The Gathering

Brain cancer is...

...gathering family.

The Munns side of the family is gathering, in part for the  Super Bowl Stroll.  We are so excited!

Above is the first wave: LuAnn, Eva, and Nolan.  More fun tomorrow!!

Total Taco Failure

Brain cancer is...

 ...dismayed by the demise of the taco.

What with our home projects and all, we are a busy couple on the go.  Sometimes we visit Del Taco's drive through and enjoy crunchy tacos on the road.

Their tacos are tasty, okay on calories, and typically not difficult to eat while rolling.  Then today happened.

Above you see that Darrell had a fist full of taco. Just before the photo, he pulled over, shook his head, and exclaimed, "Total taco failure." 

The rest of our day was a success.  We hope your "total failures" were manageable too, Team D.

Q: How many PhDs does it take to hang a new valance?

A:  Two.

Two, that is, if they have complementary skill sets.

Brain cancer is...

...back in the guest room.

It took us this long to realize that, although we migrated our office into the space formerly called "guest room," we didn't fully migrate our guest room into the space formerly called "office." 

Therefore, family and friends probably felt like they were sleeping in...an office.  Hence the new headboard of a few days ago, and today's project:  a more fitting valance.

Before:  The valance screamed "office!"

After:  The new valance murmurs, "nighty night."

Requisite skill sets for two PhDs changing a valance?
1.  Design choices:  Highly similar. Done.
2.  One-click shopping our choice:  Together, a breeze.
3.  Measuring and drilling:  Darrell.
4.  More measuring:  Andrea.
5.  Ironing:  Andrea

Valance completion!

Now, about the linen closet...

More about Garages:  We are not Alone in the Fight against Garage Entropy

Brady and Linda actually had the first reported decluttering session earlier this week.  

They note that their garage is a work in progress.  Darrell was mightily impressed with their work to date.

By coincidence, Beth cleaned out a garage yesterday too.

Now the kids at her house can easily reach their preferred modes of transportation.

Way to fight the good fight against chaos, Team D.  Fight on!
 

If We Never "Clutter," Why Is it so Much Effort to "DEclutter"?

Brain cancer is...

 ...impressed.

Inspired by Darrell's work organizing inside the house yesterday, I spent hours on my "office," which migrated to the garage several years ago with the changing demographics of our home.

The garage is not really my office, but it's where I store all my art things and teaching materials.  Entropy rules in our garage:   My systems tend to disorder.  How like life.

Above you see that Darrell is impressed by the energy I exerted to reestablish order.  And to declutter.

That's our question of the day:  If we spend zero minutes cluttering, why is decluttering such a constant effort?

It does look good though, doesn't it?

Darrell Houses His Collection

Brain cancer is...

 ...getting serious about shoe collecting.

Darrell decided that his prized--and growing--shoe collection needed better than an upper shelf in a distant closet, so we one-clicked a good looking shoe rack.  You see it, above, after Darrell's deft assembly.

Great news!  Plenty of room to expand the collection!

Happy Monday, Team D!

Why is it so cold here?

Brain cancer is...

...missing San Diego already.

The journey home was smooth...

 ...with great views.

It was a great trip.  It seems so cold back here at home.

Let's all hug the people we love today, Team D.


Traffic stop photo credit:  Christine

Coronado Island Day

Brain cancer is...

...happy with lunch at Hotel Del Coronado.

We took the ferry over and had fun appreciating another California Vista.  Lovely!

Here are some pics of the day.  

Bay Day

Brain cancer is...

...smoking a cigar to celebrate a great day at the bay. 

The slideshow recap is here. 

Photo credits:  Many by Christine and Lennie.

San Diego Sunset

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying the sunset in San Diego.

We trained it down with Lennie and Christine this morning.

Such great views down the coast.

We are staying at the Bay and enjoying this beautiful place.

Happy Thursday!

Nova’s Favorite Song

Brain cancer is...

 ...spending Wednesday with family.

The conversation over breakfast with Gordon was, as usual, lively and renewing.

Then we headed out to visit with LuAnn, Alex, our co-grandparent (Tiana's mom) Moira, and Nova.  I didn't catch everyone, but I managed a few pics of our star.

Nova loves a good conversation.

Look at that nose!

Nova's ready to be trained on array changes.  She loves Optune.

Today we learned Nova’s favorite song.  Alex says it’s a hit with kids everywhere.  Click here if you’d like to hear it, but be warned.  It WILL stick in your head.  What a wonderful Wednesday!

Fully Trained? Check!

Brain cancer is...

 ...ready for Super Bowl Stroll 2020.

Our last training walk was today.  From now on, it's just easy maintenance.

Christine joined in the fun in a couple parks today, including The Tracks at Brea.  She put The Tracks on her "thumbs up" list too.  

When is The Tracks a hard sell for Andi?  When the view there looks like this...

 ...and it's the final eight miles.  Ugh.

Well, Team D., we're pretty sure that you are as tired of our training as we are.  Understood.

Radio silence regarding walks from here on out until Stroll Day.  Promise!

Sprucing Things Up

Brain cancer is...

...sprucing things up a bit.

With a bit more spare time, we are turning our attention to projects that might raise the “comfy factor” of our home.  Above you see that we finally added a headboard in the guest room.

Nice work, Darrell! 

We also worked some outside and discovered that nature was doing some sprucing up as well.  Look at the lovely blush pink rose that our white rose bush produced.

Nice work, nature!

Cheering the Packers to the See the Season Out

Brain cancer is...

 ...proud of the Packers.

Sure, Green Bay lost a tough one to San Francisco tonight, but, hey they made it to the championship and had a great season.  Pretty tough to complain.

Beth and Geoff hosted a fun football day to see the Packers out.  Above, in proper spirit are Szabo relatives Amy and Lilly with us.

And here are the last fans standing, all Szabo family members.

Here's to next season, Green Bay!

Happy Sunday, Team D!

Photo credit, top:  Curt

Saturday...in the Park

Brain cancer is...

...spending a little too much time at the park these days.

We may never go to a park again after we finish our big walk this year.  Just kidding.  

Above is Acacia Park, where we rarely walk. And here’s good ole Craig Park with our first turtle sighting of the year.

Here’s hoping your views were great today too, Team D.  Happy Saturday! 

The Tracks at Brea Makes the Favorites List

Brain cancer is...

 ...placing The Tracks at Brea on the favorites list.

Andi likes walking routes that present big views and elevation changes.  Darrell likes walking routes that (a) are paved and (b) have nice bathrooms.  Until Today, we could say that The Tracks at Brea (here) delivers for Darrell.

You can see that the route is pretty in parts (above), but Darrell convinced me that the trail was favorite-worthy when, 7.5 miles in to a 9-mile walk, the Tracks took us to lunch at the golf course clubhouse.

Lunch at just the right mile marker?  Okay, I agree.  Let's put The Tracks on the favorites list.

Bonus Sky Fun

Last Night's Pre-Storm Drama Sky

Today's Happy-Go-Lucky, Nothing-Ever-Happened Sky

Man Flu Strikes Woman!

Brain cancer is...

 ...banishing the Man Flu.

Sure, Darrell has the sniffles.  A slight cold really.  But yesterday afternoon I came down with...the Man Flu! 

If you haven't seen the iconic 2017 YouTube video that chronicles a guy's day succumbing to the Man Flu, briefly, Man Flu is the horrible virus that nearly kills men while women with similar symptoms take some medicine and head off to work.  It's a joke that men, with the same symptoms as women, feel that they are much sicker.

(Here's a link to the original [we think] video.  Be forewarned.  The girlfriend gets fed up with the Man Flu and curses at the end.  Stop the video at 2:23 to avoid the cursing.)

My Man Flu had me spending last evening in front of the fireplace.  Unfortunately, I still had Man Flu when I awoke this morning after 10 hours of sleep.  Fortunately, the Flu lifted after Darrell gave me 10 minutes of pure pity.  If you, too, come down with the Man Flu, let me recommend Darrell's eradication services.

We went on to have a productive and pleasant day.  Above you see lunch in the dining room.  We're not sure when our table got so big.

Among other projects, Darrell tackled the motion sensor light in front of the garage.  No more sneaking up to our front door in the dark, Friends.

Thumbs up!

Happy 27, Zachary!

Brain cancer is...

D and Z, Kauai, Christmas 2016

  ...celebrating Zachary.

Today Zachary turns 27. 

Zachary, thanks for teaching us a new way to see the world.  Thanks for your deep concern for all people.  Thanks for making our world a better place.

Happy Birthday, Zach!

Zach at Three Months, 1993