Beauty

Here I am again with no idea of what I will title this post.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful and the scenery spectacular. As I drove home today I decided to drive along the ridge of the provincial park that borders our neighbourhood. People were out enjoying the weather, the mature trees were beautiful in their array of fall colour, leaves gently drifting to the ground where a carpet of gold awaited their arrival, seeming to reflect back the glow of the sun.

I am learning to pace myself but still finding that there were few days in this chemo cycle where I didn't experience some nausea, nothing overwhelming but a little disappointing as I head into the next round. Yesterday I rested in the morning, then dropped off my prescription for next week's medications at the pharmacy. I drove over to the Health Region site where our vendor was providing time to go over a computer application and any questions, etc. that we might have regarding it. It was a nice relaxed session starting with a bit of a prolonged lunch in the cafeteria with my co-workers and the vendor. We discussed multipe topics like recipes and finances, all sharing stories and experiences, very pleasant and 'normal', no one in any hurry to go to the classroom to start the session. In the evening I went over to the autism association for a meeting with the Asperger's Network group and was presented with my award for Leadership. (Yes, I won! :) It was an honor, all the sweeter for being unexpected.

Today I made chili in the slow cooker, washed some floors (after Robbie vacuumed for me) and did some laundry followed by a rest. This time when I went out I picked up the meds from the pharmacy and then drove to the University for the final assessment session with the BEAUTY program. I was given my results, they were phrased in a similar way as my results from my surgical pathology - could be worse but could be better ;). One thing I did like was that the front of the folder given to me had the words 'Laura' and 'Beauty' front and center, one right after the other, I can pretend it means other than the program, can't I? The twelve week program was explained a little more thoroughly to me and then I was taken through it, exercises all tailored to my needs, with modifications for red days and yellow days. Most of the red day activities can be done from a lying down position, this I liked ;)

By the end I was getting nauseated so decided not to push it by adding the trip to see my mother that I had planned. I took it easy on the drive home, just missing the rush hour traffic. Once home, it was nap time and I didn't wake up until Rod came home for supper, this time with Charlie. Charlie is Leisha's dog, we have been entrusted with his care for the weekend while Leisha and Caleb have gone to Edmonton to attend a wedding. Charlie has taken a definite liking to Rod, I may have to get him his own dog. We took Charlie for a nice long walk along the ridge at twilight and now he is comfortably esconsed across Rod's lap in the recliner, looking like he belongs there. Charlie is a springer spaniel with only three legs. We haven't heard the story of how this came to pass, but Rod has made some possible reasons up and tried them out on people, including a story that he lost the leg in a water-skiing accident. We will have to get the real story from Leisha.

Recenty, Rod was inspired to order a new bracelet for me that has pink beads for breast cancer and blue beads for colon cancer in it (in honor of my Dad). There are two charms,  one a ribbon symbol and another that says "Hope". He gave it to me last evening - an award and a present all in the same day!

A friend posted a saying on Facebook yesterday about hope that I enjoyed reading, she had borrowed it from someone else, so I will borrow it  from her as I close -

Hope works in these ways: it looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst; it discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot; it regards problems, large or small, as opportunities; it pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit; it "lights the candle" instead of "cursing the darkness""- Anonymous

Charlie kind of exemplifies hope with how he copes with three legs; I feel a bit of a kinship with him in the missing parts department ;).

Take care, everyone.