Looks to be a busy morning...

... with Jolea leaving today. She's packed and her luggage it's sitting at the foot of our bed...? She said she didn't have enough room in her room to spread everything out. So she spread it all out in here. My eyebrows hurt from trying to think this through.

Her flight is at 11 this morning so we'll leave here around 9... I'm glad she moved it from Thursday, but now she's kicking herself for not going sooner. Seems she missed out on two really good opportunities. It will all work out. Everything happens for a reason. So she missed out on a boat that was to be chartered by someone famous, someone who had been in a movie that involved convicts and airplanes... maybe he'll decide to switch boats. I'd be afraid I'd be dumbstruck if I had to be around anyone famous. Like that commercial where the lady is in the elevator with Mary J Blige. I trip over my tongue and drop an oyster in their lap. No thank you... give me ordinary folks. I'd hate to find out they were real butt heads too when all along I had been admiring them. You never know how people are going to act when they are out in the middle of the ocean and they think no one is watching. But still it would be cool to say "I spent two weeks on a boat with....."

I know she'll feel much better once she gets out to Ft. Lauderdale and gets back in her element. It's been great having her here. She's kept herself busy from time to time with our house keeping. I really appreciate it! I don't blame her for leaving now.... Jeff can be pretty high maintenance for a guy who is so laid back. He'll never do the detail work that Jolea did while she's been here.

On to Jody ----- He's about half way through the Radiation. He's had 9 treatments as of yesterday. He keeps telling me "tomorrow I'll not be able to eat." Then tomorrow comes and he does eat. Do you think he's trying to warn me or prepare himself?

We had planned to have pizza last night for Jolea's last dinner at home. Jody said he wouldn't be able to handle pizza. The radiation has started making his throat very dry and sore. Normally he gets thin crust pizza, he likes his pizza so thin it's like a saltine cracker, they should call it Cracker Style... but then maybe not. They would have grief from someone saying they were being racist... never mind. Back to the pizza... Jolea and I were going to try the Pannormous Pizza. I guess they call it that because it's super thick... don't bother it's a marketing ploy. It's the same old Pizza Hut Pan Pizza only it's square! What a rip off. Jody was going to have a milk shake made with Ensure and Blue Bell Milk Chocolate Ice Cream! YUMMY! (I'd bumped into Dawn from school at the store and she said when she worked at a Sr. Center they would feed the patients this, it made the Ensure easier to drink. Thanks Dawn.)

Jolea and I had our pizza, one square of cheese and one square of pepperoni, she ordered Cheese and pepperoni as in all on one pizza..... ? Jody had his big ole Chocolate Milk Shake aka Ensure. (He said it tasted funny.... Jolea said it didn't, tasted just like Blue Bell Ice Cream) When he had finished the shake and noticed how thick and pillowy the pizza was the decided he'd try a slice of the pepperoni..... Then Jeff came in and started eating pizza, he'd told Jolea he wasn't coming home for dinner, we didn't expect the bottomless pit to be here.... Jody decided he could eat the pizza but better opt for the cheese, the pepperoni kind of scratched his throat. So Jody and Jeff finished off what was going to be Jolea's breakfast this morning.... I guess I could take her by Chick-fil-A for chicken biskets.... Long story (what else is new?) short.... Jody is still eating.

Something that came to his attention during his last visit to the Oncologist, the Dr was chatting with him and he mentioned that he suspected that the Tuma and all other cancer was probably gone with the 4th round of chemo!!! I'm sure Jody had to sit on his hands at this point to keep from throttling him. Didn't I say around the 4th treatment that he was not snoring anymore, the headaches were gone and that he could breathe and taste and smell... Lord can he ever smell! We can hire him out as a bloodhound now! He scratched celery off my grocery list and had this pleading look in his eye... begging me not to bring any celery even in the driveway much less the house.

So yeah... the Tuma was gone at 4.... why did they do 8 treatments? And... AND why are they going to do 20 rounds of radiation!!!! Two different Doctors... two different methods I guess. We know Jody is now a case study, so maybe in the future the next guy with a Tuma will not have to undergo the agony of 8 treatments. All thanks to Jody.... he's such a ........ big headed, I mean hearted guy. (insert giggles here)

He's not talking much either, which isn't that much different than before. But he seems to play the mandolin louder... compensation? A few nights ago he said he wouldn't be able to talk soon, this was an all out a warning to me. I said "so you're telling me you won't be able to communicate? I'll get you a little dry erase board you can write me notes on." I'm thinking all positive as usual. And he says, "oh no I'll be able to communicate!" waving his middle fingers in the air, "I just won't be able to talk." I'll start coming home for lunch now that Jolea will be gone, we'll start text messaging each other like teenagers... the romance will be re-kindled..... HA! He's got his prescription for Morphine suckers handy.... they better taste like cherry Jolly Ranchers. No Michael, you can't try one!

I wish I could trade places with him... I do pain so much better than him. I was power walking down the hall yesterday and someone said something about how fast I was going and I thought, why is it I can sprint down the hall at noon but can barely hobble at 5AM? (Jolea will have a comment about getting up early) I did manage to go to a yoga class last Monday... it made me feel better, but I was still feeling it (sore that is) Thursday morning... I'll be going more regularly now with Christmas break and all. If I can feel that sore after just yoga I must really be out of shape. It wasn't even my bones that were sore... it was my thighs and (I hate to say it...) my Ethel Mermons...(hangs head in shame) my bat wings!!! My Oprah's!!! If I don't wave at you don't feel bad, it's just that I don't want to scare a flock of birds with the flab under my arms. I'm so embarassed... I was once a personal trainer!

Now that I'm all excited about my personal apearance I'll get everyone up and rolling. Ya'll have a good weekend.