from the toilet." Poor guy, he really wasn't able to enjoy himself. He was not the only one graduating who had some additional requirements to complete, either.

Tomorrow we move out of our house and into the dollhouse we rented for Mum while they paint and refinish our floors. About time! We also have to take Haas to stay with Michael and Donna (in N Houston) while this is getting done. I have to get measured for the new garment, get the car washed/detailed and pack. I have a training on Tuesday and also a lympedema appointment. Wednesday I have a mammogram and leave to go to a conference in Austin. I'll be there through Friday. I have more training next Monday and leave on the 15th to go help Mum move...

Over Memorial Day weekend I went to Ft. Worth to see my friends Judd and Louise. We had a marvelous time. Lou was celebrating her 60th birthday and it was wonderful to see them and celebrate. We figured out that we have known each other since the mid 1980's! I also got to visit with their kids, Nick and Jessie, who I haven't seen since they were small. Jessie is 29! Time. Also staying with Judd and Lou were some of their friends from Louisiana, Jimmy and Lorna, and I feel like I made a couple of new friends... I had a GREAT time.

This seems also to be a time for loss. Tom Enger, a guy I've known since I was 18, died leaving behind a lot of people who loved him. I can so easily picture him with his son Paul (a toddler at the time) hanging out in the green room at UTEP...

Oh yeah. Wednesday is the 2 year anniversary of my Breast Cancer diagnosis. I am celebrating by getting a mammogram!