November recap!

Where have I been?

EVERYWHERE!

At least that's what it feels like.  Not one, but two trips to San Francisco later, I have had every test under the sun and had 19 vials of blood taken to see if I'm a potential kidney donor for my mom.  First there were the "is she a match" tests, and after those there were the "hey what's that thing on your kidney" tests.  Yes, a bit of a scare there with the surgeon calling to say he saw "something" that could be a cyst but might not be a cyst.  22 days later I'm still waiting for the official phone call from him letting me know the final decision.

The hardest part about waiting is that we do know one very key thing.

I am a MATCH!  I am, as it turns out, a perfect kidney donor for the woman I call Mom. 

Isn't that amazing?  Yet there could be bad news on the other end of the phone when the surgeon calls me, which according to the nurse, should be any time now.  There could be some utterly annoying reason that could stop them from letting me give her my perfect kidney.  And that will KILL me.  To sit by and watch my mom start dialysis and know that I can't prevent it.  Kills me.

On another November note...
I had a birthday.  And it was a cool one.  11/11/11.  How often does that happen??  (Okay, every 100 years, but the odds are not looking good for me seeing 11/11/2111.)

I turned a very uninteresting 36 that Friday.  But there were highlights.  On my way to work, I told the Starbucks barista that it was my birthday, and she gave me my mocha for free -- sweet!  This was me celebrating on the drive with my very first cake pop.

That day my co-worker Pete, who is a wonderful guy, brought me flowers and put up a sign and even brought it the yummiest tiramasu cake you've ever tasted.  Pete made my day!

That evening I celebrated with my best friends who came over for much dinner and laughter and fun.  We stayed up way too late and then played musical beds with everyone sleeping somewhere random.  At least everyone finally slept!  Noelle was the first to fall asleep, but we didn't put her underwear in the freezer.  We just moved her to the floor in a sleeping bag.  Nice, right?

This week is Thanksgiving, and despite my previous complaints about this holiday, I'm really looking forward to having my family here.  Tonight the 'rents arrive, tomorrow I get off of work early, Thursday we cook and eat way too much good food while our Packers win, and Friday we visit some family in Monterey.  I think it's going to be a good week.

If only the phone would ring, and it would be good news....