Denim, Hoodies, & Cider

Today is September 11, 2006, five years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. I feel like I should write something concerning this topic, but I don’t know what to say that doesn’t sound lame and doesn’t repeat the general feelings of having our lives touched by such a tragic event. I guess what I would really like to say is just a thank-you to those who are currently serving our country in the armed forces. I don’t really know anyone personally who is fighting in Iraq, but I’m sure that there is somebody who reads my blog and knows someone who is serving and could possibly pass on my thank-you to them. Just let them know that I am grateful that they are fighting for my life there so that I can fight for my life here. (I hope that doesn’t sound too dramatic. If it does, tell me and I’ll change it to something a bit more normal.)

Well, I’ve had various people asking me how my third round of chemo went, so I figured I had better update the blog a bit.

My third round went pretty well. I had to stop taking the iron pills again; they were making me ill, which doesn’t help when I already feel icky from the chemo. Otherwise everything went according to how it should: I felt like I had been run over by a steamroller for a couple of days, couldn’t consume/touch anything cold for a few days, and did quite a bit of sleeping. Yep. Hopefully Erlichman understands me giving up the iron supplements again. I just don’t like feeling more sick than I have to while I’m hooked-up to the pump.

Yay! It’s almost fall! It already feels like fall, I know, but soon it will officially be the best season ever.

There are many reasons that autumn is the best of all seasons, a few of them being listed as the title to this post. The return of jeans I think is one of the best things about fall. My pasty, pale legs can exist in a state of Sasquatch-i-ness and no one will even know. Mwa-ha-ha, I love it. The second bit of wonderfulness concerning fall is being able to wear comfortable hoodies. Not much can beat a long-sleeved shirt with a hood that you can cuddle into and wear over multiple layers of clothing. And last, but definitely not least, is hot apple cider. When it’s cool and yucky outside (sort-a like it has been most of this week), a mug of hot cider with cinnamon will always put a smile on your face. I must say that the best hot apple cider is done on the stove and is mixed with cinnamon and a couple cloves of nutmeg or mulling spices, but seeing as how my cooking abilities (even just mixing a couple ingredients for cider) are null, I’ve had to settle with it being nuked in the microwave. It still contains smile-making powers when done that way, it’s just that they aren’t as potent, if that makes any sense. =P So, yeah, I love autumn. It’s not just the denim, hoodies, and cider, it’s that whole country-feeling of harvest, colorful leaves, and high-school fall athletics too. =D

Okay, if you’ve gotten to here you’ve survived my whimsical rant about fall. Next is an account of what else is going on and is to be expected in my life within the next week or so. Probably not the most interesting stuff to read, so I’ll understand if you stop reading now.

I’ll begin with how my biology test went. I took it Wednesday morning before I started chemotherapy. I believe it went rather well. I had forty-five minutes to take it, though it took only about twenty minutes to complete it, and I know I got 100% on the multiple-choice. I think I did well on the short answer too; none of the questions really scared me since I’d studied beforehand, so I’m confident I got an A on the test overall.

Next I had chemo and didn’t do much else for that day. Thursday I slept all day and Friday was fairly similar. Oh, wait, Thursday I went to the high school with Dad to see if my saxophone had been fixed. Unfortunately, and fortunately, it hadn’t even been looked at yet and was still up at Eckroth music. That meant I got to take home the most gorgeous saxophone ever and I get to keep/play it at my house until this Thursday. It is the best saxophone in the whole wide world (well, at least to me it is). The low notes, even the low D, play wonderfully for me: they sound so full and in-tune. It makes me happy. There is a picture of it at this link: http://www.cannonballmusic.com/images/a5l.jpg. The only difference is that the saxophone in that picture has jasper keys and the one I’ve been playing has tiger-eye keys. It’s gorgeous. I’m hoping that my saxophone will be returned and play its low notes just as well as the Cannonball saxophone, but if it doesn’t I think I’ll be looking into the permanent possession of a Cannonball saxophone a little bit more.

Like I said, Friday’s activity included more sleeping, so onto what I did Saturday…

First I got-up and went to play practice at the high school. I thought maybe I was going to be useful and paint something or work with someone, but I ended-up just watching and periodically telling people to be louder as they said their lines. It was still fun to be there though. Saturday evening I hung-out with Ben. We were at his church for a while since his family was helping get the church ready for an auction and after that Ben and his brother were a part of a student panel who explained the benefits of their mission trip to the group’s sponsors. Then Ben and I came to my house and we watched “Without a Paddle,” the end of “The Parent Trap,” and various HG-TV shows.

Sunday was pretty uneventful. I went to church at Faith United Methodist. It was a good service and I got to see those who have been praying for me and sending me cards, so I had fun. When I got home Dad and Greg were cleaning and removing the fireplace downstairs so that we can have a new gas fireplace installed this Thursday. When they were done with that Dad went to get groceries, which included picking-up apple cider for me; therefore, I had a mug of hot apple cider when he returned. Actually, I think I was sleeping when he returned. I had a very nice three-hour nap on Sunday; I was cuddled under my fleece blanket and had my fuzzy socks on, so I was pretty content to sleep the afternoon away. Later we had Ben over for enchiladas/tacos and we watched “The Fantastic Four” before he had to go home.

So that concludes my update. Today I think I’ll go to play practice and see if I can be of any use. I’ll also probably start working on homework again. Blech. Actually, it’s not too bad. I don’t mind listening to biology lectures and math isn’t anything horrible either. I think I’m going to be dropping sociology. The topic never really interested me and I think it’s odd to be taking a class about the study of people when I am trapped at home in front of a computer and the only people I see are my mom and dad. Actually, the main reason is that the class isn’t set-up easily so that I can juggle it and chemo at the same time. There’s lots of work and information that needs to be retained over a long period of time, which is hard when the chemo treatments shut me down periodically for a few days at a time. So hopefully I can drop the class without any consequences and I’ll just continue on with math and biology.

Okay, that’s officially it.

Much love,
Cheryl