D Days + 131 - 138: Up to Date at Tuesday 28 December 2010

So did you all have a good Christmas?  Hopefully you'll answer 'yes' and it will be true!  It's been a busy week for us, with various things happening, so I'll try and remember a few of them.

Firstly I have to say how well C is at the moment - he is off treatment for a couple of weeks, and the change in him over the first two days was amazing.  The side effects of the cancer treatment don't take that long to wain, so he was fighting fit (as much as he can be) and ready for Christmas well before Christmas Eve - lovely to see.

Romilly and I did an early morning foray up to Tesco on Tuesday to get the last of the foodstuffs - it was a pleasure to be up there at that time as the only real challenge getting round the aisles was to avoid the cleaners!! All the shelves were fully stocked and we got everything we needed in record time, and even managed to stop off for a coffee as well.  By the time we got home C had only just surfaced!  It was nice to fill up the cupboards and fridge ready for the big day.  I finished off the decorating - tying ivy up along the picture rails and twining fairy lights amongst it all, everything looked very festive and cosy.  Romilly and I also decided to have a go at a cheat's Christmas cake, having been inspired by Kirstie and Phil - so off we pootled to Newport (which I would not normally do that close to Christmas) and the wonderful Easy Weigh shop to get the ingredients.  I love that shop - it's the perfect place to get the exact amounts you want, which frankly is a good thing when making Christmas cake as it means I don't buy big packets of things I will never use again!  And the cake turned out very nicely too, making the house smell lovely as it took almost three hours to cook.

I met up with my lovely former colleague Mr Cane on Wednesday lunchtime (he's appeared in this blog before as he's a very good friend of mine).  We don't often get the chance to catch up, so I made the effort to get into Newport to see him, buying lunch on the way, and spent a lovely couple of hourse ensconced in his cosy office chatting about this, that and the other. Lovely.  On the Wednesday evening - which was very very cold with a bitter wind blowing - we did our last choir 'gig' of the year at Sainsbury's.  I have to say I'm not sure it was our best busking performance, and we were squidged into part of the cafe area a bit out of the way.  People didn't really seem that interested in us - certainly not as keen as they had been at Waitrose a couple of weeks ago - but I'm not clear whether this was because they were busy panic buying, or whether it was the couple of people we had collecting donations, who were fairly obviously and aggressively dressed in hi-vis tabards shaking buckets!!  Pass them without donating at your peril, it may have seemed....

Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the festive season; everything is still to come, and there's that lovely sense of excitement and anticipation.  We tend to have a day at home, getting things straight and tidy, last minute chores done, and then settle down for a quiet evening.  I love to watch the carols in the early evening - which may seem strange to those of you who know that I am a confirmed atheist with absolutely no religious leanings whatsoever.  But I think it's the sound of the voices and the sense of calm or thankfulness, dependent on which carol is being sung, that appeals to me.  You can keep God and Jesus, and the Holy Trinity and all that waffle, to me it's about a young couple having their first child in difficult circumstances, and celebrating that and all its wonder.  I like the idea of angels though....
So I had my usual lovely fizz, sitting in front of the fire, with only fairy lights and candles burning, and nice things to watch on TV.  And this time, for the first time in ages, I didn't stay up until midnight - mainly because Dan and Romilly had gone to bed early as she had warned him she always gets up nice and early Christmas morning, and frankly the thought of a 7am alarm call from an overexcited 18 year old much have been a shock for him!!

And true to form, on Christmas morning, there she was just before 7am, bounding around saying 'It's Missmass!!" and waking us all up.  We managed to get her to make some tea to delay the inevitable and give us time to wake up a bit more - and to give me time to sort out the stockings, which I hadn't remembered to do the previous night...Romilly and Dan came into our room, and we all sat up in bed and opened presents together - so I guess I can now regale friends with the story of when I had a 21 year old male in my room on Christmas morning, and it will be true.

 The rest of the day went beautifully - I was raring to go after a nice hot shower and my first glass of champagne, peeling spuds, carrots and parsnips like a demon, cross-cutting the sprouts and de-leafing cauliflower.  The PIBs were made by C as Rom was playing Santa to my niece and nephews, and I got the stuffings ready.  I even remembered to put the turkey crown in!  Jill and Arth arrived just after noon, and Rom returned soon after.  The boys and Gem arrived just after two and everyone spent a happy half hour in the lounge with first drinks in front of the fire.  I'd laid up the table - which I was very proud of! - and the whole meal went smoothly.  I was so impressed with C - he managed to eat normally and put away a fair amount of dinner, but the best bit was when he not only suggested a game of Trivial Pursuit, but actually played as well!! Believe you me, that does not happen; in fact I have the devil's own job getting anyone to play anything with me these days.  We played boys against girls, and although it was a close run thing, Pink Team got it in the end.  A lovely day in so many ways.

And now we're past eating the leftovers, chocolate and cheese, and I'm starting to think about detox.  Never has a glass of cold water tasted as delicious as it does right now!  Christmas is over, New Year is nearly here, and sadly the date for my return to work is getting every closer....

D Day + 130: To The Rescue....

...of my lovely friend Deb.  Bless her - she got into a panic this morning about the icy roads and not being able to drive anywhere, so I told her not to worry, that I would pick her up in the Land Rover and we'd get things sorted.  The first of which was meeting up with my friend Tricia, who used to be my boss/head of service and was cruelly and ridiculously made redundant two and a half years ago.  Tricia is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and seeing her always brightens my day, cheers me up, and makes me hanker after the old days when we used to work together and see each other every day at work.  I was her PA for a while, and it was the nicest job I've had.  So we plonked ourselves in Joe's in Ryde (recently taken over by new management and quite honestly very very nice for it - I recommend it) for coffees, which unsurprisingly turned into lunch, and before we knew it we'd been there for almost three hours;  none of us wanted to leave as it was so cosy, welcoming and pleasant chatting and catching up.  But we all had to get on, so Tricia went off in one direction and Deb and I in the other.  Must do more of this sort of thing.....

C spent the day at home - best place to be given the rain, slush and general chaos that has ensued as people realise they can get out again and panic charge the supermarkets and town centres in case they get snowed in again!!!  Romilly was at home with him, thankfully recovering from feeling knackered and run down, so it was nice for them to spend some time together as well.  By the time I got home around 3pm the weather was absolutely foul and it was good to get back into the cosiness to a big mug of tea.  I had made a detour via Tesco though, as Tricia had kindly texted me to say that they DID have turkey crowns in stock now - off I dashed to purchase one; now it doesn't  bother me remotely not having turkey, obviously as I'm vegetarian, but I don't think the other nine people coming for Christmas dinner on Saturday would have been that pleased to be served nut stuffing, delicious though it is, and I wouldn't want to share it with them anyway...So we're safe and there's turkey in the house!

Today was the last dose of the cancer drug in Cycle 2; and about time - it's been a hard four weeks for C and he's been suffering with extreme tiredness and really feeling the cold.  He's worried about the size of our gas bill for this quarter as we've had the heating on quite a lot, but I can't having him sitting there shivering and feeling worse for it.  It would be nice not to have to worry about money, but then I guess that's what everyone thinks; it's just something you don't want preying on your mind when there's so much else to contend with.  So Cycle 2 is over, and he now has two weeks clear before starting the next one; nice that it's timed right for Christmas and New Year!  Now he can get on and enjoy the festiveness without all those horrible side effects.

I've had a good day today, which I didn't expect given that I overindulged in the old vino last night at the choir's Christmas do!  There was open house at a choir member's home beforehand, which some of us attended and really enjoyed - she made an amazing mulled wine which was far too easy to drink; and a bit worrying of the consequences once we realised what was in it!! I could have been drunk in the fumes alone - but drinking it was an added pleasure.  Then off the Medina Quay for a buffet and a few more drinkies, which turned into a very enjoyable mass sing-song which appeared to empty the place of other customers...unless it was quiet anyway, being a Sunday.  

It's looking very snug in our lounge right now - with the little tree and its red lights, candles burning, fairy lights in the ivy and the log fire burning it's just like a Christmas card - and it really helps to block out the wet windy weather on the outside...

D Day + 129: From DDay + 111 Up To Date!

I realise it's been a while since I blogged; I've been absent from it from18 days, as some of you have noticed and commented! My excuse is that we've been busy getting on with things and enjoying the Christmas run up and snow - which may sound a bit lame but there it is!  So much has happened that it's not going to be easy remembering it all (as those of you who read this regularly will know, my memory is not brilliant for recalling the past 24 hours, let alone over a fortnight) but here goes...

Since last blogging on DDay + 111 we've had two more lots of fairly decent snow...which for me has been wonderful as I haven't had to go anywhere in it!  I've been able to indulge my inner child and go out walking with the dogs, making my footprints in virgin snow in the middle of distant fields and watching it fall in childlike delight.  Even C managed to get out in it and we did a fairly decent walk along the Down behind us in the first batch of heavy snow - the dogs enjoyed it most of the way but unfortunately Charlie's coat attracts blobs of frozen snow as he walks, so by the time we'd got up to the road he looked like he was wearing socks!!  It was so beautiful out there though; something to remember for a long time.

C along Ladies' Walk

Romilly has been busy; you know that she has two jobs on the go, as well as her college course!  I do worry sometimes that she is doing too much - she's a nightmare to feed and wonders why she gets so tired (despite years of trying to get her to eat fruit and veg regularly I now realise it's a lost cause and don't waste my breath any more...she has spates of eathing healthily but sadly they don't last).  Thankfully she's had the last three Saturdays off work so at least she got to chill out for a day.  And it's always nice when she's home at night - which is often - and I get to indulge my maternal instincts and cook dinner (although the appeal of mashed potato, which is her favourite, is starting to wane...)

I've had various social things happening, which has been nice and kept me busy; it makes me appreciate the quiet evenings in so much more!!  Romilly and I went out to Chessell Pottery on 8 December for my friend Petra's annual girls Christmas pottery evening - now I'm not remotely artistic and can't draw or paint to save my life, but they make it so easy for you to decorate bits of pottery that it becomes quite addictive...this year Romilly and I did five pieces between us and had a bloody marvellous time!  Christmas music plays, mulled wine and mince pies are served (although we have hot chocolate as it comes deluxe-style with cream and marshmallows - the latter for Rom not me though as they remind me of trying to swallow phlegm...sorry!!)

I went with my friend Deb and some choir mates to see Medina High's production of Rent - our very talented baritone Cyrus had a starring role in it, Hannah (our choir director) had helped out with coaching for the singers and Rich (our pianist) was heavily involved with the music production.  It was an amazing show - for such relatively young people to be able to pull off such a professional performance of something fairly controversial, emotional and complex (it's all sung, nothing's spoken) was so impressive it had me, and many of the audience, on the edge of my seat.  The part where one of the characters dies was so highly emotional I was in tears - and I was not alone!! Fantastic stuff.

C and I went to the Esplanade Garage Christmas party on 11 December - a first for us as he doesn't usually want to go!  But having persuaded him a few weeks ago we duly got glammed up and off we went - and had a thoroughly nice time.  C did have a bit of a funny turn at the beginning - probably because he hadn't eaten for a few hours and got a bit faint - but it soon passed and he was fine.  Food was nice, company was great, the wine was flowing and everyone was really welcoming and kind, to both of us.  Thank you so much to Nick and his lovely wife Lou for inviting us, and also to Neil, Mark, Jean and Jane for looking after us so well.  You helped make it a very special evening.

So an update on his nibs then!!  As I type this we are practically at the end of Cycle 2 of the treatment - it's been a struggle again, as we knew it would be, but as ever C has faced the niggles and irritations of it all in stalwart fashion.  There are, of course, times when he's in tears and feeling very down - being in the middle of the cycle it starts to hit home that he really is ill and what these drugs are doing to his body, so we have to remind ourselves that it's all for the good, and that this drug, despite its side effects, should be fighting the biggest battle of all - against that damn cancer.  So today, with one dose to go, he's feeling more upbeat and positive, knowing that it's almost over for another fortnight.  Christmas will be treatment free and I think he's actually looking forward to the festive bits - which is a real bonus, even if he didn't have cancer!!  Ah bless...sadly though his Father Christmas beard, which he's been cultivating for a week or so, had to go yesterday as it was too prickly and irritating!

It was C's 55th birthday on 13 December - mixed emotions that morning as you might expect.   He had some lovely cards, texts, and presents from friends and family, and the kids took him out for dinner in the evening before the choir's Christmas concert.  I had debated whether to ask Hannah if the choir could sing Happy Birthday to him as he sat in the audience, but knowing how much he hates being in the spotlight I decided to abandon that idea!!

So the concert...it was a triumph!!  I know I'm biased, but that's the third Christmas one I've done and I think it was the best yet.  We did such a variety of pieces, from traditional carols to modern classics - even Gaudete worked in the end!!  Our Father Christmas was a success with the little ones who came up to do Jingle Bells, but was apparently a bit strange in the background during Santa Baby...thankfully I had my back to him so couldn't see!!!  We had a full house, which is always a good motivator when you're out there singing your heart out - and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to see it after I'd nagged them about getting tickets.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

I went out for a very sophisticated and decadent Christmas tea with my friend Siobhan and some other work colleagues on 15 December - Siobhan belongs to a private members' club in Ryde and had booked it for a small gathering.  Very lovely - mulled wine on arrival, sitting in the bar next to a blazing fire, then into the dining room for tea....candleabra, chandeliers, crystal glasses, lovely cakes and chocolates on cake stands, tiny sandwiches...it was like being in a Marks & Spencer advert!!!

Friday night was my gang's annual Christmas meal - it's a chance for us to catch up outside of work and play silly games over a delicious meal.  Unfortunately this year the venue had just switched owners, and instead of being in a nice side room to ourselves we were in the main hall with a large group of VERY noisy primary school staff...and we had to shout to make ourselves heard.  Still, not all bad really...the annoyance was slightly relieved by four bottles of Prosecco....

And tonight I'm going to the choir Christmas meal!  Such a flurry of activity and so much going on, you can probably see why I keep forgetting to blog!  I still find it difficult to go out and leave C if he's on his own; I know he's fine really, and probably enjoys having the time and peace to himself, especially if there's something decent on the sports channel - I have to fuss a bit and make sure he's warm, fed and occupied - and preferably with a nice cosy log fire burning.  It's something we know we'll have to get used to when I go back to work in January...but it is not going to be easy by any means.  Ah well, let's enjoy this Christmas while we have the time, and whatever January brings, let it come - I feel like we could deal with anything now.

 

D Day + 111: Wednesday 1 December 2010 - Snow, Again!!

It's hard to believe it's already December.  The last few months seem to have flown by, despite us having to take things one day at a time.  Time flies when you're having fun?  Well, it certainly flies by when you're taking your time to deal with something like cancer; there's nothing like a life-threatening illness to make you sit back on your heels and make the most of each day.

Today there was a light smattering of snow everywhere - not enough to make everything grind to a halt, but certainly enough to make it all look very pretty and festive.  Lovely.  C and I decided to get up and on with it, so embarked on an early assault to Tesco, while Romilly and her friend Robyn vegged out in the lounge as their college trip to London had been cancelled.  We went off in Monty (the Land Rover) in case of dodgy driving conditions, as he is very sturdy and ploughs his way through most things.  Tesco was nice and quiet so we got round in record time.  I have made a couple of Christmas purchases on this trip - the pudding (Mrs Peek's, on offer at £3, and absolutely delumshus) and what C thought was amusing to refer to as his 'loose nuts' - I usually leave it too late to get these and consequently get moaned at as Rom and C don't get to sit in front of the fire, crack nuts and chuck the shells in the log fire...gottem this time though; bet they don't eat the damn things now...

Once Robyn had left Romilly was a bit bored, so we decided to make a trip up the the Busy Bee garden centre and browse around Christmas World.  This was a first for us - well, not for us exactly, but for C, as he normally wouldn't set foot in the place at this time of year, but to distract our child's boredom he made an exception.  And it was down to him that we went there really, as he had this idea that it would be productive and a good way to pass the time for us to try some decoupage - I know, I know, but he'd watched Kirstie's Home Makeover or some such programme (don't ask) and she'd had a go at it, so he suggested we did.  So off we went, fired up with enthusiasm, and hit the craft area with a vengeance.  One basket, piles of crepe and tissue paper and large bottle of PVA glue later, we headed home to start.  Now, to describe this activity makes it sound like the most boring thing in the world, because you do, literally, watch glue dry; but it was quite engrossing and therapeutic building up these layers of paper and glue, and it kept Romilly amused for a while.  The end results were quite nice too.  But having read this back to myself it does sound mind numbing so I'll move on!!!