Howdy

Well, it's been a while since I posted, sorry. I just today was able to get my internet going and have been super busy working on my place. It's starting to come together though and feeling more comfortable here every day.

It certainly is different here in Florida... While the scenery and weather are beautiful, it's taking me a little longer to get used to the "attitude" of the some of the Northeast transplants and the retirees with all due respect. It's weird, people are moving at such different paces, I need to find the happy medium. I also have to figure out a way to avoid the superagressive young drivers and the overly defensive older drivers. I'm getting better at yelling obsenities out the window and getting quicker and more clever with my "bird". The other day I flipped it out of my moon roof for extra added effect, ha! It's actually nice to release tension this way, funny. Maybe the New Yorkers have it all figured out. Just let it out and you'll feel better! This includes the car horn which gets used more than anywhere I can remember living. I still tend to believe avoidance is the best policy but that's just me. I mean, do you really have to sneak into that void one lane over going 75 miles an hour just to gain 5 seconds on your commute? And if the person behind that void decides to speed up, should they be subjected to every expletive in the book and 10+ second honk? I'm not so sure but I grew up in the Midwest...

I was thinking the other day, I kinda know what the retired folks are feeling as they enter into their "golden years". There is a sense of entitlement (as there should be) with these folks as they have paid their dues so to speak. I have to admit I selfishly have also felt this sense of entitlment with what I have gone through and with the possibility that my days may be numbered (relatively speaking, I know all of our days are numbered). I also find myself moving at a slower pace, making sure I'm taking all this in.

I have been working pretty hard though for a refractory cancer survivor! Case in point; I found this old oriental type rug at this resale shop I've been frequenting called Faith Farm Ministries. It was sitting out back and I asked the guy what they wanted for it and he said $10! I thought to myself I can't go wrong, it's only $10 right? So, the guy loaded the thing in my car and I took it home thinking it just needs to be cleaned and I've got myself $500 rug. Big mistake... First, I spread it out in the green area adjacent to my condo. I mixed a concoction of pine sol, amonia and baking soda thinking this would kill the germs and any odor it had. So I scrubbed it down with the solution and rolled it back up. I failed to take into account how heavy a wet 10x13 rug is when wet! It was heavy enough when it was dry... So, I managed to somehow drag it into my place and get it unrolled into my living room. That alone was enough to fry every muscle in my body. I had rented a rug doctor and proceeded to extract the moisture and then do two passes with the rug doctor solution. To make a long boring story short, the experiment didn't work! I think some dogs or cats decided to make this carpet their urinal and the thing stunk up my place something awful. I had to get it out here pronto, nasty! Live and learn I guess...

I also decided to cut a hole in my kitchen wall, ha! Still working on that one... I have found some good deals that were keepers (on furniture and such) though. I bought a couch and a loveseat for $20! I used the rug doctor to steam clean em and found some decent couch covers at Big Lot's. Old couches are always more comfortable aren't they? I also found a couple of dressers and some end tables for cheap. I broke down and bought a new rug for my living room from Target. The only thing I need now is a coffee table and possibly a tv stand and I'm good to go.

So, I fly out of here Wednesday morning and have treatment in Detroit on Thursday. I then fly back down here Saturday the 11th until Dec 23rd. It's all fun stuff from here on out as my place will be finished for the most part. Actually I don't mind working on my place but maybe at a slower or more infrequent pace. I've noticed that since I've been sick I need to have order in my surroundings maybe to compensate for the disorder that's going on inside my body (and sometimes my psyche). I already feel more at peace with everything pretty much in place here. As for my body, can't always say the same unfortunately. It's day 18 of my infusion schedule and the body aches are in full effect. I also feel like the lesions on my spine might be getting worse as my back is extra sore. Hoping this is just from me working around here though of course. I have a required CT scan on the 30th and should know more then.

Strange, when I don't write this stuff down, I don't think about it as much. Maybe there is something to be said about going balls to the wall. Oh wait, I already wrote about that before ;) Well, this next experience down here will be more outdoorsy stuff if I have my say (the weather hadn't been cooperating the 4 previous days to this one). Really quick funny story, I decided to go use the pool today to take advantage of the sunshine. So I float down to the bottom of the pool poroise style with my arms at my sides while having my eyes closed. Next thing I'm shocked to feel my chin scraping the bottom of the cement pool, ouch! So now I have a nice little raspberry on my chin, ha! Good excuse to grow a beard or goatee if I can get enough hair to grow on my face (the hair growth has been thinning out since SGN-35, in fact, my legs are skin only now, weird). Anyway, this should add to my nice collection of scars I've accumulated over the last couple of years. You can actually see one on my forhead of the below picture when I got sunburned in Death Valley. I of course have the scars from the biopsies and port placement/removals on my chest. There's a nice one on my arm from a battle with Chili and waiting to see what this turns out like on my chin. For whatever reason, I tend to scar really easily these days... Who needs tattoos right?

Anyway, time for some rest. I'll try and post some pics of my place and scars (ha!) next time.

Later-