All The Things
I just finished this week of radiation and no crazy side effects so far. I'm not expecting much, just fatigue, some skin changes, and shoulder pain. There's a slightly darker color that I noticed yesterday and a little shoulder soreness, but other than that, we're full steam ahead. My radiation oncologist gave me a sample of some hydrating cream to try and it's fantastic. It's made by Bass Farms out of Shelby County so I'm even supporting local. Best part: the nurse said to tell them I was doing radiation and they would give me half off at the cancer center gift shop! 💵
I was really debating going back to work during radiation and finally made a decision on Monday. Since short-term disability is run concurrently with FMLA, I've exhausted my annual allotment of FMLA already. I have radiation every afternoon at 3:15pm and would have to leave work early every day, which isn't covered in any way. My boss said I could work remotely 20-30 hours a week while I'm doing radiation so I took him up on that. This will get me back into the swing of things and then I'll go back to the office when I complete radiation. I'm waiting on approval to go back still, but hopefully I hear something next week.
In the meantime, I've been making some great progress on Cade's senior album. I'm up to 2013 already and hoping to get a couple more years done this weekend. I am usually about a year or so behind on my family albums and catch it up during a girl's weekend. I haven't done much scrapbooking this year until recently and I was already behind so now I've got all of 2021 and 2022 still to do. Once I finish Cade's album, I'll get focused on that. It's a never-ending cycle, but I love it! ❤️
In other news, I found a Granite Crystal (dark gray) Challenger R/T with a hemi and looked at it last Saturday. The sound of my childhood emerged when I started it. Nothing can beat that distinct Mopar rumble. When we got there, the clips on the front spoiler had come off so they took it back to the shop and got that repaired so we could test drive it. It was fantastic car, but the check engine light was on. Apparently the second owner added an aftermarket exhaust system and now the light will stay on perpetually, but it was supposedly done by a professional shop. If I'm spending that kind of money to buy a car, it better not have a check engine light of any kind on. Then a message popped up in reverse to service the rear sensors and they tried to tell us the car didn't have any. Because all car manufacturers program messages that don't apply to their vehicles... 🙄 WTH?! Then the Carfax showed it was auctioned. Three strikes, you're out!
Saturday night I looked at my saved search and did a fresh search which found a newly listed Hellraisin GT in Greendale, IN. I was prepared to head south on Monday morning, but when I woke up and checked, it showed "vehicle sold" on the listing. That deep purple was the color I was looking for, but it's super hard to find. I've never worked to hard for a car in my life. 🤣 I went back to my saved cars and decided to check out an Octane Red one that I'd found in Batavia, Ohio. I know that seems like a drive, but it was under list price, better than the prices around Indy, and my second favorite color so Christian and I took a road trip. I came home and went to my first radiation appointment in style!
No hemi, but she's got some upgrades. I need to add a remote start, get the windows tinted and she needs some rally stripes, but I'm enjoying my first new-ish car in years. I bought my 2008 Cobalt in November 2007 and haven't had a car payment since the end of 2010. I couldn't justify getting a new car and another payment, not to mention higher insurance, but Cade finally got his license so it was time.
TODAY'S SILVER LINING: I've been so tired that I haven't had the energy to take Miss Olivia anywhere or have her stay the night. Tomorrow I get to take her to prince/princess day at the Melting Pot. I already have the tiara out. 👸