Week In, Week Out

I'm not doing well at this whole being home and still blogging thing, am I? Sorry about that. I think I get tired of talking about chemo and cancer and there's just so much sleeping (or not sleeping) to do.

On the topic of chemo, Taxol is definitely easier than the first stuff I was one. But the biggest side effect, for me, of the whole Taxol process is the steroid insomnia that kicks in on Tuesday night. This week, I slept not at all on Tuesday night. Literally, not at all. I laid in bed for maybe twenty minutes, read for bit, got up and cleaned some of the clutter in the toy room, read a little more, and just...didn't sleep.

I took a three hour nap yesterday (Wednesday) and plowed through the day.

It appears I'm much more of a morning person when morning just kind of happens without me sleeping. I was quite cheerful yesterday, without the annoying sound of the alarm waking me up than I was this morning after eight-ish hours of sleep and being woken by the alarm.

So far in the time I've been home, the girls have had not even one full week of school. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, sure, it's great when they're around but then I feel a bit guilty about sleeping when they're here and awake. But I'm tired from both the chemo and the insomnia so I sleep and then feel bad and then don't sleep when they're sleeping and it's a vicious cycle.

I'm still playing the go-between for Tom and Alyssa. Ugh. Those two...

Alyssa turned fifteen last Sunday. We had a birthday party for her. Because she's now so busy with pep band, play practice, solo and ensemble sessions, we didn't have a slumber party for her. This was much to Tom's delight. He never enjoyed having six or seven girls over for the night. But Alyssa loved it so much and so it was a bit of a battle this year between them. I understand both side. She only has one birthday a year, she wants to celebrate it with her friends. She has a lot of friends and never wants any of them to feel left out.

He hates company, period. But having that many people in the house for that long really bothers him. I'm not a big fan of company and the older these friends get, the bigger they all get and it is a lot of people.

In the end, with Lyss's schedule, it made more sense to have an afternoon party (noon to six!) on Sunday. It worked. They didn't stay the night, they still had fun, there was a very clear end in sight for Tom. I'm not sure anyone was exactly happy with it but the compromise worked.

This morning there was a little more chaos as they fought of cereal. I know! It's so stupid. It was the case of the mixed cereal. Alyssa hates it when he mixes cereals. For example, we have Lucky Charms and Froot Loops. Tom has been known to put some of each into a bowl and expect the girls to eat them. Olivia does so without complaint. Alyssa declares it gross.

This morning she stood at the counter and tried to pick the Froot Loops out of her Lucky Charms. He told her if she did that, tomorrow she'd only get Froot Loops. She got mad, wondering why he'd make such a declaration. She prefers Lucky Charms to Froot Loops and honestly, if you're going to let your kid eat either one, what difference does it make which one she chooses? They're both laden with sugar and pretty much NOT nutritious, right? I think one of them (I won't name names) just likes to make declarations because he/she can and expects them to be followed.

It's frustrating.

Finally, trying to defuse the situation so she could just eat her stupid cereal. I said gently, "I wouldn't want to eat mixed cereal."

OMG.

Once I'd given my opinion, apparently, I'd taken sides and one of them was mad.

But, Alyssa was happy because she got her bowl of Lucky Charms only and that made even the snarky comments coming from the other side of the room worth it.

I don't know. I hate it when they do that.

I also kind of hate arbitrary rules made simply because someone feels they CAN make rules. So there's that.

Yep, it feels like each week is just blending into the next. I start to feel really good on Sundays, knowing that Tuesday is right around the corner.

I probably need to find a job sooner than later.