Just another Manic Monday....NOT!!

Quiet day for the most part. I slept in...after a somewhat restless night last night...dunno why, but I couldn't get comfy for a few hours between 1-5am. Anyway, I stayed in bed until about 10.

I took a shower and was able to do most stuff for myself, except for drying my legs/feet and putting lotion on them and on my back! I got myself dressed, all except my right sock and I was good to go downstairs.

Had my favorite, protein drink, for breakfast and then I dozed in the chair while listening to Spa 73 on my Sirius satellite radio. Very peaceful, relaxing music and so much cheaper than running the television on the "Soundscapes" channel...going green by saving electricity!

Sandy was working in the yard, putting the outdoor furniture away and getting the patio table secured for the winter. She also cleaned out more leaves from around the house and vacuumed them up the tractor.

I saw her out there talking to someone and I thought it was Carol...I stuck my head out to say hi and was surprised that it WASN'T Carol. It was a lady who lives down on Bergendahl...the street at the end of our street. She has a Jack Russell and wanted to see if it would be possible to have a "play date" with Truman and Bubbles!

I don't think so. Sandy set her straight and also had to caution her about sticking her hand down to try to pet Bubble through the fence! She has a friendly Jack Russell...one who likes people and other dogs. We don't have any of those kind of Jack Russells at this house!

Sandy made me a great ham and swiss on pumpernickel sandwich...the bread is from Colchester bakery. What a difference it makes when the bread is AWESOME! I polished that off fairly quickly, along with a nice fat kosher dill spear. I couldn't help but think about how it was a week ago...when I sat at that dining room table with Lynne and Jean and had two spoonfuls of soup and bite of bread. BIG DIFFERENCE!

Linda and Lynne came at 2:30 and we had a wonderful visit. They delivered a gift from Diane Secchiaroli, a nice big coffee mug that says "I get by with a little help from my friends" on it. How appropriate. I love the fact that it's a ceramic mug, but it has a plastic "coffee to go" top...so I can use it as a commuter mug. I'm going to add that to my chemo bag.

Linda made me a nice little splint pillow. I've been using one of my Ikea pillows folded over, but it's too big and also really doesn't provide the protection I need. I use it to brace my stomach when I cough, go to the toidy, and to protect myself when Bubbie wants to jump on me. This pillow is just the right size...and it has a removable cover so it can be washed. In fact, Linda made me quite a few different covers, with different holiday designs on it...including snow; Christmas, Valentine's and a flag motif! I'll be stying with my pillow for quite some time to come!

I can see myself using the pillow for awhile longer now and if I have further surgery I'll need it again. When I no longer need a slint...it will look nice on one of those new recliners. Linda told me to let her know what color I wanted and she would make me another cover.

Linda is also going to knit me a hat. I have to let Marie know...she was asking me if anyone else was making a hat. Linda has black yarn, so she's going to make a black beret style hat for me to wear with my uniform jacket.

I had no idea my pals were so talented. I told them this is because I've been running my big mouth for years about all my talents and haven't listened to what their talents are! Well...that's going to change...from now on I promise to devote at least 2% of my time finding out about other people..instead of making it all about me! HA HA!!! We'll see how that goes!

On the news they were actually having a discussion about pushing up the Inaugural Day so Obama can get started sooner. Amazing. Well..so far I'm liking what he's been doing..and I guess Wall Street is liking the latest stuff about his economic team. I haven't checked my account lately to see how much I've lost...I know that's the smartest way to handle these tough times, I'm just hoping that there is SOMETHING left there at the end of the day!

Stew and corn bread for dinner...can't believe I'm looking forward to eating. For quite awhile I actually thought I wouldn't care about eating ever again. How foolish of me! How glad I am that all the "normal" things are coming back into my life.

Rain tonight and tomorrow...the ice is SO THICK on my koi pond...the poor fishies must be in shock. One minute it's 60 degrees and the next minute the pond is just about frozen over! Sandy is going to get a floating heater for them....that should make them happy.

And we all know how important it is to have happy fish!

Stay warm and dry everyone!