Let The Words Fall Out

Apologies to the couple of readers who e-mailed that they were worried about no posts last weekend. Meant to set up some posts before we left and then life got away from me entirely -- didn't mean to cause alarm, everything is just fine (or fine as it can be given that there are still residual chemo side effects, but at least I can taste my morning coffee again -- woo hoo!).

We got away for a desperately needed mini-vacay last weekend.  Nothing huge, but some seriously needed time to blow off the stink of chemo for a few days of living away from the Big C(ancer) treatment-o-rama.  It has been overwhelming, exhausting, and too much like boot camp in terms of breaking me down without the adjacent building me back up phase for too many weeks in a row, and I needed a break.  We all did.

You need to pause every once in a while and allow yourself to exhale.  Never in my whole life have those words been more true than right now.

Saddling up this morning for the next rung in the treatment ladder:  radiation oncology. 

Today I find out how many weeks of daily radiation I'll be dealing with and when it begins.  Have to figure out scheduling and how to juggle The Peanut's schedule along with mine for the weeks that I'll be doing this -- so many things to try to track all at once, with a brain that is so foggy it is incredibly charitable to call it a brain at all.

Spent some time this morning trying to figure out how to make our meals even more healthfully packed with fruits and veggies.  Variety, variety, variety, so we are eating a rainbow of healthy antioxidants and assorted bits of fiber and vitamins.  Planning some yummy baked chicken thighs for dinner this evening, along with a healthy salad and some veggies of some sort.

If I get time this afternoon, I'll post my chicken thigh recipe -- The Peanut gobbles it up and pronounces it "dee-lish" every time I make it.  That's a major victory, given how infrequently little miss picky pants will eat something new. 



Things are about to get very busy here, as we steamroll our way toward the start of school.  There is an entire classroom to get ready, shelves to clean and books to reshelve properly (because none of it got done at the end of the school year since I had surgery and then began chemo) and also lesson plans to firm up for the first nine weeks:  that's a lot to do with a brain that doesn't want to kick into any gear beyond very dismally low.

It is what it is, right?  Repeat after me:  everything will work out and will be fine.

It feels like we have been running flat out in some sort of sprint.  The last few weeks have flown by, and I have no idea what happened to summer -- doesn't feel like we got much of one between the constant rain and chemo ick.  Nonetheless, we are moving forward and will find some way to make the best of it.  What else are you going to do, eh?

Hope life is treating everyone else well.  Find something fun to do today and laugh out loud, that always seems to make everything better.

(YouTube -- Sara Bareilles sings Brave, from her new The Blessed Unrest album.  Loving this song this morning!)