No Really It's the Sixth!

Tomorrow (and the 24th--long story) is Lynn and my fifth anniversary. Given all of the happenings we've decided to change this year to our sixth year anniversary. That way there's no pressure that this has to be a special anniversary that was ruined by bad events. We have lots of fun and exciting plans for our fifth anniversary. This anniversary will be a bit more low key--perhaps a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant.

I would be open to suggestions for the fifth anniversary next year. So far the ideas are:

1. Hike the Appalachian Trail
2. Spa Weekend
   

Feel free to post suggestions in the comments.

I remember you!

Had a great Lynn-day. I had my tea in the morning, listened to the news on NPR. Dad arrived, and we had a Project. Hooray! We started taking the wallpaper off the kitchen walls. It is coming off pretty well. Stripping wallpaper is a perfect I'm-a-little-tired project. First, we rolled on the hot water stuff. Then waited on the porch, reading books, and listening to the Cubs for 15 minutes. Rolled on more stuff. Hung out another 15 minutes. Finally, we eased off the wallpaper for a little while. Repeat cycle. We got a whole wall done!

When I was done, I cleaned up (you're welcome, Zack). And, not to worry, I wore my respirator the whole time and was very careful.

And then....I cooked dinner! The season granted me my first ripe tomatoes, and I quickly turned them into a basil, cheese, tomato, garlic pasta, with zucchini slices and lemon dressing (look mom, vegetables!). It was so nice to be able to handle the smells of cooking (and to be awake after 4).

After supper, Zack and I sat down with a funny movie. We laughed and laughed and laughed at the antics of a London policeman - I mean officer - transplanted into a strangely perfect rural village. Meanwhile, I worked on the octopus I am knitting. Seven legs to go!

Then, right before bed, I got a surprise call from a friend. She just wanted to say hi, and to hang out a bit on the phone since I don't get to see her in person much.

So, to recap:
a house project (wallpaper removal)
a creative project (knitting an octopus)
cooking
dinner and movie date with Zack
a surprise phone call from a friend

I remember this person - I think I used to be her.

Toxicity

When confronted with a disease there are always those people you look for---you know who I mean. The people who step into a calm room and scream about the insanity going on in the world. The ones who rile the riotous mob about the injustices and fear and abuse and any other encouraging term to bind us all together on the fruitful charge over the cliff with the rest of the lemmings. I hate these people. They are a plague on humanity.

Cancer is scary. You are immediately confronted with your own mortality. It is easy for those of us without it to diminish it and put it away because of this fact. It's human as it's hard to deal with fear on a daily basis. I look to Lynn and see such courage and strength that I feel I have never seen in her before. I don't know how I would be in her shoes. Probably ignoring it and just thinking of anything but that---organize that sock drawer once more.

The internet can add to that fear. You can read a great many things about your condition that you really don't want to know. You can also read many experts in the field with the "right" answer on what to do. Not one page later another "expert" has another "right" way to go. They happen to completely disagree. Now what?

I sit here and look at this and extrapolate it out to other things in the world and marvel at how scared we are as a race. Fear and mistrust riddle everything. It is tiring to second guess the world. Who is winning in all of this misguidance and fear mongering? There are no right answers and we all do our best to not get taken advantage of, because someone always is, right?

It's time to put it all away. Trust in the people you love that maybe they are doing the best they can. Give love and support. Don't question. Don't direct. Don't Diminish. Every day is hard for everyone. Be a cheerleader or a coach. Instead of pointing out all the things not explored, point out all the amazing things done. Maybe nobody has the right answer, so stop looking for it for a while.

Off the soapbox.....

Drippy Faucet Blues

So we shut off the faucent on Monday and it doesn't quite shut off. Being an experienced homeowner I figure it's a gasket or cartridge that I just need to replace. Faucet knob and cover removed I realize that there is no accessible shutoff from the front. Out comes the knife to cut out the back of the wall to validate that assumption. Lynn called our favorite plumber who laughed with us on the nuances of home ownership when previous owners do things below code. A $450 (estimated) faucet leak. Sigh.

Thanks John for coming out and fixing our sump pump when all else failed on the shower.

Going out in Style!

I decided that if my hair was going to fall out, anyway, I should at least do something so it could go out in style. Like turning it purple.

My local salon said they could do it, but only if I did a 'consultation' a few days before. I knew that if I dropped the "C" word, they would probably let me skip the pre-meeting, but I didn't particularly want a pity party at a hair salon. And, besides, I was throwing up during the appointed time for the consultation so it felt a bit like fate.


Zack and I seized the bull by the horns and bought purple dye (as purple as you get in a suburban Target...the checker was appalled). Zack was going to do the purple deed, but his hands were too large for the gloves included in the box. So he coached, and I colored. Hilarious. Even more hilarious was Zack using the garden hose in the back yard to rinse the dye out afterwards.


So, enjoy the pictures. (We were laughing too hard - and I was too coated - during the procedure to take photos of the 'during' phase). We are quite fond of the one we call "Breck Girl".