September is intense. Steven went to his first day of middle school; Liv, first day as a fourth grader. I burned through so much energy being annoyingly happy at drop off, I'm beat now. I'll bet thousands of parents go to bed with visions of their children's homework dancing through their heads.THREE POSITIVES:1- Nothing says …
Hi, Honey, I’m home!
The kids went to camp; we went on vacation. We needed a reset and hours of uninterrupted conversation. We took the dog with us. For the first two nights, it was like having a two-year-old jumped up on espresso...in a cage. She calmed down when we let her sleep with us. Very romantic. When we …
Scenes from Oregon camping
Ahhh, summer camping. Deer grazing with no apparent fear of humans. A tiny lizard stretched out on cool concrete. And a post-radiation mom with Maxi-Pads strapped across her chest. Nothing says sexy summer camping like that. There's no romantic escape from cancer treatment. My chest looks like parchment paper continents in an angry red sea. …
The nicest thing
My friend Kelly Wilson is one of the funniest people I know. Who else writes a book titled Don't Punch People in the Junk? She's walking the Portland-to-Coast Relay in my honor, which is so incredibly nice. Thanks, Kelly! Here are the details:Kelly's Awesome WalkTHREE POSITIVES:1- No one can tellWe went to the wedding of …
The countdown begins
Just FOUR more sessions of radiation. I was cruising along thinking I could beat the radiation system and escape with just burns. After five weeks, my skin broke down all at once. Nothing prepared me for what that would feel and look like (an audition for Walking Dead). The nurses at Good Sam have tried …
It’s PMS983
There's a new color where I've been getting radiated on one side of my chest and under my arm. It's like busted-up plum/got fried in a microwave. The worst part is it itches like crazy. But if you succumb to going all Wolverine and scratching it, the entire thing erupts in burning. I put the …
As the crow doesn’t feel like flying
It was a swell day for bike riding to the river. All four of us saddle up, get overheated and end up in a Burgerville parking lot. While Brian and the kids go in to fetch lemonades, I stand under a tree and watch our bikes. Around here, an unlocked bike is a stolen one. …
Dangerous liaisons
We knew this would happen. The kids would actually get along, form a bond and gang up on us. Today, they secreted a bottle of raspberry dressing out of the refrigerator and streaked their hands with it, screaming, "I'm hurt! Oh, my hand." It's my fault. I'm the one who said whoever draws blood first …
Reporting not-so-live from KATU studios
KATU is working on feature stories to air for Race for the Cure. So they've been interviewing me and other survivors. Today, we did a quick interview in the studio. I bribed the kids that if they were good in the studio, I'd buy them all milkshakes. I didn't really have to bribe them - …
Summer…Unplugged
Just coming out of a blissful week of no cancer treatment. Getting a vacation at Neskowin Beach with nothing but beach, birds and beauty did the trick. We all went kayaking together for the first time. Steven said, "This is one of the best days of my life." He probably said that because he was steering the …
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