Tam’s Think Tank

Good morning Friday.  It was a rough one last night.  New bed, no sleep.  Go figure.  It’s a usual thing, or at least seems to be.  Come home from the hospital… sleep really well the first night, don’t sleep the second.  I don’t think I slept more than an hour last night.  Miserable.  Seems when I am sweating out the toxins my body temp doesn’t regulate properly… so I get hot, then cold, then hot.  Constantly putting the covers on and off myself… sweating like a fiend.  It’s nasty.  I’m very very tired today.  Not feeling that great, but I’m home, so that helps.

I’m ensconced in the family room, heating pad on my back, blanket on my lap, cup o’ green tea sitting next to me, and some design show from HGTV on the TV.  I’m plugging through, as usual.  This will pass.  I will sleep tonight, I have confidence… and a sleeping pill if I have to.  At least the mucous in the throat thing seems to be getting better.  Yay!

Karen is working away in there… as usual.  She is such a… I don’t even know… I love her so much.  She is my strength, my solace, my split apart, my family, my life.  There are no words to explain it really…. It’s love… plain and simple.

Yay!  Just got the results back from today’s blood work.  I am no longer neutropenic.  Which means we are going out tonight.  Costco, Sleep Country to order our new mattress, and probably out to dinner.  Or at least to get dinner to go!  I have two days of freedom… Nancy said we are a go for 8:00 am on Saturday at the hospital.  I have a check up tomorrow with Dr. Bigler at his office at Interstate, and then it’s on to the next thing.  The doc will check me out, including my sad and pitiful left arm… only right arm IV’s for this girl this time around.

I’m just so happy to be able to go out amongst the people.  Woo Hoo!!

On another, but important note, happy 4th anniversary Mom and Don!  You guys rock!  Hope you are having an excellent anniversary day and that your evening is spectacular.  Love you guys!

Had a really nice day today hanging out with Mom.  She drove up just to see us and hang out for a bit. I love that woman.

Karen worked hard today, then went out and mowed the lawn.  She is truly the energizer bunny of all bunnies. She doesn’t stop.  A really amazing woman.  I am so honored to be in her life.

It was love all around today.  I am so blessed and lucky.

Tomorrow… another blood test.  We will see if I’m still neutropenic… or not.  Then Friday it’s an appointment to see my oncologist, have a check up with him, and talk about the next step.  If all goes as planned I will be back in the hospital for my next round.  Five days this time and a different chemo med.  This one is blue instead of orange and will be by infusion (IV drip) instead of a push.  Can’t wait to order that hospital food.  ha ha ha!  Will, as always, keep all ya all posted.

Today was a good day.  Karen went and had dinner and then a walk and coffee with her son, Thomas.  It went exceptionally well.  Really really well actually.  She is very happy, which makes me very happy.  It’s a wonderful thing.  He heads back to Japan on Friday, so it was good they got to meet.  He told Karen that April was a good time to visit Tokyo.  We may have to try and figure out how to go.  I wouldn’t mind seeing Tokyo and I definitely would love to spend some time with Thomas, get to know him.  That would be lovely.

We, Kev and I, also had a visit from our friend Dan.  Kev and Dan went to dinner at a local place and then came back here afterward.  Kev gave him a tour of the house and then we all chatted for a little bit.  It wasn’t a long visit, for me anyway, but it was really nice to see him.  Dan has such a great soul.  He is one of the best men I know.  I love the guy, what can I say.

So a day of visits and seeing people we love.  What can be better than that?  Nothing is what I say.  Nothing is better than spending time with people you love.  That’s what makes a life.

It’s been another day hanging at home and enjoying the company of great visitors. Stan, love you man.  It’s always so nice to sit down with you for a bit and chat.  I miss you and seeing you always makes me feel good.  Sean and Hayden… nice to see you guys as well.  It’s been a while and you two are so very sweet.

Right now Karen is at Dairy Queen getting us a couple of little Friday celebratory blizzards.  LOL  It’s been a long week and we are both glad it’s Friday.  I’m hanging in there.  Feeling a bit tired, but not bad, which is great.

We have no major plans for the weekend.  It’s about waiting to see what happens with me, etc.  We may just lay low and be quiet and enjoy being home.  That would be nice.  Knowing my honey though she will find loads of little projects around here. She is the true energizer bunny.  I can’t begin to say how much I appreciate and love her.

Here I am, here we are, back at home.  Good to be here.  Got up, after having slept really well, had my usual Cheerios with ATRA and some tea, took a shower to wash off the poison that’s now, once again, leaching out of me, watched some TV, Karen went to the store between her work meetings and came back and made me a great chicken caesar wrap for lunch (yum yum!), and I had another cup of tea, this time green.  Like I said… good day so far.

I’m not feeling too many effects yet from this round… yay.  My plan is to get on the treadmill in a bit and at least do a little walking.  Gotta try to keep that strength up and getting better as much as I can.

Love to everyone out there who is standing in my corner, sending me love, vibes, thoughts, blessings, and prayers.  I am bolstered, honored, so deeply touched, and amazed by the stellar group of people in my life.  Every day I think of you, and every day it lets me know how beautiful my life, and life in general, is.  Thank you.

We went in and met with my oncologist today.  It went really well.  We aren’t messing around starting the consolidation round, I go into the hospital tomorrow, a day we chose.  I have to be there at 8:00 a.m. at admitting and then I’m back on the oncology floor for 4 days, if everything goes well.  If it does then I will probably be coming home Tuesday after the last of my four chemo pushes.  After that it’s watching for fever, getting my blood drawn at least twice a week to see what my counts are, and taking the ATRA again for 15 days.  I’ve been off the ATRA since Wednesday afternoon.  A mini break.  LOL  I start back up tomorrow when I go in.  It will be like old home week.  When Nancy called to make sure I could go in tomorrow the charge nurse remembered me.  We are going to pack up our stuff tonight, including my honey’s air mattress, and head out of here about 7:00.  I had to have blood drawn today, even though I had it drawn yesterday, so that it would be within a certain time frame for my going in tomorrow.  The cool thing is that my oncologist is the oncologist covering the hospital starting tomorrow, so he will be there when I am.  It’s one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and start this so soon.  Another reason was that we wanted to start on the weekend so Karen wouldn’t have to worry about working for a couple of days.  Makes it easier on her, which is a good thing.  :-)

So folks… round two… here we go…

Today has been a good day.  Soak in the hot tub, shower, a visit from Mom (she came so she could go to the oncologist appointment tomorrow with us), a trip into the city to do my bi-weekly blood draw, and a stop at the Farmer’s Market on 23rd.  It was great to wander around the market. Bought a couple of cookies and ate them, we got some fresh veggies for dinner tonight, and just enjoyed the market and the weather.  It’s not a huge one, but it had a great variety of stuff.  The perfect little stop and outing for us.  Really nice.

We got home a bit ago.  I walked 30 minutes on the treadmill and Mom and Karen both worked out in our mini gym in the shop.  Now they are in making dinner.  We are going vegetarian tonight.  Veggie noodles with spaghetti sauce, salad with tomatoes, walnuts, and a bleu cheese we bought at the market, plus green beans (also from the market), and broccoli.  Sounds really tasty to me, and is smelling great.

Tomorrow is the appointment with my oncologist.  We will, I know, get some answers about the time frame and what’s up with the consolidation rounds.  I’m actually happy to go meet with him.  Get those questions answered.

I just got the phone call from my chemotherapy case manager.  My marrow shows no signs of leukemia.  I am now in remission!!!  Karen was out in the shop on the exercise bike when the call came in.  Kev was in the family room with me.  He went out and tried to get Karen to come in without telling her.  I went out there immediately after getting off the call and was crying.  She thought something was wrong until I told her it was good news.  I told her I was in remission and we just hugged and hugged and cried and cried.  It was great news after having a rough day.

I had been not feeling great today.  I didn’t sleep well and I’ve had this pain in my back and side for a couple of days.  It started worrying me so I called the advice nurse.  This was on our way home from my bi-weekly blood work.  We got home, still hadn’t heard back from the nurse, and Nancy called with my blood work results. They were good, all in the normal range.  My ATRA hadn’t been refilled so she said she would call back with some news on that after talking to my oncologist. Meanwhile I told her what was up with me calling the advice nurse and she transferred me to the oncology advice nurse who told me to ice my back and side and I could talk to Dr. Bigler about it at the appointment on Friday (this appointment has been set up for a couple of weeks), unless my back gets worse.    Then I waited for Nancy to call back about the ATRA.  She did, but she also called about the REMISSION!!!  The ATRA was a side note.  I will stop taking it after I run out, which will be Thursday morning.  I will be on it again, but it will be on shorter cycles, connected with the consolidation rounds.

Consolidation rounds…. I meet with my oncologist, Dr. Bigler, on Friday to talk about them.  The consolidation rounds are like, as Karen’s brother Don put it, mopping the floor.  I have to do three more rounds of chemotherapy.  Not as strong as the first, but three more rounds none the less.  The first of these rounds will be, we think, in the next week or two.  I will go back into the hospital and get about half the dose of chemo I got before, only this time I get it for four days in a row.  One push every day.  They say it isn’t as hard on you as the first round.  I’m counting on that. These rounds are basically to make sure there wasn’t one little cell in there hanging out.  There was none in the biopsy, which means I am in remission.  These rounds, the consolidation rounds, are to make sure I stay there.  When they are done, and I don’t know if I will have to have another biopsy, but the deal is… when I am done with these rounds I will be cured.  Yes folks, cured.  And I think I will leave it at that… except for to say…  REMISSION!!

It’s Wednesday.  Today I hung out at home, ice bag on my hip since 4:00 today.  The bone marrow biopsy site isn’t that painful, just a bit swollen and a tad sore.

I hung out with Mom most of the day.  Karen had to go into the city for a training this afternoon, so Mom stayed home with me, cleaning and shaving my head again and weeding and going to the store for a few things.  She’s also taking me in for my bi-weekly blood test in the morning. Mom is a rock star… one of a kind.  I love her very much.  Thanks Mom… again.

Now Karen is in making dinner for the pups after working out and Mom and Kev are out in the shop working out.  It’s tag team around here.  Karen and Kev went out, Mom made dinner for me then went out, Karen came back in, and Mom and Kev are still out there.

Kind of mellow here…. it’s nice.

Well today was THE day folks.  The biopsy is done.  I’ve had, over the last few days, increasing levels of anxiety waiting waiting waiting for this day.  Building up, making me so tense I can’t even tell you.  This morning I was doing deep breathing exercises almost constantly.

We went into Sunnyside Hospital at one, checking in and getting sent down to the MPU unit.  MPU… something procedure unit.  Can’t remember now.  I got escorted in, Karen and Mom coming along to keep me company while I changed into the very short gown they provided.  Very short.  Thank goodness they gave me a blanket.  I laid down on a small bed and then the nurse tried to put in an IV to give me the pre-meds.  Then she tried again, different spot, after she blew the first one and put some saline into my arm (it’s still swollen since the saline has not absorbed into my body).  Not comfy. Then she gave up and brought in another nurse.  She tried one spot in my hand… didn’t work.  Then she went for the baby sized needle to use in a small vein in my hand.  That, finally after four attempts, worked.  I am a hard person to put an IV in.  It’s difficult and my veins often blow out.  But, finally… victory!  I was glad since that port was where the pre-meds were going to go in.

The pathologist and lab assistant get there, get consent, and in go the meds.  Ah…  Atavan (like valium… sort of) and morphine.  I felt them immediately.  The pathologist asked me to flip over and here we go.  She goes for the same spot as last time, pressing down really hard on my hip trying to find a good spot.  She marks it, puts in the local med, gets the needle, and goes in.  I realized, this time, that the pain mostly comes from all the hitting of nerves.  Despite the meds, I feel this.  It’s not fun.  At one point my leg on that same side moved when she hit a certain nerve.  She put in more of the local med.  My tally for the local was three by the time we were done.  She then realized her needle was too short and she had to go for a longer one, starting the process again.  She finally found the bone and then the screwing in started.  She got to the liquid marrow, aspirating it after counting with me to three (she did this because it’s a painful little endeavor, aspirating the liquid marrow), and then kept screwing in to try to get to the core.  She thought she got there and unscrewed it only to realized she’d gotten a clot of marrow (which they still can use). She kept that clot, and then tried again for the core, using whatever tool that is that screws into the bone.  She couldn’t get there.  Good thing the liquid marrow and the clot were good enough.  I was ready to be done.  Whew.

Karen and Mom came back then, bearing a black tea latte for me (thanks Mom), I got dressed (after, of course, the nurse made me stay 30 minutes, taking my blood pressure twice), and I was wheeled to the patient pick up area, where Karen picked me up.  We drove home, me feeling relaxed and relieved it was over, and Karen feeling relieved I was relieved.  We stopped at Pastini to pick up a to go order of macaroni and cheese with chicken for me as a little reward/celebratory meal.  I ate half of it immediately when we got home.  SO damn tasty.

All in all I am so glad it’s over.  The anxiety of having the procedure is lifted.  I feel my shoulders sort of slowly moving down to where they should be, instead of up by my ears as they have been.  I feel the relaxation sort of taking hold of the rest of me too.  It’s nice not to have that tension.  Not to have to do the deep breathing exercises every other minute.  It’s good.  I’m sore, but it’s good.  I’m going to be sore for a few days, but again, it’s good.

We have an appointment with my oncologist on the 23rd to find out the results.  10 days.  Lets all say it together… remission!

Had a blood draw this morning.  We went in fairly early, after cheerios and ATRA, to fit with Karen’s work schedule.  A quick trip in and a quick trip, with a stop at Starbucks for chai and a black tea latte of course, home.  We happened to see Steph jogging on our way and stopped to chat for a few minutes.  It was great seeing her.

My numbers from the blood draw were good.  Up again from Thursday’s draw. Tomorrow is the bone marrow biopsy which will tell the story.  Everyone get your good vibes, prayers, thoughts, and any other great emotion you can muster for the communal chant of… remission.  The test is at 2:00.  We have to be there at 1:00 so I can check in and get pre-meds.

As for the rest of today… home, watching movies again, talking to my good friend Penny on the phone, giving Mom a call with today’s numbers, having lunch, eating a fruit smoothie, petting Weston and Riley, and listening to my honey tell me through the window that the snake was back.  Karen is outside now, talking to Kev, and taking a break from staining the deck which she’s been doing for about an hour.

Stir fry for dinner tonight….  sounds good to me.

Today we are hanging out at home.  It’s nice… watching movies (currently Men in Black), staying cool, etc.  Karen went to get plants for some of our flower pots earlier today (after watering the flower beds and finding the rubber boa) and Kev went to get stain applicators (they are going to stain the front deck later today).  Now Karen is talking to Mary and Martin via Skype (I went in to say hello for a few minutes… it’s hot in the office so I didn’t stay too long, though it was great to see them… and great to see the pregnant belly where Jackson is hanging out).  Not much going on here today… just really nice enjoying being home.  Appreciating it.  Loving it.

June 1 I went into Sunnyside Hospital and July 1 I was finally able to leave.  It was a very rough last couple of weeks there.  I think the chemo finally caught up with me and my system.  My GI tract totally got wiped out.  Meaning…  loads of bad things happening.  I felt terrible and pretty much was handling things hour by hour.  It wasn’t good, but I kept looking at it like along with the feeling so terribly bad the chemo was also taking care of the bad stuff.  That’s the idea.  It’s just tough getting through some of it.  I did though… thanks to Karen and Mom and the nurses at Sunnyside.

Now… home.  And happy to be here.  I feel more rested and stronger.  Finally yesterday and today eating a little more like normal.  For a while at the hospital I wasn’t eating.  I was on a liquid diet hooked directly into my arm because I couldn’t eat.  That ol’ GI Tract thing… couldn’t handle food.

Next steps…. I go for blood tests tomorrow, then have my first outpatient appointment with my oncologist, Dr. Bigler, on Wednesday.  He will go over the blood work and talk about where we are at with everything.  I’m supposed to have my next bone marrow biopsy in the next week.  That will tell us where we are at.  If I am in remission then we move on to the first of three consolidation rounds (three more rounds IV push chemo) all the while taking the oral chemo meds (which I am taking every day).

In other news… my baldness is almost complete.  I’ve been joking about how I’ve been losing it just like male patterned baldness would occur.  Top front first.  Mom gave me another close shave with the clippers.  I still have stubble up there, but it’s going.  And I have to say… I don’t really mind.  Easy to take care of and really not that bad looking.  Who knew I’d make such a good looking bald woman.  LOL

So that’s pretty much it for now.  Karen and Mom continue to take such awesome care of me and thanks to some of our friends who, as a birthday present for Karen, came up and did loads of weeding in our flower beds.  That was the best gift you guys could’ve given her.  We love you very much.  And Don and Mom, thanks for the yard work as well.  You guys have been so great through all of this.  I am just so grateful for all the fantastic people we have in our lives.  Blessed and lucky.  That’s what we are.  Blessed and lucky.

Wow. What’s up with me anyway? No blog posts in awhile. Lame. What can I say? Sometimes life takes over and there’s nothing to do but go with it. S’ok. I can do that. I just thought, looking at my pages here, that I’ve been a bit remiss. I’ve been blogging now for years. Since 2005 I think, long ago when I started on Live Journal. Strange to think about all that’s happened in our lives since then and all the posts about those life events. A lot of us and life wrapped up here.

Guess I’m just being a tad sentimental. Changes are a foot for me, for us. I will have more time, maybe, to post a bit more often and certainly a lot to post about over the next several months. The most exciting thing on the docket… being grandparents. Woo hoo! VERY excited about that. Right now the little sprout is an apple. That’s the size, not the future name. I wasn’t ever a parent, besides the step parenting I get to do now which is so easy. Let’s face it… when you come into a situation when the kid is in college already there’s not a lot of parenting to do. I love, try to support, and am friends with the kids. It’s something I love about my life. A bonus I was lucky enough to get in the course of meeting and loving K. But I came into it after all the stuff… no school programs, no cheering on the sidelines like a mad woman during a sporting event, no consoling after a let down, no laughing and laughing and laughing about something totally silly that only little kids laugh at. None of that. I can’t wait to experience it. To have picnics in the living room and trips to the zoo and making forts out of blankets and dancing to music while making dinner in the kitchen (Ok, we do the dancing part already but it will be fun to do it with the little one). To have this little person who I know I will adore and will adore us. To hear them laugh. I can’t wait.

These next few months are going to go fast. So much is going to happen… wow.

As is commonly believed, Valentine’s Day is not an invention of the Hallmark company.  Seriously you say?  And I say yes, that’s right.  There’s a whole bunch of background info available on Wikipedia, of course, for your perusal HERE.   I was sort of relieved to know it.  It’s actually Saint Valentine’s Day and was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496.  Yes, it’s true.  Ah… love.  It’s been around for a long time.

Why am I writing this post?  No reason.  We have had a pretty nice two thirds of our three day weekend and as I was sitting here posting photos to my image – ination blog I got to wondering about where the day originated.  I was hoping it wasn’t created by Hallmark.  Imagine my relief.   I sort of exaggerate here as I didn’t really feel relieved, and I didn’t really put that much stock in where it came from.  A day to celebrate love is a good day, no matter from whence it came.  And I just made myself laugh right there.  I am corny.

We, my honey and I, gave each other a little something.  We made what we gave.  No buying cards for us.  That would be too easy.  It was awesome.  Well… mostly awesome.  Mine isn’t done yet.  Lame I know.  I did do a drawing of what my gift is going to look like, which was very much appreciated.  Suitable for framing in and of itself I think.  ha ha ha!  Maybe not.

So, to all you love birds out there and also to those who dream of a love they haven’t found yet, but will, here’s to you.  Hope you enjoyed the day to celebrate love, in all it’s forms.  And to those I didn’t get to talk to yesterday to say a heartfelt “Happy Valentine’s Day” to…  Happy Valentine’s Day.  My family and friends mean everything to me, and you all know who you are.  There is nothing more important in my life.  I don’t always say it, or show it as well as I should, but I feel it every single day.  I am lucky to have the stellar group of people I do in my life… family and friends included.  You make my life grander, warmer, sweeter, and more lovely than I could have ever imagined.  Much love.  … And Happy Saint Valentine’s Day.

Alright folks… I have been sitting on this news and sitting on this news… and I’m not going to sit on it any more.  Mary and Martin are going to have a baby!!  They have been trying for a little while now, since before the wedding, and found out, just after the wedding, that they were expecting.  We are VERY excited.  We can’t wait to be grandparents.  Woot Woot!!!  Life, as we know it, is about to change!  The little tyke is due September 14. It’s too early to know if it’s going to be a boy or girl, but when that times comes I will certainly be posting about it.  SO very happy!

The last time we were out of the house was Thanksgiving Day. I have to upload some photos from that day and I’ll do a post later about it. For now I’d just like to say this… we were asked a question at dinner, what are you thankful for. I immediately said Karen, but was told I had to pick something besides friends and family. I get the idea of that, but have this to say about it none the less. The people in my life, the people I love and who love me, are all there is really. I’ve been through enough to know there is nothing more important. There is nothing that defines a life well lived more than the people we choose and who choose us. So I’ll stick with my initial answer and expound on it a bit….

I am thankful, every moment of every day, for Karen. I’ve, in previous years, given thanks to friends and family, all of which still hold true, you guys… well…. I’m so lucky. But this year I’d like to devote my thanks to Karen.

I don’t know how many times I sit and think of her and tear up. Just thinking of her does it to me. It’s happiness you see. Happiness and a sort of amazement about how fortunate I am. I’m sitting her now, not all that far from being 7 years into this, tears coming, and loving her even more than I did six and half years ago. How is this possible? I don’t know. I am beyond lucky. She is the most genuine person I’ve ever met. Always herself. No matter where we go, who we are with, what we are doing… genuine. She is joyful. She lives every moment, never holding back what she feels. I love this about her. She is playful. Making me laugh just by being naturally herself all the time. She doesn’t put it on, she just IS it. She’s loving. She feels things deeply, loves without limit. She’s strong. She doesn’t take any crap. She stands up for herself. I admire this in her as I’m not always able to do it for myself. She isn’t afraid to stand up for what’s right. She will fight like a little pit bull if she has to, especially if she thinks someone she loves has been wronged. She’s a dork. I add this and love this about her because I’ve never met anyone who appreciates the dorkiness in me and matches it the way she does. She is silly, we are silly, a lot. She’s smart. Her mind is an amazing thing. I see this in the way she is in her work, but also in the way she just is in life. She can see things, how they connect, what they will look like in the future. She’s very good at this. She is insightful. She reads people. Especially me, which isn’t always easy, but she does it in spectacular fashion. She gets me. She loves me. She does this well. Better than I sometimes deserve. I can’t believe it actually. I’m stunned by her. Over and over again. Floored by her depth, her spirit, her love of life. To say I am lucky doesn’t even come close to really expressing how I feel about her, to defining what she means to me. To say I’m thankful doesn’t even touch the depth of feeling I have. But since I have no words to better describe it, I will just say… on this Thanksgiving weekend… I am thankful, every moment of every day for her. So very thankful. There is nothing more important in my life than she is to be thankful for.

Walking Mississippi

Originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl

So a couple of weeks ago we had the enormous pleasure of hanging out with and then having dinner with Grandpa, my Aunt Syd, Mom, Don, and Kev. It was a really nice evening. A very nice time. I love my family. Seriously, are there any better people out there? I know some of you might be saying yes, there are… as in your families, friends, or whatever, but still… I love these people. They are awesome. I always have a good time, without exception, when I’m with them, which I’m not often enough. And again I will say lucky. I am so lucky to be a part of this brood. Lucky.

I realize, and have heard from some of you, that I have been remiss in posting regularly to this little blog outpost of mine. I apologize. What can I say… the whirlwind of life sometimes takes over and before I know it a month or so has gone by. This phenomenon happens most especially when we are busy busy. Which, for those of you who actually know us, is the case for us in the last three or four months. Building an addition onto your house will do that.

So… we are almost done with the addition. Trim work to finish and we will be done. Kev is taking care of that for us so we’re looking like it could be completed shortly. Yes!

Currently we’re in San Jose visiting Karen’s family. I’m sitting in her parent’s living room as I type. It’s beautiful here right now. Warm and sunny. It was humid earlier today when we walked to Starbucks to get our customary chai and latte. We are in the habit of walking to the nearest Starbucks here every morning. Kind of a nice way to start our day… with a walk, a chat, and a cup of something tasty.

Tomorrow we are heading into San Francisco to meet friends and hang out for a couple of days before returning here on Sunday for another half a day of hanging out with the fam before heading back home on Monday. Should be fun, on both counts.

Right now I’m being driven mad by the tasty smell of roasting turkey and the fixings. It’s not Thanksgiving, but I’m thankful.

Oh, and for those wondering… the photo shoot the other day, my first paying gig, went well. At least, I feel like, given it was my first time, it went well. I was happy with the photos. Not too bad a deal… shooting for an hour, coming home and putting on the headphones, and working on the photos while listening to music. Life was and is, really good. I loved it. Made me very happy.

Right now eating some turkey is going to make me very happy. Yum.

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.

- Frederick Buechner

Pulling Out The Clubs, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Forgot to mention we went golfing on Wednesday after work, our first outing this year. We, neither of us, did that well. I haven’t even held a golf club since last September, and Karen hasn’t golfed, other than one round of 9 at a par 3 course a couple of years ago, for about 4 or 5 years. We had fun though. Thanks Stan and Stacia for waiting for us, and for being patient. It’s always a good time, even if our game wasn’t. And to Karen’s dad, once again, for giving me his clubs… I love them. I can’t say enough about them. Every time I use them I think of you Don. It was one of the sweetest gifts I’ve ever received. I love them and I love you.

Lunch With Family, originally uploaded by Tokenhippygirl.

Last Saturday, the 20th, we had a little family get together (thanks again Ab for planning it out!). We met at the Ram in Salem. Nice place. Really good company. We don’t get to see each other much, the seven of us. So many busy lives, so much going on for each of us. But when we do get together… wonderful. I love these people. Everyone of them, good to the last. Just a spectacular bunch. I’m so proud to be their sister. So proud to have them in my life. And I couldn’t help thinking, looking around at all of us (we missed you Kenny), that my dad would’ve loved it. My dad would’ve loved knowing we were together. I could feel him there. Laughing that throw his head back full body laugh. Eyes twinkling. He would’ve teared up. His love that big, his heart that full. My dad, our dad, made us. He lives in us, and is with each of us every day. I felt him there last Saturday. Probably everyone at the table did. There are really no words to describe it… there was magic at that table. Beautiful, harmonious, loving, happy, magic.

Wow… what a week. Seems like since we’ve been back home it’s been a little crazy in and around our house. Two weeks of bliss in the UK with Mary and Martin, with them and away from all the regular daily responsibilities, chores, life moving craziness. Don’t get me wrong… we have a terrific, wonderful, fantastic, full, beautiful life. We do. I wouldn’t trade anything in my life, currently, for any other possible way to be. I have it good. I know it. It’s just that our life moves quickly… busy. It’s grand and great, but sometimes it’s tiring. Especially when the dogs are restless, the phone rings late night or early morning (which we are both subjected to from time to time in our jobs), and it’s a bit too hot to sleep without the fans going full steam ahead. Again… not really complaining… just saying… whew. What a week huh? (this is where I start to smile and laugh cuz really… I’m very very happy)

I’m sitting here right now, iPod blaring, and I mean blaring. It’s lunchtime at the office. No one here right now but me. I have the road trip play list on shuffle. Currently it’s Travis busting out “Big Chair” through the most excellent JBL iPod player. The sun is shining outside, with a few clouds I admit, but shining. Other than the music it’s quiet in here. I like it. Pretty peaceful for the work place and all.

I just glanced at the numbers again. How can I help it when I’m this close (holding thumb and finger less than and inch apart) from making the 50,000 mark. Looks like less than 30 to go. And, by the way, my own page views don’t count so don’t you go thinking I’ve been clicking the Tam’s Think Tank bookmark 50 times a day to get to the big number. That wouldn’t work… at least that’s what the WordPress peeps say. Almost there…. picture confetti and such at the end of the day today… there will definitely be figurative confetti.

As for our weekend… and let’s just start with last night. The pre-weekend evening out. We went to see Star Trek. Loved it. Seriously. Good romp of a movie. I’m a trekkie from way back. Since the beginning, when the original show aired. I was very young, but remember my dad laying on the living room floor, face close to the screen (he had to, he was legally blind), and me sitting there with him, not really knowing what I was watching, but loving the whole thing. I thought, last night just as the movie started, Dad would love this. And, he would have.

The rest of the weekend… dinner and a movie with friends tonight at their place. Should be fun. We haven’t spent time with them in a long while. I’m anxious to meet the new members of their family, Ricky and Lucy, their new pups. Then tomorrow… time spent with friends having a bite to eat, checking out the festival downtown, and then an outdoor evening concert by the band Uh Huh Her. We’ll see how that goes. Sunday… not sure. We have more work to do on our place. Always. Probably try to stain the deck that I pressure washed this week. Though I hear it might rain. Hmmmm… rain and an outdoor concert. We might have to rearrange our plans for concert going if that’s the case. Or not. We are, after all, Oregonians. Proud to get rained on.

Oh no… it’s almost one. Almost time for me to turn back into a worker bee and get back to it. Court at 1:15 today. Fun fun.

I’ll leave this post with Josh Radin on the iPod singing “One of Those Days“.  Seems kind of fitting.  Kismet.