Rausch Family Visit

We enjoyed a quick visit from the Rausch family this past weekend. Rick, Lara, and their two precious boys arrived Friday evening in time for one of my favorite meals, Verne’s Spicy Pork Ragu, which had been simmering in the slow cooker all afternoon. A great meal enjoyed by all. Actually, it took a bit of bribing for Logan to eat Grandpa’s pasta, but Matthew made up for his brother’s reticence by eating an adult-sized portion. That kid can put away the food!

Verne always spends the weeks before a visit from our grandchildren planning an activity that will both interest them and expend some of their excess energy. This trip included a visit to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The hike through the South Grove of giant sequoias never ceases to amaze (and sadden) me. The first stop on the walking tour is the Big Stump, which was felled in the mid 1800’s. The tree measured 24 feet in diameter at its base. Incredible! With a lifespan of 3,000 years, the tree would be standing today had it not been destroyed. Even larger and sadder is to see the Mother of the Forest, which was stripped of its bark around the same time and died shortly thereafter. All for the purpose of “reconstructing” the tree and taking it on tour.

From the perspective of two little boys, our Ponderosa Pines are an impressive size. For them, the fun was the hike, which included walking around, on top of, and through fallen trees and carryng a walking stick. Matthew was our tour guide. Not only can that boy eat, but he is an excellent reader. At each of the 26 points of interest along the 1.5 mile hike, Matthew (a first grader) read to us from the pamphlet we were given at the onset of our trip through the South Grove. It would seem education has advanced from the first-grade primer about Dick and Jane used in the 50’s when I learned to read!

Here are a few pictures from our visit to Big Trees...

Chemo Treatment #4

Jana makes cancer and chemotherapy look like fun. More than one person has said that, including me. I try to occasionally include one of the few pictures of her grimacing, but for the most part her response to the camera is a smile. Rarely a complaint, she plans our visits, which are centered around her chemo treatments, as though we’re taking one of our Santa Fe family vacations. And, surprisingly, they feel like a family vacation...a bit of travel (which is becoming very familiar), a beautiful setting (I take back every nasty thing I’ve ever said about SoCal – West LA, that is), non-stop talking and laughter, and good eats.

Sadly, duty called and Lauren wasn’t able to attend Jana's fourth chemo treatment this past week (see my earlier reprint of her blog post, "The Worst Effing Day," Thoughts of a Bookworm at Home), but Raelin spent the day and evening with us. Jana's previous chemo treatment was met with a cranky nurse, who refused to begin her treatment until we all (but one) left the room. This time, we decided to try a different tactic and quietly slipped in unnoticed. It turned out that wasn’t necessary as the room with a view was not busy and we lucked out with a sweet and agreeable nurse. She had no problem with us squeezing into Jana’s space and seemed to enjoy our lively chatter and laughter, which is quite a contrast to her typical day treating cancer patients.

In some respects, the treatments and week that follows have gotten easier for Jana as she's worked closely with her “Side Effects Nurse” to control the symptoms. They have tweaked the meds and seem to have achieved a balance that is about as good as it’s going to get. This time she forwent the Benadryl, which is used to minimize allergic reactions to the other drugs, and she remained alert and well throughout the process (about six hours). She felt so well after the treatment that she suggested we spend some time exploring Santa Monica.

We walked 3^rd Street Promenade with its shops, street vendors and musicians and then walked a few blocks further to the Pier, where we sat in the shade and enjoyed a perfect day. The four of us went to dinner at Wurstkuche (a favorite from our last trip) and then returned to her cute little cottage for more talking (the Mosers never seem to run out of things to say), and cake. Raelin surprised me with my own personal-sized birthday cake (carrot) and a small chocolate cake for the three chocolate-lovers. It was after 9 p.m. before we called it an evening and Rae left for home and we went to the Doubletree where we were staying.

I know I’m biased, but we have an amazing family and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t feel appreciative of each of our children. The SoCal girls have cooked and filled Jana’s freezer with good eats for those days she’s too sick or too tired to cook, Scott flew down from Seattle to spend a weekend with Jana, Jeff has used his Hilton points to pay for our stays at the Doubletree in Culver City, and Maria has paid for Lauren’s trips from Portland to LA to be with her sissy through chemo and finally her surgery in May. With the exception of this recent trip, Lauren has attended the other treatments and stayed through the weekends to take care of Jana, do her laundry, and clean her house and she will be spending a week caring for her after surgery. It's been so heartwarming for us to experience their generosity and support over the past few months. What great kids! What a great family!

Did I mention it was my birthday? Thursday after chemo was actually our second celebration. When we arrived on Wednesday night, I was met with an enormous bouquet of flowers and dinner at Bucato (my choice), where we enjoyed a delicious meal and one of their signature desserts, Tiramisu (complete with a candle). It was almost perfect. The only thing missing was our little Lauren, but she assures me we'll have another wonderful celebration when we make our next trip to Portland. Until then, she's holding my birthday gift hostage. Sneaky girl!

The Worst Effing Day (Thoughts of a Bookworm at Home)

From Lauren Moser's blog, Thoughts of a Bookworm at Home...I love Lauren's poems and her blog posts, in general. In case you don't follow her blog, here's her most recent post, called "The Worst Effing Day".

What I now say won't sound fun and happy,
I just don't have that in me, this day is too crappy.
Last night was just awful, a night truly dour,
It made my mood both salty and sour.
But I thought for sure that today would be better,
A night of good sleep and I'd be unfettered.
But I woke up this morning feeling quite blue,
As if the world had instead said, "Lauren, f*** you."
Being a good sport, I was still willing to smile,
And hope it would improve in a small while.
But that didn't happen. Oh no, not at all,
Instead even worse was soon to befall.
Just hit after hit keeps coming my way,
Leading me to believe that this is the worst effing day.


In order of appearance...

1. A special showing of my favorite movie Labyrinth was occuring at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) with a special 30 minute lecture beforehand by Toby Froud who played baby Toby in the movie, is a puppeteer himself and is the son of Brian Froud who designed all the creatures for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal for Jim Hensen. Basically, the man is the son of genius. I even have a signed print by Brian Froud hanging up in my house. So I really wanted to go to this. I've been to most of the other movies in the Reel Science series OMSI puts on (Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Princess Bride, etc.) and while many were full, none sold out. Well, this was the one that sold out and I was turned away at the counter despite arriving very early. Hit one.
2. I arrived home after being turned away to find a letter from the Portland City Attorney's office addressed to "Laura Moser" (ummmm...hello? My name is Lauren) regretfully informing me that they have hired someone else for the job that I really, really wanted. Total bummer. Hit two.
3. That day I was supposed to have traveled down to SoCal to spend time with my family during my big sister's fourth chemo treatment and for my mother's birthday, but work kept me in Portland. Hit three.
4. The next morning I woke up and went to work. Hit four. (Work is always counted as a hit.)
5. My favorite author, Terry Pratchett, died today. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease several years ago and kept writing despite his illness, even releasing a book just last year. He died from natural causes associated with the disease. I first discovered Terry Pratchett sometime in college on a whim. My friend Mallory and I watched a movie that had this amazing preview for a strange looking film called Hogfather. We both thought it looked incredible and tried to find it at our local movie rental store (Elephant Pharmacy - this was Berkeley, CA after all) to no avail. Well, a year or so later I was randomly perusing the science fiction aisle at Borders (another fallen hero) when I came across a title that was instantly familiar to me...Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.Why, it was a book first! I thought to myself. I immediately bought the book and and was hooked from that point on. I now own almost every Discworld novel in hardback and have read them multiple times. His books are funny, satirical, biting, insightful, and thought provoking. I cannot believe that he is gone and will never write again. It's amazing how attached we grow to people that we have tangible connection to. I obviously never met Terry Pratchett, but I always felt like I knew him. He was a friend who transported me to this amazing realm and introduced me to some of my most beloved characters. When I need something to just pass the time, to give me a laugh, or improve my mood, I reach for anything written by Terry Pratchett. And now that he's gone it feels as though I've lost a close friend. Hit five.
6. I wasn't with my sister during her fourth chemo treatment. Hit six.
7. One of my best friends at my current job is leaving for her next position at a downtown Portland civil litigation firm. She is ready and eager for this new job and I know she will be absolutely amazing. And she's still going to be close enough for us to meet up for lunch and fun after work. But it won't be the same. We won't be able to instant message each other during the day any more and I won't be able to run up the two flights of stairs to her Courtroom to just hang out when we both have free time. I'm really happy for her and so excited at this opportunity, but I'm also sad. Hit seven.

I'm now trying to come to terms with all of this. I allowed myself today to wallow, be a general grump, and embrace a woe-is-me attitude. Tomorrow though I will buck up and get over it. On to bigger and better things. Look out, world! 'Cause I will not let this stand.