"This one's for you, Artie!"

I bought both available volumes of the Glee soundtrack last night and listened to them for about 5 hours straight this afternoon and evening. Today was long and arduous, and still delightful. I love that in however many years from now, whenever I hear Amber Riley's version of Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows" or Lady Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison's version of Heart's "Alone", I will remember the holiday season of 2009, and how nutty it was. (I think that white truffle macaroni and cheese will have the same effect. Oh, speaking of which, I think the next few days might have to be detox days-- no dairy, no simple or refined carbohydrates, and lots of water and roughage. If for nothing else, then I have to clear the decks for Mrs. Goble's Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve and lots of cocktails at Decembertwentyfifthfest. [Yes, that is an actual event that my friend Bryan and his family throw each Christmas Night. It has become a wonderful tradition.] I will be using this blog as a way to keep myself in check.)

I spoke to my neurooncology nurse a few days ago about some forms that I need for school, and she was reading some excerpts from my neurooncologist's progress reports on me. Ok, I am a big fan of Diane-- she is a fantastic nurse, warm, efficient, thorough, etc.-- but she told me something that I guess I knew intellectually, but hadn't quite fully absorbed. So, even though I didn't lose any strength in any of my major muscle groups, I did lose some coordination. And apparently, my "coordinative abilities will never be restored to the baseline". Considering one of my current jobs relies heavily on manual/digital coordination, this is frustrating. I'm glad that I can write and use a knife and tie a bow, but I wish I had it all back. I really like working with my hands and I hate that my f-ing tumor screwed with that. I'm still trying to determine which after-effects are permanent and which will still improve.

BTW, I read that Sasha (the brain cancer patient that my sisters and I know) had a clean scan last week! She has to do another course of chemo, but her brain is clear of bullshit. Very good news. Praise be!