I don't have a title for this one

I'm still recovering from Friday's chemo treatment. It really did a number on me this time, though I'm not sure why since my doc reduced the amount of the drugs I got in order to increase the frequency of administration. Whatever. It's a mystery I'm still learning to let go.
I'm also still learning to let go of the feeling that I absolutely MUST be DOING something every single day! It's okay if I take one day off, especially if it's a Sunday, where I lie around and do nothing because I feel like I got run over by a large truck. But then the next day rolls around and I still feel like I need to get up and get going and accomplish something...or else!
What I keep asking myself, though, is: Or else what?!?! I'll get in trouble? I'll get grounded? I won't be able to sleep that night because I wasn't active enough during the day (Pete has brought my attention to the fact that that is no longer the case since I have no trouble getting to sleep most nights!)? I don't know what it is (okay, I actually do) but I still inflict this strong sense of guilt on myself if I don't accomplish every day. Though it is getting better. The guilt is subsiding the more I think about it.
Yesterday I finally came to terms with the fact that, unless I have an appointment to keep, I am not really able to be up and energetic in the mornings until about 10:30 or 11. Yesterday I kept falling asleep as I ate breakfast and other such relaxing morning routines so I asked Pete for "permission" to take it easy all day (sometimes this helps me let go of the self-inflicted unnecessary guilt) and of course he said to "go for it." As soon as I had his permission (which I know I really don't need), I was up and moving and full of energy all of a sudden! Not manic and crazily cleaning out every corner of the house. Just up and able to work on some of the items on my daily to-do list. I move slowly and gently with my body as I do these things but I was able to get quite a bit done.
So I've accepted that fact that even though I get up around 7am most mornings, I'm really not active until 11. No big deal.

My legs are swelling up again so I'm doubling up my diuretic (per doctor's approval, of course). Blah blah blah...enter list of repeated side effects here. BOrrrrring!

In other news I'm getting a new laptop tomorrow. That is, if Dell didn't lie to me when they told me it would be delivered on the 10th! *cross fingers*

I am now an avid/obsessed fan/collector of Fiestaware dishes and such accessories! Being as OCD as I am, though, I had to get 8 4-piece diningware sets to start off with; each in a different color: tangerine, sunflower, shamrock, peacock, plum, cobalt, scarlet (!!), lemongrass. And a simple scarlet-colored S&P shaker set. Each diningware set is MSRP'ed at $48 but I've found a website that sells them at half price (brand new and in their original boxes, of course!) and sometimes Kohl's or Macy's has a BOGO sale on them, which is almost like paying half price. All the other pieces I want I will just keep an eye on when/if they happen to cross my path. Also, they can serve as great items to fill my Christmas lists!

The gnat infestation of our home is now under control. The kitchen turned into a greenhouse for well over a week as I replaced the top inch or two of soil in each potted plant with new, MICROWAVED (in order to kill the gnats that came in the new soil) soil. I also transplanted a couple into new pots to further their growth. And then Pete brought home a new one (a palm) from Home Depot which was, of course, already harboring a healthy amount of its own gnats! Repotted that one with sanitized, gnat-free soil. We hung up fly-catcher tapes around the house to catch any that lingering guys that are/were still flying around. I ended up having to just take all the plants outside and spraying them down with that pesticide I mentioned in an earlier post. That is, after I did all the other treatments. Here's a tip: DO NOT use the isoprophyl alcohol-in-the-soil technique I mentioned in that post! Apparently I used too much in one of my favorite plants (a peace lily) and caused it to waver on the brink of death for a few days until I removed that newly treated soil and replaced it with clean, gnat-free and alcohol-free soil. A couple days later it began perking up again! Yay!
I love my green thumbs!
Pete also brought home a tiny pot of Venus Fly traps but now that we don't have any gnats to feed it, I'm not sure how it will survive! Time will tell, I suppose.

Coming up:
Tuesday the 15th I see my doctor for a regular visit and I have a routine CT scan
Friday the 19th I'm back in for another round of chemo...then back onto that two-week schedule, as long as my "counts" are good enough.

I'll be back as soon as I get my new puter and it's up and running! Oh boy!