Friday, Aug 3, 2007 - Summer Fun!

Hello all you Bloggy readers!

I've gotten a few notes from some of you this week wondering how things are going since I haven't been able to get back to the Blog, even though I did say I would try to write more often. I swear, once summer is over, I may have more time to keep it up to date, especially when the weather turns cooler. Until then, it's going to be a real patchwork style of writing ;)

Hmmm... I'm not even sure where to start since last week. I probably need more than one entry to catch up. But, I will try and just hit the highlights and throw in some pictures along the way.

This week was a Chemo week. Rats! The last chemo session went really well and, other than my chemo feet, I didn't seem to have any side affects that were worth complaining about. Blood work was good before the session and then after I had the session, I was able to keep doing my Theatre volunteering and seemed to have no problem with energy levels or with the high sensitivity to cold. I figured that's because we are now into summer weather so there's no cold to be sensitive to... wrong!! :)

This week, after my 4 hours in the chemo chair, I decided to stop off at Safeway on the way home to pick up a few groceries. Ha! I went into the store and within minutes my whole body (feet, legs, back, arms and face) went into pins and needles mode... the reaction I get to cold. The cold being the air conditioning in the store. So, I didn't get to do much in the way of shopping.. I had to get out of there pretty quickly. It is darn uncomfortable to have your whole body being attacked by pins and needles!

I had parked across the street so when I got outside, the warmth of the sun greeted me. Yayaya! Only problem, my body thermometer now thought I was baking... so I broke into a streaming, dripping sweat. I still had the pins and needles from the cold and now the sweating from the heat. Luckily the car was literally across the street. With my chemo feet and now the cold/hot reactions, there's no way I could have walked the 1 1/2 blocks home. When I got home, I closed the drapes/curtains to keep the direct sunlight out and turned on the fans so there was air circulating. Bridget and I ended up lying down for a 3 hour nap. So, it just goes to show... I do have to still be careful after a chemo session regarding reactions.

Last night (Thurs), we had a sold out house of the performance "Grease". This is great for the theatre, but talk about a work out in the box office! We processed 1685 tickets last night! Yikes!! But what totally amazes me is how some of the public has the worst attitudes and do not stop to think. One gal had bought 2 tickets with reserved seats for her and her daughter because it was her daughter's birthday. After the fact, she decided to order a third ticket for her fiance. The only problem being, she couldn't get a reserved seat for him because by the time she ordered this third ticket (a few days later), there were no more reserved seats to be had... only festival seating. She bought one anyways. Then, when they get to theatre, both he and she throw a complete fit because the three of them aren't sitting together. She went on and on about how it was her daughter's birthday and how could we NOT sit them together? I explained (what she already knew) is that she bought 2 reserved tickets and 1 general admission ticket, so what made her think that the three would be together? If you buy for a sports event in two different sales transactions the chances of you getting all seats together are remote... if you buy 2 different categories of tickets, it's a guarantee you won't be sitting together. I can't believe these two so called adults would behave in such a childish, immature manner, but, you see this all the time when dealing with the public. And somehow it's all our fault that they bought their tickets this way.

Anywho, after last night, my eagle-eye friends who are also working the theatre noticed that I looked exhausted and the heat/humidity was getting to me (I was very flushed and sweaty). Considering before all these treatments I was a sun goddess and the heat never bothered me, this was obviously part and parcel of my ongoing treatments. So, I wasn't allowed to do any after show prep work for today. I was to pack up the dog and head home. Hahaha... and no room for argument... Jo, Jill and James insisted I go home and weren't budging until I did. That is one of the nice things about working with friends... even when I think I may be doing ok, they will be the first to notice if I don't look up to scruff and they put their feet down and send me on my way. Not only that, I'm taking this afternoon off to rest.

But, the week hasn't been all that bad. Busy, but not bad. This is also the week of the fireworks... our annual Celebration of Light competition. The countries involved this year are Spain, Canada and China. We have seen all three of their performances and without a doubt, China was superb! These are the fireworks that are at English Bay and just happen to be across the street from where I live. It turns into quite the festive circus around here with up to 150,000 people out on the streets/beach watching every night. Here are some pictures... a couple from web cams in the neighbourhood and a couple that I took:




















They are very pretty and at times quite exciting, but I have to admit, I sure am glad that I live here and don't have to drive or travel to get here to see them! They close the roads to vehicle traffic at 7pm, so even if you are a resident, it's impossible to get back into the area. Residents are allowed back in but the traffic outside the area becomes a gridlock, so getting near the residents' entry points is crazy! That is why, every year on fireworks nights, I park my car at home in the morning and it doesn't move all day. Well, I used to do that, then I'd walk to work or wherever I was going. Now, with my chemo feet, I use the car in the morning to do any errands or picking up anything, then it gets parked in the afternoon and I don't leave the building other than to take Bridget out.

Speaking of Bridget... she is so used to being Box Office dog again that she surprises everyone with how well behaved she can be when we are all going crazy with getting the audience in. Thank goodness she is otherwise, I would have to keep her up at the pavilion where our office is and not have her down on the site with me when we are working with the audience. Here she is just after we got the show in last night. Jo was working with me on the Will Call counter and Greg/Emily were working the door sales. Bridget works whatever counter I'm working... and as you can see, she is such a hyper worker (grin)...



Oh, and I don't think I showed this one in an earlier entry. She was soooo tired when we got back to the office at the Pavilion one night, somehow she managed to get herself caught in some toilet paper and didn't even notice as she went to bed...




And then, this just cracked me up. We had just got the audience into last night's show and the performance had just begun. Because it was such a full house, the Beer/Wine bar had already sold out of their supply of wine/beer BEFORE the show, so it meant stocking up for intermission (again). This meant hauling down wine and beer from our dry storage at the pavilion. So here is Naveen using a wheelbarrow to bring loads of the stuff down. Naveen is the theatre's Treasurer and a very, very funny guy... constantly cracking me up! But here he is being a beer hauler with a wheelbarrow (grin).




Now, I know there's lots more that I've forgotten to write down and chances are there are a ton more pictures I've meant to post. But this entry is definitely long enough. Tomorrow, Greg will be coming over to cut Nathan and my hair, then Jo will join us. We will have a small group of folk tomorrow night to watch the Fireworks, then Jo, Greg and I will have a slumber party at my place. Only to get up in the morning to have breakfast, then watch the Pride parade. This is always a busy long weekend what with the finale of the Fireworks and then it's Pride weekend. Unfortunately, this year I won't be able to participate in all the festivities because I can't walk on my chemo feet... but that's ok. We can do the fireworks from up on our roof and then will take chairs down to the road to watch the parade.

Sooooo.. ta ta for now! More bloggy news later!

Cheryl