Say What?

OK, I went searching for a good quote to sum up my attitude about the fluidity of scheduling changes occurring nearly hour by hour around here.  Instead, I found a great one that sums up how I SHOULD feel and I'm going with it.

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

~Lao Tzu

So here's the deal...

We heard from the nurse coordinator today who said I could be admitted to the hospital tomorrow.  We were just getting used to having some down time and were planning how we could spend a few days unshackled by all things cancer.  A few choices:  Arboretum, Zoo, movie matinee, walks around one or more of the lakes.  So, OK, we'll change our plans.  We can look forward to doing those things and more when I'm recovering.

But wait--we received another call a little while later telling us that I can't be admitted until Friday. This seems to be their Final Answer.  If it changes, we'll let you know, but we're planning on Friday.

Rob went with fresh over frozen so he's on his way back to the lodge.  We assume he'll start his growth factor shots on Friday.

In the meantime, we going to try visiting our son at Cause, a bar and live music venue, where he is head sound tech.  Haven't reached him yet, but he usually works on Wednesdays.  Then tomorrow, depending on the weather, we will try to get to the Arboretum.  

We have met some wonderful people here (John calls it the Resort; I call it the Home) who are in various stages of treatment  for various types of cancer.  There are quite a few people who are recovering from blood and marrow or stem cell transplants.  I am an inveterate people watcher, some might say voyeur, and there is no dearth of opportunity here.  But what I love the most is hearing their stories: what their disease is, where they're from, how long they've been here, how they cope, their families, their interests, their lives before cancer.  Smiles and friendly greetings are abundant.  If one wanted to be grumpy, one would find it difficult to accomplish when the energy/synergy of the place is so doggone sunshiney.  How can you HARRUMPH when a woman wearing a brightly colored scarf on her barely disguised bald head reminds you that there are caramel rolls made fresh that morning by a woman who has had a laryngectomy.  I mean, the positivity is positively positive, of that I'm positive!

Today John and I took a little ride down Grand Avenue in St. Paul.  There's a little fair trade boutique called Coat of Many Colors that I used to like to visit in the Macalaster College neighborhood.  The store didn't have much inventory today, but I did manage to buy a couple of trinkets for old times sake.  Then we had lunch at a tiny shishkebab place in the same neighborhood.  We both love the ambiance of a college campus which is what we also like about being at the U.  We're small town folks who like a taste of the big city now and then.


Oh, I had a funny thought today.  I was sitting in the common lunch area when a group of high school girls in their cute little plaid uniforms (and way shorter than we girls at Good Counsel were allowed to wear our uniforms which were definitely not cute in any way -- I briefly wondered what they would do if I measured their skirts from hem to floor like the nuns did to us) marched in and took their places at some tables for some kind of volunteer card making service project.  I speculated that the old men wandering into the lunchroom--namely one John Dorn--would think they had died and gone to heaven!

Time to sign off, but first, while I was searching for a good quote about change, I found this one, not really about change, but noteworthy nonetheless:
 

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” ~Unknown 

I would add that the life one leads should include following one's passions, like driving around the state looking for water towers.  Our grandson, Kyle, had such a passion last year, so Grandma and Grandpa indulged him by chauffeuring him from town to town finding and photographing the structures, which we found out are greatly diverse in size and shape with interesting logos.

Kyle really wanted to visit the village of Butternut because he liked its name.  Butt-er-nut, with the emphasis on the first syllable when you are a seven-year-old boy.  We had never actually been to Butternut, so let's go!  Well, as I recall, all it is is a house, maybe a grain elevator and some abandoned buildings.  No water tower.  But then we saw this little replica, yard art really, on the property where the only house stood.  It was a big day for tiny things!