"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...

Midwestern Sojourn

My, but I do love the midwest. And I especially love Bloomington, Indiana.

My vacation last week was relaxing, blissful, fun, and just plain wonderful.

Part I: I flew into Indy on Saturday the 19th. My college friend, Janine, was gracious enough to put me in her guest room for the weekend. She and her charming family were going to a Seder (to which I was invited), but I went to dinner with Janine's college roommate, and my friend, Sue. The next day, we went on a fundraising walk for Best Buddies and then the three of us played around Indy. Sue and Janine made a wonderful quilt for me (pictured here) that has a cross-stitch of Maxwell Hall (from IU) in the center, and is surrounded by photos from our friendships, over the years.

On Monday, I drove down to Bloomington (a.k.a. B-town) and checked in at the Indiana Memorial Union. The campus was beautiful and I enjoyed walking around for a couple hours, revisiting some old haunts. My roommate, Melinda, drove up from St. Louis to play for a day or two, and it was wonderful to catch up on each other's lives. Here's a pic of Melinda, on a bridge over the "mighty Jordan River" that cuts through campus.

In Bloomington, I/we visited: our old dorm (where we managed to smuggle ourselves aboard an elevator, to get our pic taken in front of the door to our old room), the Arboretum, the aptly named HPER (Health, Phys Ed, and Recreation Building), the Art Museum, Beck Chapel, Myers Hall (the Bio building, where Melinda spent much of her undergrad career), Ballantine Hall (the liberal arts and humanities building where *I* spent most of my undergrad career), the Kiva Commons (where they had coffeehouse performances when we were students, but which now appears to be a pretty good sandwich/salad place), the Sugar and Spice bakery (where we rediscovered the joys of the peanut butter/Special K cookies), and so much more.

It's so satisfying to visit your alma mater and see it aging so gracefully. Whenever a change is made, it seems to be an improvement. The campus is in good hands and I look forward to future visits.

Part II: After three days in B-town, I hit the road for Chicago (and "enjoyed" the attention of an Indiana State Trooper along the way. Prone to a "leadfoot" on the gas pedal, I was being extraordinarily cautious on the road. What I didn't know, though, is that it is now a law in Indiana that one must move to the outside lane when passing a law enforcement vehicle that is stopped on the side of the road. Because I was ignorant of the law, the trooper "kindly" lowered my fine from $200 to $150. <sigh>)

Anyway. The weather in Chicago wasn't as perfect as it had been in Bloomington, but what a fun city. I got in on Thursday afternoon, checked in at the hotel, dropped off my car at the rental facility downtown, and then spent a lovely two hours or so at the Art Institute. My sisters got in around 9 p.m. and hijinks ensued. :-)

We visited the Navy Pier (where we videotaped a testimonial for Cottonelle toilet paper--look for us online at cottonelle.com in about three weeks), we took an architectural/historical boat tour,
we saw Blue Man Group and the Baton Lounge, we reminisced on the Northwestern campus with Lynn, and we walked and ate a LOT. (I still had indigestion when I landed in Oakland on Sunday.)

I always have a wonderful time with my sisters. I think we all feel so blessed to have each other and to enjoy each others' company so much. Three of us have kids (and one of us has a dog that is treated like her baby, but, ahem, enough about that), and we all work outside the home, so scheduling time together is a challenge. But it's so worth it.

Many thanks to Janine, Sue, Melinda, Lynn, Dawn, and Bonnie, for making time and travelling distances to play with me. And thanks to Frank and Maggie for being gracious about me being absent for so long. :-)

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.

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.