Around Here . . .

I don't like to swear on my blog, but last week (the last week of February) was just plain shitty. A close friend/co-teacher of many years, found out she too has cancer. My cancer was exhausting me, and I had a deep pain in my side. The pain could be tumors, or it could just have been something simple, like a pulled muscle, and because of cancer the pain is 10 times what it normally would have been. And it seemed like every plan I made fell through, sometimes at the last minute.

And who on earth keeps driving through our neighborhood at all different hours with no muffler on the car?!

I am happy to say that this past week was much better, even though it was a chemo week and I spent 46 hours attached to a pump . . .

. . . The side effects of chemotherapy are never the same for two people. For me, on my current cocktail of drugs, it causes constant sweating the first few hours. And it I am not sweating the liquids out, I am using the bathroom. On top of that, my nose and eyes run. It's like I am being squeezed through a juicer! Luckily if I keep drinking water the effects of the effects are minimal, except extreme eye irritation. Anyone who has seen me lately probably thinks I am stoned, or have been crying, or both. But I've been thinking, there are way worse things I have been through. There is way worse others have been through.

In other words, I am extremely thankful to be feeling this good lately!! If I didn't fall asleep every time I sat or laid down, I might actually feel normal!

So, to keep my mind off the craziness . . . and the chemotherapy . . . and the cancer . . . I have been doodling:

The one with the croc and gator is for Brycen, as this is a favorite new saying. 

Work in progress. 

And it takes a little preparation, but I love involving Brycen in art too:

We had a couple really nice days to bring March in as a lamb, not a lion this year:

Picnic on a park bench!! It's almost that time of year again. 

A trip to Ikea with a 4 year old is always delightful. We brought my wheelchair in case the long warehouse walk exhausted me. B and I ended taking turns pushing each other.

This day was NOT warm. It was a chilly, windy dry day. When Brycen removed his hat inside Ikea it looked like he had taken scissors and hacked his hair:

It was hard to not laugh as he talked to us, his hair was too much!

We also have been enjoying board games. I am going to do a post reviewing some games for kids under 4. I had no idea there were so many games though, and there a few I wish I had found when he was 18 months or 2!

Go Fish has been a crowd favorite around here, and since it is the (ADORABLE) alphabet version, it is really reinforcing letters for him! Although we read everyday, I haven't been teaching him reading skills as much as I was in January. Luckily he moved up to the 4 year old room at his school, and the teacher is very enthusiastic about reading skills!! This is the first time he's really learned academics, not just social skills.

And some completely random pictures:

Cancer awareness bracelets for every type of cancer that exists. I sadly need 2 melanomas, 2 lymphomas, 1 lung cancer, 1 uterine cancer and for myself, 1 colon cancer. That is too many bracelets, and it doesn't even count friends who have someone in THEIR life affected. It really puts things in perspective. Listen to your body, friends. 

Making tickets for a train ride. I just love him in a hat. 

Writing a thank you note (someone gave him a tub of legos after we attended Lego KidsFest). It might look like complete rubbish, but his one to one word correspondence is on point.

I am trying my best to take things day by day, but I do look forward to slightly warmer weather, trying out new playgrounds, friends visiting, and a lot more drawing!

What have you been up to lately? What are you looking forward to?