Goodbye Birthday Month 2019

Brain cancer is...

...saying goodbye to birthday month.

We hit our birthday month mileage fitness goal with a lovely walk this morning.  In fact, for the first time, we walked the entire length of the Alpine Pedal Path...and back.

And Beth and Geoff cane up for one more birthday celebration.

Yahoo!

See you tomorrow, September.

“Are You Celebrating Anything Special?”

Brain cancer is...

...celebrating life.

We are back in Fawnskin for the long weekend.  We know we are home when we land at North Shore  Cafe.

Apparently ordering lunch, dinner, wine, and chocolate cake arouses suspicion. When our sweet server asked, “Are you celebrating anything special?” Darrell replied, “We are celebrating life.”

Amen to that, brotha!

Celebrating the Privilege of Choice

Brain cancer is...

 ...celebrating.

When we headed to Thai tonight (above), we thought we were celebrating the completion of Fall 2019 Semester, Week One.  (Taking note of the great contrasts in that bouquet, by the way.)

But as we reflected over the past few days, we realized that the story isn't "Week One."  The story is the the privilege to have Week One, or to not have it.

Things started getting rocky yesterday afternoon.  I kept losing things, forgetting things, and not having things.  (Side note:  My colleagues express similar concerns.  There is so much executive function involved in day-to-day success.  Kristine will tell you:  "You can't do the lesson without the lemons!")

We were still on campus, hunting down keys, sand dollar books, acrylic paint, and meter sticks at 8 p.m.  Darrell's array change didn't start until 9:08 p.m.  Nonetheless, today we were up at 5:45 a.m. because we were excited to start the day.

Now we realize that we are celebrating not the end of the week but the privilege of choice...big time.  We had the choice of setting up on campus last night.  Of hunting down the keys.  Of grabbing the butcher paper for the ocean mural.  Of continuing to show up at California State University, Fullerton for another semester.

When I was hired, LuAnn joined me on campus to sign up for benefits and to pick up those blasted keys for the first time.  That was in 1991.  Last night (28 years later) we saw new sights.

The Promenade

Who put a fountain by my library?

On the way home tonight from Thai we saw this:

Titan Hall?  Where did the law school go?

We end Thursday, August 29 (Birthday Month Day 29), truly appreciative of the privileges we have been granted in life.  Prominent among our privileges:  The privilege of choice.

Doing Grown Up Things

Brain cancer is...

...doing grown up stuff. 

Today we went to “our attorney”  (because we have “an attorney”) to sign and notarize all the documents related to our wills and trust.

Darrell surprised me by dressing up (above).  He says that doing grown up stuff requires grown up attire.

Glad that’s over!  

Perspectives on Packing

Brain  cancer is...

...back to packing [and not packing]. 

Today Andi met her third of three groups of students...out on site....for Fall Semester 2019. They were awesome.

Above you see what our living room will look like for the next nine weeks:  Pack for

one class, then unpack, and repack for the next class.

What we are NOT packing for is Darrell’s one-click shopping.  Why does Amazon make it look so easy?

Here’s to packing, unpacking, repacking, and not packing!

The Saga of the Chair Rail

Brain cancer is..

  ...surviving harrowing experiences.

Twelve hours after we left campus last night, we were back to my classroom. Darrell helped me carry things, and we snapped this pic to capture the white, Week One, background.  Stay tuned for Week Five.

Before we left, here's what I saw in the kitchen:

See how the wall is scuffed from chairs hitting it?  Here's what I found when I returned between classes today:

Chair rail!  No more scuffing the wall! Darrell told a great story, the Saga of the Chair Rail, with tidbits such as "chair rail has a top and a bottom" (not just a front and back), and "wood glue weeps worse than a bleeding body."  

You wouldn't know how painful the story was just by looking; Darrell makes all these projects appear so easy.    No medieval knight could handle a chair rail they way you did, Darrell.

Class, Day One = a success all around. 


 

"I'm Just the Muscle!"

Brain cancer is...

 ..."just the muscle."

Darrell helped me prep for the first day of class.  We got out of the EC building by 7 p.m.  Good thing he has so much muscle!*

Look at this amazing plant we saw on our way out.  So many colors on a single bush.

 Happy first day of school, Titans!

 
*Counsel:  Please note that I heeded all regulations and paid Darrell prevailing wages.

NOT a Knight

Brain cancer is...

 ...happy not to be living in the Medieval Period.

Today as I dutifully did my time at the computer, Darrell came in from the yard with a revelation:  He's glad he's not a knight.

You see, above, what I saw, except I saw frantic waving motions.

Darrell was trimming the jasmine that tries to invade our kitchen window.  He said that waving the hedge trimmer above his head for 10 minutes made him realize that he'd be the first guy to get his head cut off in Game of Thrones or Highlander.  He's glad he's not a knight.

Of course, he's a knight in our eyes, right, Team D?

Birthday Month Day 23

Brain cancer is....

...spending birthday month day 23 with family.

Balance Quest was achieved today by skipping the College retreat, which is the right of FERPers, and instead spending the morning with Gordon (above) and the afternoon with LuAnn (below, working on magic patio).

The world feels like it is spinning correctly when our parents are home, getting their own grooves back.

We’ll pay the price tomorrow for today’s leisure, but at least we’ll be well rested.

Happy Friday, Team D!

[Beginning to Work on] Getting Our [Semester] Groove Back [?]

Brain cancer is...

...officially today beginning the ubiquitous quest for work/life balance.

We say "ubiquitous" because we've not yet met an individual who says, "balanced life?  Let me explain how!" 

Maybe different people find different things difficult in the Balance Quest.  For us, who have always worked and loved working, in Life 2.0 we have become each other's major source of strength.  We thrive on being together.

[Fun fact: During life 1.0, each of us traveled separately for work on occasion.  For the last four years, we have not spent a night apart.]  

The semester start means we need to re-learn to be apart, live separately for several hours, and then come back together with patience and kindness.  There are different rhythms and requirements.

Today was Andi's first official day on campus for the Department Retreat.  We promise we won't do this to you often, but just so you can see how hard we tried on our first day of Balance Quest, here's our day, by number.

1.  Darrell dropped me off at work.  For the first time in a long time, I worked in my office, which looks like this:

Yes, that's the way I like it.  At home it's "clutter," at work it's "energizing mementos." 

2.  The retreat began with...

...mindfulness and meditation. What better way to begin Balance Quest Fall 2019?

3.  We worked separately until lunch time and then:

Birthday Month Day 22 lunch at Matador.  Hey, birthday month doesn't keep going by itself, friends!  Just nine more days of stamina required!

4.  More independent work until the temperatures dropped, and we fit in a few miles at the park.  After the morning started with mindfulness, we felt particularly appreciative of the gift of two species of herons:

Night Heron

Great Blue Heron

 (Yeah, whatever, Geoff.)

5.  We made dinner together.  (Yes, Andi in the kitchen.)

Steak salads.  No big deal.

So...our efforts to get our [semester] groove back [?] felt successful today.  Monday the students come. 

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Team D member from the beginning, Heather, who exited the elevator, gave Andi a hug, and said, "keep blogging."  Thanks for the encouragement, Heather (and Heather's mom).

Optune Wizardry

Brain cancer is...

...conducting controlled Optune experiments.

Summer is the season for melting hydrogel on Darrell's arrays.  (Remember the original gooey sticky snowman head post of 2016?  Here.)

Darrell's arrays were pretty melty at the park today.  Walking six miles gives plenty of time to hypothesize about why his Optune unit would keep functioning, with no errors, despite the fact that some of the disks were clearly loose, freed from his scalp by the lack of gel.

Therefore, Darrell designed and conducted what is likely the first of a series experiments to test the limits of the arrays.  Above you see the results of today's test.  His unit continued functioning despite the fact that all but one of the disks on that array were loose.  Pulling off the final disk caused an alarm.

That's pretty amazing!  Rock on, tenacious Optune arrays!

Disclaimer:  Don't try this at home, kids! Darrell is a trained professional.  And he'd never compromise his usage rates.  Further, he was under careful supervision and was removing the arrays immediately before a scheduled change.  Safety first.  We'll do the experiments for you.

The Mystery of the Broken Brake Lights:  Resolved

1.  Andi and Darrell studied YouTube.
2.  Darrell bought this $5.00 part on Amazon Prime.  You know, the Dorman 74015 Brake Pedal Accelerator Stop. 
3.  See?  Before installation, the brake lights are on.

 4.  Then Darrell installed the part:

5.  And the brake lights are off!

Your work here is done Darrell!  Let's call it a day.

Where to Buy a Shoe Horn?

Brain cancer is...

...thinking about how to shoe horn in all of our priorities.

One definition of shoe horn is, "to force into a limited or tight space."

Now that fall semester is upon us, we are looking for strategies to fit our favorite and new priorities into fewer available hours per day.  Share your strategies, okay, Team D?

In our shoe horn search today, though, we had many different successes.

Here's one:

If your brake lights won't shut off when you remove your foot from the brake, look on the driver's side carpet.  If you find little plastic pieces like this, Darrell knows just what to do.  Stay turned.

Here's another:

Did you know that we have (in addition to a magic porch) a magic patio?  Everything grows.  Above is a picture of a basket of plants Darrell received upon diagnosis.  It's not only survived three and a half years, it's quintupled in size. 

We hadn't realized just how magic our patio is, and we've begun the effort of trimming and re-potting.

We'll call this day a win!

 

Wise Words

Brain cancer is...

 ...better with a tuna sandwich.

For Darrell, a tuna sandwich makes any day good.  Life's challenges seem more manageable today.

These wise words were on the wall this morning when Andi got her mammogram:

Here's to the comeback(s)!

Last Day of Summer

Brain cancer is...

 ...satisfied with summer.

Above you see us exploring Temecula first thing this morning.
We are back home now on Birthday Month Day 18, ready to hit the second part of birthday month tomorrow.

Happy Sunday!

The Things We Don't Say in the Blog

You know that we choose "the story" to tell in each day's post.  We are aware that when we make a choice to tell one story, we neglect all the other stories and events in our lives. We always speak the truth, but we could never speak the whole truth.  It’s too big. This comment acknowledges that lots of people in our lives have lots of things going on, and we are working hard to be there for them.  Word of the Year 2018 (story), we salute you.

Let's all just keep on moving forward the best we can.

Darrell Drank Coffee!

Brain cancer is...

...taking Geoff up on his one-dollar bet.

Today we started our final summer trip. (Andi goes back to work later this week.*)

The after-dinner coffee did not keep Darrell awake.  Now we know; Darrell’s coffee aversion is all an act.

To back up, after we walked at the park this morning, we changed arrays and headed straight to Beth and Geoff for Birthday Month Day 17.  It was of course cool and lovely.  Thanks for another day of celebration, Szabos! 

*Why does retired Andi keep working? As a participant of the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP), Andi is allowed to collect full pension (that’s the retirement part) and work up to half time per year (that’s the fall semester teaching load) for up to five years.  This is year two. Let’s just see.)

Birthday Posters

Brain cancer is...

 

...embracing great ideas.

Birthday Month Day 16?  Happy hours with the Mayfields.  We did NOT go hungry.

 Great new idea? Every birthday month gets a poster (above). Now this idea is ours.

We miss our kids, so it's great that we got new kids, Charlie, Bekah, Ann Marie and Erika (not pictured).

Check this out.  Charlie is working on a play list for next time.

Here's to every next time.

Happy Birthday Month Day 16!

Darrell’s Day

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying Darrell’s Day.

The Birthday Manifesto of 1988 (details upon request) specifically states the conditions that the celebrant has the capacity to choose all events of the day.  If the celebrant’s day is otherwise filled, the celebrant has the right to choose another day.

Today Darrell chose another day.

Above you see breakfast.

Upon Darrell's request we did six and change.  
As in here: 

Yesss!

Then lunch:

 Then "an episode."

Much love on your birthday, Darrell.

Birthday Month is HARD.

Brain cancer is...

 ...challenged by our challenge.

Perhaps you recall that our birthday fitness challenge for 2019 is to exit birthday month fitter than we entered it.  Perhaps you also have noticed that we are enjoying great food, drink, and free desserts.

Birthday month is hard.  For Birthday Month Day 14, we made a beeline to the park to bump up our daily mileage. 

Seven miles?  So far so good!

Then we headed to In N Out for lunch.  We can usually squeeze In N Out burgers into a "good food choice day" by skipping the cheese and ordering solely burgers.  But today...

...they surprised us with free french fries. 

Birthday month is so hard!

We Wish You Something.

Walking seven miles after a few days off gave us a chance to refocus on Team D.  So, so many team members are facing things.  Some of you have new jobs, some are starting school, some of you are facing tough medical things, some are wrestling with family things, some are waving goodbye to kids who insist on leaving home...everyone is facing something.  We want you know to that we thought of each of you today and appreciated what you are facing. 

A former student's German dad would tell my student each night as he tucked her in, "I wish you something."  It was shorthand for one person wishing every good thing for another person he loved so much.

Today (even more than usual), we wish you something.

Birtday [sic] Cheers!

Brain cancer is...

 ..."cheers"ing all day long, Birthday Month Day 13.

Above you see that we were finally back to the Village Eatery for breakfast.  Happy reunion cheers!

Magic porch cheers upon our arrival home:

Birthday dinner, with generous friendship from TK and Matt?  More cheers than what we caught on camera.

Thanks, guys! Cheers!

And...

...happy birtday Darrell!  

May life always bring sweeter flavors than spellings. Cheers.