Jan Curran Events

Every Day is Mother's Day..

But when Mrs. Hallmark makes it a national holiday then it is even more fun...

My offspring ,minus son Tod and his Wendy with whom I had done an early Mother's Day in Palm Springs, gathered at my son Lee's for a party hosted by him, his wife, Valerie, and their daughter Madison.

It was non-stop thin sliced and BBQed to the perfecto degree tri-tips, veggies, fruits and then a load of yummy pastries from daughter Karen......... we all ate, read tabloids, sat in the sun and then in the shade, played with the dog, watched the grand kids swim.

When was the last time you saw my daughters?  Well, for those of you who go to their blog at visualchronicles. com , that would be this morning if you are a daily reader but for those friends of mine who aren't addicted to Linda's words and photographs.. here is an up to the minute photograph of them, taken by me and I don't claim to be even half the photographer they are with their fancy smancy 35mm digital big cameras with all the lens.  These were taken with my camera, a Cannon that is so small it is hard to hold.

This is Karen who was celebrating Mother's Day and her wedding anniversary ,too. She said she had on two different kinds of makeup -- one on each side of her face and asked us which looked the best.  I  couldn't see any difference and thought the overall look was just beautiful.  Click on the photo for an enlarged view and maybe you can see the difference between the liquid and powder makeups.

And here, smiling her dynamite smile is my Linda.  She is always smiling, always looks good...  And if you want to see some of her really neat photos with wonderful comments go to flickr.com and then type Lindawoods in to search and up comes Linda's photos. She updates it almost daily, so a fun site to visit.

I got so busy eating and watching the little kids swim  -- good gawd but hearing " Marco" and " Polo" over and over could give a person a migraine!...  I neglected to take more photos.. but I know Linda and Karen took a lot of them so will keep checking flickr.com for both Lindawoods and KarenDinino for updates of our fun day together.

I also got lovely gifts from everyone, felt very special  --- was really a wonderful day.  Took a fast fade about 4:30 but managed to hang in there until 6:00 when everyone was heading home, too. One of the joys of living in Ventura is I am only 35 minutes from Lee's house, if there is no traffic on the 101.  Yesterday there wasn't any traffic when I headed home, so I was home and in my jams by7:00 and in bed at 7:30 and not ashamed to say it was lights out and me asleep before 8:00.

And, me, who used to be the night owl and never went to bed until the "Tonight Show" was over.  Will I ever come out of this rotten fatigue from chemo and radiation?  It's been a year since I finished my last radiation, feel stronger, but still, get that drop in energy that only going to bed can cure.  If that is the worst thing wrong with me, I'll take it!

My grand daughter Maddie asked me to be her email pen pal and send her a letter every day, so I best be a good grandma and log off here now and send her some words.

Oh  - -meant to tell you,  my son Tod at Todgoldberg.com has some pictures from the Salton Sea up on his blog and so does Linda - if you're from the desert or ever wondered about that remote and stinking place, go take a look.

~Jan

It was a cold and foggy day...

That's what the historians can say about Ventura today -- gees, it's like winter! Heat is on, and we plan to swim on Mother's Day.  Hoping son Lee heats his pool to about 108.

I just came back from the Hallmark store.  Went to get Mother's Day cards for a daughter and daughter in law and had to search for those and that search meant staring at hundreds of cards that all said, " To Mom..." and then the ones that said, "To Mom From Your Daughter".... Well, hell, I burst in to tears right there in the store.   It hit me so hard that my Mom is gone.  Not that I didn't know she was gone, but I used to send her a card a day the week of Mother's Day and then an assortment of gifts cus she loved opening cards and packages.  This grief process is the shits and you may quote me.

I'm heading out for a lunch date in a minute. No, not a guy.  From your eyes to God's ears --  not one date since I moved here.  That was one of the nice things about being back in PS -- going out to dinner with one of my long time male buddies.  There are old buddies here, but that is their age not our historical relationship!

Do you remember me writing about the white leather very chic jacket that was my Mom's and  I had it retailored to fit me after she died?  Well, just took it out of the closet and since it is like FEB and not like MAY, I'm going to wear it today.

Rather wishing I was in Palm Springs today, could use some of that heat....

That was screwy...

Okay, I am back. Did you click on that condo1 download thing? I did and up came a HUGE shot of one of the bedrooms at Villa Alejo.

I'll try again to get normal pictures inserted in here.  If it doesn't work..  what can I say?  This will be a shot of part of the living room so you can see the gray 80's carpet ,the built ins that were so all the rage in the 80's, too... and then a shot of the deck where I spent 99% of my time.

Ready?  Okay it worked. Click on the photo for a bigger image..

Aha the deck. Lori and I spent a lot of time out there -- she in the sun, me in the shade.  I also went out there in the evening.. just stared at stars ( the kind in the sky) and enjoyed the cooler nighttime air.

This is me, in the pink , with my friend Allene Arthur who is a society writer in the desert. We met at a pancake house, where no one would ever expect us to be.. had a fun lunch and she surprised me with a birthday gift - a Tony Bennett CD.  We gossiped for almost 2 hours and I loved it.

This is the highlight of my time in the desert -- getting to be with my son Tod Goldberg and his wife, Wendy.  It was nostalgic for Tod to be at Villa Alejo, too, since he learned to swim there as a little boy and then when he was in junior high often went there after school , spending time with his grandparents waiting for me to get off work.

What else did I do?  I went to a movie. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but I hadn't been to a movie since I moved from Palm Springs to Ventura... and I went to the Spa Casino and played the penny machines with pal Lori.  I won a total of nine bucks, which I promptly fed back in to the machine waiting for Lori to finish trying to win 10 bucks.

All in all, it was a super time away and I did harbor thoughts of moving back, back to where it costs a helluva lot less to live, and where I have so many pals. But, I'm no idiot and I know unless I had a summer getaway house somewhere on the coast I could never tolerate that heat in the desert. Hey, it was only about 100, yet I was sweltering -- what would I feel when it jumped up to 120?

The drive back was okay. Son Tod urged me to leave a bit earlier in the day than I planned since there was a huge musical festival out in Indio and I would be fighting for space on the freeway with 40,000 other travelers.  Tod also did a sweet thing, came and loaded my car for me.. too much for a little old lady maybe??  But, it gave me more time with him, and I will grab all I can.

So, there you have it , aside from my telling you what books I read -- think I knocked off a book a day and then Tod and Wendy brought me a tote bag full of new hardcovers to get me reading more when I got home, too!

I'm here in Ventura now -- it is foggy and chilly and I have on long pants and long sleeves -- a far cry from the shorts and skimpy tees I tended to live in while back in PS.  You know what? This cool weather feels just fine, thank you !

I'm going to head out again this coming Sunday but only as far as Calabasas and son Lee's where he will host the family for what has become our traditional Mother's Day -- BBQ, swim, and then everyone sit around taking photographs and reading all the trashy tabloids.

I'll try and take some photos then , too.. and if I can't will steal what ever daughter Linda ( visual chronicles.com) takes.

~ Jan

Palm Springs or Bust...

I did it, I made the drive to Palm Springs from Ventura...

I had my new enV phone from Verizon, freshly charged, and off I went.  Three hours later, tired, and feeling hot even with AC in my crappy Honda, I stopped to get a cup of coffee before heading the rest of the way in to the desert.

What made the drive three hours and not closer to four was the new 210 East -- goes all the way to Redlands now, which doesn't mean anything to those of you reading this on the east coast but for those of us who go back and forth, or used to, from the desert to the LA area, it means less traffic, and a shorter drive.

Pulled in to Palm Springs, took Vista Chino, a street that used to be a favorite short cut of mine and pulled over to one side near the junior high that son Tod ( todgoldberg.com) attended.  My goal wasn't to pick up some 12 year old, but rather to call the realtor to alert him to let me in to the condo I had rented.

DEAD PHONE!  Gees, new phone and that was the second time it had died on me after being fully charged. So then, I started the scavenger hunt to find a pay phone.  When was the last time you looked for a pay phone or used one?  Been years for me and last time I used one, it was 25 cents.  I finally found one in a Denny's Restaurant, pulled out my quarter only to find it now costs 75 cents to use the phones. What a ripoff! But, did get the realtor and he said he would leave the key under the door mat for me.

Now, this week, I will go over to Verizon and raise some hell. I had to keep my phone on the charger most of the time and never turn it off. When I turned it off is when it would die.  How crappy is that??

What a wierd feeling it was  to pull up to Villa Alejo. Know I have told you this before, but that is where my parents rented a condo from about 1962 until 1994 -- so a great many memories associated with that building that is one block from the famed Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

The floor plan of the condo I had rented from an owner was the same floor plan as the one my parents had, and just a few doors down from their unit.  I had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big living room and kitchen and dining area, plus a washer and dryer and just me to use all that space.

I called my friend Lori -- we've been friends for over 40 years -- and she decided she would pack a little bag and come from her condo in Palm Desert and take a mini vacation with me at my rental.

We laughed about the condo.  I swear it hadn't been redone since 1980 -- was like stepping back in time, but you know what, it was a nice step back. I was so totally calm there, so relaxed.  I never turned on the t.v. for the entire week, had no computer with me -- I just sat on the deck a lot, read books, took naps, got some energy back.

Want to see a few photos?  You really have no choice unless you log off now.

Download condo1.jpg  What the heck happened??? No photo. My computer has been acting screwy, let me log off and reboot and I will be back.. try again to get the photos in and tell you more about my little get away.

Packing...

I'm Packing and with stuff all over the bed ...

Packing is one of those chores, like unloading the dishwasher, that I hate. I ALWAYS take too much, even if I am just going somewhere overnight.  Life long fault.  I remember once ,years ago, I was packing for Hawaii and must have had three bags lined up, one for each week I would be gone. My photographer at the Desert Sun Newspaper , a great gal named Lynn Ryder, came over, took one look at the suitcases and said, " Okay, eliminate two of the three.  You'll have a washer and dryer, you will want to buy clothes....  now repack!" and I did, and she was right.

This time, this trip to PS, I don't want to be doing laundry - -although since  I have been known to toss in a load almost daily will no doubt succumb to the washer and dryer -- but, once again, I know I have packed too much. Long pants, short pants, long sleeves, short sleeves, bathing suits, coverups -- you'd think I was going to be there a month.  And in the back of my mind, I do harbor thoughts of next year and of me going for a month -- almost cheaper to rent a place for a month than for a week or two.

I found a great site on the web, you might want to jot this down for your future vacations. VRBO and then the city or area you want. These are all vacation rentals by owners and you deal directly with them, and it has been a really pleasant experience ( so far!) dealing with my individual condo owner.  There were a ton of places to chose from, from Palm Springs all the way to Indio.  I settled on PS even though my son Tod lives in La Quinta.  I thought it might be fun to stay back downtown and be able to walk to places to eat or shop.  Now, I haven't lived in Palm Springs in a long time... I spent the five years before I moved here living in La Quinta and most of my friends have settled out at that end of the Coachella Valley now, too.

Speaking of that site, VRBO, my cousin David in Minn. reports he also used them and got a condo in San Diego through that site and his experience was pretty good.

I'm going to be in a two bedroom, two bath, which is a waste of a bedroom and a bath. I thought maybe one of my kids from this area would like to come down for a weekend, but they are all busy.. Lee jetting off to New York for the Edgar Award meetings, Karen to San Diego for a trial she is busy being the lawyer, Linda just plain busy..........  maybe my friend Lori who lives in Palm Desert will come and stay overnight one night. That would be fun. A grown up slumber party.

I haven't checked the weather yet, but son Tod tells me be prepared for HOT..  yee gads. Here when it is 75 I have the ac on.  What will I do in over 100?  Stay indoors or in the pool, I assume.

I'm packing books to read by the pool ---  that one that is one the bestseller list, " Remember Me?" by Sophie Kinsella... a mystery by Harley Jane Kozak ( she's a friend of my son Lee's and I like her books a lot  - - easy reading and no gory murders to scare me).. and then the book, " Water for Elephants" about life in a circus...  I know, I'm probably the last person to get that book, been on best seller lists forever.  Sounds like a nice assortment, doesn't it?

Okay, time to go give my attention back to the packing.  Now, who the heck is going to lift my suitcase up to the back of my Honda CRV?  I can never lift it.  Last time I had to haul a suitcase in that car ,had to get one of the waiters here to help me load up. Guess I will have to do that on Sunday morning, too.  That trying to get a suitcase in that back of a CRV is a real bitch of a thing to do --- that would hold me back from ever buying that model again... that and the fact it is the most uncomfortable car on the road!

Hope some of you are in LA and will go get books signed by my four kids at the LA Times Festival of Books -- look for Linda Woods and Karen Dinino at the Borders booth, Tod Goldberg and Lee Goldberg in a booth right near that, and then check the programs for when Tod is speaking or leading a panel.

~Jan

What's new...

Here in Ventura...

Just finished reading the LA Times and the program for the annual Festival of Books and it's such a nice feeling to see my kids listed and Tod with his two panels. Those kids have come a long way from the days they used to go just as book lovers and not as the authors featured.  It's great.

Okay , I bit the bullet and rented a condo in PS for a week. I'm going on the 27 and will be back on the 4th which means I will turn a year older while I am in the desert cities.  Plans are being made for some lunches with pals, some dinners with pals, and I'm banking on time at the pool to just float around and be lazy.  I'm staying at Villa Alejo which doesn't mean anything to you, but to me it is where my parents and then just my Mom lived for about 25 years.  It will seem very odd, and no doubt sad, to be there without my Mom,but on the other hand, may be comforting to be where she used to be.

I'm not looking forward to the drive -- 31/2 to 4 hours depending on traffic and how long a stop I make for lunch - and yeah, it will be much warmer there. I'm sitting wearing a sweater here today and I'm sure my friends in the desert are wearing tank tops today cus it is much warmer there. Here we have the typical beach weather with some fog in the mornings and pretty cool days -- which I have learned to like.  Will I be able to handle that desert heat?  Not been back in over a year. This will be a real test.

When I come back --  on May 8 I see the oncolgoist and we set the date for my PET scan which, of course, I shall be dreading.  But, until then, going to try and have a good time in the desert and know I have a busy week here before I leave.

If you are in the SF Bay Area hope you were able to go to my daughter Linda ( visualchronciles.com) book signing yesterday or are planning on seeing her today... and for those of you in LA hope you will go to son Lee ( leegoldberg.com) book signing on Thursday night and then to all four kids and their signings at the Festival of Books next weekend at UCLA.

Been practicing with my new digital camera and hope I have the darn thing mastered before I head out next Sunday so I can take a lot of nostalgic photos in the desert.

Now, to crack open a box of Matzo and do the Passover bit............

~Jan

Lazy days and daze...

I'm back...

Not that I have been away, just been so busy reading other people's blog, never take the time to post on mine... I seem to pale in comparison in what to relate.

What's new here?  Well, off the top of the reel some nice news. Dr. decided not to do my next PET scan until sometime in May which was a nice " Whew!" for me cus you know how I dread those tests.  My weight is still hanging in at 115 which prompted the doctor to say, " you wear it well," which I guess means it is okay for me to still be 15 pounds under my old ideal weight.  My blood work was fine, my lungs sounded correct so on we go until May.

Before my doctor appointment had a fun lunch with my two daughters and grand daughter Emily. Daughter Linda ( visual chronicles.com) has a fun thing she does, she takes pictures in mirrors, which doesn't sound like fun, but trust me -- it prompts a lot of giggles.  We four got together in front of a mirror in a deli bathroom and it was one of those one stall bathroom so I wonder what other restaurant patrons thought.

Here we are... Me, Linda, Karen, and Emily, Karen's 13 year old daughter.

I think if you click on it it will get bigger. If not, just take out your reading glasses.

Cousin Dave... was in California, visiting from St. Paul. We met up at son Lee's ( leegoldberg.com) to go out to lunch and took this shot out in Lee's back yard with the views of all of LA... 

That's Dave's friend Roger on the left, me, and cousin Dave.

It's Easter weekend and that means I can go to daughter Karen's tomorrow for a family brunch.  The boys, Lee and Tod, won't be there. Lee is on a road trip in Northern California and Tod is at home in La Quinta...  Wish they could be there, too.

Checked flights from here -- or Burbank, or LAX or Santa Barbara to get to Walla Walla cus been thinking of going up for a week.  One could get to Europe easier and with a direct flight, too.  Will talk to a few friends and debate about flying as far as Portland, Oregon and then driving... need to see what is going on in Walla Walla and if my buddy Charlie would be willing to come to PDX to get me or not.  It's a haul no matter what.

Been Reading...

Finished off " The Commoner" and liked it a lot, mostly for the information on Japan and life there... book is very good in the first half, rather drops off in the second half and has a stupid ending.. but noted it has made the NYTimes best seller list.  Now, although I am behind the times, I am just now getting in to Sue Grafton's " T is for Trespass" -- starts out very good, it got good reviews, so sure it will be a fun quick read to pass some hours.

I'm rather tired of all the sex stories about the governors coming out of the east.  I think Mrs. Spitzer should have just grabbed the mic and said, " you slime-ball.." but if she believes in for better or for worse, and how much worse could this get, then maybe she will hang in there and try get him some therapy help and save her marriage.  Felt very sorry for her. On the other hand, she could have just pulled out a gun and shot him and there isn't a jury in the world, made up of women, of course, that wouldn't have let her off the hook!

Ladies, have you checked out the web site, wowowo?  It's rather fun, set up by some power women and has a question of the day, some good feature pieces -- well, at least so far.

Now that I am learning how to use my new digital camera will try and post more photos on here more often, and , yeah, try to be a better poster, too........

Not too much longer and "Boston Legal" will be back... finally some decent t.v. again.

Okay, Jan Curran has left the room.

Thanks for stopping by.

A new family member..

We've got a new family member... and adorable, at that.  I'll post a photo so you can judge for yourself..

The new addition is the dog... her name is Oreo and she is a puppy, loved and adored by my grand daughter Madison, age 12, pictured here with me and the little pup.

I think I have a better shot of the dog. Hold on. Oh, you know to click on the photo to get an enlarged view, don't you?

Makes me want to get a dog for my self.  But, alas, no dogs allowed here, so will have to just lavish my attention on Maddie's little Oreo - - named for the cookie, of course.

I haven't any photos to put here yet from the visit with the British cousins. I'm waiting for daughter Linda to post them on her Flickr page, then will steal a few and put on here.

Yesterday was my son Lee's 46th birthday. I had planned on making the drive to Calabasas and seeing him but we are in the midst of stormy weather so we decided to wait until the weather is better. Made me think that if  I lived in Seattle my entire social life would be on hold with all the rain they get there.  Yet, do miss Seattle and my visits there.... didn't really mind the rain cus I tended to stay in and warm and dry when it was pouring.

Okay, time for me to go read my kids' blogs so I know what is going on in their lives...   You might do the same, it's always entertaining....

No romance here...

Ah, Valentine's day.  It used to be, back in the days with my beau, a really fun holiday with lots of roses and a hand written card full of loving sentiments...... Now, I don't even anticipate any flowers coming my way, so was happily surprised to find a beautiful bouquet of tulips in red and pink outside my door.

A secret lover? Nah.  My wonderful daughter Karen who always does just the right thoughtful thing. I remember she used to always send my mother pretty flowers on Valentine's Day, too, and it would just thrill my Mom.   I missed my Mom a lot yesterday, thought about her  a lot, thinking of what I would have sent her as a gift on Feb. 14th. She loved to get gifts, the more little packages the better, so always put together a little gift box and then would also send her flowers or a plant.  She would be so delighted when I would call to wish her a happy day, and she would be happy. She would always end a call by saying to me, " don't ever forget how much I love you."  I don't.

Love of a different kind...  Years ago, not long after my father died, a friend of my Mom's took her shopping at a very high end shop in Palm Desert. She talked Mom into buying a short, double breasted, white leather jacket.  After Mom got back to her condo she called me and I went over to see her purchase. The jacket was luscious, a soft wonderful leather and quite high style. Mom was having such guilt and second thoughts about buying that jacket.. it had cost so much, when would she wear it, etc.

I gave her a pep talk, told her how lovely the coat was, and she surely  could wear it a lot, both to luncheons, out to dinner, always would be the crowning touch to her outfit.  She kept the coat.  Not only did she keep it, she loved it and she wore it all the time, and it always was just what I said it would be  -- the crowing touch.  I have so many photographs of her in that coat, accented with a pretty blouse or one of her many designer scarves.

Often when I visited Mom in Seattle in the last four years she tried to get me to take the coat.   I kept telling her no , telling her that surely she would go out somewhere and want to wear it.  Besides, that, I didn't think it would fit me, I was taller than Mom, surely the sleeves would be too short.

Last August when Mom took a turn for the worse and I was with her in her bedroom in Seattle, she once again told me to take her jacket, she hated to think that it would never be worn again.  I told her it would be worn again, and by her, not taking it now, maybe on my next trip.

My next trip and time in her bedroom was when she died and I was cleaning out her closet. There hung the white leather jacket.  I took it out and put it on, surprised that suddenly it fit me, in fact, it not only fit me, it was too big across the shoulders. My weight loss made me so small now, that even her small jacket was too large for me.  I brought it back to Ventura with me, anyway. I couldn't bear to give it to Goodwill.

Yesterday I took the jacket and went to a tailor in Ventura, a tailor who told me what beautiful leather the jacket was.  He also told me how it was too large for me but if he changed the shoulders, it would fit me. 

So, the end of that story is, the jacket Mom loved, and I love, will soon be in my closet and a jacket I am sure I will turn to as the crowning look for some outfit.  When I told my daughter Karen what  I had done and how I soon would have Mom's jacket on me, she was so excited about it and told me, " It would make Nana so happy to know you are wearing her beloved coat."

Loving peace...  I should be doing the rewrite on my book, but haven't had any desire to write. Much like losing my desire to paint...  Maybe it has been my grief, maybe it has been the news that I'm not having a pet scan and that I gained five pounds.. not that urgent feeling that I have to finish the book NOW...  instead I have taken a week to just read other people's books, be lazy, feel more relaxed.

So what have I read?

Just finished " The Senator's Wife."  Since I bought it, it has gone on best seller lists.  It's rather an odd book because I never liked the second lead person.   I liked the Senator's wife and cared about her, but didn't give a hoot about the next door neighbor.  The novel goes back and forth between these two women and their lives.  The narrative bothered me a bit, too.  And the ending?  Think the author ran out of steam or ideas.  Left me saying, " what the hell???"  I'm not a book club or a famous day time talk show host, but take it from me and save your loot on this book.

An Anita Shreve book did that to me, once, too..   and because of that stopped buying her books.

Love the Brits... My Mom was born in London and we still have cousins living in London and other areas of the U.K.  I've been over a few times, my parents went many times, my daughters have gone over.  I love everything about the Brits and used to joke to my sons that  I would run off with Jack the Ripper if he had a British accent.

A favorite cousin and his wife arrived in LA yesterday and we will get together on Monday for lunch or dinner. Haven't seen them since 1997 when I stopped in London before starting a month long car trip around the U.K.  Looking forward to this visit. I'll take my camera along and hope to post some photos here.

I've taken the first step towards my rewrite... I moved the file box over next to my desk, and will start sorting chapters.  I know myself well enough to know that once I start the editing I will get back in the swing and have fun with it.  Stay tuned...

Alarms... The fire alarm just went off in my apartment. If you want something to get you up and moving, forget an alarm clock, have your fire alarm go off.  We've all been told here that if the alarms go off, stay in your apartment cus the apartment doors have fire walls.. stay inside until you hear some instructions.  Well, forget waiting for instructions.  I looked through my peep hole. No smoke, no flames. Was the fire upstairs, down stairs?  I stepped out in the hall and there was my neighbor. She'd gone down stairs to check it out.  " It's just a drill, " she told me, " but at least they could have told us. How many elderly people do you think that scared?"  Well, I'm not sure on the count on the elders here, but this one person who is 20 years younger than they are sure had a few moments of pure fear!

The Writers Strike is over... and that means I have kids who can stop sweating it, a daughter who will be glad to see her husband leave the house for work... and maybe, finally , something decent to watch on the telly.

My favorite show, " Boston Legal" never ran out of episodes.  Did you watch it Tuesday night?  Am I the only one getting a bit tired of the Denny Crane ongoing sexual stuff?  Wearing a bit thin.

I have been watching a lot of my BBC favorite shows and discovered I get them on two different PBS stations so that laughter you hear is me laughing at Mrs. Bucket on " Keeping Up Appearances".  I've seen almost all the episodes, but they never stop amusing me.

Time to head down and find out what dreadful food they are passing off as lunch here at " the home."

See you here again soon.

~Jan

Good news , good events, and gains...

Hi on Thursday in sunny Ventura where it is to hit 62 degrees today...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, in fact, it has been a beautiful week so far.  Can we go back and say the week began last Friday cus that is the day I went to meet daughter Karen and her family for a school function. 

The school function was fun, Karen made me a casserole to take back home with me, and the best part, aside from seeing the grandkids and having time with Karen was that the clock struck 9, I was still out and for the first time in a few years , I didn't feel like I had to get in bed or cry.  In fact, I was still, I think, alert and able to put together a few words to make a sentence!

Monday... Last year, about this same time, my friend Ann invited me to an Assistance League of Ventura author luncheon. Oh, it sounded like fun, and I was eager to go and meet some new people , but when the date rolled around, I was in the midst of daily radiation treatments and had to cancel out.   A few months ago she gave me a "save the date" notice for the event this year and I said okay, but with reservations, that never ending fear that the big C would return and I would be in treatment again and not able to go.  Well, as you know, I was not in treatment, was able to go and it was a lot of fun.

Ventura doesn't have the glamor of events in the desert ( think valet parkers, fabulous decor and menus)  or the historic atmosphere of something in D.C. ( think the Building Museum or the Library of Congress or Mt. Vernon).... but that aside, this event was well organized, had a huge turnout and was an entertaining and fun day.

So, with that event under my belt and still with the good vibes from my Friday in Westlake Village with family, the week was off to a good start.

Tuesday  I woke up to bright sunshine, blue skies and an itch to do something.  That alone is a something new for me cus most days in the last year and a half I woke up wanting to go back to bed.  So, what did I do, you ask?  I got in my car and drove to Santa Barbara.  I went alone, but I don't mind my own company.  The drive was breathtaking with the ocean on one side of the car and snow topped mountains in my view on the other side.   I made it from my door to a parking place in Montecito in a half hour.  Talk about an easy drive, wow.

I didn't do anything very exciting, but it was wonderful.  I got a sandwich to go in a favorite deli ( from my27 years annual summer experience in Montecito for the Santa Barbara Writers Conference)... took my lunch to a little park, sat and enjoyed the fresh air, the flowers, the energy of Montecito ( could it be all that money???).

Then I moved my car to another favorite Montecito neighborhood and did some window shopping, more people watching. By the time I came home in the early afternoon I felt terrific, energized, relaxed, mellow.

Wednesdayy brought an email from son Lee ( leegoldberg.com) that he was coming down for the day, lunch together and then we'd go shopping for a new t.v. for me.  My current set works fine, but it is about 20 years old with a screen that was 20" and the set is cumbersome and ugly and heavy and took up a lot of space in my bedroom.

Lee had gone price shopping and brand comparing before he got here, so when we set out to shop we had already decided to go with a Sharp, slim line, in either a 27" or 32" at Costco.  Gosh, it's hard to figure on which to get, isn't it?  They look so  big in the store. Ended up with the 27", could have gotten the 32" and it would have worked fine, but was afraid it would be too big.

I'm happy with the new set, one of the housekeeping staff here took the old set off my hands and by evening, I was in my bedroom, happy as can be, watching a sharper picture and feeling like I had more space in this little room.  Best of all was the time spent with Lee and the time he spent programming the remote, and the set and showing me how to use everything and not feel like a technical idiot.

Then he also programmed my computer for a new slim digital camera I have, sorted out files on my computer and made it all so much easier for me. I am an idiot when it comes to computers and unless Lee or my son Tod ( todgoldberg.com) is in the room, I'm stuck.

So that was four great days and  I didn't think Thursday would be as great, in fact was dreading the day today cus it was the time for my 6 week checkup with the oncologist and I was afraid she would order a PET scan or say I had lost weight, or she didn't like my blood work or blood pressure.

Well, cheer , my friends.

Blood work was perfect, blood pressure was great, and ... tra la la... I gained five pounds!! First weight gain in almost two years.  I was thrilled.

And... she said, " I see no reason to order tests now..." which means no CAT SCAN or PET SCAN.

She talked to me about how much stress she felt I had been under back when I was in radiation and trying to fly back and forth to Seattle all the time to be with Mom, then while doing recovery under the stress of the daily worry about Mom, the flights back and forth again to be with her, then the stress of her death and the grief process.

Now that stress is behind me and it shows.  I look better, she said, my color is good, I'm gaining weight and the fact that I went to Santa Barbara/Montecito and wasn't worried about sudden fatigue or legs that felt like rubber was a great sign that   I am recovering.

I go back in six weeks but for now can relax knowing that over all I am on the path of recovery.  ... and  I can watch movies on my new t.v., go for walks and not worry so much about not having strength in my legs.

Don't you agree, things are surely looking better.

Oops, forgot I wanted to insert this picture up where I talked about going to the author luncheon. It's me and my friend Ann, taken at the luncheon and that big smile is because I was OUT!!

Here you go. I'm the one with the dark hair... Click to enlarge the photo.