I took my first shower. Yes...as crazy as that sounds, it was as exotic and felt just like sitting under a waterfall on the back side of Oahu near Anne-Marie Johnson's brother's house in Hawaii (sans the wildlife). You may ask: how is it that you didn't shower for 10 days - don't forget I did Outward Bound and there is a little known fact in outdoor living that the longer one doesn't shower or wash one's hair (not that THAT was really an issue) - the more natural and odor free one's natural state of being really becomes (either that or you get a little delirious and don't REALIZE that you actually are quite dirty and offensive.) The only real problem is that I have not been camping outside. The plus side to all of this is I still don't have hair - other than the peach fuzz that is neither here nor there in terms of what one might consider a hair 'style'. And I am too scared to put chemicals on my head just yet and gray just isn't my color so I may have to do a little more wig shopping - though they are mighty itchy in summer.
The bottom line is I am back! Greg was kind enough to step into the shower and hold my drains while I put my head back under the pulsing hot water. Having a glass shower and far too many mirrors in one's carefully renovated master bathroom with all of its Jerusalem stone seemed like a good idea at the time. That was before breast cancer and before I started to look like a member of the Avatar cast. They rebuilt me but there are still a few odd lines and a disproportion that I thought we had dealt with in the 70s when Gloria Steinem pointed out that Barbie really wouldn't be able to stand up if she were proportioned that way in real life. These "expanders" are hard as rocks - like the torpedoes Madonna wore on her Like a Virgin tour and they don't move. It's a little unnerving (and the valium had worn off so I found it a little freakish.) But Greg reassured me and I crawled into bed and propped my arms on the two pillows that hold them up on each side of my body. The mornings are the worst because you stiffen up overnight by staying in one position and all of the muscles tighten. Perhaps I need a cup of coffee to get moving. If you or any friends are going through this - buy two sets of silk button up two piece pajamas - like something Audrey Hepburn would wear in Breakfast at Tiffany's. A) They allow you to slip in and out of bed with ease and without using your arms and B) they button up - I have to step into any shirts that don't button up because I still can't fully lift my arms over my head.
The girls called from Disney World and sounded as if they were on crack cocaine - it was 7 pm and they were heading to Thunder Mountain one more time. Of course, Annalise had already lost her retainer. I asked them if they were tired - "no". I asked them if Uncle Barry was tired: "yes". They said his mistake was by trying to make them dizzy on the Tea Cups (I am telling you the Tea Cups are deceptive!) In the process he made himself sick on the Tea Cups. The girls were fine. But the most exciting thing this morning for Annalise when she called en route to the Animal Kingdom was the fact that they had "housekeeping" in the room where they stayed. She said, "Mom, you know how they turn down your sheets? Well, they left us those little chocolates on our pillows. And you know because we are at Disney World? They put a chocolate in the form of "Sleepy" from the Seven Dwarves." She couldn't believe it.
It's the little stuff.
OK well Anamarija has flown in from Singapore to keep my spirits up today. And Luke is already asking where his "Dogu" is? Izzy went to puppy sleepaway camp at Grandma Carolyn's (where all cockapoos go to destress - it's like a day spa. But Luke doesn't know that so he keeps looking for her. Poor guy.
