Twas the night before KNIFETIME

and all through the house....not a creature was stirring, except dave making his supper, while three dogs lay snoring.

Tomorrow at six thirty a.m. I report for a two hour wait in advance of surgery. Am getting Dave to place our thermarests by the door. Am going to leave here about fifty minutes before six thirty in order to pick up Elizabeth where she stays with her friend. (She cannot stay here cos she is allergic to dogs and dust).

I have to tell you about how happy I have been in the past week. Well Bill, Sasha's dad, the most lovely man in the universe, a dear friend of ours, gave me a present that was out of this world. Otherworldly indeed. A week ago he asked me to reserve this past Saturday for a surprise. The surprise was revealed sloooowly during the week. Last Tuesday I learned it was to be the day and the night of Saturday. Then Wednesday he told me Dave and I were going to spend Sat nite at a hotel. Thursday I learned it was to be the five star Hilton/six diamond restaurant/casino, pools both indoor and outdoor, and the crown in the jewel? Nora was to have an hour's massage at the spa in the Hilton.

What an amazing time we had. Wow. We drank wine, and partied, swam in the pools, played in the casino, ate a five star delicious lobster and scallop meal, ate a ton at the gorgeous "lakeside" buffet restaurant, and relaxed. No dogs! Dave said I talked about the dogs all the time. Like a mom who cannot go away on hols without her kids. What a great weekend. Thank you Bill a millionfold!

When we returned, Chris and Mike, who babysat our three dogs said that Eiger wasn't too much of a whiney baby at all. He had them up at two a.m. and four a.m. to pee however. What a bugger. He is totally spoiled and quite a diva and it is all my fault. I spoil him waaaay too much. What sweethearts were Chris and Mike to take the three. We could relax the whole time knowing they were in the best of hands.

When we got back to our house Ellen and Joanna, Bobbi's moms, had sent a gift basket of chocolate and crackers with salmon pate, dips, five kinds of chocolate, crackers, sugared almonds, and a big lovely bow. What sweethearts!! I instantly put on the expensive sound system Chris and Mike bought me and continued to enjoy myself!!

Suzanne, my dear dear friend made me a batch of awesome brownies and Jordan and Dawn gave me a special herb that I am enjoying very very much right now, in fact. Courtenay's and Dawn's pretty necklace give me a smile and Alison, Tutu's mom, a lovely, lovely woman, gave me this great journal with what I consider the perfect saying on the front. It is from the British posters during the second world war: Keep Calm and Carry On! How sweet! I love the doggie picture frame as well. Dexter's mom and dad, Amanda and Ramsey gave me lovely teas, and a unique bowl made in Italy that they brought back for me.

So here I am the night before i lose my boob and my cancer. Today was a tough one for Elizabeth. It is always harder to watch something happening to someone else rather than have it yourself. I had radioactive tracers injected in my breast and no surface anesthetic. There was anesthetic inside the needle though. It just looked worse than it was tho Liz and I tried not to look. I held her hand during the initial, brief sore parts and she cried! I love that!!! Being loved is the biggest present and people try to show you the size of that feeling. It feels so good to be loved by the special people I mentioned above and anyone who is reading this loves me too and that feels really good.

I should have called this blog "The Last of the Cleavage" because I wore a black dress at our formal dinner at Le Baccarat and I said to Dave across the table, "look, this dress gives cleavage. Say bye bye to them. This dinner is it!" Twas then I saw Dave's first tears! Too funny.

Next time I talk to you I will be the Uniboober! (My mom joked in advance of her mastectomy so it is a family tradition!) The wait is two hours. The surgery will probably be at eight thirty in the a.m. while eliz and I lie in the waiting room for two hours on big pillows and thermarests. (My back is killing me.)






See you tomorrow night if i can!