celebrating two years
it was two years ago that I began my cancer journey. while many people who have never traveled this path think that the major part of the journey is over - surgery and chemo - they have no idea the ordeals that the preventive cancer meds can cause. and the physicians who counsel you before-hand leave that part out. granted, it is necessary if you want to survive, but only my sisters in my support group know the breadth of discomfort that we all endure as we travel this five to ten year road.
last month I attended the celebration of life for two beautiful people who died too young. on the first day of this month I heard that another theater friend, closer to my age, lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. we all thought, if anyone can beat this she can. but we were all sorely mistaken. Cancer ain't for sissies, and as my mom would say, "she was tough as old boots." our theater ghost light is shining a little dimmer today.
the Synagogue where I attended the Shaloha dinner last year was performing a Wicked Purim Shpiel this year that I just had to attend! after making Butter Chicken for us for dinner, I rushed out to drive across town to see the merriment! it was tremendous!!
I took the train to the bay area one day to attend the going away lunch for my manager. the train was held up on the trip down by periods of slow-down so that commercial trains hauling products took their right-of-way. I was nearly an hour late so met my colleagues at the restaurant. luckily I was able to get work done while on the train, so it wasn't a total loss. I had painted a small 6x6 inch painting of the front of our building, with the dates of her years of service, and gave it to her at the lunch. I had a delicious Asian salad with teriyaki salmon that was so good, I decided to try making it at home! After hitching a ride to the office with a co-worker, I checked in with my colleagues in Security, and then caught a rideshare back to the train station for the next nearly four hour, delayed again, ride back home.
Friday the Thirteenth Craig needed me to take him to the ER. it turned out he had an infection that was causing dizziness and loss of leg strength. after 36 hours of IV fluids and meds, he was released to go home on his birthday. I had made the Asian slaw with teriyaki Steelhead Trout that I had enjoyed earlier, and my version was just as tasty!
over these two days Joyce did FaceTimes with each of us, and during one of them Finn showed off that he could stand up! I just love that even though we're not there with him, we can still enjoy his growing activities from afar over video <3
one of our African Daisies is doing great after three seasons but the other one dwindled and died. I decided it might be a good time to plant a Lantana, the color is Fiesta Limonada. that way the yellow and pink motif will carry on when this blooms.
we also have buds on the orange and lemon trees! the lime is only leafing right now.
the next evening we watched the Oscars, and I made lamb chops with a pineapple liqueur salsa topping, plus Mexican street corn salad. easy and delicious, and not too strenuous given all the other activities I've done this weekend.
on St. Patrick's Day I did all the food prep again. I baked the corned beef with a honey mustard glaze, and added carrots, baby potatoes and chard during the last 30 minutes of cooking. I also made a Guinness chocolate cake for dessert and for a late birthday cake. it tasted great with a scoop of rum raisin ice cream too!
the following day, our team was meeting for a team lunch at the cafeteria, so I went in early, attended an on-site vendor fair and participated in a "women at Intel" sponsor panel. I caught up on work from a conference room, then met the team at the cafe and had an enjoyable lunch.
I asked Joyce if there were any items on her wish list for Finn's birthday that she didn't receive and would really like. she mentioned that it would be cool if he had a ukulele to go with his percussion instruments and kazoo. I found an inexpensive one that plays and had it shipped to them. she sent video of him plucking the strings with the attached pick. hopefully this will inspire a love of music if not the desire to also play something as he gets older!
as Passover is approaching, I found a juvenile Hagadah online and printed it out for Finn. I also found a Charoset recipe for Joyce, since that was her favorite part of Pesach. even if she doesn't celebrate it with a seder this year, she will be armed with a few things she can introduce over time as Finn gets older. I mailed both of them to Joyce so she would have in time for the holiday.
I also found a recipe that was for an actual sourdough starter! since I killed the last "store-bought" starter, I think it would be great if I have a way to start my own. it took about six days for the ingredients to bloom into the substance I want to make some sourdough bread! success!
I texted my old high school friend Kermit on his birthday. I had found a current phone number for him online, and it matched the last number I had for him, so I took a chance. we had a wonderful back and forth over text until mid-afternoon. he's had some health issues, but is still chugging along enjoying life, and is in good hands as far as his health is concerned. one can only ask for that when one is alone.
over the last weekend of the month I would be traveling out of town, so I got a rental car. each time I request a compact, the team at my go-to pick-up spot always upgrade me, this time to a lovely and comfortable Buick Encore. on the Saturday, I made a batch of hummus, using the recipe I used before. it's so nice to be able to whip up a batch in 5 minutes, and know exactly what is in my hummus! I also worked for two hours to make lemon marmalade from the Meyer Lemons on our tree. there were seven from the last crop, and I wanted to use them before the new flowers started producing fruit. I spent about an hour first peeling the outer skin off to julienne, then separating the seeds and pith from the fruit segments. I cooked the fruit and peels separate from the pith and seeds so I could easily strain the pectin from those throwaway parts. I wanted to add a little extra zing so I picked some mint from the garden, and minced that with some sugar in my mini-food-processor. I also added some minced ginger, the only store-bought ingredient besides the sugar. seven lemons yielded me about 5 cups of delicious marmalade!
Joyce texted us two videos of Finn walking! with help, holding onto a wall, and pushing a sturdy walking wagon. Joyce was 13 months when she walked too!
on the Sunday, I traveled to the event in San Francisco. it was an uneventful drive, driving in over the bay bridge, and then leaving for home going over the golden gate. I always try to go over this spectacular span any time I can build the detour into my drive time schedule. it was a gorgeous day in the city, and I took a few pics out and about on the way to the event. on the way home I made another detour at the dinner hour and had delicious Chinese food at a tiny restaurant on the outskirts of Davis.
