September Already

Hello! After more than a month, here I am again. Did you miss me? I'm sitting here listening to the Republican convention, trying not to wretch, and thought I'd use the time productively by posting a blog for the first time in more than a month. Well, let's see ... what have I been up to? As far as my cancer treatments are concerned, I've been on hold for a month while my Oncology office has been calling the insurance company daily, trying to get in touch with the doctor in charge of approving treatment at my insurance company's office. To bring you up to speed, I was supposed to receive a year of treatment of Herceptin. That treatment was supposed to consist of 12-months' worth of treatment, the first 3 months' worth were weekly, and the next 9 months' worth were to take place at 3-week intervals. The weekly treatments were of a lower dosage and the every-3-week treatments were stronger. With the stronger treatments, my heart valve function efficiency was affected. As a result, several times during the treatment I was put on a temporary hiatus until my heart function recovered. This in turn strung out my treatment longer than the 9-month time period, and my doctor's office was left trying to convince the insurance company that a calendar year and a year's worth of treatment are not the same thing.

I learned today that my insurance company's doctor has finally (!) approved 5 more treatments. Hooray!

We had a very dry August, with some surprisingly cool days and nights. I expect we'll be getting some rain by the weekend from hurricane Hanna coming up the coast. Jim and I may be going on a trip to Massachusetts this weekend, as if so, it will probably be pretty soggy. We're not sure about if we will make the trip or not.

So what else is new? Let's see - today 3 friends and I went to tea at Sweet Simplici-Tea Tea Room in Sykesville. It was wonderful. The tea, the baked goods, the presentation, the ambiance, the friendship, the Tea Room owners - everything was perfect. We all had a great time. It's such a nice place. We all love it.

I've been going to my watercolor classes every Friday and learning a lot. My assignments have been (1) paint a white painting, (powdered sugar doughnut on a white plate, next to a white coffee mug on a white doily, etc.) (2) paint the look of "old leather" in a still life of an old pair of shoes, (3) paint a still life of glass bottles. This week I'm supposed to paint a conch shell to learn blending of color. I've been improving and gaining confidence as I go along, but I'm still in awe of my fellow classmates who have been creating art much longer than I have.

I've also been getting together regularly with friends to craft. So far we've been decorating/embellishing birdhouses, making tile pendant jewelry out of bamboo tiles, and now I'm making freeform peyote beaded bracelets. I've completed one and almost completed the second one. Freeform peyote is very creative and unstructured. The beads are randomly woven and strung together with intertwining "bridges" of strands that either complement or accent the other colors. In addition to seed beads, there are larger beads and crystals added for additional visual emphasis. It's very interesting and fun to see where the beading will go. For myself, I have no preconceived idea as to what the final piece will look like, just a vague idea of the color palette I'll start with. My first one has a loose weave and a variety of colors. The second one I named Mardi Gras for its vibrancy and festive look. There are more beads on this one. I still need a clasp on the first bracelet and have about an inch more to bead on the second one.

Oh, I'm back in a routine volunteering every week at the library. Things are in a state of semi-organized chaos there because the whole department is being moved around. All the books are being moved to different shelves in all the rooms on our floor, so it's quite busy. I'm enjoying being there, and of course there is plenty to do.

Jim has been working every day on his wood turning lathe. He's turned out some beautiful bowls. The largest so far is a fruit bowl made of box elder. It has some beautiful red streaking throughout the grain that contrasts to the pale color of the natural wood. He's also turned some spalted birch, maple, and two from cherry. He's working on some poplar now. One of the bowls has a "natural edge," meaning the bark edge is visible. He's been doing quite a bit of reading and looking at videos to learn as much as he can about the process.

The tomatoes are ripening and delicious. Some of them are nearly as large as a plate. Delicious on Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches as well as just sliced as a side with dinner.

The kitties are doing fine. Paddle recovered well from having her tooth pulled, and has been more frisky of late. She's enjoyed going outside now more than she used to. Normally she's a little house plant, but now she wants to go outside with the boys and lounge around on the patio. Pong especially loves being outside. He pushes his curfew limit daily, but since he won't eat if he doesn't come in, it's a good "leash" on him.

I'd enjoy hearing from you if you're reading this blog. I think some have missed my daily posts, and I plan to continue with the blog when I have something of note to say. Comment below if you do as well.

PHOTO: A tangle of kitties. Ming Poo and Paddle enjoying a nap, legs and tails mixed together.