Happy Birthday Ellie

I went up to bed around 1AM only to find Nick and Rob snoring together in our bed. I moved Nick out of our bed and got into a warmed spot. Nick woke up cranky this morning. Ellie was playing on the computer when I came down - I made her some breakfast and Nick and I sang Happy Birthday to her. I helped her get all her things ready for school - forgot to remind her to take gym shoes - oh well. Ellie got off to the bus and we got Nick ready for school. I guess I really sprung the clocks ahead because we were about 10 minutes early to school this morning.
I was able to leisurely shop at Target this morning. I found tons of stationary and party clearance - I am always so excited when that final markdown occurs and I get to stock up. I picked up some of the food I need for Ellie's party on Saturday and other basic things we are running low on. I went over to Mom's to pick her up - her car was in the shop today. As Mom and I were ready to walk out the door my cousin, John rang the bell. He was out running and stopped by to say hi. We got to visit for a couple minutes before we needed to leave to pick-up Nick from school.
Mom and I picked Nick up from school - the cranky mood continued. We went to our house to have lunch and then I was off to my appointment with Dr. Mendoza-Temple. My appointment was not as fruitful as I had hoped - turns out I shouldn't worry about detoxing my liver from chemo. She did add alpha-lipoic acid to my supplement list for neuropathy. She also informed me the nerves are very slow to heal so I could figure anywhere between 6-12 months to fully be rid of the effects - how fun.
I stopped by the new cupcake store in the Glen to pick up some dessert for tonight. FYI - the cupcakes are very moist but nothing you couldn't do at home - the same chocolate cupcake for all the cake portion just different frosting on top for almost $3.00 a cupcake. I came home and Mom and Nick were cuddling on the couch finishing the movie - Hannah Montana - Nick just likes the Hoedown Throw down part. Nick and I walked down to get Ellie from the bus - the brownies were a hit at school.
Ellie and Mom looked through her book order - Grams can't say no to books. Mom helped Ellie with her spelling and then the kids showed off the new cabinet in the basement and Ellie's new dollhouse. I did some research on the dollhouse and it seems it might have been manufactured in the 1940s - pretty cool it has held up so well. Rob came home and did something magical for Ellie and Nick. Apparently Ellie and Rob talked about gold dollar coins last night and Rob thought it would be fun to set up a treasure hunt for Ellie's birthday. Somehow he managed to pick up 9 gold dollars at school today, as well as a few $2.00 bills for Nick. When he got home he quickly hid the coins around the living room and told Ellie to find them - she was so excited. He then hid the $2.00 bills for Nick to find.
I drove Mom home and then came back home. Rob said he was hungry and ready for dinner so we headed off to Red Robin for Ellie's birthday dinner. While I was dropping Mom off, I guess there was some pretty big noise in house. When I came home and heard the noise I knew what it was but Rob and the kids were sure an animal was in the house - it was the off center load of laundry in the washer leading the washer to 'walk' and make a bunch on noise. I have to say it might have been our last birthday at Red Robin. The restaurant was pretty empty and dinner was a bit less than typical, the waitress bought us our bill without asking about dessert. When I said we were interested in dessert and inquired about kids sundaes it was like I triggered her to recall we were there for a birthday and said she would bring our a sundae for Ellie. No one sang to Ellie - they usually call a group of servers over to sing and present the sundae. There were no balloons - we apologized to Ellie because it was a bit lackluster.
We came home and had our cupcakes and lit some birthday candles and sang to Ellie. We all liked a different cupcake - Rob and I liked the chocolate cheesecake, Nick liked the birthday cake and Ellie liked the mint. We took the kiddos up to have a bath and get ready for bed. We got the kids to bed and then Rob and I watched some tv - I so miss Parenthood on Tuesday nights. Late night tv is a rerun once again - bummer.
Hands and feet are still in the tingly phase that they might be in for a while, I guess. My mouth is in the same tingly stage. The good news is that Dr. Mendoza said she was not concerned about my liver enzyme levels and said they weren't as high as she thought they might be after chemo - that is good news because I now know I can have a glass of wine occasionally again. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree