De-Liver Me Tour ~ Sisterhood of Traveling Body Parts

January 7th: Oh boy surgery day. The game plan was to remove the tail of my pancreas (home of said adenocarcinoma) and my spleen with a combination of a laparoscope, robotics and the capable hands of my doctor. The surgery took about 6 hours. I was, of course, on another planet and haven't a clue as to what was going on. Since the doc was in the neighborhood she also checked on my liver and found a small hepatocellular tumor and with Rod's permission removed it. 

January 8th - 9th: Me and Mr. Wheels my best buddy and travelling companion for 3 days. Patients are encouraged to get up and walk as soon as possible, as it helps get your digestion system moving again. You are also encouraged to make good use of the patient regulated pain medication day and night. It's easier for your body to heal if you're not dealing with pain. Sounded reasonable to me. And who knew a catheter could be such an asset when the simple act of getting out of bed was to much to contemplate. 

Day 2

Clear liquid and liquid diets suck big time. I realize it's necessary, but where's the nutrition? They kept trying to push soy milk, fruit juices, vanilla pudding and bouillon, holy blood sugar Bat Girl. The one positive note is that I developed a new fondness for Cream of Wheat. Once I graduated to real food on Day 4 the menu was a lot better. 

I can't say enough about the doctors, nurses and staff at Kaiser SF. Some of them were working long shifts, but always made sure their patients were their first priority. They were professional, caring, supportive, and full of fun. Laughter is, after all, the best medicine.

Got unplugged day 4 and graduated to a walker and free range of the corridors. Also got to take a shower. I had a little private bathroom with a hand held shower head. The stuff they gave me for shampoo (I use the term loosely) was the consistency of snot and didn't soap up. It made my hands slick and it was hard to control hand held. I ended up spraying down my nurse, the towels and my gown. We both about collapsed in a fit of laughter. 

You know those little things in life you often take for granted? Well surgery brought the concept to a whole new level. Farting, pooping and walking were manna from heaven in my book. Whining, being cranky and cursing like a sailor are part of the healing process, so attitude is encouraged. 

Rod busted me out of the hospital on the afternoon of the 12th. Evidently one of the side effects of surgery and being on your back for 5 days is inflamed joints. I walked out of the hospital unassisted but Holy Knees Louise I could hardly walk the next day. I went to see my primary doc at Kaiser SR and had to have a wheel chair. She came in, gave me a smile and said "You are human, this is the first time I've seen you even look slightly tired during this entire journey. You must be related to the Energizer Bunny." 

Show me the exit

Things are pretty much back to normal and then some. We're back to walking 1.5 to 2.5 miles a day. My belly still looks like I walked into a load of buckshot: four holes for the laparoscope and drains and one incision with five or six stitches. All were closed with Steri-Strips that were supposed to fall off in two weeks. Mine seem to be related to NASCAR 200 mph duct tape, 19 days and they were still holding fast. Got permission to gently pull them off. Oh Yeah!

WTF moments: Since the surgery my platelet count is adequate for the first time in 2 years and I'm not bruising at my insulin injection sites. The answer is no spleen, platelets can once again roam at will. I'm sleeping better, my acid reflex has abated, the sporadic leg cramps have ceased and my alligator skin has improved. You just never know.

Fabulous Friday Finds ~ October 31, 2014

More wonderful and whimsical art. These two are from the fertile minds New Zealand ceramicist Cheryl Oliver and San Diego assemblage artist Dan Jones. 

Searching for Trees 

Cheryl Oliver

http://ljudmila.org/~julian/cheryloliverpottery/

The Helicron

Dan Jones

https://www.facebook.com/people/Dan-Jones/100001583345264

Keep your eyes open: any moment can bring discovery, wonder, joy and laughter. Spend more time outside yourself and your everydays, it's good for the soul and for healing.

Life is a Circus Going Somewhere to Happen or How I learned to Love Roller Coasters ~ Sept 25, 2014

Exciting News:The floors are getting redone starting on Monday so we're packing up and moving everything to my studio and the garage. It's the perfect time to sift out the flotsam and jetsam and thin the collection. So far we've donated four boxes of books, a box of collectibles that have been in a drawer for 6 years, clothing, gewgaws, knickknacks and throw pillows. They are dropping off 43 boxes of laminate in the living room this morning so it can "acclimate". Good thing we're off to an overnight adventure this afternoon, headed to the Kelseyville Pear Festival to see Dave Stamey.

My Studio

Outstanding News: I was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2011. It was caught early due to an annual mammogram. At the time I had a lumpectomy and a four week course of radiation. I had my anniversary mammogram last week and am delighted to report there is no sign of it's return. This means I'm 3 years clear, two go. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JpegArt

Icing on the midweek's cake: Our plumbing backed up Wednesday evening. Good thing we have no qualms about peeing in a bucket for the night. Our great neighbors gave us access to their facilities once the sun was up and until Santa Rosa Plumbing solved the problem late afternoon. 

Life is a Journey ~ Enjoy the Ride

De-Liver Me ~ The Update ~ May 27, 2014

Off to the City to meet with the Viral Hepatitis Team at UCSF. We have an opportunity, not available until last Fall,  to rid my system of the Hep C virus. The new drug combo of Ribivarin and Sovaldi (formerly the unpronounceable Sofosbuvir) will be the key. The goal is to have the virus undetectable in my blood for the four weeks prior to surgery. 

It's difficult to predict the exact date of a transplant, but based on the quarterly award of points (April number at 31, end of July to 33, end of October to 34) I should be near the top of the list in October. One needs to remember the "top of the list" may vary with the number of organs available at any given time. With that in mind they want me to start me on a 2-3 month course of this drug combo in August. The potential side effects are mild by most accounts: fatigue, headache, nausea, rash, insomnia and irritability. I just spoke with an acquaintance who experienced non of the "potentials" during treatment so I'll run with that. 

Speaking of irritability, we attended a class In October to prepare us for what to expect from the time we get the phone call to head for UCSF because a liver is waiting until we return home after surgery. After the transplant I will be on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of my life. There will be no convincing my body that the new liver belongs there. The list of "potential side effects" reads like menopause on steroids: mood changes, irritability, acne, increased facial hair growth, increased appetite, decreased metabolic rate, and hallucinations to name a few. Oh Baby! I did waltz though menopause with one night sweat so maybe I can do it again.

Lennie the Lion Tamer

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagekitch

That night I had a dream that woke me up laughing. There was an old fashioned jail house door in place of my bedroom door, the kind with the pass through to set a plate on at meal time. Rod had leather gauntlets on both hands, my breakfast plate in one hand, and a whip in the other "Get Back" he said "I have your breakfast". I must have been in a mood!

We are hopeful I can be off the proverbial leash in June and July so we can take a road trip or two. Stay tuned.

Christmas Eve ~ Dec 24, 2013

For a majority of the 32 years Rod and I have been together we've spent Christmas on the road: visiting my parents in Arizona or his family in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We are orphans now, having lost the last of our parents when Rod's sweet pop passed away earlier this year.

We decided to stay home this year and all it did was get us in trouble.  Well, not really trouble, let's say we have a new understanding of an alternate description of adventure.

• Dec 9 ~ through Dec 21 the bathroom remodel runs amok.
• Dec 21 ~ remodel is completed on our wedding anniversary: oh boy we can shower and flush, the best gift ever before we head out for a great dinner at Underwood Bistro in Graton.
• Dec 22 ~ the new plumbing backs up.
• Dec 23 ~ septic tank pumped in case that was the problem (should do it every 5 years and it had been 7) ~ not the problem
• Dec 23 ~ Rod on his belly in the ice plant with a hose and plumber's snake trying to shake loose whatever is keeping the main line to the septic tank from draining.
• Dec 23 ~ an hour later success ~ splat something unmentionable drops into the empty tank ~ Houston we've fixed the problem, all systems go.
• Dec 23 ~ well as long as we're in here we might as well dump the black water tank on our Outhouse on Wheels. This puppy saved us during this little adventure in plumbing.

• Dec 23 ~ get the hall and living room carpets, couch and easy chairs cleaned by Coit due to dust bomb grit aftermath of removing a portion of two of the interior bathroom walls which turn out to be inch thick exterior stucco.

• Dec 23 ~ go to movies to escape the chaos on the kitchen counter and having most of the furniture parked in the kitchen or out on porch while the carpets dry.
• Dec 23 ~ get home from the movies in time to see the last heart pounding 5 minutes of the Forty-Niner game. A fitting end to the season and Candlestick Park.
• Dec 24 ~ I started deep cleaning of one of the bedrooms: as in everything from baseboards to ceiling. Why you ask? Three days ago the afternoon sun was shining in Rod's window when he took a shirt out of his closet and shook it. A cloud of dust rose up and danced about him like campfire smoke. Yikes, cosmic hint, Thor's hammer, Gibb's slap to the back of the head ~ got it.
• Dec 24 ~ Rod finishes installing wainscoting and trim.

After 8 hours of hard labor we took a break at 2:30 and headed out for a walk around the vineyard next door. Sunny and 66 degrees, hard to believe it's winter. Tomorrow we'll tackle Rod's bedroom, the kitchen floor and do windows before heading next door for dinner.  Pizza sounds good tonight!

Hope you're enjoying the holidays with friends and family. The kindness, humor, love and generosity of our neighbors got us through this little adventure, and I use the term adventure loosely.

Think we'll hit the road next Christmas ~ The cosmos and, by then, my new liver willing!

Trisha's in the House ~ Oct 20, 2012

Rod was fixing one of his infamous kitchen sink stir fry breakfasts with  spinach, bell peppers, red peppers, potatoes and garlic from the garden and fresh eggs from our next door neighbor. As I walked through the kitchen, he commented that the red peppers were hotter than he expected. He asked me what I thought and handed me a small piece to test. At first crunch my eyes went wide and I started waving my hands in preschooler sign language ~ too hot, too hot, too hot. He agreed to only use a few and cook them beyond redemption so there was only a little heat for flavor.

I have Trisha's Christmas Cactus in my living room on a corner shelf where it thrives back lit by two windows. I looked up from the breakfast table and noticed it had two huge salmon colored flowers. It usually doesn't start blooming for another month. I told Rod to take a look and said "Trisha's in the House". He looked at me and smiled "I knew that from the way you reacted to the peppers" remembering her distaste for really hot food groups.

My cousin Gordie taught me a card game called Idiot's Delight. You turn up one card at a time, always playing with the last four cards showing. If the 1st and 4th cards are same suit you can remove the two cards in between. If the 1st and 4th cards are the same you can remove all four cards. The object is have no cards at the end of the game. It took me 18 years to win my first game. On one of our road trips I taught Trisha how to play. It took her exactly three tries to win her first.

My last conversation with her in November 2010 was about our plans for Thanksgiving and her birthday. After we had gotten off the phone I realized I had forgotten to tell her I had won a game of Idiot's Delight the night before (probably the 4th time in 20 years), so I called her back. We had a great laugh and she told me I'd have to school her again, it'd been awhile since she'd played. Little did I know...

Rod and I play cribbage with breakfast every morning. Sometimes when he's pondering a move at great lengths I'll pick up the deck, shuffle and start a game of Idiot's Delight. Holy crap! It took me a second to comprehend the fact that I had won a game, the first since 2010. I screamed "I won, I won, I won" and whooped loudly. Rod gave me a double high five and we burst out laughing.

Trisha was indeed "in the house" this morning. I will forever miss the girl, but I know she's always with the posse. Celebrate life and the ones you love ~ kindred spirits will always be at our sides.

Tis the Season ~ October 13, 2012

I'm not a political person. My idea of the news is the Daily Show. Newspapers are for the funnies and the crossword puzzle. Now we seem to be on the 24/7 political channel: Most of our mail is recyclable, the phone is on permanent screen, and the TV is overrun by talking heads, mudslingers, analysts, and wannabes. I cannot wait until November 7th when things get back to semi-normal.

Anyway, there's a new radio station in Sonoma County called Funny 95.5 and its 24/7 comedy. A great co-pilot when you're in the car dodging idiots and trying to maintain your cool. This quote from the irrespressable Will Rogers got me to thinking about the art (and I use that term loosely) of politics.

Everything is changing.

People are taking their comedians seriously

and the politicians as a joke.

I started researching political humor and found some priceless thoughts and observations that might lighten your day and get you to thinking.

Will Rogers ~ The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.

Harry S. Truman ~ My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.

E. E. Cummings ~ A politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man.
Alfred E. Newman ~ Crime does not pay as well as politics.
Charlie Chaplin ~ I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.
Ronald Reagan ~ Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

Ernest Benn ~ Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.

Adlai Stevenson ~ I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.

Unknown ~ Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason."

Voting Girl I
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArttacheDesigns

So step up to the bar, cowboy up, and face the task at hand: attempt to make sense of the voter pamphlet, inform yourself as best you can and vote. There's a $5 fine for whining and you can't complain if you didn't show up ~ I said that.

Dinner on the Hill ~ May 21, 2012

Before we took off for Eastern Oregon we headed up to Hillsboro to spend a night with our old friends Art and Deb. We only get to see each other about once a year so we make the best of it. We are all avid (could read that rabid) cribbage players, their guest room is a little slice of heaven and Deb is a world class cook. We'd be fools not to check in while in the neighborhood!

Dinner was roast lamb with carrots, potatoes, caramelized onions and yummy side dishes. After dinner cribbage, a short break for a dessert of vanilla ice cream, fresh pineapple and dark chocolates, then round two of the annual smack down. Cribbage girls ruled this trip, Deb and I were the tag team from Hell! A little confusion with counts and scoring late in the last game set us all off into the giggles. It was either time for some anti-aging meds or a good night's sleep, we chose later. From a wise but unknown author:

Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves

For we shall never cease to be amused

We awoke to the birds singing and the smell of hot coffee and toddled downstairs to find fresh carrot/orange juice, homemade blueberry muffins, pan seared snapper, and broccoli. They're lucky we didn't stay a week! A few more games of cribbage after breakfast it was time to hit the proverbial road. Next time they're down here in our neck of the woods, we'll pick up where we left off.

Proceed with Caution

One of our favorite breakfast spots is Cousteau Bakery in Healdsburg, CA. We always stop if we're in or on our way through town. You have to cross the main street to get there and you pretty much took your chances at the crosswalk. To be fair it's only a two lane road, but people everywhere seem to be distracted or in too much of a hurry to pay attention to those on foot.

Minnie was an aggressive drive

http://www.etsy.com/shop/janethillstudio

The town recently put in one of the flashing cross walks to hopefully get the attention of drivers. You hit the button and wait for the flashing lights. I was rather taken aback with an audio addition in a rather nice male voice that said:

"Proceed with caution, Drivers may not stop"

My husband and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing and we still look both ways and make eye contact with drivers before crossing any street. Small towns are bad enough I can't imagine living in a big city where drivers are not only distracted, but usually upset about something!

Little Did We Know

Dear Trisha, It seems impossible that a year has passed since we lost you. Not a day goes by I don't think about you and I'm sure that's true for all of us, friends and family.

Sunlit Wagon Wheel

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RandyNyhofPhotos

Being a visual person, I think of you as the hub of a wheel, each spoke a different aspect of your diverse array of friendships. You had an irresistible enthusiasm for adventures of all kinds, pursuits you delighted in sharing with your pals. You left a wonderful legacy of spirit that brought together the people who shared your life. Thank you for being in mine.

~~~

Trisha was a gifted photographer with an uncanny ability to capture fleeting moments before they disappeared: the impetuous expression on a child’s face, a shell on the tideline, or a quiet moment that captured a doe in the glowing long-light of a late Ruby Mountain winter afternoon, a moment when friends were relishing their bond of friendship, Vince reading his last poems, sharing the awe at the beauty of the light on the land. 

She loved horseback adventures and long days in the saddle, nights around the campfire under the stars giggling with friends, entranced by music and stories, coyotes singing in the distance. She was passionate about music and trains and went on just about every Roots on the Rails adventure offered from Canada to Mexico. She would regale me with stories and introduced me to new music I might not have discovered on my own.

 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Betty, Trisha and Carol

 Rod's paper airplane that won Trisha
a Professional Bull Riding Championship jacket
signed by Adriano Moraes

Betty and Trisha in Monument Valley

Trisha, Michael and Martha in Churchill, MB

on the Polar Bear Train

We all shared everyday cares and joys with her in different ways: maybe while organizing a closet, on a horseback ride or perhaps on hands and knees working in the garden. The girl embodied serenity and grace dusted with a wicked sense of humor: a true and honest friend and the ultimate straight shooter. All would agree she was the perfect partner in crime. We shared the gamut of emotions over the years we were in each other lives ~ but mostly irrepressable laughter.

The great Benbow Adventure 2009

Each of us had future plans with her and said “see you next week” or “see you in April” with the absolute expectation we would. Little did we know. To her friends each escapade shared was a grand, unexpected and priceless adventure: be it a music train, cowboy poetry or thrift store shopping, playing Mexican train or penny slots, road trips with cameras and no promises to keep, or riding in the back country. All of our lives would be less rich had she not been part of them.

Heartfelt thanks to Betty P, Betty R, Martha, Margo and Melinda for allowing me to share their thoughts and words. Trisha will always fill our hearts and her gift to us is that we have all found each other along the trail.

Breast Cancer Journey - Radiation Therapy

So after a few days off, I am back in the saddle.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Outwestjewelry

Last Wednesday was a test drive of what will be my treatment scenario at the Rohnert Park Cancer Center. My radiation therapist and nurses checked and rechecked all settings and finalized positioning for safety and efficacy of treatment. It took about half an hour and I was done. I'm now familiar with the layout and very comfortable with the crew who will see me through each session.

I received a scan card so I can check myself in each day and head to the changing room. Once changed you come out to a pleasant little cove of chairs until called. My appointments are all at 10am, so I cross paths with the same dedicated warriors every day. We share stories, bits of our lives, and find laughter in our little corner of reality.

Sun's rays via a raindrop

on the tip of an apple blossom bud

My team double checks all the parameters to make sure all is in proper alignment before we start. The treatments take less than 5 minutes and I don't feel a thing. So far I'm not experiencing any side effects, but radiation therapy is cumulative so I've been told that the treated area may appear to get a sunburn and I may experience fatigue a few weeks in. There are creams and potions for the skin, but my friend El says good old aloe vera works the best. Fortunately I have a large plant that has gone feral under our pear tree.

I've always been a visual person so I decided to track the days until end of my treatments like I did when my friend Trisha and I retired. All you need are two vases or jars ~ one with the number of marbles for each day until you're done and one empty. Transfer a marble everyday after you return from your treatment session and feel the glee of seeing the balance change!

Deep Space Phenomenon

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SCGlassStudio

Speaking of marbles, check out this beauty from Sean Clayton. Suggestion for a daily plan after your session: take a time out, put on some music and loose yourself in a universe of your choosing. They're playing "Dance to the Music" on the radio right now, how perfect!

Luck of the Draw

Rod and I decided to go to the movies last Wednesday afternoon. Once there we realized we were an hour early so off we went for a walk. Many of our local parks have benches along the trails to honor the memory of someone. I always read them and as I passed one in particular, I was struck by a dedication to a 20 year old. I started thinking about some of the amazing moments in my life that have occured since turning 20 in 1965.  

1967 ~ Bought my first car a 1963 VW Bus
1969 ~ Watched a man walk on the moon with my grandma Olive
1970 ~ Spent a month on the road exploring western Canada with my dog Charis as co-pilot, climbed Mt. Robson with some new friends I met along the way and experienced a glacier calving at Berg Lake

1972 ~ Visited the Colorado Rockies for the first time, the same month John Denver released "Rocky Mountain High" in the summer of my 27th year

He was born in the summer of his 27th year

Comin' home to a place he'd never been before

He left yesterday behind him,

you might say he was born again

You might say he found a key for every door…

1973 ~ Started what would be a 33 year career at the Bodega Marine Lab

1975 ~ Looked a grey whale in the eye as it raised its head up out of deep water next to Death Rock at Wrights Beach - I have witnesses

1981 ~ Met the love of my life at the Ft. Ross VFD music festival in Cazadero

  

Rod and Hazel Sit Down

1985 ~ Was present at the birth of my goddaughter Casey

1986 ~ Rod and I married at the haunted Gold Hill Hotel in Gold Hill, NV
1988 ~ Bought our first home and have been here 23 years

1996 ~ Celebrated our 10th anniversary by renewing our vows at Gold Hill
2006 ~ Retired on April Fools Day with my best friend Trisha. We treated ourselves to 2 weeks in Hawaii and never looked back

Trisha, Rosie and Me in Waimanalo

2008 ~ Attended my 45th HS reunion and had lunch with some of the gang

Julia, Lynn, Laurie, Melinda, Gayle

Mary, Lynn and Taffy

2009 ~ Saw NYC for the first time

2010 ~ Attended the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NV

2011 ~ I'm winning the battle with breast cancer and we're celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on December 21st

How lucky we all are to still be here looking forward. Just yesterday morning I was laughing out loud as several of us Mill Valley kids were on Facebook trying to identify our classmates in a 6th grade class photo from 19 ought 50 something.

Your homework: Initiate random acts of kindness, thank a Veteran and take care of your little corner of the world. Wealth is not defined by financial success, but how you spend the time you have, spend it well.

Breast Cancer Journey - Top of the Ninth

A little rain today, the air smells fresh and I'm on one of my inexplicable tears about the house: cleaning out drawers, rearranging my studio, switching pictures on the walls and delivering a Jeep load of cool stuff to our VNA Hospice Thrift Store.

I'll bet you're saying to yourself "What is she thinking she just had surgery on Wednesday?" Well the first couple of days I took care to keep my left arm close to my body. I'm mostly a "pullover shirt" kind of girl but I inherited some beautiful button up shirts, so like Napoleon (wrong arm, but you get the picture) I was able to tuck my left hand in between the buttons and be good, at least for a couple of days. 

I have felt really good, none of the side effects listed as possibilities ever showed up. For me it has been therapeutic to be doing what I've been doing, albeit very carefully. Ye olde sports bra was the best discovery of the journey: it applied pressure, shielded me from ice packs, protected the area from arm movement and kept my tatas from dancing around on my daily walks.

The highlight of my Saturday was a long hot shower ~ four days is a long time for this Pisces to be out of water, but I did okay. Camping has educated me on the art of the sponge bath. There are stitches and steristrips holding the incisions closed and then a huge patch of sterile gauze for cushioning and protection. The stitches and steristrips stay in place and you remove the pad to shower. The part they don't tell you about is that the tape to keep that pad in place is seriously akin to duct tape - Everyone should have a roll in their toolkit!  Ouchamaymucho!

Update: My surgeon called this afternoon to say that my lymph nodes and vascular system are clean as a whistle which is excellent, cool beans, and just plain outstanding news. 

However, though the pathology report doesn't come out and say it directly, she said there is some concern that the margin, the extra area around the tumor that is removed, was not clean, that some of the cancer cells could be at large. We talked about it and decided the best approach is to go back into the incision and remove additional tissue. Since I already have an appointment on Thursday we'll take care of it then. Get to skip the dreaded radio-tracer bee sting and needle localization and go directly pass go to surgery for a gentle sleep and a little more tuck and roll.

I will still need to follow up with radiation in a month or two, but feel I have been dealt an amazing hand. I owe a lot to the women who took this journey before me, including my mother and a number of friends. I stand strong with my sisters around the world who are now on the same journey. Remember attitude is everything and don't hesitate to ask questions or get a second opinion.

A Promise to Pay it Forward: 10% of all my Etsy and craft fair sales this fall will be donated to Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Their website at http://ww5.komen.org/ has a lot of helpful information and ways to get involved.

Just Laugh Out Loud

Did you know that:

Laughter relaxes the whole body and relieves physical tension and stress?
Laughter boosts the immune system by increasing infection fighting antibodies, decreasing stress hormones and improving resistance to disease?
Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals that promote an overall sense of well-being?

Laughter protects the heart by improving the function of blood vessels and increasing blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack?

 

Inside Joke

http://www.etsy.com/people/gracegallery

The author of the following story is unknown but no doubt an audacious and fearless woman of my generation. I rarely share things forwarded to me but when I read it I laughed so hard I had tears running down my cheeks.

A Mature Woman Buying a Bathing Suit

When I was a child in the 1950s, the bathing suit for the mature figure was boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much sewn as engineered. They were built to hold back and uplift, and they did a good job.Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice, she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus that escaped from Disney's Fantasia, or she can wander around every run-of-the-mill department store trying to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of fluorescent rubber bands.

What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors known as the fitting room.

The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which gives the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you would be protected from shark attacks. Any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whiplash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place I gasped in horror, my boobs had disappeared! Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit. It took a while to find the other but finally located it flattened beside my seventh rib. The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups. The mature woman is now meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump. I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment.

The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fitted those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom and sides. I looked like a lump of Playdough wearing undersized cling wrap. As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, "Oh, there you are," she said, admiring the bathing suit. I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me.

I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two-piece that gave the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serving ring. I struggled into a pair of leopard-skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane having a rough day. I tried on a black number with a midriff fringe and looked like a jellyfish in mourning. I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear them.

Finally, I found a suit that fit, it was a two-piece affair with a shorts-style bottom and a loose blouse-type top. It was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it. My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured. When I got it home, I found a label that read, "Material might become transparent in water." 

Oh My!

Thirties Bathing Beauty

http://www.etsy.com/people/ktullo

So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year and I'm there too, I'll be the one in cut-off jeans and a T-shirt! Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain, with or without a stylish bathing suit!

Ladies Dancing in the Rain

http://www.etsy.com/people/hedgehogcottage

The Unexplained

Sometimes things happen you can't explain ~ I know it as synchronicity. The term was first used by Carl Jung who defined it as "the coincidence of events that seem related, but are not obviously caused one by the other". A group of my friends are well acquainted with such phenomena and we no longer question it. We simply enjoy the ride and share knowing smiles.

A Facebook post from a friend in Oregon caught my eye this morning and I felt it was worth sharing. Dealing with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer and the journey to come, I found the quote both relevant and timely. Doing a little research I found the words were from philosopher Karl Marx, as applicable today as in the 19th century.

"‎There comes a time in your life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good. After all life is too short to be anything but happy."

Wake Up Each Morning and Choose Your Attitude

  http://www.etsy.com/people/StudioChamberlain

As I was writing this post, an instrumental came on the radio that just made me stop, listen and smile. I found out it was "Water Song" from Hot Tuna. I think it will be the first addition to my "healing play list".

 

 

 

So now it's time to go outside and enjoy the end of Summer ~ my gladiolas need to be dug up to make room for some fall and winter vegetables. Your mission is to go outside and play in the dirt too.

High Drama or High Comedy?

7/30 Day 2 on the Siuslaw River - the morning dawns calm and cool.

We spend most of the day reading in the shade and Rod once again tries to catch something with fins ($36 for two day license, no fish = recreational therapy). 

Early afternoon some new neighbors move in a couple of campsites away, three women on a girl's weekend, to relax and do some clamming on at the coast tomorrow. 

River etiquette requires you slow your boat down when passing other boats or docks where boats are moored otherwise your wake can reek havoc. A couple of idiots in a speed boat keep racing up and down the river towing someone on an inner tube. Truth be told it looked like fun, but the waves were banging the moored pontoon and pleasure boats against the dock.

One of the pontoon boats evidently belongs to the owner of the Park, who was up visiting for a few days and checking in with the camp hosts. All of a sudden the four of them come running down the knoll between our sites, yelling at the boaters to slow the bleep down and trying to get a hull number so they can report them to the sheriff. The boaters flip off the "river rangers" and continue the joy ride. The park owner then fires up his pontoon boat and parks it in the middle of the river prepared for a showdown.

At this point we share a double take with the neighbors. One of them shouts "I thought we were here for some peace and quiet?" to which Rod responds "It's Days of our Lives" and we all disintegrate into laughter (out of earshot of the owners of course).

Things calmed down for a bit and then we figure the owners and camp hosts get their wires crossed again. One of the guests has a small boat that didn't need to be moored so it was pulled up on the bank and tied to a piling. He's taking his dog and some gear back his site further up the hill when the owner's wife asks what he's going to do about his boat battery. He calmly replies that he'd be back for it since his hands are full. The next thing we know the camp host's wife is in screaming hysterics because this poor guy (I'd say harassed camper) came somewhat unglued when she too asks him about moving the battery. File this one under "too many cooks in the kitchen" or "who's on first?"

Geeze Louise what a side show - towards dusk they all retreat to the barn and us peace loving campers get on with fixing dinner and settling in around our campfires.

We did see a couple of more meteors but the fog was starting to roll in so we called it a night. Got most of our gear put away that was outside, but had to wait until we can retract the slide out in the morning before we can stow Rod's Grillmaster Grill and propane bottles.

The saga continues...

Little Did I Know

November 23, 2010

Little did I know a laugh filled conversation with my friend Trisha on the 21st would be our last,

Lost Coast

Little did I know that the email I sent today about plans for her birthday and what she was bringing for Thanksgiving would never be read,

Little did I know that I would never again hear her voice, see her face, share her laughter or another adventure.

The Great Benbow Adventure

We wake up each morning with the reckless expectation, born from our own experience, that the sun rises every day and with it, the illusion that we'll always be there to see it. Take nothing for granted and live each day to the fullest as Trisha did. She went mid stride doing what she loved to do: working her ranch, riding her ponies, dancing and traveling.

 Excerpted from Henry Van Dyke

"I'm standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Someone at my side says ‘There she goes!’ Gone where? Gone from my sight...that is all. And just at that moment there are other eyes watching her coming and their voices take up the glad shouts ‘Here she comes!’” 

The B&B on the Hill

On May 31st, Memorial Day, we headed to Hillsboro to spend the night with some old friends. They live high up on a wooded hillside with an incredible view of the Tualatin Valley. On a clear day you can see Mts. Hood, Adams, Jefferson, Rainer and St. Helens. We got a brief glimpse of Mt. Hood this trip but clouds were the order of the day.

Art and Deb are avid and accomplished gardeners. When they lived here in Sonoma County their dahlias won numerous awards. Here they've found new passions. We are usually in Oregon in the winter and now that it was high spring I couldn't wait to see the gardens.

As we came up the drive we were astonished by the blast of color from the rhododendrons and bearded iris in bloom around the yard.

They’re a lot like us in that they don’t venture off their hill unless it’s time for errands, a workout or a concert. When friends show up they're treated like royalty. Deb is an accomplished chef and we were delighted to sit down to a formal table for meals. We are all rabid cribbage players so the annual smackdown continued with much laughter.

By morning the rain let up a bit so we took a long walk down the driveway and pulled up all the scotch broom starts (Cytisus scoparius) we could find. Its bright yellow blossoms are pretty along the highways and hillsides during the grey of spring, but it’s a nasty and aggressive introduced species that's taking over terrain at an alarming rate on the entire West Coast.

We headed back to Sublimity in the late afternoon. Deb sent us home with the rest of her homemade blueberry pie for Rod’s pop. He was quite pleased to see us when we stepped through the door. Needless to say, we are going to plan a longer stay on the next trip!

29 Years Ago Today

So have you ever thought about the serendipitous chain of events that led you to your partner in life? My husband Rod and I met 29 years ago today at a music festival in Cazadero, CA but the path started long before that.

Rod and Hazel May 1981

In 1967, my senior year at UCSB, I shared a cabin with a friend named Deanne. Through a friend of hers I met John Madison, an occasional travelling partner and gentle soul wise beyond his years. He taught me alot about myself in the time we shared.

We were on a road trip in the mid 70's and spent a couple of days with a friend of his in Crested Butte, CO. Sharon had grown up in Berkeley and when she found out I was from Sonoma County she told me I had to check out the Fort Ross Volunteer Fire Department Picnic in Cazadero. I filed the information in the back of my brain and didn't give it a second thought until 5 years later when my neighbors in Sebastopol mentioned the gathering was the following week. On a whim I decided to go.

The music and weather were amazing. I didn't know anyone there so I just decided to get up and dance by myself. The next thing you know there is this handsome, ponytailed hippie boy dancing next to me. Three hours later we were still dancing, and 29 years later we continue to dance.

The funny thing is we always remembered the date as being May 26th and celebrated that date for 25 years until I found my ticket to the event a few years ago. So now we celebrate the 23rd and the 26th!

Life is short, don't hesitate when adventures call.

Remembering

Happy Birthday Bonkie - We Miss Your Laughter

We lost a special friend last September. Her name was Diane and she was a smart, beautiful, and funny woman.  She had a special take on the world and wasn't shy about just living out loud. Everyone that knew her has stories to tell. Ducks Aloud girlfriend, you are in our thoughts.