Any one want our weather?

Washington DC actually has 5 seasons, winter, spring, fall, summer, and DISGUSTING! We are there. Yesterday when we got up at 7 am it was 82 degrees and 98 percent humidity. Actually foggy outside, the humidity was so high. It got hotter the rest of the day, and then thunder, lighting and rain about 5. by 11 pm, it was still 85/ And then it gets hot! Makes you wish you were here, doesn't it? Tommorrow is supposed to go over 100. Hopefully, I will be at the pool after work!

The news today suggested people stay indoors, so Bert and I go and work our butts off in our house where there is no air conditioning! Man, is it hot, and we are a disgusting mess by the time we head for home. But, two days of hard work gave us good progress, with a new bathroom coming together, and laundry room with a new window and a new door! Some day, we may actually get done! We are both looking forward to a day off where we can sit and do nothing!

Can't believe its been two weeks!

Busy busy. Between my work project and the house project, throw in some really crappy weather, and we have had a busy 2 weeks. At least in Seattle this kind of weather stays in the winter where it belongs. Not the first week of summer, for goodness sake!

Since Rachel and Michal left, I have either been at work, or working at the house. We finished June with the wettest June in the history of this area. We got something like 14 inches in 10 days. We were lucky that we didn't have any problems with flooding, THAT week.

Starting the 1st of July, we started hot, steamy violent weather, which was sticky and gross, and had amazing thunder and lightening. Tore our new tar paper off our roof, knocked down a tree at the house, and then put a tree through the roof of the garage here at the apartment.

In spite of it all, we got good work done at the house, and the last piece of the
garage went up on the 4th! But, was it hot and sweaty!

The plumber is slower than molassas in January, but the new shower should go in soon soon!

The kitchen is starting to take shape, today we ordered our new cabinets! Whoohoo
Wednesday I went for my first Doctors visit in 2 months. Reviewed my mammogram that I had last month, and got a good going over, and Dr. Jane pronounced me 100%, and told me to get lost until December. So all going good, although she told me I won't be my 'old self' until a year after I finished radiation.

Hope everyone had a good 4th!

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So, you probably heard it rained a little here...

http://www.weatherunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&orig_handle=kurt&orig_number=7&handle=kurt&number=7&album_id=6#slideanchor

This is the Delaware River. Look at that color!

They announced today, record for the month of June ever; 10 inches in the last week, and 14 inches for the month.

And they say it rains in the Northwest! At least it has the courtesy to do it in the WINTER!

Back from vacation, back to work!

Well, we had a great trip. All four of us together again. After a nice visit with Lisa Baer on June 12th, who was here for a conference, we jumped in the Audi, and started up the Coast. We started in Lewes, Deleware

We crossed on the ferry, to Cape May, NJ. Both Lewes and Cape May are old Port towns, and Cape May is still full of old victorian homes. Very cute towns, both of them. From there to Atlantic City, and our advice is that everyone should skip Atlantic City! New York was our next stop for two days, and we had a fabulous time.



We ran around the city on the subway, ate lunch sitting in Battery Park with a view of the Statue of Liberty and all of the harbor on a beautiful day, we ate in Little Italy and had a great time, and we went to Ellis Island.

Back in the car (got lost in Hoboken!) and went to Mystic and Stonington, CT. Both beautiful New England towns, and we made more fun in a little lighthouse!

Spent the afternoon touring the 'cottages' of the Vanderbuilts and Astors in Rhode Island, and then on to Boston.

In Boston we saw all the historic sights, went on a harbor tour, had a great visit with our niece Amie.

We arrived home Sunday night, happy but tired...and hot, cause we are having a heat wave.

Monday and Tuesday the girls helped Bert back at the house, and then Wednesday morning, we got their car all loaded, and off they went on their big cross country drive. The spent the first night in Knoxville, their second in Arkansas and their 3rd in Amarillo, TX. They are making fun stops and having a great time, I think! It sure is quiet here, though.

Bert and I are back over at the house this weekend, and thank goodness it is only 85 instead of 95! Still, work is hot and sweaty and not going very fast as a result. But, we are putting the roof on the garage, so slow but sure!

We are off on vacation!

Michal arrived last Tuesday, and I got home from LA on Wednesday, so now we are gonna go on a road trip.

Here's what Bert and the girls did while I was gone...

Happy Memorial Day

Sunday's work




Monday's work. Hey, it looks like a garage, and the walls are straight and EVERYTHING!

I am being harassed!

When are you going to blog? Its all I hear! Its hard to have so many fans.

OK, its not that bad, and I am glad everyone finds this a good way to keep up with us. Since I got back from the West Coast, my work load has been brutal. We have been working on 4 different regulation packages, all of which have turned into a beasts that eat time like a black hole. RAchel has been training her replacement at work, so we have both been getting home late.

Last weekend we had a pretty easy weekend at the house. Took Saturday morning off to do a couple errands and get some other stuff done. We tore out all that was left of the bathroom, right back to the joists and framing. We love the port-a-potty in the yard though! And better yet, it sits right next to the toilet we took out. And, we knocked off early so that we could go to the movies Saturday night.

But, this week the concrete contractors have come and poured the pad for the garage, and Bert has started framing up the walls. So we are expecting that since we have a 3 day weekend, we will really have something exciting by Tuesday.

So, watch for new pictures after the weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend, happy summer!

Latest news

Had a great trip to Phoenix and LA! We ran all around Phoenix, played putt putt golf (Jason beat me by 1 stroke!) celebrated the girls birthday, and ran to Tucson for a quick but quality visit with our friends the Chozas. Jason drove Michal and I up and back, Rachel had headed home by the time we made the trip to Tucson.

Traveled on to LA and spent a nice relaxing day with my Mom and a visit with my Dad, in between his meetings in San Pedro. Then I traveled down to Newport Beach for a 3 day meeting.

Saw the folks again for dinner before heading for home on Thursday night. Good trip, but I was glad to get home after 8 days.

Rested up Friday, then we hit the house project hard over the weekend. Finished our foundation, spread about 7 yards of gravel, and for Mother's Day, Bert took out that nasty old bathtub. What a nice present! Too bad we found out the floor underneath was shot, but not really surprised. Now if it would just stop raining here, we could make some real progress!


How do you like the fuzz on my head? When I went to see my Oncologist, she mentioned that it appears very light in color for pos-chemo hair! Oh, and she also said, you look good and healthy, see me in six months! And best of all, she told me to throw out the last of the blood thinners, and go have a cocktail on her! So I did! Bert took me out for a mini-celebration with pomegranate(sp?) juice mojitos, yummy!

Last treatment!

Thursday was my last radiation treatment! The team at the hospital had hugs all around for me, and certificate of completion and a present (big chocolate brownie)! Very sweet, the gesture not the brownie.

Rachel and I celebrated by jumping on a plane to Phoenix and now we are spending the weekend with Michal and Jason, too. Yesterday we spent all day in Michal's classroom, what a hoot!

Today we are off to the Botanical Garden and going to play mini golf!

How could it have been two weeks already?

OK, maybe it could have, cause we are busier than ever these days! And I promised to be a better blogger...

We get up every morning at 6 and leave the house by 6:45. OK, not every morning, on the weekends we let ourselves sleep til 7, and leave the house by 8. Radiation every day at 7:30, and it is going really well. Only 5 treatments left, and they have finished with the full field, as they call it where they zap your lymph nodes as well, and now they only zap the area right where the tumor was, which literally takes 90 seconds. Undressing and dressing takes more time than treatment. My skin is standing up OK, slightly blistered buy nothing horrible. I have certainly given myself sunburns that are as bad as this.

I have fuzz on my head, almost long enough to grab in your fingers, if you try really really hard! And I have eye lashes, which is incredibly pleasing to me. I don't look quite so much like a cancer patient now. Rachel is trying to convince me to be proud of my fuzz, and show it off by going wig-less. Its not quite that long, but as the days get hotter, my pride diminishes on the subject!

At work we had a staff retreat, committee meetings and a board meeting, we had a reception in our new office and we moved to the new office!

And while I am not doing that, we do really fun things
<---- like dig this.






And then we bang on the walls -->

Don't you love what we have done with the place??? Hopefully we are almost done with the destroy mode, once the bathtub is out, and we will begin to move forward. I am fairly certain that the hot water heater and the furnace in the front yard are big hits with the neighbors. Wait til the tub and toilet join the group for the full effect!

Still accepting volunteers if anyone is interested. ;)

Kelly says...

That I don't blog often enough, so I will try to do better!

Figured I had better take some time to write today, as it is going to be a busy weekend.

Bert got his building permit approved yesterday, so we should be starting in ernest to get some stuff done this weekend. Rachel had today off (government jobs, ya gotta love them) so she is the lucky one to help Bert rent a jack hammer and start busting up the concrete steps and walkway out in back of the house. Next is a backhoe to dig foundation footings. Ain't we got fun! Will try to get some pictures this weekend to post.

Another week of radiation down, and still feeling good. 3 down, 3 to go. My skin on my upper chest just starts to get a little red and sensitive as we reach the end of the week, but then by Monday it is ok to start back in again. I am going twice one day each week so that I will finish on time to travel the first week of May. Rachel and I have arranged to go see Michal for the girls birthday celebration,so we fly to Phoenix on May 4th, just in time to go to school with Michal on Friday for a Cinco de Mayo celebration with the kids. We are very excited. Then I will go on to LA for a meeting, and will be able to see my parents there, so it will be a great trip. Oh, except that I have to work while in LA. Dang.

Hope everyone has a nice Easter holiday. Always wish we could pop out West on holidays, and spend the time with everyone!

April Showers

=
After the driest March in a hundred years, the last couple of days have been really wet. We have been enjoying nice weather, and the first week of the cherry blossoms was beautiful. I was downtown this week, and took the scenic route home around the tidal basin and across the bridge to Arlington. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, today was the parade and street fair, and it poured!

We haven't minded, because we were working inside on our new house!! We closed on the afternoon of the 31st, and got in Saturday morning and started cleaning and scrubing and de-junking the place. found some good surprises (hardwood floors under the crappy linoleum) and some not so good surprises. We will be busy busy for the next 3 months before we can move in.

Meanwhile, I started radiation treatments on the 3rd, so I have two weeks of treatments done already. So far, no side effects at all: no fatigue, no sensitive skin. So, so far so good. It is a pain to be up and out the door every morning at 6:45, and not being able to travel is a challenge, but if thats all I have to complain about, then Iguess I can't!

Rachel snapped this picture of us when we went to the Colonial Farm last week. The farm is in a park across the Potomac from Mt. Vernon, near our new house. It is part of a park set aside so that when you visit Mt. Vernon, you see the same view that George and Martha saw.

catching up at work

As soon as I got back from Memphis, I decided to go visit a member in Pittsburgh. Bert and I drove over on Monday morning the 20th. I met with the boat operators while Bert explored. Its kind of a funny city, all steep hills and houses on those hills. We did find a old brewery with great German food, which we always consider a gold mine any time we find that! Nothing like a good dish of red cabbage. After dinner, we rode one of the Inclines that the city is famous for, which takes you from the river up the hillside where a community is. We stood out on the observation deck, QUICKLY enjoying the view of the city. Had to be quick because it was 22 degrees out with a nice brisk wind, and it was COLD! No sign of spring over there, either, no bulbs, no leaves.

Drove back the "long way" detouring thru Johnstown, PA and made a quick stop at the museum of the Johnstown flood. Very interersting, but we weren't sure why anyone wants to live there in the first place, let alone rebuild it after such a massive flood kind of a gritty industrial place. But, it wasn't a very good day to judge, being cold and gray and still very much winter there. We were glad to cross back into Maryland and Virginia where it is warmer and spring is definitely on the way.

Cherry blossom festival started on Saturday, but so far the stars of the show have not appeared. The Park ranger says the tidal basin will begin to bloom today, and we are expecting warm weather this week, so check out the time lapse photographs at the washington post to see the blossoms. We are going down there this week, after it warms up!

In between all this, I have been taking calls like crazy from members, getting set up to start my radiation, and trying to buy a house. The members are all squared away (for now) the radiation started today, and it looks like we will own a small house by Friday. I go every morning at 7 am to the hospital for my radiation, and today was easy and painfree, so other than not being able to travel anywhere, it should be OK.

Now, if we could only be done with the anticoagulent (sp?) medication, which I appear to be resistant to because it is not working as predicted. But, again, thats still better than chemo!

Ready for warm weather, and everyone is invited to bring a hammer and a wrench and come visit while we remodel. I know EVERYONE will be signing up for that!

Busy Week

I continue to feel better each week, and better again since my last post. Not much progress on the feet, dang it, but the big event last week was that on Friday I had my medi-port removed! Was I glad to see the last of that clot-causing nasty thing. My surgeon removed it with just a local anasthetic, so we were chatting while she was working away, and when she pulled it out she says, hey, I think there is a clot in it! Duh, was my response! I was a bit sore after the surgery, but so glad to be done with that thing.

Then, we enjoyed a beautiful weekend and actually got out on a short outing. Bert, Rachel and I went and had lunch in Georgetown and saw a stone house built in 1750. Then we toured a beautiful garden on the hill in Georgetown owned by Harvard. It was a little too early, garden just coming into spring with some crocus and other bulbs, but still beautiful, and amazing to find a big chunk of garden in such a dense part of the city.

I was pooped when we got home, but it was sure nice to be out in the sunshine, it was in the 70's.

Monday I flew to Memphis TN for a conference. My co-w0rkers were there too, but it was mostly a tug and barge conference, so we were pretty much bored. We did go out and have Memphis barbeque and hear some blues, and we did a drive-by of Graceland, so that was fun. United airlines arranged not to have my luggage arrive with me (2 days later) boo!

We are still going back and forth on our house offer. Technically it has been accepted, but we are going back and forth over a sewage inspection which we are insisting on (Duh again). Meanwhile, Bert is planning his garage, and visiting the county office to talk about building permits. We should have a firm acceptance by Monday. I have never seen a real estate deal take so long! Amazing. Our seller lives in Pennsylvania, and doesn't use fax machines or FedEx.

Today, we are off to see Impressionist art at the National Gallery. Sunny like last weekend, but only 35 today instead of 75! two weeks until Cherry Blossom Festival, so hope it warms up by then.

Here it is March!

Two weeks past my last chemo, and things keep slowly getting better. Each day seems to be a little better; feeling the feet a little more, hands not so numb, and a little more energy.

Bert and I traveled to NYC this Monday. Nice trip up on the train, which sure beats driving. It was cold up there, but we had a nice walk around Mid town and Times Square Monday, and then had a cozy dinner. Then I went to a CG meeting Tuesday with all of the boat operators in NY while Bert went to museums. I have a VERY interesting group of members up there, so this annual meeting is always interesting. New York is certainly different than Seattle!

We made an offer on a little house on Sunday before we left town. Are still waiting to hear if our offer was accepted, but our realtor yesterday said it looks, unofficially, like they are going to accept it. It looks cute from the outside doesn't it?? Well, it is junkie inside, and we will be ripping out the kitchen and bathroom first thing. It is tiny, smaller than our apartment we live in, thats for sure. If you ever saw our house in Cle Elum, same genre!

It is showing signs of turning to spring around here, temperatures might hit the 70's this weekend. I am getting out and enjoying it, thats for sure. Cherry Blossoms won't be far away. Hope spring is coming for everyone. You Northwesterners especially must be getting sick of weather by now!

Maybe too early to say, but starting to feel better

Its been a hell of a week, but I think tonight, I am starting to feel like I might get over these chemo effects.

It all started on the 3 day weekend. My arm went numb, and my hand swelled up. So, off to the doctor AGAIN, and they determine that I have a clot in my vein, under my clavicle, that is causing the problems. My cousin Marianne arrived just in time to share the experience with me. So, after a 5 hour visit to the ER, I am now on anti-coagulents, that I have to inject myself with every evening. Of all the things I have been thru, somehow injecting myself is the worst!!!

But in spite of that, I went on Wednesday, the 23rd, and got my last Chemo!!! Glad to see the last of that place, thats for sure. I felt ok on Thursday and Friday, managed to have a nice evening out with Rachel and Marianne, dinner and the movies. Friday night Marianne made a nice dinner at home for all of us. Saturday we headed off to my favorite breakfast place, Cracker Barrel. But old Mr. Chemo managed to wreck that, as I started to feel crummy, didn't even finish my hash brown casserole! Those that have been to Cracker Barrel will understand the crime that this truly is! Marianne and Bert enjoyed a nice drive, and a visit to see some houses we wanted to visit, while I was crashed in the back seat. sunday, my birthday, was spent in bed. Bless Rachel for being such a helper, taking Marianne sightseeing and shopping. I got up at 2, back to bed shortly after. Today I managed to drag myself to work, but wasn't until this
evening that I actually feel better, and I have high hopes for tomorrow!!

Now maybe I can start growing some hair, and getting back to normal! Thanks to all for the cards, flowers and birthday wishes. they helped me get thru the lousy weekend.

Another Friday rolls around

And we are excited that it is a 3 day weekend!

I know I haven't posted anything for a while, but I hate to post whiny "I don't feel good" posts all the time! The good news is that there is only 1 more Taxol treatment, next Wednesday. The bad news is, just as I start to feel better, it makes me feel crummy again. I have really reached a low energy level, and I have less 'good' feeling days than I do 'bad' feeling days. And the lack of feeling in my feet and ankles, and now swelling in my hands and wrists is so tiresome! Oh, and maybe just a little depression? Ok, so almost done, anyway!

We have been getting out a couple times and looked for houses. We have had much better luck in Maryland, and actually tried to put an offer on a house last Saturday, but someone else beat us to it. We are trying to balance price vs. commute time, but looks like commute time will win the battle, and we will end up a little farther out than we had hoped. But, there are trade offs in that we can get closer to some recreational activities on the water, so that would be really nice. I figure it will be like the Sammamish house, the long commute is ok if the relaxation is worth it when you get home. But, we are excited to find that there are homes in our price range, which gives us some options.

Weather has been crazy here. the first Saturday we went out house hunting in MD it was a huge storm: raining, lightening, thunder, flooded roads. Then, cold all last week, below freezing, with bright sunny days and then Saturday night we got 14 inches of snow! I was feeling crappy, so never went outside in it, but by the time I went back to work on Wednesday, it was up to 50 outside, and by Thursday it was 67 degrees when I drove home. Crazy place! Now today it is going to cool down, and the weekend is supposed to be freezing again!

Off to Maryland tomorrow. Hope everyone enjoys a nice 3 day weekend, and we wish we were with Mary and Howard and Megan, who called last night to rub it in from their lanai in Hawaii where they were all sitting in the sun and sipping cold drinks! wouldn't that be nice!

TGIF!

It a beautiful day, 67 degrees outside, and I escaped work early! Too bad it won't last for the weekend.

Long week since last posting. That nurse I told you about, who said it wouldn't be as bad the second time, she is a big fat LIAR! The Taxol kicked it with its nasty little tricks Saturday night, and gave me no piece until Tuesday night. I crawled into bed Sunday after we went out and did a little house hunting, emerged briefly Monday for a presentation I had to give at a conference, and then back to my nest until Tuesday night. Awful. I don't read or write or do anything productive. Today the ultimate insult, most of my eyelashes fell out! The good news is, I scheduled the last 2 treatments, one next week and the last one on the 22nd of Feb.

But, I was better by Wednesday, and good enough last night to go out to dinner with Rachel and do a little shopping. Today we walked 2 WHOLE blocks for lunch.

So, back to the house hunting. We went Sunday and looked at a couple condos in Alexandria, in anticipation of moving our office in March. The location was great, south of town on the Potomac, with the George Washington Parkway and bike trail only blocks away, but they sure want a lot of money for not much square footage, so we didn't get too excited. Tomorrow we are going to foray into the wilds of Maryland, where homes and taxes are both much lower, and see if we can find anything we like without an unbearable commute. Wish us luck.

We are having fun with Rachel here. Well, Rachel and I are having fun anyway. Bert is disgusted with our tv watching "project runway" and "Dancing with the Stars". He comes in, sits down, and stands up and walks out in disgust! Its really funny when we go look at houses, the realtors ALL ask "are you staying at home while you finish school"! Thats better than the day a woman in a store offered her a part time job until she gets out of high school! Michael arrived safe and sound in Seattle, after driving across country, and has rented a nice apartment for he and Rachel in Green Lake, so eventually she will leave us.

We are excited for the big game on Sunday. Go Seahawks! Sorry everyone on the West Coast is going to spend another rainy weekend. It must be getting really old by now!

I have been a bad little blogger!

How could 3 weeks have gone by without a post! Weird how that happens, and just when you guys were getting really good about reading my blog. I promise to do better.

Right after my last post, Michal's friend Jason came to stay with us for a few days, so they were busy seeing the sights, and watching college bowls. It was fun to have him here with us, and we see more of Michal, since she doesn't have her face pressed to the cell phone all the time when Jason is here. Unfortunately, they both had to go home on the 8th. Sorry to see Michal go home, as always, but it was extra nice to have such a nice long visit this time. And that night, Rachel and Michael took me to see Wicked at the Kennedy Center, and that was really fun, so I didn't sit and miss my Mikie!

On the 10th, I got my first dose of a new round of chemo called Taxol, and by Friday night, it started to kick my ass! We were out to dinner with a friend when my leg and foot muscles started twitching and cramping and going crazy! By Saturday night, add numb feet and hands, and I was not a happy camper. Luckily it had started to subside by Monday morning when Bert and I had to get on the plane to Seattle. We almost didn't go, but I was glad we made to decision to tough it out, and stopped at my doctors office on the way for a prescription for pain meds, so that helped alot, and I was able to get some sleep that night for the first time in 4 days. By Tuesday, it was pretty much over, and my coworkers made sure I took it easy and stayed off my feet as much as possible during the convention, so it worked out. I was tired and ready to fly home by this Tuesday though, I tell you! Got to see a lot of folks, but not everyone, and sorry we didn't get around better than we did. Nice to see Bert's folks, who came all the way up from Portland just for dinner.

Rested up on Wednesday, so that they could hit me with the next dose of Taxol yesterday. The nurse, however, predicts that it will not be as bad as last week. In the famous words of Jim Carrey, "we'll just see about that, won't we"!

The convention took tons of time before we left for Seattle, but our work load here at the office should drop to normal now that that is over, and I will have more time to keep my blog up.
And, only 2 more chemo doses to go. We are in the home stretch! My doctor calls it the "aren't we done yet" stretch.

Another busy week ushers in 2006

The holidays themselves are quiet, but in between, we seem to go, go, go!

We all enjoyed a quiet, rainy Christmas at home. We all enjoyed good presents, and Bert made us a great dinner. The next day, we picked Ann Marie up early at the airport, and she stayed the next 3 days with us. We saw the Holiday displays at the Capitol and the National Botanical Garden, we saw the bonsai trees at the National Arboretum, we spent one day at the American Indian museum, we went to the movies and we did a little shopping/exchanging. Packed a lot in 3 days, and dropped her off again early the morning of the 29th back at the airport! And, we would have done more, but it was pretty cold for sightseeing. On the 29th, Rachel had arranged for us to visit the White House and see the holiday decorations. My first visit inside the White House, and it was very nice! I really enjoyed it. We met a very nice secret service man who knew tons about the house, and was thrilled to talk to us about our questions, so that was great. He was a Washington state native, of course! We came away with new ideas for our christmas tree next year, because our favorite tree was the one covered with white lights and fresh white lilies! Very nice, and smells good too. Friday Rachel and I got off work early, so we found a little time to look at wedding and bridesmaid dresses. Still haven't found "the one"! New Years Eve, the kids went out to a party, but Bert and I enjoyed a nice dinner and quiet evening at home. We deserved it after the busy week! Cleaned up the house, and put the christmas decorations away. Isn't it true that we love to decorate for the holidays, but the house never feels as clean and tidy as when the decorations get put away! Sunday we went up to stay at a lodge in the West Virginia mountains to go sledding. Too bad when we got there the snow wasn't thick enough to sled! then it started raining Monday morning, to add insult to injury, but we had a nice getaway, and a short hike in the rain to see the waterfalls the park is named for. It was just like a hike in the Northwest!