Monday Morning

Well I woke up feeling so much better this morning, Whatever was going on with my blood must have started to reverse itself cause I could tell when I woke up I had some energy and was not as nauseous as I had been. Hurray. So I got up and got my butt moving and got some things done. The guys are coming to do the HVAC this morning so I need to get stuff out of the closet that they will be working in. I thought I had it done but Cliff just told me I took stuff out of the wrong closet. Figures!

Well Leonard took Gordy to California this weekend and got in an accident in Victorville. I guess someone rear ended them. But everyone is OK and they did not get back till 4:00 am so I don't have my sweet baby girl this morning. Maybe Later. Teddi is is town so maybe I will get to see Olivia. She better bring her over here or she'll have me to deal with.

So it's a sunny day and things are looking up so I have a couple good days until next treatment and I am going to make the most of it.!!

Hard Weekend

I have had a bad weekend. The first really bad time I have had. I started feeling worse on Friday and finally just went to bed about 4:00 Friday night. Got up about 7:00 Sat morning but just got in my chair and fell back asleep until about 4:00 in the afternoon Sat. Fixed something to eat and went in and went to bed, got up about 1:30 in the morning and back to my chair were I fell back asleep and have been there on and off all day. My blood count must be really whacked because I am SICK. My stomach is so upset and it's the first time I thought I might get sick to my stomach. No energy, can't eat, even water tastes like poison. Yuck

Another Weird Wednesday

Had a weird, weird day. Went to treatment and just felt weird all the way through it. This stuff is getting to my liver function and I can tell the difference. It is getting a little better since they changed to the Taxotere but still way too high readings , they have just came down a little. I hate it. I asked my nurse Heather what the difference in the two variations of the drug are and she said the preservatives they use in it. Brother, that's what will kill us all ,all the crap they "put in" what they "put in" us. Anyway Deb Christensen , the cancer care coordinator came by the treatment center and gave us baldies a new hat that the center had just got in . I had to be nice but I cannot imagine anyone wearing this thing. It is a tube about six inches wide and eighteen inches long ( made out of thin jersey) that you can wrap around your head about 3000 ways that are each progressively more hideous and all scream "I am bald and I have cancer so they gave me this butt ugly rag in this putridity garish print so that if I actually have the poor taste to wear this in public, you will all stare at me and think "Oh Goodness, the cancer must be an excuse for having such poor taste that she would actually have to audacity to wear this God awful thing". Anyway I took it and tried to act thankful (and I should have been simply because a kindness was being shown to me) but inside I though some body actually thought this was a good idea (maybe like a Snuggie) and then selfishly acted on their entrepreneurial instincts and manufactured and promoted this blight of the bald and now it is actually being fostered on the sick and weary. How droll.

When I was done with treatment I ran over to Lowe's and got Cliff a hammer drill and a drill bit he needed and when I came out I was so dizzy I had to sit in the car a minute before I felt a little better. Then because I was still light headed, I walked over to Ross and got a couple pots to re pot my pony tail palms in . I had to sit in the car a minute again before I felt like driving but I made it home with out mishap. Hope I don't have to give up my Wednesday alone time outing. I really need the down time but if I feel that way again driving I think I better have Cliff go with me. I hate to cause I know it's no fun sitting there for 6 hours but I know he will do it cause he is just that guy, thank God.

I came home and felt OK so we went to dinner for St Patrick's Day and then hung out at the Eureka for awhile. I even had a Baileys and coffee to celebrate I figured one wouldn't kill me. We got tired real fast of giving them our money so left by 7:00 and we stopped by Charlee Ann's to see the two new walls Angelo had built for the girls in the bedrooms. The walls were fine but the sheet rock patch job looked like Gabrielle did it. I don't know whether Teddi should just say thank you or tell Angelo what a mess they made so he doesn't send them anywhere else and ruin Ang's "fine reputation". Cliff said he can probably fix it where it's passable so the girls can paint this weekend but it is really the poorest Sheetrock patch job I have ever seen.

When we got home I had to get a lien ready for Charles to take to Vegas and file on the La Virgen de Guadalupe Catholic Church. I am trying to help him collect the last bit of monies owed him. It was a job that should have taken 20 minutes but I could not get it to format correctly so that it fit the criteria of the County Recorders Office so after an hour of failed formatting attempts that literally had me in tears ( wahn -wahn I can't do anything right anymore, I probably couldn't Do a job, if I Found a job, I am a freaking idiot , I cannot seem to be able to do anything; and this is after with tears running down my face, I had looked and looked for my glasses and then threw up my hands in despair and finally when Cliff had had enough and walked over and picked my glasses up from under my nose, and handed them to me and said "Maybe your just a little too tired to do this on this particular evening?" To which I intelligently answered, " I should be able to to do this ANY time I damn well please. I use to be able to do this all night and I need to do this TONIGHT." To which he smiled and went back to watching TV. So after an eternity I finished it and to prove my super human strength I filled out some paper work the bank need on Cliff's business account and then completed our 2010 Census form. So there I guess I showed him who's really stupid!

When I was still awake by midnight I knew I was having a tweaker night. Cliff finally got tired of my antics and went to bed at midnight and I have tried everything to fall asleep (even watching the boring stuff in the shopping channels) and here I am at 3:30 in the morning mind racing, worrying about lots of shit that doesn't need my attention and is not even any of my freaking business. You would think I would just relax but no I am binging off the walls like a badly placed Que ball just inches from scratching down the nearest pocket that was not called in this shot. Game Over.

Summer's Here

Well summer is here, we finally had to turn on the air conditioning today! Yeah, but boo for the power bill. Went to St George this morning and picked up all the stuff we needed to finish the a/c work in the addition. Took Gabbi to lunch at Cracker Barrel but she was not impressed with the white trash dining they offered. She did not eat a bite. I tasted her chicken and dumplings and I can tell you I was not impressed. They tasted like tasteless fat noodles. Yuck. Cliff tried to give her some green beans and she would not even eat those. Usually she loves anything green.

We came home and Darrell Hughes came and roto tilled our back with his tractor and saved us a lot of work. Cliff just came in and he was pulling the weeds along the fence line and said he already has a blister. Life as a home owner. Maybe 1/3 acre is not such a good idea!HA

I talked to Mom yesterday and she was using the computer!!!YEAH MOM. We talked a few minutes and I helped her get on my blog and she was reading it when we hung up so everyone email MOM links to your blogs at tdavis1933@frontier.net , Way to go Mom I am proud of you I knew you could do it. Tech Savvy Thelma. Next thing we know she will be on Face book and Twitter.

Sleepy Sunday

It has been a quiet weekend. It was windy yesterday but has been sunny and nice today. Cliff played golf this morning with a foursome and enjoyed himself. He placed second and said he had one really good putt. He came home and has slept most of the afternoon. Their tee time was 7:30 and with daylight savings time that was early so he was tired.

I went over and helped Charlee and Tony clean out some closets and get some stuff ready to haul to the dump. Then Tony and I went to Walmart and bought him a new comforter, sheets, etc. He needed it and he liked it because it was camouflage and he likes that warrior stuff. He is a cute boy.

Chancy came by yesterday afternoon and spent the night with us. It was good to see him. He had been at a friends wedding in St George and was headed back to Round Mountain today. He is such a handsome kid. Love ya Chance.

Happy Birtday Cliff Sr

We had Cliff's Dad a birthday party last night. He turned 67 and so we had pork chops, rice, green beans, salad, rolls, and blueberry cake and coffee. He and Mom Cole had gone to Vegas earlier in the day and lost $400.00 gambling so they came home and stopped at the Casa Blanca and won back $375.00 and we told them in Nevada that is know as a "big win" these days.The casinos are so tight trying to make up revenue that it's not a good idea to play too much. They had fun and thank heavens they didn't lose too much.

It was so funny, we had got Dad a card with two naked people (a man and a woman) shown from the back and the man was skinny and the woman had a big ole butt. The inside of the card said "we thought you'd expect a couple cracks on your birthday". When Gabrielle saw the card she pointed at the woman's butt and said "Mima!" We all about died laughing. I guess that is my wake up call to get some of this weight off. Cliff and I are still looking at each other and just bursting out laughing. The funny thing is every time Gabby sees a picture of a beautiful woman or a princess it is her Mom but I gotta be that old lady with the saggy butt. That's what I get for taking a bath with that baby!!!

The girls are leaving to go home this morning and it sure went fast. They are expecting a storm in Colorado so Dad Cole wants to try to beat it so they are leaving a day early. I sure don't blame him. It snowed 13 inches in Beaver two days ago so hopefully that is cleared. The time just flew by. I know Gabbi will miss Cheyenne they had a lot of fun together, now it's back to just Big Daddy and Big Butt Mimi' HA

We got all the electrical material yesterday so I guess they will start wiring the new room today also the HVAC guy is coming this morning to start the tie in for the air conditioning. We sure are lucky the a/c unit was over sized for the house so we had enough tonnage for the new room with out adding anything. They saved us thousands of dollars/ We always new it was too big for the house cause it about froze us out of here. So now they should be able to do the air balance a little cleaner and more even. So everything is coming along. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

It's Got to be the Morning After

Had treatment yesterday and all went well. I even got some sleep last night . Seems this Taxotrene doesn't' AMP me up as bad as the Taxol. I did get some needle pricks in my left foot last night but it is not numb this morning so that's nice. We will see what the next couple days bring. I don't feel near as bloated either. That may be because I only took 5 of my steroid pills the night before treatment and forgot the 5 in the morning. I didn't have any adverse reaction to the meds so ever though they told me to take the other 5 when I got home I didn't I knew I was OK . I am going to keep to that plan since it works and maybe some of this weight will at least stop adding to the problem. My blood sugar was high as was my blood pressure. Makes me crazy as it is medication induced and I can't really control it. Hang in there only 4 more treatments and we move on. I CAN DO IT.

Cliff is still busy working on the house and the girls have been hanging out. I have appointment for Tony and Alecia to have their pictures taken on Friday for my music room wall. All the kids are on there with whatever instrument they play or a microphone if they are our singers. It is almost done and looks really good. We are hanging guitars and Charlee's violin (if I can have her find it) on the walls along with some pictures of Patsy Cline, The Grand Ole Opry, Hank Williams. It all about the things we love in that room. We have the PA system set up in there with a cheap mic so the kids can sing karaoke when ever they want. Gordy will take the mic stand and "do one of her shows" which means she closes her eyes and just makes all kind of expression on her face like she is just wailing away on a song but not a sound comes out of her mouth. It is so funny.

I want to finish staining my front door today so I hope the weather cooperates. We may go to St George and get the last two doors that Cliff needs for the addition. He stood in the dining room and looked around and commented how good everything is starting to look. It is really coming together now. He has all the framing done in the addition and now we start on electrical and HVAC. The HAVC should only take a day and electrical maybe 2 or 3. The problem is we are at the mercy of friends who have agreed to help. So we wait on their schedule. That's OK as we just appreciate their help. Everyone has been so good to help us. Also I need to get serious about picking out paint for the house. That has to be done soon.

If This is Wednesday it Must be Treatment

Woke up about 5 am and thought I better get up and get moving. Didn't hear any rain so I thought that was a good thing. Then I opened the font door and it looked like a scene out of the Misty Moors. I do see some blue sky peaking thru the edges to the west so maybe clearing is headed out way. I think it is going from freezing winter to hot summer in one fell swoop. Mom is sure it's the end of times. I was mean and told her to rent the movie 2012 and it would tell her all about it HA. I only told her that cause I know she won't do it but it would be kind of funny since she has not seen a movie she liked since Sound of Music and that's iffy because they are Catholic. HA

I feel better this week with the new Taxotrene. Hopefully my blood work will reflect that and we can do a treatment today. If we can that will mean I only have 4 treatments after today. One month. Sweet. My feet are much better and only slightly numb. My blood sugar was back down to the high 170's last week so that is encouraging. It has been as high as 290 since I started on the Herceptin. I am use to normal blood sugar being 90 so this Herceptin is wrecking havoc. Oh well, everyone cross your fingers we are almost done, then on to radiation. The poor radiation Doc, Dr Hyde just has to keep extending his appointments out further. I kind of feel bad. Dr Haslam says don't worry about it they are use to it but I still hate to call and make them rearrange their schedule again.

Well I am going to dink a nice hot cup of coffee and then get ready to head that way. Hope everyone has a good day!!

And Rain

Had to post his picture of Big Daddy and his baby. She is his lover dolly.

Here is a picture of the new addition and all our junk sitting out front like the Beverly Hillbillies

The boys worked so hard to get it this far. You can see from the pictures how wet and gloomy it is here,

Unreal! It is still raining. My good friend Claiborne said she use to dance in the street when it rained in the desert when she lived in Vegas. And I can tell you she didn't dance that often, but her little hoofs would be tired this year! It rained again all night and is still raining this morning. The clouds are socked in clear down to the river. Boy would Dad have loved this. I am sure we would have already taken a trip out to Gold Butte to see if we could see any wild flowers. I sure hope they do bloom and I can get some pictures. It has been so cold here I doubt there are any yet. Today the high is suppose to be 50 degrees (can you believe it March 9th). It is also really windy today also, so it feels even colder.

I have been trying to paint my toe nails this morning. I got my nails done yesterday and had my nail polish at the salon, I remember putting it in my hoodie pocket and it disappeared from there. I have looked in my polish case, in the car, all over the house, and I can't find it. I can't imagine what I did with it. It is so retarded that I have to laugh. I hope when Alecia gets up she can remember what I did with it, otherwise my toes will not match my nails and we all know that is a big fat NO NO.

Cliff and his Dad got the addition all dried in yesterday. It about killed them as they had to use 3/4 inch sheets of OSB to do it. It looks like a battle ship. The City made them use that and everyone (construction people) who have heard about it just shook their heads. It is ridicules but we did it rather than fight with them. I told Cliff it's like trying to argue with a mentally challenged individual, frustrating for you both. So on we go . Our windows are suppose to be her today, so maybe we will have to go to St George to get them. It will be a diversion anyway.

Cliff's folks spent the day with us yesterday and I made corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, french bread. Alecia had wanted corned beef and her Mom won't make it for her so Cliff Sr ran over to Smiths and grabbed a couple of corned beef roasts and we ate till out hearts content. I think Cliff wore his Dad out working cause Mom wanted to go gamble but Dad said no way he was tired and going to bed, she had the rest of the week to gamble. It is Cliff seniors birthday on Thursday and he will be 67. Seems kind of funny as I am 57. I must admit , at least in attitude, I seem much younger. They are such wonderful people and I love them both . Just as sweet and good as the day is long. Cliff is lucky to have such wonderful parents.

Rain Rain Go Away

Cheyenne and Olivia playing in the yard
Alecia helping Big Daddy on the new room


And the rain continues! Amazing I have never seen this much rain here in the 57 years I have been here, it's crazy. It rained most of the night last night and has let up this morning but is still misty and wet. It is suppose to clear a little today and then start raining again tomorrow. Wonderful for the lawn but a pain in the butt for Cliff trying to build this room. Water everywhere and we have our new sofa stored on the back patio (which leaks) we have it under a tarp hope it's OK. Between the rain and trying to keep dumb ass Digger from peeing on it, it is a full time job.

Teddi was here yesterday and I got to see my Olivia all day. She is so sweet and smart and I really had fun with her and Cheyenne. We made cupcakes and played; it was really fun. Cliff's Mom and Dad were here all afternoon and I made oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans for supper. I think it was good but with my taste buds, who knows. Anyway it was a nice day. Charlee Ann and Alecia went to see Shutter Island in the afternoon I wanted to go but had Olivia and wanted to see her worse so I will catch the movie on video. Alecia wants to go see Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp but it is not in 3 D at the theatre here so I think she wants to wait. She is leaving for a journalism conference at Columbia University in New York on Monday so maybe they can catch it in the City.

We watched part of the Atlanta race and it was OK. Cliff and his Dad finished framing in the carport and we are going to get the sheeting for it today. Windows are going to be here tomorrow and MAYBE we will get our new doors next week. It's coming along

Nice Weekend

Our new front doorNew kittchen light fixtures

We lucked out and Cliff's cousins brought the girls over for Spring break and now we found out his Mom and Dad got here last night and they will be able to take them back so no driving to Colorado. Yeah., Cliff was so happy he dreads that drive.

We woke up to rain this morning and it is just a nice steady rain, not too cold. We are already over our average rainfall for the year and it's just barely March. My Dad would be so happy, rain in the desert always made him happy. I have been thinking of him since Friday a lot. Gabby was watching Donald Duck and just had the most natural deep laugh all of a sudden and it reminded me of when my Dad use to laugh at things he thought were funny like the movie "The God's Must Be Crazy". He thought that was the funniest movie and I remember his laugh, just like Gabby so young and happy, kind of a cross between a laugh and a giggle. Then later on I woke up in the middle of the night crying and didn't know why and then I realized I missed him. I hadn't really thought about him in a couple weeks and then there he was. I hope where ever he is he is happy and satisfied with his life, he should be as he was a really good man even with all his faults.

We have been busy working on the house and Cliff got one wall framed for the new room. We did get the new front door in and it looks really nice. What a pain in the butt staining a fiberglass door to look like wood is. I had no idea. We still do not have our interior doors and don't know when we will. Lowe's has been the worst. It is not really their fault I guess as they depend on their suppliers but you just can't get anything. No one is manufacturing things so they tell you you can get it but you really can't not in a timely manner anyway. So another test to learn patience and reflect on what is really important and I'm sure it's not those doors HA

Cliff went golfing with his cousins yesterday and took second place, he was surprised as he hasn't played in about a year. They all went to lunch and then he went out later with the boys and met his Mom and Dad also. I didn't feel too bad but someone had to stay home with the girls so I just chilled out here and went to bed early. It was better for me to stay off my feet anyway. The girls and I had run to St George earlier in the day and had breakfast and went shopping for a while. Cheyenne got a pair of shoes and a Venus Flytrap. She thought that was way cool. They have been trying to get it to eat a fly ever since. Cliff did get it to close it's elf on a q-tip but that's it. It has to grow awhile to be Audrey 2.

So the race is in Atlanta today and it is usually quite boring. If Jimmy Johnson wins again today, Cliff may just give up NASCAR altogether. He is really sick of Jimmy Johnson. At Atlanta usually one car jumps out front and stays there all day and so it's not too fun to watch. Maybe today will be different. I am thinking of making some Fried chicken today on this cold rainy day. Hope it takes good to me , I will be surprised if it does, the only thing that tastes right is fresh grapefruit so that's what I have been eating.

Wednesday Moring

Well miracle of all miracles I slept last night. I can hardly believe it and my feet feel even better this morning, Can we have found a better medicine? That would be sweet. Boy am I blessed with this thing. I have to pinch myself with my luck sometimes. Guess I should wait til at least Friday to celebrate but it looks like it's headed in the right direction. I got up early about 4:30 and started working on my blog wanted to up date some older photos and that took forever cause most of the photos had to be edited off Cliff's computer and then emailed over to mine and I kept messing it up from my chemo brain but I finally got it done. It was pretty funny actually someone watching would have been like what the f*&$ is she doing!!

So I feel good and hope to help Cliff work around the house on things today. We are still waiting on our interior doors from Lowes what a mess they have been. Really a poor customer service experience. We did get our new front door and are staining it but neither of us like the color so we need to go find a little darker stain and see what we can do with it. It is a really beautiful door can't wait to hang it. Maybe we will get our building permit today what a joke that has been. Just trying to enclose a carport, adding two 20' walls under existing trusses and you would think we were trying to build the Taj Mahal. We have been back for review now three times. Crazy. Then the permit it's self will be over $500.00. No wonder all building has stopped here. This city is crazy, they are valuing the construction at $19,500.00. I just laughed. We are talking about two walls , a few electrical plugs, sheet rock, a little insulation and flooring. All the HVAC is existing. Wish it added that much value to the house that would be nice. Actually it will to the tax assessor just not to the appraiser. HA What a game. Oh well we will have enough space when the kids come home and that will be nice so I have to keep the main objective in mind. Positive thoughts.

Tuesday Chemo

The treatment went well today. They did change one of my medications to Taxotere. It is suppose to have less of the peripheral neuopathy but more of the nausea; since I haven't been nauseous we felt like it was a pretty good gamble. He really felt we had to get the foot thing under control as he said it can become chronic if we don't get it stopped and that would be awful. I can't imagine. Anyway it is getting better every day so we will see what happens this weekend . He said call if it starts to get any worse. So far so good. I did find out Doc is going to add a treatment at the end so that extends chemo till the 7th of April which will push radiation until at least the end of May/first week of June. So the saga continues. But I am feeling well and thankful that I have such a good doctor that really worries and tries to do everything he can to see I am getting well with the least drama possible. So lets all say a prayer for Dr Haslam and his posse. They are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony came over after I got home and ate dinner with us. We had bbq ribs and scalloped potatoes with spinach salad. It was yummy, actually tasted good to me for a change. I most had the salad with one bite of potatoes and a few ribs. I am getting so fat from the steroids. They tell me it is mostly water weight and I can see that some in my ankles but I think a lot is good old fashioned sit on you butt for 6 months fat. This new medication is suppose to make it worse so here goes. Cliff said I am just plump or big boned, but I told him I think I have the plumpest ass bone I have seen in awhile. I shouldn't complain, I bought a size 8 pants today but they have stretch and are tight as Dick's hat band and it busted.

Anyway, then we watched 2012 and it was really good . We decided that the crazy Woody Harrleson character in the start of the movie was based on my ex-husband Jimmy Basora. We really laughed, we will REALLY laugh when we find out he was right..... hehehehehehehe. Anyway I ran Tony home and now we are just chilling out. Tonight is my night of no sleep; the night they turn me into a vampire who roams the house all night looking for something I can clean without waking up Cliff. Oh well, I do get to watch a good movie once in awhile around 3 am so all is not lost.

NASCAR Weekend

We had a wonderful time at the race and as you can see we were all representing our boy Jeff Gordon.. And what a frustrating race. He led over 200 laps and then his pit crew chief chose to only change 2 tires instead of 4 and slowly Jimmy Johnson reeled him in and beat him in the last 30 laps. I was so tense as it slowly wound down that my back still hurts from straining trying to push him forward with my will. See I told you I was weird.

Anyway it was really fun and we got to eat a crappy $9 hamburger washed down with a $7 bottle of coke, so all was well. Tony and Cliff raced on a little slot car track and Cliff came in 2nd and Tony 4th so they had fun. Marty Man met us there and we went over to the SPEED channel booth were they film SPEED preshow and Tony and Cliff got on TV and Tony made a sign that they put on also so he was sooooooo happy and had to call his Dad and tell him. I didn't find any new merchandise to buy. I did want to get my girls Danica Patrick tee shirts but people were 70 deep at the trailer plus they didn't have anything cute. I mean with the godaddy.com logo you would think they would go all out for some sexy shirts but it was just cheap tee shirt junk. Every time we are at the track I think they should hire me for marketing. I don't know who does their marketing but if you can't sell me NASCAR stuff, then you need to go home.

It turned out that I didn't even use my new handicap status parking. I called the track before we left and they told me they were holding all parking lots that were not pre-paid parking passes (at $59.00 no less) for one hour after the race including handicap. We said no way and parked in one of the dirt lots on Las Vegas Blvd the farthermost out towards APEX. We knew we could get right out of that one. It was a little bit of a walk for me but my feet are so much better it was no big deal. We just took our time and once we were there we drove right out with no wait at all. COOL.

There was a hundred cops on the road home (Tony slept all the way) but we managed to make it without getting pulled over. I was tired once we got home so Cliff made us a BLT and soup and then we just chilled out. It was a really fun day and I am so glad I felt good and was able to go.