GRATITUDES:
1. An evening alone with my hubby
2. A (VERY) slowly recovering head of hair
3. Late afternoon sunlight streaming in the back windows

Okay, don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. Really. But tonight will be the first in YEARS that both critters will be out of the house at the same time – one to a birthday party, one to work – and I’m looking forward to a very quiet house and the opportunity to watch a movie or listen to our music library without moody creatures sulking into the living room and spreading their self-imposed gloom over everything. Granted, the gloom seems to be receding somewhat and both critters, when gathered with us in the living room, do tend to start prattling away about inconsequentials (some of which are pretty darn funny), but it’s still nice to have some uninterrupted down time with Rory.

My hair is ever-so-painfully-slowly beginning to grow back. It’s been beaten back twice by multiple rounds of poison and it’s almost as if it’s hesitant now to make a reappearance, afraid of what might happen next. Hell, I wish I knew what to expect next. I have an appointment today at Dr. Santiago’s office with someone who is going to go over all the details of the blincyto treatment, so I think I’m one step closer to going back to the hospital. This won’t be for an extended period, only for monitoring, but the blincyto is most likely going to be used as an interim step before the bone marrow transplant. I still don’t know ANYTHING for certain yet and this was a cause for much anxiety even a few weeks ago, but now I’m like, fine. Whatever. My damn crystal ball is totally on the fritz so I have NO idea what the future will bring, and I’m okay with that.

Rory and I had a wonderful date night, or maybe late afternoon would be more accurate. We dropped Lauren off at her job and then headed downtown to the Huisache Grill, one of the nicer restaurants in town, where we had a lovely meal. My salmon was perfectly cooked and my glass of rosé was crisp, fragrant and not at all cloying. Rory’s trout was maybe a bit dry but tasty nonetheless. We got there in the middle of what had to be the Senior Citizens’ Hour – nothing but silver (or dyed blonde) hair as far as the eye could see. Of course, I have to keep reminding myself that WE are now senior citizens! Anyway, after our dinner we walked over to the New Braunfels Art League’s gallery, where a new exhibit featuring work by local artists had just opened. After that we wandered across the street to our favorite little ice cream place and each got a VERY small cup of very tasty ice cream. Then it was on to 2Tarts, where I got a decaf coffee and we sat outside and people watched for a bit before heading back to the car. As we cut through the Huisache Grill’s back patio we heard someone yelling, “Robin! ROBIN!!! RORY!!!” It was our good friends Terry and Anita with their grown children Tyler and Rachel. We sat with them for a bit and would have loved to stay longer and have another glass of wine with them but we had to get going in order to pick up Basil from their party. Still, it was the best outing Rory and I had enjoyed in a very long time!😍🥰