my livestrong family

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't want any part of a support group. I imagined it to be a bunch of strangers sitting around on folding chairs, talking morosely about their disease. I couldn't even say the word cancer so a support group sounded like some kind of fresh hell. I was wrong.

In January, with Michele's help, I stumbled onto the Livestrong at the YMCA program in Mankato. It's part of the Livestrong Foundation but it's the only program in Minnesota (Yay, Joy!) I hadn't heard of it, no surprise, but Michele alerted me to its existence and I acted immediately, big surprise, and got myself enrolled pronto.

Michele and I drove to Mankato every night for twelve weeks. Well, she drove because I suck at driving. We missed two nights due to weather but otherwise we were faithful attenders! Sometimes we commiserated in the car all the way to Mankato about how we had trouble sleeping, didn't have any energy, didn't want to go. But we forged ahead and after a short time with this group of wonderful folks and our RAH RAH Twins, we felt better. 

I would never have imagined that by the end of twelve weeks, I would feel so strongly about this program, the instructors, the volunteers, the other members. Slowly, by talking and building strength and endurance together, we forged a strong bond of friendship. I am sad to see it end but happy there is talk of staying in touch and getting together in the future.

The YMCA is sponsoring the RUNSTRONG series of 5K-10K run/walks. I convinced Regis and Gus to join us so they registered and here they are on the first day. We walked 3.2 miles on this beautiful early spring day.

I've done some 5K races but mostly the Halloween Fun Run so I might have expected some costumes but I didn't expect costumes. Probably a good thing. Ha! (I'm not in costume here.) The next race has a superhero theme and I am already working on my costume.

When I say race, I use the term loosely. Regis and I walked with Mary and Laurie and we were at the very tail end of the pack, one step in front of the sweepers. Sweepers are the folks who come at the end to make sure nobody is left behind.

These ladies, Chris and Kristi, have been our inspiration. Regis affectionately calls them the Rah Rah Twins. They must have put 10 miles on in that 3.2 mile race. They were back and forth encouraging, dancing, singing, and grabbing your arms for a few steps. We love Chris and Kristi.

I know. I look like I am busting through the finish line as a winner...and I guess I am. Just not in the time category! The fastest person ran 3.2 miles in about 18 minutes. Whoa. Regis and I finished in about 58 minutes with a 20 minute pace. Hurray for old farts!

This is most of my Livestrong family. Joyce and Andrea are missing and there are a couple of strays from the last class who we learned to know and love in a few short times together. They have amazing stories. Such resilience and such strength.

So, that's my livestrong story. If you know someone with cancer, encourage them to check this out Livestrong at the YMCA and if you know someone who might be willing to support this wonderful cause, tell them to check out the Runstrong Series right here. Run like a superhero! Run like a Livestrong Warrior!

Gus's swimming adventure

maybe it doesn't matter

I have been on a rant about this for a long time but I have finally changed my perception. I saw this today and laughed because I could never walk and text at the same time. I can barely text in a seated position. But the world is changing and if I want to keep in touch with my kids, text is mostly the way to go.

Then I watched this flash mob and was disturbed at first that so many people watching had their cell phones between them and the experience. But my next thought was: maybe this is how people document and catalog their experiences now.



Yesterday a woman at the tax center was ranting about Facebook and how her sister wants her to get an account but she doesn't want to and why can't people just come and see her instead. Well, sister, it's the way things are. I enjoy Facebook and have been constantly amazed at all the connections there are between people. Almost every week, I meet someone in the flesh who I have recognized from Facebook...or they have recognized me. The spin class instructor in Mankato the other night asked if that was me in a picture she had seen on Facebook. I think it's nice to connect with people in these new ways. Not very many years ago...I would never have met all these nice folks. Six degrees of separation? Not anymore.

I should have known that I am not the first person to think of this. Check this out: Wikipedia. Some studies have found the degree of separation between two random individuals to be between 3 and 4 (roughly) if I am reading the numbers correctly which is highly unlikely.

Ah, well. As Regis and I were just saying, there have always been people opposed to change in any form. Some cave men, I am sure, refused to use the wheel. And what the hell is that fire for then?

getting late and heading to bed but I have a couple more things to say...

I don't know it happens but the past week has gone by like a giant blur. I haven't been sleeping very well, which probably makes the days seem weirder and out of focus...hence the blur but it feels like I have been very busy...too busy. All good things...but too busy. I like a little more sedentary time!

Today we worked at the tax center and the cutest lady came in to have her taxes done. She was 90, had the cutest old-fashioned name (who would expect that?) and she was dressed like a million bucks. She had on tiny sparkly earrings, a beautiful string of pearls, and a beautiful bright red beret with a pin on the top. She said she believes in fancy clothes. She was a gas.

Today, everyone was friendly and happy, unlike last week when everyone was pissed off about something and usually it had to do with their taxes. Today I saw friends from down the street, Betsy and Stan...met new friends Peter and Mary Kay...visited with Janice who is a friend from way back...and talked to some very nice folks who were happy to have us help them.

This is our Woodrow who has decided to start exploring every place in the house. If you open the refrigerator and turn your back for a second, he is up there snooping and sniffing. Regis caught him red-handed.

I have been going to the YMCA LiveStrong class for the past ten weeks. It's been a great experience and I am glad I stumbled onto it serendipitously at the last second...thank you, Michele!

More and more, I need strong women in my life and I am grateful to the instructors, the volunteers, and to the other 8 women in my class. Each of them contributed to my life's journey in the past few months...a sense of humor, a word of encouragement, a new opportunity to act silly, recipes, ideas for growth, cuss words, and such strong spirit.

On our road trips every Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the last ten weeks, Michele and I have talked about cancer, of course, but among many, many other things: life, books, food, children, growing older, exercise and it has been a blessing. I would never say that cancer was a blessing because who needs a hellish blessing like that? But I do believe that cancer afforded me this very extreme opportunity to both release things that needed to go, confront things that needed to be confronted, and to have the opportunity to go into the deepest parts of myself and really explore.(words by Eve Ensler, author of In the Body of the World)

So, one of the things I learned about was juicing. I had heard of it, and seen it but was never tempted to try it. The LiveStrong instructors, Kris and Kristi, were so enthusiastic about it, I thought I would give it a try. I bought an inexpensive juicer and gave it a first go this morning.

Last night after class, Michele and I stopped at the Cub store to pick up some last minute juicing supplies and ran into two other class members. There might have been more lurking in other aisles!

I used spinach, a cucumber, a handful of salad greens, half a lemon, a handful of fresh parsley, and an apple. It didn't taste bad at all but next time I'll make it less tart and less sweet...less lemon and less apple. I had to drink it fast and that was not such a good idea either. I will say that Regis was not even tempted.

When it comes out of the chute, it makes these lovely layers. The bottom of the class is the apple, then the lemon and cucumber, and then the dark green leafy stuff that looks like pond scum.

And this is the final product! Ta da! Morning juice!

Why does a person finally get all these lessons about living healthier as they get older? Ah, well. This is one of my new adventures. In the last week, I also learned how to use a website called Plan to Eat, I went to the Vagina Monologues, I went to a new yoga class, and I went for a 4+ mile walk with Deb. No wonder I'm tired. Tomorrow...a less active day.

an ordinary day

I woke up at 3:30 and felt wide awake but that didn't last long and I ended up sleeping until 7:30. If I haven't said it before, my sleep these days is blissful.

I have a full agenda this week, thank you google calendar. Nothing all-day except Wednesday...just bits and pieces of nice things...meeting friends for coffee and lunch, YMCA, writing letters, reading, Scrabble, dance walking. That kind of busy.

There were snowflakes in the air yesterday. Snowflakes. I am not outraged because I know it's typical of spring in Minnesota. Hell, we could have snow until May as we did last year. But...as I left Gustavus yesterday (after The Vagina Monologues) I noticed the pussy willows were starting to burst forth. I climbed up on a bench to take a picture but of course, the two pics I took are awful...blurry and indecipherable.

Regis went off to do some things this morning so I am free to putter around the house in my pajamas doing this and that. Jan is coming to help me clean today (bless her heart) so I can do the dusting and dishes. Two cleaning tasks at which I excel. Not so much the other things. Yesterday I noticed a small mess of leaves and dirt in the bathroom (Gus has had to bathe when he comes back from the park lately) so I took the hair dryer and blew it into the corner, laughing out loud as I did it. Sorry, clean freak friends.

For some reason, Woodrow likes to sleep on Regis's chest during the night. He drags his feather toy up on the bed like an offering to him, then climbs up and goes to sleep, purring like mad. It does not make for the best sleep. I like it when he curls up by me but the minute he senses Regis move, he's right back there. He's a funny cat.

Yesterday, he was playing in a grocery bag full of paper to be recycled. He caught the handle of the paper bag around his neck and went tearing through the house which terrified Gus no end. A running paper bag was completely outside his conceptual circle. Regis caught up with Woody, removed the bag, and all was well.

Isn't this the cutest thing? Found on Etsy here. It's a hundred bucks, though, so I told Woodrow not to get his hopes up too high.

I found a new program for meal planning and shopping. I tried Pepperplate but the damn thing wouldn't sync with a phone or an iPad which made it essentially worthless. Regis discovered Plan to Eat yesterday and it's perfect. It costs about thirty dollars a year but you can import your recipes, drag them to a calendar, and it will make a grocery list based on that meal plan. It's very cool!

This week, I am going to find a handy person to hang my hammock chair. It's on my list.

Sunday...a new day

Here we are dance walking around the Andreas Cancer Center. Michele's last appointment is April 11th so they put it on the calendar that we will be there! It was so much fun. I've never thought of myself as a dancer but I figured out this morning that you can learn most anything on Youtube so I have videos cued up so I can learn some moves. I also learned how to watch video from my iPad on the big television. Ha! What a blast!

This is Kristi, one of the instructors for my Livestrong class. She has been such a lot of fun and such an inspiration. I feel like so many threads of my life are coming together in such a wonderful fashion. I know my writing has probably gotten sappy and less funny as it has gotten less sarcastic and cynical. Ah, well. The price we pay for peace.

This is Tiffany getting her 29th birthday tattoo. It's her name written in Korean. She said she thought it was accurate (Tiffany Kim) but if some day she found out it wasn't (Tiffany Jim), it would make a good story. I love that attitude.

We're going to work out. I'll make an omelet with bacon and roasted vegetables when I come home, then I'm going to see the Vagina Monologues at Gustavus with Michele. I think I'm making clam chowder for dinner. Regis, who abhors fish, loves clam chowder. I like it, too, but I can't look at those little things in the can. Baby clams...creepy.

I have a POD (plan of the day). I did my exercise, I made a lovely omelet for me and sweet Regis to share, I am going to do the dishes, and I am going to practice my dance moves. See ya later.

dance walking

I hope you read my post from March 20 and took the time to watch the video of the dance walkers. That evening, I was on my way to the YMCA Livestrong class where I knew we would be going out on the Red Jacket Trail for a walk or a run. I suggested dance walking. I brought my iPod with Kelly Clarkson's song Stronger, Michele brought her small speaker, and away we went. There were about ten of us, dancing our way down the trail. It was great exercise and so much fun. We did a 5K...not dancing all the way because it is a lot of work.

The next morning, Kristi and I met Michele at the Andreas Cancer Center where we dance walked two laps around the treatment room, then down to Michele's doctor. Many patients waved and chair danced with us, one fellow in a camo jacket (Bob) joined us, a nurse joined us, and the cleaning lady danced behind her cart. It is absolutely infectious.

Kristi, Teresa, Laurie, and Michele

Later, I danced my way down the frozen food aisle at HyVee and then out the door and through the parking lot at Kohl's. You just can't stop dancing.

No need to be self-conscious. I have absolutely no sense of rhythm and have no moves at all. Nobody cares and most people smile and wave. I watched Kevin Bacon on the Tonight show last night and I'm going to practice his moves...not the back flip ones but the easy ones.

I have video of this adventure but need the help of a younger person to edit it. Bennett to the rescue.

I'm going to Mankato today to help Tiffany celebrate her birthday. We're having lunch and might get tattoos. Maybe do a little dance walking down Riverfront. Haha! I bet.

vernal equinox

According to the Farmer's Almanac:

The Vernal Equinox
Ah, spring! This season brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and the rebirth of flora and fauna. The word equinox is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” Days and nights are approximately equal everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west. At the equinoxes, the tilt of Earth relative to the Sun is zero, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun. 

Frankly, the science of it is not as interesting to me as the fact that the days are getting longer and the days are getting warmer. Disclaimer: My garden does not look like this yet...these are photos I dug up from past years, but they make me lust for spring. I can't wait to see what my renovated garden looks like...new hostas everywhere!

And here is the list published by the Star Tribune...the facts of the winter of 2013-14.

50: total days with lows below zero

17: consecutive days of subzero lows

21: days with lows below zero in an average year

May 3: Last snow of last winter

Nov. 3: First snow of this winter

6: More weeks of snow than usual

9,361: Minneapolis cars towed for snow-related violations

23: days with windchill warnings

Minus 25: temperature at which windchill warnings are issued

6: weather-related school closings in Minneapolis and Rochester …

7: … and in Duluth

700: frozen home water pipes in St. Paul’s Regional Water System

159,463: heating failure service calls to CenterPoint Energy

225: frostbite cases at HCMC (Jan. and Feb.)

95.7: percent of Lake Superior iced over

61: inches of total snowfall as of March 19

24: inches of snow at its greatest depth, Feb. 21

It all adds up to the harshest winter in 30 years. You can see why we're excited.

At 11:57 a.m. Thursday, spring will begin.

It's been a week for good news and sad news. A tragedy in the family of my cousin. Wonderful news for Karen in the cancer department. Harvey got through his surgery in fine shape and we are wishing him a rapid recovery. The Buddhists say life is ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows.

Regis and I worked at the tax center yesterday and man, were people cranky. Holy crap. I had to go sit in the hall for a while and do some relaxation therapy. Regis says this is how it goes. In the beginning, the people who are getting refunds come in and they're happy. In the end, you get the folks who have procrastinated (sometimes for years) and they are miserable and angry. 

I haven't gotten very far in my organization project. Not since February anyway. I'll get back to it. I have slacked in the exercise department, too, but today is the day to get back to that. Regis and I are going to exercise together and tonight I'll go back to the killer class at the YMCA.

We had a wonderful welcome home from Texas dinner on Sunday night with Betty and Tom. In celebration of St. Patrick's Day we had a meal of corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, and lots of Irish whiskey. As always when we get together, there was lots of laughter and many stories told. So good to have our friends back in town.

Woodrow and Gus are up to their usual shenanigans. I haven't gotten my hammock chair hung up yet. I think I'm going to start dance walking for exercise.

Look up to the sky at 11:57 a.m. this morning. Be grateful for spring and your other blessings. Do a little dance walking yourself...in honor of spring.

today is the first day of the rest of my life

Regis started his new job this week as part-time city transit driver. Senior citizens (of which I am one) can ride for a dollar. I think I'll just ride around with him from time to time.

Woodrow has been spending a lot of time under my leopard chair recently and this morning I thought to investigate. Sure enough...three cat-sized holes in the fabric and a few things stashed in there. He gets in there and lays around like it's his personal hammock.

This is such a dirty time of year. As the snow melts, it leaves behind all the dirt and birdseed and crap that accumulated over the last four months.

My new teapot and my reading list for the week. I love this shiny new red teapot. I can't find a book I read this winter that now I want to read again. In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler. I think I loaned it to someone and I rarely lend books except to reliable folks. I'm sure I'll get it back one day.

Regis and I are going to a comedy show tonight. Maybe I'll put on the St. Pat's garb for the event. The parade is Monday. If the weather is nice, I'll go. I remember one year it was cancelled because of a blizzard and two years ago it was 89 degrees with a stiff wind. That's Minnesota for you.

I started this post, took a nap, played a game of Scrabble, and now I better send it into cyber space. Tomorrow we're having Betty and Tom over for our traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and Irish beer. Luck o' the Irish to ye!

hump day

A few days ago, I published a photo of the grill nearly covered with snow. Monday, we decided to hell with it. The temps were high enough to sustain the charcoal so Regis got out the snowblower and a shovel and cleared the area around the grill. I bought steaks, stuffed peppers, and stuffed mushrooms at the store and we had the best meal. We haven't grilled since October and it tasted so good. Ah, spring.

A friend of mine in California said she had never seen anyone grill in the snow before. Happens all the time here, folks! 

I'm enjoying kind of a lazy week. I went to see Mary yesterday, spent some time with Alex, and took a nap. Today, I'm working at the AARP tax center but that isn't exactly strenuous labor. The biggest issue is that it's so hot in there I can barely stand it. Ack.

Better get dressed. They frown on volunteers who show up in their pajamas.

monday in my world

It felt like Sunday so I slept until almost ten o'clock and didn't get dressed until noon. I am piddling around with a few projects, putting warm woolen sweaters away, taking faux fur to the basement, organizing my office space, and making slow progress on my next pile for the Epileptic Foundation. I also have Regis's go-ahead to start organizing his side of the office but I am little nervous about that. I don't want to disturb his feng shui.

We are going to the store to buy the biggest steaks we can find because...it is the maiden voyage of the barbecue grill today! First time since October! Yesterday I saw my neighbor washing his car in the driveway and today we barbecue. Signs of spring. Huzzah!

I better not sit here too long. When you sleep until ten, the day gets short.

signs of spring

Look at that. No severe weather alerts. No wind chill warnings. No below zero temps. No igloos!

I opened the back door to let Gus outside and it felt balmy! It may not seem like 20 degrees should be balmy but after a winter of many, many sub-zero days...20 feels balmy. I read the forecast and we may hit almost 50 today. Wahoo! Time to get naked and lay on a flat rock in the sunshine.

So many signs of spring: I saw splotches of sidewalk and street yesterday. The birds are raucous this morning. The high clouds look like spring clouds instead of low lying winter clouds. They're puffy and white and they scoot across the sky. Ah. spring. We have missed you.

I didn't get much of what I meant to do yesterday done but I did some other things...some long-time projects that were easy to put off because they required thinking and organization.

I was annoyed in the afternoon because I spent several hours learning how to use an app called Pepperplate for meal planning and recipe organization only to find it won't sync with my iPad. That was the point. I'm pretty sure I growled.

I received this email from my google calendar this morning. I am so grateful.

Here is your schedule for:
Sun Mar 9, 2014   Walk outside 
Tomorrow I will get an email that says I have no agenda for the day. Even better.

I'm making chili today. We'll have chili and a big salad for dinner tonight. I can't wait to get at the grill!

time flies

I haven't written for a week. I have some words and some pictures to share this morning as I try to gather my thoughts and possessions after a busy week. Both are strewn across the landscape of my life. The house is an untidy mess, my clothes are piled deep in the bedroom, the mail is unsorted on the table, my hammock chair is in a tangled heap, and my office organization project, begun last week, is unfinished and occupies an entire room which is not the office. Time to get going but I am writing first.

We had a busy week which means that Gus and Woody had a quiet week although Regis did manage to get Gus to the park every day at least once.

Karen, I have a half-written letter to you laying on the file cabinet. It's a sunny spot and Woodrow has decided to lie there and chew on the bottom of the pages. I didn't think you would mind. We'll think of it is as his greeting to you.

The picture below is me (of course) in my vintage chenille coat by a famous designer from New York. Ooh la la. [Be Brave, Lose the Beige] And my leopard hat from Karen. The other day I was leaving school in this attire and a little bitty blonde girl asked me if this (the leopard hat) was my real hair. I laughed and said no but it was a great hair idea.

I know some of you are thinking that it looks like I have an old bedspread around my shoulders. I have discovered that a guy can wear almost anything with the right attitude. Be brave, lose the beige.

This is how I am feeling today. Things need to get back in their right places and not be all over and everywhere. My possessions reflect my state of mind. 

In February we celebrated the 5th birthdays of these two little guys, Elliot and Alex. Where did five years go? They will both be going to kindergarten in the fall. Such a fun age, going out into the world and learning new things for the first time.

This is my new charm. It's the rune Inguz. It means 

“Drawing this Rune may mark a time of joyful deliverance, of new life, a new path. A Rune of great power, receiving it means that you now have the strength to achieve completion, resolution, from which comes a new beginning.”“As you resolve and clear away the old, you will experience a release from tension and uncertainty.
You may be required to free yourself from a rut, habit or relationship; from some deep cultural or behavioral pattern… The time of birth is always a critical one. Movement can involve danger, and yet movement that is timely leads out of danger.”
-Ralph H. Blum

I have the other runes of my journey in my tattoo but this one needed a special place. I shopped for it on Etsy, the global marketplace, and ended up purchasing it from a fellow in Kellogg, Minnesota. Buy local, I guess.

I'll close this morning with two pictures of the bunny. One from earlier in the winter when he was mostly visible and currently, when all you see of him are the real bunny tracks over his head. We had 8-10 inches of snow on Tuesday night (forecast as 1-2) that completely obliterated his view. He will be back. This much we know is true.

Here I go. I can either sit here and write about my ambitions or I can get up and do them.

that took about one second post-publication

Всем доброго времени суток! Сегодня нашел в интернете один замечательный ресурс. Вот посмотрите пожалуйста:как оформить группу в контакте[/url]. Вы не пожалеете, что побывали тут.

Wait, wait...whaaaat?

medical and a busy week

I had a second bone density scan a week or so ago. I knew it wouldn't be good because I had one in October of 2012 and that was not good...osteoporotic, as they say. That makes me laugh...sounds like chicken erotica. Osteoeritica. What the hell.

So, I have been reading about the medicine and I am not inclined to take it. Risk of esophageal cancer? Risk of uterine cancer? What the hell. If anybody has advice about this, I am taking a survey. I am going to change the settings to make it easier to comment so if you are reading this and plan to try to sell me viagra or a russian bride, forget it. You will be caught by my spam filter!

I am subbing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. We are working at AARP Wednesday. I have the YMCA Livestrong class Tuesday and Thursday nights. Regis starts training for his new job. It's a busy week so I am trying to get my marbles in the right slots by organizing the grocery list, the menus, the weekly calendar, and my wardrobe. Did some laundry and cleaned the refrigerator yesterday. Even changed the sheets today and plan to iron a few things. If you look up in the sky, you can probably see pigs flying.

Richie: Here is a link to the article I was telling you about. It's called THIS OLD MAN by Roger Angell who is 90 something. Here's a paragraph:

I’ve endured a few knocks but missed worse. I know how lucky I am, and secretly tap wood, greet the day, and grab a sneaky pleasure from my survival at long odds. The pains and insults are bearable. My conversation may be full of holes and pauses, but I’ve learned to dispatch a private Apache scout ahead into the next sentence, the one coming up, to see if there are any vacant names or verbs in the landscape up there. If he sends back a warning, I’ll pause meaningfully, duh, until something else comes to mind.

Betty and Tom: It's March 2nd and it was 20 below this morning. The sun is brilliant and makes you think it's warmer than it is. I was tempted to open the bedroom windows but I knew better. And your post Oh, Betty has been read by more than 400 people!

Celebrating Harvey's good news. One year and cancer-free!

meteorological spring or punked again

I heard somewhere that we have entered meteorological spring, whatever that means. Here's what it looks like here in Minnesota. I see they don't even dare put the feels like temp on there anymore...just the igloo and the red alert. I heard it was 38 below (wind chill) in Fargo this morning. No words for that.

You see, there are three different classifications of the seasons, including the spring season. The one we know best is called Astronomical Spring. It is based on the Earth's tilt on its axis. The Vernal Equinox marks the beginning of Astronomical Spring. It occurs on or around March 20 and signals when the Earth's tilt on its axis is neither toward nor away from the sun. On this day, we see an equal amount of daylight. And it marks the time when the Northern Hemisphere will tilt toward the sun for 6 months our days will get longer as we head toward summer.
The spring that arrived on March 1 is called Meteorological Spring. It is based on temperature, not the Earth's tilt. It follows the three coldest months of the year, or Meteorological Winter. Those months are December, January, & February. In March, temperatures begin to warm away from the cold of winter. March April & May make up what we call Meteorological Spring. The three warmest months of the year, June, July & August are known as Meteorological Summer.

These pictures are for Karen who doesn't not do Facebook. She likes to see pictures of Gus and Woody.

I have to go and finish a book. TTYL.