Come play along at the new Thursday-13 Hq!

Right Now: March 24, 2010
(borrowed from Dawn)

1. I am thinking… about so many different things…my thoughts are scattered and jumbled and varied. I’m cautious about tossing out those thoughts because once spoken…words have a way of worming into your … life.

2. I am thankful for… the health insurance I get through work. Never paid much attention to that sort of thing before…took my health for granted, as I think most folks do. Or maybe it’s just me LOL!

3. From the kitchen… I made some brown rice with corn & peas, salsa, mexican cheese & soy crumbles…delish!

4. I am wearing… a gray tshirt and jeans with my sparkly tapestry Dansko clogs! And my socks, well, those have seen better days, but they’re invisible beneath the jeans.

5. I am creating… a life for myself!

6. I am going… to rent a house down the cape for a week in June since I won’t have the energy to trot around Scotland this summer…nice compromise, I think. Five minutes from the beach…nice walk with a book, a chair & a coffee.

7. I am reading… The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks…pretty damn interesting, really! Also reading Chocolat, which I can’t believe I haven’t read before. I ADORE this book!

8. I am hoping… that all is fine, all is fine and fine.

9. I am hearing… a coworker laugh and it makes me smile.

10. Around the house… there is lots that needs to be done, but not enough energy to do it! Anyone wanna come over and hang curtain rods?

11. One of my favorite things… is laying in bed with the window open a bit, listening to the wind howl and the rain fall, curled up with a warm comforter, a dog and a book.

12. A few plans for the rest of the week… something with Dave Friday, Lauren’s house for brunch Sat, maybe a trip to Rockport for a cherry strudel Sunday.

13. A picture to share…

Spring flowers! C’mon, spring!

Here’s last Wednesday’s picture:

This is the shot it was cropped from:

Max’s eye is filled with a camera and me

Stacy got it first (altho, technically, it wasn’t Wolf…close enough for a cigar!): “I’m gonna guess Wolfie’s eyeball.”

So…

What is it?

Just another Manic Monday!

What do you value most in other people? It’s hard to say. I’d say kindness, but also strength. Compassion but also confidence…I know…balance!!!

If you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see? I’m in the mooooood for blue!

You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? Absolutely nothing, I’d run and hide. I am NOT a public speaker, no way, no how.

and from last week:

How did you decide to live where you do? If you mean this part of the country, it was because I was raised here and it’s home to me. I’ve lived other places…I like it here. If you mean this particular area of my state, it’s because I can afford it.

Do you like risks, or do you avoid them? What major risks have you taken in your life? Risks…hmm…I’ve taken a fair few…like moving to Japan without a job. It worked out, btw and pretty dang well.

If you had to choose, which could you live without: TV, the internet, a telephone or friends? Telephone, easily.

Today was the funeral for the father of someone I used to be very close to. I wanted to go, but didn’t want to intrude…she and I had a falling out more than 10 years ago. Her father was a funny man, very outgoing and always nice to us. It’s ironic…as teens, my friend and I used to drink in that cemetery, and now our parents are buried there. I drove by after the service…and finally made the call to get the date of Dad’s death put on his headstone. Sorry, I’m rambling…

Oh man, did I push myself Friday! I had a 930 appointment with the ostomy nurse at Lahey and she taught me some tricks that sure will help!

Since chemo was Monday, I was aiming for two 4 hour days at work, which I did Thursday, but totally blew on Friday. Since I had plans to meet Lauren for dinner, I stayed at work til 530. We had a great time at dinner…I introduced her to Flatbread Company (kid PACKED on a Friday night) and she liked it a lot. Then I got home and there was a huge box of snacks waiting for me from my friend Maureen. Toffee chip cookies, bleu cheese crackers, sourdough chips, licorice, truffles, olives, you name it, it was jam packed! And came in a lovely tin tub I’lll plant some herbs in soon. I was going to lay on the couch and watch Harry Potter since the Family Channel is playing the movies all weekend, but I was OUT and in bed by 8-ish. With the windows flung open, by the way…love this heat! But oh my,at 530 in the am there’s lots of birds and wild animals out there making noise. Not to mention, Wolf snoring away on the floor next to me, Max breathing next to me on the bed and the humidifier making soft watery noises. Can anyone recommend a good white noise machine? I tried my fan last night, but it was too loud.

Saturday I went to the beach along with Dave (he slipped a mood ring on my finger…good idea, don’t you think, to know what kind of mood I’m in?) & the dogs and we had some fried clams and scallops that were just delicious. I haven’t been to the beach since last September and I really really missed it (and even though I brought my camera, I didn’t take a picture…not one!). Then Michelle came over for a sleepover…she needs some time with Max, she says, who’s a very good cuddler. We sat companionably with our laptops click clacking until the spring peepers told us to hit the sack.

While I was at my chemo appointment on Monday, I found out my 43 year old infusion nurse is pregnant and due in July, via IVF. I myself tried IVF when I was 43, only to have my boyfriend back out at the last minute. As you can imagine, I was very upset about that for a very long time…but now I look at it and think…I’d have an almost 10 year old (or more than one!) to deal with during this cancer thing…and all alone, too. So maybe it’s a good thing nothing ever came of it. One of the guys at work who has cancer came in to swap stories Friday…and he told me his wife had my type of cancer, which she survived, but 8 years later passed of cervical cancer…unrelated to her previous cancer. Still…it put thoughts in my head that I wish weren’t there, you know?

Today I was on a search for a pie safe or jelly cabinet…no luck! But I did find a white noise machine that’ll work for when the windows can be flung open at night and I bought a skirt! ME! A skirt! LOL! I’m still tired and a bit numb…I think it’s from the Ativan, not sure. Any of you have experience with that?

How was your weekend?

Photohunt courtesy of TNChick:

Since it’s getting close to Easter, I thought I’d include a shot of 3 washi eggs, done in Japan by my boss’s wife, long ago To do them, you put pinholes with a straight pin in either end and blow out the contents. Then glue pretty washi paper around the egg…I have no patience for it, but, if you do, you get something that lasts forever!