“You Never Know Where Life’s Gonna Take You.”

Brain cancer is...

 ...waxing philosophical today.

Darrell put up with a full day of me paying attention only to Computer Station One.

Then we headed to the park for a break.  We were halfway to Craig Park when Melanie texted us with a spontaneous invitation to Hop Scotch for a meal.

Darrell made a screeching U-turn on State College while uttering the quote of the day:  "You never know where life's gonna take you!"

Yay! It's been so long since we hung out with Melanie!

Do you notice any family resemblance?  We did.  Melanie already had a table when we arrived.  My first thought was, "Wow.  There I am, sitting at that table!"

We don't just look the same.  Check out what the sisters did with their glasses, without consultation.*

You never know where life's gonna take you, Team D!

Happy Hump Day!

*If both smart phones are on the table, which camera took the picture, you ask?  Darrell's clam shell phone has a camera. Whoa.

Let's Look Up. [Literally.]

Brain cancer is...

 ...looking up. 

Today Darrell took out the outdoor Christmas lights that he so neatly put away last year and hung them up.  So festive!

It's a good thing he was in the front yard, looking up.  Otherwise he might have been in the backyard, with me, looking down.  He would have seen these upsetting sights:

I am obviously not the only one who loves Darrell's backyard. 
Varmints like skunks and opossums find our backyard a delicious grub buffet after the rain.

What to do, Team D?  Predator Pee!  One-click shop it, Friends!

In case any part of this post was distressing, let's end by looking up again.

Varmints not withstanding, we just gotta love Southern California in the winter!

We [Still] Love You, Word of the Year 2019!

Brain cancer is...

  ...with only a couple weeks left in its tenure, continuing to appreciate the Word of the Year 2019, perspective.

Curt does a great job of helping us keep using perspective to think about life, as he did today via text.

We are beginning to gear up for Super Bowl Stroll Four.  (Every year we do a long walk in honor of  Darrell's diagnosis anniversary because we were in the ER with his tumor during Super Bowl 2016).

To prepare for this year's Stroll, we are beginning slowly to add some mileage, check out potential routes, and gear up for the mental game of walking for hours.

To this end, today we walked at Yorba Regional, where we saw our typically lovely sights like this:

 

and this:

Ho hum.  Same old, same old.  But then we followed the Santa Ana River Trail west to add some mileage.  Whee!  Look what we found!

 Imperial Highway!  And this cool pedestrian bridge!  Up we scrambled:

From our perch, we saw the river from up high

and we set foot on the other bank.  Awesome!

We learned that a new perspective is just a couple of miles away.


No wonder we're smiling, above.  Thanks, Word of the Year.

46 Months. Amazing!

Brain cancer is...

...46 months old.

Q: When will we tire of counting Darrell’s cancerversaries by month?

A:  Probably never.

On our walk, I asked Darrell of his thoughts on the significance of 46 months post diagnosis.  He said, “Amazing! I have learned never to take a single day—of any sort—for granted.”  Cheers to that, Big D! 

Our “home alone” day turned into a “work at home” day, but that’s okay.  Darrell got in lots of football, and we enjoyed the rain.  Speaking of rain...

Today Darrell said we’re living in Opposite World.  In the past, the weather app on my phone would predict days and days of rain and then, slowly, one day at a time, erase our hopes of precipitation.

Contrast the past with today.  My phone said, "Now: Clouds.  No rain.”  When, in actuality...

...the sky right outside the front door plainly confirmed the opposite:

Alternate YouTube Link

Clearly.  Raining.  Now.

Opposite World: Amazing.

Home Alone

Brain cancer is...

 ...oddly, enjoying a weekend home.  Alone.

You may have noticed that we tend to fill our weekends with people we love and a variety of locales.  This weekend we decided to stay home, just the two of us.

Thus far we've had so much fun doing a whole variety of things.  For example, we worked some, and we walked eight miles today, enjoying just a light rain.  We decorated our house and Christmas tree.  Above you see Darrell adding the star. 

And we checked out the Dingle Balls on foot.  It's fun to see so many people out wandering and wondering. 

It's also fun to see people's holiday decorations, the same year after year.  It's as much fun as getting out our own decorations, we think.  Guess whose favorite this is.

 Happy Saturday, Team D, whether you are home alone or otherwise.

Q: How much does a Caribbean vacation cost?

A:  No more than 2%!

Brain cancer is...

 ...96% compliant, despite two swims.

As you know, Darrell's Optune usage rate hovers around 98%, which means he only is off Optune 2% of any given day. 

Today Optune Amy came over for a data download, and she gave Darrell the good news that he still hit 96% last month, even with our tropical vacation.    You amaze, Darrell!

Also amazing is that this is our third holiday season with Amy as part of our adventures.

We can't remember life without you, Amy.

You're amazing too, Team D.  Happy Friday!

Dinner with the Dominguezes

Brain cancer is...

 ...enjoying!

Tonight we had a great time at dinner with Gary, Suzie, and Gary Dominguez.  We talked about really wonderful things like grandchildren and weddings.  And we strategized for very important "problems" like managing international travel in the days of Optune.

Here's to every great thing the future holds.  Cheers, Dominguezes!