More on the Other Performing McKeown

Last week was a musical one for Maggie (and by extension, me and Frank, her avid fans).

Wednesday evening was the Albany High spring choral concert, at St. Marks in Berkeley. I've been to a couple concerts there (to see good friend Monica, in the California Bach Society), and the church is a lovely place with very nice acoustics.

Then, this past Saturday evening, we attended the always-fun guitar recital at the Benicia home of her guitar teacher, Peter Morley. We always enjoy these recitals. Peter is a very giving teacher and a gracious host, and Maggie played "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

Before the recital, during the day, Maggie and I had joined the Cassims (with their visiting nephew, Sameer) for a mid-day visit to Sausalito. Lots of sun, a very nice lunch, and a bit of shopping. So, even before the recital, we were pretty pooped. When we returned home (around 9 p.m.), Maggie and I got comfy in jammies and watched some LotR (Two Towers).

The next day, Maggie and I went in to SF to finally pick some perfume to go into the bottle that was part of her Christmas. First we had lunch at City View (excellent dim sum) and then we smelled some fragrance at Macy*s. She thought she might like something from Chanel or Dior, but we looked at/took a whiff of several designers/brands until ending up with two possible choices from Dior--J'Adore and Cherie. We got some Ben & Jerry's while we pondered this monumental decision and then went back upstairs to get her a nice little Cherie gift box (that included a cute little purse and some body lotion). The sales guy--I think recognizing a potential future customer in Maggie--threw in an extra thing of body lotion for her.

A very nice weekend to kick off Maggie's spring break. At the end of this week, we'll be heading up to Tahoe to spend Easter with the Bauers. The fun just never stops!

"Full" House

Emily survived the second quarter cuts in UCSB's BFA acting program, so she's still officially an acting major. :-) And, since that marked the end of the second quarter, she is home again for a week, for Spring Break. It's so lovely to have her home. We love love love having her around. I will be so very sad when she leaves again this weekend.

She and Maggie and I went to the Cerrito theater yesterday to see a sold-out 2 p.m. matinee of Labyrinth. Way fun.

I'm thinking this week I might need to take a PTO day to play with Emily while she's home. At the end of the school year, she's going to the UK for three weeks (where she and Grace Armstrong, a friend since preschool, will play tra la la and I'm trying not to resent my own daughter). So after this week, we won't see much of Emily until mid-July.

We get three more years of Maggie at home, so that helps a lot. I don't know how the parents of one child deal with this.

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

The last place on my list of places to go--post chemo--was Disneyland or Disney World. And last weekend, I got to go to Disneyland with Maggie and some of her Girl Scout friends.

Sooooo much fun. First off--I genuinely enjoy the "house of the mouse", so to speak. And Robert & Deirdre Bauer were there (well, to be truthful, they drove, and arranged the hotel, and bought the tickets to the parks... um, they did most of the heavy lifting to be truthful), so, in addition to just having fun with the girls, I also had fun with two other adults who genuinely enjoy being in Disney territory.

I didn't end up getting to do Space Mountain, but I *did* get to do Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and most important of all--Peter Pan's Flight. Here are the girls in front of the entrance to California Adventure (where they went on the river raft ride five times). I love Disneyland. I would go there again next weekend, if I could.

After two days in Disneyland, we spent a day at the Huntington, sort of on our way back home. I got to see one of the Gutenberg bibles and an original complete Shakespeare folio, along with a new exhibition of Lincoln memorabilia (which they called "Lincolniana"). To kick off the exhibition, they had a Civil War era band playing Stephen Foster music, and a Lincoln impersonator. He was checking out the exhibits when Robert and I toured the show later. I couldn't resist taking this picture.

Picking Up, and Then Some!

I completed treatment last March (I wrote "finishing" at first and that seems like tempting the gods. Who knows if I'm finished? I'll be having a mammogram every six months for the next five years. So, let's just keep those clean so we stay "finished" and don't have to "resume" any treatment activities.)

And there you have my frame of mind. Last March I hit the ground running--literally. My friend Robert and I took Emily to San Simeon on her Spring Break (with a stopover in Cambria for lunch and a night at the amazing Madonna Inn). Then I met some college friends for some fun in Bloomington, IN and my sisters for even more fun in Chicago. Frank and I spent our 25th anniversary in NYC and then all four of us enjoyed a week in Twain Harte--one of our favorite places--at the end of the summer.

Maggie has started high school and Em is deep into the theater program in her sophomore year at UCSB. I'm taking on some of the projects I neglected last year at work and I'm a busy volunteer again.

Mostly, life has been getting back to normal. We like routine in our home. We like being together, and we also like the constancy of all of us being at home. It feels good. And right now I am throwing a bit of wrench into all that.

Last night I did something I've been wanting to do for several years now--I've joined a choir. It's been a while, so my sight-reading is really lousy (I was all over the map last night in practice). But the director said I have a "nice sound" and he appreciated my range. So, we'll work out the kinks as we go along, and I'll thoroughly enjoy doing it. And this Thursday I'm starting a Bollywood dance class at the Berkeley Y with some girlfriends (Hi Karen & Sarah!).

I figured out my schedule for the next 8 weeks or so, and I'll be out of the house two to three nights each week. In the somewhat recent past, this all would have felt a little much. But right now I'm very much in the mode of "what exactly are we waiting for?" and doing the things I want to do.

Frank, as usual, is nothing but supportive. He likes hearing me sing and so is glad I'm getting to do more of it. And I'm sure I'll have fun learning the Bollywood dancing, and Frank is sure I'll have fun, too.    ;-)

And now for some philosphizing. (Warning! Deep Thoughts Ahead!)

I was recently chatting online with a young woman who is finishing up cancer for breast treatment (or, as she calls it, "The Bullshit") and I was telling her that there's no going back. That it's happened and the treatment is part of who you are now. And then it hit me, duh. That that's always been true. I'm sure that's obvious to all of you, but sometimes these very basic truths hit me right between the eyes. It's sort of like when I got to age 35 and it struck me, pretty much like a thunderbolt, that this is it. It's not a dress rehearsal: this is life. And I'm never going to be a rock star (that was a hard one to let go of...), and if there's anything I want to do, then I'd better get on with it.

To a great extent, I think I *do* do that. With the big things, anyway. But life intervenes, and it's easy to put some things aside for later.

I'll continue to put some things aside for later (becoming a world famous cabaret singer, for example). But some things, I'm figuring, I should do if I want to do them. And so through mid-May, I'll have choir practice once or twice a week. And for the next eight weeks, I'll be dancing along to fabulous Indian music at the Berkeley Y. Now I just need to figure out how to find the time to see the Oscar nominees before the awards show...

Jury Duty

Well, I'll tell you I was more than a little bugged about having jury duty today. I went to Nevada to campaign for Mr. Obama back in November and I was really looking forward to the ceremony today. But I called the jury duty number last night and was told that I had to show up at the courthouse no later than 8:30 a.m. this morning.

First--I did not get chosen for a jury. And while most of me feels like "whew! I dodged *that* bullet," I also have to rhapsodize a bit about Judge Lawrence Appel. I've never seen a judge get a room of prospective jurors more interested in serving on a jury. He was cordial and friendly and respectful. I seriously would not have minded getting "stuck" on a jury.

Second--When I arrived at the Jury Room at the Alameda Superior Court, all the televisions were tuned to the inauguration.

Imagine a room filled with more than 200 people. Remember that this is a major metropolitan area. In that room there was every color, every creed, every age (well, above 18, anyway), and we all were sharing the inauguration together. We all applauded and we all laughed (and some of us, ahem, wept a little). And we all stood when Mr. Obama took the oath of office. It felt so wonderful to share this event with people I don't know, but with whom I share a democracy. Words won't serve. But I'm still glowing, after six hours of sitting through voir dire.

Yay us!

Back to "Normal"...

...whatever that means. ;-)

I had a check-up with my oncologist on Monday and a blood test revealed that all my numbers are back to normal. (During treatment, I had been getting a steady dose of Neulasta to keep my count high enough to allow me to keep up the bi-weekly chemo treatments. These injections stopped, of course, when the chemo treatments stopped, and last June, my white blood cell count was somewhat low. Now, all is good again.) And since my most recent mammogram (December 1) was nice and clean, and my exam with Dr. Kuan yielded nothing scary, I don't have to have any more blood tests when I visit her. Yay!

In other news, we all went to see Slumdog Millionaire last weekend, with Jackie & Yusuf. A wonderful movie, and we followed it with curries and naan at Cafe Raj. A terrific date—I recommend it.

(Also, it's been a shocking two months since my last post. I'm getting back on the weekly wagon, just in case anyone is still reading.)

Gobama!

Or, my friend Deirdre, the rock star

Deirdre and I spent the weekend in the Reno area of Nevada, canvassing for Obama. It was an interesting experience. We met some angry people, some friendly people, some hostile people, and some hopeful people.

When we arrived at her place at Incline Village, we found the Rolling Stone cover from July--with Obama on the cover--signed by the man himself. "To the Bauers, thank you for your support. Barack Obama." This magazine was addressed to Emily, and we had left it there over the July 4 weekend. But given that the signature is addressed to the Bauers (and given that they have been providing shelter to Obama campaign workers for the past month or two), I guess it's theirs to keep. ;-)

We went to Reno on Saturday morning, along with about 2000 other Obama volunteers, to be met by a full rainbow over the city. Deirdre and I started counting good omens.

The campaign sent us to Sparks, and working there was a bit of a downer. The neighborhood we walked seemed like it could be friendly enough but this election has a lot of people on edge.

We each had a "turf", with a list of names & addresses of voters who have not been regular voters. We also had their age, gender, political party affiliation, and any indication of how they were expected to vote (based on phone polling). Mostly, we were there to "Get Out the Vote" (GOTV), but occasionally we had someone we were supposed to "Persuade".

Anyone who knows Deirdre knows that she can talk the paint off a post. She also is somewhat disarming. So, though we had fingers pointed at us and at least one door slammed in our faces, Deirdre remained upbeat and was the best companion for this weekend I could imagine.

On Sunday, they sent us to Sun Valley. Though more economically depressed, the people there were friendlier, overall (coincidence?) We had a number of people express their gratitude for our work and their anticipation of voting.

My favorite, favorite, favorite story from this weekend is actually Deirdre's. But she doesn't have a blog, so I'll share it on her behalf. :-)

We were down a dirt/gravel road, in a circle of three or four prefab/mobile homes. Deirdre walked up the steps of one of the homes, knocked on the door, and asked the older gentleman who answered for the name on our list, a woman's name. We'll call her "Debbie".

Deirdre: I'm Deirdre, with Obama's Campaign for Change. Is Debbie here?
MOTH (man of the house): No, she's not here.
D: Do you expect her later? Should I come back?
MOTH: No, she's not coming back till December, at the earliest.
D: Oh, is she out of town?
MOTH: You could say that... She's in prison.

(He then starts telling Deirdre about the pyramid scheme "Debbie" was involved in and how she used someone else's credit card.)

D: I'm sorry. Is she your wife?
MOTH: Nope, she's my daughter-in-law.
D: Oh! Is your son going to vote?
MOTH: Don't think so.... He's in prison, too.

At this point, I believe Deirdre just asked the man how he was going to vote. I can't remember if he was registered and going to vote for Obama, or unregistered and would have voted for Obama if he could. But he was a hoot, for sure.

The next gravel road over, in a circle of another four prefab/mobile homes, I walked by three dogs who started barking. This got a dog over on the left going, and then two more over on the right joined in. Deirdre and I were surrounded by six barking dogs and we just started cracking up. Maybe you had to be there, but we thought the whole thing was just hilarious.

When no one answered, we left literature and then revisited later, to see if the literature was still there. Often it was, but if it was gone, we made a second attempt to make contact. It was a long two days, and Saturday evening, I think we both were feeling kind of down. But Sunday was reinvigorating and we relaxed that evening, basking in the feeling of having done a good thing.

However you're going to vote, be sure to do it today. Enjoy the fruits of this wonderful democracy of ours!

I Seem to Have Touched a Nerve

I strongly suspect I am a proud member of the "small clique in Albany [that] have been running a very negative campaign against the candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party and the Sierra Club."

How did I, a humble lifetime Democrat (in fact, I'm leaving for Reno this evening to knock on doors for the esteemed Mr. Obama) end up running with such questionable types? I'm glad you asked.

First, go here and read the letter from Nan Wishner and then the letter from me. Hopefully, it will put things in perspective.

Honestly, I find it more than a little laughable that *I* am being accused of Karl Rovian tactics. I wrote a letter to a small, local website. The Sierra Club has blanketed Albany's doorsteps with an accusation of "negative campaigns". Have I missed something? Have other people written--or otherwise distributed--attacks on the local Sierra Club or Democratic Party candidates?

So, read the letters and then read the flyer and then ask yourself, "Who has the sour grapes?" I would be outraged if I didn't find their cynicism so laughable. John Muir is spinning in his grave...

Sorry It's Been So Long

Wow. Six weeks since I last updated. I'm so sorry. Of course, that assumes anyone is still reading. ;-)

So, we joined a multitude of our Albany neighbors at an Obama fundraiser ages ago (well, it *feels* like ages ago) and Deirdre B and I got the volunteer fever (someone gave me post-its with the infamous "Stop me before I volunteer again" slogan). But the Obama guy was more interested in the Bauers' place in Incline Village as possible housing for campaign workers. So, she and I went to the MoveOn website and volunteered to canvas in Nevada the first weekend in November.

We both got emails about a week and a half ago, saying that what they really needed was not people canvassing the weekend before the election, but rather people working on election day and the day before. Deirdre and I both work full-time, so that wasn't going to work. Meanwhile, I got a phone call from the Obama campaign asking if I could go to Las Vegas this weekend. That wasn't going to work for a multitude of reasons (including my lack of frequent flier miles).

Finally, Deirdre got a phone call last night (Tuesday, seven days before the election) asking if she could go to Reno this weekend. She called me and--voila!--we're going to Reno this weekend. The Obama campaign called me today to confirm I was going, and so it looks like we're set.

And, Obama did his "infomercial" tonight. I went to google to see if I could link to this wonderful video for this blog, and--I kid you not--one of the choices that appeared in the Search box was "barack obama antichrist". Wow. Frank says that Rush Limbaugh has said that Obama "hypnotizes" people. Because, heaven knows, it couldn't be that people are just disgusted with their loss of civil rights, the economy, or an unending war. No, it must be that he's "magic". Hello, Salem anyone?

My word I am sooooooooooo ready for this election to be over. Well, and for Bush to be on his way out and Obama to be on his way in. That would be nice.

Home Again, Home Again...

...Jiggidy Jig.

Whew. What a weekend.

Before
Last Wednesday, Emily tells us that her hard drive appears to have crashed. She got an appointment at the Genius Bar (Apple Help Desk) in Walnut Creek--the one in E-ville couldn't give her an appointment till Saturday. So, Thursday afternoon (the day before leaving for Santa Barbara), we went to Walnut Creek where the Apple "genius" informed us that, yes, the hard drive was dead. D-E-A-D, dead. Getting the rest of the information was a bit like pulling teeth. She could get her data retrieved by calling a phone number on a card. (Frank and I made the mistake of paying for lost data *once*. I would not recommend it.) We explained that we were leaving town the next day--what should we do about replacing the hard drive? Well, he suggested we buy one.

Well, okay then. Thanks. Um, any recommendations? Oh, sure. Okay? And? What might those be. Oh, well, here's how you take this one out and put the new one in. Okay, super. And, um, any specifications? (I'd just like to mention here that this guy is so lucky we saw him before the trip and not after. I think I might have had to bite him if I'd seen him after the trip....)

We eventually got specifications and we left.

Friday morning
Frank, Emily, and I went to a U-Haul pickup in E-ville at 9:30. The woman "assisting" us was at full capacity and it was not particularly comforting. After about 30 minutes, we had our 14' truck and Em & I went to Ikea to get her bed and a mattress. Then we headed up to Jackie & Yusuf's to get the furniture they so kindly gave to Emily (a dresser and two end tables) (along with the mattress and box springs they even more kindly gave me & Frank).

We got home a bit before noon. Frank helped us get the mattress & box spring out of the van and into the garage. Emily loaded the rest of her stuff into the truck. She and I had lunch. We ran some errands (including dropping off the painting that used to hang in the living room at Frank's office). Becky dropped off her screwdriver drill bits (thanks Becky!). And Emily and I hit the road sometime around 1:30 or 2.

The U-Haul truck drove reasonably well. The front seat is a bench, though, and I wasn't able to get comfortably to the gas pedal. So, after several hours, I was getting a bit of a pinched nerve in my back, from hyper-extending my right foot. We pulled over for an early dinner at the Copper Cafe in the Madonna Inn and then hit the road for the last 90 minutes.

We got into Isla Vista around 7:30. Unloaded the truck and immediately started on putting Em's bed together.

We finished building the bed around 11:30, and after a nice cup of hot tea with her roommate Lauren and their "temporary" guest Cooper (sleeping on their sofa till he finds a place of his own), we went to bed around 12:15.

Saturday morning
Boy, people like to party in Isla Vista. It was a bit surreal being completely and utterly surrounded by serious partying, into the wee hours. Some neighbors were going strong at 3:30, but I found my earplugs and all was good. Em slept with her roommate, leaving me the new bed. I felt a bit guilty, taking Em's bed the first night, but it was better than a sleeping bag on the floor, let me assure you. :-) It was quite comfy and I think Em will enjoy it this year.

Anyway. We found breakfast in the morning and then I took the truck to a drop-off in Goleta. Hertz picked me up and took me to the rental facility where I got my zippy little economy car. After getting roughly 11 miles to the gallon in the truck, I was thrilled to have the Hyundai.

I went back to U-Haul (the line was so long and the Hertz guy was waiting, so I left without settling accounts) and finished up there. Then picked up Em and took her to K-Mart for some essentials.

We took her stuff back home, and got things mostly organized, and then, I hit the road for home.

I felt a little bad about not taking my daughter to lunch before leaving, but: it had been a loooooooong 1.5 days, and I think she really wanted to get unpacked anyway.

I got to the Hertz rental at Oakland airport around 6:30. Frank picked me up, took me home, and made dinner for me (Thai shrimp). We watched a movie (Charlie Chan in Shanghai--pretty good) and I was in bed by 9 p.m.

I slept a good 11 hours and woke up Sunday feeling human again.

Em is all unpacked and has been enjoying cooking for her roommates. She made cinnamon rolls Sunday morning and then stir fry for them Sunday evening. A few of them are in downtown Santa Barbara today, looking for jobs. Oh! And I ordered a hard drive that will be shipped to her, hopefully this week.

And now? Back to my routine. <whew!>

Family Portrait

We have a new masterpiece in our house. A family portrait--created by Rene Garcia, Jr. and a gift from the dear and wonderful Dennis Vaux and Robert Allen. Suffice to say, this little photo doesn't do the piece justice. First of all--it's glitter (!). And second, it's sizable (a little under 4 feet wide and 5 feet high). It hangs in our living room, where we used to hang an abstract painting. In the next few months, we'll be deciding whether or not to paint the living room, and how to properly light this. And meanwhile, we'll just enjoy it.

Our sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to Dennis and Robert who commissioned this family portrait. And our awe and gratitude to the artist, Rene.

Twain Harte

We returned Saturday from a lovely, relaxing, sunny, hot week in Twain Harte. We're happy to be home, but when I win the lottery, I'm buying a place up there. During the summer, the teeny lake (courtesy of a dammed river from the Sierras) provides respite from the heat, as well as some of my favorite views.

And in the winter, you're never far from snow--Pinecrest and Dodge Ridge are a mere 30 minutes away--but getting there (and getting back to the Bay Area) is easy and mostly traffic free.

We usually stay in Cabin #20, courtesy of Twain Harte Vacation Rentals. And last year, probably the day after I got my diagnosis, I called the rental agents to see if our favorite house would be available this summer. I sort of assumed that the intervening months would be kind of crappy, and having the cabin reserved would give us something to look forward to.

And it did. The anticipation of the peace and relaxation we know up there provided solace during the year. And I enjoyed some happy meditation while we were there. As always, I was reminded of how tremendously lucky we are. To have the family and friends that we know is a special blessing.

In the past, we've gone to Twain Harte every other year for a week of blissful inactivity. Which means that, if we follow the schedule, we won't be going back until the summer after next. But I've reserved our favorite cabin for next summer, just in case.

A Couple Celebrations

Maggie turned 14 a little over a week ago. She had a few friends over for curry and cake and what I refer to as "sneaky Jane Austen". The girls watched Clueless (a contemporary version of Emma), and then they watched Bride & Prejudice (a Bollywood version of Pride & Prejudice). A wonderful time was had and she felt properly feted.

And yesterday I celebrated my "all-clear" with a BBQ at Terrace Park. Here's the cake (courtesy of my darling daughter, Emily).

And that's how we do closure, Karen-style.

Without a Port

Dr. Broderick removed my port today. <giggle> Yay! It was weird and really cool.

Frank and I were ushered into one of the examination rooms at the offices of First Surgical Consultants (I tend to hate generic sounding names like that, but I love Dr. Broderick, so I guess I'll let it slide) and I put on one of those lovely paper gowns (Frank said I looked like something out of "Forbidden Planet"). Dr. Broderick showed up and got right to work (and Frank left the room soon thereafter. I mean, there's a reason he's a lawyer...)

Dr. B cleaned the area and shot the area up with Lidocaine (pinch burn, pinch burn, pinch burn, pinch burn..... numb, yay!) He cut the skin above where the port was sitting and explained that the body creates a sac of scar tissue around the port. So he massaged and pushed and massaged and pushed to loosen the sac around the port and eventually it came out. That five minutes or so of massaging (probably less than that, but in these instances, it feels like such a long time, you know?) took up most of the time for the procedure and felt really weird. My skin was being pulled taut and so while nothing was happening at that moment, probably, it just felt weird. Like something was imminent.

And then, voila! I felt the tubing that led from the port to the Subclavian being pulled out. Kinda freaky and kinda neat.

He applied pressure to the spot where the tube had left the vein and I asked him how it healed. He said that the blood flow would prefer to just follow the path nature made for it, through the vein, rather than fight with other tissue and find a path through my body. So, it heals itself.

The human body. Just amazing. (When it's not being a total PITA.)

I can't see where the sutures are now--they're under a bandage--so I'm not sure if this scar just eradicates the one remaining from the insertion of the port, or there are two side-by-side. But given Dr. B's consideration and expert work on the two previous occasions, I'm not too worried.

I brought the port home with me (Dr. Broderick: "Um, you might want to wash that with bleach or something") and I smell a bit like a surgery (that blood and antiseptic smell). But no more foreign bodies in my body! Yay me!

When we left the office I was seriously jittery from an adrenalin rush, but we've been home for about an hour now and my head hurts a bit, and feels tired, so I'm already crashing. I expect to sleep well tonight.

(I go back next week to get the stitches removed.)

Goings On

I've got my port removal scheduled for next Monday (July 21). Yay! Dr. Broderick (who I love, btw) said he can do it as an outpatient service in his office, and I admit I am intrigued.

See, while the hard silicone thing (into which they put the needles to draw blood and infuse toxic chemicals) is supposed to be near the surface of the skin, mine appears to be somewhat deep (much commented upon during treatment and subsequent blood draws). Also? It's connected to a tube that goes up to the Subclavian vein. Can they just pull that out? They don't need to suture it or anything? Finally, mine is much farther down on my chest than the one in the diagram in the link--Dr. Broderick very kindly placed it within a reasonable line of decolletage, so, um.... Well, I guess we'll just see, won't we?

This Weekend
In other news, Emily is doing the AIDS Walk next Sunday, with team I Love This World. Feel free to sponsor Emily and donate by going here.

While Emily is doing that, Maggie and I will less helpful to society at large by going to the Giants v. Brewers game. Frank shares in season tickets with several other people, so we get about 10 or 11 games a year. And I love the seats. They're on the third baseline, in the Club section. Which means if it's too hot, we can go up to the glass-enclosed food/drink section, which also is air conditioned, and still see the game.

Oh, and Friday night, we're all going in to the city to see the Chihuly exhibit at the DeYoung, along with Jackie (and maybe Becky?) whose husbands will be at the annual golf "debacle" with Frank and five other fine gentlemen, up in Graeagle this weekend.

Last Weekend
This past weekend we saw "Ironman" at the Cerrito--way fun, we'd all recommend it. It was fun and over the top in a good way. And yesterday we saw "An Ideal Husband" at CalShakes* in Orinda. The sets and costumes were lovely, the direction was fine, and the acting was fairly solid. It's the play itself, I fear, that doesn't quite stand up. The play drags a bit in the middle (the plot bogs it down just a bit) and the wonderfully sexist point of view at the end is a bit hard to take. But you can't beat the venue--amphitheater, set in the hills, on EBMUD watershed property, so you really feel like you're away from everything else. "Ideal Husband" is on for a couple more weeks and then next up on their calendar is "Uncle Vanya". They did a super job with "The Seagull" a couple years ago, so I'm looking forward to this next one.

*Dinking around on their site, I found this terrific video from CalShakes' Artistic Director, Jon Moscone (yes, son of George Moscone) showing the site of the Bruns Amphitheater. Actually the video on their site didn't work, so I tracked it down on youtube. Check it out:

Clean, Clean, Clean

I had my mammogram last Friday and it was nice and clean.

Then, this morning? I got a phone call from Alta Bates. My PET CT, taken last Monday, also quite clean.

The relief is coming out in little spurts. I'm sure I'll be crying sometime today. Oh, wait. Yep, there it is--the watery eye.

<sigh> Have I mentioned lately? Life is good.

The Whirlwind

Life has been crazy--in a good way, and this post is in two parts. This first part is all about the fun that's being had. What follows is all the post-treatment stuff going on later....

Let's Play!

The end of the school year was as hectic as ever. The week before school got out, Maggie co-hosted a party with several of her friends. Here they are: Shayna (whose parents graciously provided the house for the party!), Sarah, Maggie & Hannah (who both shaved their heads for kids cancer research--don't they both look fab?), Lilia, Nina, and Megan.

On Thursday, June 12, we went to the promotion ceremony for Albany Middle School. Here's a pic of Maggie in the dress that she & I made for the event, along with Siobhan, Julia, and Shayna (all girls we've known since kindergarten). The day after "graduation", the 8th graders all went to Marine World, and I hit the road for Santa Barbara. Em and I got her moved out of the dorms, and since she was the last of the three girls to leave, she got to take out all the trash/recycling and vacuum and get the room inspected. All went well and she and I checked in to the Days Inn in Buellton and then went to see Indiana Jones 4 at the local theater, after a nice steak dinner.

We got home Saturday and on Sunday, the 15th, we joined a Father's Day brunch for Frank's tennis buddies and then I got a wonderful birthday dinner of grilled lobster and Caesar Salad.

Monday we left for New York. I've cataloged our trip below, so for those of you who don't want/need all the details, you can avoid them easily.

Are We Done Yet?

Before we left for NYC, I had a brain MRI. (Purely cautionary--breast cancer can spread to the brain, and rather than worry, I'd prefer to rule things out.) This past Monday, I had a PET CT and today, Friday, I'm having a mammogram. Sheesh. But it's all for peace of mind, so I really don't mind.

I'll see Dr. Kuan on Monday, July 7, to go over all these test results and will hopefully get an "all-clear" sign. And then I can schedule having this port removed. Yay!

I'll post again after I see Dr. Kuan. But till then, no news is good news. :-)

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New York, New York, It's a Wonderful Town...

We got in Monday night, and met Ellen* & Mike at the very new & hip Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel for $20 martinis (images #2, 3, and 4 here), and then went to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park for a less expensive, late night dinner (amazing shakes and cheeseburgers [Frank and Mike had theirs with a deep-fried portobello mushroom--I had a bite of Frank's, it was too much for me, but it was way yummy]). (*Ellen is Frank's youngest sister and Michael is her wonderful fiance. They live in Brooklyn.)

Tuesday we met Ellen for breakfast at Balthazar's, in SoHo--food was yummy and servings were *perfect*. Then we went to visit one of the two "Bird" stores in Brooklyn that Ellen manages and then on to Ellen & Mike's charming flat in Brooklyn. Wandered *all* over Greenwich Village and had pizza at John's (solid NY pizza). We got to the Daily Show at 3:30 (when they suggested you be in line) only to find that we were numbers #194, 195, 196, and 197 (out of 260). :-) The Daily Show was really, really fun. Then we went to the Garage in the Village for dinner and jazz (good steak, fun music, solid bar--thanks to John & Lynn for the recommendation.)

Wednesday.... Our anniversary! We wandered uptown (hotel was at 32nd between 5th and Madison ) and we got lunch at the Burger Joint (hidden in the Parker Meridien--Ellen showed me this place when I visited her last spring) and then walked the few remaining blocks up to Central Park and ate our lunch al fresco. Walked through the park where we witnessed, up close, the wacky phenomenon that is Upper East Side nannies and their charges in the park (mini soccer and softball camps set up within, while the nannies sat at the benches, visiting) and made our way to the Met so we could see Jeff Koons' rooftop sculpture (the balloon dog). Went back to the hotel and changed for dinner and then went all the way back up to Lexington and 74th(?) for dinner at Payard--really, really wonderful.

Thursday, whew! Mediocre breakfast in the hotel (eh, what do you expect?) and then made our way down to Battery Park and said "Hi" to Lady Liberty. We found Trinity Church and paid our respects to Mr. Hamilton, then headed back to our hotel's neighborhood which is now Little Korea. We found some really solid Korean BBQ and had lunch. Then changed for the evening and met Kevin Fitzpatrick (author of "Dorothy Parker's New York") for a walking tour of the places associated with the Algonquin Round Table tour. He was really gracious and informative and I would heartily recommend him to anyone visiting NYC. He left us very near our dinner/theater destinations, which also happened to be where my sister Dawn was staying with my niece Kiersten and so we went to see them in their hotel (Marriott Marquis). The four of us walked the five blocks to Natsumi for sushi dinner (Yelpers are the best--I found this place online and it was quite good). We said goodnight to them and went to the Music Box theater to watch "August: Osage County". Quite good. Frank and I still were talking about it, days later. Think "Sam Shephard with a sense of humor..." :-) (And as soon as I get Dawn's pics, I'll upload a photo of the 4 of us....)

Friday, packed and had the bags ready to go. Then wandered the city for the three hours until time for the limo to pick us up. Ran into my sister Dawn and her daughter Kiersten (don't you *love* cities?) and ended our walk at Bryant Park. I had already dragged Frank through NYPL, so this time we just sat on the grass and enjoyed relaxing for 10 or 15 minutes before time to leave NYC.

As you can see, a really wonderful trip.

On the Road Again...

When it rains, it pours, right?

Today is Maggie's 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony, so we're a bit hectic at home about that. After the ceremony, she and Frank and I will have a nice quick dinner (her choice: hot wings) and then she'll head off to the 8th grade dance at Albany Middle School.

Meanwhile, I hit the road first thing tomorrow to go bring Emily home from Santa Barbara. We're spending tomorrow night at the Days Inn in Buellton/Solvang that was in the movie Sideways. We'll head home on Saturday.

Sunday is Father's Day and my birthday. We'll start the day with a brunch after the Dads' tennis game at the home of Beloved Husband, Tom Weimer, and his Lovely Wife, Carol. :-) Then I'll enjoy some quiet time at Azul Spa, getting ready for the week.

Because, on Monday, Frank and I head off for a week in NYC, to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We're staying at the Avalon, in midtown, and we've got quite a week lined up.

Tuesday, we'll be catching the Daily Show (hopefully with Frank's sister Ellen and her affianced, Michael). Wednesday we're enjoying dinner at a sweet bistro/patisserie (Payard), and on Thursday, we're dining with surprise friends (more later) before taking in a performance of the Pulitzer winning play August: Osage County.

In between the evening engagements, we hope to get to the Metropolitan Museum and maybe Battery Park and maybe the Guggenheim and maybe the Museum of Natural History, and maybe Central Park, and oh my. We might need to extend our stay.... Catch you on the flip side!

The Performing McKeowns

So, Emily went to a summer theater program at Columbia University a couple years ago and came home declaring that she could never major in Theater. Having gone through a similar epiphany after my freshman year of college (and a year of Theater classes), I heartily supported this decision. She went off to UCSB in the Fall and dove into some really interesting classes in Philosphy, Art History, Comparitive Lit, Geography, and more. She was thinking she might major in English (this was beginning to feel a bit too familiar: I majored in English Lit).

Meanwhile, she had been "dabbling" in Theater at UCSB. She worked costumes for the Fall production. She took a Theater Movement class second quarter and a beginning acting class this quarter. But still, her communication with us indicated a "probably English" major. So, imagine our surprise. ;-)

After writing in her livejournal last Fall that she would *never* major in Theater, since that would probably just kill something she loved, she found it impossible to ignore the siren call. She auditioned for the BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) program in Theater last weekend. And out of 40 kids who auditioned, she was one of the 13 who got in. Heh. Heh heh.

I've asked her if "Table Waiting 101" is part of the curriculum. She mostly ignored me.

But Maggie will not be outdone. She has been singing with the middle school choir this year and has been enjoying it tremendously. And she was fortunate enough to be asked by the 8th grade Jazz Workshop if she would sing a song with the band for the Spring Concert last night. Here she is, bookended by the passing BART trains.
And stay posted for the further adventures of the Performing McKeown Girls.

I'm a Media Star!!!!

When I was in Chicago with my sisters in April, we chanced upon the Cottonelle Comfort Haven® on the Navy Pier. After getting chair massages and learning some exercises to help tone our gluteus maximi, we all filmed a "Be Kind to Your Behind" video testimonial.

Two weeks ago, we each got a check for $200 via certified mail to pay us for our services. And now you can see us on their website (go here). We're third on the video.

Now we're all just waiting for Cottonelle to realize what a gold mine we are, and ask us to appear in a regular ad. :-) Don't you think?

(Oh, and for those who don't know my sisters: Lynn=Banker, Dawn=Endoscopy Nurse, Bonnie=Cop. And you know me.)