Love Chemo No. 4

I looked forward to today. My BFF Kathy was visiting from Jacksonville the whole weekend. She came in last night and was ready to help me with anything we may encounter at the cancer center. I had to feed her a hearty breakfast first, of course. LOL

Kathy had her laptop case, her handbag and my chemo bag filled with bottled water, snacks for her and my notebook calendar. I carried my own handbag and the most precious cargo of all: chocolate ganache cupcakes I made from scratch the night before. Sorry I didn't take any pics. The cake itself was chocolate and frosting was made of heavy cream and semi sweet chocolate chips with some instant coffee. I made 36 cupcakes. Kathy and I split one for quality control purposes, I brought Serina four and 31 made it into a bakery style box complete with multi-color French-wire ribbon bow on top.

What I found most curious of all was that people's heads would turn as I carried this box around before I visited my doctor. Once at a cafe table in between appointments, I opened the box to check my little temptations and two people stopped next to me to peer in. Talk about being nosy. It served them right to catch a whiff of the chocolaty goodness without getting any. LOL

My appointment with my doctor went very well. Based on my blood tests and a cancer test, I seem to be healthy. I know -- I couldn't be happier!!! We're not out of the woods yet. I have to combat or minimize the side effects I am still experiencing in between treatments. The biggest one is weight gain due to the steroids as well as the leg swelling. Ugh. I just have to tough it out. The last two treatments are next month.

My doctor very much appreciated his box of goodies I gave him and would share with his staff throughout the day. I found out that he has a sweet tooth he won't admit to and he loves chocolate. He is very thin and runs twice a day -- he can afford a couple of temptations.

Another thing that struck me today was how many people remembered and greeted me from my nurse at the blood draw to the clinic workers and in the infusion center. It made me feel welcome. I even got to say hello to the chemo patients I had seen before. It was all very family like. I was proud to be able to share the whole experience with Kathy.

Serina came and took our lunch order and made sure to leave with her own loot of cuppy cakes. She visited me again later in my chemo chair after my three hour nap. I couldn't stay awake too long so I went back to sleep for a bit.

Kathy confessed to me that her throat got lumpy when she saw the nurse hooking the tubes to the other tubes sticking out of my chest from the port. I guess it made the process very real to her. I am in awe of her strength and generosity to be with me. My day at the center was great and passed without incident.

I felt hyper after the day at the cancer center so we drove miles up the interstate to a Korean restaurant for some yummy healthy food. For dessert, we went to my happy place for bubble drinks. Kathy had coconut taro flavor and I had my jack fruit with mango jelly. By the time we got to my apartment, Kathy was ready to sleep in the airbed that she had spread out the night before in the middle of my living room floor. I was in no such hurry to sleep, but I did in deference to her. The poor thing had traveled almost three hours the night before after working a full day's work.

So there you are...today was a great chemo day. I was relieved.

Love,
Sarah xo

Love Chemo No. 4

Krazy Korean Karaoke

AGOL IS AN UBER GEEK! Armed with my digital camera, I set it on video and filmed my attempts to start my vehicle. The purpose? So I don't have to clumsily explain the nature of my car's malady. You can't be taken seriously wearing a lot of lip gloss and hairspray. Imagine the mechanic's surprise when I told him what I did right before I arrived and showed him. I was the talk of the shop.

The morning brought rain from stubborn Tropical Storm Fay which made the humidity fog up the lens of my camera. Here was my brilliant idea...

CAUTION: Sound level


A misdiagnosis...a new part ordered....whoops -- a wrong part ordered...correct part arrives...and four hours later in the waiting room. SIGH. The assistant manager tried to flirt and wink at me to try and lessen my frustration, but it was obvious I wasn't buying his crap. I wouldn't even look at him as he delivered news to me. My eyes were focused on changing the channel on television when they weren't on my laptop screen.

One thing made me laugh while I was at the mechanics. Two other women had used the ladies restroom. My bladder reminded me how much coffee and jasmine tea I drank so far. The fluorescent lights were not working and it was pitch dark in there. I asked them if the lights were working when they went and the lady closest to me got up and jiggled the switch. A very very low light came on but enough to go. As I sat there (ahem!), I noticed that the lights were strobing. I thought to myself, Shoot. All I need is Donna Summer. Of course, silly AGOL had to text that piece of news to her boss and a couple of other people. No, not WHILE in the restroom, but straight after.

A few hundred dollars later and a new ignition switch...MORE SIGHS. It was past my lunch hour so I succumbed to picking up fast food on the way home to eat it, walk the dog and feed him half his dinner and also get dressed for two hours of work. Luckily, my boss was understanding.


AND THEN...God made Karaoke Night:

Our group met up at Pine Tree Cafe off of Hillsborough. The bottom level is a Korean Cafe and the top level is a catacomb of Karaoke Rooms. We were in one of the largest ones.

Snaps of specially ordered buffet, Michelle and hubby, karaoke room and karaoke wall.




Beautiful dish of Chop Che. It deserved its own spot.




Kim with and without the flash. She was the best!




Sharon in video singing "Ironic"


CAUTION: Sound level


..and the diva of the evening: Kim


CAUTION: Sound level

My voice was hoarse for some reason. Maybe it was the screaming and my voice ended up sucking. I still sang I Will Survive (with Kim), Le Freak, Woman in Love (with Michelle), Footloose (with Shirley) and several others I cannot remember. There were a couple of song we sang as a group, too. It was three hours of nonstop karaoke. Talk about getting your Asian on.


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Krazy Korean Karaoke

Happy Friday Anyway

Bitchy greeted me at work. It would seem that Bridget's disgruntled feelings at home had bled into her gripes at work. She was being rather petulant and complained about being bored at work and not liking some of the work she was doing. This was said after she had just finished enumerating her displeasure with her live-in boyfriend and the fact she missed her son who was visiting his father in another state. Incensed, I carefully chose my words and delivered them looking her in the eye: I wouldn't say those words too loud in light of the fact that almost 300 people were just let go. If you want to say those words, you'd better have a back-up plan already. I think she felt a bit shamed, but being stubborn she held her ground. Whatever.

On the other hand, my boss was glad to see me and stopped by my desk to go over things. The temp was chatty to me, too. She was left yesterday with only Bridget who had no kindness for her. She was trying to engage me in a longer conversation, but my cold wasn't allowing me patience. Damn -- my sides hurt from coughing and sneezing yesterday.

One of the gal's husband in my Asian mafia picked us up for lunch at the Korean restaurant. We met a Vietnamese couple there; I'd met the wife before. Bridget was the only non-Asian at the table. It would be her first foray into Korean cuisine. Through her association with me, she has expanded her Asian palate from Chinese Takeout. She always welcomes new experiences... During the lunch, they determined I looked Chinese, but in the end decided that I just looked exotic since they felt I didn't look half Filipino. This stuff cracks me up.

Our boss dismissed our group earlier than normal because our financial software was being upgraded over the weekend. I stayed anyway because I arrive later and I did have things to keep me occupied. Compared to my normal schedule, I left almost two hours earlier.

Sidestepping rush hour traffic was great. I used my stealth (ha!) driving skills to drive side streets to get through downtown Tampa and pick up the toll road. I was on my way to my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin's kiddies Kristen and Carter were staying the night with their grandparents. When I arrived, the group were playing Wii and Wii Fit that my aunt and uncle had bought. These toys were a testament of them being young at heart even in their 60s.

Kristen surprised me during my visit. I was teasing her younger brother with an activity that I specifically do with them, but hadn't done in a very long time. She asked why I hadn't done that at their home the last time I saw them. My response was that I didn't want to embarrass them in front of their friends. Kristen reminded me that activity was expected of me regardless of their friends being present. I guess I have been kind of standoffish with them and not intentionally. Through extra hugs, kisses and positive reinforcement, I reassured them of how much I love them. Normally, I am very affectionate and easy in giving it. I guess I have been missing giving it to them.

Drove home with Angie in my ear and me giving her the lowdown of my visit at her parent's. Cabal and a mountain of laundry were waiting for me. It was a happy ending to nervy week. I have an appointment to get my hair cut and colored tomorrow. Woohoo! I also remembered to register for two cooking skills classes, one for Sunday and one for next Saturday. Next month, I will only have time to be a volunteer as an assistant instead of paying to attend. I can't wait!
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Happy Friday Anyway

Spice is Nice

My day didn't start out so well. Cabal had woken me up a little after 3am thanks to the distant thunder. He would not be appeased or threatened into submission. I took him for a short walk before heading back to bed. With two blankets and my pillow, I made myself comfortable on the living room floor so Cabal would feel calmer during the storm passing by.

Oh my gosh -- did it hurt getting up a little over an hour later! I went to my proper bed for another hour before getting up...Driving to work was annoying in leftover rush hour. I just wasn't comfortable. Parking in the garage almost set me off. Some people needed remedial parking courses as evidenced by the picture below. I almost over swung to hit the stupid car who didn't know how to park in the "compact" slot. Grrr. Had to take a cell phone picture to show Bridget. It's not like there was another car in the "open" slot. (Rolling my eyes.)



Settled on Classic Disco on aol's music channels to soothe my nerves while I went through my work e-mail and solve issues. This kind of music always comforts me and cheers me up. I was fortunate to have another surprise lunch (comfort food!) with Tab at a Korean restaurant we have never tried before. I kept hearing rave reviews about it. It was a cozy and an intimate setting. Nothing plush, but the best restaurants never are.

After ordering our green teas, Tab decided to play with [sterile] needles he somehow got from his acupuncturist. Tired me let him play with them at the table using my hand as a pin cushion. I have a high threshold for pain and I was bracing myself for stings, but I didn't feel a thing. He soon tired of that game. Ha.

I ordered a Korean bento box style lunch with Bul Go Ki (sliced meat marinated sweet then grilled) while Tab had the colorful and spicy tofu soup below. Look at all the accessories that arrived with the boiling soup.




The rest of the afternoon was spent handling more issues. Stayed later talking with one of the other ladies before heading home. I was still stuffed from lunch so I just had a small serving of soup. Caught up with my blog and watched another episode of Fear Itself on television. Walked Cabal and I felt confident there would be no more storms passing by this evening.


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Spice is Nice