Twas the Night Before Chemo

And all through the house, there is the sound of voices as daughter and I stay up talking!  So much to discuss!  Especially as we haven't seen each other since Tuesday morning!  :D  Of course we spent all evening on Wednesday chatting on-line, but that doesn't count! 

Thursday, I went to the office and cleaned up my cubicle.  I don't keep a lot of personal items at my office - just a few drawings and an inspirational saying daughter had done for me, a few souvenirs and gifts various colleagues had given me over the years, and my plant, of course.  But there were old papers to go through and toss to the recycling bin, old notes and memos, etc.  I packed up the few documents that contained personal information, such as my social security number, and brought them home with me.  There are a few more file folders with information I will toss when I am ready to retire, but they can remain in the file cabinet for now. 

Later in the evening, I picked up daughter from the airport and we've spent the entire evening and early part of the night, talking.  There is a lot to talk about, as she has received an unexpected job offer upon graduation!  We had anticipated that she would come home when she graduates (in May) and look for a job close to home.  But, today, she was offered a full-time, permanent job where she did her summer internship and where she is currently working part-time, once she graduates!  Quite unexpected and now we are weighing the pros and cons of the situation!  Does she turn down the offer and come home to be with me and go through the process of looking for a job close to home with no guarantee she will get something in her field?  Or does she accept the offer and continue to live in Berkeley?  She likes the work and the people she's working with.  But she'll be away from home and me.  Such decisions to make!  She said she asked if she could have some time to decide and she was told, of course.  They have also told her that they'll accommodate her if she wants to work from home, occasionally. 

Tomorrow, I will go for my 1st chemo treatment.  I don't know how it will be, but I am hoping and praying that I will be able to get through it without too many severe side effects.  I don't know if I'll be up to posting a blog post, tomorrow.  If not, I'll post as soon as possible.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Having such wonderful friends and family who are keeping me in their thoughts and prayers
- The support that all of you have so generously offered to me and my daughter
- Daughter's safe flight home
- Daughter receiving an unexpected job offer!
- Hugs!

Hope you have all had a blessed day. 

December Goals and Balance Wheel/November Review

November didn't turn out quite the way I expected, since I didn't start chemo therapy.  But, all in all, it was a fairly well-balanced month.

Spiritual:
- In November, I was able to attend the monthly prayer meeting, after all!
- In December, I will focus on prayers and meditations as I start my treatments.  This year, for the first time in 28 years, I am not planning to hold the annual almsgiving, simply because I don't think I'll be up to it.     

Environment:
- In November, I had planned to continue to maintain for the most part and maybe do one or two deep cleaning/decluttering/organizing projects as time, energy, and health permitted; I didn't make a lot of progress, though. 
- In December, I plan to decorate the house for the holidays and declutter my file cabinet.
 
Daughter:  .
- In November, she continued to come down for extended weekends to go with me to doctor's appointments, etc.  We spent some mother/daughter time, shopping and just "hanging out".
- In December, she will continue to come down to accompany me to medical appointments and treatments; she finishes her finals next week and then, she'll be home for the holidays.  I want to work on a couple of fun projects with her - maybe paint our toe nails purple, or something!

Family:
- In November, I was able to get together with family members and keep in contact with them. 
- In December, I will get together with one or two of my cousins; one cousin has informed me that she will accompany me to my first chemo session and I believe the other cousin will visit.  I will attempt to get all the family Christmas/holiday gifts ready in time, although I might not attend the usual family holiday get together.
  
Friends:
- In November, friends have been very supportive and there for me.  
- In December, I plan to get all the friends' holiday gifts ready in time! 
 
 Career:
- I was able to go to the office part of the time, in November.  Colleagues held a surprise birthday celebration for me!

- In December, I will be taking more sick leave.  However, I am also planning to work from home on some days.

Finances:
- In November, I had a pay reduction due to being on sick leave and there were several big bills that came due (property taxes, homeowner's and earthquake insurance, etc.)
- In December, I will continue to budget and manage my finances to the best of my abilities.  I will be focusing on frugal/low cost holiday gifts.  

Health:
- In November, once again, the main focus was on health and medical matters.   
- In December, too, the main focus will be on health as I start chemo sessions.

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time:
-  I was able to finish the Irish Chain quilt as planned, in November.  I didn't start the new Mountain Climbing quilt and I didn't knit the socks I had planned on doing, but I did knit myself a couple of hats as planned.  
- In December, I would like to start on the Mountain quilt.  I also want to make some holiday gifts, as part of my crafting. 

I don't know how I will react to the chemo therapy, so I can't really plan too much.  But, hopefully, I can still do a little of something in each area of my balance wheel.

What are your goals for December?  What are you hoping to accomplish?

Starting December

My Dracaena

Here we are - the last month of the year!  Can you believe it's December, already?

Today, I took daughter to the airport in the morning, and then, went to the office.  During my lunch break, I went to the pharmacy to stock up on the vitamin C tablets my doctor recommended (buy 1 get 1 free sale!) and to buy a digital blood pressure monitor.  I used to have a manual blood pressure monitor, several years ago, but it stopped working properly after some time and would give me an error reading all the time.  The new one I bought today is automatic and I hope will give me accurate readings.  It cost $65.99 and I used a $5 "extra bucks" rewards coupon and paid $66.48 with tax.  But I also received another $10 "extra bucks" rewards coupon upon purchase.  I shall redeem that for something else, tomorrow.  Perhaps on something I can give as a holiday gift to someone on my list!

When I left the office for the day, I brought home my office plant, pictured above.  This plant is about 17 years old; maybe even older.  I bought it as a tiny plant, no more than 8 inches tall, to keep on my desk at work.  Over the years, it grew, turning this way and that to reach the light.  Each time I noticed the branches reaching in one direction, I'd turn it around and the branches would go another direction.  When it grew tall and almost reached the ceiling, the one branch arched over!  Eventually it became top heavy, and toppled over, and then, I set it on the floor, where it felt its way around the bookcase and the coat rack.  Two of my colleagues had been watering it for me during the weeks I've been home recovering from surgery, etc.  But I thought it would be too much to ask them to care for it for the 6 months of chemo therapy.  Besides, it desperately needs to be repotted and given some new soil.  Probably needs to be pruned, too!  Those spindly branches are liable to break off for the weight of the leaves at their ends!  But it almost looks sculptural, doesn't it?  Unfortunately, dracaena is toxic to cats, so I have to be careful that Dancer doesn't try to eat it.  So, after I took the picture, I put it in the spare bedroom and closed the door.

Later in the evening, I cooked the almost 5 lbs. of beef I had bought - I cut it in strips and sauted with sliced onions, Worchestershire sauce and a little black pepper, since I've been told not to eat spicy food!

Beef  for the Freezer

I will package it up and freeze it for when I need it, later, during my chemo treatment period.  I can add some vegetables to it when I am ready to eat it.

This evening, I had phone calls from two cousins, informing me that an aunt had fallen and was hospitalized.  Aunt will be 90 in January, so, falls, etc. are worrying.

And now, it is after midnight and I am tired.  Tomorrow is a working day, again, and I have to get up early.  So, I'll post this, put the cooked beef in the fridge (to be packaged up and frozen tomorrow), clean the cat's litter box and head off to bed.

today, I am grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe flight back
- I had a safe drive to the office and back
- Another couple of errands run
- Coupons and sales
- Meals for the freezer.

Hope you had a good start to your December.  Have you thought of holiday gifts, yet? 

Ending November

On the last day of November, I took the day off from work. 

I slept in till quite late - I guess I must have been tired.  But the down side of sleeping in is I lose most of the morning!

For brunch, I cooked scrambled eggs and the shredded potato hash browns my daughter likes:

Shredded Potato Hash Browns

I used two medium sized potatoes and hand grated them and formed them into patties because that's how she likes them.

In the afternoon, I ran errands.  First, I went to pay my homeowner's and earthquake insurance.  After that, I went to Costco for a stock-up - toilet paper, cat food, meal replacement/nutritional drinks, and some holiday cookies, daughter's favorite chocolates, and pastries.  On the way home, I stopped at the pet supplies place and bought two 30-lb. containers of cat litter.

All this stocking up makes me feel like I am preparing for a siege!  But, I'm preparing for when I am having my treatments, since I've been told to avoid public places when my immune system will be compromised.  This way, I won't have to go shopping for cat food, etc.  Or ask anyone else to, either.  I think it's fine to ask my cousin or neighbor to pick up some groceries, etc., when they are shopping, but I don't want to bother them to pick up cat litter, etc. 

Later, I did another load of laundry and cooked shrimp for dinner (along with rice and broccoli).  Took the trash cans out, too, to the curb, for pick up in the morning.

Tomorrow, daughter will go back to Berkeley for the week - she has two final exams on Wednesday and then, she'll be back on Thursday night to go with me to my treatment on Friday.  Busy days for her.

Today, I'm grateful for:

- Sleeping in!
- A day to run errands
- Being able to stock up
- A friend sending me an idea for a new quilt
- Words of encouragement from friends of friends, who are themselves undergoing treatment.

How was your last day of November? 

Another New Hat!

"Smocked" Hat

I knitted myself another new hat on Sunday, with more yarn from the stash.  The actual color is a little more pink than it appears in the picture, more salmon pink than apricot.

The pattern is called "smocking" in my knitting book of patterns, since it resembles a type of sewing called smocking:

Close Up

It gives a highly embossed look and quite stretchy.  I made it a tiny bit smaller than the other hat (2 stitches less), because it is so stretchy.

I now have a total of 4 hats:

- the black fabric one that was a gift from my niece (along with the scarf)
- a black knitted one that I bought from the dollar store
- the black and grey one I knitted earlier
- and this peach smocked one

I think I have enough hats for my immediate needs.  I might make one or two more, later on, after I see how I like the feel of these hats against my scalp.  

**************

In addition to knitting myself a new hat, I went grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon, watered the front garden, visited a friend (and gave the birthday quilt to her daughter), and did a load of laundry.  It was a fairly relaxed, yet productive day. 

On Sunday, I was grateful for:

- A new hat
- My yarn stash
- Having learned to knit
- Visits with friends
- Washing machines

How was your Sunday?  
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New Knitted Hat

Knitted Hat with Crocheted Rose Embellishment

I pulled out two skeins of leftover yarn from my stash and knitted myself a "beanie" hat!  The black yarn was leftover from a sweater I made for my daughter several years ago.  I can't remember buying the grey yarn - it might have been in a bag of yarn that was given to me by a friend, some time ago.  There was just enough yarn to make the hat and the crocheted rose embellishment. Can't really get a good picture of the rose, but it has three rows of raised petals.

I adapted the hat directions from a pattern given in a knitting book that I have.  I cast on 92 stitches using US#7 size needles and worked in knit 1 purl 1 rib until 8 inches from cast on edge.  Then decreased by knitting 2, then "knit 2 together and knit 1" repeated till the end; ribbing for another 5 rows and decreasing by knit 2 together until the end.  Then, cut the yarn leaving about 20 inches of yarn attached to thread  through all the remaining stitches twice and pull to close the top.  And sew the seam.

I don't have directions for the rose.  I kind of made it up as I went along.  I can read and follow knitting directions quite well, but crochet directions leave me floundering, unless it's fillet crochet!  I am like my grandmother, that way - she could only do fillet crochet.  But I knew I wanted a three-dimensional rose and I kind of crocheted loops of chains to the back of each row of petals to make my rose.  As a result, the petals are sort of stacked one on top of the other.     

That was a win-win-win project!  I used up two items from the yarn stash, spent the afternoon enjoying knitting, and now have a warm hat to wear to keep my head warm (especially when I won't have any hair due to chemo!)

I am thinking of trying my hand at a crocheted hat, next.

Have you knitted or crocheted hats?  Which do you prefer?    

The Yarn Stash and Granny Squares

The Yarn Stash

Some time ago, I showed everyone my fabric stash.  Today, I am showing my yarn stash!

It's stored in a 60 Quart/56.7 Liter container and fills about half of it.  I used to buy yarn whenever it went on sale, to take advantage of the sale, without having a particular project in mind, and my storage container used to be full!  But then, I put myself on a yarn diet - no more buying new yarn until I used up my stash, unless I needed a particular type or color for a specific project.

I keep most of the yarn contained in plastic bags, so it's easy to pull out a bag and have all the same color or type of yarn together, but I took most of them out of the bags for the photograph.

Yarn Stash Spread Out

Spread out on the sofa, one can see that it is mostly leftovers from various projects.  The only yarn I've a quantity of are the pale yellow yarn (kept on hand to make baby blankets any time I hear a friend or colleague is having a baby) and the 8 balls of the dark green cotton yarn (bought on sale for $.50 each, to take advantage of the sale, before I put myself on the yarn diet).  Some, like the cone of  fuzzy yarn, were given to me. 

So what does one do with small quantities of leftover yarn?  Why, one makes smaller items like hats and socks or...granny squares!  If you look closely at the stash above, you can see a granny square in progress:

Yarn Stash and Granny Square in Progress

I have a pile of granny squares already made:

Granny Squares

Someday, they will be sewn or crocheted together to make a blanket.  In fact, this might be a good project to take with me to work on during chemo sessions.   Never mind that I already have two other blankets made with leftover yarn!  :D

But the next project I have in mind is to knit myself a hat or two.  I'm off to choose my yarn - I am thinking the half skein of black yarn, mixed with the half skein of grey might make a good combination.

Do you have a yarn stash?  What do you do with your yarn leftovers?