Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Short and simple: Art, animals, and answers

Can I rise to the challenge of keeping this short and simple? Probably not, but I’ll try.


I took a wee bit of time this week to finish this art project. There’s not much to the technique, so I’ll fancy it up and call it a color study. It took some time to grow on me, but I’m kinda, sorta mostly satisfied with it…I’m positive, I think. It’s mostly acrylics, with pens (gel, metallic & Pitt Brush Pens), and papers.
I’ve got a few other creative projects on the back burners which I’ve been playing with---I mean educating myself about---digital scrapbooking and Photoshop, thanks to my dear digital friend Electra! More to come.

Since we don’t have pets, I stroke my animal instincts with the local wildlife. We have all kinds of birds in the area (thank you Lake Hodges), which we love, except when they eat our lizards. I never was afraid of reptiles as a girl, which is fortunate, since I’m now married to a herpetologist. Maybe I’m taking that too much too heart? Anyone got a tiny collar?

On the medical front: I’ve made my decision about the Tarceva. This was probably THE toughest decision I’ve had to make in the 2 & ½ years I’ve been in treatment…and I STILL wasn’t certain when I talked to my oncologist at 6 PM last night. I was leaning more toward staying off the Tarceva; it has been heavenly to be able to eat what I want with less concern of side effects…and not listen to that damn-ding-dong alarm all day telling me when to stick something in my mouth. However, when the doc pointed out the logic behind the three-fold chemo attack, I decided to continue on. The thinking is that if one chemo only “kills” 99 out of 100 cancer cells, with one resistant cell behind…that’s all it takes for the cancer to come back. A 3-pronged attack gives less opportunity for a resistant cell to slip through…each chemo works differently, and hopefully NOTHING slips through the triple whammy.

I was happy to hear that his plan is to have me start out at 25 mg. EVERY OTHER DAY, as opposed to the what I thought would be 25 mg./day. (I was previously taking 50 mg./day.) Today is the first day; I’m crossing my fingers!

I’d better get…much to do, but at least dishwashing isn't on today's agenda. Hubby and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary tonight and will slip out for some sushi before returning home to watch a video. Love those simple pleasures.

I have to share a moment of sweet marital communication…direct from our bed. We had some pillow talk about “Tom Swifties.” This was the result of listening to a podcast of “A Way with Words” earlier in the day. Tom Swifties, are adverbial puns, that make most people groan; they make me giggle. An example would be, “’We’re out of toothpaste,’ Tom said, crestfallen.”

At day's end, we couldn’t quite recall what the puns were called, even after a bit of discussion. You know how things come to you, unbidden, in the middle of the night? Fortunately, just as the answer arrived, hubby returned from a trip to the loo. As he tucked himself back in he heard me murmur: “Tom Swifties.” No explanation was required for him to utter his 2-word agreement...and, so, with 4 words uttered in the middle of the night, we completed a conversation started hours before. See what simple pleasures you singles miss out on?

If you’d like to torture others with Tom Swifties, you’ll find more at Thinks.com.

It's NOT hard to find something in life to smile at.

8 comments:

  1. I love the lizards, love your courage and love the happiness you and Clark find together.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was a big decision for you-it can't have been easy. I love the subtle colours in the background of your piece-so glad you've found time to work on this, it's wonderful, Linda!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reading your blog makes me smile.
    And I like the purple thing, it goes nicely with the background.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love all these thoughts! Blessings on continuing the Tarceva, and all those lizards! Keep up the art--it's super!
    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love that "Way with Words".

    Hope that your decision still allows you some flex in your diet.

    Love Ya

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think this is my favorite painting so far! I love the combination of colors and techniques. I'm sending prayers that your treatment is more bearable with the reduction in strength. Enjoy your sushi and Happy Anniversary! Love you!! Jami

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy anniversary Linda! Sounds like an amazing friendship and marriage. Glad to hear you made your decision. All of your projects inspire me to be more creative...I'm going to start exploring my "wild" side. ;) Xo Gina

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Linda, thanks so much for coming over and leaving a comment on my Dezinaworld blog. I love to get comments and to meet new arty addicts like myself.
    You seem like a very brave,very positive lady and your blog and words are inspiring to me. Yes I have had my troubles with dads cancer and my sons stroke and anuerysm and a few more things including my grandson being very ill but i have been blessed with miracles all along the way and I tend to value each and every day so much but from time to time, i think we all need a reminder. You reminded me today with the positive way you are facing the chemo .... I hope it is much better than in the past and zaps those cells good and proper.
    hugs June x

    ReplyDelete

Please post your kind, considerate and thoughtful comments here.