This and That

It's summer, definitely summer. Over 100 degrees here today. I went to work for about 6 hours or so. Then I came home and Chris made shrimp tacos with an avocado, jalapeno, grilled corn and cabbage topping. And there was a nice rose' wine--perfect for a summer evening on the patio watching the sun go down. I love summer.

And on a summer evening like this, a little simple chatter seems appropriate. No traumatic cancer talk. No polls. No scary photos. Just pull up a chair (these are in Michelle Ouellette's fabulous backyard--you know the place where the the Cancer Survivor party will take place!!!), and I'll tell you a few things I've been meaning to share but didn't warrant their own blog post. In no particular order:

1) Now that I've pretty much lost all modesty when it comes to taking my top off, topless sunbathing is medically off-limits. Oh, the irony. (Seriously, I've got to medically flash so many people it's not even an issue anymore. It happens at least 6 times a week. You do the math.) So much for those French beaches next summer.

2) If I've done nothing else with this whole cancer thing, I have taught my friends how to be perfectly comfortable around a person with a serious illness. They're so comfortable they've returned to mocking me, relentlessly. And I'm thankful for that, if not just a little worried about how they might treat the next person they know who is diagnosed with something starting with a "C."

3) One of the reasons I gave up the wigs is that twice I caught the Britney wig in my car door when I got in the car and closed the door. There are no nerve endings with this hair, so I didn't notice the hair was caught. I'm wondering how it looked to folks to see long blonde hair streaming outside my car door as I drove to work. Imagine the blonde jokes.

4) My left foot is still numb on the left side. And my eyebrows are still itchy.

5) It's only just starting to dawn on me that it will be years--YEARS!!!--before I look the same, since it will take years for my hair to grow out. And then of course, I'll be older, so I won't look the same. And maybe too old for long hair (when is that age cut off?? Let's ask Cher.). So, weird, but I guess there really is no going back. This occurred to me because I had arranged for a photograph of my whole family at Christmas (yeah, yeah, the irony. Whatever.) and I'm only just now getting around to ordering the enlargements and sharing the proofs with everyone. (In my defense, in case you are unclear, cancer disrupted all of my plans). And I realize how very, very different I look in just six months. Okay, sure, Chris looks really different too, but he'll be able to cut his hair back to its usual look...in just about 6 more months. (By the way, Roryann--Chris's mother is NOT happy with you for orchestrating that!!)

6) The Inland Agency folks actually asked me to be the Honorary Chair of the March 29, 2010 Shop to Stop Breast Cancer event (check out their website by clicking HERE). Seriously. They knew better than to ask Cancer Dork to be the "Inspirational Chair." I like what they are doing (raising funds to pay for mammograms for women who couldn't otherwise get them--including young women), and hey, some good should come of this odyssey of mine, so I said yes. Let the fundraising begin! And it will--we're going to sell the Survivor T-shirts to start the ball rolling. Here's more on the Inland Agency event if you are interested in contributing, donating items for the shop, or, of course, shopping!! Click here--SHOP TO STOP BREAST CANCER.

That's it this evening. I hope you all had as nice of a weekend as I did.

Tomorrow is Chris's birthday. He'll be a beautiful 34. So tomorrow is, of course, all about him. As it should be. Chances are good there will not be a blog post. But you can always leave a comment wishing him a happy birthday. Or better yet, stop by his Forgotten Grapes site and send him a birthday toast. Just click here: FORGOTTEN GRAPES.