A Wonderful Weekend

I can't even believe it's already Thursday. Em's Spring Break is almost over, and it feels like it's barely even begun. We had a most fabulous weekend, bringing her home.

It started on Good Friday: I drove down to Santa Barbara, taking my time. I listened to Ragtime on tape, courtesy of Dennis and the SF Library, and stopped off at two missions on my way(Santa Ines and Soledad). It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

I checked in at the Ramada Inn (which is, thankfully, upgrading its rooms) and Em called me around 6 to say she was done with her last final (yay!). I picked up her and two stuffed duffel bags (girlfriend--how long are you going to be home?) and brought her back to the Ramada. We dressed and went to dinner at the Four Seasons. Di.Vine.

The next morning, after breakfast at Alfie's in Goleta/Isla Vista, we drove up to Cambria to rendezvous with Robert for the rest of the weekend's festivities. We all enjoyed a lovely lunch in the sun at the Indigo Moon and then headed over to San Simeon.

We went on tours two and five (evening tour) and had a fabulous, fabulous time. <sigh> Really. Wonderful.

After our two tours (preceded by a visit to the beach at San Simeon), we went to the Madonna Inn, in San Luis Obispo, for a picnic dinner in Emily's and my room, the Highway Suite.

The next morning, Easter Sunday, Robert, Emily, and I had breakfast at the Copper Cafe, and then Em and I hit the road. We were home by 1:30, well in time to enjoy an Easter Supper with Frank and Maggie, and also Jackie and Zaheer.

A lovely, lovely weekend.

Maggie: Pretty Bald Chick

Team Albany before:
















And Maggie at the end of her head-shaving:





















And Team Albany after:
















We are so proud of our bald daughter.

Who's Done?

I am.

T Minus Two

Just two radiation treatments left. I'm so very, very pleased. To celebrate the end of my morning radiation routine, I'm thinking I might force Frank to change our routine this Friday and have him take me and Maggie out for breakfast on Friday (Maggie has no school).

Speaking of Maggie, she is doing a great good thing and having her head shaved in support of the St. Baldricks fundraising event for childhood cancer research. You can see a pre-shave pic of her here. She's part of a team for her middle school, and they'll all get their heads shaved on St. Patrick's Day (next Monday). I'll post a pic of her new "look" after that.

Meanwhile, I am so looking forward to seeing Emily next Friday night. Her last final is at 4 p.m. that day (what a sadistic professor, to give a final mere minutes before Spring Break), and I've promised her a lovely dinner with her mother as a reward. The next day, we'll meet Robert in San Luis Obispo for our 24 hours of fun (San Simeon, Madonna Inn, mad hijinks...) Of course, I only realized this week that the Sunday is Easter. We typically have friends over for a feast on that day, but Em and I won't be rolling in to the Bay Area until about 2 p.m., so this year Easter will be a bit more lowkey than usual.

Give Me a Boost

Today was the first of seven "boost" radiation treatments. My routine (check-in, changing into a hospital gown, assuming the position on the bed in the radiation room) was the same, but they had added an attachment to the linear accelerator. The lead alloy plate they made for me was at the end of the attachment, and they lined it up with the drawing they made on my left breast over a week ago. They left the room and zapped me for 30 to 40 seconds and then, ta da! I was done.

As we near the end of it, I have to say this whole radiation regimen hasn't been too onerous, actually. But I am looking forward to just waking up in the morning, having breakfast with Frank and Maggie, getting dressed, and then going right into work. And that day will be next Friday, March 14. Yay!!!

And now, with the end in sight, I'm thinking I won't be needing to update this blog so regularly. During this ordeal, I've been trying to update the blog on a weekly basis, but after I finish radiation next week, there won't be much of anything to report. Well, other than how much I'm enjoying my family, friends, neighbors, job, etc.

In the next few months, I'll be taking some trips for fun and will have some follow-up visits for the breast cancer, and I'll be posting after those occurrences. So, if you have a burning desire to follow my life, you might want to check this site on a monthly basis, rather than weekly, after next week.

And to those of you who will be happy to move on, thank you for keeping me company during the past seven months. It's been so comforting--in the truest sense of the word--to know that people were thinking about me and caring about me. I continue to be enormously grateful to have the life that I have. It's a wonderful and wondrous thing.

Thank you.