How to post a comment

OK, blog-followers, since several of you have told me, "I'd like to post a comment but I don't know how," I'm providing directions right here and now.

It's really easy, but even I had to experiment with it first, since there are so many choices and I'm not all that knowledgeable about "techie" stuff, so I totally understand.

Anyway, please don't feel like you HAVE to post a comment (but I do enjoy reading them). So, if you want to, here's how:

• Click on "0 Comments" (or "1 Comments," etc.) under the blog entry you want to comment on.
• Type your clever, witty comment in the comment box.
• Under "Choose an identity," click on "Name/URL."
• You can just type in your first name, and can leave the URL box blank (it's optional).
• Then click "Publish your comment" and -- voila! -- it will appear under the "Comments" for that day's blog.

Then I will read it and smile ...

Well, tomorrow is chemo day, so I think I'm going to grab my latest book (Those Who Save Us, by Jenna Blum) and hit the sack. By the way, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, was awesome, albeit painful to read (I think it's the only book I've ever read where I yelled out "No!" while reading, and I did it more than once), but what a story! I highly recommend it.

Until next time ...

P

You get by ...

Yes, it's true ... You DO get by with a little help from your friends. My hosts in Florida, Linda and Bob, really made my four days there special.

Linda had told me they were going to treat me "like a queen." So when I got off the plane, there she was, holding a sign that said "Queen Paula."

Then, when we got to their place in Venice, my room had a flamingo balloon and another sign: "Queen Paula's Pad."

Although Linda had sketched out a few plans ahead of time (like the drum circle on the beach), they constantly asked what I wanted to do, and made a real effort to make me happy (heck, they even let me eat most of the gooey butter cake I had brought as a gift!).

They kept the jokes coming and the wine flowing, and truly, there never was a dull moment. Scary ones, yes -- like the daily braunschweiger ritual, ha! (of course, I'm kidding!).

Some highlights:

• walking in the surf along the shore at Siesta Key, the world-famous beach with sugar-white sand, picking up seashells and just enjoying the day.


• eating Bob's grilled grouper -- it was absolutely delicious!


• sitting on the lanai in the evening, sipping wine and talking (and laughing) about everything!


• eating at waterside restaurants, with sunshine and ocean breezes.


• watching Linda try on my compression hose (I wear one on my left leg most of the time because of the lymph-node surgery) and then using it as a slingshot (it works pretty good)!
  


• Laughing 'til we cried at Linda's entries to my blog.

So thanks, Linda and Bob, for your friendship (is my collage still up?) and kindness. I love you guys, and, like Arnold, "I WILL be back!"

Until next time ...

P

Dyl and I

Hey, blog-followers, I never really followed up on the Mother-Son Brunch that was (gulp!) more than a week ago!

But we made it on time, Dylan and I, and even though most of his friends were wearing open-collar shirts, my son surprised me by wearing a (gulp again!) TIE!

The photo at right isn't from the brunch (it's actually better than the brunch photo, in which I look sort of like a chipmunk), but this one was taken Sunday at the Schlueter family Easter gathering at my parents' house (notice my tan).

But my, how that boy towers above his mother -- I guess you could say I look like a midget in this one. Oh well, what I lack in good looks, my son makes up for in total handsomeness (am I biased or what?).

But back to the brunch. It was lots of fun, with lots of good food. Dylan and his friends got their money's worth by going back for seconds (I controlled myself and just had one plateful -- surprising, I know). A photographer was on hand to take mother/chipmunk-son portraits at no extra charge (the difference between my son's public high school and his sister's private one, which charged extra for everything!). And each mother received a rose to take home.

I was planning to "escape" around noon, when the speaker was scheduled to start, since I had to be home by 12:30 to meet the nurse who would unhook "Fanny." But doggone it if he didn't start early, while we were still finishing eating, so Dyl and I had to walk out in front of everyone, a little embarrassing since most of them didn't know I had to leave for medical reasons. Oh well, you can't worry about what people might think.

But a good day, all in all, and extra special because I got to spend one-on-one time with my adorable son.

Until next time ...
P

Soakin' up the sun

Yes, I am in Florida! Yes, the sun is shining! Yes, I am beating a drum in the drum circle ... on Nokomis Beach ... just before sunset! Boom, badda boom, badda boom, badda boom ... I'm letting out my inner bohemian, relieving stress (what stress?), and getting a little arm exercise -- all at ONCE!

It's a little cooler than would be perfect, but nothing's perfect anyway, right? (Besides my host, Linda's, Venice villa.) I think the high today was 60-ish, but that's WAY better than the 40-ish highs back home.

And, there are plenty of palm trees, ocean waves (and breezes), sunshine, clam chowders, shrimp and crab legs, sandy beaches, and red wines, so no worries!

This morning we went shopping at the Punta Gorda Fisherman's Village (I'm wearing my new long-sleeve T-shirt that changes color in the sun), had lunch on the top deck of a waterside restaurant, ahhh, and napped in the sun on the lanai (the screened-in room with a lake view) before taking off for the drum circle. In the photo at right are a couple of drum-circle regulars -- a belly-dancer and a, um, I'm not exactly sure, but he had a lot of spirit!

Right now I'm having a HUGE piece of gooey butter cake, which I brought down to my Psycho Sis as a present, but now, damn!, I'm eating the whole thing! (Maybe that's why I brought it!)

So, yeah, while I was away from the computer to fetch a piece of gooey butter cake and freshen up my wine, my evil Psycho Sis took the liberty of adding some details to the blog -- gee, can you guess which lines SHE wrote??? Anyway, they made me laugh, so I'm leaving them in ...

Well, it's been a great two days so far (two to go!), and it's getting late, so I'm calling it a night. Wait, did Linda say there was chocolate icecream in the fridge? Hello, gooey butter cake a la mode!

Until next time ...
SG (Sun Goddess)

Chemo #4, check

So, I may be halfway through my post-op treatment, as of today! (Unless Dr. W-G decides to prolong it a bit, but I'm sure she'll have good reasons if she does. I trust her implicitly.)

Everything went well today, except at the end of the chemo session, when I was walking out to my car in the rain and cold, and my fingers were tingling like crazy and feeling very weird. My saintly sister happened to be with me -- she had brought me lunch and stayed with me during treatment -- so we decided it might be best to go back in and check with the nurses, rather than go home and worry.

Remember the "sensitivity to cold" I experienced after my first visit, when I (stupidly) bought a milk shake on the way home and got "mouth freeze"? Well, that's what happened to my hands -- "finger freeze." So the nurses got a heated blanket and I put my hands into the middle of 'em, and within minutes I could feel the tingling sensation going away. They advised me to bring gloves next time, if the weather's chilly, so I will! Sheesh, the things you learn as you go through this ...

And even now, hours later, if I put my hand into the refrigerator or freezer, the fingers start to tingle again! Very weird.

But the lab work checked out OK, according to Dr. W-G, and she said I'm doing so well that she doesn't even need to see me next time! So I'll get my lab work and chemo in two weeks, as planned, but I won't see her again for a month! But I'm planning to e-mail to her a photo of her "favorite patient" (my words, not hers, ha!) taking it easy on the beach next week, so we WILL be staying in touch (she's probably sorry I ever got her e-mail address!) ...

Anyway, things are good, I'm feeling fine (as long as I don't get those hands cold), and the "red eye" is less red today.

Thanks for checking on me!

Until next time ...
P

The eye's better

So, that headline says it all -- my red-eye injury is much better today, and I even wore contacts in both eyes!

There's still some red, but not as much, so it will probably be totally gone by the weekend (unless I do it again!) ...

So, yeah, this Saturday is my 18-year-old son's "Mother-Son Brunch" at a local country club. It starts at 10:30, with brunch at 11:00 and a speaker at noon. But, since I'll have "Fanny" -- and she needs to be disconnected around 12:00 to 12:30 -- Dylan and I are going to "eat and run," which I think is better than not going at all. But we'll stay as long as we can, and get our picture taken, and have some fun with the other mothers and sons, so I'm looking forward to it!

Until next time ...
P

Ol' Red Eye

OK, friends, I'm starting this off with a warning: If you get faint of heart at the sight of blood and freakish medical emergencies, DO NOT scroll down any farther! Just log off right now and go read the funnies or have a snack.

Here's why: This morning, as I was hurriedly getting dressed for work, I accidentally stuck my finger (not sure which one) IN MY EYE! Yeow! It was a freakish thing to do, I've never done it before, and I sure as heck hope to never do it again ...

But afterwards, my eye felt funny, not really painful, just a little pressure, so I went into the bathroom to look in the mirror and panicked because the white part of my right eye was BLEEDING! Yeah, bright red blood!

So, being the hypochondriac that I am, I fairly ran to the phone to call my eye doctor's office, and they said, "Get in here!" so I jumped in the car and drove like mad to get there before going blind (as I was sure would happen).

Well, my doc took a look at it with one of those big, impressive eye-examining scopes, and said, and I quote, "Looks like you took a CHUNK out of it, but it'll be OK." A chunk. Out of my eye. Sheesh. (See gross, disgusting photo at left.) Note to self: Do something soon about those wrinkles ...

Anyway, I got some antibiotic drops and have vowed to slow down from now on. No more rushing around in the morning. No more gouging out my own eyes. From here on out, I will breathe deeply and take ... it ... easy ...

So, some good advice for all of you out there: If you're going to rush around like crazy in the morning, trying to get dressed in record time, wear safety goggles ...

Until next time ...
P