In Good Company

Pat Dunn has been the visitor this past week, arriving a week ago on Wednesday evening. It has been delightful so far. We kept telling ourselves we would play lots of Scrabble...we both enjoy it. But we lugged it to the treatment on Tuesday and surprise, surprise, I was taken into the treatment room after only fifteen minutes wait, that never happens. And because this past Tuesday was the "simple" chemo (only one of the two meds, and no blood transfusions) I was out of there and home by a bit past 11. We decided to nap first, since that pre-medication cocktail they give me induces sleepiness. After about three hours, I was up and we finally played ourselves a game.

I got a score over 300 points, and since I have not played for a while, I was quite elated. And one "bingo" for using all my letters, which was less strategy and more luck as they more or less arrived on the Scrabble tray almost arranged into the word "glimpse". How about that?

It has been wonderful having Pat here, she has tackled Sofie's bath, her homework (which was good, since it was on logic and I couldn't figure out the first worksheet by myself, not a good sign). We have eaten in and eaten out, and it has helped me feel supported during this recovery week.

We went to Asheville over the weekend. It had been rainy on the way up, these little sun showers that burst open and soaked everything, but for only 5-10 minutes. We arrived in time for a late dinner, going to Mamacitas, a wonderful Mexican place. Asheville is such a great blend of folks, from trendy to hippie and everything in between.

We spent a lazy Saturday hanging out for a while, then going to the Kid's Museum (Health Adventures) to distract Sofie for a few hours. Then I had to make the Asheville pilgrimage to Discount Shoes. I "bribed" Sofie with a promise of a movie after, but upon arrival, she announced she wanted to get *high heels* for the wedding she is participating in this weekend. High heels from my daughter, who rarely puts on a dress, much less any outfit requiring dressy shoes. We hightailed it to the kid's section where she picked out a pair of black patent leather strappy heels!!!! I protested that those were winter high heels, not summer. Fell on deaf ears. Intent, she strapped them on, only to find out her narrow feet were swimming in them. So the saleslady worked with her, as I made suggestions (all rejected). Her second choice, blessedly, were not in stock in her size: Silver strappy shoes with an acrylic heel with silver glitter in the heel. Great for child prostitution, not so great for the wedding. In the end, it turned out to be a sensible pair of little white mary janes, the key part is that the shoes make a tapping sound, which is why she likes them. I told her they would look pretty with her dress for the wedding. The dress thing hadn't really sunk in and she protested, but I held the not yet paid for shoes hostage and negotiated a deal: she only got the shoes if she promised to wear the dress. It is a cute little dress from Hawaii that Alan and Rene, his partner, found for her. She has not even worn it yet, she will look so cute. She is getting a wreath for her hair, too.

This wedding is one for Sharon and Tracey. Sofie was evidently talking about it at school, because she came home one day and announced that Gemma (her best friend, a girl a year younger than Sofie) told her two girls could not get married. I told her that Gemma was just wrong, that if two people love each other and want to get married, they can. Any two people. And I promised we would take pictures for her to bring to show and tell the next week. That ought to stir up some interesting discussion amongst the first to third graders. I might need to give her teachers a heads up on that one...and some pointers. I did not go into the more than 1,000 Federal benefits that are denied, or that it is technically not legal in the eyes of the NC government. For her, a wedding is to be a celebration of love with some great food. She gets to hand a ring to one of our friends, along with another little girl. Personally, I am thrilled that her first wedding is girl on girl. Let's stir this up a bit, right from the start! And isn't a wedding about love anyway?

More later, I have to go shopping to find something to actually wear to this shindig!!