Smiley Faces

This sucks. I told Henry that I'm feeling so much pain that I feel like I'm paying for all my sins. My throat is swollen inside so I can hardly swallow, every joint in my body hurts (Tylenol doesn't do shit for me), and well, the weather sucks. Can't blame chemo for the weather though.

Chloe is drawing in the "Time for Me" activity book for kids with parents with cancer. She drew a smiley face and arms and legs on the cartoon of the tumor and asked me if that made me happy, if it made me felt better. Yes, Chloe, it does. So now she's filling every single page with smiley faces with arms and legs. Some of them have hair too.

Speaking of hair, Chloe asked me when I'm going to fix mine. Kids are awesome. I love their perspective on things.

The other night, when the kids came home from being at their grandparents' house, they burst in the door and shouted, "Mama! Mama!" Mylo ran by all his birthday toys, ran up the stairs, and hopped into bed with me and started snuggling. Then Chloe followed. That made me feel both happy and sad.

Rawr!

I wasn't kidding about the cougar dress. Just for laughs, here's a pic. I doctored the pic using some cheezy film grain filter. And don't ask me why Chris is standing so far away from me--perhaps he's fearful of the Grrrl Power. Me and Jenn have a tendency to strike fear in the male species when we combine forces.




and just cuz...here are some gratuitous cute kid pictures. they make me happy. everyone sing: "the wheels on the bus go round and round. . ."!!!

Bandannas for everyone!

{the kiddins wanted to wear some bandanas too, so thanks to Auntie Lisa's care package, we had enough for everyone.}




{aw, so cute...Chloe being a hug monster that Mylo's trying to get away from...}

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

On this day four years ago, I was in labour at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Eventually, I would get the blessed epidural, and hours later, during primetime television viewing hours, I would give a big heave-ho that would introduce Chloe into the world.

Last Sunday, we had Chloe's birthday party. The day started out looking like a piece of shit, but by afternoon, it was actually quite sunny. So we were able to grill up some meat and fish and let the kids run amok outside. Lots of Chloe's little friends showed up: Lily, Maia, Quintin and his little bro, Marcus, Saya, Jordy, William, and Joshua. And of course there was Mylo, who wasn't as psyched about the birthday girl's moment in the spotlight. But he will get his soon. . .


{what we always get: a fruit cake (sometimes a mango cake) from Anna's Cake House on Fraser}



{candles blown out, let's eat!}



{PRESENTS!!! of course, a girl needs help from her friends}



{Mylo's in the background, pushed out of the bubble of girl power, looking like, "OMG, what-EVER!!!!"


Happy Bday, Chloe Bean!

Wiggin' Out

Today, Chloe and I went shopping for wigs with some UBC Creative Writing peeps of mine--Jamella, Claire, Meghan, Pat, and Kellee. I was going to go sans kids, but I noticed that Chloe's been wanting to hang around Mama a lot more lately, so I didn't want her to feel left out. She had a blast (even though in the pictures, she looks like she thinks I'm a total freak)! Of course, she wanted me to go for the red, blue, green, and purple wigs. But she liked my choices in the end.


{green monster}



{bobbin'}



{one of the wigs I brought home--kinda scarlett o'hara-esque. picture taken by chloe.}



{the other final purchase...more of the everyday stylin' wig. pic also snapped by chloe bean.}



{me and mylo, pic by chloe. i also bought a hat with a skull on it...a skull cap, in other words.}


To be honest, I was kind of anti-wig when I found out I would be having chemo. But I really like the wigs. I think they kinda rock. My mom even wants to go buy some now! So I might make a second trip to the wig store. For some odd reason, I feel like putting "Red" on (as I like to call the curly red wig, though the tag says its name is "Jocelyn"...the other one doesn't have a name, but it is made out of real human hair, which makes it softer), and kick my heels up, and sing through the streets, "It's Raining Men." [I'm hoping Jamie won't read this, because he will definitely be here in two seconds to take me up on that.]


Okay, now back to tugging out my remaining hair. Up next--henna head!

Family Art Project

How am I feeling today? At the moment, I'm okay. I went to see my thesis advisor this morning at UBC. He's super supportive and encouraging and kind, which is a huge relief in terms of my decision to take a year off from school. The creative writing department faculty and my cohort have been incredibly generous and wonderful, and it really makes me feel secure about this decision.

After we left school, Henry and I went to buy supplies that might be needed at some point: air filter masks, medical gloves, neck warmer, slippers, Tylenol, and People magazine (a supply I need now). When we came home, I felt so exhausted and pretty much slept or lounged around in bed for the rest of the day until dinner. Fortunately, my nausea has subsided somewhat, and I was able to enjoy dinner with my family and my sister- and brother-in-law, who were so kind enough to order dinner for us.

Now, I'm back to feeling a bit tired. But I did promise pictures of our fun family time last night, so here they are!


{at the chemo ward at the cancer agency: pigtails!}




{the first cut}




{my technicolor mullet}




{henry takes over: photo by chloe yu!}




{chloe's turn!}




{mylo wanting to get in on the action}




{eek! watch the neck!}




{mylo's turn!}




{shiny happy head.}