“Mum! What’s that you’re wearing?” I can’t quite replicate the tone of total repulsion.
“A scarf, my dearest, darling, younger son. It’s catching the bits of hair that are falling out.”
“Well could you please not wear it when you drop me at football tonight. In fact, you could just stay in the car.”
I bought [...]
Archive for November, 2007
I’m celebrating
Published November 27th, 2007 in Microscope, Working at home, broken ankle and ovarian cancer. 2 CommentsI’m not celebrating the fact that my hair is now coming out in handfuls and my debris is competing with the cat’s fluff for the attentions of the vacuum cleaner. Mind you, the cat’s fur isn’t likely to block up the bath plug so I win on that score.
I am celebrating the completion of my Irish Sea contract. I [...]
Long ago, in the days when I was naive, innocent and, dare I say, young, I thought that diving was the planet’s main repository of acronyms. SCUBA, BSAC, PADI, NAUI, ABLJ (remember those?), BC, AAS, ITC, PIE, TIE, IFT, NDC, NDO… The list could be very long. And boring. And growing - let’s add in ERD. [...]
Tales of a cocktail cabinet
Published November 17th, 2007 in Family, broken ankle and ovarian cancer. 9 Comments4am. That’s an hour of the night that really doesn’t impinge upon my consciousness. I like to be wrapped cosily inside a totally unmemorable dream at 4am. I appreciate that there are folks who have to function at that time of the night or for whom 4am means breakfast but me? Well, I generally only see that [...]
Flying high: Double maths and badminton
Published November 13th, 2007 in Boys, School and sport. 2 CommentsOne of the highlights of school, ever since day 1 of Primary 1, is being chosen to represent the school at an event. The recorder group, the choir, brass band, sports of all sorts, Celebration of Success - whatever the event, the excitement is high. With GP2, the excitement is infectious; he still manages to [...]
I’ve discovered a wonderful support group of friends. You know deep down they’re there all the time and it really doesn’t take much of a crisis for them all to rally round. G and I sat and chatted not long after the cancer was confirmed and decided my hair had to go. Not completely - [...]
Whacky science
Published November 8th, 2007 in Atlantis, Diving, Miscellaneous stuff and Out & about. 0 CommentsI’ve just read Salmon fishing in the Yemen which should, I think, be compulsory reading for all scientific civil servants. It was certainly compulsive reading, and very funny, with its descriptions of a whacky project to establish a North Atlantic salmon run in the Yemen desert, the inevitable political machinations that arose and the talk of big [...]
GP2: “Mum, what does gullible mean?”
Me (reading the paper and not paying much attention): “Oh, it means you’re easily taken in, you believe anything. Why?”
GP2 (nonchalantly): “Well, I heard on the news that it’s not a real word any more so they’re taking it out of the dictionary.”
Me (marginally more alert): “Oh really. So [...]
It’s good to talk - Part 2
Published November 7th, 2007 in Communication, Miscellaneous stuff, NHS and ovarian cancer. 7 CommentsNuns get it, apparently. Non-smokers get it. Ovarian cancer, that is. I can make no claims to anything in the nun department, despite the nunhood clearly being my destiny at 7 years old. Seven year olds are notoriously fickle, though, so by the time I was 8 I had the medical profession in my sights. Given recent events, [...]
Should I stay or should I go?
Published November 5th, 2007 in Blogging, Boys, Communication, East Lothian, NHS and ovarian cancer. 9 CommentsMy blog is fast approaching its first anniversary and I find myself in a place I couldn’t have dreamt of a year ago. As a family, we seem to have experienced a Series of Unfortunate Events this year, starting with the death of my father-in-law in January (we all hated those books, by the way). On [...]
It’s good to talk - Part 1
Published November 2nd, 2007 in Blogging, Communication, NHS, Working at home and ovarian cancer. 4 CommentsI’m not sure how I ever had time to work. After the excavation of my insides, the physio said “You’ll need at least 6 weeks off work. Maybe 12.” My comment: “So that’ll be 2 weeks then. I’m self-employed.” I could in fact have started work again last week (make that 1 week) but I’ve [...]
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