Sunday, August 26th, 2007 - trying to catch up

Hiya Bloggy,

Ok, I did say I would come back and fill in the blanks for the past week or so but alas, it is now 1am so I guess I don't have much time to catch up... let alone remember! LOL! I have chemo tomorrow so I really should get my butt to bed. First I have to have the blood work done at 10:30am, then the chemo will start at 12:30pm. So sometime between the blood work and the chemo, I am going to go off and get something to eat, otherwise it will be a long, long day on an empty stomach! Not only that, I think I am showing a few signs of dehydration and since I won't be able to drink anything cold or cool for the next 10 days or so, well, let's just say I'll be keeping an eye on my hydration levels.

But, where were we? The last actual entry was put in the week before we closed the season of Grease and Oklahoma! Waaaaaaaaah! I really, really miss TUTS and all the people down there. I can't believe how much fun I had there and what a fabulous distraction it was for the last 2 chemo sessions!

Closing night was both sad and a lot of fun! Sad because it is over for another year (although some of us will be working and meeting throughout the winter for next season, so it's not really over) and fun because we all had fun at the wrap party. There were also the Awards Ceremony and I was surprised to find I won the "Most Outstanding Volunteer" award...

Hehehe... notice how much colour I have here? I was SOOOO hot! I'm surprised the camera didn't pick up that my hair was soaking. All because it was a Chemo week and I was in an enclosed area (restaurant). Even standing under the air conditioning didn't seem to help ;)

Then there were the lovely flowers!! I was so spoilt... so is it any wonder I miss being down there every day? I had missed coming in on the Monday because it was a Chemo Monday, so the gang covered for me. On the Tuesday, I arrived at the office and there was the most gorgeous bouquet of 18 long-stemmed roses from the TUTS Board of Directors. They gave them to me because they all were so impressed with how I'm coping with the chemo treatments and not letting them interfere with my life and what I enjoy doing...

Aren't they beautiful? They are two-toned and I have not seen them in this particular colour before. They made me feel very special.

Then, on the actual closing day, it was a fun day all day. We all knew it was the last performance so even getting the tickets ready for Grease's last performance had a special feeling to it because it was closing and we had all been through so much together over the summer. Well, you could imagine my surprise when I got to the office and there was this huge bouquet of pink flowers. This was from James Pollard (General Manager), his wife and his daughter, Emma (who helped all summer in the box office) as a thank you for being an inspiration to their family. I love these people!

Aren't they so pretty? Like I say, this theatre group has been the best for my ego and as a distraction for all the chemo and various treatments I have to put myself through.

Speaking of Emma and her dad, James, here is a great picture of the two of them...

I don't envy James his job... being in charge of everything there is to putting on two productions at the same time, as well a the whole site and all the departments. Us department heads report to him... what a job he has! Meanwhile, Emma was great in the box office and there to cover for me if I wasn't feeling well or had to take the day off for chemo.

Speaking of chemo, here's, what I think is a cute picture of Emma and I. The only thing I wish was missing was that I'm hooked up to my chemo pump, so the contraption just under my collarbone is the catheter going into the portacath... the pump, I wear on a belt...

Are we not cute or what??? (grin)

Oh, and what's a blog entry without mentioning something about the little box office diva? In this picture, it was an Oklahoma! night. On those nights, a lot of the staff would wear Stetsons since Oklahoma! is all about cowboys and farm hands. Here's a picture of Naveen and Bridget...

Isn't she just the cutest? She pretty much put up with whatever was thrown her way, although when she had enough, she'd just curl up in her little bed and go to sleep, no matter who was around :)

So, I know there's more and I'll see if I can find some more of the pictures. After closing, there was a birthday party the next day for Pat Waldron, so a whole other gang of theatre folk. Then on the Monday, it was Shel's birthday, so about 12 of us went out for dinner. But I'll have to dig out those pictures later because it's now after 1:30am and I really must get some zzzzzz's before tomorrow's session. If I'm feeling ok after it, then Jo and I will be going to Janet's for dinner, have a girls' chit chat evening and also watch Canadian Idol :)

So, hopefully in the next couple of days I'll have some more pictures ready and will be caught up with the blog entries :)

Ciao for now!

Cheryl