Home again, Home again...

Wow! What a whirlwind couple of weeks. But we had a great time and we are home once again. We left last Monday, drove for 10 hours to reach our destination. The weather was considerably colder up north of us, but we had piles of coats, hats, mufflers and gloves for all kinds of weather and we did not experience much cold with all those to choose from. On Tuesday we touched base and had lunch with old friends. That was a lot of fun. Later that night, we had supper with another couple of old friends. Again, just lots of fun catching up since we had not seen any of them for over a year. On Wednesday, we helped our friend W get her things together for the quilt getaway that we went to on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The getaway place was another hour north of W's and I think it was colder still up there. There were about 60 of us at the getaway, and we had a lovely time sewing together. It seems you can get lots more done in a group like that. Either that, or get nothing but a lot of chatting done. But W and I were focused and we did turn out some great stuff.
Driving home yesterday, DH and I stopped several places along the way, enjoying going to antique stores and basically turning what should have been a 10 hour trip into a 15 hr trip. Oh well, why not. We had nothing but time. We listened to a book on tape that we picked up at a Cracker Barrel on their "lending library" program. The name of the book is "You've Been Warned" I think the author is a Peterson or Patterson. I was not acquainted with the author. It is a psychological thriller and quite good. We actually need to "read" or "hear" the last two CD's in the book before we turn it in! And we need to find out what the ending is!!!!!
Today was a day to see the oncologist. He was fabulous in his taking the time to really go over lots of stuff, and let us ask tons of questions, etc. We feel better about everything now, and we found out that before the radiation can begin, he has to get one more shot in May. They really want to shrink the prostate, so when they begin the radiation, the surrounding "structures" as the doctor so nicely called the bladder and colon/rectal area, will be less likely to sustain damage. So, it is hurry up and wait. He did tell us that the kind of cancer that he has is not the slowest growing, but not the fastest either and that is in his favor.
Almost February... yikes...2008 is slipping by.

Brrrrrr....

Okay, so it is cold outside. At least we don't have snow to contend with. DH and I are busy getting ready to go up north to a quilt getaway weekend and also to visit some friends we have not seen in a long time. This is one of those fun things we are planning to do, while awaiting all the treatment stuff that will come with the prostate ca. The shot brought on some interesting things. Some, not worth mentioning, others like fatigue we were told to expect and yes, here it comes especially every afternoon. That bothers him, but it is a minor annoyance, really. It is not interfering with his activities of daily living, not much anyway. In preparation for our trip next week, we took the car in to have the oil changed, and found out that we also need a new fan belt. Would it be too much to expect that they would have that in stock? Anyway, they will have it in sometime today. Another trip into town. Otherwise would seem like a good day to stay inside and to quilt. I did get 79 blocks made yesterday for a quilt I am co-making with another nurse that I work with. One of our fellow workers got married on Jan. 2 and we decided she needs a quilt. We are doing an Irish chain, in blues and greens and white on white. My blocks will be put together with hers, and I know it will all be lovely, judging from the 9 patches that I made. I just love the way the blues and greens mix.

I want to learn to knit socks this year. That is one of my goals for 2008. I have the double pointed needles, and I do fine with the body of the sock, but cannot figure out the heel thingy. I still have 11 1/2 months, so hopefully I will meet that goal. All for now.....

Here is a thought...

* Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

A shot in the hip....is just that....

Today was a "drop your drawers" day for dh. The nurse was so good that she gave him the shot and he did not even know it. When done, we (the nurse and I) were looking at him waiting for him to put things back together, and he just stood there until prompted! He truly had no clue the shot had been administered. I think that is a good thing. We got lots of questions answered. Many answers were "we don't know" or "we aren't sure" because everyones's response to cancer treatment is different. But this today was an easy one, for sure. The next step is a visit to the radiation people, getting a tour of the facility, getting to know what is in store, and getting an idea of what the plan is. Radiation is likely not going to start for another two months. That will allow swelling to abate before the actual radiation begins. This is vital, since they have to irradiate the entire prostate, and if not smaller before they begin, it could damage vital surrounding tissues, and we all hope that does not happen!

After all was said and done, we went to Panera Bread for lunch. While we were sitting there, a lady came in with her mother. She was attempting to steady her mom, who was having nothing of it as she stumbled ahead, using her cane. The mom was probably in her late 80's or early 90's and dressed to a "T". She even had on heels, if you can imagine, while the daughter that was trying to keep her steady was wearing comfortable clothes and sensible shoes! Anyway, the mom was fussing at the daughter, loudly, and making a scene. Now for those of you that know us, you know we do elder care. My dad and dh's mom both lived with us until my dad died in October 2006. He had been with us for 11 years. We have been through almost any drama you can imagine with taking the Oldsters out to eat, etc. And my mil, who at 96 is still living with us, was fussing about using a walker in public until a couple of years ago! DH and I looked at each other, knowingly, and continued eating our lunch.

We are hoping to go on a trip in two weeks. We are making plans to leave my mil with one of our daughters for a couple of weeks. There are many things to deal with to make that happen, but hopefully all will work out.

It was 72 degrees today, all in all, not such a bad day.

I feel like I am finally entering the 21st century. I have my very own blog spot! It feels kind of weird to be posting things and there my deepest thoughts may be for all the world to see! Well, maybe not my deepest. At any rate, it is January 4. a new year is starting and who knows what this year will bring. It is like having a clean slate all spread out in front of me. What will I write on it?

I have always looked at the weeks ahead as if one long ribbon. Each day is a different colored square on the ribbon, and each day gets filled with "whatever" as the days fill up. Sort of like a calendar, really, but the year stretches ahead in one long, long strip. I wonder how other people look at the year ahead.

I am looking ahead to Monday, when my husband will start treatment for cancer. He is nervous about it, thinking that he will be sick by Monday night. But he is trying to be brave and not show his nerves. The first treatment is a shot, in preparation for radiation treatments to come later on. Cancer is never fun to think about. Not for yourself (been there and done that) or for someone else. But we are trying to think of some fun things to do, while we wait. So that is how this year is starting. Maybe it will get better!!