It's a VERY Cold Morning

Good morning, my friends and fellow peeps. It's cold (-7 F, -21.6 C), so I'll be bundling up for my drive to the shop. I should also get some gas into my car - it needs it. Of course, like an idiot, I have one of the coldest days of the year on which to do this. It's going to be even colder tomorrow, with a stronger chance of snow, so I guess I'll get my gas today. The realities of living in the colder climate areas of the USA. 

You might recall my friend Meg from swimming who dropped by last week and gave me a daffodil? Well, it's blooming like crazy right now - every stem with a flower. I know that's temporary - they'll bloom, then die back, then be green for a while until that too dies back, and then they'll be dormant for several months. I'll have to keep an eye on it, but I'm enjoying the blooms while I have them. A reminder of Spring still ahead in both the calendar and my life. Spring comes, goes, and then comes along once again. 

I have two bills to pay before I wrap things up on this computer, have breakfast, and head out into the cold. I'm grateful that I can pay bills online, it does make things easier and faster. However, I still have to remember to pay them ... sometimes that's problematic, and I've had other things on my mind this past week or so. I'm not late with the payments, but they have to be done. 

So, life settles back down into "normal" rhythms. My next doctor appointment is in another week (next Wednesday), so I'll make do with grumbling at the tape covering the stitches, and be grateful that the stitches are minimal. No "Bride of Frankenstein" for me ... at least not this time. Still, I'll be very happy when I'm allowed to pull the tape off. I'll be even happier when the stitches are removed. Everything itches slightly - a sign of healing, but annoying nonetheless - LOL. 

Have a happy and productive Tuesday, I'm off to grab a quick breakfast, then freeze while getting gas into the car. "sigh" The vicissitudes of life - LOL. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. (And thanks for all of the personal E-notes, cards and comments - I appreciate each and every one of them!) 

 

What a Fun Super Bowl! Congratulations to Philly!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I continued to heal, I cooked a vegetable soup (which I pureed early this morning, so it's ready to eat), and I watched football. Whoot! Anytime Kansas City gets spanked, I'm happy. Way to go, Philly! I'm totally delighted with this result, and it wasn't just by a point or two, it was 40-22! HUGE! Rumors have it that Kelsey has said he's retiring and has asked Taylor Swift to marry him. Who knows? If that's what they decide to do, then more power to them. Everyone deserves some happiness in their lives. 

So, are they engaged? The rumors are all over the place and 
nobody seems to have the actual information. All I have to 
say is they should do what they want to do. All pressures 
aside, they seem to be compatible, but they're both high 
profile people, which can be deadly to any relationship. 

It was anything BUT happy on the football field yesterday. At least if you were a Kansas City fan. Since I am absolutely NOT a KC fan, I was ecstatic. It's not often Kansas City gets spanked, and they were thoroughly spanked by Philadelphia. Also, I'm sure my friend Shiremom's Dad was over the moon with this win. It's like he's been waiting practically his entire life for Philly to win the Super Bowl, and now they finally managed it. 

I was quite pleased. As a Denver Broncos fan, 
who has KC in my own division, anytime they 
can get spanked, I'm happy. This was a MAJOR 
spanking, and Philly did it with style, great 
plays, and sharp details. It was great fun! 

It was a fun game to watch, although the half-time show was a bit "meh". I enjoyed the dancers and the various ways they had them interact with the singer, but the singer was very much a one-note show, and didn't really deserve a Super Bowl halftime slot. "yawn" Since many people look at the half-time show as an opportunity to grab a snack and a beverage, maybe a boring performance didn't really matter. 

My veggie soup was a bit bland, but looking over the 
recipe again, I realized I was supposed to puree the 
whole thing, which I didn't do. I did that first thing 
this morning, so it's ready now. Hopefully the flavors 
will be deeper. 

I made a huge veggie soup in the crock pot yesterday. I ate some of it last night and it was a bit bland, but looking over the recipe again, I was supposed to have blended everything together into a puree in my blender, so of course the flavor profile wasn't quite there. I did that at 5:30 am this morning, so now my soup is totally ready to eat for the next week or so. Those little details - LOL. 

I have the main tape on my breast, and another 
tape covering up my armpit where they took a lot 
of biopsies to see if the cancer had migrated there. 
Fortunately, the cancer hadn't, so we caught things 
in time. Still, I have a lot of tape and stitches and I 
want to get my life back again. 

I see the Doctor again on Wednesday, and hopefully I'll get the all-clear to remove the surgical tape and return to the swimming pool next week. I'm getting really tired of treadmill only, and I'm not fond of the tape either, but I didn't have any directions regarding it, so I've been leaving it alone. I'd love to get it off my skin and allow my wounds to fully heal. But I think I'm doing pretty well, considering it's only been four days since the surgery. I'm just a bit impatient - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Snowed Overnight - Shoveling Might be Tricky

Today will be my first day back at the shop since my surgery. Of course, it's been snowing overnight, and I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a water jug. That's going to make clearing the front and back of the store difficult. I probably can do it in small increments, but I can't really throw the snow effectively onto the sides of the walkways. *sigh* No choice. I'll bring my power shovel along with me, that might be helpful. 

I will have to be very careful about my movements as I clear 
the snow away from the front and rear of the store. I don't 
want to strain or tear any of the surgical sutures internal or 
external. My power shovel should help a lot with that, but 
it won't do everything for me. 

But it's 3:45 am and I've been up for an hour. I think all of this lazing around and sleeping here and there over the past two days has maxed me out on sleep. I'll probably regret the sleep loss tonight when I fade, but that's then, and I have a long day ahead of me before I get there. I charged up the batteries for my power shovel overnight, so I have two freshly charged batteries ready for it. Now if I can just remember how to turn it on LOL - it's a little tricky. 

I have a power shovel similar to this, although mine 
is green and a different brand. I'm not expecting too 
much from it - mine was a very inexpensive Taiwan 
knock-off that arrived in the poorest packing job I've 
ever seen before for an overseas shipment. Still, you 
get what you pay for, right? I didn't pay much! LOL

I was going to make some soup yesterday, but simply didn't have the energy. I lazed around all day. My doctor phoned in the early afternoon, confirming that they had removed a malignant tumor of approximately 10mm diameter from my right breast, but that everything else tested out negative. I see her again in a bit over two weeks. Claire will accompany me again - she's been an amazing, wonderful friend. 

We had been hoping my tumor would be in the 6mm-8mm 
size range, but it turned out to be 10mm, so in the next 
category. I deal with beads and mm sizing all the time, I'm 
rather staggered to think that my tumor was 10mm big! 

So, despite the fact that I'm up at almost 4:00 am when I wanted to sleep until 6:00 am, I'm considering this to be a win. A decade or more ago, it would have been a death sentence. Medicine has come a long way with breast cancer in the intervening decades, and I totally approve of the strides that have been made. I'm off to the shop today, and to figure out how to use my power shovel - LOL. Have an excellent Saturday, I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

Today is a Rest and Recuperate Day

I survived my surgery, not as timely as we wanted, but I was out of there by late afternoon. I've got a few pain pills to get me through the next few days, and an appointment next week with the doc to find out how successful we might have been. They did a lumpectomy, and also dug around the lymph nodes in the armpit for a biopsy. It's the armpit that's hurting, the breast seems to be very laid-back about the whole thing. 

It's the digging around in the armpit that's hurting me 
today. The breast is certainly sore, and I'm rather afraid 
to get a good look at it. But the armpit was what 
awakened me at 2:00 am requesting pain meds. 

DH was stressed, of course, and he went to bed really early. I hear him stirring now, but he probably got almost 10 hours of sleep. I'm not planning on being in the shop until Saturday, so Chickie and DH will have to make it without me. Claire (Chickie Mama) was sitting with me until Jim got to the hospital, and then she went to the shop to be with Chickie until Jim could get there (which was late afternoon, so I was REALLY glad she volunteered to help out). I've got some amazing friends! 

Today and tomorrow are "Me Time", as much as DH 
might want me in the shop. Nope ... not going to happen. 
I need this time to rest and heal, so I'm taking it. 

So today is a rest and recuperate day. I'm not even going to take a shower. I'm just going to move between bed and the bathroom and the kitchen. I had an Alkagizer as soon as I got home from the hospital yesterday, and I'll have another one with breakfast and a second later today. I know they'll help me heal faster, and they taste good too which is always helpful - LOL. I'm going to cut this off here, I just wanted to check in with all of you and say "Thank You" for all of the positive thoughts that were heading my way yesterday. I could feel every one of them and they really made a difference. *HUGS* to all of you! Slava Ukraini.