LAST DAY OF CANCER TREATMENT

Apparently, Kevin got a "high five" from the ladies at the radiation center this afternoon after his last zap. It brought me back to the day I officially turned in my completed dissertation to the graduate office at UW and the lady behind the desk offered me a peanut M&M from a bowl on the counter. Talk about anti-climatic. So although we are not throwing a huge party and do NOT get a huge check to compensate us for our time... Kevin did get a super duper fancy new BBQ a few weeks back and so we have decided that it is the official reward for defeating cancer-- well, that and being ALIVE. This thing is so fancy that it has insanely hot grill, a side skillet, and a PIZZA OVEN! that's right-- homemade pizza just got a lot more exciting. Isn't it lovely? By the end of the summer, Kevin will have finished the details-- nice countertops, the smoker, and siding. Here's to many years of living well and eating well.

Jesse and Elena!

Jesse's new style

Jesse is obsessed with leotards and "smooth" shorts (i.e. not bulky). This is a varation on his theme, starring a hedgehog onesie from the German cousins, spiderman pajama bottoms and some random hand-me-down Hanna Anderson pajama shorts-- oh, and don't forget Ellie's hairbands as bracelets. I keep insisting that he not leave the house in pajamas, but then usually give in sometime a few minutes into the inevitable agonizing tears. I don't actually CARE... and he is only three. I figure I need to pick my battles, and looking like a hippie ballarino is not really such a tragedy. Actually, he fits right in to many of Seattle's finest!

Please sir, may I have some more?

My poor Mom had an unfortunate incident with a car... running over her ankle... and suffered a bad fracture and a bad wound. She has been home in Bloomington for the last month managing somehow to get by with the kindness of friends and neighbors, but after a while, she started to feel pretty rotten all alone, so she came out to stay with us while she recuperates. The only real guest bedroom we have is my study, and an ancient hide-a-bed and piles and piles of old bills and research articles was not a very welcoming place for Grandma. So I spent many days cleaning out my desk, getting rid of my desk and file cabinets, and putting in a real bed and real TV and real sewing machine for mom to use while she is here. It isn't luxury, but it has all she needs to spend the next month relaxing. The good news is that she got an x-ray on Friday and it looks like her bone has HEALED, so she is much more mobile. We took the damned wheelchair back yesterday and got a lovely cane instead. The wound is still really huge and makes me want to pass out just talking about it (breathe...) and we are looking into getting a plastic surgeon to give her a skin graft (breathe...), but her infection seems to have cleared up and she is definitely on the mend.

In the meantime, all this has put a bit of a wrench in my ambitious plans for getting FOUR papers done this summer before the baby arrives...I have already used up two and half of my four weeks of daycamp doing... what? I swear, I have been working, I just have nothing to show for it yet. Honestly, half-day child care is a JOKE. Who can get anything done in 3 hours (well, 2.5 if you factor out transport)? They should call it quarter-day camp, since that is what it is-- Barely enough time to turn on a computer and start thinking deep thoughts. This week, the kids are in gymnastics camp (which deserves its own post... so much drama!) and I have been trying to figure out how to analyze some data on adult preferences for abstract art based on perceptual features, blah blah blah. Instead, I ended up taking a nap on my desk using my doctoral hood as a pillow. I don't think that was the intended use when I got it? Then the afternoon was spent taking Mom to an appointment, then picking up the kids at a different hospital where Kevin was getting his radiation, then going back to the first hospital to take Mom to a different clinic, then taking everyone home again. Tomorrow, I get to take myself to my own doctor's appointment-- week 34! But luckily, this is an appointment I can look forward to-- there is nothing quite so wonderful as getting to spend a full half hour getting taken care of by a loving midwife. I might even get my iron levels checked, just for kicks!

But in the end, it is family that matters, and I do enjoy another adult in the house who isn't obsessively practicing for *secret ambitious project that cannot be discussed.* Not to mention, Grandma is THE perfect person to share excitement over new babies and adorable grandchildren. And that is a perfectly good segue to the next couple of posts... "Jesse's new style" and "Trials and tribulations of my physically-challenged daughter at gymnastics camp."

Sharon's Bridal Shower!

My oldest Seattle/Grad School friend, Sharon, is getting married this summer, and I was excited to volunteer to host her shower. She has been one of my most loyal and close friends over the years, and she really deserved a fancy party. When I said I would host the shower many months ago on a dreary winter evening, I was imaging the party on a perfect summer day in Seattle, with my garden in full bloom, and the patio bedecked with elaborately decorated place settings and tiers of lovely tea cakes and sandwiches.... very "Martha," very "effortless elegance." I may think that I am pretty good at throwing parties, but I am not. I never plan well enough, the food is always way too much or way too little, I am terrible at small talk, and I have no sense of how to decorate. People always seem to have a good time when they come over (I think?), but honestly, I am no Martha and will never be a Martha. It must have been the added pressure of knowing that many of the guests were coming in from out of town, but shockingly, I think I managed to actually kind-of sort-of pull it off (with lots of help from my co-conspiritor, Sharon's sister Debbie)! It was so much fun to plan and prepare for, even with all that is going on. There were many nights of dreaming about cucumber sandwiches, and agonizing moments scouring the local Good Will for tea cups, and a full 24 hours pre-party that I did not allow my family to use the kitchen (what?? who made toast????)... but I actually think it went as well as I imagined it so many months ago. Is this a new foray into party planning? NO. No, no, no. I will not be throwing any more parties for... well... maybe a year. Except maybe a baby shower... and an anniversary party... and a few birthday parties...