morning report

I'm suffering a headache but it's one that (so far) can be tamed enough to go about my day at a basic minimum level. Don't expect to be very sharp today.

E and I are going on a "girls weekend" in the mountains this weekend. The mountains are 10 degrees cooler than here, but we're in an extreme heat wave right now, so I'm expecting it to be "only" 90 degrees up there! Most folks with second homes in the mountains don't need to invest in air conditioning, so I'm a little worried. It's been a long time since I endured indoor life without A/C. (We're going to a friend's house, not my parents' house, by the way.) I am not going to cancel, though, I'm going to go see what it's like. Have been looking forward to hanging out with friends, one of whom has a little baby.

At work I've been training my coworkers how to use a new database and software program. Thought I would hate this task, but I'm finding I kind of enjoy it. It's the teaching part. Yesterday was my one-year anniversary in my job. Going very well.

On a more sad note, another friend of mine, a new friend, is going through breast cancer. This is the 3rd person I know to be diagnosed in the last 2 years, and according to the stats, I can expect it to go like this or actually get higher for the rest of my life, as risk increases with age. I know two people whose mothers have been diagnosed. I'm going to appointments with this new friend and her mother trying to help take notes, explain what the doctor's talking about, and reassure, and they appreciate my help. I say I'm just paying it forward so that she can do it too, down the road. She seems to have an aggressive form of cancer and it's in the lymph nodes. She is going to have all the 4 main treatments: surgery, chemo, radiation, and drugs. And she's going to have to quit drinking and smoking, which are going to be hard for her.

Welcome to the sisterhood. It's the most supportive community you never want to join.