And also:

Winston has obviously never seen a cat before in his life. He looks at her like "What kind of dog IS that?" And then the chase ensues. Isabel is bad-ass and will not be submissive to a dog, so she just hisses, swats, and goes about her business.

Cleo does not particularly like Winston. It will be interesting as they try to sort out who is King (or Queen) of the castle. My money is on Cleo.

I don't want to work today. I don't, I don't, I don't.

You know what I want to do? Work out. It has been OFFICIALLY eleven months since I've had a decent work out. Eleven months of sloth and slack. Well, we can blame part of that on the fact that I had cancer. Chemo sure will knock the crap out of you and make you not able and not want to work out.

But STILL. I need to get back to the gym. My stomach and butt are not aesthetically pleasing to me these days.

When my husband broke up with the girl he was living with before me, he gave her one of his two english bulldogs. The male bulldog, named Winston, went to live with said girl. This was approximately four years ago. Over the past few years, we have watched Winston when she has been out of town, and she in turn has watched our two bulldogs. Now she has apparently decided to skip town, and Winston has been living with a friend of hers for the past year. According to the friend, the arrangement was that a more suitable and permanent home would be found for Winston by the ex-girlfriend. This not only never happened, but the ex-girlfriend has screwed over all her friends here and is nowhere to be found.

So John gets an email from the friend, asking if he wants Winston back since he is the rightful owner. After much discussion, we've decided to take him. Three dogs, one cat, and multiple fish is a hell of alot of animal in one house, but we figure we'll be able to provide him with the best home. I can't think of anything sadder than him getting stuck with an owner who wouldn't properly care for him or love him like we will. A new addition to the family just in time for the holidays!

I saw my primary oncologist on Tuesday and I am still healthy. My white counts are pretty low, but he doesn't think they're low enough that I would be unable to fight off an infection or cold. So that's good news. I'll have another PET scan at the end of December.

This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for that I think I will burst.

I had the most blissful weekend. John was skiing, and I missed him so much... but there is something to be said for sleeping in and doing whatever you want all weekend!

I made chicken saltimbocca and roasted asparagus on Friday night, then went out with a couple of friends I haven't seen in years. Saturday I slept late and made an omelette with fin herbs and gruyere and hash browns. I loafed around the house, watched movies, played with the dogs, drank sauvignon blanc, went to church on Sunday morning with my folks and met my grandparents for lunch.

It was all in all perfect. I'm still sleepy though. How do I have such a relaxing weekend and then feel exhausted on Monday? :)

An update on life:

1. My lungs are getting much better. I don't have that stinging or horrible shortness of breath anymore. In fact, I haven't really noticed my lungs at all in a while, which is a good sign.
2. I do have L'hermitte's Syndrome, brought on by radiation to the spinal cord. When I bend my neck forward, everything from the neck down tingles. It's kind of a tingly-numb-electric shock feeling.
3. My energy feels like it's improving all the time. I actually want to start working out again, although I have yet to actually DO anything that involves muscle movement. Baby steps. :)

Our company was just purchased, and there are some changes going on at work, mostly good, some kind of annoying. But what can you do?

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin.
Give the audience a grin.
Enjoy it.
It's your last chance, anyhow.

~from Monty Python's "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life"