it has been ... a bumpy year!
we are grateful for our health and our family & friends. here are the highlights of the year. feel free to read the full accounting after this!
JANUARY
picked up my French Horn for the first time since the pandemic and my move from the bay area, and joined a local community band. met up with my breast cancer support sisterhood for a long lunch full of company and information sharing. if I were to have a resolution it would be to eat healthier and exercise more.
FEBRUARY
on inauguration day last month I started listening to MLK sermons and speeches, and continued through the end of this month with more audio books about him and other civil rights leaders. started a project of recording an audiobook of my aunt's memoir about her mother. planted a second rose bush, another Disneyland rose, to replace the one that expired a couple years ago. cooked another Shuffle dinner, delicious Chicken Tinga Tacos. made a big pot of mandarin orange marmalade. ** our biggest event was the birth of our grand baby boy Finn on the last day of the month! after a full day of normal delivery Joyce's doctor finally reverted to a C-section for everyone's' safety. he is perfect! ** joined a dinner with the BC Support sisters and a national influencer/survivor, and also brought home the pink "fight" survivor wreath to hang on the front door for a month. it's been one year since my diagnosis so this was fitting.
MARCH
the company where I work has a corporate suite at two major arenas in Cali, and one is right here in our neighborhood. our site holds raffles to allow people to sit in the suite for concerts, games, and other events. this month I won the opportunity for us to see the rock sisters Heart! we both have loved there music for decades. I told Craig that was his birthday present. I finished crocheting a large stuffed bison stacking ring toy for Finn and shipped it to him, along with several clothes from our theater friends, oh and us too. I made two trips to the bay area for work. during one I met up with Janet to give her holiday/birthday presents and the chef coat I made for her. I attended an interesting local event, an Edgar Allen Poe Speakeasy. we were encouraged to dress up, and each poem that was read had a signature cocktail and mocktail to go along with it.
APRIL
the magic of music is that it all comes back to you, no matter the passage of time. we received a new piece in band that I hadn't played in 50 years, and the muscle memory was still there! I joined a fiber arts therapy group where I can learn new crafting skills or bring my own project. at another BC Support group gathering we had a paint and sip and I painted a grove of birch trees. I did another big meal prep, this time without classroom chef assist, and made beef mole tacos with all the good home made fixings. a new treatment I have to take for three years is a twice yearly infusion of "bone glue" to strengthen my bones after the damage from chemo. I'm so glad it's only every six months since the recovery from the bone pain is almost a month!
MAY
JUNE
saw a great variety show called Music Hall Spectaculaire on the afternoon that we had our band concert in the evening. both events went well; I ran into peeps I knew from P&P at the show. the French Horn section added fun to our Valkyries song by donning plastic Viking helmets at the beginning! ** I continued to check Janet’s mail for her as she is now on a dig in Israel. while there, war broke out, and while they were safe, it caused havoc for their travel plans. they had to give up flying out of Israel, and were bussed into Egypt to fly home from there. during their layover she had a chance to see the pyramids which she thought she’d never see! ** not for work this time, I drove to the bay area for the memorial service for one of my favorite costumers. we worked together last on The Wiz just before the pandemic! ** our garden is growing all kinds of wonderful things! we had a good crop of artichokes this year, and I grew one of them out until it bloomed a lovely purple thistle flower! ** Juneteenth was the one year anniversary of my last chemo treatment! ** saw two shows at two community theaters; first was an all female cast performing 1776! then I saw a moving performance of the wonderful musical Little Women. both productions were most enjoyable! ** wanted to attend the annual Remembering Frontier Village Picnic again – it’s been awhile! – so I rented another EV and drove down and back in one day. that was an EV nightmare adventure – I now know so much more about charging and batteries! but while I was at the picnic I met up with Janet to give her keys, mail and a cute unicorn amigurumi I crocheted for her. then I ran into our theater friends Dan and Lee, and spent a little time chatting with them. then I joined the gang at the picnic – so good to see our catering friend Bart, who put on the ol’ Yogi Bear costume for the kids!
JULY
in
the garden, we had some chocolate sunflowers joining the yellow ones. I planted some flamingo colored gladioluses
and they burst in all their beauty. we
tried white corn for the first time and harvested some ears that were so
sweet! and we had a new squash – spaghetti squash –
that grew like crazy this season.
** the last two weekends of June
I saw shows, and followed with a third show this month. I went to see our theater friend Kyle’s
production of Hunchback of Notre Dame, which he music
directed. It was wonderful! **
layoffs are happening at work, and while I’m safe, I know SO many people
who were impacted. Not fun. **
attended a pool party potluck with my Support Group ladies. I made a Mexican Street Corn Salad using a
recipe specifically for outdoor parties with no mayo, so safe for leaving out a
little longer. I took home the
leftovers, which were only about a quarter of what I made. ** I
finally stopped talking about getting a tattoo and got one! at the recommendation of one of my BC
sisters, I went to her artist, who created a beautiful flamingo. ** I
attended a local community presentation at a nearby museum all about the efforts
to revive recognition of the Lincoln Highway in our area.
AUGUST
Joyce
and Tim took Finn on his first rally in Sturgis. I decided Finn needed a helmet, so I
crocheted him one, with an appliqued HD patch across the front. ** my
third 4-week sabbatical from work began this month. I planned a week-long trip for us to go see
the kids and Finn! ** a singing opportunity popped up on FB … a
ladies barbershop group welcomed visitors for 10 weeks to learn how to sing
this unique style, and to recruit new members.
they were warm and welcoming and appreciated that I had past
experience. one of the leaders pegged me
to sing the bass part of the 4 part harmonies.
** had another meetup with the
Support Group ladies, lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Roseville. so much fun to gather, catch up, and welcome
new members/warriors. ** it was important for me to present at the
department meeting that would have been on my first day of sabbatical, so I
pushed my dates by one day, and my manager and I presented. I wrapped up all my activities, handed off my
duties to the four paralegals and one admin who were covering, and welcomed
four weeks of no work! ** the next day I went back to the salon/school
I hadn’t been to for over a year, and got a wonderful, all scissors cut and
style by my new stylist, Annabel! meant
to be!! ** went to see a matinee of Disney’s
Tarzan Jr. where I had performed P&P, and my director
was one of the actors! she doubled in
two different roles, one of which was the villain! ** the
next afternoon I went to a matinee of the musical Young Frankenstein
… I had wanted to audition for the Frau role, but the timing was wrong. the young lady playing the role was excellent
if I do say so. I laughed so hard my
face hurt! One of the actors recognized
me from when I went to see another one of his shows! **
whether from external airborne sources, stress or a topical reaction, I
got a nasty case of hives. luckily my GP
could see in my medical records I’d had similar experiences before, so between
those notes and my photo of the hives, she prescribed me prednisone that I
could pick up the next morning. who
wants their vacation ruined by hives!
** the Friday evening before our
trip, we had dinner with Stephany & Jim to catch up, and so Stephany could
see how her baby brother was doing. he
shared in graphic detail all he had endured on his boy’s golf trip that ended
in the ER, then finding he had prostate cancer, going through his treatments,
and how low his PSA was now. I hope she
can see he was very lucky it was caught so early and successfully treated so
quickly. I shared my Grandma’s Brag
Book.
THE SODAK
TRIP
Day 1 - Craig doesn’t mind leaving his
truck at the airport, so we drove over, checked in, got wheelchair service for
me (he stubbornly refused it but clearly needed it), boarded our flights, and
made it to Rap City in time for early dinner at the Ramen restaurant I tried
last trip. ** we got to our historic hotel in Keystone, just
two miles down the hill from Mount Rushmore, and dropped off to sleep!
Day 2 – we were to have brunch with
Tim’s dad and step-mom, so we drove to Joyce’s and met Finn! then we drove to a local diner with excellent
food and met the in-laws. they are a delight,
and we have a wonderful meal and conversation.
after that, Craig and I went back to Joyce’s where she went back to work
and I got to babysit Finn all afternoon!
** we left soon after Tim got
home, and went to Mount Rushmore, where we read they had an illumination
ceremony in the evening. we got dinner
at the restaurant there, and stood watching as a Ranger first introduced the
event and the upcoming movie, then watched the movie, that lead into the
brilliant lighting of the four faces!
after that they invited any serving, having served, or family members of
lost military personnel to come on stage and participate in the flag retrieval
ceremony. about 30 people participated,
and very moving!
Day 3 – the hotel had a great breakfast
buffet every morning, so we were always well fueled at the beginning of each
day. **
Joyce recommended we get some sightseeing in while we were there, so we
went back to Mount Rushmore to walk the paths and take pictures in daylight;
then on to the Crazy Horse memorial, where we took the bus up to see the
fingers side of the sculpture. our bus
driver took a picture of the two of us in front of the monument. ** we
were near Custer so we had lunch at the Purple Pie Place so Craig could have
their wonderful chicken pot pie. I tried
their delicious pulled pork sandwich this time.
** I wanted Craig to see the
hills full of buffalos, so we next drove into the Wild Life Loop, after a brief
stop at the market to pick up two bags of apples for the highwaymen
donkeys! we drove and drove, and saw
exactly one buffalo, even though the gate attendant told us they were between
specific mile markers today. We did feed
both bags of apples to the greedy beasts, so that was fun! we did see other animals as well, so Craig
took several photos with his DSLR and long lens. **
with still a few hours left before bedtime, we drove into Hill City and
went to the Train Museum, a stop I missed out on during my last trip. it was a densely packed informative train
building with a train car inside that you could walk through. it also had several video clips playing in a
loop with a bench for families to sit and watch. they also had miniature trains set up with
various settings of towns and wilderness.
it was well worth the few dollars we paid. ** we
got back into Keystone and ate at the pizza joint. we each had beer, pizza and wings, and
brought home the leftovers.
Day 4 – Tim was going to cook his famous
Mississippi Elk Pot Roast for us for dinner, so we both went to their house to
babysit again, so Joyce could get her work done. she didn’t need us there until 12:30, so we
stopped for lunch at the diner we enjoyed on Monday and Craig had a burger, and
I had a delicious Thai Chili Shrimp Salad.
** it was wonderful to spend
special bonding time with Finn by ourselves.
he is such a happy and sweet tempered little guy. **
Tim’s elk roast was amazing, so I got the recipe from him so I can make
it at home. ** on the drive back to the hotel, we were
stopped again by the construction that was going on all week, causing delays
each direction because of one way traffic.
this trip we were stopped both ways by a heard of Mountain Goats
meandering across the road, which caused all cars to stop and many people to
take pictures. we didn’t have any apples
for these highwaymen, but they didn’t seem to expect it either.
Day 5 – Joyce’s manager scheduled several
meetings for her, so she asked if I could babysit again … could I! Craig stayed behind to get work done (he
brought his computer), and fend for himself at the restaurants nearby as well
as the Presidential Wax Museum across the street. ** I
had breakfast and hit the road early to be there by 10:00. I took care of Finn until about 3:30 when
Joyce took him to his “interview” at day-care, where he would be starting next
week. I had brought the pizza and wings
leftovers, so ate those for lunch when I had gotten him down for his afternoon
nap. **
the road guy manning the slow/stop sign at the one-way section seemed to
recognize me – I would wave and smile every time we went by so it’s no wonder. I got back to the hotel in time to quickly
shower and get ready for dinner. ** we wanted to have a leisurely dinner and
enjoy the bison burgers that weren’t available the other evening at the Mount
Rushmore restaurant. then we both found
excellent seating in the amphitheater and readied ourselves for the show. the weather report said it might rain, so I
brought my poncho and folding umbrella to be safe … we needed the poncho for
the few minutes of the sprinkle, to protect us and Craig’s DSLR. we didn’t stay for the flag receiving
ceremony this time.
Day 6 – despite being outdoors, I still
had a reaction from sitting in a pond of old lady perfumes the evening before,
so we stopped at the drug store in Rap City to get me my “usual allergy meds”
before we hit the road. ** Today’s first destination was Sturgis
Motocycle Museum. they had changed
around the bikes and displays since October, so I was seeing new stuff myself. we drove by the bar that Craig’s buddies
always told him about, so he could take pics of it since he was finally
here. **
then we headed to Deadwood, where there were a few locations for us to
visit. we had lunch at Mustang Sally’s,
had Bloody Marys at the Wild Bill Bar, and saw the chair that he supposedly was
shot in at another bar down the street.
the bartender at Wild Bill’s was a hoot, and full of all kinds of
history and the kind of trivia I just love!
and he makes a great bloody mary too.
it was warm and humid, so we were pretty tired, and headed home to clean
up before dinner with the kids in Custer.
** the storm that had been
causing the humidity decided to hit while I was driving to Custer, and it was
like I was in a monsoon, barely able to see the lines on the road through the
rain! luckily we all made it there
safely. ** we had dinner at the Buglin’ Bull where I had
eaten bison on the October trip. I had
the same this time, and when I was done eating, I got to hold Finn until it was
time for them to hit the road home. this
was our last chance to see them, as we head home tomorrow morning.
Day 7 – our flight wasn’t until 11:00 so
we had a leisurely breakfast, packed, and drove the rental car back to the
airport. I didn’t bother with wheelchair
service at this airport since it was so small, but took advantage at Denver
since we landed at a different terminal than where we would leave. we used the train system this time … a first
for me! Craig got us entry at the United
lounge where we waited between flights.
then we were off on our final leg home, both exhausted from the week’s
activities.
SEPTEMBER
my allergy attack from the trip turned into full-blown RSV when we got
home. I missed the next barbershop
singing meet-up since I could barely talk let alone sing. the following meet-up I went, but left early
because the old lady perfume was so strong it set me off again. guess I’m not going to sign up with this
group. ** all too soon I went back to work, to lots of
tasks they saved for me, thousands of emails needing to be triaged, and a few
people saying ‘we’re SO glad you’re back!’ with way too much gusto. what will they do when I eventually
retire. one of them actually told me I
can’t retire. ** our friend Kyle was music directing one of my
all-time favorite musicals, Sunset Boulevard, so I told him when
I would be there. it was a thrilling
production, and his music was just wonderful.
I met him after the show and we spent several minutes gushing over how much
we both have loved this show for years.
** made a couple trips in to
work, since we’re now supposed to be coming in four days a week, but the
fragrances were bugging my still not cleared chest, throat and nose, so I had
to work from home as well. ** I went to see Anabel and had her cut my hair
again. she remembered so much about me
from our last visit! she’s going to be
an excellent hair stylist, and I must try to keep in touch with her when she
graduates. she asked me to crochet her
cherries – well of course I will! **
Joyce is starting her wedding dress search in earnest. what she loves is too expensive, so I’m hoping
she will settle on something I can make for her for far less. **
OCTOBER
started
off the month with a fun event at work.
they hold a car show on site and employees with cool cars bring them out
to show them off. it was fun to stroll
through the three dozen or so cars.
there were some fun games, and a band was playing throughout the event
too. free ice cream was offered out of a
cute golf cart vehicle that was mostly Pink, which was the name of the vendor
too :-) ** went
to a concert at the big performing arts center at Davis, and saw the lovely
Ledisi performing her homage to Dinah Washington. the only bad aspect of the evening was the
two flights of stairs I had to travel to and from my seat! **
birthday dinner was at Texas Roadhouse where we enjoyed a free appetizer
– sweet chili shrimp – and I had chicken fried steak. the server made me “ride the saddle” and have
everyone sing – it was hilarious ** I crocheted Janet a candy corn ornament – one
of her favorite candies ** I worked part of my birthday – first time in
over 30 years! – but then I went to my favorite salon and was treated
royally ** Joyce gave me The Best Present – Face Time
with my little man! he recognized first
my voice then my face on the phone, and gave me the biggest happy smile!! <3
<3 **
for Halloween I made him a Binx costume to go with their Sanderson
Sisters lawn decoration. ** attended the local harvest festival where I
saw my band playing in a mini concert, a dog costume contest, some young jazz
musicians, and a car show with trunk-or-treating. ** my
support group ladies met two more times before the end of the month, to have a
potluck and craft some Halloween decorations.
then we met for lunch the next day to take advantage of a BC support
coupon at that Texas joint (again!) I
love spending time with these gals!
** worked in the bay area for 3
days, but started off on Sunday afternoon seeing two shows, Crazy Quilt
Club and Some Like It Hot. Monday we had an offsite lunch and cooking
competition making our chocolate cake for dessert. while my team lost, we still made a delicious
cake! participated in a “vision lab”
brainstorming day, then had dinner with coworkers I never see since they’re
from other sites! we stayed out until
9pm when we all needed to get sleep! had
two more meetings the next morning and headed home over lunch hour. LOOONNG days!
** my onco team scheduled my next
Zometa infusion for Halloween Day. no
handing out candy for me!
NOVEMBER
despite feeling like death I made sure I dropped my ballot off for these mid-term elections! ** my support sisters had a fabulous potluck and wine tasting event – without me since I couldn’t make the one hour each way drive and then sitting … curse you zometa! ** participated in a holiday greeting card activity at work, for giving cards to seniors at local facilities. ** our mom's younger sister passed away, after a long life of 93 years. I had hoped to be able to travel to see her and our uncle this year. ** my band director sent out a notice about a Christian brass band concert two miles from our house, so I dragged myself out for an evening of enjoyable old time religious music. much needed for heart and soul. ** for turkey day we opted for easy country ham and fixins from the shop in town so no one had to cook, just reheat. I called our mom's older sister, to see how she is doing. we shared some memories of the two sisters who are no longer with us.
DECEMBER
decorated inside and out for the holidays. sent Joyce a fun Star Wars advent calendar; we both hope it will last for a few years. ** I attended a potluck holiday party and ornament exchange with my Pink Sisters. my food contribution was Gran Marnier (instead of Rum) balls, which everyone loved and several asked for the recipe. the ornament I secured in the game exchange, on the 3rd steal, was a pair of pink boxing gloves! they went right onto the slender teal and white chrismakuh tree. soon it was time to celebrate the candle lighting for eight days. ** on a couple different Saturdays I made a pot of parmesan cabbage soup, and a quart of chicken liver pate! let the holidays begin! ** had two opportunities to go to the office and wear two of my holiday sweaters, for a team meeting and then for the admin lunch gathering. ** sadly I got food poisoning or stomach flu right before Christmas, so that made it a lot less merry.
ALL OUR BEST WISHES FOR HEALTH AND LOVE IN THE NEW YEAR!
