in a fog

 I've been trying for 10 minutes to write the first paragraph of this post, but alas, I just can't come up with anything that makes me happy. I think my brain is as grey and dreary as the day is - after an evening of freezing rain, followed by some snow, we are left with clouds that have sunk to ground level obliterating the horizon as well as any good cheer.

It's been one and a half weeks since I last wrote… Not only has my muse left me, she slammed the door in my face!

I guess it's all been the usual stuff with the odd appointment with Mom thrown in. Last week I took Mom to her various Wednesday appointments, then Carm and I took a trip to Costco on Thursday (always more expensive when I go!), first dropping off Mom and Dad to the hospital for their appointments. On Friday I joined up with Kirsten to take Mom to her 3 appointments - we made it a bit of a girls day :-) 

So many appointments for all of us!

Mom has 9 radiation treatments left (out of 30) - we are counting down the days. She's not able to eat solids so has been living on meal replacement drinks - of course the weight is sliding off her :-(  I need to nag her! 

We picked up two little fake Christmas trees for the front deck but they looked bare with just fairy lights - a trip to Dollarama fixed that! Some pretty red balls to the rescue! The trees are a bit on the small side but a big improvement over the empty urns…

Sunday Kirsten and Shawn came for lunch, then Monday morning I got a haircut (Jessica). In the afternoon I went to Mom and Dad's to spend the night. Kirsten came too so it was a fun family evening. We took Graham to his MRI appointment late Monday night, then were up early to take Mom to her radiation appointment and visit with her radiologist oncologist. Mom and I went to her hairdresser while Kirsten took Dad for a fun shopping outing. I was anxious to get home as the freezing rain and snow were bearing down on us. I'm getting less stressed about driving but was on the edge of a freakout at the thought of driving in freezing rain…

I've been reading a bit more lately but I'm thinking now that the horribly written book that I just finished reading sucked all the intelligence from my brain. I won't name the book/author but will say that she's had countless best sellers… If I were teaching a creative writing class I would use this book as an example of how telling the story is not as effective as showing the story. It's so repetitive. The last book I read (Girl in Pieces) was the opposite. It was a gripping book that told the story of a girl in a mental health crisis. It made me think and maybe gain compassion which is the best one could ask for in a book!

Last week (or was it the week before?), I made a white bean, sausage, and sweet potato stew which has become one of my favourites - it's super easy and with a few herbs gleaned from the garden (yes, as late as Sunday I was harvesting sage, oregano, and parsley!), is a tasty supper filled with healthy things, excluding the sausage of course!

Awesome!

“my sister”

“cinnamon cake”

“the sun when it shows up”

“getting through a blog post even though my brain is in a fog”