Tuesday evening

Today began with a walk in the park with Jessie. The heron was again missing. I am going to imagine her as having arrived in Central America and now enjoying the company of a comely juvenile male heron, long necks twisting together in the tropical night. Beats sitting on a small float in a cold pond full of duck and goose guano in a New England turning to winter.

Today was my second day of working part-time. It went well. I need to get used to the fact that doing everything on my lap top over my DSL connection from home will take longer. It's amazing how spoiled we get; we experience things happening instantaneously and then anything less makes us impatient.

Kim called this afternoon to tell me she had received a letter from the disability insurance company saying my leave had been "suspended". I reached the disability insurance company and they said their records did show that Doctor M's report had been received but that no determination had yet been made on the extension of the leave and return to part-time work. Kim later talked to someone in HR who said this is common, some sort of timing problem, and I shouldn't worry about it. Later a case manager from the insurance company called me. I told her the issue and she said she would review the paper work and get back to me within an hour, as I understood it with a determination. She never called back. Surprise, surprise! I could freak out over this, but I'm going to do my best to choose not. After all, whatever is going to happen, is going to happen -- whether I freak out or not. Freaking out is tiring. And there are more interesting ways of getting tired.

For example, I went to my Tai Chi class last night, first time since the week before my surgery. It was good. It would be good if I could get back into practicing on the days between the weekly class (I was doing that some before the surgery). Anyway, it was a milestone to be back. I should be able to make next week's class. Not sure about the week after that, since that will be during the days during which the chemo side effects are likely to be most pronounced. We'll see

All in all, an okay day. I bought celery and onions to make dressing for our Thanksgiving turkey who is now thawing in the refrigerator. I was troubled all day by a slight case of diarrhea, but after having experienced the opposite, I am not complaining, just stating a fact. From what I understand, it may be a side effect of the magnesium pills which, amazingly, I have been remembering to take.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Cooking. Eating The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (I remember taking my kids to it in person when we first moved to New York). Football (yes, actually, football).

Peace.