Is the end near?

 The end of this horrible, hot summer, that is!

We have steadily had temperatures in the upper 90s and 100s since July.  

Today SHOULD be the last day hovering in that temperature range, with a predicted cold front due to pass through at some point.

The forecast shows a low of 68 for tonight, but, as I have said before, I will believe it when I feel it.

This has been the longest stretch of truly dangerously hot days on record.... They have never extended all the way through the summer, and so far into September (without a reasonable break) before.

They might not have been as intensely hot as the summer of 2011, but the stretch has gone later in the year than ever before.

There is supposed to be some rain tonight, too, but the chance keeps dropping... At first, it was 80%, then 70%, now 50%.... so the extreme drought may not end any time soon.

The forecast shows highs next week in the 80s!!!  Maybe we can get back out to the woods for a walk at some point.... I miss my nature time more than I can express.

Nature is the basis of my spirituality, after all. 

Plans are starting to come together for having a friend here at Yule and Christmas.  

In a way, I dread it a little, because she will be here for almost a week, and I don't know how I will be feeling....  

BUT, we have been friends for decades, and she knows me very well, and will pitch in, and entertain herself, when needed.  It should be a very relaxed, and pleasant, visit!

I REALLY look forward to having someone else-especially her- at the table for my medieval Yule feast, and then for Christmas Eve Ham, with our friends from Switzerland!

Since we canceled our plans to maybe go up to Illinois for Christmas, due to my needing full blown chemo again, this will make up for that disappointment.  For me, anyway.... Not for my family.

Sigh.

My treatment went just fine on Wednesday, and, while I did not sleep that night until some time after 5 am, I did not have any cold sweats! 

Maybe I am starting to tolerate the steroids a bit better?  My face also never really turned red and puffy the next day, either.  

For some reason, though, treatment days continue to mean at least 5 hours at the cancer center.  My treatment itself is only about 2 and a half to 3 hours all together, and there's the hour wait for my labs to process.

However, aside from that, it always takes SO LONG for nurses to show up at my chair, and for pharmacy to fill my orders, that it inevitably adds an extra hour to hour and a half to how long we have to sit there.

Oh well...it is what it is, until it isn't.

I continue to take my iron supplement, and to eat high iron foods as much as possible.  My labs looked better last week, so I hope that trend continues this coming week, when I go for part two of this cycle of chemo.

Tonight's dinner will be turkey breast and beets.....roasted in the oven, despite the 100 degree weather.

Last night, I baked fish, and made a pan of sauteed beet greens and spinach with white wine vinegar. it was SO GOOD!

We got to the gym all three days last week, as per usual.  I am really pleased that the only day we have missed, so far, was that first chemo day, back in August, when I had to be at the clinic literally all day.

I am off to make us some brunch.... sweet potato hash browns, cooked in ghee, with Moroccan spices, and fried eggs on top!

Have a great week.  I hope the coming Autumnal Equinox brings you the changes you are seeking, too.