::faithful – praying for my kids, especially my youngest son; for Jane who is recovering from back surgery; and praying joyful thanksgiving for Emily and her family as they come into full communion with The Church today!!! 

::news from the cancer battlefield – Nothing new, other than the last of the super duper surgical glue is FINALLY gone, and I am still astonished at the outpouring of love and support from everyone we know. I had no idea – absolutely NO IDEA – that so many people even knew I existed. LOL!!

I have an appointment the day after Christmas to get a wig fitted. The girls are going with me to help pick a style…and a color.  I’ve already been told that I can’t have a lavender, hot pink, blue, glitter or iridescent  hue a la Dame Edna. Dangit.

::creative – Looking at patterns for hats. Refinishing an old picture frame to repurpose. Staining the legs of the pool table where they’ve either been gnawed on (Bad Dog!), nicked with the vacuum cleaner or whacked with who knows what. Hmmm….while I have the stain out and a paintbrush wet, I should just go around the entire house and touch up all the furniture.  What a great idea!

::pondering – Not much.  I’m taking a break this week from extremely deep thought, other that the little bit about storm drain system models, floodways and integrated storm water management that is necessary for productive working hours.

::delicious –

• Spaghetti and Meatballs!
• Leftover Meatball Subs, Cauliflower Salad
• Dinner at Taverna
• Ribs, Cheese Potatoes and Green Beans
• Clam Chowder, Cheese biscuits and Broccoli Slaw
• Garlic Lime Chicken, Brussels Sprouts, Something with Rice
• Tacos again because the last batch was so.o.o.o good!

::fun – Mr. Pea and I went to the movies yesterday and then had dinner with our daughters.  Dinner was fabulous – Tillman’s Roadhouse Venison Chili and Butternut Squash Lasagna.  And of COURSE we had the famous s’mores!  Marshmallow flavors of the day were peppermint, maple and rootbeer.

::fashionable –  Sassy attitude again today with a tweed skirt (teal, fuchsia,black and lime green), bright fuchsia sweater, black tights, and black cuffed booties with buttons up the side.  The entire outfit is set off with ginormous puffy silver hoop earrings. 

::looking ahead – Wrapping presents sometime before Christmas morning, Drafting a Happy New Year letter to all our family and friends to tell them we love them (we’re just saving this years’ Christmas Cards for next year because we didn’t get to them), shopping for new boots for the kids, FINALLY remembering to pick up contacts from the optometrist, grocery shopping, relaxing at home with the family.  Maybe another bonfire, since there were lots of graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate left over from the party!

Linking up at Plain Grace– come join us!

  Keep the Faith.

::faithful – praying for my kids, for my husband, for friends and for the intentions of many.  Praying especially hard for my Mom because my Grandma died yesterday.  She was 98 years old and her health has been failing for a long time.  While this does make her passing easier to understand, it doesn’t ease the pain of the loss, especially for my Mom.  

::news from the cancer battlefield – Week Two has been much better.  I am getting stronger every day and am off of the pain medications. The last bits of the super glue are slowly coming off of my skin and the bruises are fading quickly. I am still incredibly tired at the end of the day, but it’s a GOOD kind of tired and not just a sore kind of tired.

::creative – More Christmas Surprises!!

::pondering – Still awestruck at the grace and gift of clean pathology.  How will I use this gift of life? (In addition to someday being the Coolest Grandma Ever.)

::delicious – I’m BACK!!  Oh yes.  Simple menus with lots of help, but I’m happily putting meals on the table for my family again along with reheating some of the food that friends have brought over.

• Another Batch of Turkey Vegetable Soup, Biscuits
• Ranch Chicken Casserole from the freezer, spinach salad
• Baked Ziti with Zucchini
• Grilled Ham and Cheese with Tomato Soup
• Pizza – frozen – with a tossed salad
• Breakfast for Dinner – scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, pancakes
• Swedish Meatballs (frozen), mashed potatoes and broccoli

::fun – We’ve been housebound for several days from the ice storm.  Fun has included playing outside, chopping firewood and teaching the boys how to drive on ice, none of which I actually participated in.  I just watched from the warm coziness of the sofa. 🙂  Not much other fun this week as we are up to our eyeballs in preparations for finals.

::fashionable – I’m still wearing pajama pants during the day, as they are warm, soft and have a relaxed waist over the incision sites. I have graduated from the fuzzy bathrobe, though, and have been putting on a clean tee-shirt with the pajama pants.  I even ventured into makeup application, a hair style other than a pony tail and freshly painted toenails this week!

::looking ahead – More follow-up appointments with the oncologist, maybe back to work when the ice melts.  Christmas Shopping! 

Linking up at Plain Grace– come join us!

  Keep the Faith.

::faithful – praying for my husband today.  He’s been amazing this past week, helping me up and down, putting my socks on my feet, carrying and fetching, and telling me that I was not allowed to kneel yesterday at mass, because he didn’t want both of us tumbling out into the aisle if I got stuck.  I was teary when he left for work this morning, but he hugged me tight, told me it was all going to be okay.  He loves me unconditionally, even in my current estrogen-starved, irritable, slobbering, unable-to-paint-my-own-toenails state.

::news from the cancer battlefield – Okay.  Recovery from Cancer Eradication stinks.  I knew that it will be slow and somewhat painful.  I’m now wondering now just how far did Dr. Cloven shove all my remaining parts around inside by body?  Sweet mercy, everything is all black and blue.   I am impatient, and want to walk at my regular speed, outside in the sunshine.  I put myself in a twenty-minute time out Saturday morning because the only words I could pull out of my foggy brain were snarky.  Yesterday was an okay day.  I came home from mass, put on pajamas and parked myself on the sofa for the entire day. This morning started quite auspiciously.  I managed to burn a hole in the sleeve of my pajama top while reheating a fried egg, I dropped an entire pan of water on the kitchen floor and exploded pancake syrup all over the inside of the microwave.  I started to call Mr. Pea, but decided not to freak him out.  I turned off the stove, ate what remained of my breakfast experiment and went back to bed.  My Mom will be here in a little while and she can help me clean up the mess. 

::creative – Christmas Surprises!!

::pondering – waiting for the call with the pathology results.  Just waiting and trying not to think about waiting.  I never imagined that I would string the words “pathology results” together and apply them to myself.

::delicious – Same plan as last week, with turkey leftovers tossed in and a batch of baked potato soup. Mom will be here,so she can cook! Yeah!

::fun – Despite the craziness, we had a wonderful, relaxing long weekend.  The Architect and DirtBike hung out with friends, Princess Pea was home from school (she painted my toenails for me!) and Cherry Ames popped in and out between visits to meet her Sweetie’s family and work shifts.   I’ve been watching really sappy Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel and football.  Loved loved LOVED the Alabama Auburn game!!

::fashionable – I’m wearing my favorite pajamas, the one with a hole burnt in the right sleeve.  🙂 LOLOL!!   I plan to wear pajamas all week-long.

::looking ahead – Follow up appointment with the oncologist, phone conference on Friday, and maybe a Christmas Party on Saturday night if I feel up to it.  At most, I’ll show up, hug my friends then go back home to my pajamas and sofa. 

Linking up at Suscipio– come join us!