Joan on the Road...of Life

The temps are rising here in Hemet although they are still a tad below average. Today was forecast to be 95 so we thought we'd take a little trip to get out of the house and make a few purchases. About 30 minutes away is the Desert Outlet Center at Cabazon, just off the I-10. We had to go through 2 detours but made the trip quickly. We should have started earlier but we are soooo lazy. When you don't get up until 9:30 it's hard to get started before 11 :)

I needed some sandals for our Illinois trip so we headed to the Rockport store. They only had one style that had an ankle strap so I "settled" for that. They had a BOGO half off so Jim got new shoes too :) He's lost a bit of weight in the last year so he picked up a pair of Dockers and I hit the Jockey store for new undies. Kinda funny that they had all guys in the Jockey store so I'm talking to them about wanting French Cut panties in pastel colors :)

Lunch was Japanese ...sushi, tempura and noodles. Dessert was Hagen-Daz (sp). After all the shopping in the sun I found a huge fold-able/ packable straw-like hat that will protect me from the sun. I'm burning more easily after my radiation last year.

By the time we finished shopping it was 99 degrees. I was wiped out. We headed home, hit the lounge chairs and relaxed. Supper was easy...lots of snacks and a little sippin' Jack.

Today we wish a happy birthday to SILaw Stevo, a very special family member. He is a miraculous chiropractic healer and has helped so many family members. We wish him a wonderful, successful year.

Posted by Joan at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Renee and Tom hosted our Father's Day celebration and we girls and kids tried to do everything so that the Dads could just have fun. Here's son Jim, my Jim and Tom at bocci ball. Son Jim finally beat 'the old guy!"

It was a beautiful SoCal day so there was lots of pool activity and lots of lounging around being lazy, drinking beer. We had grilled brats, dogs and burgers along with baked beans and a new "crowd pleaser" dish that I made. I told the kids that every time we all get together I'm going to bring a new dish to try out on them. Lots of recipes sound really good but make way more than Jim and I will eat. This dish was a potato casserole of hash browns, sour cream, green onions, grated cheese, cream of chicken soup and a cornflake crumb topper. It was rated pretty good!

Jim got a Logitech remote DJ gadget that allows us to play our music from the computer on speakers inside or out and use the remote control to manage the whole thing. Pretty awesome! I guess they don't make these things anymore but Tom found one on Ebay. Jim is really enjoying accessing our music this way and not having to sit at the computer to play music. We have about 5000 songs to choose from :) !! Thanks kids!

I mentioned Jim's radiation treatment but haven't written about that. A month ago a check up CT scan showed a spot in his chest that had looked suspicious before and now looked a little bigger. PET scan showed it is probably cancer and apparently it had not responded to chemo. The first treatment the doctor suggested was 20 days of radiation. Yikes! That would mean 4 weeks of trips every day to Newport...2 hours each way. We asked if that was the only option and the doctor thought for a minute then said that there was a new radiation machine in town that Jim might be a candidate for. It's called a CyberKnife.

We were able to see the radiation doctor that same day and she gave the go ahead for 5 treatments. We feel so fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. There are only a few hundred of these machines deployed around the world and we are near one of them. The doctor (another young woman) is very confident that this will "blast away the tumor." She says there is a whole new generation of doctors using tools like this CyberKnife who look at cancer like Jim has and think that if anything new pops up...blast it away!

Maybe I'm just a Pollyanna but the doctors give us great confidence that all will be well. Jim has had 4 of the 5 treatments and has experienced no side effects. The major one would be tiredness but he hasn't even had that.

Another bump in the road...and maybe this is why I had such a strong gut feeling that we should stay put for awhile.

Posted by Joan at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whew! I can't believe it was a week ago that we were gathered in San Luis Obispo for Grandson Jim's graduation! I've lost a week to doctor appointments and freeway adventures! But you do need to know about his graduation because we were all so very happy to be there with him.

We all drove up on Friday and gathered together at a Sushi Grill for dinner. Teppan grill dinner is pretty casual so we all enjoyed it including Evan who learned how to eat ice cream with chopsticks:)

Saturday morning found us all up early headed for the Cal Poly stadium. I found it incredible that we all found each other in front of the stadium and could walk in and sit together. We couldn't have managed this without cell phones. Funny thing was that so many other families were doing the same thing. Half the people walking around had cell phones to their ears coordinating street corners and meet ups :)

Huge stadium, huge class, lots of speeches topped off with doves flying free! I felt very emotional. Had to keep biting my lip and taking a deep breath. We are all just so proud of Jim completing this journey. Family, friends and professors can support and encourage but in the end it's the kid that does the work and makes it happen. Congratulations, Jim!! You did it!!

After the stadium ceremony we walked to the Art and Design department patio where the grads in this specialty were recognized.by their professors. I spoke to one of Jim's professors who said that "...he's a great guy! He did a great job!"

We didn't have firm plans for the afternoon but we were hungry so Jim suggested we drive to Pismo and meet up at a cafe on the beach. We headed out, cell phones in hand, and met up there only to find a long line and no good seating. Luckily, just down the street we found an outdoor patio place, Brad's Burgers, and they had us seated in 10 minutes!! Wow! We felt so fortunate.

We enjoyed a relaxed lunch with pitchers of beer, fish and chips, a great server and fantastic weather. Mary brought a yummy celebration dessert of her Guinness Cupcakes that she passed out while we serenaded Jim. We were encouraged to just sit back and enjoy ourselves ...so we did. Our server got a very generous tip for helping make us feel like we were in our own backyard.

After a long walk on the Pismo pier, visiting and enjoying the weather, we each headed our own way. Jim took off to enjoy the rest of the day celebrating with friends. We were too pooped to do anything more than hit the hotel room and watch TV.

I was going to write about this on Monday but, honestly, I still felt too close to the event...too tied up in the emotion of it...to write about it. My heart was overflowing :)

Posted by Joan at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's Jim at the end of our freeway adventure. Tow truck arrived, kids arrived, hugs were given....all is well :)

Posted by Joan at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before I write about Jimbo's graduation last weekend I need to write about our harrowing, scary freeway adventure last night. We were on the way home from a trip to Newport Beach (about 90 miles) and I was driving in the carpool lane...going about 65-70....during evening rush hour traffic on the 91 east. (Got the picture ? :(

Suddenly the car slows down, all the dashboard lights come on, the gas pedal is unresponsive!!! Yikes. I immediately turned on the flashers. There's no place to pull off to the left. It's noisy and I can't tell if the car is running or am I just coasting?

Traffic is moving along on my right and there are breaks here and there so our immediate thought was try to move right and get off the freeway (in hindsight I'm not sure that was a good thing to do.). I turned on the right turn signal and with Jim helping me decide when to change lanes we managed to putt-putt across four lanes and get to a safe spot between the freeway and an exit lane (that little V-shaped spot). We got a few honks but we got a few people who slowed down to let us move.

To say I was shaking is an understatement!! I could barely talk! I said more four letter words crossing those four lanes than I have in the last year !! :)

We sat, trying to decide what to do, who to call and in just a few minutes a tow truck pulled up behind us. A hunky, young, fireman handsome guy knocked on the window and asked if everything was OK. Well I almost lost it right there! Anyway, he was from Freeway Service Patrol, a California highway service, and his job was to help and/or get us off the freeway. So he hooked up the car and towed us about a mile to a CHP designated safe spot...your tax dollars at work.

We called our kids and our towing service. Kids arrived quickly to give hugs and support. Tow service (Good Sam!!!) arrived within 15 minutes :) Wow! They towed the car to Hemet, about 40 miles, no charge. Jim rode in the tow truck to give directions. Renee, Tom and Hilly followed along to then take us home. Hilly got a view of Grandma that she may not have seen before :)

All's well that ends well:) This sure could have been a disaster but I guess the gods of the freeway were on our side and we lived to tell the story :)

Posted by Joan at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We're getting ready for the next graduation in San Luis Obispo, CA at Cal Poly. Grandson Jim will be the celebrity for this weekend!! The whole family is going! We just hope he managed to get enough tickets to get us all in the stadium. Even little Evan will be there (however his Dad will have to miss this event...has to work).

It's about a 5 hour drive and we may try to caravan with the other family members...then again we might hold them back :) I've got the maps printed out (no GPS for us) and we're ready for the road trip.

In other news we have some tomato plants growing and one even has a tiny tomato on it. This is keeping Jim occupied. The weather here in Hemet has been really nice, no unbearable heat. So crops are growing and flowers are blooming. I think we've only had the AC on twice. Oh it would be so nice if we had a cooler than normal summer!

Friday we will douse the plants with water and hit the road. They should be OK for the weekend....right?!

Posted by Joan at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We started the weekend with Mary's graduation from University of Redlands where she received a B.S. in Computer Science and Math. We are very proud of her accomplishments and she is delighted to be done. Here are a couple of shots from the morning at the Greek Theater.

After stopping for snacks at Mary's sorority we headed for "Party Central" aka Renee and Tom's home. We had a quick lunch of brats and burgers then everyone, except Evan, took a nap. We were pooped out from such an early start and sitting in the heat.

Snacks appeared about 4 PM along with an bountiful serving of fresh sushi....boy that did not last long and it was soooo good! ....especially when consumed with the sangria :)

The father of the graduate, son Jim, served an awesome dinner of grilled filet mignon, sauteed mushrooms, Asian coleslaw, scalloped corn, and potato salad. Dessert was mango sorbet. The menu was all at Mary's request and Jim did a bang up job creating everything.

I don't have any pix of the afternoon or evening...too busy drinking sangria and champagne :)

Sunday was a needed day of rest for everyone. Monday we all headed for Party Central again for a cookout and family gathering to welcome my niece, Marla and her family, to SoCal. They are headed to Disneyland for a short vacation. I was amazed that they made it to the party after a 10 hour drive from Tucson. Frank was little weary but I think they enjoyed meeting the family and getting lots of hugs.

Here's Renee with Marla and Heather (my Greatniece!)

It was a really wonderful weekend. We all extend many thanks to Renee and Tom for hosting so many family gatherings. They have lots of "toys" and a large backyard with a pool and space for bocci ball. The old guy, my Jim, once again beat out the other guys in bocci even though he had a sore shoulder :)

We ended the evening with a campfire on the "beach" beside the pool. Here are some of the partygoers....and what are they doing? Probably texting each other!

Posted by Joan at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)