Train no more.

Brain cancer is...

...done training.

We did our final "longer" walk today:  Ten miles. 

We saw a couple bird things that surprised even us bird dorks.

Here are 11 seconds of an egret scratching its neck on a fence railing.  It makes complete sense, but it's a first for us.

YouTube link

And here's a tree full of cormorants.  Creepy.

When we got home, we each ate six Dove chocolates.  And now, for a week, we play.

We hope all your surprises were good ones today. And we hope your day involved play.  And chocolate.

Today’s Blooms

Work, work, work.

 Readers Note:  Darrell's at the keyboard again today.

Brain cancer is...

..enjoying necessary chores.

Even after a late start (breakfast was 12:30 pm), we enjoyed doing many rewarding chores.  Above you see Andi using OxiClean to remove oil stains from my favorite purple shirts.  Hey, it is better than throwing them away. (This life hack was brought to us by LuAnn.)

Next up, we checked out the back fence that needs to contain Beowulf.  When he comes to stay, he goes right for any opening.  Monitoring the perimeter is his job.  

Looks like the hole in the fence needs some discussion with our neighbor.  That's for another day.

Finally, we did some major leaf clean up in the driveway.  The leaves always collect at our house (and Franceen's house) due to some wind vortex action that we don't understand.  We think it might be a friendly spirit.

Hope you stayed happy with the gorgeous day! 

(Andi's take:  Now I understand Darrell's perspective when I'm at the keyboard and behind the camera.  Also, I want credit for us working out as well. Ha ha! )

Today's Bloom

Germany, Ho!

  Readers Note:  Darrell's genius is here for you today.

Brain cancer is...

...celebrating with Melanie on her farewell tour. 

Melanie is being deployed to Germany tomorrow for several months with the Air Force.  It is her dream come true.  

She went on a farewell tour to all her family members today.  She and Gail visited us for a Mexican lunch and great conversation (so good that we missed the pic).  

Above you see her saying goodbye to Mom.  We will miss Melanie dearly.

We also had a happy hour with Sue.

Again, great time and great conversation.

We hope you too had great food and conversations today.

Today's Bloom

 Just in case they don't have January succulents in Germany.

 

 

Fun Allottment Exceeded?

 Brain cancer is...

...worrying a bit surpassing our fun allotment.

Is the amount of fun to be had limited?  Is fun like the internet data on our hot spot, so we should start worrying at the end of the month that we've used all the fun allotted to us?

We ask because today we spent so much fun...again!

You see breakfast above with Gordon.  Cheers!

(By the way, we like to talk about family histories and geographies together.  Gordon and Andi have Iowa in common.  That brought up the question:  Iowa is bordered by six states.  Which US state borders the greatest number of other states?  Here's a clue.  It's not Iowa.  Two states tie for the prize with eight border states each. Alaska and Hawaii tie for last place with zero.  See?  Fun!)

Once again we beat the predicted rain.  Lunch was with LuAnn--and chocolate cupcakes--in Fullerton.

Why Fullerton?  Because that's where our new bed was delivered today.  (Merry Christmas from Alex and Tiana!)

Sorry about the dead guy on the bed, but the only thing more fun than a new bed is a new bed with a potential crime to be solved.

Just imagine what might happen to Darrell's sleep score tonight with our new mattress set!

Okay, Friends.  Just in case fun is indeed limited, we hand the day over to you.  Spend that fun!

Today's Bloom

A rose at Gordon's

The Blog Post of Delights

Brain cancer is...

 

...delighting.

Recently Meridyth shared a joyful NPR podcast from This American Life (here), based on Ross Gay's bestseller The Book of Delights. Gay's book is a collection of small moments of joy that might go overlooked during a typical, busy day.

What a great nudge to help us focus on some small moments of delight in our day today.

Above was Darrell's first delight, upon waking.  His first Fitbit sleep score!  And look how much joy accompanied his "good" score.  Such fun.

During our coffee party we took delight in our Chinese lanterns, high and low.

Also delightful? Homemade chocolate cupcakes without frosting.

More joy came from family members' pics.  From Alex, check out Nova's delight in her nature collection for the day (dandelions).

And look what Melanie captured on her hike with Madison.

Whoa.

Here's to ordinary and plentiful delights!

Today's Blooms

Humble yet delightful baby's breath

Still Jumping

 Brain cancer is...

Video Version

...not jumping around solo.

Day Two of the non-teaching semester was as busy as Day One, including a trip back to the park.

Above you see the same last hill of the walk as where Darrell jumped around on Sunday, but today we finished 16 miles earlier.  Now that's a reason to jump around!

We hope you had a reason or two to keep on jumping, friends!

Today's Blooms

 

Happy Semester to All!

Brain cancer is...

 

...doing lots of really important stuff today.

So much important stuff!  We'll share just a few highlights.

We started by discussing my Fitbit sleep data for last night (above).  It's classic!  There's so much we could say about it.  Suffice it to say, the discussion was very important.

We also reviewed lessons learned from yesterday's 20-mile walk and acted upon them.  For example, Darrell selected his choice of gloves for the Super Bowl Stroll day.  

Who knew they'd be so necessary? (Well, Darrell's wife knew, but let's not dwell on that.)

Next, guess what Meridyth sent for Darrell's upcoming five-year cancerversary.

His own Fitbit! Sure, it'll be great that he can count his own mileage, but most important?  Two sets of sleep data for our morning discussions!

(And why, yes, those are new jeans he's sporting.)

We also made art together.  We're prepping for Eric Carle-style art with our favorite 15-month old.

Too, we made a nature collector for Nova to take on walks.  As a budding naturalist, she picks up leaves, rocks, and pine cones and hits carrying capacity fast. (Fun memory:  Her daddy was a big nature collector too.)

What We Did Not Do

What we did not do today was write a single syllabus, teach a single course session, launch Zoom even once, or support each other in any related activities.  Today is the first day of Andi's non-teaching semester.

While doing all the important things we did, above, we thought of you, college people!  We thought of our Titan instructor friends, who began teaching today.  We thought of Andi's students from last semester, who jumped back into it today.  We thought of all our family member and friend college students who started their terms today (or thereabouts). 

Someone needs to rid this world of ignorance, and we're so thankful it's you, loved ones!  We raise our cheers to you with full hearts:  Happy semester to all!

Today's Bloom

Jump Around!

Brain cancer is...

video version

 ...jumping around!

If Darrell can jump around at the top of the very last hill of a 20-mile walk on a cold day while our team was losing the NFC championship to the detestable Tom Brady, who among us should do less?

Well, I'll start.  This girl is doing less.  She is not jumping around.

Sitting at the finish line

It was a good walk though.  The light was really good for photos, start to finish.  Here are some moments of the day.  

 

Early morning:  lingering drops from yesterday's rain

Sunny skies over Carbon Canyon

The sky turned dramatic by Yorba Regional Park

Green heron at Craig Park

Final sky drama  to send us home

And now, we eat a whole pizza.

Happy Sunday, Team D!  Jump around!

Today's Blooms

The white pear trees are beginning to blossom.