Best Day Since the Operation

A Bakersfield friend/former colleague and temple goer (and former Buffalonian) e-mailed me today about a co-worker in the Kern High School District who had melanoma which had spread to 2 or 3 lymph nodes. She was treated and has been cancer free. And that was 15 years ago. What further gains in cancer treatment have there been since then? Personally THIS BLOG has been most helpful to me, by keeping me informed as to people who have themselves and known others loved who have overcome cancer. For that I'm SO grateful.

This blog medium is so new that they didn't have the benefits of not feel relatively isolated during their ordeal. Is that why today was so good? Well in a way yes, because the soothing of the mind is so important for wellbeing. ....HOWEVER....Today's also about what came through the door:

1. from John's sister and her family....YUM - EDIBLE fruit bouquet with "tons" of dark chocolate on pineapple, orange, and apple slices; on grapes and strawberries; and mmmmmmm white chocolate covered banana chunks (you all gotta try this someday if you haven't ...and please don't wait to be "ill" to do it.) I'm thinking that's why I only needed 200mg of Ibuprofen once all day- I think the chocolate took the pain away.

2. A fun visit from one of my longest-time friends. Since clothing buttoned around my waist hurts, she shopped at TJ Max and chose about 6 or 7 dresses, with the idea of also matching my chartreuse Crocs and tote bag. As bad as chartreuse Crocs and chartreuse tote bag sounds, she managed to make me feel feminine and cute. We then went out for - I had Chai tea, and NO aching torso. Nancy chose so well that I'm keeping 4 of those outfits. This evening the parents of my Bakersfield friend, Holley, (from the first paragraph above) came over to where I'm staying, to chat, to share some chocolate covered fruit, and with make-up on and one of my new - reduced to $7.00 dresses, I felt (almost) great.

3. This afternoon, beautiful flowers from dear Bakersfield colleagues arrived. I edited some photos of these and the chocolate fruits (which I'll try to get into this blog), and am thinking about starting back at art tomorrow- maybe a watercolor of orange and yellow flowers. That would be traditional; OR should I turn the fruit bouquet into a watercolor? Wouldn't the French painter, Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) have done that with his still lifes if the franchise "Edible Arrangements" had been around then?- barring the cost of such a luxury!