Advent is earlier this year and will last longer

Friday was my last radiation. I was not welcomed with flowers and cake, but I did get hugs, and hugs are better than just about anything--except maybe diamonds. I saw Dr. Chee in the afternoon (my little Cal Bear of an oncologist).  So now we wait. Apparently, getting zapped with radiation is only half the battle. Now that I've been zapped, the radiation has to do its work. This takes time. I get to learn a new skill. I get to learn patience. Dr. Chee put in the order for my next CT scan, but it won't be till the middle of January, at which time, we will see what the radiation accomplished and the next game plan will be made. I'm in cancer limbo now, just waiting.

Yesterday was not a waiting day. Yesterday was the church Thanksgiving Dinner, for which I have been chief cook for the last several years. I arrived at church shortly after 9 in the morning, ready to work. As always, I had a crew of helpers who make the time go by with laughter and conversation. I start with cranberry sauce, to get that smell going. We dispatched six bags of cranberries and moved on to stuffing--yet more smells to fill the church. This year there were five turkeys--four to be stuffed and one to be gluten free--though we did stuff it with onions because I just couldn't handle the thought of cooking a turkey with NOTHING inside of it. The birds were all in the oven by 12:30. It is always such an act of faith to stick the birds in the oven then go home and trust that they will be cooked when you get back. My BIG sacrifice this year was BIG GAME. The game started at 4:30 and that's when I had to be back at church for the rest of the festivities. When I first started cooking the Thanksgiving Dinner, we had it on a Friday. The only thing that ran interference with it was Pacific Star Chapter's installation. I have been knows to finish up the dinner in a formal. When they moved the dinner to Saturday, it always hits on BIG GAME DAY. Now this is manageable when big game starts at 12:30 or 1--get the birds in the oven, come home, watch the game, change clothes, get back to church and finish up. I had my little radio with me, but it isn't the same. Still, I was able to maintain contact and knew what was going on most of the time.
Back at the church, God worked His miracles. The building was full of wonderful smells. The birds were cooked. I tried to take the first one out of the oven and got yelled at. Birds out of the oven, stuffing out of the birds, unstuffed birds handed off to the cravers while we collected juices for gravy. My last job is making the gravy, which is pretty much by guess and by gosh. Too thick? Add water or more juice, if available, not thick enough? Mix cold water and flour to make more roux. Find volunteer tasters to see if it needs more salt of pepper, and stir, stir, stir. There will be no lumps in this gravy. And listen to the game. Finally, everything is ready to eat. By this time, I took the first percocet of the day. The Thanksgiving Dinner is always a big success, and last night was no different. We had a good crowd and lots of good food. After dinner, the tables were cleared and put away and the chairs were brought back into pew formation. It was time for the last act of the day--the talent show and Open Mic Night. We started with Anne and the Bethany Brawlers, playing Simple Gifts and a nice leisurely tempo then switching to Pigtown Fling as fast as I could play it. We got the crowd clapping in time to the music. We rearranged our percussion section--that was Fred switching from the spoons to the bodhran, and played Riding on a Load of Hay. One more instrument change for Fred and we closed with Ashokan Farewell. After that, I was officially allowed to be tired. I checked the score again--we won!--then sat through the rest of the show, looking sort of glassy-eyed. It was a great show, as usual. I must admit, I was happy to finally go home. I didn't set the alarm and still made it up in time for church today. I am now hanging out, which I intend to do tomorrow too. And wait. I think I shall wait tomorrow.
That's it.
xxooxx