The Blessings Continue

Yesterday (Thursday), I went for my blood test first thing in the morning.  The phlebotomist noticed that I had lost weight!  I guess, after losing 20 lbs., it's becoming noticeable.

Came home and made myself a cooked breakfast (scrambled egg, shredded potatoes, 2 slices of ham cold cuts) as I thought that would appeal to me, but it didn't.  I ate it because I made it, but I didn't enjoy eating it.  I can't taste salt these days, so the food had no taste.

I did office work the rest of the day and requested vacation time off to attend daughter's graduation.  My request was approved.  It feels weird to ask for vacation because working from home feels like a vacation to me, but I don't want to worry about completing assignments on time when I am away for those three days.

I also took an afternoon nap!  Later, I washed all the dishes in the sink, cleared the kitchen counters a bit, and baked the much postponed banana bread!  I had to throw away a few of the bananas that had gone beyond the over-ripe stage, but there were three bananas that were just right.  Because my recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups bananas (approximately 5 bananas) and I only had 3, I tossed in half a cup of apple sauce, as well to make up the difference.  Unfortunately, I forgot to cover the top during the last 15 minutes of baking and the loaf got a bit over browned!  I had intended it to be given to my neighbor across the street, whose father-in-law passed away earlier in the week, but I don't think it would be appropriate to give a slightly burnt loaf, so I'll keep this for us and make her something else.

Still later in the evening, I picked up daughter from the airport.  She is home now until we both drive up to her graduation and back.  Yes, she'll come back down with me and then, fly back up at the end of the month to start her new job on June 1.  She still has to finish two final papers for two of her classes, but they need to be submitted on-line, so she can work on them from home.  By the way, she said she met one of the professors who evaluated her thesis presentation at another thesis presentation, yesterday, and he had made it a point to come over to her and tell her that he thought her presentation was done very well!  Daughter was very happy to hear that.  He had asked her if she planned to continue with her studies, but she had told him she'll be working for at least a year.  She's all "studied out" and doesn't want to think about further studies right now!

Yesterday, I spoke with two family members and a friend.  I invited my friend to spend Mother's Day with us, if she's not doing anything.  Not that we are doing anything special, as such - won't be going out to brunch, etc., but we can order lunch in and spend time together.  

Last night, I needed to take anti-nausea medicines and had a hard time falling asleep.

Today (Friday), I've had a relatively good day.  I went for my 8th chemo treatment in the morning (4 more to go!  Yay!)  Although my appointment was for 9:15 a.m., I didn't get called in to be weighed, etc. until much later and then, I had to wait again until about 10:30 a.m. to be seen by the doctor.  I wasn't hooked up to the machine until almost 11:00 a.m.  By which time, I was feeling hungry!  So, once I was attached to the IV, daughter went to a nearby fast food place to buy us breakfast sandwiches and a coffee for herself.  Then, after I ate, I napped while the chemo was being administered.  

I dozed a bit in the car on the ride home, too (daughter drove).  But I didn't take an afternoon nap, today.

When   we came home, I saw that a big box had been delivered to my door step while I was out.  It was from my supervisor at work!  A box of frozen specialty meats and other items (baked potatoes, seafood, etc.)  With a note that said she was thinking of me and missed me at the office!  I thought it was so very sweet of her!  It was from her, personally, not the office as a whole.  Of course, I called her and thanked her.  She had also called about work and left a message, so I responded to that, as well.  And I submitted this week's completed work assignments, later in the evening.

A Gift from my Supervisor

My nextdoor neighbors treat themselves to a box of this company's meats every so often, and twice now, they have shared some of the hamburger patties with me.  They were some of the best hamburger patties I had ever had!  I looked into the company's gift catalog over Christmas to see if I wanted to order some items to send to the out of state nieces, etc. (but then, decided to go with gift cards to the book store for their children, instead, because I didn't know if one niece and her family ate beef).

The funny thing is, just a couple of days ago, when I was craving a hamburger and couldn't get one because it was still too early and they were serving breakfast items, only, I was even thinking of asking my nextdoor neighbor if she had any of the frozen hamburgers in her freezer and if so, could I buy some from her!  The only reason I didn't ask was because I knew she would just give them to me if she had them and not accept money and I didn't feel right about asking her knowing she wouldn't accept money.   Also, I told myself it was a silly thing to do!  Surely I could wait until my daughter came home this weekend and get her to buy me some ground beef to make myself some hamburgers if that's what I wanted.  And then, I came home today to this gift box of meat, including hamburgers, from my supervisor!  How coincidental is that!  Or, was it coincidental? 

But guess what I made for a late lunch?  :D  Hamburger patties, with corn on the cob and homemade French fries!  I know, I should have made a salad, too, but it seemed a bit too much of an effort (I have to wash everything in vinegar, etc.). Maybe I'll make a salad for tomorrow's lunch.

And that's not all!  The blessings of gifts of food continues!  

Armenian Pizzas and Cheese Pastries

Later in the evening, my neighbor across the street called and brought over some Armenian pastries and cookies, etc.  It's for her that I had baked my banana bread (which I didn't give because it got a bit burnt).  She said people have been bringing over loads of food and she's distributing them because there's too much!

Mini Fruit Tarts, Cream Puffs, Cookies, Baklava

This is what she brought for me, thinking I was alone, not knowing my daughter was home!  There's enough and more for us both!  I had some of the cheese pastries for my dinner and some baklava for dessert.  Daughter went out with friends for dinner and a movie, so she'll have her share tomorrow.

There's more!  Another blessing!  Not food, but rather, a card from a cousin for Mother's Day, with some lovely sentiments (about spreading smiles and joy and sunshine) and a note saying the words in the card are all true and the family is lucky to have me in it and she is lucky to call me her cousin!  How sweet is that?!

Today, I am grateful for:

- A good chemo session and down to 4 more!
- Daughter to drive us back so I could doze in the car.
- A generous gift of food from my supervisor!
- A generous gift of food from my neighbor!
- A lovely card and sentiments from my cousin!

So, my week, which started off with me feeling a little bit on the down side has ended on a high note!  With lots of blessings and shows of love and support from family, friends, colleagues, etc.  I have been reminded, once again, that I have nothing to complain about, I have nothing but blessings.

What are your plans for the weekend?  How are you spending Mother's Day?