finally the weekend

it was a relief in so many ways that friday night ended and saturday began.

it was a scramble to get stuff done for stories this week. in addition to two assigned stories, two more fell on my lap, one tuesday and one thursday, which set me back in finishing a story i wanted to get done earlier in the week.

plus, i had to set up a photo for a harry potter story for monday's paper and finish up writing the story. i panicked because of all the people in the story i needed, i didn't have a firm committment from a young reader. i ended up getting two of them on monday. i scrambled to coordinate six people for the HP picture. that was tough because they all had to be there at the same time.

both of these things got done but ultimately i was left tired and HP'd out. i finished a story last friday for life&style and then i still need to write one more from the section monday to run next friday. too much HP.

my gum is recovering nicely, thank you very much. it took a week and a half but it's all good now. i can open my mouth wide and feel no pain in the area where i was cut. the little flap of gum/skin is healing nicely. i figure in another two weeks it'll be in good shape.

work didn't end until the very end last night, too. there was some ammonia leak situation really late last night at request foods, people were evacuated and hazmat was brought in. but we heard nothing about a "real" leak. we i got a ride over there and it turned out to be minor, accordin to a cop there.

tuesday i had to go back to my dentist to get a few more fillings done. i don't mind the work, but i do mind the little injections put into my gums. it's a little pinch, then the poke. i don't like it. i had numb areas of my mouth and it was unpleasant. now, i have just a filling to go in the area where the tooth was removed. the dentist said the area was still too tender to work on it. thank god because i think it would have been plenty painful.

still, the week did have high points, including a nice card night wednesday. we played until 4 a.m. time flew and we all had a good time. we needed it, i think. it was chock-ful of good mixes of conversations, both joking and serious good comraderie. jason even brought his rising sauce. ha ha

dad update

it's been awhile sinc i've written anything cancer-related about my dad. sometimes i just don't feel like facing his situation.

yesterday, though, we got really good news, after he'd heard some really bad news. here's the skinny.

earlier in the day on tuesday the nurse came over and was taking blood frm him.no one was home except for my dad. she couldn't take a second sample,or was having trouble. so she proceeds to tell my dad that his cancer marker was up. that really depressed him. he told my mom and things were pretty bad.

want to know what's a problem herer? well, the idiot nurse had no business telling my dad anything about where his cancer marker level was. it is the doctor's responsibility. i was a bit upset over that.

so yesterday they went to the doctor and instead of hearing bad news, he told them the cancer marker was at 39, down about 30 points. apparently my dad had a huge smile on his face. they told the doctor about the nurse and he was upset because it wasn't her place to say anything. and besides, she had the wrong information.

i am so glad the chemo is working. i know it takes a toll on his body but if he's willing to continue, that's fine. and i think the news yesterday helped out a lot. my dad doesn't smille much these days, so i'm happy he did.

on another note, a cute one this time. emma said the word "no." an interesting word for the bratty cute child. she knows words like pamper and knows when she needs to be changed or time for a bath. but she'd not said the word "no" before. linda was excited. when arnold came home and found out, he asked emma to say no. all she did was shake her head instead. it looks like it's going to be on her terms. that's why it makes it all the more interesting that she chose the word "no" to say. i love it.