Guest Blogger Nova B

 Readers note:  Today's post is by guest blogger Nova B. Her dad gave her some ideas about what to say.

Brain cancer is...

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Today's Bloom

 

 

 

Four-generation Fun

 Brain cancer is...

...the sandwich generation.

It's been months since Gordon and LuAnn (Gen 1 in our families) have seen Nova in person.  Lots of changes in those months!

Morning was breakfast with Gordon.

 

Cheers! (Gens 2, 1, and 3)

Gen 1 and 4 Bears (Alex got the pic.)

Gen 4 filled the cute pink boots with acorns.  Someone had to.

Alex scouted out tree house territory for the future.

Lunch was in Fullerton with LuAnn

LuAnn gave Nova many birthday books, beginning her political education appropriately early.  

The admiration between the two was mutual.

With the pink boots full of acorns, Nova switched to sneakers.  These were her daddy's first shoes.  

 

Glad we didn't bronze them.  (Yes, Nova is an expert in cords.)

Skelly was very gentle in meeting Nova today.

Christine:  Please use these images to shame the twins into better behavior.

 Hope your Wednesday was as fun filled as ours!

Today's Bloom

The Peace Lily blooms again. Still timely.

Rethinking Our Potential Criminal Activities

 Brain cancer is...

...loving our neighbor!

We met our new neighbor, Karla, shortly before COVID came and shut us all down.  We've been trading produce and Easter candy on each other's porches for months.  Above are the beautiful pomegranates Karla left for us today.  Lovely!

 

Today's story is about Karla and her family, but not about the pomegranates.  It goes back a few turns, so bear with us.

 

• A week or so ago, we heard on our favorite show (you know, Forensic Files) a detective say:  "Your friends will help you move.  Your family will help you move a body."  

•  For sure it's true about our families, which are fabulous, but we think our friends would help us move a body too.  We've been surveying people just to check.  Thus far we can state that we have several friends who would help us move a body.  So moving bodies has been our minds.

• This is where Karla's family comes in.  We also know Karla's dad, Ken, from conversations about the houses and collaborating to build a shared fence (You remember, here). 

• The other day, Skelly needed to ride in the trunk to get to Gordon's house for breakfast.  It's not ideal, but his oxygen needs are low, so we did what we needed to do.  I was lovingly placing him in the trunk when I happened to look up.  There, masked and staring, was Ken.  I was caught.  I felt so guilty.  All I could say was, "Pay no attention to the dead body I'm shoving into my trunk." 

•  As Karla and a friend joined Ken, I could think of no glib turn of phrase that would make the situation better.  This choice certainly didn't help:  "We take him everywhere, pose him, and take pictures of him!  It's so cute!"  There's no way out of a situation like that. 

•  If I feel guilty about making a skeleton riding in the trunk--and if I can't do even that without getting caught, Darrell and I probably need to rethink our potential criminal activities.  But you'd still help, right?

 

Fire Updates

The Blue Ridge and Silverado fires near us have together burned 28,000 acres.  One is 0% contained, the other is 5% contained.  Our best to families (Quinns!) that have evacuated or are at risk. Our best, too, to the people working to extinguish the fires.

Today's Blooms

The alstroemeria we bought to decorate when Meridyth was here have one more day. Well done.

 

The Day in Four Words

 Brain cancer is...

 ...not needing many words for the day.

Whenever you see a photo from the angle, above, it's me watching life unfold from Computer Station A.  Above, Darrell entered the room and screamed, face raised to the sky, the day's first word:  "NEW!"

 

That's a new Optune unit, replacing one that went rogue.

 

We thought the word "new" would be good for today's post.  All by itself.  Then we smelled smoke and checked my weather app.  Weather words should be terms like "clear," or "raining." 

With the Santa Ana winds, So Cal is on fire again. Oh no.  My weather app gave us the other three words for the day, words that should not be used as weather words:

What we need is a new word altogether.  How about "safe"?

Thinking of you and yours, Friends!

 

Skellies

Mayfields, please tell us that whatever happened next involved a time out.  Or a big dance party.

Today's Blooms

The other eleven bad boys, for the grading prof.

Human Meets Shoes.

 Brain cancer is...

...making the easy decision today.

Sometimes the choice of the story for our day's post is a tough one.   Other times, like today, it's easy.

We had not one but two strong story contenders for today...by breakfast time.

The first contender would have had this image:

And it would have had this title:  "No Time Certains."  

That's a screenshot of our calendar.  You can see that today had "no events," which is atypical for us, as the dots in the monthly view show.  A perfect day for more grading!

The second contender for today's post would have had these images:

Darrell's Breakfast

 

Andi's Breakfast

The title would have varied by author.  Darrell would have called the post, "I Have Created a Salad Monster."  Andi obviously would have chosen a different, more empathetic title.

But then...Alex sent us Nova videos.  Aunty Shaina gave Nova her first shoes, specifically:  boots.

And just like that, the choice for today's post became simple.  Here's a video of Nova taking her first footwear for a spin, with a little help from her daddy:

 YouTube Link

 

We hope all your choices were easy today, Team D!

Colorado Phil

Zach and Summer's friend Phil is enjoying the season's first snow.

Lucky!

Today's Blooms

From Melanie:  "Autumn roses for a gray day"

Good Days Are Made.

 Readers note:  Darrell's at the keyboard today.

Brain cancer is...

...making it a good day! 

We went for a breakfast picnic (Starbucks food and Andi's coffee) and for a walk at Craig Park this morning.  

We found ourselves on the trail by the back of Cindy (left, above) and Maggie's (right) house.  They spotted us on the way by and came out to announce Maggie's birthday.  We of course sang Maggie the birthday song.  Happy Birthday Maggie!

We bought food for both lunch and dinner at Super Mex and then Andi went in to go grade.  She is in the final weeks of her classes, so a final push is necessary.

We can all probably relate to a final push, Team D, yes?

Finally, how do you cheer up a grading professor?

With 12 of these bad boys!

(Andi's take:  This was a good day because Darrell made it so, from start to finish. Well, Darrell and then also the smiling faces of birthday friends.)

Today's Bloom

Skellies:  Naughty and Nice

Does a trip to the playground mean nothing to you, kids?

Ryan sent this version of "nice."

Who are we kidding?  That's way beyond "nice."  That's "fabulous"!

Friday Home Day

 Brain cancer is...

...back at home after breakfast with Gordon.

We aren't mentioning any names but somebody (not Gordon) was a little miffed that he wasn't included in the recent playground fun at the park.  That somebody insisted on joining us for breakfast today.  He was a good sport about it, as you can see.

Then it was back home and back to work.

Happy Friday, Friends!

 

Today's Blooms 

From Chris:

Q:  When are fruits counted as blooms?

A:  When they are as lovely as persimmons in a basket, also from Chris.