The Sixth Day of Christmas

Whew!  How did we get here already?  It has been a busy week.  Tuesday the 22nd was therapist day.  I made chocolate chip cookies for Glenn, but don't remember what else I did--probably work on the puzzle and think about all the things I had to do.  Wecnesday started with brunch with a dear friend, then a visit with the Radiation Oncologist, who is concerned that I am still having pain that breaks through the morphine I'm taking--I'll see him again next month after my CT scan.  That visit was followed by a trip to the mall for last minute Christmas shopping then to the grocery store for Christmas dinner fixings.  An added plus for that task was running into a friend from the phone company.
Now we're to Christmas Eve, and things really get busy.  I had to make sure I didn't work myself to death, so I would work on the puzzle till I found a piece, then do a task.  The tasks accomplished included putting out three nativity sets, making three different kinds of cookies, cubing a loaf and a half of french bread and seasoning it for stuffing, chopping the onions for the stuffing, fixing dinner for Glenn, taking a nap, then attending Christmas Eve 11 o'clock service where I was one of the readers.  I had it easier than Glenn, because he had to be at work at seven on Christmas morning.  I got up, did the same routine with the puzzle to enforce rest.  I made two kinds of cranberry sauce, finished the stuffing, stuffed the 20 pound turkey and got it into the oven by noon.  Mark and Elaine and the kids got to the house around 2.  Here's a picture of the tree before presents were opened:

The grandchildren and Mark were enthusiastic about the puzzle, each one lending their efforts to find pieces.  The girls had to go with their other grandmother to their cousin's house for dinner, but I kept them at the house till after Glenn got home so we could all be together for a few minutes.  Monica gave me an album with pictures from out trip and a key-chain with a digital picture viewer, preloaded with trip pictures.

I was sad the girls couldn't be with us for dinner, but we had a good time.  I made a splendid dinner--turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauces, carrots and parsnips, red and gold potatos, green salad and waldorf salad.  I never think about dessert--no one needed it.  A good time was had by all.  Glenn and Elaine took care of the clean-up while Mark and Ryan worked on the puzzle.

Saturday, I could barely move.  I slept a lot.  The only thing I HAD to do was make tomato soup for Sunday lunch.  Sunday was another good day.  I had to be alert for church, because I am Worship Leader this month and we had a guest Pastor.  Right after church, I called my BFF Roz, who was even then on the BART with our BFF Tobie heading to San Bruno.  I got their location and figured out how much longer I could graze on cookies at church.  I got to the BART station just before their train came in.  Tobie is another friend from jonior high, so another person I've known for 50 years.  The last time I saw her was at the hospital a few weeks before my mother died in 1992.  A good many hugs were shared.  Roz and Tobie came to my house for lunch and memories.  Somehow, I didn't get pictures this time.  That was my error.  Kris is hoping to come north again in April.  We'll get Tobie to that reunion and I'll be sure to get pictures then.  I took them back to the BART station somewhat after 3.  I came home for serious puzzle working.  I placed the last peice about 10:45.  Here is the completed puzzle:

It was hard to the very last piece.  I started it before Thanksgiving.  I left it up for a while.

Monday Glenn and I (mostly Glenn) had to get the house ready for my sister--well, sort of ready.  I'd made plans with Elaine for her to come over to make more cookies, and to my surprise, she, Mark, and Ryan got here before noon.  I was barely up.  Elaine was a real helper cleaning Glenn's room for my sister and cleaning the bathroom.  It was a little chaotic, but it was good chaos.  Somewhere in the afternoon I managed to make cookie dough and get it into the refrigerator.  Elaine and Mark went off to see if they could steal the girls from the other grandmother and also bring Mark's daughter, Rachel, up for dinner with my sister.  There were unsuscessful on each mission, but later in the afternoon, the OG called to ask if we would like her to drop the girls off when she picked them up after the movie.  That was a big YES.  By then, the puzzle was back in the box and going home with my daughter so that they could have the joy of putting it together.

Gretchen arrived just as it was starting to rain.  We had a dinner of left overs.  The girls arrived just as we were starting dinner.  It was so wonderful to have my family all together for a meal.  Here's the crowd:

It was a wonderful night for me.  Exhausting, but wonderful.

Tuesday was another reunion.  Our Mother had a first cousin, Evelyn, who lines in Marin County.  I've kept in touch with her over the years, but probably hadn't seen her since the early 70's.  Gretchen called her before she came up and we make plans for lunch.  Here we are with our cousin, Evelyn:

We had a delightful lunch in Larkspur then browsed the shops.  As with all the reunions I've had this year, it was as though no time had passed since the last time we were together.  Evelyn is one cool LOL--that would be in the pre-e-mail usage of the letters.  Her mind is sharp and she is funny, and I'm happy to be related to her.  Gretchen and I came home in the late afternoon.  We had another dinner of left overs and watched the Kennedy Center Honors, one of my favorite programs of the year.  I got to bed was too late.

Gretchen was up and dressed before I woke up.  We had breakfast and got her on her way.  I went back to sleep and slept until Glenn got home around 12:30.  I spent most of the afternoon nodding off.  Like Saturday, I never got out of my jammies.  I'm looking forward to a restful next few days with NOTHING to do.

xxooxx

Getting There

It was a work hard day today.  Glenn and I bought the Christmas tree on Friday when the weather was good (and a good thing, too, because today has been a real Christmas day--see previous post).  The first thing we/I had to do was clear space for the tree then actually get it up from the garage, because the elves were coming in the afternoon to trim it.  I'm so far along on the jelly belly puzzle that I don't want to just give up and put it back in the box, so we had to work around the card table.  Because my stamina is still non-existant, I hade a deal with myself to make sure I rested.  Find a piece for the puzzle, pick up something.  I thought that was going to be a good idea till I started finding pieces.  Glenn has all the stamina in the world, so he wanted to get it done.  When I would start to drip with sweat, I knew it was time to sit for a while.  Still, we did manage to clear a path and a place to put the tree.  Oops--it's a big tree.  Glenn was also dripping by the time he got it upstairs.  I helped.  I also vacuumed up lots of needles.  I love my new vacuum cleaner!  I'd love it more if it came with a maid, but nothing is perfect.  I watched my soap opera and dried off.  The elves arrived right on schedule, God bless them, and we now have a beautiful trimmed tree.  I still need to put up the nativity sets, including the one that was up from Dec 2007 till Jan 2009.  If I hadn't put it away, I wouldn't have to get it out--just dust it.  I opened up the tiny nativity I got in Chartes--wish I'd gotten a ton of those, they would have made great gifts.  Gifts--I need to do something about those too.  Good thing there are still a few days before Christmas.
xxooxx

Stranger than Fiction

Those of you who know my son will just say, "Of course."  Those of you who don't will just have to take my word for it.  Yesterday afternoon, I took a long nap in the afternoon, waking around 7.  I didn't feel like eating but thought I needed to come up with something for Glenn.  Not a problem, he'd gone out and picked up something for himself.  He said he would have asked me, but I out sleeping.  He had to eat and run because he was seeing a friend.  I know several of Glenn's friends and most of them don't have a clue where his working hours are concerned.  Not to worry, he said, he'd be home early.  And he was.  He got home before 10.
His phone rang at 11ish--see what I mean, no clue about hours.  I wasn't asleep yet, and he poked his head in my room and asked if we still had our cat carrier.  Now we haven't had a cat for years--maybe 10, and I have no idea what happened to the carrier.  Seems the friend he saw had been given a puppy and was flying out at 8 in the morning.  They'd been looking for one when he was out earlier.  I told him he could go ahead and look, but good luck.  Off he went downstairs to the warehouse.  Ho luck, so he was back up shortly and said he would be going out--he had one more thought.  I went to sleep like a person and I was asleep when he left for work.
So for you Paul Harvey fans, here's the rest of the story.  He went to a 24-hour Walgreens to see if they had a pet carrier.  He asked the clerk who was talking with a customer.  The customer said she used to have a small dog that she took everywhere.  Her family had been talking about having a garage sale and including this pet carrier it in.  If he wanted, Glenn could wait till she got what she needed and follow her home and check it out.  Remember, it's by now around midnight and these were perfect strangers.  Glenn waited, followed her home, checked it out, and it was better than perfect.  He gave her $20.00, thanked her, and was off to where his lady friend (did I say it was a lady?  I believe not) was staying and presented her with the pet carrier.  She flew off to Georgia (where she will be living) this morning with her new puppy and presumable all went well.
What are the chances?  Less than none.  Why did Glenn take on this impossible task?  Well, that's just Glenn.  And because he is a good soul, good things happen.  I'm still shaking my head about the whole thing, but it is all very Glenn.  Someone needed something and he make it happen.  There are angels and I think my son is one of them.
xxooxx

OK, It's Christmas Season

It is three o'clock in the afternoon and it is dark outside.  It has been dark all day.  It is raining cats and dogs and there is a fine fog.  Now why would this make it Christmas Season?  It is amazing the things that stick with us.  When I was a wee little thing, and I actually was, once upon a time, it was the last day of school before Christmas vacation.  I was in kindergarten, so it was my first last day before Christmas vacation.  I remember walking home to Etna Street (and that is how I know I was in kindergarten) in a driving rain storm.  Since then, driving rain and fog in December makes me smile and remember my tiny self splashing home.  The only thing that could make it more Christmasy would be making fudge and chocolate chip cookies.  They will come sometime within the next two weeks.  For now, the dark clouds and the rain and cold are good enough for me.
I had to go out today, since the mail finally included the rent check and I wanted to deposit it, so I got to experience the joy of the storm--somewhat more appealing when watching from the inside out.  I dug through the closet to find my snow/rain boots, so my feet were toasty.  I'll be needing those boots come February.  I feel good today, so it was OK.  I did not feel good yesterday.  I think 10 hours of sleep helped.  I'm still pretty fatigued from the radiation.  It has been three weeks now, so maybe there's only one more week of exhaustion.
Back to working on the Christmas cards or working on the puzzle.  The puzzle has to be finished before we can haul a tree into the living room, so it is a toss up which task needs doing more.  Now would be the time to clone myself.
xxooxx

Recovering from Radiation

You haven't heard form me in a while because I haven't been doing anything.  Radiation hit me harder than I expected.  Sometimes I feel a little nauseaus, but mostly I just feel tired.  I do too much then I sleep.  A nap us usually two to three hours and unless I'm doing anything early in the morning, I always get at least eight hours at night.
To catch you us on the highlights (few though they may be), as I left off, my niece, Victoria, was running in a 40 mile race.  Gretchen, Jim, and I bundled into the car in the afternoon to drive the hour or so into the hinterland to watch her finish.  That was exciting--cold, but exciting.  Victoria was a very tired girl and was really happy when her father volunteered to drive her car home.  I'm glad I stayed over Saturday.  I would hate to have missed that thrill.
The drive home Sunday wasn't bad till about Prunedale, then 101 turned into a parking lot (you can tell that I'm a Northern California native because I don't say "The" 101).  Traffic pretty much let up when I hit 85.  It was good to get home, even if I did get home after Glenn went to work and I had to schlep all my stuff upstairs myself.  That caused another round of exhaustion.  I'm sort of glad I had to put Sonoma off till January.
Nothing much till Wednesday, when I started with an 8:30 doctor (a NON CANCER doctor) appointment, a haircut in the city, lunch with an ex-boss, and shopping.  That was a killer day and I paid for it.  I had a good time, but I paid for it.
It's been mostly resting and Facebook since then.  I did manage the first draft of my Christmas letter--good thing, since the cards have been coming in since the first.  I figure if I have them in the mail by the 18th, I've won the battle.
Back to the current puzzle--all jelly bellies.  I think I've been working on it a month already.
xxooxx