Monday Funday

Rob went up early last night and left me to watch our usual Sunday night tv - I stayed up until around midnight and then fell asleep on the couch until 4. I went upstairs to sleep but it took a while to fall back to sleep. I was amazed to find that Nick slept in until almost 8 this morning - not bad for falling asleep a bit before 7 last night. I went downstairs to find Ellie had already eaten her breakfast and I fixed her lunch. Ellie got dressed and I did a load of laundry before I heard Nick calling for me. Ellie walked to the bus stop while I got Nick his breakfast and got dressed myself.
Nick asked if he had school today and I said yes and then he went into this big story of how he couldn't have school because one of the teachers wouldn't be there - I told him he had school. At 8:30 he turned the tv off and said let's go - wow, I am not sure what has happened but it happened at the exact right time because there is absolutely no way I could have wrestled this kiddo to school this past week. We got in the car to drive to school and got there and none of the parents were around - we went inside and I was invited in to see their new toy. It threw Nick off a bit because he is used to saying goodbye to me outside and here I was inside. And wouldn't you know that he was right and there was a substitute teacher this morning. I was pleasantly impressed though since I don't get to see their normal morning routine - Nick finds his cubbie and hands his coat up by himself and then he finds and moves his name over from the class list to the table. The new toy is this huge wooden loft - that really increases their classroom space. Nick's eyed it up and down and got a huge smile on his face but didn't want to go up on it right away. I kissed him and we said goodbye.
I went over to Mom's house - we really had no plans but knew we would do something. We ended up going to Meijer's - mom still hadn't been to the one in Niles so we went to do a bit of shopping. It was good - I was able to pick up stuff for lunches and dinner tonight. I feel badly because I haven't been real good about stocking fruit since I cannot eat it but I picked up watermelon and blackberries for dinner. I really like the Meijer's better in Michigan it is a much bigger store there but it wasn't too bad for a quick grocery run this morning. We picked Nick up from school and went to Mom's house for lunch.
Mom fixed Nick a plate of ham, fruit and yogurt but Nick had snacked in the car on the way to Mom's so it took a bit to eat lunch. I heated up a bowl of Mom's delicious chicken noodle soup and Mom heated up the spinach and cheese pies from last night, too. We had a relaxing afternoon looking through magazines for recipe ideas as well as Christmas gift ideas. I was able to nod off for about a half hour before it was time for Nick and I to come home to get Ellie. It was beautiful this afternoon - I so want a repeat of today for Saturday - fingers crossed. Nick and I moved our leaf pile further into the street in preparation for Skokie leaf guys tomorrow. If you have never had the pleasure of witnessing the Skokie leaf guys - well it is a sight to see. They use pretty much every truck Skokie has available and the little bobcat leaf collector is like hopped up on Red Bull when he weaves in and out of the cars parked on the street to collect all the leaf piles and move them to the intersections. Then the huge front loader comes and scoops up the leaves and loads them into the waiting dump trucks - it is hours of entertainment for children and adults. Anyhow - unless the leaf piles are out from the curb the little leaf collecting bobcat pushes them onto the grass instead of scooping them and then you have more work to do - so I moved the pile further into the street.
Nick and I walked down to get Ellie and then she started her homework on the stairs while Nick played with his truck. We raked for a bit longer before heading inside so Ellie could finish up homework and Nick could get a drink. When Rob came home Ellie and I quickly dashed off for a walk - I think we probably did about 1.75 miles today - not a clocked route so I am not sure of the distance but we were able to do it in just over 30 minutes. I did realize today that I will definitely not be running any part of the race on Saturday - we needed to run across Crawford and it hurt the second step into it. We came home and Rob and Nick were heading in from the garage - Rob took Nick up for a bath while Ellie played a bit downstairs. I started cooking and it smelled so good - pasta alfredo (thanks Terese for your sauce recipe) with some broccoli, buttered broiled toasts, watermelon and blackberries.
We had a nice dinner together - Ellie and I both had seconds of the pasta - I guess we had worked up an appetite walking tonight. We promised the kids movie night if they finished their dinner and they did so I put in a dvd and took the spare time to run up and shower - the liquid bandage it peeling off and is incredibly itchy and annoying and I was hoping to get more of it rinsed off. So, about 2 weeks post xeloda course my feet have begun to peel - I really thought I was going to avoid this because I was on an abbreviated course but it doesn't look that way. I just hope the pain doesn't come with the peeling this time and I will be able to get through the race on Saturday and a couple more walks this week. I noticed that my hands have a more pink appearance but the dark spots have returned to the exact same spots on the one hand. I was able to work most of the liquid bandage off the collarbone incision - I am not touching the port still hurts to touch it. It was another day of it not throbbing in pain though - I hope soon I won't notice it at all.
We finished up the movie night and I clipped the kids nails - Rob took Nick up and Ellie played on the computer and then she went up. Dancing with the Stars is on and it is good this week so I am going to wrap this up so I can finish watching it. Visualising my healthy body and the continued healing of my body and the new normal me - whomever that shall be - Tree