Hard Work Pays Off

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying watching effort yield reward.

This semester I am teaching science methods to Block 8.  They chose to study the animals of the California coast for their mural.  Today they completed it.  Darrell was, of course, instrumental in bringing the mural to fruition.

Here it is, unfolding.

August 27: First day of class.  We remove the existing display.

September 8:  We hang the new background.

September 23:  Animals begin to populate the board:

September 30 (Today):  The composition is finalized and artists add their signage:

And then the artists take a well deserved bow:

Rock on, Block 8.  Thanks for the assist, Big D!

Already?

Brain cancer is...

...receiving the first of the season’s skelly sightings.

It was early in Saturday, September 28 when Beth sent us a skelly sighting.

Later we had the good fortune of learning that Curt, too, sighted his skelly on 9/28.

It's great to see that even skeletons have distinct personalities, isn't it?

These early sightings prompted our skelly to get his game on.  He has less energy than the other sighted skellies, but he's drinking in happy memories of the day before.

Skelly season:  It's going to be a long one.  Buckle up.

Perfect.

Brain cancer is...

...celebrating a perfect day.

We took no pictures, but we did appreciate every person and every  moment of this day.
Thanks, Team D!!

Friday

Brain cancer is...

...ready for Saturday.

See you tomorrow, Team D!

Alex in the house

Brain cancer is...

 ...celebrating with Alex...

...present and future happy times.

A Hat Trick

Brain cancer is...

...so happy eating sandwiches.

There's nothing like long hours adventuring separately that makes us enjoy adventuring together!  Today was a busy day, but we enjoyed it together.

A high point for Darrell:  He had sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Darrell loves sandwiches.

Breakfast was Egg McMuffins at our favorite table:

Lunch was burgers at In N Out:

Dinner was the grand finale:

A tuna sandwich at Panera.  And they toasted the bread!

(Disclaimer:  I broke rank and ate an entire Asian chicken salad at dinner.)

What a perfect day!

Typical Magic Making

Brain cancer is...

...making his typical magic.

In our efforts at house clean up, Darrell worked his usual magic.  This patio gets leafy and pollen dusty very fast. 

Look how magically clean!

More magic?  TSP is my favorite agent for wall cleaning.  It's very difficult to find these days.  But Darrell persisted:

Now to roll up my sleeves!

Happy Tuesday, Team.

Happy Fall!

Brain cancer is...

 ...sufficiently rewarded for our Monday efforts.

Mondays are 12-hour days at our house.  When Darrell drove me home after my evening class, we received the unexpected gift of this lovely sunset.

Here's to autumn!

Happy Birthday, Tiana!

Brain cancer is...

...sharing a birthday lunch with Tiana.

Poor choice of lighting on our part, but excellent choice of company.

Happy birthday, Tiana, and may your next trip around the sun bring you joyous adventures!

The New Birds in Town

Brain cancer is...

...checking out the new bird—boats—in town.

In our absence, Yorba Regional Park added swan boats to their fleet. They made us smile. 

We hope your Saturday held a nice surprise too.

Celebrity Status? Maintained.

Brain cancer is...

...forever famous.

Our trip west was smooth today. The flight attendant bought our hummus because she recognized GBM by Optune.

She said,  “It’s on me, after all you’ve been through.”  

So sweet.

Hello Again, Chicago.

Brain cancer is...

...in the Midwest for one more night.

We maximized our family time with one more morning together. Above (and in the slideshow, here) you see our last day on the lake shore path.  We didn’t do all 21 miles, but we did two more pieces today: Williams Bay and Fontana.  We’ll be back, Lake Geneva!

We are staying at the airport Hilton tonight, changing arrays and digging back into work before flying home tomorrow.

It’s hard to leave here, but we do miss you So Cal peeps.

Here’s to family and friends, travel, home, and the promise of more travel.

Good Night, Wisconsin.

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying one more night in Wisconsin.

We walked another chunk of the lakeshore path today and then cruised the lake.  Darrell treated us to dinner at Mars.  Cheese curds? Yuss.  One more night with family? Yuss Yuss!

Here’s a slideshow for Terri, who wants to see more of the lake.  

Love you! 

More Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva

Brain cancer is...

...enjoying family in Lake Geneva.

Meridyth joined us at our French Country Inn.  We spent the day at the next lake over, Lake Geneva.

It was a leisurely lunch over the lake.

Next we walked a chunk of the Lake Trail, a 2300 year old, 26-mile path around the lake.  It’s the #1 thing to do at the lake.  It goes through many swanky private properties, and homeowners are required to maintain the path.  Cool right? 

We’ll do more tomorrow perhaps.

Eva and Matt joined us for another  birthday dinner.  We love family!!

Appreciating the Contrasts

Brain Cancer is...

...appreciating life’s contrasts.

We’ll keep it short by appreciating urban art (above)  and urban experiences.

Then we appreciated renting a car (not since diagnosis!!) and heading north to Wisconsin.

Here are a few pics from Lake Cuomo.  A shout to the contrasts.

D & A Meet Sarah.

Brain cancer is...

...so happy to meet Sarah!

You know our Colorado friend, Taylor.  Today we met his wife Sarah. Great choice in partners, Taylor.  NFL team? Less so.

To us it felt like longterm friends we just met.  Wonderful!

The Colorado and California contingents both heard Gino’s East for Chicago pizza, so Gino’s East it was.  And the manager treated us to pizza.  There is so much good in the world.

We also had fun investigating the bridges on the Chicago River.  What an evening.  What a day!

Chicago!

Brain cancer is...

...in the Windy City Baby.

We flew into Chicago for work for a few days.  Awesome start.

Things We Are Considering Not Doing Anymore

Brain cancer is...

 ...thinking about things we might stop doing.

We had a great breakfast and lunch with LuAnn then Gordon. 

Then we started thinking about some things we should probably not do anymore.  Here is a non-exhaustive, nonbinding list:

1.  Onion Rings.  (Above.)  When did we start eating onion rings?  They are against everything we believe in.

2.  The Dew.   At some point, Darrell started drinking diet Mtn Dew again.

He said it makes him feel sick, and plenty of websites (here) say it's the worst diet soda you can drink.  (Aside:  It's still better than full sugar sodas, so let's not judge.)

3.  Dove dark chocolate with almonds.  I know we promised you a candy bowl but...

...I might need to put it away.  Years ago, when Gwen gave up candy, so did Andi.  Now I eat three Dove pieces a day.  When did that happen?  Dove chocolate might need to go.

4.  One-click shopping.  Every day (even Sunday) a package arrives at our door.  Darrell wanted to say that I have a problem with one-click shopping.  Then he discovered he could get new kicks without going to the store. 

Now he admits that it's a dual obsession.  One-click shopping might be the last thing to go.

The Handshake

Brain cancer is...

... doing “the handshake.”

Surprise! Darrell woke up this morning saying, “Today is going to be a great day!”

Above you see that we did the “great day” Guillaume handshake at Thai for dinner. (Specifically, you see step 2 of 6.  We can practice later.)

A Day in LA

Brain cancer is...

...hanging out at USC.

Above we are getting in some steps near the hospital.  We are LuAnn’s support team as she underwent a diagnostic procedure.  The procedure went well, and we can take her home in a few hours.

Sore But Smiling

Brain cancer is...

...sore but smiling.

We, the ultra vaxers, got the second dose of our shingles vaccine today. OW!  Our arms are already sore.  Good thing we know what to expect from the first dose (here).  We are sore enough that we decided we have earned Islands at the end of a full work day; hence the smile amidst the soreness (above).

Team D, you filled our hearts to the brim with your responses to last night’s post. Thank you so much for your genuine reactions and for the stories you shared about Munzy. What better legacy could one person leave than the difference he has made for so many people?  Thank you!

Cheers, Dad!

Brain cancer is...

 ...celebrating Munzy.

Twenty years ago today, Hilton B. (Munzy) Munns died from pancreatic cancer.

Dear Dad,
Here are some things we'd like you to know today.

• Darrell often appreciates how much fun you had with number patterns. (9/9/99 for an exit date?  You would have liked that.)
• In the same vein, Darrell continues your legacy of  keeping track of license plates.  He wants you to know that he's on the 8L's now.
• Your three girls want you to know that we each, in different places of the country, raised a glass to you today. You'd like that.  What you might like less is that we "texted" each other about it. (Dang Internet!)
• You would like that we texted on cell phones that are smarter than that calculator you bought--the one that dimmed the lights when you plugged it in.  Our phones connect to the Internet, and they fit into our back pockets.  Remember the size of the first cell phones you bought us?
• We'd like you to know that we still all root for the Packers.  (Good season opener against Chicago, by the way.)
• The Rams came back to LA, Dad, and it isn't hard to love them as a back-up team, given your loyalty.
• Your girls hope you'd be proud of the choices we've made and the efforts we've taken to do good things with our lives.  And that we keep trying.  
• Dad, I want you to know that Darrell got cancer too. Brain cancer.  We know you'd cry with us, and that you'd be as impressed as the rest of us by the courage and humor with which Darrell faces the future.  I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.
• We want you to know that there are so many times we wish you could see what your grandchildren are doing.  So many adventures of so many kinds:  football and softball games, track meets, Valedictorian speeches, karate matches, singing and dancing events, bachelor's degrees, law school applications, MDs, graduate school degrees, marriages... So many adventures. 
• But we also want you to know that your grandchildren remember you.  And you taking them to get doughnuts for breakfast.  And how strangers were merely friends you hadn't met yet.
• And, despite the adventures that continued in your absence, we want to know that the good you brought to the world with your generosity and humor continues to ripple forward into each day, spread by all of the people in your circles of family and friends everywhere here and on other continents.  And we want you to know that the world is better...because of you.

Cheers, Dad!

Marriage Encounters

Brain cancer is...

 ...still married.

We think that the only time we ever considered divorce (not very seriously, but the word did arise) was a day early in our marriage when we attempted to hang striped wallpaper in our home office. At the end of a very long day, the wallpaper looked great, and we learned lots about marriage.

Tonight we hung the backdrop for Block Eight's California Coast mural.  After the first failed attempt (above), Darrell said, "Oh.  This is like wallpaper."  Then we both laughed and committed to a calmer, shared approach. 

Nice job, us.  And it was a good reminder:  Even after 35 years, we have more to learn about marriage. 

All's well that ends well.  It was a good day.  Our walk at the park was pretty and cool:

And our guest closet looks like this:

That'll be a nice treat, each time we open the door, right?

We wish you a happy Monday, Team D!