Really excited for today - Swan Lake and a meal at the Royal Opera House perfect. Wish I could be beamed there though! Quite tired still today after my travels on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing my girlie and hearing about her week in Psychiatry. 

Such a lovely lovely day yesterday with Kitty. We came back with lots of new projects for making. Amazingly we had just got into the hall and we met up with Sylvia - a friend who I hadn't seen for many, many, many years who had seen I was going to be there on my blog. There were thousands of people there so it was amazing that she saw me. I wished we had time to catch up rather than just a quick hello! 

Today - usual Friday business. 

Tomorrow we are off to London to see Swan Lake with Chloe and Ed - lovely.  

I saw a really lovely rheumatologist today - who was very pleased to meet me. He had heard about me in meetings and was pleased to meet me in person. I felt a bit like a celebrity! As ever he was very interested in the connections between my diseases and which was responsible for what. He was happy to say that my mixed connective tissue disease seems to remain stable. We discussed the various aches and pains that I have and he suggested which were due to the disease and which were probably due to the drug I take to stop the cancer returning. I just need to have an echo of my heart and a lung function test to make sure that they are also stable. He also wanted to put in his pennyworth in about my blood pressure and asked me to increase one of my drugs straight away. His view was that swollen ankles can be put up with but feeling foggy wasn't ok. A man after my own heart! Talking about hearts - he listened to my heart for quite a while and then listened again and then sat and thought for a minute before saying 'have you got a fistula? he had heard a swishing when listening to my heart but then couldn't hear it where you would normally hear a fistula. He was pleased to hear that the fistula had been closed off which would explain what he was hearing. All in all a good meeting. 

Tomorrow I am off to NEC to the Christmas show with Kitty - excited to see lots of new ideas. 

Beautiful, beautiful new day. I am thankful for a new week full of possibilities. It is like a new page to write on. I have the chance to take every opportunity and turn it into joy. I have been thinking a lot recently about how we can change the way we cope with whatever is thrown at us by choice. We often can't change the circumstances but we can change the way we think. By looking for joy in each day and by choosing to be grateful we change our thinking. By trusting that God is in charge and that He knows what He is doing we hand our lives over to the Creator of the World. Even if we have to cling on by our finger nails at times searching for the joy - it is still there to be found. A kind word from a friend, a soft cosy bed, a miaow from a pussy cat, a text on your phone, a song on the radio. Joy in each day. 

So I am off to start my new page. What will you fill your page with this week? 

The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Thankfully my life is not dark and dreary. But  it makes me grateful for my warm and cosy home and lovely family to share my life with. I continue to battle on with my blood pressure tablets. My GP has decided to leave them as they are until we can get in touch with the renal team or until my appointment at the beginning of December. So if you see a woman wondering around Wokingham in a fog that will be me! I had a few scary days this week when my kidneys seem to be struggling and I had fluid building up. I could feel it on my chest when I breathed. Thankfully by Friday they had recovered. The GP thought it was the high temperature I had last weekend. Another warning to avoid bugs again as my kidneys don't cope. 

We had a quiet at home day yesterday - I did 2 hours of ironing - ho hum! I mustn't leave it so long. We finished the day by watching the fireworks from our flat roof - perfectly warm! 

This week back to normal routines, tutoring, coffee with friends, helping a friend sort, a renal appointment, bible study, flowers, housegroup. And 2 very exciting days - one with Kitty at the Christmas show at the NEC in Birmingham and the other at Royal Opera House seeing Swan Lake with Ed and Chloe. How varied are my days. Nothing dark and dreary about this week. 

Such a lovely day yesterday with Joy. First stop - Covent Garden for a spot of shopping then round the corner for lunch and then Aldwych Theatre for Top Hat. Joy described it as charming and that perfectly describes it. The costumes and scenery  were wonderful - taking you back to a golden age. Tom Chambers was also charming! It was a perfect musical for him. Maybe his voice could have been slightly better but his charm stole the show. Summer Strallen was a very beautiful leading lady with a wonderful voice. The songs were so familiar. We both commented how much our dad would have loved the show. It has some very funny one liners. I would thoroughly recommend it for a lovely afternoon out. We then walked back across the river to Waterloo - seeing London lit up with beautiful sparkling lights. We have the most beautiful capital city. Finding lost property at Waterloo was an interesting experience - if you ever need to know it is at the far end of the station down the escalator and then down a dark and creepy road! We had gone to collect Chloe's suitcase (another story). We were served by this rather odd fellow - at one point he just stood still holding my money in his hand staring into space. I questioned him and he said - just a minute and continued to stare away into the distance. He then mumbled something and disappeared to return with the suitcase. All in all a very odd experience. We then caught the very busy train home where we were entertained by a man calling what seemed like all the contacts in his phone book to ask -'how they were'. Many obviously cooking tea, or putting children to bed and not wanting to chat about how they were. He had such a loud voice which was unfortunate. 

Today - flowers, resting and Drs appointment. 

London - here I come. Off to see Top Hat today with Joy. Hope I have enough energy to cope. Lovely sunshine will help.