how about drinking?

merry Christmas Eve ladies!

*Loungettes*

Merry X-mas Eve............

Merry Christmas, all! Was up very late last night (almost to 5 a.m., while Bob was burning through a slew of shows to free up space on the DVR), gift-wrapping and writing out cards to accompany them. (Sadly, I fell down on the job of sending out actual cards, so I will be e-mailing animated ones and making phone calls instead). Woke briefly about 10 am, turned over, and next I knew it was 1:45 pm! Bob had gotten up at noon to watch the Bears game (sorry, Heidi, for Da Bears not giving your Browns their first win for Christmas). Looked out the window. No wonder I had slept like a baby--wasn't just the earplugs and the lights off, but 3" of snow on the ground, with more still falling! Fortunately, a neighbor snow-blowered our sidewalk so we wouldn't get fined; and a local landscaper posted on the neighborhood blog that he was making the rounds with his shovel. Texted him, and he did the gangway, deck, stairs (front & back) and alley "apron" behind the garage. Salted, too.

We had planned to take the train up to Evanston for dinner at Chef's Station, but weren't too keen on the 1/4 mi. walk on slippery sidewalks in 20-degree weather to the Granville Ave. CTA station. (The restaurant is in a little roundabout between the Davis St. CTA and commuter-rail stations, so no hike at that end). Bob had just downloaded Uber on his phone and set up his acct., and was eager to try it out. (No way were we going to drink & drive even on bare dry pavement). The driver showed up in an older Prius. Uh-oh. The interior dome light didn't work, so Bob couldn't see where the seat belt receptacle was, and my flashlight app was no help because the receptacle had sunk down into the crevice between the seat and back--the driver had to get out and fasten his belt for him. We were crawling because of the snow--and as soon as we crossed the city line the car fishtailed alarmingly at every intersection. The driver apologized for our slow progress, "because this is a very light car." (Which begs the question--why drive one on such a snowy Christmas Eve)?

Dinner was delightful (see "what's for dinner?" thread for the menu). So here I'll just mention the wines: DeLoach 2014 Pinot Noir with the app, and Duckhorn "Decoy" (Cab. Sauv.-Merlot blend) with the entree. Both were marvelous. No wine with dessert, since those were big honkin' glasses we drank and still had glogg planned for gift-opening at home. And the first dinner out in days that yielded no leftovers--not that the portions were small but because we'd intentionally had nothing to eat since very light brunch.

Said glogg was Lynfred Cellars (suburban Roselle, IL) spiced Christmas red (which had added cherry, strawberry & raspberry juices plus sweet spices). Had planned to add a little vodka in lieu of akavit (though the neighborhood "Hans' Andersonville Glogg" now uses Everclear instead). But we were already pretty loaded from the dinner wines. We opened gifts while Gordy fired up his holiday playlist. Then I nuked a mini plum pudding (the mini fed the three of us easily, as it had 350 cals. for a scant 3/4 cupful), heated a little Cointreau, lit it and (lights off) poured the flaming booze over the pudding. We had fewer gifts to open this year, as Bob's patient base is either dying off or moving away--to suburbs, warmer climes, in with their kids or into nursing homes. So we had less detritus of which to dispose. But the ones we gave each other were major. I'm about to turn in and attempt to sleep off all that wine (sadly, a week's worth in only two days...and then there's dinner at our BFFs' house tomorrow). Snow falling at night makes one want to hibernate. I've been up only 12 hrs. and I'm already yawning!

Hope your Christmas is as nice as our Eve has been!

Doing Toxo and Herceptin. Is it ok to drink wine every night?

Good Morning, Loungettes!Merry Christmas!Sadie and I are staying home to watch the snow and sleet come down and drink Christmas spiced coffee and then mulled wine. And read books and maybe watch a movie. In other words, not gonna do much today.Hoping everyone here has as happy a Christmas day as Sadie and I will.

Listening to the scanner this ayem, lots of cars of the road and I just heard one dispatcher say that a caller said AAA isn't taking calls right now! Not sure if that is really true or not. Also lots of calls going out for people who have fallen and need help getting up and at least one person who has fallen and broken a leg. And I've heard at least 4 calls for ambulances to go to nursing homes to transport people to the ER for evaluation of chest pain or altered level of consciousness. Talk about a busy day for the first responders!

Goldie--safe travels, and have good time at the movie.

CynCyn--Merry Christmas to you and Donese!

Jazzy--WOW!What a nice place to spend Christmas!

Teka-beautiful pic, and Merry Christmas!

Dara--Merry Christmas, and my you get health, happiness and joy, too!

Chi--Except for the Uber ride, what a wonderful Christmas Eve you had! There is nothing like the quiet of falling snow, is there? So kind of your neighbor to take care of your sidewalk, and so nice for entrepreneurial local business people. I made a mulled wine yesterday, didn't turn out very well, going to try again today with a different bottle of wine.

Cammy--Merry Christmas to you and your family!

11Patricia11--Welcome to the Hot Tatties Lounge! The drink/not drink/how much to drink question is a complex one. Your best source of info is your Oncologist. Things to consider are the work load on the liver from the chemo drugs and from alcohol, studies that indicate a link between alcohol use and primary bc or recurrent bc, ER/PR status of the tumor, and quality of life. My personal opinion is that life is for living, and for me that means having a drink with dinner or in the evening or when out with friends. I am also done with treatment. Other Loungettes take a more calculated approach, some by taking a certain number of drinks or number of ounces of wine per week, some by having a glass only during certain portions of their treatment cycle, some by not drinking during treatment. We all come from slightly different points of view. Would you feel comfortable sharing more about your diagnosis and treatment plan? That would give us more to consider that is directly related to your individual situation.

Cammy--I am so sorry for folks with heating emergencies on Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter. And there is more work that your company can do? That is pretty sad, too! Good for business, but sad for everyone else. I think my friends will rebuild, I really hope they will. I loved going there every week to get milk and cream and half and half that I knew was local, and loved their cheeses, and was really getting to like seeing what locally raised meats they had for sale, was starting to get my bacon there once a month. Was planning on some chicken from them, too. And then the baked goods--I usually went in the afternoon so I didn't have a big choice of items but the breads and muffins were so good. I know it cost more than at the big chain grocery store, but it all tasted so much better, and I like knowing where the food is coming from.And to be able to get it all from one place where I know the people and could visit for a minute or two, it was the highlight of my day. I hope Leslie had a good time, and I hope you and your GFs have a good time, even if it is a two day in a row thing! You'll have plenty of time to recuperate after!

Lit Teetotaler's DOTD:

Patricia, my MO suggested I reduce my drinking for overall health and being ER and HER2+, which I did. I do still enjoy red wine and beer but I decided not to the day before and 3 days after my infusion, just to be kind to my liver and kidney. As stated above though, it’s a personal choice.

Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Twofer Tuesday, masquerading as Monday. Sadie and I had a lovely Christmas day. Never got dressed. Lounged around reading and sipping mulled wine. Made a couple loaves of bread. Chatted with Mom on the phone for a bit. Watched the snow and wind do its thing. Boy that wind did blow for a bit, too. The weather people were talking about blizzard conditions, and given the lack of visibility I think they may have been right to call it that. Was listening to the scanner all day, for a while they even pulled the snow plows off the road cuz the visibility was so bad, and people calling in car accidents were told to stay in their cars and not try to move and not expect help for possibly several hours, unless there was an injury, and then a plow truck would be sent out with the ambulance, and often a police car as well. Now the temps are going to start dropping and the next few days are supposed to be quite chilly. Welcome to winter in Maine!

Teka--sounds like we had the same kind of White Christmas!

Patricia--I can relate to the being scared feeling, we all can here. It's a very scary time. Not drinking, or as we refer to it here, virtual drinking is a good place to start. By the time you get through the first part of treatment you'll know more about your statistics and have had a chance to talk to your MO about drinking and do some of your own research. Make sure to take good care of those kidneys, they're kind of important, too.

Lit Teetotaler's DOTD:

Merry Christmas & Happy Boxing Day! As to the latter, only one gift I gave has to be returned: I didn't know Gordy already had that book.Had a great time with our friends last night--took a Lyft there and another friend drove us home. DOTD was a couple of 2011 Williams Selyem Pinot Noirs--the Westside Road Neighbors vineyard and the Sonoma Coast. Opened the Westside Road first, because it was pricier and there was a possibility we'd only need one bottle. Well, it went pretty quickly. A bit more austere and Burgundian in style than I've had from that winery (in the Russian R. area of Sonoma County). So we opened the Sonoma Coast, and it was delightful: fuller body, fruitier with distinct cherry notes. Wish we'd been allocated more than just one bottle. (The way the winery works, because it's so small, is that a subscriber recommends you, and three times a year you get an e-mail announcing your allocation--which is the maximum number of each wine you are allowed to buy, but never more than 6 bottles of one wine. Usually, the priciest and least expensive are the first to run out. The next allocation will be the 2015s & 2016s).

Woke today to find it was 1F and our housekeeper didn't come in. No surprise--in this weather I wouldn't go outside either. Found her text on my cell, and called her: the heater in her car had croaked and she was at the dealership getting it fixed. But there was no message on our landline answering machine. Come to think of it, there were no messages since Sat.! That was when the readout on the handsets suddenly started saying "New VM." I would push the VM soft-key, only to get the readout "Call phone co. for VM access code." First time it happened, I called my provider, only to confirm we didn't have voicemail--because our phone system has a built-in answering machine. I figured this was just a glitch, so every time that "New VM" readout came up, I would make it go away (had to go to the mfr.'s site to find out how). Still kept happening, though--and I realized there were all these messages that were disappearing into the ether, supposedly irretrievable. (We usually let the machine pick up for any number we don't recognize or don't want to answer, which is most of the calls we get).

So I went online to figure out how to revive the answering device--purged all the messages, turned it off & then back on, adjusted the number of rings. But oddly, there was no way to even play our greeting, much less change it--none of those options were available onscreen nor in the user manual. Went to Panasonic's website. Live chat is down. Tech support phone desk is closed till at least tomorrow (and since the thing's out of warranty, it'd cost me nine bucks just to say "hi"). "User community" was no help either. So before popping for a new phone system (which wouldn't arrive till at least Thurs., or would require I bundle up and brave Chiberia), I decided to call the phone co. to find out how much adding voicemail would cost and how long before it'd take effect. It took me three tries: each time I reached a live human being, I was put on hold for the "home phone desk." First time, I got disconnected. Second time, I got a recording telling me to dial my own phone number, only to get a recording that "this service can be accessed only from the primary phone on this account." And then they hung up. (Say WHAT? That was the number I was calling from; did they mean I had to scrounge around for the original handset, one of two that came with the phone--I'd added two more?). Third try, the tech tried to access the appropriate help desk, only to find that the first techs were listed as "still logged in" to my account. Finally, she was able to get through, and told me the service is free (why didn't the first guy I called on Sat. ask me if I wanted to set up voicemail?); she got it authorized and I finally set it up. To retrieve messages, we'll have to jump through a few hoops: dial the VM, then punch in our access code--with the answering machine, all I had to do was press "play." Meanwhile, I had to go on Facebook to tell people that if I didn't answer my landline, they needed to hang up and either call my cell or leave a FB message. I was able finally to go back on FB and give the "all-clear."

That was how I spent most of my day. Really. I did just go to Amazon and buy a fifth handset and charger so Bob could have a bedside landline phone instead of making me hand my handset over, or wait to get paged and return the page using his cell. Ah, technology!

No housekeeper tomorrow, but I already knew that her hubby has an eye appt. (requiring pupil dilation) at the V.A. and she has to drive him. We're hanging in there. Luckily, I have nowhere to go, nothing to do until she gets back Thurs. to help me get the place ready for New Year's Eve: we host dinner at a neighborhood restaurant first and then walk back here for champagne. Given that it'll be below zero, though, I will have to teetotal at dinner so I can be a "shuttle service." (Or maybe one of my teetotaling guests might be willing to do that).

Good Morning, Loungetttes! Happy Chilly Hump Day! 2 degrees, feels like -6 with wind chill. Some places with wind chill of -30 in the state. Very chilly. Had an interesting moment at work (Hospice) yesterday ayem. There's a big meeting every other week where all the patients are reviewed, each patient needs a special note written in the computer before the meeting starts. One of the clinical managers gave a list of 5 or 6 patients to one of the new nurses 10 minutes before the meeting started and told her she needed to do them ASAP. The nurse said she didn't know how to do that yet, the clinical manager told her to "get one of your friends to help you" and walked off! I was floored. This was from the clinical manager that is leaving to be a director in another office.Then I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out the instructions for getting to those special notes, and what to write, and walked her through the first one. Then she had to run off to the meeting, which had already started. I was so upset for her. Giving a new person a new task with a very short deadline and no education on how to do it is just not right. Not sure what, if anything, I can or should do about the situation beyond what I did. Fortunately, the rest of the day was quite nice. Still, I was happy to get home to cuddle with Sadie and get my feets warm again!

Jazzy--Getting into and out of the hot tub in cold weather was always an interesting process when I had a hot tub. Especially the getting out part! But the soak is sooooo worth it! Nothing like loads of laundry to underline the return home from a nice trip.

Chi--that wine allocation system sounds like a good way to get some good wines! Don't you just gotta love technology when it glitches like that? I swear there are people in the phone companies whose job it is to mess up the workings so that people need to call in so they have a chance to sell more services! Glad you got your issue worked out without extra costs, but boy the run around you got!

Jazzy--how I wish I could dance like that!

Lit teetotaler's DOTD:

Mandarine Cosmopolitan Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz Absolut Citron Vodka
• 3/4 oz Mandarine Napoleon
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 3/4 oz Cranberry Juice

Directions

Shake all the ingredients with ice and fine strain in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed orange zest.

Best served in a Cocktail Glass.

Hey all and welcome to our new loungettes. Not going to comment on everyone, just a few comments.

Cami, I'm glad you got out, but sorry that Joey is sick and of course all that Leslie is going through. I hope she doesn't get what Joey has!

Karen, I hope you were able to enjoy your Xmas with DF and DD.

NM, you are the best, what can I say. So very kind.

Got a new desk yesterday for in the house, matches our entertainment center and end tables. Barely got it into my FJ. Star Wars (not a fan) Imax and 3d was good. Would be the only way I would see it. Story line was ok, special effects great.

My hands and feet are just getting worse. By the end of the day they hurt and burn so bad! The soles of my feet feel like they are terribly sun burnt and that I'm walking on very course sand. Hand burn too, and doing anything hurts. I may have to take more than a week off my FU pills. Labs this Thursday, should be able to see TM's on Friday, and onc next Thursday. I'm scared to change treatment. Makes me feel like things are going down hill for me. Going today to a new place here in Phoenix, aquarium type thing with dolphins and a butterfly exhibit. I can't believe how expensive these things are....geeze! I don't know how a family of 4 or more, can afford it. Heading home tomorrow.

Nice desk, Lori. Dunno what could be causing your hand & foot skin problems--there's a chemo side effect called "hand-foot syndrome," but it's a neuropathy (sensations), not a skin issue and it's associated with I.V., not necessarily oral chemo. Maybe for the skin issues using a heavy-duty cream or ointment under cotton socks & gloves might help--though that's not exactly comfy in desert heat,

Cami, so sorry everyone was under the weather on Christmas Day, but glad you made it outside yesterday (I'm still hibernating).

Everything's fine with the phones now (I got Bob his own handset for his nightstand so he doesn't have to make me roll over and hand him mine--but 9 times out of 10 I'm the one who has to tell him it or his cell is ringing or his pager is buzzing. He stays up till 4am watching TV to get sleepy, so unless I use earplugs and a sleep mask so do I. My sleep is always so fragmented because of that, so that's why I'm such a slug-a-bed, arising at the crack of noon). I got a reply from Panasonic's user-community moderator, which told me nothing I already hadn't known before asking my question. I am so sick and tired of customer-service reps who either know little-to-nothing about their products or just parrot from a script rather than listening to the callers. Had she answered, "whoa, that's a new one on me--I have no idea!" I'd have appreciated her honesty and the capriciousness of technology. But I have no tolerance for people afraid to admit that they don't know something.

Bereft of leftover food, I ordered out for salad & pizza (from a new neighborhood place), so I might have a little Pinot Noir left over from Sat. night's meal out.

Another thing Leslie's GF is coming in today and spending the night here she is a nurse too so I'm so glad she can maybe give Leslie some insight and laughs, I thinks she's n ER nurse tho so her knowledge is more limited to so many different things, but she might help her with explanations. , Jazzy this is the wife of the Jazz pianist who's doing a concert somewhere round here that originally Les and Marty were invited to, but those plans are changed. But I still want to hear what u gals know <cuz I think it's more actually>

Good Morning, Loungettes! 2 degrees below the donut this ayem, but brightly sunny. The bit of a breeze out there feels like a knife, though. Feels like 12 below when the wind chill is factored in. Not going to be spending any time outside today, I don't think. Even Sadie is going out and doing her thing and running straight back in! Actually, I should get out and do some shoveling, but I've got to find a hat, scarf and gloves before I do that. Probably should have hunted up those things before now, but I didn't. Good project for today.

Cammy--so sorry you guys weren't feeling well for Christmas. Glad you got out for lunch. I'm sure the people with furnace problems are very glad to hear your voice when they call. Nothing like having a real person to talk to when you are having a crisis!

Goldie--I'd like to have a new desk for the computer. I've put that on my "to save money for" list. I wish I could take away the pain in your hands and feet. I pray the numbers are all good this time around. The aquarium sounds like a wonderful place to visit. I know those kinds of places are so expensive, though. I wonder how families do it, too. Ooh, love that desk, it's what we used to call a "Secretary Desk" when I was growing up. The one in the picture is BEAUTIFUL!

Karen--glad to hear you are moving on to the next phase of treatment, praying it's easier for you.

Chi--Must be hard sleeping with someone with such a different body clock. I was sent to a different area for work yesterday, got to try a new little diner, they made a fantastic chicken alfredo with bacon. I'm going to try to recreate the recipe, shouldn't be hard, I have a good alfredo sauce recipe, just need to get the energy up to spend a day making linguini and other noodles and get some good quality bacon. I brought half the serving home and had it for dinner last night, it was just as yummy warmed up with a little extra butter and cream added to protect the sauce.

Cammy--How I wish I could give you a big hug right now. Poor Leslie, she must be feeling absolutely frantic. It's never good to find out the chemo isn't working and having surgery moved up. FYI, insurance HAS to cover surgery to a breast without breast cancer to achieve symmetrywith the breast with bc, or is removed and reconstructed. There are people at the cancer center who can help her understand her insurance coverage and help her get the pre-approvals and what not that she needs. As to the nodes involved and her dying, her MO should be able to sit down and give her statistics specific to her situation. This is probably just a bump in the treatment road. It's only been since medicine has started giving chemo before surgery more often that we've had proof that chemo doesn't work a certain percentage of the time. It's just that by giving chemo after surgery we could never identify who was benefiting and who wasn't. I'm glad she'd got a friend coming that will be able to help Leslie sort things out. As an ER nurse she may not know all the details, but she'll be able to look stuff up and help Leslie figure it all out.

Jazzy--Good questions for them to ask. And avery good point that a mastectomy can be done now, recon later. That's the road I went, mast, then recon that included prophy mast of the other side 2 years later. The time in between I used for research and getting back some level of health and fitness, and that was super helpful.

Lit Teetotaler's DOTD:

BRANDY EGGNOG

What You'll Need

• 1 ounce brandy
• 1 1/4 ounces milk
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 1 egg yolk
• Garnish: grated nutmeg or cinnamon

How to Make It

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the brandy, milk, simple syrup, and egg.
2. Dry shake without ice.
3. Fill the shaker with ice, then shake vigorously for about 30 seconds to ensure the egg is well mixed.
4. Strain into an old-fashioned or cocktail glass.
5. Add a dash of grated nutmeg or cinnamon as a garnish.

hi ladies. Day 2 on the road. Should be home about 630 ish Pee emm. Rain the whole way. Ick!

Again,

Sorry for the disappearance. It's been crazy as we all have been for the holidays and of course feeling so horrible this round around.

Cami,

I'm so sorry to hear that the chemo isn't working for Leslie. And most definitely doesn't scare me. I understand we are all different. Even each round for me was different in how it went with the Red Devil. L I just wish with everything Leslie went through that the chemo had done more for her. L I sent my love and hugs as she goes into surgery.

Goldie,

That desk is beautiful!

It's been a wild crazy holiday season filled with ups and downs of treatment. I did not enjoy any holiday food as my mouth tasted of chalk. L Oh well. Yesterday I had a whopper and it was delicious! Lol! I will be sure to check in this evening. I feel like I'm going through withdrawals on this site now. J

I'm also still filling out apps, but once my DD gets up (yesterday I had to wake her lazy bones up at 900am) we are going to my cousin's for a playdate.