Monday, February 15, 2010

Presidents' Day And Other Happenings

Happy Presidents' Day - especially those of you who get the day off of school or work. Personally I'd rather be celebrating spring. A warm, but not hot, sunny day with the windows open and the smell of fragrant flowers wafting through a very clean and dust free house (it's my fantasy, isn't it?). While I'm at it, on this very lovely day I would like to be boxing up clothes that are now much to large for me and putting away my new, significantly smaller clothes that fit just right and proclaim a chic, yet casual sense of style...

Wow. That was a great happy place. I'll have to remember to go there more often!

There is still snow everywhere. Mostly still pretty snow, except for on the sides of the roads. A good deal of that snow is rather dirty. And the snow on our deck? Sookie has an issue with getting off the deck with all the snow in the yard so she's been using the snow on the deck AS HER RESTROOM! "Don't eat yellow snow" has taken on a whole new meaning. Not to mention the poopcicles out there. Just... yuck. The silver lining? I'll get back to you.

And guess what! They're calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow night. At one time some meteorologists were saying we could get another 10 inches. Thankfully that thought is now passe and they're talking about 2 to 4 inches where we live. The silver lining? Because it's supposed to snow tonight and into the morning hours I think school is going to be delayed by 2 hours. Not such a bad thing considering we've all had the last six mornings to sleep in late. We could use a 2 hour delay to ease into getting up early again.

While I'm on a roll here, I think I'll just keep up the slightly negative tone of this post.

Todd and I are sick. Late Friday afternoon he started complaining about stomach cramps and I just figured he was being some kind of a baby (because I lack compassion. It's true.) Friday night, however, as Katie and I were watching The Princess Bride (as opposed to the opening ceremonies - don't judge me. I'm still a proud American) my tummy started doing the same thing. Sure enough. We both ended up with some weird kind of stomach bug. There has been no throwing up, but a lot of wishing there was some throwing up just to feel better. And there's been quite a bit of, um, "running" to the bathroom, if you catch my drift. I was actually going to go into work this morning, but my stomach still hurts and I can't eat much of anything without feeling horrible. Weird. The silver lining? I'm starting my weight loss program today! And heaven forbid the kids get it and miss school - from my fingers to God's eyes.

My sister, Terri, lives in Fort Worth. They, too, had snow. Quite a bit for that region, in fact. She had a great time playing in the snow with her grandson, Anthony. They had snowball fights and built a snowman. Lots of fun for an awesome grandma. But she slipped and fell Friday night on her driveway, breaking her leg at the ankle and requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital. They set it and put a splint on it, but when the swelling goes down she'll require surgery. The silver lining? They prescribed her some killer goofers!

I've been reading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon for the last couple of months. It's a little over 800 pages and I'm having a fairly difficult time with it. If you don't know anything about this book I'll tell you. It's book number 7 in the Outlander series. The first several books of the series are amazingly good and the real talent DG has is for building such complex characters that you end up feeling as though they're good friends. So you keep reading the series, even though the books start getting a little bogged down. I'm finding this current read a little bit like a treasure hunt. There's a lot of sand to dig though, but I keep coming up with little, or big, gems so it makes the work worth it. Living near Philadelphia with all it's Revolutionary War history makes it interesting, too, because that's what's going on in the book. So I'm enjoying it, and yet I'm not. I just want to read the good parts and move on to a much smaller, much more shallow and insipid, much easier book to read! But I can't until I've finished this one. So maybe I should get off the computer and read some more.

Oh wait! I forgot I was supposed to post more pictures of the blizzard. So without further ado, I give you THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 2010










And how about these pictures of "Meerkat Brady", taken by Laura. He was looking for his girlfriend through the snow, but couldn't see over the drifts!

Labels: photography, reading, sick, weather, weight management, whiney

Mused by Jenster :: 2:00 PM :: 4 People musing:

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Another Six Months

So I saw the White Russian today. As doctor’s appointments go it was fairly pleasant. My biggest complaint every time I go is that they’re too prompt and I don’t get to read nearly as much in the waiting room as I’d like to. Which was a crying shame today because I’m reading this fabulous book that Laurie Kingston, a Mothers With Cancer friend of mine, wrote: Not Done Yet: Living Through Breast Cancer. She started a blog at the time of her breast cancer diagnosis and the book is a compilation of her posts. I’ll be doing a complete review when I finish, but suffice it to say I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Kind of a weird thing to say considering it’s about her experience with breast cancer, isn't it? But she’s funny and her way of dealing with things strongly resonates with me. And that’s all you get until I finish, which could have been today if the oncologist’s office was just a little less efficient.

On the way back to the scale I asked the nurse if I could just tell her how much I weighed and if so, I’m 125. She answered with, “So am I. But you’re going to have to stand on the scale anyway.” Then we went in the room for the preliminary vitals and blood work. Because I had lymph nodes removed I can’t have blood pressure or blood draws or anything that could aggravate the lymph system and cause lymphedema in my left arm. When the nurse asked which arm I drew a total blank. For a minute I couldn’t remember which side was okay to use. We both laughed and agreed that was a great thing.

Vitals taken and blood sucked, she handed me a robe and left the room. Which meant I had to disrobe from the waist up. Which meant persons other than myself would be seeing my underarms. D’oh!! Not only are left armed vitals off limits, so is shaving the left underarm. If you’ve been around here for the last couple of years you know I went through three sessions of laser hair removal which seemed to do the trick. Except it didn’t and now I have to go back for a touch up, though I keep forgetting to make the appointment and I hardly ever Veet because it’s so inconvenient and it kind of burns, too. But do you know what I say to sparsely hairy armpits at the doctor’s office? “Whatever.”

The appointment itself was very good and almost great. I think we spent at least half the time discussing college choices for Taylor – my doctor is pushing for Penn State and laments that his girls chose Yale, Harvard and Temple. Not a huge concern for us. But this appointment was supposed to be about me so let's get back to that.

My blood work was great (surprise, surprise, my white count was on the low side of normal). My vitals were great. My tumor markers were low. Everything was as it should be which is very good. I’ll get a bone density test in January, see the doctor in March and we’ll be that much closer to my 5 years.

The one glitch in the appointment is that I will be on the Arimidex two years longer than originally prescribed. The plan had been post-chemo treatment for five years which for me was two years of Tamoxifen followed by three years of Arimidex. There’s been a new study, however, that says there’s a better success rate when the patient stays on the Arimidex for five whole years regardless of how long she had been on any other post-chemo medication. A little disappointing, but I’m not going to complain about it (at least not at the moment). It’s small beans compared to the grand scheme of things.

Finally I checked out and high tailed it for the Starbuck’s down the street for my venti White Chocolate Mocha with whip to complete my visit. Because a trip to the doctor’s isn’t over until I’m sipping that sweet nectar of life and making yummy sounds. Besides, my oncologist’s office is about 40 minutes away and I needed something for the ride home.

Labels: breast cancer, Health, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 10:27 PM :: 5 People musing:

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Continuing...

I'm going to see if I can knock out the rest of the holiday saga. Here we go...

* Taylor has continued on with his yearly Christmas tradition of being sick on Christmas. Poor baby.

I am not kidding. Every stinkin' year he has a head cold or a sinus infection or bronchitis or something. One year we were doing family pictures with a professional photographer and he was miserable. We pumped him up with Tylenol and managed the session in the fever-free, half-way okay window. Another year he sat alone at a little table in the entryway of the in-law's house which was close to, but not actually at the big table because he was sick and nobody wanted that Christmas gift. This year he laid on the couch in view of the rest of us at the dinner table. It's so sad. But he takes it in such stride and never complains.

* The food has been phenomenal.

Chicken piccata, homemade tacos, breakfast casserole, hashbrown casserole, donuts, cakes, coffee, bagels, authentic shepherd's pie - and that's all I can remember at the moment.

* We're up to 14 people (counting the twins) in two condos and there's always something going on. Katie has shown her competitive side which makes me think of a story. Sorry. You'll have to wait for the story.

There are times when Katie does something that is so me I have to laugh. Playing games is no different. She learned how to play Mexican Train (dominoes) and Triominoes with Aunt Joanne, cousin Stacy and Stacy's boyfriend, Niall. Since she's 14 they took it a little easy on her. Until they realized that she learned quickly, plays dirty and takes no prisoners. Kind of like when I was about her age and my parents went out of town, leaving me with my cousins Ron & Barb for the weekend. They taught me how to play Hate Your Neighbor - UNO before there was UNO. I caught on fairly fast and played with a vengeance. Their friend, a priest, came over to play and he kept saying he was going to grab his exorcism kit from the car because I was clearly evil. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (I say while fiendishly rubbing my hands together)

Am I proud that my genteel daughter has a vicious game playing streak? You betcha!!

* The temps have been in the 50's and everybody thinks it's freezing, meanwhile the boys in my family are walking around in shorts and t-shirts.

I love the desert. I really do. I forget just how much until I find myself in the Southwest or Palm Springs. One of the things I love is the winter weather. Mild and sunny during the day and crisp and cool at night. Perfect!

* I shall be forever grateful that Taylor brought his computer, otherwise I might be rolled up in the fetal position in the corner shaking uncontrollably. But don't tell him I said that. I gotta keep it cool around him.

This one needs no explanation.

* Grandpa made a total funny about books. I'll tell you about it later.

Grandpa noticed Katie's big book and she told him she reads a lot. He said he's been reading a lot of books lately, too. On tape.

* People who live in golf resorts don't look kindly upon golf cart races. Just sayin'.

This was a little misleading as no actual races took place. Taylor wanted to pull a Mario Andretti around the resort, but the cart will only go so fast. He would try to catch up to people, but it never happened.

He did nearly throw me out the windshield by stomping on the break and gave me whiplash by stomping on the accelerator. I didn't find the humor in either. At all.

* Todd's back. Just a little teaser. More on that after the holidays.

Some of you may recall Todd used to have a blog called Jenni and Me. He started it on August 24, 2007 and ended it on September 11, 2007. He saw it as his chance to show people a different perspective than mine. Totally unnecessary as evidenced by the very short run. But for some reason he's felt the need to start it back up. Probably because I don't talk enough about Sookie. Whatever. As long as he keeps his stories to puppy antics we'll get along just fine.

Labels: attitude, blog, family, food, fun, holidays, reading, vacation

Mused by Jenster :: 10:54 AM :: 5 People musing:

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Book Review: Belly of the Whale by Linda Merlino

A month or so ago several breast cancer survivors, including myself, were asked to review Belly of the Whale by new author, Linda Merlino. Never one to turn away a free book, I eagerly agreed. Upon reading the book, however, I realized my perspective as a breast cancer survivor may have skewed my opinion.

Hudson Catalina has given up. Having lost both breasts to cancer, she is emotionally and physically exhausted, no longer willing to endure the nausea and crushing weakness that chemotherapy causes. Until the wrecked-by-life young Buddy Baker arrives, bent on murder. Linda Merlino’s harrowing, touching story of despair, abuse, murder and survival takes you on a journey through the darkest places of the human mind and spirit, and in the end leads you back out of “the belly of the whale” enriched by the experience.

The book opens with Hudson Catalina on a stretcher in Whale’s Market the morning after a crazed gunman holds the occupants hostage. The story spans the previous 24 hours and as she lays there unsure as to whether she’s dead or alive she begins to think back on the previous day’s events. Sadly, the day before wasn’t such a good one since she had totally given up hope.

As I read the book I had a hard time identifying with Hudson. Frankly I don’t know anybody who felt that extent of despair while going through treatment for breast cancer. Granted her mother had passed from the disease twenty-some years earlier, but that was twenty-some years earlier. Treatment has come so far since then.
Also, we never know what type of cancer it is, what stage, how aggressive, etc., and that could play a part.

Her one saving grace, in my opinion, is that she does admit to being a bit dramatic. Still, I don’t know of a single mother who would spend any length of time considering the things she does. I found her to be an extremely selfish drama queen and rather annoying. That attitude, however, is what allows her to grow and get a new perspective while at the market.

While not my preferred type of read, Belly of the Whale has redeeming qualities in Hudson Catalina’s change of outlook and the interesting characters she interacts with in the market. It probably wouldn’t be something a current breast cancer patient would be interested in reading – it may hit too close to home or her attitude about her circumstances could be depressing. But it might appeal to readers of suspense.

Labels: book review, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 8:00 AM :: 5 People musing:

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

From Russia With Love

Last night was one of my not so good sleep nights. I blame it on TV and books. Let me explain.

I'm currently reading an epic war-time love story called The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simmons. Here's the back blurb:

Leningrad 1941: the white nights of summer illuminate a city of fallen grandeur whose beautiful palaces and stately avenues speak of a different age, when Leningrad was known as St Petersburg.

Two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, share the same bed, living in one room with their brother and parents. It is a hard, impoverished life, yet the Metanovs know many who are not as fortunate as they.

The family routine is shattered on 22 June 1941 when Hitler invades Russia. For the Metanovs, for Leningrad and for Tatiana, life will never be the same again. On the fateful day, Tatiana meets a brash young officer named Alexander.

Tatiana and her family suffer as Hitler's army advances on Leningrad, and the Russian winter closes in. With bombs falling and the city under siege, Tatiana and Alexander are drawn to each other in an impossible love. It is a love that could tear Tatiana's family apart, a love that carries a secret that could mean death for anyone who hears it.

Confronted on the one hand by Hitler's unstoppable war machine, and on the other by a Soviet system determined to crush the human spirit, Tatiana and Alexander are pitted against the very tide of history, at a turning point in the century that made the modern world.

Mesmerizing from the very first page to the final, breathtaking end, The Bronze Horseman brings alive the story of two indomitable, heroic spirits and their great love that triumphs over the devastation of a country at war.

It's the kind of story that gets into your mind and won't let go. The characters won't leave me, I hold my breath as they endure the bombings and the lack of food, I'm fascinated by the culture and I'm enamoured by the beautiful images and horrified by the terrible scenes the pages paint. Lucky for me it's the first book in a trilogy. Unfortunately, this first paper back is nearly 900 pages.

And to add to the intrigue of the book is the fact that, while the author was born in Russia, she has lived in the US since she was ten. Okay. That's not the interesting thing. The interesting - and very frustrating - thing is that her books are NOT AVAILABLE IN THE US! What's up with that? Or if they are, they're usually very expensive. I was lucky enough to have a friend mail it to me, but this is the kind of book I want to call my very own.

Okay. Enough of that rant. Let's move on.

*Edited to add - I just ordered all three books from Doubleday Bookclub. They were 20 cents each. Of course, now I'm a member of the Doubleday Bookclub. But is that so bad?*

Katie was sick yesterday so she stayed home. Gilmore Girls was on from noon until nearly 6:00. Lorelai and Rory, Rory and Lorelai, sassy banter, sarcastic wit, All.Day.Long. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm a fan so it wasn't a trial or anything.

The problem, however, was that I dreamt about the Gilmore Girls in Russia the entire night. I can't even tell you any more than that. Just that the Gilmores were in Russia and were speaking with Russian accents. And then I would wake up and try to compose the blog post I was going to write about the Gilmores in Russia.

Why is it the posts I compose while I'm semi-conscious are brilliant, yet when I surface to full awareness the brilliance slips from my grasp and all that's left is the mundane?

Labels: dreams, reading, TV, writing

Mused by Jenster :: 8:23 AM :: 10 People musing:

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

What Do I See?

Back in my 20s I started having trouble reading street signs and bumper stickers and license plates. A trip to the eye doctor confirmed I was slightly nearsighted and glasses for distance were prescribed. My driver's license reflected this so when it was time to renew at 35 I decided another trip to the eye doctor was in order. My glasses just weren't doing their job anymore and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pass the eye test.

After the exam the doctor told me he had good news and bad news. The good news was I had 20/20 vision and I no longer needed glasses for distance. Silly me! I thought I needed a stronger prescription because things were getting a little blurry with my current lenses. I was feeling a bit smug here because, well, I was aging, but my eyesight was getting better. What a nice little birthday present for me!

The bad news, however, was that I was on a pendulum swinging from nearsighted to farsighted. He told me I would be back to needing glasses at 40. Well, somewhere around that time I noticed the print in my books was getting smaller so I bought a cheap pair of reading glasses at Walgreens. Lately I've been thinking how nice it would be if my arms were just a little bit longer.

So yesterday Katie and I both had eye exams. We thought Katie was nearsighted because she has trouble seeing the board at school. When the eye is looking at something close the muscles around the lens contract. When the eye is looking at a distance the muscles relax. Katie's muscles aren't relaxing like they should and that's why she's having a hard time seeing the board. So she's been prescribed reading glasses in an effort to keep those muscles more relaxed. Interesting, isn't it?

As for me, I still have 20/20 vision. Yes, unless there's something wrong with YOUR eyesight, you read that right. When I want to I can read the fine print. The problem is I have to work too hard to do so. My cheap plastic reading glasses help a little, but I'm going to get good reading glasses and give my eyes a break. I hope this will step up my reading a bit. I'm only on my 10th book of the year, down from 28 books the same time two years ago (which was down from my pre-cancer reading days when I ignored my family and responsibilities just to finish a book). I do wear out faster and I think I'm probably exhausting my eyes. So who knows! Another month and I may be back to ignoring my family and responsibilities again!

Katie and I both had our eyes dilated and thankfully we live fairly close to the doctor's office because things were really fuzzy for a while. Which made me think of today's verse.






Someday we'll get to see the completed puzzle with perfect vision. Awesome!

Labels: Health, reading, Verse of the Day

Mused by Jenster :: 7:36 AM :: 11 People musing:

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Monday, May 26, 2008

ROAD TRIP!

I'm not back to stay, but seeing as today was a holiday I decided to tell you about my weekend. I have checked a few things off the list, though I still have quite a bit left. Still, I probably will be hanging around a little bit more. (Thanks to those of you who sent me such nice emails and made me want to say, "You like me. You really like me.")

Katie and I left the house at 5:30 Thursday morning to drive to Hilton Head, South Carolina for Ben's wedding. As you see, there was an obvious lack of male influence. Let's just say Taylor couldn't afford to miss two days of school and leave it at that. So it was a girls' road trip. The car was stocked with all kinds of consumables in the event we found ourselves faint for lack of sustenance. We had cheese and crackers and frosted animal cookies and candy and water and Starbuck's bottled frappuccinos… We also wanted to see if we could go through my entire iPod song list of 499 songs.

I don't think we were even through Philadelphia when I thought about my new camera nestled with care in my new camera case and the beautiful pictures I was going to be able to take on our trip. Unfortunately, it was still sitting on the dining room table where I had packed it all away the day before. Katie forgot her camera, too. You must know how sad this made me. There was a split second when I considered turning around, but good sense won out.

The trip down was pretty uneventful. Good weather, bad traffic through Baltimore and DC, but after that it was smooth sailing. We did get to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome from the freeway so that was kind of exciting. [Insert imaginary photo.]

While there are Cracker Barrels here in PA, there isn't one very close to us. That's as Arkansan as Sonic so I treated Katie to lunch at a CB in Virginia. When we hit North Carolina we started seeing these big billboards – tons of them - for Pedro's South of the Border. They touted restaurants, mini-golf, convenience store, gift shop, leather goods, hotel, petting zoo, and every other type of roadside tourist trap imaginable. [*Mom & Dad – kind of like "The Thing" on I-10*] As soon as we passed into South Carolina there it was. Pedro's South of the Border. Funny stuff! [Insert imaginary photo.]

I-95 through South Carolina looks a lot like Arkansas. A couple of times I forgot where I was. Finally we turned off and headed for the island. We made it to the hotel between 7:30 and 8:00. After unloading the car we went looking for dinner. The hotel had a pool and also a pond. Katie said something about being afraid of alligators and I just sort of blew her off. Especially when she started looking up at the trees looking for tree-climbing-ninja-gators.

We finally landed at a restaurant called "Skillets" with an Elvis impersonator crooning to the outdoor diners. The waiter talked us into ordering an appetizer of fried green tomatoes – Katie's first – and they were delicious! Served over Creole marinara with bubbly melted mozzarella on top. The best fried green tomatoes I've ever had! She ordered shepherd's pie and I had a chicken stir fry. [Insert imaginary photo.]

Friday morning we woke up when we woke up, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast at the complimentary breakfast bar. That's where we found out there were a bunch of college kids from Ohio staying at the same place. It wasn't until later that night when we found out they were a bunch of obnoxious college kids from Ohio, but I'm not to that part yet.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon exploring the island and finding great places to shop. Neither Katie nor I could get the thought of those extraordinary fried green tomatoes out of our heads. So we went back to Skillets for lunch. Unfortunately our cravings weren't quenched because the appetizers weren't on the lunch menu. No complaining about the food, though. I had the vegetable crepes – crepes with a wonderful egg, cheese and spinach filling – and rosemary skillet potatoes. Katie had the shepherd's pie again.

While walking around the shopping center after lunch we ran into some friends from church, Kevin and Terri. We chatted with them for a little bit and they mentioned the alligator in the hotel pond. THE ALLIGATOR IN THE HOTEL POND! You know, the "alligator" that Katie was freaked out about? The one I told her didn't exist? Yeah. That one. Apparently it did exist.

Katie and I decided to get some disposable cameras and what better place to make that kind of purchase than the local Piggly Wiggly? Besides, she'd never been in a Piggly Wiggly before and I feel like one should have that experience when the opportunity arises. Because how much fun is it to say, "I went to the Piggly Wiggly"?

After that we walked across the street to the beach to see the ocean and then back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding later that evening. The wedding was simply beautiful. Vans shuttled us to the beach house where the wedding and reception were to take place. The ceremony was under a flower laden arbor on the beach with a cellist and violinist accompanying. I was snapping pictures with our Piggly Wiggly disposable cameras and chatting with Terri and Kevin and Mandy and Alex and Amanda, not paying any attention to the noise the film advancing mechanism made. Until the wedding started and everyone stopped talking. Then I had Terri cough or Katie sneeze to mask the sound or I just advanced it one tiny click at a time. And it made us giggle.

Our former youth minister, Matt Silver (he and his family moved to Maryland a few weeks ago), officiated and it was great to see him. Another transplanted friend, Leland, was in the wedding so it was fun to see him, too. All the CCV people sat at the same table for the reception and had a blast! The DJ knew all the right songs to play and we had a great time cutting the rug and just having fun. Ben and Katie (his Katie, not mine) sure know how to entertain!

Remember those Ohio college kids I mentioned earlier? The hotel was infested with them. And while I hate generalizations and would never say they were all horrible - I'm sure there were some nice, unhorrible students there - there were a lot of rude, obnoxious and over-indulgent kids there. And apparently 2:30 to 4:00 in the morning is the best time for playing frisbee, drinking beer and catching up on the day's events in the hotel hallway.

Saturday morning Katie and I got up and drove to Savannah with the express intention of eating at The Lady and Sons, Paula Dean's restaurant. Sadly, they were full for both lunch and dinner so we only saw the outside. Not a huge deal, though. We just have to go back, that's all. We ended up eating cheesy hot spinach dip and cheese pizza at a place on the Riverfront called Spanky's.

We really wanted to get a picture of the statue in the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", but it turns out it's in a museum. We'd even considered going to the museum but we ran out of time. We did go on a house tour, though. [Insert imaginary picture] The house of the people who own the statue, actually. Savannah is a beautiful city – very Pirates of the Caribbeanish. There are "squares" every few blocks which are wonderful when you've been walking a lot. Katie and I would figure out where we were going to go next and then walk from square to square, resting on a park bench before moving onto the next one. It was a pretty warm day so our last stop was at a Starbuck's for some sort of frozen concoction. Just as we were leaving to get back to the car only a few blocks away there was a sudden flash of lightening and a loud boom immediately following. The rain hadn't started yet so we high tailed it for the parking lot. Half way there it started to sprinkle with more flashes and more booms. And then the sky opened up about a block from the car. I yelled, "Run!", which Katie took literally. Unfortunately I'm not much of a runner so I told her, "Save yourself!" Except for that I didn't unlock the car until I got right there. We scrambled inside, laughing the whole time, and realized there was hail mixed in with the rain. Once it slowed down we left and drove back to Hilton Head.

Hungry for dinner when we returned, can you guess where we ate? Skillets!! Can you guess what we had for an appetizer? Fried green tomatoes!! Can you guess what Katie had for dinner? Shepherd's pie!! So sad that we only ate at one restaurant the entire time we were on the island. But oh so good!

Sunday morning we woke up at 5:00, got dressed, packed the car and were on the road by 5:30. The ride home was even more uneventful than the ride there. Except the GPS took us THROUGH Washington instead of around it. That took us forever! But we did get to see the Pentagon and the Jefferson monument this time.

We pulled into the garage about 6:30. I soaked in a hot bubble bath and read a little bit, then went to bed around 9:00. The trip was a lot of fun – Katie and I ate well and laughed a lot – but it sure was good to be home and sleep in my own bed.

Over the long weekend we were in 7 states and the District of Columbia. I've decided my next writing will be Jenster's Guide to Highway/Interstate Driving.

Labels: food, friends, fun, holidays, reading, touristy, traffic, travel, vacation

Mused by Jenster :: 9:36 PM :: 15 People musing:

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

More Nothing

Today was my first day back at work since spring break and the kids' first day back to school. To say this morning was crumby is an understatement! After more than a week of sleeping late to all of a sudden getting up at 6:30 - or 5:45 if you're Taylor - was, in the infamous words of Jeff Spicoli, gnarly, dude.

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My family is conspiring against me to get a dog. I don't want a dog. Don't get me wrong. I love dogs and have had several in my lifetime. They're wearing me down, however, and I'm pretty sure we'll be owning one soon. As long as I'm not the one getting up in the middle of the night with it or cleaning up the backyard is all I'm gonna say.

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I'm reading the most excellent of books! It's called Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. It's a medieval (1172) mystery in the fashion of CSI - two of my favorite genres all mixed in together! Here's the back blurb:

In Cambridge, four children have been murdered. Wrongly accused of the crimes, a small community of Jews threatened by Catholic mobs is given sanctuary by Henry II. To assist in proving their innocence, he summons an expert in the science of deduction and the art of death. She is Adelia, a prodigy from the Medical School of Salerno, and an anomaly in a medieval world, who is forced to concel her identity and her purpose from England's grave superstitions and condemnation. One man willing to work with her is Sir Rowley Picot. His personal stake in the investigation makes him an invaluable ally - and in Adelia's eyes, a suspect as well. From navigating Cambridge's perilous river paths to penetrating the dark shadows of the Church, Adelia's investigation will not only reveal the secrets of the dead, but in time, the far more dangerous ones buried by the living.

Now if I only had time to read more...

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Tomorrow I go back for the tattoo touch ups and my first laser hair removal treatment. I'm so excited about never having to shave/Veet my underarms again.

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Thursday is my thyroid biopsy. I'm seriously not concerned about the results. I've had these nodules and calcifications for at least 10 years. I AM, however, a little freaked out about the actual procedure. Todd is taking off work to go with me which means I'm getting a Venti White Chocolate Mocha out of the deal so I suppose it's not so bad. Besides, Radioactive Girl gave me the scoop on what to expect so I know it's not going to be as horrible as it sounds.

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I'm listening to my iPod and 100 Years by Five for Fighting is on right now. If I listen to the lyrics it will make me cry. Not because they're sad. They're just, I don't know... So very, very true.



****

I've become addicted to Sudoku. I hate it, but I can't stop myself. I have to do two or three puzzles every day and then I dream about it at night. The other night it was like a cross between Hollywood Squares and the beginning of the Brady Bunch with faces and numbers or numbers and faces or something. I don't know, but it plagued my sleep all night long.

****

I slighted Ben in my telling of how the boys scared the girls last Thursday, but only because I didn't have all the details when I wrote that post. Ben's part was rather devious and I believe Jesus warned about people like him. He went down to the basement and told the girls he needed to use the computer for something. Then when Taylor was scratching and knocking on the basement windows and the girls were freaking out, Ben was their hero. First he told them it was only the wind, then he said he'd go check it out and when he came back he told them it was just the wind. Nothing to be scared about. So he got them a little worked up and then lulled them into a false sense of security, priming them for Taylor's entrance. And he seems like such a nice boy, too.

****

The girls that spent the night were my little homies. Or K Squad Unit Fresh as Taylor calls them. We had been talking about the last days of Jesus' life the previous two weeks so Thursday night we watched The Passion of the Christ only after getting the parents' permission. A part of me was hoping either the parents would say no or the girls would change their minds. But no such luck. And it actually turned out to be a very good thing. Intense, but good. And after the movie was over they decided to watch Hairspray. lol

****

There's a two-inch gash on my good coffee table in the living room. Not a scratch that I could maybe rub out, but an honest to goodness gash. I just wish I knew how it got there so I could make myself feel better by blaming someone. But no one has any idea how it got there. The hand-me-down coffee table in the family room is fine. The really cheap table is fine. The good coffee table? Not so much.

****

I'm terribly behind in my bloghopping. Now that I'm feeling better and things are getting back to our regular routine, maybe I can catch up. But right now I think I'll go take a little nap...

Labels: dreams, family, homies, job, kids, medical, nostalgia, random, reading, reconstruction

Mused by Jenster :: 1:50 PM :: 17 People musing:

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Friday, February 29, 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm going to be very busy this weekend doing nothing. Seriously. I have the pleasure of a ton of alone time and I'm going to fill that time with flicks of the chick variety, books and computer. Coffee will be flowing freely and I may even throw in some Vermonty Python ice cream for good measure. I'm not going to go totally crazy with the eating, though.

I'm picking the kids up from school and taking them directly to church where they will get on a big bus and head to Harrisburg for PCTC - Pennsylvania Christian Teen Convention. They went last year and it was an awesome experience for all the teens.

My only glitch in the whole Weekend-To-Myself plan is another stinkin' cold. It's not a terrible cold. Mostly a full head - scratchy throat, plugged up ears, postnasal congestion. That sort of thing. But it made me miss Home Team this morning and I'm not happy about that! I drove the kids to the bus stop because it was about 12 degrees outside with a decent windchill and when I went upstairs around 7:20 to start getting ready I decided to lay down for a few minutes since I had plenty of time. The next thing I knew it was 9:10. Home Team starts at 9:00. Then I rolled over with the intention of getting up and making it for at least half of bible study and the next thing I knew it was 10:00. So I gave up. But I feel the loss of connecting with my Homies.

Oh wait. There may be another glitch. We're supposed to get some snow and possibly ice tonight which means I'll have to shovel the drive way tomorrow since my snow blowers will be in other parts of the country. That will cut into my indulgent plans and I'm not thrilled about that. But oh well.

But I am looking forward to having the remote control all to myself. I'm looking forward to catching up with all my blog buddies without hearing someone say "You spend more time with people you don't even know than you do with us." (I've never actually heard anyone say that, but there's always the risk.) I don't have to prepare any meals, do any laundry, be nice to anyone... I'm excited.

Both the kids asked me if I was really happy they were going away. Geesh. They make it sound so horrible when they put it that way. I told them I was thoroughly looking forward to some time alone, but that by Sunday I would be so happy to have them back. Hopefully I didn't damage them any more than I already have. Driving Taylor to the bus stop in my pink robe and then cuffing him upside the head for messing with the buttons in the car in front of some of the neighborhood girls did enough of that.

And trying to pretend our life is a musical after watching Dream Girls and singing our conversation with a little dance move thrown in here and there seems to really bother him. Not Katie, though. She just plays along. OH! That reminds me of when she was very young - probably around four or five, maybe a little older. I would tell her to go clean her room and then spy on her from around the corner. She would walk around the room very dramatically, singing, "My mother told me to clean my room, but I don't want to-o-o-o-o-o-o. Why must I do these things she asks of me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e?" It was hysterical! I so wish I would have gotten that on tape. She was starring in her own little version of Katierella or something. So funny!

Back to all of my family being gone. I suppose I could have lied to them and tell them how sad I was going to be, how miserable my lonely weekend would be, how I would probably spend most of the time crying, blah, blah, blah. But they would have caught on pretty quickly and lying is just wrong.

Lucky Todd gets to see his new niece and nephew - The Pretty Princess and Tank. Or Olivia and Nicholas. I'm very jealous. VERY JEALOUS! They are so cute! We're going to California for Christmas (in Palm Springs) and I'll get to see them then. But this very weekend -- nay, this very day he'll get to hold them and squeeze them and munch on them... Jealous I am. (I talk like that because I'm part hobbit. Remember?) My mother-in-law cracks me up because she's so worried my children will think she doesn't love them any more now that she has two new grandchildren. How wrong she is, but I can't figure out how to convince her of that.

Ooo! Look at the time!! It's almost time to pick up the kids!!

Ciao!!

Labels: babies, family, fun, homies, joy, kids, movies, nostalgia, reading, sick, TV, weather

Mused by Jenster :: 1:10 PM :: 17 People musing:

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Book Meme

Katybug at Watercooler Wisdom tagged me for this fun book meme. She's changed the rules ever so slightly and I'm going to play along.

1. Grab the book you are currently reading and turn to p. 123
2. Go to the 5th sentence
3. Post the next 3 sentences
4. Tell the name of the book and author
5. Tag 5 others

So here I go:

Had the news of the Guise attack reached them? They bowed, hats in hand.

"Andelot."

The book I'm currently reading is Written on Silk by Linda Lee Chaikin. It's the second in the Silk House series and what a fabulous series it is. The main character of the series, Rachelle, is a dressmaker who has been commanded to Catherine d'Medici's court to make dresses for the Princess Marguerite. But Rachelle is a Huguenot and Catherine is plotting with the Guise brothers in the beginnings of the French inquisition.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the series. There's intrigue, suspense, murder, romance and quite a bit of history. Good stuff, Maynard.

***

The original rules of this meme say to grab the book closest to you so I'm going to do that, too.

The Old Testament philosopher would have no idea how decadent and ridiculous the trash would have gotten 2,500 years later, but he could have related well to U2's interaction with it. He could have found only empathy with the band's interrogation of the meaninglessness of the horizontal and its constant probing for something else – the search for hope that might be found above the sun to make sense of all the nonsense below it. As U2 went for a ride along the surface of things, Bono confessed that his heart was where it has always been, but his head was caught in between.




The book is Walk On – the Spiritual Journey of U2. Todd's been reading it and from what I understand from him and others, it's very good. Very interesting.





***

I'm not going to tag anyone, but please feel free to do this fun meme if you haven't already. Just be sure to let me know you did it!

Labels: meme, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 10:07 PM :: 7 People musing:

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Latest

Do you remember back in October when Todd fell in the Costco parking lot in the middle of a deluge and then later hurt his hand "helping Ben move"? That's what he tells everyone, but in reality he was trying to break a bed slat with his wily ninja karate skillz. In his defense he did have a concussion.

But I digress. His hand is still bothering him and not just a little. He saw an orthopedic surgeon in November who didn't see any broken bones on x-ray, so he gave him a splint to wear. Two weeks ago I went with Todd to see the doctor who is in a Beatles tribute band. Todd introduced him to me as Dr. Cash, a.k.a. George Harrison. He shook my hand while speaking Liverpoolian and I giggled like a school girl. One of my better "mature" moments. Anyhoo, George sent Todd for a thumb/wrist MRI last week and yesterday was the follow up appointment.

The MRI didn't show anything other than a bit of fluid in one of his thumb joints so the Fab One injected a corticosteroid laced with a bit of Novocaine into the joint. I gave Todd my sage advice for handling injections and then cringed as I watched the needle disappear in his knuckle. He did so good, though! I was rather impressed.

The relief was immediate and he was so happy. Then the mop top with the degree told Todd it was only temporary. Once the Novocaine wore off he'd be sore for a few days. Hopefully the corticosteroid will give him relief after the soreness from the injection is gone. Poor guy.

OH! And get this. I was so nice to him yesterday even though compassion is very low on my list of spiritual gifts. I think I scored a 5 out of 30 for compassion, only to be superseded by organization/administration which was a 2. It's nice to know I have it in me when it's needed, though.

***

So today was my bone scan. I had to be at the nuclear medicine department at 9:30 for my injection. After getting shot up with a radioactive dye which bonds to the bones I was free to do whatever I wanted to for the next three plus hours as long as my plans included drinking a lot of fluids. ANY fluids.

This time I knew right where the Starbuck's was so I hung out there for about an hour with my book, a cinnamon chip scone and... what did I get... let's see... oh yeah! A Venti White Chocolate Mocha with whip. Yeah, yeah. Not conducive to losing the weight that has taken up residence and really likes the neighborhood. And why shouldn't it like the neighborhood? There's always some type of a party going on!

After that was a trip to the biggest Bed, Bath and Beyond I've ever seen. Of course, I didn't see anything I needed or even wanted. Until I was about to leave, that is. I decided to make a quick perusal of the clearance section and I found a beautiful Gorham Lady Anne tall vase to go along with the rest of my Lady Anne pieces. It's a $60.00 vase and they had it on clearance for $20.00. Isn't it beautiful? How could I refuse??

My last stop on the way back to the hospital was Panera Bread Company for a delicious sandwich and a soda. And another 30 lovely minutes with my book. Of course, I had to wait about 30 minutes in the nuclear medicine waiting room so that was more time with my book. Do you see why I really don't mind these doctor's appointments and such?

The scan was no big deal at all. The technician straps you onto a very skinny, hard table with a wedge under your knees making you bow legged and a big rubber band around your toes making you pigeon toed. Quite the picture, isn't it? The whole thing took about 45 minutes and I was never so happy to get up from a nap as I was then. My entire body ached from staying perfectly still the whole time.

As I've said, I'm certain I'm still dancing with NED (No Evidence of Disease), but I can still feel the tension in my shoulders and it's not from laying on the table. It's not something I'm worrying about, but I know I'll be relieved to hear the doctor tell me tomorrow there was nothing more than a little degenerative bone disease. Funny how "degenerative bone disease" doesn't sound so bad in relation to cancer.

I will, of course, post after I hear from the doctor's office - hopefully tomorrow, but maybe on Thursday. For now I'm going to bed so I'll have all the energy I need to catch up on laundry and ironing tomorrow.

Labels: breast cancer, food, medical, reading, shopping

Mused by Jenster :: 8:54 PM :: 16 People musing:

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Everything's All White

Get it? "All White" as in "all right"? Clever, no??

Wednesday morning I rushed around to make sure I got out of the house and on the road in time to make it to my oncology appointment by 10:30. His office had moved since the last time I saw him so I wanted to make sure I had enough wiggle room to find the new one.

Two minutes down the road I glanced at my planner and I realized my appointment wasn't until 11:45. ** Which begs the question, what do I have scheduled for 10:30 and when? I have no idea. ** Instead of turning around and going back home, however, I decided to take the scenic trip through Valley Forge to look for a tree. Last winter I became enamoured with a huge tree of some sort with a big, blackish trunk and beautiful WHITE branches. I'm pleased to report it's still there. Now I need to go back with my camera so you can see it, too.

After finding my tree I got back on the road and located the new offices with nearly an hour to spare. What to do? What to do? I know! Track down the nearest Starbuck's - STAT! Less then a mile down the road I spotted the glorious round, green sign with the funky lady in the middle. I think those signs have some kind of hidden homing device or something because my car just seems to be drawn to them. Anyway, I spent a lovely 45 minutes in Starbuck's with a WHITE Chocolate Mocha and my current read (Bookends by Liz Curtis Higgs). So I had a pre-appointment coffee instead of my usual post-appointment drink.

The new offices are gorgeous and lucky for me the doctor had had an emergency, throwing him behind nearly an hour. I'm serious when I say "lucky" because that gave me even more time to read. When I was called back the nurse did all the preliminaries like weigh me (WAHHHH!!!), draw blood, check my vitals, etc., then showed me to a room where I got to read some more. It was shaping up to be a nice day. Except for the weighing part.

After a few minutes the WHITE Russian came in. He said, "It's such a pleasure to see you. You're the healthiest person I've seen all day." Makes you wonder what kind of day he'd had, doesn't it? I had three items to discuss with him:

1. Can I get off Tamoxifen and start on Arimidex or Femera?

Since I no longer have ovaries my estrogen levels are considered post-menopausal. Therefore, I can stop taking Tamoxifen and start on either one of those medications. He switched me to Arimidex, but the major side effect of that is arthritis. If I start suffering with joint pain and stiffness - more than I already do - then we'll try Femera. The major side effect of that drug is higher cholesterol, but I don't have any cholesterol problems so that might be okay. He then sent me next door to have a baseline bone density scan so we can watch how the Arimidex effects my bones.

I hate to sound vain, but I looked really good in my navy blue hospital gown, tan and brown striped socks and pink crocs with the oatmeal liner. I'm talking HAWT! And have any of you ever had a dexascan? You lie on this table and the technician lines up the machine to be centered on your abdomen below your navel. To line it up she kept pushing on my hip bones and my pelvic bone! She never told me she was going to do that and I just about jumped off the table because I was NOT expecting that! I am not that kind of girl! I may show my boobs to anyone who wants to see them, but that's where I draw the line!

2. Can I have the hair removed from my left underarm by laser?

It's not invasive and you don't run the risk of a cut so it doesn't threaten to cause lymphedema. I think I'll be a bit wild and have BOTH underarms laserly de-haired.

3. What about the pain in my right hip and left lower ribs?

This, of course, was my main concern and with good reason. As I stated before, bone metastasis is very common with breast cancer. The doctor is not worried at all. My cancer markers are very low, my blood test doesn't indicate anything going on with my bones, I'M NOT LOSING WEIGHT. ** When I complained about the not losing weight part even though I'm trying he said I have several factors working against me. My age, my total hysterectomy, my thyroid issues, the Tamoxifen, my love of Starbuck's and all things chocolate (Okay. I give. I threw the last two in there.) I think onocologists are the only doctors who like their patients overweight. ** But because bone metastasis is always a concern he scheduled me for a bone scan next Tuesday.

Looking through my chart, he saw that my last bone scan was two years ago. At that time it showed degenerative disease (dramatic way of saying arthritis) in my clavical. My clavical! How does that even work? It's not a joint, is it?? That makes no sense to me. Of course, this is me we're talking about. If it's weird and can happen..., well, you get the idea. He thinks the pain in my hip and my ribs may be arthritis.

All in all I'm feeling pretty good about everything. The appointment went very well and Dr. Mikhail eased whatever concern I had about the bone pain. And Katybug - it doesn't feel like normal muscle pain. It's hard to describe, but it does seem more "bony" than muscle.

OH! And get this. I had told the kids not to get on the bus, I would pick them up from school because we had to go buy a jacket for Taylor. I hadn't planned on a dexascan, but by the time I got out of there I knew there was no way I could get to them. So I called Todd and asked him to call Katie's school to let her know she had to take the bus home. I texted Taylor because I knew he'd check it as soon as school was out.

So I'm driving home, feeling good about things, listening to my favorite playlist on my iPod, when Katie calls me. "Mom! Where are you?" Long story short - the office called her last period teacher and told her, but the woman never told Katie. Todd was too far to get her, I was too far to get her, we tried calling a couple people about getting her but couldn't get a hold of them. So I told her to go wait for me in the office and I'd get there as soon as I could. But the secretary couldn't wait for me so she drove Katie home. The whole thing made me see WHITE! Like madder than seeing red! I'm still miffed about that.

**Deep Breath**

Tuesday I'll go get injected with radioactive dye that, unfortunately, will not make me glow. Then three hours later I'll go back and take a rest on a cold, hard table while the scanner runs over me like a car wash. Hopefully I'll be able to see my skeleton on the computer screen because it makes me look tall and skinny. Maybe a little too skinny.

Labels: breast cancer, kids, medical, reading, weight management

Mused by Jenster :: 6:23 PM :: 24 People musing:

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Few Things...

Lately I've been waking up in the middle of the night with my nose as cold as a lonely Eskimo's. Nothing else is cold. Just my nose. So I bury my face beneath the covers to warm it up.

I hate doing that for two reasons:

1. If my nose is stuffy I've been breathing through my mouth. If I've been breathing through my mouth it's very likely I have poop breath. You'd think it wouldn't matter since my nose is stuffy, but the stench somehow manages to seep through the stuffiness and into my olfactory glands.

2. People end up in the hospital or dead because of carbon monoxide poisoning all the time. So I start worrying about carbon dioxide poisoning. Can I get sick by breathing my own breath? Isn't that how cats steal a baby's breath? You can see how this is very disturbing.

***

I went to lunch and a movie with my friend, Kris, today. We had decided against seeing P.S. I Love You because we didn't want to cry. Unfortunately it was the only movie worth seeing so we braved it. We stopped on the way and bought our own little kleenex packages. She called me all manner of bad names - or maybe it was only one bad name several times - because I forced her to watch this movie. I told her I proudly wear the title and refused to apologize.

It was one of the best "chick flicks" I've seen in a long time. Yes, it's sad and good for a cry. But there's so much more to laugh about. And how can watching a movie with an extremely charming Gerard Butler be a bad thing??

***

On the recommendation of my cousin and very good friend, Stacy, I bought Apples to Apples for a family Christmas present. We played it last night and laughed so hard it's a wonder we didn't pee our pants. Oh wait. I think Katie did. But anyway, it was hysterical! We had so much fun we played it two-plus times. Good stuff.

***

Between some Christmas money and a surprise bonus at work I bought a photo scanner yesterday. I'm so excited to get all my old pictures onto the computer. I also received the latest Photoshop from Todd. Does anyone know if that means I can airbrush photos of myself?? Just curious.

***

I'm reading my 41st book of 2007 (The Boleyn Inheritance). I really hope I finish it before midnight on the 31st so I can add it to this year's reading list. Even so, 41 is pathetic. But I'm okay with it. I suppose 41 is better than 21.

***

That's enough random for one post. The Funniest Commercials of 2007 is coming on in a half an hour so I gotta go!

Labels: family, friends, fun, holidays, movies, random, reading, TV

Mused by Jenster :: 7:53 PM :: 21 People musing:

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Friday, November 02, 2007

Me and Liz

A few weeks ago Sandy at 4 Reluctant Entertainers posted a picture of herself and Liz Curtis Higgs. It made me think of my own picture I have of myself and Liz. Since I posted the book meme yesterday I thought it would be appropriate to post my picture and tell you a little bit about it.

A few years ago I was reading Thorn in My Heart - part of her Lowlands of Scotland series I mentioned in the previous post. It was one of the most moving books I had ever read. I'd read a section and then have to get up and walk around the house, only to come back and read on because I had to know what was going to happen next. Very intense.

Somewhere along the line I sent the author an email telling her how good her book was. The characters, the writing, the story, the emotions... To me it was one of the best books I'd ever read. Before I had finished checking my other emails I received a reply.

This lead to nearly daily emails telling her where I was in the book, what I was thinking or feeling, etc., and always there was a reply within a short amount of time. She was very gracious and kind to "hold my hand" while I read Thorn in My Heart.

When the next book, Fair is the Rose, came out it was the same thing. By the time the third book, Whence Came a Prince, was released, Liz was coming to our church in Little Rock for a speaking engagement. I was so excited that I was going to get to meet my new email friend in person. I told her I'd be there with her new book for her to sign.

My breast cancer diagnosis came just two days before her opening Friday night. I emailed her to let her know I wouldn't be there on Friday night and why, thinking she was probably much too busy with her tour to actually read the email. But, true to Liz fashion, I received a beautiful email from her expressing her sympathy, offering her prayers, and stating she was looking forward to meeting me on Saturday.

I walked through the doors and found my place in line for the book signing, hoping I'd have enough time to make it to the table. I handed my precious book to her assistant and told her, "I'm Jen, her email buddy". Liz must have heard me because her head snapped up and she said, "Come here, sweet sister!" and folded me into such a warm embrace. She asked how I was and told me she was praying for me, to please let her know when I could how my surgery the following Tuesday went. Then the lady behind me asked if we wanted her to take our picture before I even had a chance to ask her.



*** VANITY PAUSE ***

I don't know why I have no bangs. My forehead decrees I must have bangs. Where were they?

*** VANITY PAUSE OVER ***

Liz Curtis Higgs remains one of my most favorite people on this earth and I can't wait to see her again. Not only is she a great writer, she's a wonderful speaker. I wonder what my hair will look like the next time... Hopefully I'll have bangs.

Labels: breast cancer, friends, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 7:33 AM :: 27 People musing:

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Book Meme

I was tagged for a fun book meme by a sort-of-new-to-me blogger friend and fellow breast cancer survivor, Sherry at Sage and Thyme. So here we go…

TOTAL # OF BOOKS

I couldn’t possibly say how many books I’ve read so far in my lifetime, but I can say how many books I’ve read so far this year. And last year. I started keeping a reading log in 2006 and it’s fun to see how much I’ve read, what I’ve read and what I thought about the book.

I read a total of 44 books last year which is pretty pitiful. Before chemo I probably averaged about 8 books a month. Forty-four books in a year is less than half of that. I’ve only completed 35 books so far this year. Maybe next year will be better.

LAST BOOK READ

I just finished Revealed by Tamara Alexander. It’s the second in the Fountain Creek Trilogy, a wonderful inspirational romance series. I put Tamara Alexander in the edgy category along with some of my other favorite inspirational authors – Deeanne Gist, Liz Curtis Higgs and Francine Rivers.


Here’s the back blurb:

Annabelle Grayson has been given a second chance at life, but she can't claim it with the cloud of her past hanging over her in Willow Springs. After her husband dies, she advertises for a trail guide to accompany her to land waiting for her in Idaho--and a most unlikely candidate applies for the job.

Matthew Taylor is a man on the run, with consequences of past mistakes pursuing him at every turn. Meeting Annabelle Grayson the first time was unpleasant enough, but when she crosses his path again, her presence in his life--and what she reveals--is devastating. If given a single wish, Matthew would turn back time and right a grievous wrong. If given a second wish, he would make Annabelle Grayson pay.

Just a little more info – Annabelle had been a prostitute in Willow Springs. Matthew Taylor would never darken the door of a brothel and held the women inside in much contempt. There’s much more to tell, but that might ruin it for you if you decide to read it. I can’t emphasize what a great series it is enough.

LAST BOOK(S) BOUGHT

Clapton – The Autobiography by Eric Clapton (for Todd)



Second Guessing God – Hanging on When You Can’t See His Plan by Brian Jones (the pastor at our church)



Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (a book about writing non-fiction as recommended to me by Brian Jones)



FIVE MEANINGFUL BOOKS

Only five?? This is so difficult for me. I read mostly fiction and I wouldn’t say they’re meaningful as in life-changing. But the books (or series) I’m choosing have stirred my emotions or piqued my curiosity about historical events or, well, some of them have made me think about how I would respond to a similar situation. There are several more I could list, but I’ll leave it at five.



Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon – I fought starting this series because of the time travel aspect, but when I finally gave in I was so glad. These books are so rich in historical detail and I’ve learned so much from them. (I do my own research to confirm what I’m learning – just so you know)






Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers – Oh my goodness. This book was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read. But what a great story about mercy and love.





Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott Odell – I read this book in the fourth grade and it was the first time I realized I could actually learn something from reading a good story. I think this is where my love for historical fiction started, though it was several years before I really got into reading.





The Lowlands of Scotland series by Liz Curtis Higgs – This is a trilogy based on the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel in Genesis. Liz did a phenomenal job of translating a bible story thousands of years old into a more “modern” telling (1788). I read it in tandem with my Bible to see where she was going to go next. Still, she managed to surprise me.




A Rose in Winter by Kathleen Woodiwiss – This was my first romance novel ever. I started really enjoying reading when I was in high school. I remember reading my dad’s Sidney Sheldon books and then a couple Robin Cook’s and thinking I was much too intelligent and savvy to read a romance. PULEEZE! Can you say “snob”? I joined Doubleday Book Club and forgot to send the card in on time. I received “A Rose in Winter” and set it aside in much disgust. Several months later I read the book and I loved the story! It was still a long time after that before I started reading romance on a regular basis, but I credit this book for pointing me in the right direction. My tastes in romance have changed drastically over the last *cough*ty years, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for this particular book.

FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG

Because I’m so behind in my memes I’m not going to tag anyone. However, this is a great meme and I know some of you are mad crazy readers. So if you decide to do this please let me know!

Labels: meme, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 8:18 PM :: 4 People musing:

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Monday, October 22, 2007

"THE" Sermon

Picture me winking my eye at you while saying an exaggerated "'Theeeeee' Sermon". Done? Okay.

Yesterday was the first sermon in the "Our Rotten Sex Life" series at church. Good stuff and I thought I would share. True to Jenster's Musings it will be convoluted, however, I will end up with a point. So join me through the confusing maze that is my thought process...

I am a romance reader and proud of it. I'll say it again. I READ ROMANTIC FICTION! My absolute favorite genre is historical fiction and if it has some romance in it then even better.

*** TANGENT WARNING ***

Why is it people who don't read romance think it's all about the sex? Contrary to what some think, romance and sex are NOT the same thing. And just because a book is considered a romance does NOT mean there is even sex in it. So for any of you who might equate romance books with porn you'd better think again. I know a few inspirational romance writers who would take issue with that statement.

*** BACK ON TRACK ***

As I said, historical fiction is my favorite. There are quite a few "historical romance" authors who use history as wallpaper. It's just a time period and setting and may or may not be accurate. Readers have become pickier over the years, though, and many more of these authors do months, sometimes years, of research to make their books as historically accurate as possible. It's these kinds of books that I enjoy. The books where I get a great story AND a history lesson.

One of the history lessons I've learned is that there was a time when "ladies of good breeding" did not enjoy the act of procreation. Women who enjoyed that sort of thing with their husbands were considered wanton, immoral creatures. I love to talk history and could go into much greater detail, but then you might fall asleep and miss an important meeting or a favorite television show or something. Just suffice it to say the Victorians had some skewed views of propriety.

I bring all this up because it's relevant to yesterday's sermon. I don't know about other religions, but there are still Christians who don't see sex as a righteous thing. They maybe view it as something dirty or taboo and a lot of churches don't do anything to change that way of thinking.

Oh how I wish I could just put up a YouTube video of Brian Jones' message yesterday. It was entertaining to say the least. But in the midst of all the humor was a great message. As promised, I took notes. Not detailed or copious, but I hit the highlights.

There are three things to do for the best sex you'll ever have:

Number 3 - You must believe God wants you to have great sex

He did invent sex, after all. And there's a ton of scripture to back this one up. So who am I to argue with the Almighty??

Number 2 - You must make a commitment to work at having a great sex life

A survey on Brian's blog asked the question, "In your marriage, when your sex life is less than satisfying, what would you say is the primary reason?" The top five answers, in order, were:

1. Tired/Fatigue
2. Not Interested
3. Lack of Emotional Connection
4. Kids around/Lack of privacy/No time alone
5. Medical/Physiological Issues

As a woman who has been married nearly 20 years I can say the first four reasons affect a lot more than just a couple's sex life.

Number 1 - You must do it God's way

I know what you're thinking, but that's not what was meant. What was meant was God has conditions for sex.

1. Stay faithful
2. Wait until marriage

I realize that neither one of these conditions are very popular in today's culture, especially the second one. But IF you believe in God and IF you believe the Bible tells it the way God wants it, then there you have it.

***

I'm still in tourist mode (sorry Terri) but I knew each and every one of you were dying to know about yesterday's sermon and I hated to disappoint.

***

Later this week - Amish buggy spotted at car wash. Stay tuned.

Labels: blog, church, God, love, random, reading, touristy

Mused by Jenster :: 2:23 PM :: 19 People musing:

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Friday, October 05, 2007

Just More Stuff

I read over 1/3 of a paperback last night! It was wonderful! I had to stop every now and again to let the giddiness out in the form of sighs, giggles and grins. I made a cup of tea, grabbed a couple Milanos (from the special pink BC support package) and settled into my chair in the living room. It was truly glorious.

Before chemotherapy I could tune out everything going on around me and read. So I would read while the family watched TV. Now the only TV I can actually read during is sports. Except Todd always has something to say during the commercials and I haven't gotten to a good stopping point. But that's something else entirely.

Anyway, I don't have that kind of concentration any more. I finally figured that out last night. My current book (Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros - my first every by her) will be finished before I lay my head down to sleep tomorrow night. HELLO MOJO!!!

***

Speaking of books, Barnes and Noble has changed their home page. Why do they have to change when I was perfectly happy with the way it was? Obviously they didn't ask my opinion.

***

I was looking at the on-line brochure for the YMCA this morning without the benefit or more than two sips of coffee. They have a program called Boot Camp and I thought it said your instructor will help your asses... But what it said was your instructor will help you assess... Personally, I thought the former was appropriate.

***

We're looking for a table and chairs for our kitchen. It has to be small and small dinettes are hard to find. We found one a mile down the road for a very decent price, but I don't love it. I like it and it may have to do, but I really want to buy something I love.

I drove to Lancaster the other day because there was a Mission Style table, the size we needed, matching the sideboard we have in the eating area and I wanted to see and price it. To get this beautiful table and four chairs was going to be almost $2,000. Granted they're made very well right there and they're even stamped and signed so they become true family heirlooms. And if it was for the dining room it would be worth considering. But not for a regular kitchen table.

Sears has a table on-line that I really like and the price is decent, but I don't think the chairs are included. And I can't find the chairs. I wonder if I can go to the store and find it there. Hm.

We really need to do something, though. I think if I don't find what I want this weekend we'll just go ahead and get the table down the road.

I know you all were riveted by my table segment. Exciting stuff.

Labels: exercise, joy, random, reading

Mused by Jenster :: 7:36 AM :: 24 People musing:

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Monday, October 01, 2007

September Reading

I completed the following books last month:

----

Pretty sad for someone who has "avid reader" in her profile bio. The last time I didn't read a book in an entire month was probably before I could read.

*sigh*

Labels: reading

Mused by Jenster :: 10:09 PM :: 17 People musing:

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Monday, September 10, 2007

My Behind is Getting Bigger

Meaning I’m getting more and more behind.

On my posts. Though after the last couple of weeks I’m probably getting more and more behind on me. But that’s another subject for another day.

I desperately need to finish my Rhode Island post. It would make a great novel. You know, love, wedding, coffee shop and dramatic ending. Could be the next great American short story. (how’s that for a teaser???)

I never did go back to bed Friday. I fell asleep in the chair a little after 10:00 and Todd called and woke me up a little before 11:00. Good thing, too, because I had to wake up for my interview.

Taylor’s girlfriend won the regional homerun derby for her division a month or so ago and yesterday she got to participate in the Eastern Pennsylvania Homerun Derby at Citizens Bank Field where the Phillie’s play. Her parents were able to get a good deal on tickets for the Phillies’ game later in the day so we bought four. We were there at 8:30 to watch the derby and then played around for a while before the game started. It was a great game, too!

Kristen was the first in her division to bat and she missed placing by one point. She probably would have placed if she hadn’t batted first because they were still adjusting the pitching machine and it threw her off. Still she did wonderful and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Check this out. A 15-year-old boy jacked the baseball out of the park. FIFTEEN! If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is!

Yesterday was also Todd’s birthday. When Kristen’s mom found out she asked if he would be okay spending the entire day at the ballpark on his birthday. Psssh, yaaaah. It’s his most favorite place to be. It’s his Paradise, his Mecca, his Disneyland.

Not only were we at the ballpark all day, but it was hot and humid. By the time we got home last night we were all whooped. On the answering machine was a message saying I had gotten the job and they’d like me to show up this morning at 8:30.

So guess what I’m doing. I’m a teacher’s assistant to ten 2-year-olds. I’ve decided this is going to be better than joining a gym. I had quite a work out in the 2 ½ hours the kids were there. Then I went grocery shopping, came home, baked a four-layer chocolate cake and cooked a big dinner. Well, not so big a dinner. It just seemed big because I’ve gotten very lax about cooking dinner. Now we’re getting ready to watch Wild Hogs.

In response to comments on the previous blog:

* I’m sorry for those of you who now have the song which shall remain nameless stuck in your head.

* I was on Lunesta for about two years and went off it a few months ago. I sleep fine when it’s not hot and another week or two and it should start cooling off.

* I’ve never heard of a toonie before, but I like the way it sounds.

* I’m happy to know others share the book obsession with me. Hello. I’m Jenster and I’m a bookaholic.

* I hope the Farmer’s Almanac is spot on!

* I seriously didn’t think there was a female over the age of 25 who hadn’t seen Steel Magnolias. Are you over 25, Swishy??

* May nobody who reads this blog ever get an infected “them”.

* I was entering the last book in my book log and realized I read TWO books in August. Go me.

* If I had made the kids a big breakfast for no apparent reason they would be traumatized.

* It’s September. There’s no way for me to make up my chances for Mother of the Year. I have no reason to even try. And really it’s much more fun to embarrass, annoy and freak out the kids anyway.

* Todd and several other people aren’t on my sidebar. I haven’t been very good about updating my blog and I apologize because I have a bunch of great blogs to add. So I will make that a goal – for the week? Or maybe the month. Definitely by the end of the year!

* I’ve also been pretty bad about visiting my blog buddies and replying to my emails the last week or so. I apologize and hope to figure out some sort of system for getting all my computer playing in on a regular basis.

Just like Paul Harvey, I’ll get to the rest of the story in the next day or two. Promise!!

Labels: birthdays, blog, domestic failure, exercise, family, fun, job, random, reading, sports, weather

Mused by Jenster :: 9:59 PM :: 24 People musing:

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Friday, September 07, 2007

**We Interrupt Regular Broadcasting**

It's 3:30 as I'm typing. 3:30 a.m.. A.M. as in morning. I've been awake since about 1:00 and the two things that keep rolling through my mind are:

1. I can't wait for the dead of winter. If it was freezing in here I'd be blissfully bundled up, sleeping like a baby instead of flipping and flopping and trying to get each side cooled off by the ceiling fan. It's not even that hot, but I can't seem to get cool or comfortable.

2. All that's left is a band of gold... I can't get that stupid song out of my head.

I tried reading, but that didn't do any good. So then I picked up a financial budgeting book thinking that would bore me into somnolence, but obviously that didn't work, either. It just made me want to check my bank balances.

So I'll tell you about my Thursday and hope this post will make sense by the light of day. Then again this is me we're talking about. My well-rested, caffeinated self doesn't always make sense. What makes me think my blurry-eyed, muddled-headed self will?

I had to see the nurse at the plastic surgeon's office in Philadelphia this morning. At one point it took me 8 minutes to go 1 mile. Then when I pulled in to the parking deck I got behind a lady in a walker. Seriously. The woman was walking up the middle of the lane in a walker, up hill, and I couldn't get around her. The whole stinkin' length of the parking garage.

Surprisingly I didn't feel aggravated. It made me laugh because it was so incredibly ridiculous. That and I wasn't in a rush so who cared.

Oh. Also because I had a yummy mint mocha iced coffee from Wawa. Except I don't recommend drinking it while you're eating a Reece's Peanut Butter granola bar. Then it just tastes like mouthwash.

Anyway, I had to see the nurse because the right side of my recent little procedure became infected over the weekend. She said that there was some breakdown, but that's very normal. She also told me I was doing an excellent job taking care of "them" and the doctor would be pleased when I saw him for my regular follow up next Wednesday. Then she prescribed me an antibiotic.

After that I had a routine checkup with the White Russian. I had a little over two hours to kill so I hung out at Borders. Stupid, stupid girl. I ran in to buy one book. Lord John Grey and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon. Found it with no problem. And four other books I had to have as well. Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden; Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier; and two historical fiction books set during the English Restoration (King Charles II). The books are downstairs and, while I may be awake, I'm not in the mood to run downstairs just for the titles. But ever since I read Forever Amber I've been fascinated with that time period.

I seriously need to stop this madness. If I was still reading three or four books a week that would be one thing. But I only read one book the entire month of August. That's horrible! I think part of my problem is that I need a change in genres. I do this every once in a while. I've been on a romance kick for a while and I love romance novels, but it's time for a change. Thus the straight historical fiction.

And since the nurse told me I was such a good girl (or something like that) I treated myself to an iced white chocolate mocha and a chocolate cherry scone. Well, I was hungry and that was all Border's cafe had to offer.

When I left the store I noticed a used book store across the street. Apparently it's been there for a while, but this is the first time in over a year that I noticed it. So I filed that bit of information away for later.

Saw the White Russian and got a great report. My blood work is all within good limits. My blood pressure was excellent. The nurse and I crossed off several medications and narrowed it down to two. Well, three if you count the antibiotic I'm on. Though I'm thinking I could surely use some Lunesta tonight. Maybe we were a little too quick with that!

I promised the kids I'd stop at Hope's Cookies after the oncologist's visit. That's not exactly true. What I said was, "Let's just say I was to stop in at Hope's Cookies after I see the White Russian, what kind of cookies would you want?" But that was close enough to a pledge for me so I bought chocolate chip for Katie, Peanut Butter Chip for Taylor and White Russian cookies for me. (It's a theme with me, okay?)

That used book store I'd spied earlier is right behind Hope's. So I meandered over there for a quick looksie. Guess what happened? I bought a book. I bought a beautiful leather bound copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. I swear it jumped off the shelf and I had to catch it so as not to let it's beautiful cover be marred from bouncing off the cement floor. Then we bonded and I had to take it home. Or something like that.

Once I got back in the car I endeavored to look straight ahead on my way home lest I be tempted by yet another book store. All this book buying is probably why I felt the need to peruse the budgeting book this morning.

Todd is out of town and Taylor was busy with school and social functions, so Katie and I went to dinner, picked up my prescription and came home to watch Steel Magnolias. Remember my comment a couple posts back about needing to schedule time for a breakdown? Not so anymore. I am cleansed! All it takes is a little Sally Field having her own meltdown after her daughter's funeral. Why didn't I think of that earlier?

It was rather funny. Katie was laying on the love seat and I was sitting in Todd's green chair (Yes - it's back to being his chair) and we were both sniffling and hooty-puckering and laughing at each other all at the same time. And then when Clairee offers Ouiser (I checked the spelling on IMDB) as a punching bag we became nearly hysterical.

Good times.

Now it's 4:05 and I have got to get some sleep. I'm interviewing for a part-time position with our church's new preschool tomorrow. The position is 9:00 to 12:00 and I had originally thought I might like to work two days a week - Tuesday and Thursday. But when the director called me about setting up an interview she said she would love to have someone (hopefully me) all five days. But I don't want to give up my ladies' bible study on Friday mornings so it may turn into four days a week. We'll just see.

If I don't get to it tomorrow, I'll get to the wedding and the rest of Rhode Island on Saturday. My alarm is going off in a little over two hours so I'm going to try to fill that time with dreams. Good dreams. Dreams that involve a snug sleeping bag and a cot in the frozen tundra and no bands of gold.

Until later...

Labels: dreams, food, kids, medical, movies, reading, reconstruction, traffic

Mused by Jenster :: 3:29 AM :: 30 People musing:

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