Week 17 - Done with Radiation

This week was all about radiation, with my third through fifth, and final, treatments. They were all first thing in the morning and I took the highway there, which is longer distance wise but has no traffic so takes much less time. After each, I had social plans and rewards too.

After Monday's, I went to The Yarn Shop, which is closing down and so had lots of sales. I bought 4 skeins there then stopped at Makit Takit (another yarn shop that also holds classes for every craft imaginable) to pick up another skein I'd bought online before heading to campus for lunch with Dodie. At my request, we didn't go to our usual place but Pho Factory instead for their wonderful spring rolls. After a grocery stop, I headed home. First treatment of the week done and I was home in time for tea on my bench before supper and Monday Night Knitting.

While I was reading that afternoon, I saw the cutest little baby squirrel on the maple in my backyard. I've always had squirrels living in that tree but in all the years of watching them, I'd never seen a small one. He was fully furred but only about 4" long without the tail. He was alone and what I assumed was his mama was across the alley and chattering so kept trying to come down the tree, which put him in cat danger territory. He was adorable to watch.

Since Tuesday was a free day, I got busy outside raking the back grass, pruning hydrangeas and clearing another garden bed. I did laundry and hung the sheets out then went to meet my new friend, Ana, for tea in the park. There was not a single lull in the conversation. Nice. When I took my sheets in to remake my bed, I found the baby squirrel on the floor of my bedroom - alive but breathing heavy. I tried to get him back into the nest in the tree but couldn't reach and he wasn't crawling in when I got him close balancing him on a rake. Andrea came to the rescue just before dark and climbed a ladder and got him back in the tree. He did perk up enough to pull himself in, which gave me hope.

I timed Wednesday's treatment and it was 22 minutes from car to car. If only it wasn't a 45 minute drive each way! I had lunch with my work friends and then made a beeline home. I was reading on the bench again and after checking a zillion times, finally saw the little dude sticking his head out of the tree so I hung some sunflower seeds and water on the side of the tree. I was a bit obsessed.

I was checking constantly on Thursday but wasn't seeing him sticking his head out. After checking on and off all morning, I found little dude dead at the base of the tree. I was so sad and buried him by the garage near Gansey and Hazel. With the forecast for rain all day, I had planned an inside day so watched Ludwig on Britbox while waiting for the rain, which didn't start until 3:00. I did transplant all the tomatoes I'd started from seed but didn't do much else. Oh well.

Friday was my last radiation and I had a full day planned. Since it was my last one, it took much longer because I had to see the doctor, the nurse in charge of the study and give blood. Despite running late, I stopped at The Yarn Shop to exchange one of the skeins I'd bought on Monday and also bought a yarn advent calendar, which was leftover from Christmas 2024 but would work fine for me for 2025. From there I went to Helen's for lunch but didn't stay as long as usual because I was meeting Lorri at Spring Affair. Unfortunately, she had texted to say she wasn't coming but I didn't see it until I got there so I could have stayed longer at Helen's. I bought a few plants, backtracked to Walmart for some milk and headed home. 

A women I knew from Friends of the Library had recently died and her son and his family had lived next door to me for a few years so I went to the visitation at the church that night so I wouldn't have to go to the funeral on Saturday. I got to talk to Glen and Tammie so I'm glad I made that decision. I had a bowl of cereal for supper and called it a day. It had been a long one.

I had a nice quiet weekend ahead to recuperate from my busy week. I puttered outside a bit and did some chores but mostly streamed and knitted. I got a fun package from Dottie with not only the afghan she'd crocheted for me (at my request) but some stocking stuffers she hadn't sent at Christmas. Also on Saturday, Anne went to The Yarn Shop, which was now at 50% off, and did a video chat with me so I could pick out more yarn. After she got me 5 more skeins, I declared a moratorium on buying yarn, with an exception for thrift shop and travel yarn, of course. 

My fridge started making odd noises on Sunday night. When I pulled it out to check the back, a stack of pie plates that was on top fell and shattered all over but at least it wasn't the other stack, which had fun Pyrex ones would have been a big loss. After all that, the back is completely sealed so there was nothing to see. Oh well.

So it was a busy week with all the radiation and subsequent social activity, which had seemed like a nice reward when I scheduled them. The yarn ended up being a tangible reward but the death of the little dude was a downer. I was glad the week was over and went to bed hoping the fridge would right itself while I slept. Cup half full baby!