Tree trimming and fake mustaches

Yesterday the Garcias came over to meet my nephew Alex, his mother Kristene and stepfather John who are visiting from Fresno this weekend. Kristene, although no longer married to my brother, remains one of the most important and beloved people in my life. Along with Robert, Kevin and Lina, we all ate a lot of honeybaked ham and trimmed my little (real) tree.


Kristene had wanted to meet the Garcias for a long time because I talk about them so much and she's seen pictures of them since Cito was born. She and John brought lovely presents for the kids (and for me!). Robert, my indentured bartender for the evening, introduced everyone to the Sazerac cocktail and a good time was had by all. Sometime during the evening, I came across the fake mustaches Colleen had given me when she was my chemo buddy and Renecito had us all wearing them for awhile.

It means a lot to me to have a tree this year. I don't think I've ever had one in this apartment and I've lived here since 1992. Since I have chemo the week of Christmas, I wanted the tree to look at when I'm stuck at home having the post-chemo ugh. Thanks to the fact that Robert isn't having a tree this year, I was able to take advantage of his huge collection of ornaments.

It also meant a lot to me to have the party yesterday. I love all the work associated with giving a party: the planning, the shopping, the preparing, etc. However, doing all that work is beyond my energy threshold these days, so I merely planned it, bought the ham when I went for my blood draw the other day (the Honeybaked Ham store is right by the medical building), and made shopping lists for Holly and Robert. They did all the shopping and Holly prepped all the food and Robert made all the cocktails. And they did all this shopping during a driving rainstorm at places where they had to hunt for parking because it's the holidays and everyone's shopping for booze and food on the weekend. Robert also did all the cleanup afterward. My luck in friends is inestimable.

Della and Cito were as good as gold all day, and Della is suddenly a tooth factory. She now has four, when she had only one a week ago.


One of my favorite things about the evening was how Renecito and Alex hit it off. Alex read to Renecito for a long time from the books Kristene had given him, and Cito loved it. Alex is going to be a great dad someday.



I probably won't be posting for awhile, since I'll be busy enjoying this period of "wellness" before the next chemo infusion on 12/22. I hope everyone is having as nice a holiday season as I am.