Mixed Bag of News

So, here's a weekend update with a mixed bag of newsy tidbits.

• C had a series of MRIs at the end of December. Two of the three came back negative, which is positive. What I mean is, the MRIs so far don't show any new cancer tumors.
• The MRIs did give a detailed accounting of how much arthritis C is working through, and precisely where. The docs will be turning their attention from teasing out any metastatic tumors to managing arthritis. It's a much more mundane - and reassuring situation, arthritis.
  
• People are calling to see the Stark Street house. That's great!
• M recorded her own composition at music class this last week. I'll post
  it separately. C listened to it with M and the music teacher last
  night. C mentioned that she was impressed with the quality (as a
  partial and proud mom should). The teacher responded that he was rather
  impressed too, that normally compositions don't turn out as nicely as
  this one did.
• I met an old friend after work last week. I'm guessing she'd rather go unidentified in the blog, but we were close through college and for a number of years afterward. It seems that a little time with her was good for my soul, somehow. To speak of our conversation and say "I needed it" isn't accurate. To say "I wanted it" also isn't quite right. I was certainly looking forward to our meeting, and enjoyed seeing her, and I came away a better person for having spent some time together. I'm grateful for that.
  
• R gave a speech to his fifth grade class earlier in the week. It went quite well, i was told.
• We're back to the kind of weather one would expect from January in Portland. Temps int he 40's, grey dull skies, a bit of rain. The monotony is welcome now that we can hold up three weeks of Minnesota-style winter for comparison.
  
• Weather service announced this week that we're in a La Nina year. Again. We had one of those last year, too. La Nina explains why we had snow in Portland in April. We might not be done with the unpredictable cold snaps yet this winter. I'll keep the tire chains within reach.
• C is sick today. Flu sick. Poor thing. It came on suddenly. She started her day fine, but was green and nauseous within the hour. She got through her obligations, vomited a couple times throughout the day, and went to bed when we got back home at 2:30 or so. A couple hours later, she's still sleeping. I really don't expect to hear from her again until morning.
• M returned to ballet classes today. For her, that was a signal of the return to normalcy. I think she was glad to be back. For the rest of the afternoon, I noticed her quietly doing ballet footwork whenever she was being patient for something or someone. Yeah. She's glad to be back.
• We only finished our 2007 taxes six weeks ago, but we're nearly ready to start submitting our paperwork for our 2008 taxes. We haven't been on a proper tax schedule since the cancer diagnosis in 2005. To enter 2009 ready to start filing our return as soon as Jan 31, is a great feeling.
  
• I took down the holiday lights this afternoon. It's good to have that done.
• I have a handful of small household projects to work on over the weekend. Little things like installing vinyl floor moldings along the laundry area to give a finished look there. Minor, really. I like that. We'll do enough big work once moving time comes around.In the meantime, I'm trying to 'rest' whenever and however I can.
  

I don't seem to have much to say that's philosophical or profound at the moment. I'm grateful for many things, and am hopeful, given these crazy, unexpected times. There are many other good things going on that are outside the scope of this blog. Should only a portion of them come to pass, I will feel unusually blessed in these times.