The latest

It was a very long day. Kurt was admitted today, the hickman line (a line with 3 valves for transfusion, administers meds etc. in his chest connecting to an artery--I think) put in and we met with the transplant nurses. He starts chemo and campo?(a drug to attack Tcells) tomorrow for a week. He will have his transplant on the 21st--one bag o' stem cells that goes directly into his hickman line. It will be painless and should take over a half hour. The remaining couple weeks will be tedious waiting to see if his body accepts the stem cells from a very generous, unknown donor. We hope to find out a year from now, who it is. They won't tell us now.

I felt like I was with a celebrity when we walked on the oncology floor. All his women were popping their heads in to welcome him back. I even coerced friendly, cute Mark, the nurse to wheel him back to his room instead of "transport." Transport isn't one of U of C's strong points. It could take an hour before someone will come to wheel you somewhere. I've learned to take matters into my own hands-- when no one is looking, move quickly. Kurt's room is much larger that the last few times, which will be great when I show up with a drop cloth, paints and my canvases!

I met with Sherry at SPEX Eyewear this evening to talk about my art show hosted at their store in Hinsdale. I am scheduled for Friday, April 27th from 5:30-8:00. Please mark your calendars. I'm looking for musicians to play in the background if anyone would like to give that a shot, let me know!

Thank you to all my sanity savers--Will Wolz for snowblowing at 5 a.m. this morning AGAIN, all the ladies who have cooked for us and my bro, Joe "Uncle Buck" who will be in charge of my kids this weekend to give me some hours of hanging with the high school friends and getting some rest. And thanks to Kurt's parents for hanging with Kurt.

We have a new addition to our family that lives in the garage. It's a giant snowblower that could eat small children and animals. I can use to to clear Dominick's parking lot if I need to. It has gears and wheels the size of bike tires. I use to run up and down the drive waywith the old one--not now. It wants to spend quality time with me and go very, very slow, especially in reverse. It says, Jani, take your time--you shouldn't be dragging a 75 lb. snowblower up the driveway. Let me do the work very slowly."

Wanted: Getaway weekend

I'm feeling a getaway coming soon...Chez Carla's where I can paint, have some peace, and it's just a hop and a skip from U of C to visit Kurt--he's being admitted on Tuesday, January 13th for the stem cell transplant process.

On the artistic front, I am scheduled to have a showing in April at SPEX Eyewear in Hinsdale. Their shows are called Art and Vision. They sponsor the show, invite clients, serve wine and appetizers and display the artwork! That makes me happy!

Song of the week: Rehab by Rihanna

TTFN, jani