Delightful Weekend

It is great to have had a pleasant last few days before starting up the whole chemo cycle tomorrow. We did some shopping on Friday and had lunch out. She wants to shriek every time she catches a glimpse of the basement carpet and so we looked at carpeting, made some choices, forked over a down payment, and even scheduled installation. This is fuelled, in part, by Faina wanting the house to look right for some visitors coming from distant parts of the country over the winter break. We had neighbors drop by Friday night and other friends on Saturday afternoon. Big smiles from a bouquet of flowers and from a gift basket.

A big highlight - Since Jamie's Thursday night dance performace was snowed out, we went to the Saturday night show. Between dropping her off more than an hour before the show; getting to the school early enough to get good seats; 90 minutes of wonderful tap, modern, hip hop, and ballet; and a celebratory post-performance supper, the evening was an all enveloping family event. It felt Norman Rockwell normal, a step removed from the new normal where everything is refracted through the lense of adenocarcinoma. Jamie is a Junior and we've been to five of these events. It is a treat to be present for these milestones, relishing the geometric progression of her dancing skills and confidence on the stage. A fine time was had by all.

Faina spent the better part of Sunday with her BFF Tatiana. Besides a few hours of Russian television, they made a project of concocting a pot of turkey soup.

Monday will be back to business. An early AM appointment at Maryland Oncology and a much awaited appointment with Dr. Esquivel, exploring the possibilities of HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy). There could be more on that later. For now, I will savor a weekend to be cherished.