Snowy Inauguration Day

I woke up to a winter wonderland, and although I really hate the cold, it is a beautiful sight. It's nice to be able to snuggle on the couch and work from home and watch the inauguration ceremony and festivities. I'm thinking that all those people standing outside (including the presidents and their families) must be soooo coooold!!! Thank goodness for TV for all the couch potatoes like me : )

Winter Hibernation

I must have been a bear in a previous lifetime. (hmmm, I think I've used that line before : )...Even with all the holiday festivities and ample time to do whatever I want, I still find it difficult to motivate myself to leave the house. I've managed to walk and ride my bike on sunny days, and go out and do a few things, but the thing I've most wanted to do is to be home and piddle around.

Even the cat seems to mirror my feelings. She acts as if she has a severe case of cabin fever, and is torn between the warmth inside and her desire to venture out. She looks longingly outside through the sliding glass door, but when it's opened for her to go out, she turns back inside with a somewhat panic-stricken look on her face, and then prowls around, meowing as if she just doesn't know what to do with herself.




In thinking about my seeming lack of motivation, I am inclined to say that I'm basically a lazy person; but to put it in a more positive light, I could also say that it has been a really tough year that has left me exhausted, and I am enjoying a well-deserved rest. I just wish I wouldn't feel guilty about it! I suppose we are all so programmed in the U.S. to constantly improve, achieve and DO things, that simply BEING doesn't feel like it's enough.

Here's a "shout out" to all the wonderful friends, family and health-care workers who lovingly supported me in so many different ways during the past year. I am very grateful to everyone for whatever part they played in my recovery, and I look forward to a healthy and happy new year.

Art & Scars

Last week I was fortunate to be able to attend a couple of free art sessions at Get Real & Heel. One of the former participants is an amazingly talented artist who gave us some painting tips for a couple of evenings. We used acrylic paint and painted flowers and a landscape on small canvases.

It was a lot of fun, and the results were surprisingly good overall for a group of amateurs. I think my paintings would have been more realistic if we had had a subject or picture to look at, or were outside painting an actual scene so I could see the real shading and color, etc. I can see a lot of flaws in my paintings, but they were done within the space of a few hours, and since acrylic paint dries very fast, mistakes are hard to correct.

On Thursday, I had my intravenous port removed at an outpatient surgical center, and have been recovering well since then. I have a one-inch incision, which burned a lot the first day or so, and I had an ice pack on it constantly. I've only had to take Tylenol and one "real" pain pill the night of the surgery so I could get some sleep. Hopefully, this represents the last "assault" on my body and the end of this cancer ordeal--fitting that it should come at the end of the year. I hope and pray that next year will be a healthy one for me. I'm so tired of thinking about and dealing with illness, and so very thankful that I can start 2009 on a healthy note!

Enjoying the holidays

It's so nice to be able to stay home and do whatever I want for four whole days! Here are a few pics of Thanksgiving day - lots of cookin' and eatin' and being together with family, including one of the "grand-dogs"! Tiring, but fun. I'm so very thankful for my good health and that I'm not in the hospital, or going through chemo. It's hard to believe that that's what I was doing last year at this time.


The turkey was falling apart...had to hold it together for the photo.


My beautiful family toasting together


Lillie enjoying a snuggle with her mom after all the excitement

Yesterday was spent mostly resting, with a VERY small amount of shopping (NOT at the mall!!), and today we're heading out to see the James Bond movie.

Cancellations

A Nature Walk and tour of the Botanical Gardens with the Get Real and Heel group and my last soccer game are cancelled today, so I am doing chores and switching my summer clothes for my winter clothes....the excitement never ends...lol.

This was a busy week at work with several unexpected deadlines. I also started coaching a trainee in India, and finally finished the last of some user acceptance tests for an upgrade to Business Objects (yuk).

The only things of note outside of work were my last self-hypnosis class on Thursday and watching a new episode of ER with cameos of Dr. Green and some other characters from older shows. I made some pumpkin soup from fresh pumpkin, which turned out quite tasty - I merged several recipes. I also colored my hair this morning with a home kit - "Warm Chestnut". I'm tired of people asking me if I want a senior citizen discount. ha. I look a bit more like my "old" younger self now, I think.

There's a bit of blue sky and sunshine peeking out now and then, and it's warmer than I expected, so maybe it will be an OK weekend after all...cold weather with highs in the 50's and lows in the 20's is supposed to be coming next week!

Last week of Rainbow Soccer

The regular season of Rainbow Soccer will end next Saturday. I took a picture of some of my teammates yesterday.

Over-40 "Wiser" League - partial team photo

Of particular interest to everyone was the heart-shaped area of sweat that appeared on the shirt of my nephew-in-law after our game...pretty amazing, but quite appropriate for a guy who's an excellent soccer player and has a lot of heart!

Halloween Party pics

I'm back from an out-of-town Halloween party, and too tired to write much, but here are some pics. The weather was beautiful and we had fires and food and dancing to keep us warm outside. There were awesome decorations everywhere - inside and out - and everyone did a great job of dressing up in cool costumes. The colors of the trees on the trip were gorgeous too.


"Dancing Queen" and Nerdy tennis player


Beer Keg & Beer Mug


Pebbles & Jester


Gorgeous views