Today was such a special day! I’ll never forget it. My wonderful mother-in-law Gale and sister-in-law Jen threw me a special gathering: a “choose joy” lunch. They invited some of my closest friends and family to celebrate a day of love, friendship, encouragement, laughter…..and of course joy.

 

 

I was blown away by the thought and detail that went into everything:

 

 

The table was amazing:

 

My sister-in-law Jen is amazing at party details (remember Thanksgiving?…..or my niece’s cupcake birthday party)….I tell her she needs to start a business doing it….but she just likes to do it for friends and family:

 

 

The weather was beautiful and eating outdoors at Augusta Restaurant (in Palm Desert) was perfect with a guitar playing and a french speaking waiter!

 

I was so excited to see everyone! Seriously….I could barely sleep last night!

 

Some of my closest friends were there…..and our waiter commented on how he could tell it was such a nice group of women:

 

 

It was a table of laughter and new friendships too…….some of my friends were meeting each other for the first time:

 

Here’s the table-decorator-extraordinaire herself….Jen:

 

 

Jen and Gale asked everyone to bring gifts of comfort…..so I joked that it was my “cancer shower” haha. Gale said “let’s call it a comfort shower“…..that sounds nicer 🙂

 

Gale, Me, and Jen:

 

 

My sister-in-law Christy surprised me and flew in from Georgia!

 

Gale making a toast…..

 

…..and then making me teary:

 

 

Gale surprised everyone at the luncheon with a Choose Joy necklace:

 

Everyone was so excited that it disrupted the entire restaurant…..we all laughed really hard over that:

 

Starting to open up gifts I got really overwhelmed and emotional that so much love and support was there:

 

 

Every gift was so thoughtful and perfect. I was overwhelmed!  There were magazines, pjs, scarves, comfy blankets, healing teas, essential oils, comfy clothes, books, snacks, devotionals, journals, sharpies….even a cooler full of gourmet homemade frozen soups!

 

My step-aunt Nancy came down for the day which was wonderful since she is usually with Cole, my step-cousin who is healing from a traumatic car wreck. She even stopped to bring me some fresh donuts!

 

Mr. LBB and Boo made a quick appearance to say hi:

 

Lisa took all the wonderful photos. Thank you Lisa!

 

My friend Jenn made all the bows into a bouquet….and I threatened to throw it and everyone yelled NO!!!! I guess no one else wants cancer…..we all got a good laugh about that.  I think I’ll save it and burn it once this is all over with:

 

I’m am truly blessed to be surrounded by such love. It was just a small luncheon…..there are so many others, including all of you out there, that have been so supportive and encouraging. I’ve never once felt alone in this journey. So thank you for that. And to Gale and Jen……thank you from the bottom of my heart for my “shower”……it was truly a day of joy and fun!  I love you so much!!!

 

 

 

Well, even though I had over 8 hours of chemotherapy dripping away yesterday I woke up feeling really great! My friend Shari of Soren Lorensen Design is in town for the Palm Springs Art Festival and Lisa and I met her bright and early at my favorite breakfast joint Keedy’s:

 

Yesterday was a long day!

 

 

I sat next to the nicest man…..Mr. W. We talked almost the whole time about life, food, travel, what we would do if we won lottery…oh he DID WIN the lottery once…..so cool!  I think I met my match in joyfulness. He has the best spirit. He has been widowed twice due to cancer. His current wife had a radio show as a matchmaker…..man he told some great stories. The most touching story? his first wife put together a book of all his favorite recipes to pass them on. He told me when he left that his day was better having sat next to me…..but I think my day was perfect having sat next to him!

So I got my big bag of neon yellow Methotrexate……the nurses said the back of my bald head was neon yello when I left. My white blood cell count fell from 9,000 to 3,000 this week…..that’s still really high! I have no idea why they stay so high. Seriously. Dr. L is surprised too. Maybe it’s donuts. These drugs like to eat everything in sight in the body….ever see the movie The Blob? That’s what it reminds me of. The great thing is my skin is super clear and I used to get these small cold sores on the side of my mouth when I was run down…..but the chemo has eaten all that up too.

I just felt achy last night and Boo and I watched cartoons until about 8:30 while Mr. LBB worked late. Boo and I played Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. Never heard of it? Watch the video….it’s awesome:

Anecdotal evidence suggests that in a game of Rock Paper Scissors that players familiar with each other will tie 75-80% of the time due to the limited number outcomes….I suggest Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock.

 

 

 

My HCG (tumor marker) number came back and it’s holding steady at 2. At least it didn’t go up right?! The tumors in my pelvis sure are stubborn. I’m still convinced there just isn’t a huge blood supply to them so maybe that’s why they aren’t shrinking like they should. Think zero for next week!

Now I’m resting. I tried to work on my button painting for a bit but just too tired today. Maybe later.  Have a great one!