I was cracking up yesterday at chemo. Seems they had a bit of a back up in the morning when I got there and the chairs were all full. My nurse Nicole came out and said the gurneys were available but the chairs wouldn't be until at least a half an hour. I hesitated because the gurneys were really for the folks who were weaker and other health issues. Plus, they were kind of set off to the side, away from all the chairs. I feel like more of the crowd and not as "sick" when I'm in the hustle and bustle of the main area. But I didn't want to wait any more so I said ok. I was then reminded of when my best friend Annette came with me a month ago and all they had left was a gurney. It was sooo busy that day and the wait could have been another hour. We went in and took one look at the poor lady next to us who was hooked up to oxygen and could barely lift her head up. Our eyes locked briefly, yet long enough to see a bit of horror in them when faced with the potential of two cackling hens sitting beside her for the next 3 hours. We told Nicole we would wait and give the poor woman some peace in her life. We then continued our cackling in the waiting room.
Well, yesterday, I settled myself in the comfy gurney and though why have I waited this long to hunker down in one of these luxurious beds? Like one of Pavlov's dogs the entire setting of the chemo room starts my eyes drooping and my body relaxing for a nice long nap. And, all of this is before they give me the benadryl. While waiting for my meds to come up from the pharmacy I joked around with my nurses and the clinical staff, and, even got to hang out with the hospital dog. In the meantime, another older woman and her friend joined me in the gurney section and settled into their space.
After everyone left, Nicole got me hooked up to my IV and I was ready for my nap. As I was reading my magazine and my lids were getting heavy I kept hearing the continuous chatter from the other side. All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of IV stands.....my future, 30 years from now, was sitting right next to me.....But instead of non stop chatter about the Real Housewives Franchises, why children never hear you except when candy is involved, and where to find cute flip flops....... it was 2 hours worth of various physical ailments (oh, wait, I do that now), how the senior condo association won't allow fake grass on the patios, and 20 minutes worth of how people mispronounce her name going all the way back to when she was in elementary school and the nuns would never say it correctly. Oh boy.....like an episode of Lost. I saw a flash forward of Annette, Gail and me at our retirement home playing bridge arguing over the cute man down the hall named Norm, and how there are no appropriate flip flops for the older set while getting nasty looks from all the other residents who have since taken a up petition to evict us from Sunnyside Villas.
I've seen the future.....however, it still hasn't deterred me from talking so much. ahhh, I'll worry about it later.
In other news on the chaos front, I've made productive use of my last couple good days here. Andres helped Carlos fill his birthday goodie bags for his classmates on Friday.
However, he wasn't exactly clear on the "put one thing" in each bag directive. Instead he put "everything" in one bag. We assigned him another less complicated job. Eating candy. He accepted the position.
Here are the bags ready to go. You have no idea how hard it was to restrain myself from over embellishing these things with glitter and handmade name tags and flashing lights....But I did.....barely.
We also celebrated Cosme's birthday on Tuesday. It was very low key. The boys were so excited to give him his present that has been hidden under our bed for the last 4 days. Finally, almost exploding from excitement, they were able to show him what they got him. They actually did explode with excitement when he opened it.
Now, for my part, I really wanted to make his favorite cake......Chocolate Coconut with Chocolate Buttercream frosting. I then decided cupcakes would be easier than a whole cake. See, I'm being really good about knowing my limits. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the frosting disaster that awaited me. I decided to make an improve version of my usual buttercream recipe. I thought I would make it a bit fluffier by adding whipped cream. Wondering, of course, why the Food Networked hasn't pick up my mad cooking skills.
Here's my first batch...
Yes, it looks normal, but it tasted like crap because I put to much salt in it. And no amount of powdered sugar was going to fix it. Plus it was grainy and a bit lumpy.....hmmmm, I should have paid closer attention to that.
Here's my next batch.....
Although not as salty, it didn't exactly scream fluffy buttercream. It a cross somewhere between ricotta cheese and whipped cream butter. It actually taste good. However, not very spreadable for the cupcake. Lesson #46 on making frosting: Don't whip butter and whipping cream together. It's not pretty.
So after wasting a 1/2 pound of butter, an entire box of powdered sugar and 16 ounces of whipping cream, this is what he got.....
Two candles stuck in two unfrosted cupcakes. And no coconut because I forgot to put it into the batter.
Here's the good sport with his boys.
I'm off to have a massage and then go to Costco for Carlos' little birthday pool party this weekend. Poor kid doesn't get to invite any of his friends from school. We're just inviting close friends and family. There still will be a bunch of kids, but the adults are all people that I don't have to "entertain." If I need to close my eyes or go lie down, they can just talk amongst themselves without me. I told him next year he can invite as many of his friends as he wants.
Talk to you soon! Karin
