I Am Back!

... from my unintended blog break. It has been over a week since my last confession, I mean update.

No, this last round of chemo did not kick my butt. It has been like all of the others, pretty mild. (Although my fingernails have come pretty close to abandoning their beds. Darn that Gloria for ever mentioning this particularly undesirable side effect. Luckily, while not pretty at the moment, my nails are apparently as resilient as my last three eyelashes, and are staying put. The chemo gods have been merciful.)

And no, I am not recovering from too much celebrating. In fact, I have pretty much given up alchohol, except for the occasional glass of red wine. (I have read studies that women with a history of breast cancer should avoid alcohol.)

And no, chemo brain has not completely drained me of all of my "intellectual" capabilities. While my short term memory is pretty shot, my writing is fairly intact. Did I mention that my writing is fairly intact?

Instead, my temporary departure from blogging is due to an overactive calendar. I have actually been way busier than usual between family, friends, work, volunteer activities, and medical appointments. The stars must have aligned in a certain way for all these activities to converge in the last two weeks, but it is all good stuff!

The day after my last posting, my brother, John came to visit, along with Eric, my two nephews, Kyle, and Daniel, their beloved Nanny, Janine, and a soaking Nor'easter. They visited for five days, except for the Nor'easter which only lasted for two days and but still managed to back up our septic system. With ten people in the house, we had to improvise, which wasn't that difficult when eight of the ten are male! Five of those eight were between the ages of two and eight, so it was a little busy around our house. We did fit in a day at Busch Gardens and a movie, and lots of good meals, of course. John and I played as much Scrabble as we could squeeze in!! It was great to see everyone and saying "good bye" was made a little easier by knowing they are returning to spend Christmas with us.

Then Bo and I took off for a little trip of our own. We just returned from Delray Beach, Florida after a much needed and incredibly enjoyable weekend spent with some of my (and by extension, Bo's) very closest friends. Dad and Laura graciously agreed to move into our house and watch the boys during our absence, so we were able to spend the weekend "sans enfants". (Intellectual diminishment? Ha! Obviously not!) We actually ate our way across South Florida from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach while enjoying the company of the many special people from my former Office Depot days.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by John and Lori and treated to dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant. (While Bo and I lived down there, we searched fruitlessly for decent Mexican food, and I went about a year with regular salsa fixes!) In addition to being a very good friend, Lori was also one of my first clients. She will soon be leaving corporate America for the exhilerating world of business ownership.

Carrie and Melissa opened their home, hearts, and refrigerator to us, as usual. They had a few new toys for us to enjoy including Carrie's self-confessed mid-life crisis car, a Honda S2000 convertible and a fun little scooter for "cruising" Atlantic Ave. They promised to give us a ride in their restored 1923 Model T Ford when we come visit again. They prepared an awesome dinner followed by a decadent desert of chocolate fondue. I had told Carrie that I have pretty much given up dessert except for fruit but that chocolate is always a good choice. Being the great friend she is, she managed both in one dessert. Also present for that dinner were two other friends, Janet and Elizabeth.

Bo and I also squeezed in lunch at my favorite Italian restaurant on Atlantic Ave. We knew we were back in South Florida by the cars we saw, a Lotus here, a Ferari there, a Bentley over there. Oh yea, that would be Tim's car (my former boss). We got to see Tim, along with another one of my favorite bosses, Tom at happy hour one evening at Boston's on the Beach.

Yes, we were quite full by then, but it was on to Jill and Greg's for brunch and our first ever visit with Dylan, their ten-month old son. He was full of smiles for us, and just thinking about his happy little face planted joy in my heart for the rest of the day.

We tracked down a Yugoslavian family we had met and had befriended while we lived Florida. They invited us over and much to our surprise, served us a delicious dinner of Yugoslavian food. It was so wonderful to catch up with them after several years without contact. They gave me a special gift - a picture and blessing of one of their saints who is known for her powerful intervention for women in need. (Sounds like a good one to have on my side at at time like this - and always. I have embraced the prayers from all faiths and believe they are contributing to my overall emotional and physical health while I heal.)

From there, it was on to Vicki and Shawn's, hostess and host extraordinaires, for a party in our honor and our second dinner of the day - a Mexican taco bar with all the fixin's. In addition to the friends I have already mentioned, Judy and her husband, Ken, and Michelle and her significant other, Brian, were there. (Judy, also a very accommodating friend for food preferences, brought fruit and a decadent chocolate cake for dessert!) The group presented me with a special Brighton breast cancer awareness bracelet and a Louise Hay book on healing. I was really touched by the outpouring of support I continue to receive from all of these friends.

I definitely felt the love that night and the whole weekend. It was just what I needed, and I knew that time with these friends would reinforce me and give me the strength and energy that come from being around people who care about you. (I just didn't think it would give me additional poundage - maybe that abdominal flap surgery will be an option now!) The trip was a great escape for me and Bo, and for much of the weekend, I was able to forget about having cancer and the impending surgery. On the other hand, I was also able to have really good conversations about this journey with Carrie, a recent cancer survivor herself, and that was very helpful and healthy for me too.

We arrived home Monday afternoon. When Lance raced over to me and jumped into my arms as soon as he saw me, and Dad and Laura welcomed us home with hugs, I was instantly reminded that I was now back among another group of people who love me. How beautiful and blessed is my life!

As soon as we got settled in, I headed upstairs to... the treadmill, of course!