UPDATE, with a video - Mind the sign, said in the mode of the London Underground ever-present-voice as the doors close, "Mind the gap." Meaning, watch out for the gap. You don't want to trip and fall!

UPDATE:



I thoroughly enjoyed making this video because I was outside on a beautiful early morning in my beloved Portland! My ride arrived quickly, and we were on our way!

All's well with the blood work, so I'll have Round Two Chemo tomorrow. I'm pretty tired today, and it's getting hotter by the hour with a predicted high of 99 today, so I'm thankful for my window unit even more than usual. I woke up around 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep for over 30 minutes, then I got up for good at 5:50 a.m. to get ready for the trip to the lab. I am going to take a nap in a few minutes.

I am so blessed to have made such great friends here in Portland. One took me to the lab this morning, around 11 a.m. one took me to the bank and then to eat some chicken strips and fries with a Coca-Cola at Burgerville. I have left over chicken to take with me tomorrow--there's microwave at Kaiser Oncology, and I believe that those will taste pretty good!



Sometimes I need good advice, especially if I happen to be going the wrong way in life. Here's a great reminder of what to do, clear as a bell on a sign west of my building on NE Flanders--STOP. That's right. I will then think about what I'm doing and hopefully come up with a new, more effective plan of action. After all, that's a big part of life, analyzing and revising.



By the way, here's what the sign warns drivers about. I wonder if anyone's ever missed it and ruined their tires? Maybe someone at the Blue Diamond knows. Maybe I can remember to ask some time or other. I need to STOP and set this question in my memory, now.

UPDATE, with a video - Some soothing photos that I decided to share with you.

UPDATE: Here you have it, my latest hat to cover my easily chilled, stubble-covered head. Plus my newest cup to use when I enjoy Twinings English Breakfast Tea. I lucked into it on Saturday at the Albertina Kerr thrift shop, known as Albertina's Closet.



Click on the video and you'll go to my Flickr account, then click on it again to watch. Enjoy!

Slept plenty last night, woke up right before 4 a.m. and stayed up because I didn't feel sleepy any longer. Tomorrow by this time I will have had blood drawn for the pre-chemo Round Two tests. Then on Wednesday morning, I have an 8 a.m. appointment with my chemo doctor which is scheduled prior to Round Two Chemotherapy.



Ginkgo tree leaves and April sunshine, taken at Lownsdale Park, downtown Portland.



Blossoms in the spring sunshine. I don't remember for sure where I took this photo because I see so many beautiful blooming trees in Portland. It's a lovely place in the spring.



My favorite shadows, these undulating along the sidewalk. I lucked into this photo in August, 2007, as I walked to the bus stop. We used to live in the Alphabet District in Northwest Portland, so my early morning work commute took me eastward.

UPDATE with video & photo - Look at these four fine young people enjoying one of my Portland Trail Blazers' season ticket holder perks!!

Update: Well, I got my hair clipped down to a Velcro-like stubble yesterday, professionally and in no time flat, by Rosa, my sweet friend and hairdresser.



Here's the big reveal! It's video, so when you click on it, you'll go to my Flickr account and have to click one more time to see and hear it. Thanks! Now, over 24 hours later, I'm completely at ease with how I look and ready for whatever is next. Chemo Round Two is Wednesday.



A photo that I took today, wearing a scarf which soon became loose. I'm not so sure about scarves. Maybe I'll come around because I believe I'm gonna have plenty of time to find out!



Back on August 5, I had hoped to go see the Portland Thorns play soccer at Providence Park. However, it turned out that my chemo port placement procedure got scheduled for first thing that morning, be at the hospital at 6:15 a.m. to check in. I knew I'd be very tired, still recovering from the July 29 Chemo Round One, plus the early rising to make that appointment. So, Lamont, Leland, Rachel and Brody enjoyed the soccer outing instead. They had a blast! The Thorns won 5-2! The kids also got a meal voucher for a hot dog, chips and soda. Oh, and the each got a cool pair of shades!

UPDATE - Sunshine and shadow at the Portland Farmers Market at the Portland State University in the South Park Blocks, downtown Portland, June 6, 2015.

UPDATE: Fell sleep during the 3rd quarter of the Seahawks' game. Woke up after it was over to find out they'd been beat by Denver. Shoot. I finally went back to sleep around 1:45 a.m. and woke up at 6 a.m. Better than no rest.

Yesterday after I had posted a video of some of the hair that came off my head when I washed it, my sweet friend and hairdresser Rosa and I texted back and forth about the next step in dealing with it. I realized I needed to take Rosa up on her offer to come cut my hair again, this time with clippers. She'll be here at 10 am. Portland time.

Once I saw some of it blowing off my head yesterday evening when the wind gusted, hairs catching the sunshine as they flew away from me--I had walked the 400 steps to the Blue Diamond's back door to pick up some food I had ordered because I needed a break from what I have here--I thought to myself, "Just in time!"



Lovely flowers.



Juicy berries.



Can't resist sharing this closeup of the flowers, y'all.



Man-made shade aids produce shoppers. How's that for a caption for this one?



Can't resist sharing this closeup of the peonies, y'all.

UPDATE and adorable faces seen here and there over the years

UPDATE: I had another good night's sleep! Hooray! When I ran my plastic-bristled brush across my head this morning, it felt so good. To be expected, more hairs ended up in it. Blueberries do not taste like they are supposed to, so they're out of my diet now. I imagine it will be long after chemo is finished that I'll try them again, sometime in 2016, y'all. Just because I have a box of them in the frig, I won't keep eating them now that they don't taste right because that could ruin them for me, long term. Next Tuesday, I go for blood to be drawn for pre-chemo tests. If all is well with those tests, Chemo Round Two will happen next Wednesday. I don't know what to expect exactly if there is a problem with one or more of those tests--I'll get a phone call or an e-mail, I imagine, with the news if changes are afoot.



It's a lot of fun to look through my thousands of photos and find one that inspires a post. This adorable little guy certainly did that for me! I took this photo in Sherwood, Oregon, when I went to Cruisin' Sherwood, June 13, 2011. I went looking for more adorable faces and easily found a few more to share with you.



Here's another adorable young man, with his dad I'd guess, at National Train Day festivities at Portland's Union Station, May 10, 2014.



I understand a lot of folks find clowns to be scary. I don't. But, it looks like this adorable little guy has yet to make up his mind. And I have to wonder how long that hot pink stick-on dot remained on his nose. This is another photo from May 10, 2014, at National Train Day.



At the risk of scaring folks, here's a photo that proves adorable faces come in all ages. One more National Train Day photo, y'all.



Scary? Maybe. Busy. For sure. The addition of the hot pink stick-on dot seems like overkill. Surely it was done to make unsuspecting little people accept a dot stuck to their own noses--she's the clown in the photo with the little boy sporting his own pink dot.



A little person off and running at the Portland Farmers Market in the South Park Blocks, downtown at Portland State University. I took this photo on June 6, 2015, when I had recovered enough from the April 24 hysterectomy, so that I had gone back to work for that entire week, then got myself by bus to the market for some shopping and people watching.



For my final photo of adorable faces, I give you my sweetheart friends, Milton and Kay, who came to Portland by train from Jackson, Mississippi, in August, 2011, to be here for the sprinkling of Mama and Duncan's ashes.

UPDATE - Quirky, seen on the street

UPDATE:

Slept well again last night, although I woke up at 4:30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. and have been awake since then. I walked outside after breakfast and quickly realized humidity had come to Portland. I checked the weather app on the phone, 79%. Whew. Getting myself ready for next Wednesday's Chemo Round Two.



When I was out walking the other day, I noticed this quirky sight.



A child's Croc. Made me wonder how the adult with this child didn't notice that this shoe was not with them any longer.



You can tell that it totally fascinated me, since I took all of these photos.



Here's the last one. The shoe was still there the next morning. When I walked over there this morning, it was not there. That's my building in the distance.

UPDATE and some roses to share with you

UPDATE:

I slept from around 11:30 p.m. until I heard my phone remind me to shut the windows at 6 a.m. Hallelujah! I cannot remember the last time that I slept that long--well, maybe I did when I was knocked out in the hospital for the hysterectomy in April or the robot surgery in June, but I cannot remember. Anyway, I feel better than I have for the last two days.

Still no nausea, very little peripheral neuropathy. So thankful to be able to write both of those. If I can just get my stamina built up, I will be ready for Chemo Round Two a week from tomorrow.

Let me tell you, I owe each of you so much for how I'm doing--your prayers are felt, they are amazing, just like y'all are! Thank you!



Saturday when I walked outside, thankful for the opportunity to go across the street to Albertina Kerr, I took a few photos of the roses. My friend, Milton, down in Mississippi, would've been right beside me, asking in his wonderful, lyrical Southern accent, making at least three syllables of my name and two of the word have, "Lynette, how many photos of roses do you have?"--meaning, "Lah-neigh-yet, you've lost your mind. Why you takin' more photos of roses?" I know. I know. It's OK, though.



These overcast skies meant that I could be outside without sunblock. Here we're looking north while standing in front of the Albertina Kerr Center. The rose gardens are well-cared for neighborhood treasures.



How about the soft colors here? Amazingly beautiful.



I love these tall rosebushes! In this photo, we're looking west, towards my building.



I'll bet any bride would love to have these beauties as part of her bridal bouquet. Luscious, muted colors.