DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE

If I could do an exponent on the word done I would show how exponentially excited I am. :) How's that for math teacher-ese? I feel pretty good, a little out of it, but not bad. I don't have to ever have chemotherapy again... (probably and hopefully). The nurses in the chemo room are amazing. They work very hard to make you as comfortable as possible, and they did. They have DVDs you can watch, games you can play, popsicles, coffee they'll fresh brew, crackers, warm blankets, etc. And they're so nice. They remember my name, which is so nice to have knowing the number of people they deal with. They look you in the eye and ask how my kids are, and listen to stories I think are funny, they probably don't, but they laugh anyway. They were awesome. I will be happy to not see them for a while because it means I don't have to go there anymore, but I so appreciate their warmth.
A woman came in today while I was waiting to be done and she was crying. She went straight to a nurse (Robin) who dropped everything and gave her a hug. The woman was obviously really upset, and not being able to hear any of the conversation, I invented my own scenario for some reason. All of a sudden I was convinced that her husband had died, and I started crying. Good God, I didn't even know what was really going on, and I'm crying. I think it was just another reminder of the reality of cancer. I'm in my last chemo, I have my 76% (still wish that was higher), but its very real and very scary, and apparently this woman pushed me over the edge. Luckily, Brent walked in shortly after, and I recovered.
On an entertaining note, I don't know if you read Nell and Randy's comment on the last post (Big Time), but apparently our newspaper article is spreading. :) Pretty weird. Its somewhat embarrassing. The Bend news station actually went to my parents house and interviewed them. Who knew the fifteen minutes of fame would come from breast cancer!?
Christmas in Tillamook has been wonderful. I got a beautiful coat from Rick & Debbie that is bright and makes me feel colorful in spite of being so pale. We looked over old Christmas pictures and I started getting really excited to have hair again. For someone that never wanted to do their hair, that surprises me, but I'll be stoked. I used to tell people I had brown hair with gray highlights and judging by the fuzz on my head I think we're looking at gray with brown highlights. :) There are some brown suckers up there though!! I don't know how long they'll last, but I'm hoping they're fighters. Ha!
I am anxious to start radiation. I am more excited to have some time without doctors, but I'm ready to start and get it over with. I'm sure it'll get old and hectic, but I want to get going.
I also went to church yesterday here in Tillamook. I have never been a church person, but Pastor Peggy has been incredibly kind and I wanted to go see and listen to her. I got a big "hi Mo!" at the beginning. It was incredibly welcoming. Max got uncomfortable pretty early on, so he and Brent went to read books in the other room and Debbie and I listened. We both cried twice. She said a prayer for a number of people including myself, that was first cry, then she said some really nice things about teachers. Cry #2. For those of you that haven't known me my whole life, I don't cry. I used to make fun of Lisa for crying all the time. I now cry all the time. I like to think I'm developing much more compassion in all of this, and that's why I am more emotional, but maybe I'm just a wreck who can't get it under control. Grandma Madge used to tell me to just cry because it always makes you feel better. She was pretty smart, I'll go with that. I love you all (crap, that made me teary eyed again), thanks for all of your positive energy, I'll keep you posted on how the tattooing goes. Have a Happy New Year!! I may sleep through the ball dropping, but I am anxiously awaiting 2009.