Weekend

We picked out a Christmas tree today. We laugh about how efficient we are now, compared to when the kids were much younger. Back then, we would drive 45 minutes in October to a Christmas tree farm, tag the tree we liked, and return in December to cut it down and bring it home. We felt so bucolic. Now we barely have a free hour on most weekends to get to the local nursery and pick one out, pre-cut. It's no longer an event, just another item on the to-do list.

Today it's sunny out and very cold. I've noticed that my mood is so much more positive when the sun is shining this time of year. I've tried to get out for a walk most days...it really does help me get out of my head. I've been putting off calling the hospital and scheduling the January appointments with MRI, oncology, and radiation. I think I have to ask for a gradient echo MRI this time (I'll have to check The Notebook, where I journal details of every appointment and hospitalization. And it's a place to jot down questions or concerns for future appointments). The gradient echo MRI will look for cavernous malformations, as more can develop. Add in the spinal MRI (brain tumor cells can travel to the spine) and it's sure to be a long day.

DD17 had a friend over for dinner last night and then the two of them went to a holiday play at the high school. She was looking forward to this all week. I love when she says "I'm happy." In some ways her life is so complex, and in other ways it is so simple. She has very few teenage dramas in her life. I guess major illness can do that to you.

I'd like to bake some Christmas cookies, but I don't know if I'll have much time tomorrow. And I *have* to get started with Christmas shopping. We've cut way, way back the last few years, but there's still plenty to do. Not sure why the holidays snuck up on us, but they did.