While I Was Gone...

I had my 30,000th visitor here and it was none other than my wonderful friend, Kirsten.

Hello, my friend! What a great name you have.

Kirsten also has a blog, the delightful Sew Lovely that chronicles her crafty adventures on beautiful Bowen Island here in BC. Be sure to check out the adorable gnome garden she recently created for her
sweet son, Logan.

I want a gnome garden!

Having just returned home from a week-long retreat, with time spent hiking in the woods, I remembered all the time I spent imagining fairies in my own childhood gardens. I'm sure they visited.

Now what's visiting is an expectant mama skunk who keeps "off-gassing" outside our window. We don't have the heart to evict her from her burrow in our front yard with her impending arrival so near, but it is making Finnegan crazy and us nauseated. Not to mention, I had chemo yesterday and today.

Pass the Ondansetron.

Hopefully, this round will go as smoothly as the last, though I had a few random barfs while away last week. I'm set to scan again on June 17th.

These past few months have been a time of many sad endings and beautiful beginnings, as all time is, I suppose. More friends lost, found, diagnosed, in remission, stable and dying. I lost my grandma too.

More babies, moves, renos and weddings.

More nature, more music, more writing.

It has been a period of relative "stability" for me, so I continue trying to figure out how best to live meaningfully in this circumstance I find
myself in.

Lucky for me, I have many dear hearts - yours - near and far, to help me do this.

Techno Sabbatical

Ok, I've been seriously neglecting my computer.

The emails in my inbox are so fed up, they're considering sending themselves elsewhere, to someone who will actually reply to them.

Sorry about that.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE hearing from everyone, but it seems our run of good weather here on the west coast has most of us out enjoying it, and the last place I want to be is on my laptop.

My cyber neglect is, however, a good sign that I'm feeling well. This third round of Bendamustine has gone smoothly and I am set to have the fourth round on the 23rd and 24th. I will have my next scan toward the end of June.

My oncologist is also looking ahead, which is far preferable to the former "sorry, the tool box is empty" approach we have, at times, experienced. We are aiming to stretch the use of the Bendamustine out to try and get in the maximum six rounds. My bone marrow is already showing signs of fatigue though so, hopefully, it and me will be able to have a little rest before the next course of chemo.

With that in mind, I am heading off again tomorrow on a Callanish alumni retreat with fine friends, amazing food, and plenty of time to reflect and write about this path I am on. I look forward to it, but it's certainly no walk in the park.

Ironically, while I'm unplugged, it looks like I'll hit my 30,000th visitor here in the blogosphere. Albeit, 29,950 of those visits are probably from my mom, but if you happen to scroll down to the bottom of this page and discover you've hit the magic number, do drop me a line so I can at least give you honorable mention.

Thank you to all of you near and far who continue to accompany me on this journey. I have been the recipient of more kindness than one could ever ask for and it has profoundly touched my life. Like this wee video confirms, it can, indeed, change the world too.