A small update

Since my absence here, there've been a few awful things that have happened. My Dad, after fighting a difficult and simultaneously long and short battle with cancer and a stroke, passed away just before Thanksgiving. He was only 69, and it broke my Mom and I in ways I didn't think were possible. 

One month after his passing, and just before Christmas, just as both Mom and I were starting to feel a little "normal", she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. It's been devastating in all the ways you can imagine plus about a dozen more, and very trying on both of us. We are working with two absolutely wonderful Doctors who are helping us through this, and while Mom is doing seemingly innumerable tests, we are working on staying positive and trying to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of crap that will be coming our way in the next 6-ish months, and also waiting to see what kind of chemo she will have before surgery. (The idea is to shrink the lump and the one involved lymph node pre-surgery so it's not as traumatic an experience.) Both of our lives are up in the air as everything about them is rearranged over and over again, and I'm doing my darndest to keep grounded, calm, and realistically aware of what is going on. Thankfully both of us still have our sense of humor, or we'd be more crazy than we are. 

Some cheap-book shopping is happening, more than I'd like, and TV is my distraction of choice. I couldn't even tell you what I'm watching, it's just there as I stare and try and get out of my head. Researching healthy recipes for Mom to eat has been another distraction, aiming for nutritional content and ease of making/transporting is on the top of the list. I'd planned on treating her to some fresh-baked almond croissants but she said that they didn't sound that great to her, so I was forced to have them by myself for breakfast this morning. 

Oh, what a sacrifice. 

And, after 2 days of below zero temps and way-below zero wind chills, it's finally above zero (it's 19! a virtual heatwave!), and I have to go out and see if my car will start. Tomorrow I'm back to work (jobs #1 and #2) and will be chauffeuring Mom around in the morning too, so I'm going to enjoy the remainder of the day as much as I can, while cleaning and cooking for the rest of the week. 

If anyone knows of a time machine of some kind, please let me know, as I just want to get through this whole breast cancer business and try to figure out what new kind of normal my life will be. Thanks.