The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
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IS AUTUMN HERE ALREADY????

8/23/2018

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I CHOOSE NOT TO STRUGGLE.  I CHOOSE TO FLOW.
                                                                             Spirit Junkie


Hey, Kids, there's a nip in the air. Feels kinda like autumn is right around the corner. Almost every day has been beautiful for the last few weeks and everything is lush and green, but there's still that something in the air that says it will soon be the season of falling leaves and fields being harvested.  

Personally, I am ready for the lawns to go dormant. I mow so many hours every week, that I am literally exhausted by 7:30 at night. Several times I've needed to go to bed, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it when the sun is still up. The mowing is tough enough . . .but Lordy, the trimming is a real b-----d. 


Go ahead and say what your thinking.  "Pull on your big-girl panties and quit your sniveling!"   hehe

I had my next-to-last chemo on Tuesday, then went back in Wednesday and today to get my white blood cell shots. Soooo, it's next week for the final treatment and then I will be ringing the bell in celebration. It's nice that they have you go through that. It signals something final about the whole deal.

Well, the grandkids are back in school today. Alec was a little shell-shocked when Jenna told him that it was this week that it started. All of us were under the impression that it began next week. Either way, it was inevitable. 

It appears that this is the "season" for the Paul Girls to get operated on. Sister Judy had foot surgery last Friday ( and is doing splendidly), and sister Sandy had a knee replacement on Wednesday. She had some complications controlling her blood pressure before the operation, and when she went home yesterday, the compression socks on her legs were so tight, that she couldn't bend her knees to step up into the house. And then she fell. Not good. Finally got in the house and is doing a bit better. I will keep in touch with her to make sure she is recuperating.

And probably in the next few weeks, I will be getting my lymph node tumors ripped out. "Sure looking forward to that," she said sarcastically.  So, three out of us six siblings will have been reconstructed in one way or another.  Stay well, Karen, Ken, and Evan!!


I needed to make a sign for my Woodbridge building, promoting the fact that we are renting out the big room for baby and wedding showers, reunions, etc. Hubby brought me this really neat road sign that he had used when we were running our bridge building business. The sign was originally a big reflective arrow which directed traffic. The sign itself is heavy aluminum. I flipped it over and painted the whole thing almond color. Then I stenciled a big sunflower (I do love sunflowers), and then worded it     FOR  RENT     EVENT ROOM  and then my phone number. Hubby put it up for me yesterday. I will take a picture of it when I finally get a bale of straw. I am planning on doing a ""lawnscape" at the driveway entrance. I went to Theisen's this morning and checked to see if they had their bales in yet. Nope, no pumpkins or gourds --- just lots of mum plants.  I suck at having mums. They die immediately in my possession. So, I will go with the silk, artificial flowers that I do every year. 

That's pretty much all for now. Guess I might turn on the TV for a few minutes and see what national disasters have happened so far today. It truly is an every day occurrence lately. Okay, so everybody hang in there. Better times are a'coming. I swear.

                                       GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY, ​PLEASE



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I WAS LOCKED OUT -- SORRY

8/14/2018

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CHOOSE HAPPY   


Hi! Unfortunately, I have been locked out from my blog site for several days. But just checked it and it's back!!!


Chemo today. The double-dose crappy "makes me really tired" kind.  I have made up my mind that this is the last series of treatments I am ever going to have. I refuse to get any more cancer in the future. So there!

I know I am lucky to be able to have wigs to cover my mostly bald head but I am so sick of wearing them. Yesterday, I was working at my Woodbridge building doing some whip-whipping, and the sweat was just running off Roxy ( the name of my darker, ugly work wig). The darn things are hot, and shift around, and, oh yeah, I am terrified of getting into some kind of car accident and having my hair go flying off. Any bystanders would probably have a heart attack. They might think that my scalp was sliced off.     Wait.  That might be kind funny. Not the accident part. The scaring people part. And not the heart attack part. Just the look on their faces part.    And … CUT!

I am beginning to get "chemo brain". You know what that is, don't ya? When you get really scatter-brained and can't think of words you want to say, or you can't concentrate very well.

For example, the other morning I woke up and thought, "Oh, today's Tuesday...chemo day." Later, I realized that that didn't sound right. No, it was only Monday. The more I thought about that, I tried to remember if I had made it to church this past week. That's when I realized that it actually was Sunday!
Jeeze!  (yes, I did make it to church on the right day).

Another example of chemo brain is the making of the muffins. I had a box mix I wanted to use for a quick breakfast for Hubby. Combine mix, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, and two eggs. Open can of blueberries,  rinse and drain, then set aside.

Okay, I combined mix, oil, and eggs. Wait. That seemed too dry. Oh, forgot the water. Dumped that in, sprayed the muffin tin, and put in the batter. Hey, that didn't look right at all! The blueberries!!! Took a spoon and slopped some in each muffin cup, stirred it half-heartedly and baked the mess. Actually, they turned out pretty good. But what an ordeal for something so simple. 

Speaking of food, I am again gonna complain about my dysfunctional taste buds. It is so weird to not be able to taste certain foods, or be able to taste others … but they come across as so nasty! I crave salty food.  And cheese.  And chocolate! And pizza. Currently, all fall under the "nasty" column. Crap! 

I previously mentioned that I had gotten a new smallish wig which I named Baby. Well, went to Jeffrey Scott Salon on Mt. Vernon Road, Cedar Rapids, Ia. (another commercial plug for him), and got two more "Baby" wigs. Hubby likes this style the best of all my hairpieces. Not sure how others are judging this style, since not too many people have mentioned anything … and God help me, a few have even averted their eyes when they talked to me. Want to see?

​
Picture
​OLD LADY ALERT!!!!!!  Whatever.

And care to see what I have for breakfast every morning?   Yummmm!

                                                       
​
Picture
Delish! As you can see, the A.M. offering is (as usual) a delightful assortment of pills and vitamins to be washed down with alkaline filtered water. The special water bottle was a gift from my dear daughter. It has a special filter in the bottom of the tank and you just keep filling it up with tap water. I keep mine in the fridge and it stays ice cold. And it's not disgusting to drink, because there is no taste. Nothing. Nadda. 

I have been watching a bit of TV. Yup, the political channels. Dangerous times, Folks, but extremely interesting. Was talking to Sister #2, Sandy, and I told her that I never dreamed we would be living in such an all-consuming, interesting time in history. I always thought that major stuff like this was all in the past or any earth-shaking new history would happen years and years from now, when I was . . . 
well . . . not here. Fasten your seatbelts, Kids, we're in for a bumpy ride.


Oh, one more thought concerning TV. Have you noticed the "3-second commercials"? An ad will begin for a few seconds and then another long commercial takes over? Is that the new thing in advertising? You kinda get an idea of what they are selling in the tiny ads. Maybe it is the basic, no frills, cheapo low budget ads. Huh.

                                            GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY, PLEASE!

​


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    Janene...

    ... was diagnosed with breast cancer on November 11, 2013. This is a place for all of the people who love and care about her to get the information about her treatment and her personal experience of kicking cancer's ass, (sometimes from her daughter's perspective). It's hard to stand by and not be able to do anything to help. Writing gives my mom an outlet and allows both of us to share information during this time. Therefore, we blog :) 

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