My virtual trip home

Happy Memorial Day! For much of the country, Memorial Day weekend is linked with the start of summer weather. But for those of us who live in Central/South Texas, it's just another day in May: sunny, bone-dry, and 98 degrees.

As I wrote about in my previous entry, my niece graduated from high school this weekend. While I was sad I missed out on all the family festivities, I'm relieved the hubby and I ended up canceling our trip to California. For one thing, I spent all of Saturday, the day of the graduation party, on the couch, exhausted from the last chemo treatment. I've had the usual intermittent nausea all weekend, and my mouth/throat sores are back again, making it painful to swallow. And to top it off, my poor niece ended up with a nasty stomach virus the day of her graduation. While I feel terrible for her, I'm also grateful I don't have to worry about catching the same bug. I don't even want to think about what it would have been like to be suffering from a stomach virus on top of all of the chemo side effects, all while trapped in an airplane!!

On the bright side, thanks to the wonders of modern technology (specifically, Apple's FaceTime video chat application), I was able to "attend" the big family/friend graduation party without ever leaving my comfy couch. I got to say hi to some people I haven't seen in a long time, hear a couple of toasts, and watch as my niece received her shiny new bicycle for college, a gift from a group of us. This really helped to lift my spirits, and I felt a little better about not being there in person. So a big thanks to whoever created FaceTime, and to Lee for setting everything up on the California side - love you!