Yep, Summer.

 

What’s that smell, you ask? It’s the sweet smell of summer. And no, it’s not me, I checked. Actually, it’s not been warmer than 73 degrees all year, so I can hardly call this summertime. It’s a nice balmy spring. But, honestly, I like the weather like this. I’m a fan of rain and snow, so summer and I don’t get along so well. Also, my pale skin and the sun don’t get along so well either. Thankfully, I’ll be in places for the majority of the summer where I do not have to be in the sun. Where, you ask? Why, let me tell you!

1. I’ll be in Seattle with my little sister, Ashley, in July for a Christian music festival. I can’t wait!
2. My mum and dad are taking me on an Alaskan cruise in August for two weeks. We’ll be visiting many places I saw when I was in 7th grade for a Girl Scout trip (Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, etc), but I’ll see some new places too (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Anatuvuk, Gates of the Arctic National Park, Denali National Park… so many awesome places!).
1. I’m hoping to get permission from the National Parks Service to do a soil survey when I’m in Anatuvuk. My soils professor, Jay Nollar, and all around soil badass may or may not write me a letter of permission to go digging through a national park to see some gelisols.
3. Baby Field Camp is this summer, which is bad. I love geology, kind of, but the idea of being in Bishop, California (read: shitty, hot weather, middle of nowhere, but oddly beautiful) for two weeks with a professor I’d rather drown in a bucket of my own pee doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. This will not round out the end of my summer vacation very well. AND, camp gets back the night before school starts. I may or may not attend my first day of classes. Lets be honest: I’m not going to attend the first day.

So, that’s what my summer is rounding out to look like. In the meantime, I’m getting ready for a friend’s wedding in which I will be playing the piano. I think I’ve annoyed her, though. I was so busy with the end of the quarter that I ignored her too much, and now she’s freaking out about the music. I kind of am, too. To be honest, both of us just haven’t been hitting the nail on the head.

The last bit of info involves Facebook. Mainly, I won’t be using it this summer. I don’t look at it very much unless it’s during school, and even then (unless I’m playing some sort of addicting Facebook game) I have a tendency to ignore it. I’ll still be using Twitter (@kristindexter) which is your best bet of getting ahold of me. I’ll be updating more frequently now that I’m out of school than I did last year. Two or three posts all year? C’mon.

Last-lastly (yes, it’s a word!), I recommend you visit my brother’s “A Beer A Day” Blog. He’s working his way through BevMo (a Californian beverage store much like Costco, but for booze) one beer at a time. You can follow him on Twitter @beerdailyblog, or check out his blog here.

Can you believe it’s May?

The last time I updated my blog, it was 2010. Now, the school year is almost over, and I’ve had a few “life-changing” moments. No, I don’t have cancer again (thank goodness). I’m still in remission. I have lost nearly 20 lbs on a new diet (the hCG diet), and I’ve gotten rid of my physics major. I do want to graduate in the next nine years, you know So, for now, I have geology, and soil science. Yes, soil science! It’s fun, interesting, and it’s the first time I’ve ever really enjoyed myself in school.

What is soils, you ask? Well, let me tell you! Soil science is the study of the soil as a habitat. Yes, I study how the soil is formed, the minerals it’s formed from, the fungi and bacteria that live in the soil, the plants that change the soil pH to keep competition low, and even how to improve soil for crops (add organic matter!). I literally have this joy when I hold a clod of soil in my hand. Texturing it releases this smell that I adore – you should know the smell. It’s that smell after the rain falls, the smell when you till your garden for the first time in the growing season. I like to pull out my Munsell color book and color the soil (my favorite color? 7.5YR 2/2.). Most people hate keying soil out using the Soil Taxonomy book from the USDA, but I enjoy it. It’s like I’m the soil science Sherlock Holmes, and using what I know about the soil, I can determine it’s true identity.

How is soil science useful? Well, you do like to eat food, right? Do you like beer? Wine? Wherever a crop is grown, I can guarantee a soil scientist touched that soil at some point. The best part of soils, though, is playing in the soil pit itself. Soil pits are like giant holes in the ground (and have been compared to open graves or empty hot tubs). We go play in a soil pit every Tuesday for my Soil Taxonomy class, and that’s how we learn how to do our future jobs. With this class, I have a renewed vigor for school.

Unfortunately, that vigor doesn’t carry over to geology. Structural Geology should be my favorite class, but it isn’t. I absolutely hate it. In fact, I’ve been ditching lab, which spells failure and disaster for me. I will most likely fail the class, and be put on probation, unless the teacher (who highly dislikes me) will give me an incomplete so I can finish it over the summer or next year. I hate this so much. HATE. Grrrrr.

That’s about it for me. Now, for one last thing: my brother, Steven, has started a blog called “Beer Daily”. He’s determined to taste every beer Bevmo has to offer. Bevmo is like the Costco or Sam’s Club of booze. So, he has quite a daunting task set for himself. You can read his blog here. I hope you enjoy it! He’s an excellent writer.

Have a good Memorial Day, and a good Summer Vacation!

Another year

School’s started once again, and I’m proud to say I’m finally back full time, and busy as ever. Apparently life doesn’t stop for cancer, which isn’t really fair. Most of my friends… all of my friends… have graduated. I made a few new friends in Geology, and it’s nice to hang out with them between classes. Unfortunately, I’m at school on Tuesday and Thursdays from 8 am to 9 pm, with a few hours break in the middle of that mess. I’ve actually got to be at school by 7:45 this morning, and it’s 2 am now. I just can’t sleep (which is weird). I was hoping to get 8 hours of sleep tonight, but that’s not going to happen, obviously. I guess teaching at 8 am is going to force me to go to mineralogy every morning.

I also joined the kendo club on campus. There are 7 other new members, which is great! A girl named Devynn is usually paired with me, since we’re the same height. It’s easiest to spar with someone your own size. The work outs exhaust me, but it’s a good kind of exhaustion! I’m really enjoying myself so far.

On the cancer front, I still have maintenance chemo, and there’s no cancer so far. I’ve gained most of my weight back, which I hate the most. Of course, I was supposed to. I just didn’t want to. It’s not fair

I’ll try to keep this updated more as the quarter goes on!

Livestrong: Stigma and Silence

So, this isn’t the documentary I was supposed to be in. While in my face to face interview with Mat, I spoke about the stigma associated with cancer for a college student still struggling to go to classes. I talked about not having any hair, and being pointed at (and called a lesbian…). I also spoke about the difficulty of being a cancer patient when people don’t really know what to expect. A guy I had gone out with a few times refused to see me again because he was afraid he could catch it, even though we were just friends and no longer considering each other as potential dateable people. (I wanted to punch him in the face.)

Enjoy the documentary!

Remission… And what that means for me

I couldn’t sleep tonight (it’s all those damn hot flashes… Goes with the territory of having your womanhood destroyed by chemotherapy, I suppose). So, I’ve begun to think of what my recent remission means to me.

1) I’m still on drugs, to a point. Just because I’m in remission doesn’t mean I can just forget the fact that I’ve had cancer three times now. I have maintenance chemo, as well as drugs to take at home.
2) I wonder how long it’ll take me to regain my strength. I’m dying to go back to school full time, to go hiking and camping again, and to ride my bike! The littlest thing makes me tired right now. Maybe I should stick to yoga for a bit.
3) Will people understand that being in remission doesn’t mean i’m instantly well? That it could take me over a year to fully recover? (I wasn’t recovered when I got cancer this last time.)

Lots of things to think about. Also, I’m not thinking as quickly as I was before. And I get tired easily. And I still feel absolutely awful sometimes. What does that mean? My onc dangled the carrot of remission in front of my face for so long that I think I forced my body into it. My labs were looking better before, but there wasn’t the massive increase like there was this time. What if it doesn’t last? I don’t think I could handle all of this a fourth time.

I already feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of life’s opportunities. My friends are all graduating this year. I’ll still be at OSU, and I’ll probably get my PhD before my bachelors (at the rate i’m going). Also, I’ve missed almost 2 years of sorority functions. And now I’m Alumnae. Just like that. Poof – gone. That makes me sad. I wanted alumnae status in a way because I’m too old to be in a sorority, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it.

Stupid cancer ruined my college experience. F u, cancer. Life could be much worse, but I’m glad it isn’t.

Oh, Peter DeFazio. Shame on you.

There was an article on Catholic.org about the ‘Catholic Hall of Shame‘, and it was a very interesting read. I knew that Oregon had a few Catholics that probably voted for abortion, and this has been going on for years. But, something in me just snapped this morning. Reading Peter DeFazio’s name on that list (no, I did NOT vote for him, even if he ‘represents’ me) incited disappointment in me, and prompted me to write him this letter:

Dear Representative DeFazio,

I’m a member of the St. Mary Parish in Corvallis, and was recently reading this (http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=34849) article on catholic.org about our Catholic Representatives in the Senate. After looking at your voting history, I was very, very surprised to find out you are Catholic as well.

This concerns me. You, and other Catholics in the government, are giving the rest of us bad names. If you still go to Mass and receive Communion, then shame on you. Voting for the intentional killing of babies with our tax dollars is not only unethical, but against your faith. I’m glad you’ve taken a side and decided that your social standing and someone’s right to choose to murder children is more important than Christ.

Canon Law states that you can excommunicate yourself if you don’t come to terms with the obvious schism you have created. Be sure that your Catholic constituents will be praying for you to come back to the Church. But, if that doesn’t happen, please leave the Church by name. Your voting record is an embarrassment.

Abortion is not health care, and abortion is not a choice. It is very cleverly-concealed genocide.

I recommend that any Catholic Oregonians out there write to Peter DeFazio and express your disappointment. You don’t have to be as strongly worded as I was, and I know suggesting someone leave the Church is probably a sin. But, I honestly think it’s better people like that leave because they obviously don’t believe what they say they do.

*sigh* That was my morning, how was yours?

WordPress 2 iPhone App = thumbs up

It’s nearly 4 am, and I’ve had the flu (and a fever) for about two days now. For those who have cancer, they know how dangerous this can be, but I think I’m fighting it off pretty well. So, with all of my free time just lazing about in bed and using my iPhone as a VLC remote to my mbp, I started to peruse the App Store. This always happens when I have nothing else to do! I end up downloading games or whatnot, and I’ll play them three times before deleting them. (I have a very short attention span.)

But, I came across WordPress’ new iPhone app update, WordPress 2. The UI is very clean and easy to grasp without too many problems (read: a chimp could use it, which means most bloggers could use it too). I absolutely love the tabs along the bottom for pictures/comments/previewing/etc. My mother could use this app! And I say that in a nice way, of course

For anyone who has an iPhone, and has ever wanted to start blogging and didn’t know what free service to use, check out WordPress. It’s absolutely amazing!

The Joy of Bathing

Yes, strange title, I know. But, those who know me know I love my bathtime. Half of the time, I don’t even wash; I just like to sit in warm water. An old boyfriend from high school thought I had gills hidden under my long hair because I could lay in the water with just my nose peeking out for air for hours on end, with my toes maneuvering the stopper and the water faucet when I got cold.

The first thing I did when I got my first laptop (back in the 90s, oh yeah!), I bought one of those 50-100′ phone cords, and ran it from my bedroom jack into the bathroom. I taught myself how to balance my laptop on the side of the bathtub so I could sit in the water and be halfway productive, even if it meant just chatting with random people, mudding, and posting on usenet forums. When we finally got DSL in 1998 or so, the same thing would happen, but with an ethernet cord. I’ve been balancing my lappy on the bathtub wall for about 12 years now, and have yet to drop one in the water.

Wireless internet was really my downfall. Once I didn’t have to drag the cord into the bathroom anymore, I would take (on average) about 2 baths per day, not counting my shower in the morning. I don’t even use bath salts or bubbles on a regular basis – just the water. I guess I’m a bath ‘purist’. When I moved to the UK for school, I was so happy I didn’t have a shower in my flat that I almost cried. When I moved back to the US, I brought a shower fixture for my bathtub with me so I wouldn’t have to stand and bathe ever again. Some call this lazy – I call it progress.

I collect rubber duckies. One evening, I decided to bring them all with me into the tub… and I couldn’t fit them all. Now, I’m not fat, but I’m not thin either, and I still had 8 or 9 on the side, just watching the elaborate battle I had planned. No, the battle never happened because I was interrupted, but the idea is still there. My little sis in Phi Sigma Rho gets me rubber duckies every year for Christmas, so I can owe it to her that I have so many.

This post really has no ‘purpose’ so to speak, but I needed to write about something other than cancer/college woes. I ended up dropping most of my classes because I was too far behind, and now only have 6 credits (one 4-credit class, and 2 credits of research). Sigh. I have chemo again soon, and I’m not looking forward to it. Having cancer sucks SO HARD. It makes life dull, with very little to pass the time. It’s mainly full of not feeling well, followed by not feeling well, then maybe a nap, followed by not much to eat, and then not feeling well again. Of course, TV and videogames are interspursed, as well as playing the piano/oboe/violin. You’d think I would have time to do coursework, but between not feeling well, and not feeling well, I just can’t be bothered.

If you have cancer, and you are a fully-functioning member of society with nary a side-effect to keep you at bay, then more power to you. I envy the crap out of you. Now, back to my bath.

Scholarly Frustrations

Cancer is a real party-killer. Here I am, in the prime of my life, trying to enjoy myself at college and *graduate* in the next twenty years. But, despite what I try to do and accomplish, chemo and/or side-effects ruin my day. I have a midterm on Thursday, and I was too sick to go to class last week (thanks a bunch, chemo). We didn’t have class on Tuesday because our professors were at a conference in Portland, and then we’re expected to show up on Thursday morning, ready for a midterm!? Are you f-ing kidding me? If it were mapping or hydrology, I’d be fine. But it’s that stupid mineralogy class that is going to end up killing me in the end.

I really can’t afford to get shitty grades. Because I was so sick before they discovered it was cancer (DAMMIT I hate cancer so much), I missed week after week of school for one reason or another. I think my GPA dropped well below a 3.0, and now I’m doing all I can to stay afloat. Of course, it doesn’t help that I’m a physicist and incredibly lazy. Those two things do not go hand-in-hand.

I try to register for classes and keep on top of it, like what I was going to do with this quarter, but I just can’t. I was so upset tonight that it kept me from really sleeping that much. I’m having to teach four classes this week because one of the other TAs is gone (looking at a grad school for his PhD, since OSU isn’t good enough for that apparently), so I had to pick up the slack. I found out that I have to proctor an exam tomorrow night too, so there goes four hours of studying.

I’m not going to make it. I really don’t know what to do, and in order to keep my head above water and get me going to classes again, I stopped my low-dose chemo on my own. (PLEASE don’t yell at me, I’ve already been yelled at, thanks. I know what a retard I am, I get it.) But, at least I can function for the time being. It really isn’t doing much good for me, but dammit if I’m going to take another whole year off. Fuck that noise.

There really is nothing good to report. I finally got to sleep around 4:15 this morning, and then a thunderstorm woke me up not more than 20 minutes later. So, I’ve been up ever since. This is just NOT my day. I’m tempted to email my professor in mineralogy and tell him I just can’t take the exam on Thursday because I’m so behind. But then I’ll even be more behind. What’s a girl to do?!

I know other young adults with cancer and trying to go to school at the same time have had my problems. But I really don’t know what to do at this point! Should I just take an incomplete, and then wing it for the rest of the quarter? I’ll be damned if I’m held back for another year.

Grrrrr

I’ve had two rounds of chemo now, since I had my relapse a month and a half ago (I’m on two days on, then 15-18 days off – it’s a weird schedule, actually… a bit different than the first time). I feel like shit, I’m nervously waiting for my hair to abandon my head, and I’m still trying to be a full time student and teacher at the same time.  It’s really, really hard.  Just this week, when I was in the chemo dungeon at the hospital (I call it the chemo dungeon, even if it is a nice room, because it feels like torture), I tried to get some homework done. One of the nurses came by to see how I was doing, and she commented on what class it was for.

“It’s Mineralogy, a class where I have to learn over 100 minerals by sight and chemical name, much like o-chem.”
“Oh, Honey, you won’t get through that class this year. You have cancer to worry about.”
“Fucking watch me, then!”

Yeah, I did say the f-word.  Usually I’m so nice to the nurses, especially since they’re super awesome. But, I’ve had mood swings, I’m still stuck in a weird limbo between being a functioning woman and menopausal at 25, and HORRIBLE hot flashes where I want to throw myself into the freezers at Safeway. I hate it when people tell me I can’t do something. It really, really pisses me off. Just the other night, I had a nightmare where people wouldn’t believe me when I said aliens were slowly taking over the world and brainwashing people (yeah, I have weird nightmares, okay?). And, believe me when I say it wasn’t the aliens that frightened me, oh no. It was the fact that people thought I was stupid. I’ve always had that fear, especially since I know I’m a weird person, and I say weird things (constantly). But… I’m smart, okay? Geeze. I’m a friggin card-carrying member of Mensa! I solve logic puzzles for fun! I mean, wtf is wrong with me? *shrugs* Ok, I got a bit off-topic.

I hate me my cancer. That’s what I was getting at. It makes me feel weak and separated from my friends. I don’t even see my sister all that often, or even hear from her, because we’ve both been sick lately. We’ve just not been able to connect. (She had her gallbladder removed a few weeks back, and even if the doctors insist on that being a week recovery, it’s not. They’re liars.) Couple that with our busy schedules… it’s amazing that I see her even once a month, even though we live in the same, small town.

The only people I see on a regular basis are my students, a few acquaintances in my classes, and my roommate. He takes care of me – my Caregiver, even though he hates the term – and insists “just anyone” would do what he does…even if we both know that’s not true.

Bleh, I feel gross. It’s a quarter after three in the morning, and I’ve yet to sleep tonight, even though I’m physically and mentally exhausted. My chemo keeps me awake, but I’m not allowed to take sleeping pills (something about thinning my blood… I dunno, I have a tendency to ignore my onc because I think he’s a dumbass and I frankly just don’t care). At least I don’t have crap to do on fridays, save for a geology lab from 4-5 pm, and my office hours from 5-6 (very poorly chosen, but hey, what can I do? I got the short straw.)

I DO want to say that I appreciate the Twisters on Twitter. They’re my little online family. I’ve never met any of them, but I can tell them anything, and they support me 120%. We’re all cancer survivors, and in 140 characters, spread love, hope, and wellness to each other. My town is too small to have a cancer support group for people my age, but with Twitter, I have access to hundreds of ‘survivors’, and it is better than any support group I can think of. So, *muah* to the Twisterhood! I love you all!

And with that, I’m either going to go to sleep, or play Scribblenauts on my DSi. Nighty night!