In the Thick of It

Hello friends, back to me again after another terrific guest post from Karyn.  It was so nice having her here this weekend!  Just spending time with her one-on-one was a treat as it doesn't happen that often!  It was great to chat with her about work, family, life, Bertha, and everything in between.  She also makes a mean grilled cheese, chicken and dumplings, turkey burger, and chocolate chip cookie!  I can't thank her enough.

Here's a pic of Sunday's "activities":

Lots of laying...

Typical Sunday of a bit of soreness, tiredness, and overall malaise. This continued into Monday...fortunately, I didn't have any work obligations until giving an exam at 4:30 pm so spend the morning in bed, alternating between working and napping.  Not a bad plan really.  I was still pretty worked when I proctored the exam (students seemed more miserable than me...not sure if that's a good thing or not).  

I was taken aback when leaving campus, I was nearly blindsided by a car that blew through a red light ~25-30 mph and nearly took out my driver's side.  I guess I can be grateful for the fact my brain was working a little slow and I hesitated on my green light.

Unfortunately Monday ended up on another sad note when my mom called and shared really sad and tragic news from the St. Louis family...a freak deer-in-the-road car accident resulting in a life taken way too early, of a vibrant 17 year old cousin (2nd, 3rd, twice removed, who knows).  My heart goes out to them, and unfortunately it was a stark reminder that life really can be short, and that as hard as all this is, it still is life and that is not to be taken for granted.

My mom, fresh off her trip from Ireland and Scotland (which was fantastic!) shared that she sort of feels like she's in a real run of bad luck....

and while I can see what she means, I also told her that when you're blessed with a lot of people you love and that love you, you're bound to have to experience the hurt...

Not sure when I became the optimist of us too, but in my sleepiness at 10 pm it made sense :)

Today (Tuesday) was honestly a bit of a struggle as well, despite going to bed with the aforementioned optimism.  I was tired, I got all sweaty and was having serious thermoregulatory issues mid-day.  Having to teach statistics probably didn't really help...

I was tired.  I know I get to be because of the chemo but still, it made me feel weak.  It took a lot to tell myself it was ok to sit in my chair and not use my standing desk setup.  And it took A LOT out of me to take a few minutes and chill before my last meeting.

Yes that's a yoga mat, and yes, that's my office.

Even just "resting" for 5 minutes really helped.  It also helped that my last meeting of the day was with Honors students who were appreciative of my efforts to help them and generally seemed enthusiastic about learning.  

Heading to the running store after didn't seem so hard after all.  Meanwhile, my BFF Alexis took the cancer diagnosis "public" on facebook.  It's been AMAZING to see all the positive and heartfelt comments from everyone.  I can't thank everyone enough.  

Speaking of support, I'll leave with this lovely card I got today: