Chronicles From The Deep South, Volume 4.
 
I took my mom to her first chemotherapy session yesterday, followed by the beginning of week #2 of radiation treatments.  The chemotherapy took place in a center designed especially for this purpose, and there were a lot of women wearing hats.  My mom's dosage isn't enough to make her hair fall out, but there seemed like a lot of trepidation was in the waiting room.  All the nurses were very Tigger-like in their approach, very happy and bouncy.  The treatment didn't seem to rock my mom's world very much, but she came out a bit lightheaded.  That went away in an hour.

The radiation treatment was lightning fast.  We walked in, and half an hour later we walked out.

Then we went to pick up my mom's medicine.  She uses the pharmacy that is 15 minutes from her house, but two minutes from the house she lived in for 30 years.  She said she can't change pharmacies.

After that, we went to Sam's Club to get mass quantities of bottled water.  Apparently, that's crucial to chemotherapy recovery.  Drinking water...not going to Sam's to buy it. 

Then we came home and my mom had a nap.  I read while the thunderstorms rolled in.  I once heard a visiting pastor from California talk about how earthquakes were nothing compared to Alabama thunderstorms.  I've experienced both, and he might be right.

While running some errands for mom, I was listening to sports talk radio, and college football was the topic and passionately discussed.  Get this:  The head coach at Tennessee apparently turned in Alabama to the NCAA, who later put them on probation.  The head coach announced he won't be coming to the Southeastern Conference pre-season media blitz in Birmingham this week because he doesn't want to be deposed by a group of lawyers (who are not affiliated with the University of Alabama in any way that I know of) who are waiting to interview him.  Just a group of guys suing the Tennesse coach for what he supposedly did to Alabama.  The Tennessee coach also mentioned that the SEC couldn't guarantee his safety while he was in Alabama.  I keep trying to tell you people about the passion for college football here, and it's really difficult to explain.  I'll just keep offering you snippets like this and hope it suffices.

Last night was very lazy.  My mom had a big day, so I chatted on IM with my sister, called my girls (yes, my "girls" includes my wife) back in Texas, and watched portions of CSI with my mom.  Everyone went to bed early.

I wanted to hear Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention, and he's a very good public figure. (GenX anti-boomer sentiment/diatribe upcoming) Much like almost every Baby Boomer:  Lots of style, very well presented, but short on substance or integrity.

I loathe politics, the process and the "sound byte" mentality.  (generic idealistic statement upcoming) I wish politicians could get elected by being philosopher/statesmen these days...