Story 1April: Chemo and No Fooling

The night lasted until 2AM, so I was finally up at 8:45, having proved hydration a few times and going back into an exhausted sleep. There are forgotten dreams that are not nightmares. I slowly get started knowing that I have the whole morning to prepare for the day.

I write a blog and manage a banana and a nearly stale donut for breakfast. Then, I take two hours to write the blog, throw on clothing, drive Corwin to work, and return to writing. Time is flying for me.

I decided soup and a sandwich with a bit of potato salad will be lunch. I warm up Lobster Bisque from Whole Food, a bit decedent, use up the shaved ham and add a bit of salami for the sandwich. I microwave the meat for 45 seconds, so it is warm. Mustard and bread finish the sandwich. The soup was just OK. The scoop of potato, cold, is welcome as eating cold foods now is a treat.

I shower and dress and contact Dan. He will pick me up to see Susie. Unfortunately, his wife, Janice, is ill and can not join us. I cut some rosemary in bloom for Dan and Janice to enjoy. I collected the flowers, also from Whole Food, that I bought a few days ago to take to Susie when I could. Dan is a few minutes late, but soon we are headed to Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center, found at 3900 Pacific Highway, Room 44A.

We arrive in Dan’s plug-in hybrid Subaru without incident and soon pass the Covid-19 checks.

Susie is in bed, looks comfortable, and is happy to see us. We chat for a bit, and we manage a FaceTime call to Leta, Susie’s mother. I changed the flowers. I also checked with the nurse, Sarah, and there are no issues with Susie.

Dan and I then head off for a New York City-sized block walk to the Pink Spoon for frozen yogurt. I managed the walk, but it was more challenging than I had hoped. I am much weaker for this last chemotherapy cycle–but it is the last!.

Dan and I enjoyed some perfect mix–I went with cheesecake and strawberry mixture. However, we did look askance at the avocado flavor. Dan suggested it needed chips to go with it.

The place was busy and had tables and high ceilings. I decided to sit inside, believing that sitting near the door and the high ceilings should provide some protection from Convid-19. Social distancing must be a habit now as everyone, even the folks not masked, kept to about 6 feet distances.

There was a non-dairy mango flavor that Dan added to a cone cup to take back to Janice. I poured the cheesecake and strawberry for Susie into a cup with just a touch of chopped strawberries. So we walked back, and I felt better now fortified with yogurt, and the walk was more manageable.

Susie had some yogurt, and the rest was put in the frig until dinner. We then headed out as Susie was yawning, and It was nearing 4PM.

Dan dropped me off at the house. I decided to rest a bit and awoke at about 5:30. Corwin had already ordered Mexican food. I was hoping to cook some of the food I bought, but that was now moved to Saturday afternoon.

I read and watched some excellent videos on YouTube on naval history. I also looked for some new music. I try to find something special for every day now. I post that on FaceBook.

My Kickstarter for the next add-on for the board game Architect of the West Kingdom arrived yesterday. I managed to get all the content of three boxes into the new super box yesterday. While it is strange to buy a box, having a board game scattered in three different boxes makes playing the game harder. Also, forgetting one of the boxes might mean you can not play the game. Then there is the problem of leaving a box behind when you pack up. Thus, the big box is an improvement.

Tonight I unboxed it all again and then took all the extras cards and meeples and distributed them into the decks and bags of player meeples. This means the additions will have to be played, and like many of Garphill’s games, the additions smooth out the mechanics and makes it a better game. Too often, board game add-ons are expensive and just bring more rules and mechanics that make a simple good game a mess. I did watch some videos about the newest add-on that brings in monument building, and the reviewers increased the rating of the game from silver to gold by including all the add-ons into the game.

Architects of the West Kingdom is one of the newer games that bring in better ideas into gaming. Just place a worker, meeple, and do something. But the more meeples in the location give more and more resources. But you need to get them back, and your fellow players can arrest your meeples, which makes them even more challenging to get back. You need the meeples to raise resources and build the cool buildings you have plans for to gain points with the ruler. Also, your virtue is important so maybe work on the cathedral to score points. But, the black market is an excellent shortcut, but damages your virtue. It is easy to play a board game, but it is hard to win and grasp all the mechanics. My fav type of game.

Turning to Spring, The China Rose, ‘Old Blush,’ already shows tiny buds–it usually blooms first and last. I have sprinkled plant food on the roses in the front to help them get started. The sunny weather is driving them to burst out any moment, and the food should help. Old Blush is one of my oldest roses used by growers to create new roses. It is a very basic rose and usually can only be purchased from old rose growers.

Two rose bushes in the back are showing stress. I will see if I can get some food for them too. The CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU shows a lot of stress and is an old rose and nearly impossible to find. So I need to take some action to make it happy again, and it blooms once, so it is vital to make it happy now!

I went to bed early and read and did not really sleep, as is usual, until 2AM. I took my pills at 10PM, and the side effects woke me up for a while.

No April fools this year. Just a nice day. Excellent!