UPDATE: The winner is…Sara D!
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Happy Juneteenth!

First, today is Juneteenth—Freedom Day—celebrating the actual date of the end of slavery in the US. Learn more about this relatively new Federal Holiday here: What is Juneteenth?

My Messy Desk

I don’t have a panoramic lens on my iPhone, so I took four photos, left to right of my desktop, just to share images of the chaos. Why? Just cuz. Today, I’m going to pull everything apart to dust underneath it and, maybe, find things that might be removed to make more room for “me” rather than my little treasures. But what should I remove? Do you see the four containers that hold pens and markers and paintbrushes, including a very pretty pot a friend of mine painted and gifted to me? Should I remove the 11-year-old’s toys sitting on top of my printer? (It gives her joy to see that I value her treasures!) Maybe I can move the painkillers and the black box holding my blood pressure cuff…? Maybe I’d forget to use them if they aren’t there in my way. I guess I could move the Halls to a drawer.

Maybe I can scale back the art supplies, the crystals and fossils… But I do love holding them in my hands and meditating. Notice I’m not mentioning removing my watercolor water pot or the paint and oil pastel sticks…

See all those mechanical toys on top of the storage caddy? The superheroes dish? I pause to play with the wind-up toys. I pull a superhero to inspire me. Maybe I should remove the To List because, obviously, I’m not making use of it. The list is old! Maybe I can scale back to one paint palette rather than four, but one doesn’t always have all the colors I love to use when I get the inspiration to paint.

So, maybe I could work on the stack of paperwork and the little notebooks I have standing there. I can certainly get rid of the hand lotion and hand sanitizer…? Maybe I’d forget to use them. Excuses, excuses. So, you see my problem? I’ll move everything around to dust underneath my “stuff” (treasures!) and stack it all better, maybe.

So, question. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, what would you suggest I remove, or do you think my chaos is acceptable?

Quick Health Update

Overshare time. Last week, I had an infusion of new chemicals that are part of the new treatment I’m getting to battle my cancer. On Tuesday, I received the second part, a package of pills that arrived in a hazardous materials bag with instructions about how to handle the new Lenvima pills I have to take daily. The instructions include closing the toilet lid before I double-flush. Washing my hands after handling the pills. I talked to the pharmacy that FedEx’d the pills to me to review my current meds and supplements to make sure nothing will interact negatively.

We talked about side effects. There could be a lot. So far, I’ve only been hit with fatigue and dizziness. But I have to watch for my white blood, red blood, and hemoglobin counts to take a nosedive. There might be more pain in my feet and hands (I still have neuropathy from the chemo that ended at the end of December.) I have to watch for my skin yellowing and other signs my pancreas might be affected. And it goes on and on. They offer a 24-hour phone line to call if I have negative effects. This is serious stuff. I set an alarm to take my pills at noon each day so that I at least have the mornings to work before I get hit with the sledgehammer of muzzy fatigue. Fun stuff.

I asked whether this protocol is really forever or I might be able to get off this medicine at some point. I could tell from the way she paused and then cheerfully told me they’d adjust my meds based on my oncologist’s recommendations that this will continue until I die. Well, I’m getting my mind wrapped around that. I’m getting off this stuff, eventually, because I’m going to win this fucking battle. Period. End stop.