day in the life
Highlighting
the everyday life of a couple living well with a slow-growing
cancer.
Life isn’t
always easy, and there will certainly be sorrows and losses
along the way. But being alive is good. It is very good.
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Sunday, June 16,
2013
Best dad. Best
hubby. Best years of my life.
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Happy
Father’s
Day, hon |
Comment
Thursday, June 13,
2013
With 400+ photos, you can’t not use them. So humor me
three last thoughts with photos about our week at the
coast.
First of all, when
hubby found the inexpensive cottage online and saw the views, we
wondered, OK, what’s wrong with the
place?
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The view
from the dining room window |
But it was right in
our price range, so we booked it. Sight unseen.
Turns out, it’s right on Hwy 101. But who
would sit on the front steps and watch the highway go by when you can sit
on the back deck and
listen to the crash of waves?
There’s
gotta be a sermon in there somewhere, right? I wonder how often
in life we sit by the highway, absorbing the noise and fumes, when
just around the corner is an invitation to beauty and peace.
Second thought. I
couldn’t help but notice how Pacific Northwest oceans come right
up to Pacific Northwest forests. I love the artistry
of God, combining aqua seas and all shades of sand and tall evergreens
clinging to
cliffs. And none of it clashes.
And thirdly, you
meet the nicest people at the coast.
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For those
of you who thought I was skeletal ... take a look
at this guy |
Comment
Thursday, June 6,
2013
From our cottage
window I’m
watching another sun dip beyond the edge of the world.
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View from
our rental cottage |
We’re
at Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast, and instead of long sandy
stretches, we’re
perched high above a small cove that seems to be a favorite
sunning spot for sea lions ...
... and sea gulls
...
... and even
goslings.
Today we drove a
couple miles north to a state park. This entire area is a
photographer’s
paradise.
Everywhere you
look, there’s
hubby with a camera and tri-pod. (Nearly 400 photos so far. Good
thing it’s
not that old-fashioned stuff with the film and negatives and
print shops – you’ve
probably heard of it?)
This has been
such a lovely place to rest with no agenda except to enjoy each other’s
company (and not get angry over Words with Friends [inside joke]) and come away refreshed.
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Depoe Bay,
Oregon |
So far we’re
on track.
Comment
Friday, May 31,
2013
Aware. Intentional.
Appreciative.
We had different
plans for the upcoming week, but hubby made an executive
decision:
“I’m
taking you away.”
I love being
taken away by him.
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What’s
not healing about this? |
Actually
this comment was precluded by a couple weeks of strange head pain
–
what you might imagine a mild electric shock would feel
like.
Healthy all
my life, I don’t like relying on pain meds. But it hurts to
talk, chew, brush my teeth, wash my face, walk down stairs or on
uneven ground. It causes pain to shoot up into my head. Only on the right side.
Weird, huh?
Tri-geminal
neuralgia. Something to do with a blood vessel inside my head
pressing on the geminal nerve.
I’m better
at being the caregiver than the patient. It’s not as if
I’m laid up in bed. It’s just that I’m on meds and in pain a
good deal of the time and still going to work. And I don’t
want to feel as if I’m
not carrying my weight.
So hubby is
whisking me away to the coast.
“I don’t want you talking until a
week from now,”
he says. (Is this his concern for my health ... or his desire
for a week of peace and quiet? Hmmm.)
This from Mark
Batterson:
“Some people
live deeply, live fully. Their circumstances are no different
than anyone else’s. They breathe the same air, but they have the
uncanny ability to see more, experience more, enjoy more.
Others, not so much.
“Leonardo da
Vinci himself once observed that the average person
‘looks
without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without
feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without awareness of odor
or fragrance, and talks without thinking.’”
I want to think before I speak. I want to notice the
beauty of the area where we live, to taste my food. To pay
attention to sounds and smells.
Too often it’s
pain or adverse circumstances that remind us to sit up and take
better notice.
Here’s
how I want to live, whether in pain or free from it: Aware. Intentional.
Appreciative.
Comment
Wednesday, May 30,
2013
The designers of
the new Microsoft Office product are not my favorite people.
They’ve managed to design software that takes more clicks to get
to where I want to go. I call that the opposite of progress.
Regression.
For instance, to
print a Word document, instead of one click on
the little printer icon, you have to go to
“File”,
and then
“Print”
and then
“Print.”
Three clicks.
Three times as long
to send a print command as the previous software. The opposite
of progress.
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How do I
get back to my desktop from here? Whaa! |
The option to fill
in a cell with color used to be right next to the font
and line color options. But not any longer. It’s in an entirely
different tab. Good luck finding it.
Don’t even get me
started on how many clicks it takes to view a filmstrip of photos
from a photo card you just plugged into your computer.
It’s not that I
can’t handle change. It’s that I can’t handle idiotic
illogical change.
It’s a bit
time-worn, but I have just one
thing to say to the obviously-not-left-brained designers of the
new MS software:
“If
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Comment
Monday, May 27,
2013
A little on the low
side, there were only 80 family reunion campers this year, but
still a great time together with the Johnsons in southern
Oregon.
This is a hardy
bunch that has gathered together over Memorial Day weekend for
forty-something consecutive years.
Rain or shine.
Oftentimes rain.
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Catching
up on the latest news |
One new bride and
four babies have been added to the family since last reunion.
It’s so fun to
watch nieces and nephews grow up and have children of their own.
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Great-niece Paisley |
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Great-niece Kenadi |
It’s also fun to
watch nieces grow up and help in the camp kitchen. (For those
unable to attend this year, hard to believe if not for the photo
to prove it, right?)
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Nieces in
the camp kitchen where they belong |
I married into a
family that would want me to continue being part of their
get-togethers (I think) should this evil cancer take hubby
sooner than I plan.
Family is
one of those commodities you can’t place a price on. Most of
these people would stick with you through thick or thin. They
would overlook your faults, clap at your successes and weep when
you weep.
Which is why we
plan to keep in touch and not waste a single opportunity to
gather with them.
Comment
Tuesday, May 21,
2013
A friend recently
asked how hubby was doing on his new med, Zytiga. I wrote back:
“Great.”
Of course this
answer was based on the fact that hubby is still moving full speed
ahead and is experiencing very few of the long list of side
effects.
But there’s that
darn every-three-months PSA test that seems to not be working in
our favor lately.
Up five points to
15.1 at this week’s check-in with the oncologist. This, after
it hovered around *one* for so many years. Bummer.
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Does this
look like a man with metastatic disease? |
You want to know my
take? Hubby’s last PSA test was done three months ago. He didn’t get
approval to begin Zytiga until six or seven weeks after that.
The PSA could
easily have climbed during the time before the new meds kicked
in, right?
Either way, we all know there
are no guarantees on how long each of us has on this planet. With every
rising PSA count, we are reminded of this truth.
Which makes me
think of a quote from a John & Stasi Eldredge book:
Now we should live while the pulse of life is strong.
Emphasis on now.
Comment
Sunday, May 19,
2013
Not one to pass up
a date with hubby, we threw snowshoe gear into the back of our
vehicle and headed for the snowy mountains.
We knew Cascade
Lakes Hwy had been plowed past Mt. Bachelor, but the roads into
some of the lakes weren’t open yet.
No worries when you
have your own snowshoes, right?
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Have
snowshoes, will travel |
Turns out, we
needed only lightweight jackets, a camera, our lunch and a picnic
table.
The road into the
Elk Lake campground was still closed, but it was a short walk
from the gate. On
dry pavement, much to my disappointment.
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Spring
picnic at 5,000 feet |
And so, on a cool
spring day at 5,000 ft elevation—puffy
clouds hiding the nearby peaks, chipmunks scurrying by, Sunday
fishermen on the lake—egg
salad sandwiches and watermelon never tasted better.
Comment
Wednesday, May 16,
2013
There are
twenty-two greener thumbs in central Oregon than there were
yesterday.
Today we threw a
couple of planting parties for our cancer community. We provided
a plethora of herb starts, potting soil, pots and seeds—“Bring
your garden gloves ... optional, if you like the feel of soil”—and two
co-workers, whose side businesses involve gardening, provided
the professional instruction.
As luck would have
it, central Oregon decided to rain today, starting about the
time our first garden party was kicking off. And picking up by
the time our second party was scheduled to begin.
Hardy gardeners,
these cancer survivors. They’ve been through surgeries, chemo, radiation. A little rain at a garden party?
Are you kidding?
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Cancer
survivor herb container planting party |
This is my job.
Brainstorming with co-workers to provide classes, events and
programs for cancer survivors and caregivers
–
programs that allow them
to expand their horizons, laugh out loud and connect with one
another.
And they actually pay me to do
this.
Comment
Sunday, May 12,
2013
“Thanks
for a lovely Mother’s Day weekend,”
I say to hubby.
“You
let me do everything I wanted to do.”
And then a light
bulb clicked on.
“No,
wait. You let me do everything I want to do every day.”
He just grins, this
very wise man I married.
The weekend began
Friday evening with Pizza Mondo slices in Drake Park listening
to the distant thunder and hoping we weren’t going to get
drenched.
On Saturday, we
hiked with our cancer posse along the Metolius River. Icy blue
waters frequented by fly fishermen ...
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Metolius
River |
... families of
geese swimming their young, a circling osprey, bright yellow
wildflowers, a blue-dotted butterfly.
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Metolius
River butterfly |
And today, a
Mother’s Day picnic along the north shore of a melting Sparks
Lake. Homemade chicken salad studded with chunks of apples, red
grapes, celery and green onion. Warm, crusty bread. Fresh fruit.
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Sparks
Lake with Mt. Bachelor standing by |
Grateful for Gary
who has been the best father and husband a girl could ask for.
Grateful to be mom
to four terrific children – two that I actually birthed and two
that married into the fam.
Grateful to be
called grandma by three exceptionally bright and
beautiful grandkids.
Glad for the
remembrance of the importance of family this lovely Mother’s
Day weekend.
My cup overflows.
Comment
Tuesday, May 7,
2013
Crunchy, sweet and
savory
Hungry for a good
salad when I got home from work and with some leftover roasted
chicken in the fridge, we decided to commemorate National Salad
Month for dinner this evening.
My favorite kind of
salad is combining as many items on hand that might go together.
The more differing textures, the better.
Tonight, chicken,
red beets, green Anjou pears, red onion, toasted pecans and bleu
cheese over spring greens. You noticed the color palette.
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Chicken
Beet Salad |
Hubby gave it two
thumbs up, this combination of crunchy and soft, savory and
sweet served with a homemade vinaigrette and some crusty artisan
bread.
And really, two
thumbs up from hubby is all that matters, isn’t it? Happy
National Salad Month to one and all.
Comment
Friday, May 3, 2013
For further proof
that spring has arrived in central Oregon—even
though temperatures are still dipping into the 30s overnight—hubby
and I have begun our two-dates-a-week ritual.
This is where the
weather warms up enough for the wife to talk the husband into
dinner out on Thursday evening, and then a second date at Drake
Park on Friday
–
setting up in front of the river, shooting photos, some general
people/geese/duck watching and playing Words with Friends.
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Friday
evening Drake Park date |
For those of you
who don’t know, one of our dating rules is to save up something
interesting to tell each other.
I have slowly
trained myself to not tell hubby all the interesting things as
they happen, to save at least one thing. In fact, I keep an
abbreviated list on my smart phone. (The only challenge I run
into from time to time is trying to decipher what some of my
abbreviations mean.)
Hubby, on the other
hand, grasps for anything on the fly when I ask what he’s saved
up to tell me.
“I
hear it’s supposed to get up into the 70s next week.”
Really? That’s the best you can do?
Comment
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May 2013
Aware. Appreciative.
MS Office 2010
Family get-togethers
It's just a number
Last trek, part two
Hardy gardeners
Mother's Day
Crunchy, sweet and savory
That time of year
April 2013
Swimming lessons
Getting off the ground
Chunk of asphalt
Stress-free zone
Two Portlands - part 2
This Boston Marathon
Earlier than the TSA
Shopping woes
March 2013
Half birthday ... again
Last trek
With each passing year
Keep the old
Tech nerd
Not the hardest thing
How hard can it be?
Just what the doc ordered
Two Portlands
Mini family reunion
February 2013
Shout out
Marvelous
There is today
Doing it up right
Happy Valentine's Day
Speaking of beans
Snow angel
Simple winter fare
Moving west
January 2013
Flat Stanley on snow-shoes
Water colors
Happy chatter
Flat Stanley visits again
Extended hope
Take that, cancer
Compromise
The commonplace
Bringing in the New Year
December 2012
Making investments
Winter wonderland
Random acts of kindness
Gift giving
The good, bad and
ugly
Peace on earth
Cancer Club
Mission accomplished
Culture
Fantasy football
November 2012
Those darn numbers
White Christmas
Back to reality
Favorite things, part IV
Complaint department
Even more favorite things
More favorite things
Favorite things
October 2012
Happy Halloween
Baking weather
Graduation day
First snow
Swans in pairs
A great fall
Date night(s)
DEFEAT Cancer
Country girl
’Tis
the season
September 2012
Back in the groove
Last hurrah
Teton hiking
Wow, Yellowstone
Reconnaissance in Jackson
Barn sightings
The power of tenacity
Winnie the Pooh wisdom
Long-time survivor
Perfect marriage
August 2012
Five dollar bill
Out in public
Guest blogger, Steffany
Think outside
Survivor camp
Camp this weekend
Living in a wonderland
Sacred space
High country
July 2012
High country
Simple cooking
Locks of Love
Attitude
Average, ordinary weekend
Close of birthday week
Day before
Get outdoors
Human beans
Mission accomplished
Night sky display
Journey with a mission
June 2012
Ain’t
no sunshine
Favorite thing
In our possession
Over the hills
Camp Sherman
In search of wildflowers
Building a cancer center
Southwestern surprises
Irrational fears
Reason to celebrate
Intention
The Space Noodle
May 2012
Reunions
Hiking posse
Powered by optimism
Mother’s
Day weekend
Heart tug moment
Vermont hospitality
Happiest place on earth
Supermoon
Unlikely source
Baby geese season
April 2012
Not found out west
The rules
Guess what state we’re
in
New Englanders
Jersey weekend
Beantown
Easter blessings
Milestones
Bean soup day
March 2012
Fashion statement
Sharing the experience
Second day of spring
Half-broke horses
Simple pleasures are best
Best to live your own life
Words With Friends
February 2012
Got your back
The entire snow-shoe team
Grand Canyon
Perfect day
Arizona in February
Springtime?
Super Bowl Sunday
Favorite audience
January 2012
Something in common
Some system
In such a community
Coming home
Headed for OHSU
Checklist for the coast
Welcoming 2012
December 2011
Snow in town
Filling Christmas weekend
Socks
Coolest date night ever
Dressed in pink
Butternut squash day
Making connections
Painted hills
November 2011
Beauty from junk
Taking nothing for granted
Gratitude - part 4
Gratitude - part 3
The child in all of us
Shepherd's House
Gratitude - part 2
Marathon epidemic
Unconquered
Gratitude - part 1
October 2011
My orthidontical twin
Last wilderness hike?
The view from 7,800 feet
Colonoscopies and fall colors
Welcome back
To make a life count
On our way to the Poconos
The Parents
Autumn day in the city
A few numbers
September 2011
Country girl signing off
Off the grid
What are sisters for?!
Try something new
For a limited time only
On the NCI web site
August 2011
I don’t
make this stuff up
Brothers
Addictions
A lifetime
Club membership
Detours
Date night
July 2011
Misguided group
Neighborly times
Choosing life
Not as it appears
On my list of heroes
The more you have
Choices
Happy birthday, America
June 2011
Have a nice trip
Easily entertained
Turtle and Maple Nut
Celebrating Father’s Day
(week)
Walking the butte
Notorious list maker
The happiness project
Well played
Airport lessons
May 2011
Rain or shine
Pink tennis shoes
I am an orphan
Playing it safe is risky
Skid marks on the runway
Nothing could be finer
If it’s
Mother’s
Day
Idaho wedding
April 2011
Wicked
Quintuplets!
Busted
Tough day at the office
McKay Cottage
Snowy April day
Thai food and amazing grace
March 2011
Silk stockings
Cabin in the woods
Entertainment committee
Any excuse to celebrate
Ultimate cheerleader
Drum roll, please
Ordinary blessed weekend
What’s
stopping you?
Nuh-uh
Texas hospitality
Mean guys like Mike
February 2011
Texas = What a country
Just to be on the safe side
Mudpies and lullabies
Christmas Valley
Getting plugged in
Blurring the lines
What goes around
January 2011
Might as well dance
Mexican-Peruvian marriage
Some attitude
For the birds
Glass castle
Small
town America
Family seasonings
Dad’s coat
Off to a great start
December 2010
Sharing your story
The night before Christmas
Christmas movies
Happiness studies
A year’s span
Stormy detours
Another black eye
Snooded
Winter play
November
2010
Adventuring
Feeling healthier already
Heart wide open
More fun
Private marathon tour guide
Choosing quality of life
Geese and GPS units
Thanksgiving month
October 2010
Knitting up a snow storm
Third time’s
not a charm
The verdict is in
Resourceful assignment
High school audience
Accidental tart
Pepsi ... or not
Custom cakes
September 2010
Hundreds of quilts later
Wedded bliss
Teach a girl to fish
Rainy day chili
Living fully
Photography 101
No drop in the bucket
Family of elk
Scenic route
Red rocks and blue falcons
Alpine hiking
August 2010
Outdoor town
Perfect weekend
A big little life
Once in a lifetime
Summer weekend
Take five
Twenty years from now
July 2010
Beauty in the high desert
Another shot at life
Happy Hour
Almost perfect
Enjoying the journey
Birthday week kick-off
I’ve become my mother
Bobby McFerrin + OBF
50 things to do
–
Part II
June 2010
Like what you do
Colorado wildlife
“Life
is good”
wisdom
Sad day
Rocky Mountain high
Cowboy sing-along
My kind of town
Please don’t feed the bears
Naming buildings
Low expectations
Heaven Can Wait
Because nice matters
May 2010
Don’t get to pick your
family
It’s in the bag
Only in Hawaii
Japanese-Hawaiian wedding
Meeting Yoshi
Happy campers
Gearing up for Hawaii
Hitting a rock wall
Love story
Oversized check
Extraordinary ordinary life
April 2010
Technology and pedicures
Idaho ranch hands
Blonde moments
Being in community
Live strong
Cutting edge
Florida in April
Easter blessings
March 2010
Heading east
March Madness
Welcome to spring
Half birthdays
Destinations
Most romantic bridge
Stellar team
Talent
Upgrading into the 21st
Century
February 2010
Uncles and nieces
Blue skies in Portland
The subject of
heroes
Caliber of our friends
Courage walking
Only in Southern California
Well trained
Diversity
Cream of the crop
January 2010
End of the tunnel
Disturbing the snow
Good things come to
an end
American mobile family
Get moving
Any excuse for a date
Much more than a sports flick
December 2009
All the facts are true
No-el, No-whale
Mountain snob
Going to Hawaii
Finding our own way
It's just a number
Seasons of Christmas
Civil War in the CTC
My life in France
November 2009
Empty cafeteria trays
A few of my favorite things
Counting eagles
America’s best and brightest
Thinking about
Large amounts of hope
Memories, milestones
Married to a patient man
October 2009
Healing reins
Trail to nowhere
Above the fray
Knitting connections
Touching everything
Modern technology
Hot date spot
Red sock day
I got all my sisters with me
September 2009
Tenacious like a bulldog
Best years of my life
Now we should live
Across the high desert
50 things to do
Anticipation
Summer past
Running to win
August 2009
Canned chili &
peas
Knight in shining armor
Berry-Peach Cobbler
Roller coaster rides
Celebrating life
Dan in Real Life
Ridiculous
Gift of life
Grant-writing retreat
July 2009
Heartsore
In the moment
Extended birthday present
River traffic
Munch & Music
Dealing with the paparazzi
Midnight cruise
Behind red doors
June 2009
Happy kind of exhausted
4:30am blog
Fat checkmarks
Benefits of cancer
Calm before the storm
Big picture thinking
May 2009
Back to the real world
Quick trip to the EC
Audacious living
Connecticut adventure
April 2009
Flat Stanley in Ory-gun
Baby steps
Four-day weekend
Soaring on wings
Sunbathing
C.O. style
Real men wear pink
Fun in the CTC
March 2009
Live like you were dying
Day jobs
Connected
CAN Cancer
The power of one
February 2009
It's official
Fun with the
professionals
To my valentine
Moments in Jersey
January 2009
Leaving on a
jet plane
Scans ordered
Welcome to life
Insane residents
Back in high school
Engaged crowd
Out of the mouths of babes
Divine intervention
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May
2008
April 2008
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