faithful

Naming the New Year

Angela Pea6 Comments

Happy New Year!!  I really like New Year’s Day, complete with the grogginess that follows a night of staying up too late, noshing on rich tidbits and sipping champagne.  I especially like watching the Rose Bowl Parade (all those flowers!), cheering through an afternoon of college football and eating black-eyed peas.

I really, REALLY like naming the New Year, a reflection I began a few years ago.

There is a common practice of “Naming the New Year”. This name serves as a focal point to direct our days, weave our weeks together and attach month to blessed month. Just as a North Star, or the straight arrow of a compass will redirect the lost, weary and confused, so our word for the year can gently lead us back on the path we have set out for ourselves. All steps are directed by God the Father, but the way in which we choose to walk is up to us. (From Jenny at Plain Grace.)

The coming year is going to be challenging for my family and me – I’ll be starting a full course of adjuvant chemotherapy to [hopefully] prevent a recurrence of the leiomyosarcoma.  Despite the enormous task of “getting Mom well” ahead of us, our year is brimming over with the promise of good things!  Cherry Ames graduates from college and will start working as a registered nurse; The Architect will embark upon his senior year in high school; Princess Pea will move forward in her studies as well, and DirtBike will learn how to drive the family car.  Mr. Pea and I are going to take a post-chemo trip to Europe, something we have wanted to do for more than twenty years.

So many blessings, such an abundance of Grace. Every occasion is a call to rejoice in the beautiful-ness that is our life together.  And with that, I choose to name my year…

rejoice

For despite my fear that cancer will kick my butt no matter how hard I fight, despite my concerns for my husband and my kids as they step up to take care of me, despite all the other stuff scrambling for attention in my brain, life is good. And it’s not just the special occasions like graduating from college, or taking on a mountain bike race, or going on a long awaited very special trip.  It’s the plain vanilla regular every day routine of work, school, play and church that is so wonderfully sweet, so amazingly precious. We have friends who love us and we eat and live indoors. We have health insurance!

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! ~Psalms 118:24

I’m going to be bald, exhausted and most likely crabby for many months…but I will Rejoice every day, and be glad.

Rejoice, my friends, Rejoice.  Keep the Faith

angela pea

minutes

Minutes – December 30, 2013

Angela Pea6 Comments

Catholic Woman's Almanac

::faithful – praying for my oldest daughter, for fun travels and a safe return home; for my younger daughter, for discernment on her education goals; for my sons; for Jane as she recovers from back surgery. 

::news from the cancer battlefield – Appointment on Friday with the oncologist to finalize “The Plan” moving forward.  Still trying to get into a clinical trial as a guinea pig.

::creative – Nothing overly exciting this week.  Spent a lot of daydreaming about things to knit, sew and create in the coming year.  Also spent many hours trying to figure out how to rearrange our home and make private space for Mr. Pea’s Mom.  Yes, she is still going to come live with us, probably before spring. Her health is declining more quickly now, and she really needs help getting around.

::pondering –  I wonder if Mr. Pea is overestimating the strength and patience he will need in taking care of both me and his Mom in the coming year.  I am also thinking about how taking care of my own health is going to affect my family.  Will the kids be totally freaked out at a Mom who is temporarily not the energetic woman they know?  Will they recognize the absolute necessity for me to turn inward and focus on myself instead of caring for them? Heck, will I be able to focus on myself, concentrate on getting rest and staying strong while the chemo does its thing?  I’ve always been the Homekeeper – doing, fetching, cooking and cleaning – as well as the Chief Logistics Officer – planning, organizing and scheduling for the entire crew.  However, I know that I won’t have my normal physical strength and endurance for several months.  How will we adapt?

::delicious –

  • Lemon Chicken, Mixed Veggies and Tossed Salad
  • Mediterranean Vegetable Soup, Parmesan Sage Biscuits
  • Seven Layer Dip, Tamales and Black Eyed Peas
  • Pork Roast, Spiced Apples, Green beans
  • Red Beans and Rice
  • Shepherd’s Pie, Tossed Salad
  • Tomato Basil Bisque, Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

::fun – Well, the kids are having fun!  Cherry Ames is going to the Dominican Republic for a wedding, Princess Pea, the Architect and DirtBike have been hanging out with their friends over the Christmas break.  Mr. Pea and I?  We’re resting; storing energy and just enjoying the chaos of having all our kids home at the same time.

::fashionable –  Warm is the statement of the day.  It’s cold again, and it’s absolutely FREEZING in my office.  Well, not technically, freezing, just feel like it freezing.  It’s about 64 degrees in here this morning, which feels pretty cold while I’m sitting still at the computer.  I’m wearing black tights, a black wool skirt, electric turquoise blouse and a black cardigan.  I have my coat draped over my lap and a fuzzy wrap draped around my shoulders. My fingers are numb.  🙂

::looking ahead –  Another week of work – storm water system modeling, spec writing and pavement analysis. A quiet New Year celebration at home.

  Keep the Faith.

angela pea

fun · letters

Friday’s Letters – December 27, 2013

Angela Pea4 Comments

friday's letters

Dear Pink Wig Maker  –  FUN!!!

2013.12.27 Pink

No, really?!  Why can’t I wear this to work, Daughters?  Can’t you just see me making presentations at public meetings with cotton candy pink hair?

Dear Louise – First, CONGRATULATIONS on getting the port removed and officially kicking cancer’s behind!!  Second, thank you for the big ol’ Box-o-Scarves-and-Headwraps!  I’ll wear them with great hope, and when I finish hauling my own fanny out of the Chemo Valley, I’ll pass them on to the next friend.  (I love love love the splashy purple/teal/grey one!!)

Dear Tempting Chocolate Covered Chocolate Marshmallows – Frauds!!  You look so pretty on the front of the box, so delectable, luscious and yummy.  Sadly, you didn’t deliver the chocolaty goodness I was expecting. That’s okay, though; I didn’t need the caloric bump any way!.  

Dear Winter Weather – Please get cold again, and stay that way.  It’s too much to handle dragging the coats out for 48 hours and then putting them away again.  Better still, just stay on the warmer side, because it’s rather sad to get all excited about going for a quick bike ride only to step out into the sunshine and discover that it’s really only about 34 degrees so I have to go back in and add another layer of spandex.

 Keep the Faith.

angela pea