It's almost December. Goodness, gracious!

Snap, crackle, pop...that's me getting out of bed this morning. I might have sleep position issues. As I shuffle out of bed, stiff back, stiff neck, stiff knees, I notice that my right ankle is not sounding off. Good. 'Bout time.

Today, before work, I'm having my yearly mammogram, which should take half the usual time. However, I'm going to a different place--actually, it will seem both different and the same, since I'll be beating the same path I've already trampled on the way to those thirty-three radiation treatments. This time, I'm hoping that someone actually looks at my pictures before I go. Not that I'm worried at all--just hoping a cancer center has a higher standard of care.  If I actually get to see my surgeon, that will be a bonus. I'd like to thank her for doing such a good job.

The years go by faster and faster...I must say that I'm grateful to have arrived on the latter side of 2016. Thanksgiving was wonderful, and we are cruising again shortly, and Christmas arrives shortly thereafter. Festive times! 

Our first stop on the cruise (the same for several years) is St. Croix. We always walk to the same small beach club, where we happily flop on the sand and bask in the fact that we are on the beach. This year, we both wonder, will anyone on the island be advertising their link to Alexander Hamilton, who grew up there? We won't be in the same port, though. Later, we'll also be on Nevis, where he was born. It would be impossible not to see these islands with different eyes this year.

On this map, St. Croix is not labeled by name, which I find strange. Frederiksted is a pleasantly sleepy place, and we're always there on a Sunday, when all the locals are going about their usual relaxed Sunday business.

December really caught me off guard this year. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since I was diagnosed with cancer, soon to be a year since my surgery...I've come a long way, feel a lot better,
and am much more relaxed. There are so many issues that I am no longer having. I'm torn between wanting to forget how bad some things were, and wanting to remember, so as to be all the more grateful for feeling so much better.

For now, I really must get to it--Cheers!