Sunday, March 31, 2013

So long, Seattle

We had fun!


We are sad to go!


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Chowder Land

Please accept this post as my official petition to officially change the name of the city of Seattle to Chowder Land. My full belly counts as 500,000 signatures.

Respectfully,
Uuuuuuuuugh, I ate too much chowder.

Friday, March 29, 2013

The great northwest

It has all fallen into place: fresh fish, coffee, towers, a well behaved 5 year old, and awesome weather. Thank you, Seattle!





Dip it good

Another celebration tonight, also known as another chance to really test my resolve on this diet. I mean food plan. I mean stint in hell.
Kiddo and I are sitting in the lobby of The Melting Pot, preparing to stuff ourselves completely and utterly full of meat, cheese, fruit and chocolate, plus whatever else we can find to stick on a little metal fork and dip into sauce.
Tomorrow we're off to Seattle. Let the needle be spacey and the fish tossed skillfully. 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Not tonight, I have a belly full of pork chop

It's been a long, long day and the bed is calling me. The pillow is calling my head. And my bed table is calling my glasses. Who am I not to listen when I'm called?

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

L'chaim!

Four glasses of wine.
It's enough to make someone
forget to blog. Whoops!

The seder was great!
Gefilte fish is the best!
I had three servings!

Kiddo was awesome.
Sang the for questions! For reals!
Nearly plotzed with pride.

Look! Picture below!
It's my boy, eating matzah.
What is not to love?

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Old friends

A good friend has stopped by today, one of those top five kind of friends. He started out as a college buddy of my older brother and ended up being one of the closest friends I'll ever had. He lives in Minnesota, so it's a special treat to have him here in the Bay Area. The kiddo is especially happy for someone to play war with him. Right now, the Queen of Spades and King of Hearts hearts are having a torrid affair.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

No blog tonight

US Ronald Reagan has found a new hang out spot. Makes it hard to do things like blog. Or move.

Friday, March 22, 2013

UCSF

A quick post tonight, just to say that today's appointment at UCSF went well. My neuro-oncologist there, Dr. Clarke, agreed with Dr. Recht from Stanford that everything in my noggin looks great, no signs of change in the tumor area, and I was good to go for the next four months. It was great to have the OK number two, plus I got to see one of the four nurses from the team that was overseeing the chemo trial I was on for all of 2011. They we're all great, but Margretta definitely has a special spot in my heart, and it's always a pleasure to see her. Great end to a great (albeit hectic as fuck) week.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

PTC Time


Max and I are heading to kiddos kindergarten classroom this evening for parent teachers conferences. Here is my prediction for how it will go:

Teacher: Hello! Your child is a genius!
Me: OMG, I know, right?

Aaaaaand, scene. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

And the crowd goes wild

It just occurred to me that I never followed up to yesterday afternoon's post about the MRI I was waiting to have. Well, you can all breath now, the MRI was clean. Again. Of course I'm happy and grateful and everything else one might expect, but I'm still in the come-down period. It usually lasts a day or two, and it's just me trying to let go of the adrenaline and anxiety that builds up in the days (sometimes weeks) leading up to one of those tube trips. I kind of check out and get vacant, then super pissy for an evening, or short with the kiddo, and then we start the cycle over again. Only now, it will be every four months instead of every three months. Yay, more transition. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Em Are Why?

Checked in for my MRI, ready for my afternoon loud nap. Finally starting to feel a little freaked out, wonky and anxious. Time for a little chat with god.

"Please let everything be ok. If something bad needs to happen, if the tumor has begun to grow, please let me be eligible for a new trial that studies the effects of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and cherry Icees on recurring GBM. Oh, and can you make sure the trial is in Hawaii?"

Monday, March 18, 2013

Getting ready

Count down to my first MRI of 2013. Tomorrow at 1:30, they'll be shoving me into a tiny tube that plays very loud electronica-death metal-drum circle music.

And then, two hours later, Dr. Recht will be shaking my hand telling me that he'll see me in 4 months. Have I mentioned I'm a medical marvel? Need proof? Check me out! Nearly 3.5 years post-diagnosis, bitches! I am the 4%!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Emerald Isle

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! To commemorate the wonderful country of Ireland, here are some photos of when we lived in Dublin, 2006-2007. Be awed!


This is an adorably round bird that I saw while hiking ("hill walking" they call it) on the Greystones trail along the Atlantic Ocean.


Beautiful forest land in Ballinastoe.


Wildflowers on the trail in Bray.


Jim Larkin statue in Dublin, affectionately referred to by me as Giant Hands Man.


I'm driving on the wrong side of the road! IN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE CAR!


Beautiful old building in Glenveagh, Co. Donegal.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Lesser of Two Evils

The Sharks game is going so poorly that I've switched to Lord of the Rings. Sigh.

Also, still tackling laundry. Didn't get very far last night--the vodka made sure of that. But I still managed to get up bright and early for kiddo's first T-ball game of the season. It was fantastic. Cheeky monkey even decided to steal home!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Grown Up Decisions

Tonight, my choices are blogging or laundry.

I choose laundry!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Sleepy time post

I did not sleep well last night. That + disassembling, re-assembling and moving IKEA furniture at work all day + high-energy kiddo = I'M EXHAUSTED.

I had a long, multi-segmented dream that I was back in college, in some town that was dingy and smoggy and had lots of industrial buildings. I was palling around with Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, who may have also been my roommate. He kept explaining things to me about how the town and school worked, like why there was a huge fence and an airport between the bus stop and the classrooms, but none of it made any sense. Go figure.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Getting pumped

I have an MRI scheduled for next week, plus two neuro-oncologist appointments and one with the radiologist. It's all part of the wait-and-see life that I live, stingily doled out in three-month increments. Stick me in the tube for an hour, tell me everything looks great, measure my balance, word skills and other cognitive functions, shake my hand, then tell me I'm a medical marvel and that you'll see me in three months.

About two weeks before each appointment, I start to get really anxious. My anxiety displays itself in a variety of fun and troublesome ways, nothing too obvious or treatable--and, I'm sure, blog fodder for future posts. This time around, I went and convinced myself (and many people whose calendars are in someway connected to mine) that my MRI was this week, not next, causing a big ol' scheduling traffic jam this week and next. Apologies to those
whose schedules (and in some cases, prayers & specific time-related good thoughts) were tangled up by my desire to be DONE WITH THIS.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Wait a minute, Chester

I was going to write a quick post about how ridiculous the lyrics to The Band's The Weight are, but then I started reading about it and...turns out they're not as ridiculous as I thought.

Monday, March 11, 2013

"The Beatles Get Kidnapped!" or, Why I Love Kindergarden

Tomorrow is Samson's sharing day at school. It's kind of like show and tell, but with rules. The item you bring to share must be "special to you or interesting to us." And it happens every week, so we spend a good amount of time examining the kiddo's prized possessions and discussing whether or not they are special or useful. We talk a lot about the origins, history and intrinsic "meaning" of his stuff, from baby gifts to special pieces of cement, to books and awards. After brainstorming today on what might be a candidate for sharing day--the 1971 50-cent piece that we brought back for him from Las Vegas, or maybe a special picture of him with our old dog Ozzy--kiddo decided that he wanted to make a book based on a drawing we had done together last May--a drawing that's been hanging on our fridge since the glorious day it was created. A drawing called "The Beatles get Kidnapped in Neverland."

I proudly present to you the kiddo's first complete book--the publishing rights are currently available, and soon to be a major motion picture!

It's a gripping four page story of--you guessed it--The Beatles getting kidnapped in Neverland, where they are rescued of course, and proceed to sail their ship to Pirate Island.

This is where the plot thickens.

On Pirate Island, they find the X that marks the spot and dig for treasure. Spoiler alert: they uncover the treasure and it is their instruments! Now The Beatles are happy, and they have a meeting to discuss their happiness.

Full color illustrations in crayon, marker, and black pen, perfect bound with Scotch tape.


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Happy!

Max keeps saying to Samson and me, "Happy first day of Spring!" What with Max being foreign and all, I calmly explain to him, no it's just daylight savings time. Spring begins on the vernal equinox on March 21. Then I look at the weather, see the work he did in the garden today, remember the fabulous baseball game that the kiddo and I played today at the park with Grandpa, and realize that we're sitting in the hot tub...and I shout "HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!"

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Opening Day

I awoke just after sunrise to soft little hands and a quiet, whispering voice.

"Is it time for the parade yet?"

Although the Opening Day parade was scheduled to start very early (imo) at 8:30, it was still a good 2 hours before were even supposed to meet our team on the field.

Samson of course is very excited; it's his first year in our local league. Last year was awesome--wiffle T-ball in Foster City--but in the Belmont Redwood Shores league, he's old enough to play with an actual ball. And he wasn't the only one there who was super excited. It was my & Max's first Little League opening day events too!

Did I mention 13 teams in the T-ball division, 14 kids per team. That's somewhere around 182 five and six year olds. In the same place. At the same time. And there are 3 other divisions. That's a shit load of cheering parents.

Friday, March 08, 2013

Unstoppable Energy

Another after-school play date is currently underway in the living room.

One 5-year-old + another 5-year-old = LOUD and also TOTAL CHAOS.

The pirates are set up, as are the army guys, the knights, the Peter Pan set...it's some kind of mass action figure invasion, sponsored by Mattel and Play Mobil.

And the dogs have been locked out in the back yard.

And the cats are simply delighted.

And, of course, the kids are singing Shabbat songs all the while. Thankfully, as a more-or-less atheist, it just sounds like harmonious jibberish. However, since I was raised Jewish, I know very well what their songs mean (not to them, maybe, but still.). If you spoke Hebrew, you'd be listening to two adorable, innocent kids, shooting each other's action figures, while singing about the lord, our god, eternal and such, please bless our bread and wine as we usher in the sabbath bride. Yeesh.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Bad Move

Back when I was young, always and forever having a blast and living life to the fullest, I collected snow globes. I displayed them proudly on my desk at work, with a an old bookcase for the overflow. I didn't have hundreds, but there were probably a good four or five dozen. 

During one of the multitudes of moves I've made in the last 6 years, I've lost them. I keep that realization in the back of my head--I tend to bury it, quickly and successfully, whenever it pops up. It sucks, move on. But now that Samson apparently has such an affection for snow globes himself, I just have to continuously smack myself in the metaphorical forehead with the metaphorical palm of my metaphorical hand. I can't help but think I must have given them away or ditched them at some point, in a fit of sheer idiocy. What an amazing piece of my myself during a very awesome (who knew!) point in my life: my twenties.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Dream a creepy dream of Aloha


My tiny little baby of a sister-in-law is coming to visit soon, which is awesome. She wants us to come see a show in the city with her and her boyfriend...at TEN O'CLOCK PM ON A TUESDAY. That's when the show STARTS. What the hell does she think I am? Not super old? Even if we knocked over a Starbuck's on the way there and then did lines in the bathroom, it would still be out of the question. OUT. OF. THE. QUESTION.

I've been sick and bed-ridden the last two days, trading off my time between sleeping and feeling horribly sorry for myself. All of my dreams were a deeply troubling mixture of dark maroon and pungent orange, the unmistakable colors of DayQuil & NyQuil. And they smelled like cat breath. 

It felt mostly good to be back at work today, although it seemed cruel that my coworkers expected me to DO THINGS like ANSWER THE PHONE or REPLY TO THEIR EMAILS. The nerve. While protesting their demands by cruising Facebook, I saw that a friend of mine is looking for a cat sitter. For two weeks. At her home. IN HAWAII. Ah, I know which dream will be turned into frightful colors with NyQuil's rosy hue tonight!

Coming out of my hidey hole

I am still here. The blog is still on. The evil cold that followed me home from Las Vegas has prevented me from blogging these last few days, but I'll be back tonight. Swears.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Grazi, Palazzo


Is there such a thing as too much Vegas? Well, I think we all know that the answer to that is a big, resounding "DUH."

As this getaway comes to as close, I take pride in my highly refined ability to know when to say when to the City of Sin, and ensure that this is not a Too Much trip.

Now you can benefit from my time-tested wisdom so that you, too, can enjoy just the right amount of what Las Vegas has to offer.

1. Quantity, not quality. This applies to just about everything, especially alcohol. If 14 free well drinks are good, 16 are better.

2. When choosing a restaurant, look for the menu with the highest number of deep fried or crunchy items. This is applicable to both a romantic dinner out and a 3 am fill up. This method is less effective when gelato and fro yo are involved, in which case, you can replace "deep fried" and "crunchy" with "chocolate" and "caramel."

3. Is your kid expecting you to bring him home a souvenir? The pen and notepad from the hotel room totally count.

4. Save money by sleeping AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. You can't lose money at blackjack if you're snuggled up all cozy in your bed.

5. If you like to play slots, choose machines that have celebrity associations--and the more obscure, the better. For example, Wheel of Fortune is a great choice with Pat and Vanna watching down on you as you load another $5 into the cash slot, but the Caddyshack machine gives you a healthy double dose of Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray--plus a gopher! Extra tip: avoid jungle-themed machines. A crowded casino is no place for a tiger.

Friday, March 01, 2013

Viva some stuff!


Top 5 reasons Las Vegas is awesome

1. The dryness makes my hair look amazing
2. Ghostbusters slot machine
3. Shiny everythings
4. Free drinks!
5. Don't have to worry about potential outbreak of foot, hand & mouth disease at kindergarden until tomorrow