Chemo Hooch and Other Christmas Wins

🌼 Date: Thursday, December 25, 2025

⚡ Energy: 🔋🔋🔋 (steady, managed, and fueled by apple spice)

💖 Status: Medicated, hydrated, hosting like a boss

😁 Outlook: Grateful, amused, and ready to recycle all the boxes

Today brought a small but mighty breakthrough in the nausea department—and honestly, I feel like this deserves its own Nobel Prize category.

I discovered a shortcut for my nausea drink. Chemo Hooch — the quick version of my chemo moonshine — saved the day. (recipe here)
You know the one. My chemo moonshine.

Turns out, when you don’t have two hours to brew the OG batch, you can whip up a perfectly acceptable “sister drink.” If one is moonshine, then naturally this one is… chemo hooch.

Here’s the recipe (no judgment, no measurements, just vibes):

Hot water
One packet of spiced apple cider mix
A sprinkle of cinnamon
A sprinkle of ground ginger
Measure everything with your heart
Stir well
Sip slowly and feel smug about your ingenuity

This little potion, combined with:

Pepcid morning and bedtime
My nausea meds three times a day
Plus the breakthrough med as needed

…made today a pretty damn good day.

Good enough that I was able to cook Christmas dinner and serve both dinner and dessert. I did not do this alone—let the record show I had a wonderful sous chef and an absolutely elite cleanup crew. Teamwork makes the chemo dream work.

Everyone had a nice Christmas.
And anyone who didn’t get exactly what they asked Santa for ended up with gift cards and has probably already made an Amazon purchase. Which makes me wonder… is Amazon’s busiest day actually after Christmas? I’m putting my money on yes.

Speaking of Amazon, my next task is breaking down approximately 47 boxes and getting them into recycling before garbage day. It’s the circle of life, but with cardboard.

The house is in good shape. Casey mopped the floors last night (he really is my Christmas miracle), and I vacuumed and cleaned the carpets. We are officially ready for Saturday’s head shaving party, which has now evolved into a potluck—because of course it has. Anyone who wants to hang out is welcome to bring a dish and stay awhile.

Santa was also very on-theme this year. He brought me:

New cordless clippers
A couple of new capes
New combs
A shiny new squirt bottle
A new bottle of sanitizer for the tools

So yes… we are ready. Fully equipped. Slightly unhinged. Professionally prepared.

Today was full. It was warm. It was managed.
And it reminded me that sometimes the win isn’t doing everything perfectly—it’s finding the shortcuts, accepting the help, and still showing up.

💗
— Tina
One Badass Day at a Time

Chemo Hooch and Other Christmas Wins