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.