Around Here . . .

Around here we are learning to cook, and to read: 

Completing a lot of jigsaw puzzles, which takes over the dining room table, and means we have to have "picnic dinners" in the living room, which B LOVES.

Lots of playing, and some home repair work:

More cooking:

Why did we make this frozen treat on the coldest day of the year?  So cold B had his Spider Man slippers on without being asked! 

More playing:

I put this pictures on here because while the three of us were contently building, Brycen sighed and stated "I just love when the whole family does the same thing."

Very, very little reading:

I am on MAYBE page 5 of both and keep falling asleep. I am not sure if it is the exhaustion of cancer and chemo or if the books are boring (which I doubt).

Around here, I have been doodling when I am not putting puzzles together. I have learned that upstairs is exactly 600 degrees warmer than down, so if I don't want to fall asleep while drawing, I best do it downstairs.

I spied at B's daycare:

Brycen reports that he does need Tiny to listen to his woes. Great teaching strategy. I had a teddy bear when I taught kindergarten. 

And the best for last. (No, I am not suddenly cured of cancer). Yesterday my new oncologist asked me, basically, if I was enjoying life. I said, I don't get too bored but I miss working. And I miss traveling. But everything makes me so tired. I take a 2-3 hour nap almost every afternoon. For the second time in a week (I see a doctor at palliative care, which is basically end of life care, they manage my pain meds once a month) I was offered Ritalin. Thanks, but no thanks.  

We went on to talk about traveling, because this might be a really good time to start planning and going. We discussed what went wrong before on failed trips. He said I had to face it, camping and roughing it is NOT in the cards for me. He's right, it can be exhausting for healthy people! He was not as opposed to renting a camper van or RV - sort of a more glamping experience - IF i stay on the east coast. As for farther trips he would get me some meds to help me fly, because driving or taking a train out west would be too long and far from treatment. Also, get trip insurance for any flight because obviously, at the last minute I might not be able to go. And he recommended me taking a steroid everyday I'm gone to give me that boost I might need. In other words, so I don't sleep through my entire trip. 

There is a lot of ifs that I won't get into here, but if somehow I could have a dream trip, here are my thoughts:

-Fly to Albuquerque, rent an RV and camp near Santa Fe and Taos, maybe even Mesa Verde. Or maybe rent a car for Santa Fe and Taos, return to Albuquerque, rent an RV for Mesa Verde. Look, I am planning already.

-Fly to San Francisco, stay with a friend, and visit Yosemite - either by renting a camper van or staying in a lodge there. 

-Drive (with help) to Washington DC and take the Vermonter - a 10 hour train ride to Vermont, where I have friends in a tiny but lovely New England village called Weston. So tiny it doesn't even have schools - students are bussed 11 miles away. 

-all of the above!!

-for now, we might just stick to taking Brycen to my parent's house closer to the coast. I will need my steroids for keeping up with his energy!