November 2023

November 2023 brought surgery for me. One of the goals was to remove any remaining tumor, but another goal was to determine if the tumor had a "pathologic complete response". Because I had to fast after midnight, we set an alarm, and Aaron joined me for an almost midnight snack (peanut butter oatmeal cookie bars) the night before I went in for surgery.

Bright and early, we showed up at CARTI's beautiful new surgery center in West Little Rock.

My surgeon and her team were absolutely fabulous, and I was back home by the end of the day. This surgery was much easier than the one in June to insert my port and take some lymph nodes, and I'm so grateful for all of the people who encouraged me and prayed for me.

One of my viola students from my first years of teaching orchestra now lives in Dallas. She sent me this lovely bracelet from Little Words Project, and it's my new favorite.

School continued to move forward for Katherine as she conquered her sophomore year at home while also taking Oral Communications across the street at a little Baptist college.

When she had youth orchestra rehearsals, we took the time for "coffee and calendar" to navigate all of the doctor's appointments and make sure we were on the same page.

Katherine also tackled chemistry with a buddy this year, which made things much more fun and often filled our home with laughter.

Olivia and Connor continued to grow in their relationship, and we did our best to cross paths with them as often as possible.

With the combination of November's cooler temperatures and my energy level slowly going upward,

exploring longer and steeper trails became an option again.

We introduced Katherine to Pam's Grotto, a trail Aaron and I had visited last summer.

Even with just a little bit of water in this dry time of year,

the trek was still beautiful.

Cooler weather also meant that carrot cake oatmeal reappeared in our breakfast lineup!

November always holds the orchestra taco supper. Watching students perform at this concert and then getting a front row seat as they grow throughout the year? One of the highlights of my job!

"Baby chemo" continued every three weeks, and I always took the family picture along for support and encouragement.

Every so often, we get unexpected visitors, like my cousin and his wife. Our fridge holds a scorecard of a continual Phase10 game, every chance we get, we play a few more rounds with these guys and add to our scores.