Wanna Cookie?

I baked last night. I haven't baked cookies for a long time and these are my favourites, which is good reason not to bake. I don't usually have any trouble resisting sweets but just knowing these are in the house ... like catnip to a cat. Kevin had to stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips at the end because my wrists had had enough, but he was only too happy to help!

I'm glad I took yesterday off from any commitments. I needed that. I didn't get my Christmas decoration boxes put away but I did clean out and rearrange the pantry and some kitchen cupboards. They needed it!

I wore a bra yesterday for the first time since the beginning of November. It feels okay and doesn't seem to irritate my radiated skin at all. Not yet. I'm still lotioning liberally and frequently. The most aggravating thing about wearing a bra is trying to do it up behind my back! I've never had trouble doing that before but this time, because of the pain in my right shoulder, which has nothing at all to do with cancer, I can't quite reach well enough. I can just reach but only just and then I don't have enough maneuverability and strength to actually latch it. I really dislike having to do it up at the front. It's a slam to my dignity ... kind of like having to roll over on to my hands and knees to get up off the floor or out of the tub!

I was in dire need of a couple particular items, so I did some shopping in the afternoon yesterday. The only pair of jeans I've been able to wear bit the dust last week. They were already challenging because in the summer, the lock part that keeps the zipper up must have broken so I could only wear them with tops that covered the zipper. Even then, I was constantly rezipping. Last week the fastener at the waist band broke and with the zipper the way it is, it's a repair job beyond my patience. Those jeans don't owe me anything. I picked them up at Costco and wore them a lot. So I went downtown and after much searching (everything seems really picked over), I finally found a very pair of plain, dark wash jeans that fit nicely and that were very marked down. I'm happy.

I also needed a particular type of shoe that I don't have. I can not believe the wear I've gotten out of a $5 pair of brown flats that I bought at Superstore two years ago. I bought them for bike riding to work, not wanting to risk wrecking good shoes (I wasn't the most confident bike rider, especially at the start), and still wanting to wear something that looked okay with skirts. I call those little brown flats (they have a red bow on the toe) my "cardboard shoes". They've got to be cardboard for $5! But they have endured beyond belief! I throw them in my suitcase when I go to Vancouver and wear them in the rain so as not to ruin my good shoes. I have worn them throughout my cancer treatments, especially since my joints started bothering me because they're so easy to slip on. They're kind of stretched out and they sit low on my toes, so they were the only pair of shoes I could wear when I had edema. But their time is up. Amazing shoes, they've been.

Now what I need for shoes is something I don't have. I need something black for the sake of versatility. I need leather. I want a slip on. I need a slightly elevated heel, which I think will help my walking by easing the strain on my right calf, which is the most bothersome. I need a very sturdy heel because my feet are still numb and I'm a little nervous about skinny heels, of which all of my heeled shoes are. I would prefer that they be somewhat flattering. So I was very happy to find a pair of naturalizers that filled all of the above criteria and, bonus, they were only $30. I won't mind wearing the crap out of them at that price. They also happen to have bows on the toes! Black patent bows! I wasn't looking for bows. I wasn't even wanting bows. But I can live with bows apparently and so that's what I have.

It was a successful shopping trip and a good day, except that my joints seem a little worse than they had been. Both yesterday and today. Bummer.

Bra. Shoes. Jeans. Approaching normal!!!