Joan on the Road...of Life

Bummer! We drove the 70 miles to the Cancer Center for Jim's radiation treatment only to learn that the equipment / computer was not functioning! They wanted to reboot the computer in 15 minutes and hoped that would bring it back up. Seems there are a lot of fail-safe settings (temp of the room, timing, yada yada) that cause the computer to power down and not want to come back up.

After 30 minutes we were told to come back tomorrow. So we drive the 70 miles home. On the way we were delayed by a lookey loo backup on our side of the freeway. On the other side was a deadly 2-car accident with one car burned out and the other one flipped over. Now if that doesn't make you sit up and take notice of your life I don't know what will.

We had to settle our psyches with a little JD, watched a movie (Taken with Liam Neeson) and finally had a couple of bowls of One Pot (Ground beef, tomato base, beans, mushrooms, potato slices soup) lovingly provided by daughter Renee. Crazy day. Tomorrow...another day. Hope the equipment is all working.

Posted by Joan at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday I spent the afternoon hanging out with Mary while Renee drove her Dad into Newport Beach. I took along the laundry and got that out of the way so we don't have to spend time on that over the weekend. (Mary is the daughter of our son Jim).

Mary prepared some yummy sandwiches for our lunch. She'll probably post the recipe on Mary Berry and they are soooo good....give them a try. Ciabatta rolls with brie, prosciutto, spring greens and fig jam. Sounded like a strange combo to me but it was very tasty. She was duplicating a sandwich she had at the airport wine bar.

She shared her mementos and souvenirs from the British Isles trip. Lovely Campbell clan scarf and assorted food goodies. My maiden name was McDearmid which appears to be part of the Campbell clan. Jim's Mom was a Leckie which is from the McGregor clan. So Mary has plenty of Scottish background which may have made her trip more interesting. She fell in love with Scotland and is anxious to go back.

Last night was the final appearance of Boef Bourguignon! Jim really enjoyed it. He tried it with rice and with baked potato but decided naked was best! I am so happy that it turned out good and that it was such a hit. Mary says next time I want to make it I should come share her kitchen and she'll be my sous chef :)

Posted by Joan at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Beef Bourguignon over half of baked potato.

Posted by Joan at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I promised Jim that when his taste buds returned I would make him a special dish...Boeuf Bourguignon aka Beef Stew in Red Wine with Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms ala Julia Child. Today was the day!

Now if I was Mary I'd be taking pictures all the way along. But it was too intense and too hot to focus on anything but the cooking process. We decided to make the dish after dinner and let it rest overnight because Julia said it's actually better the second day. (That's Julia Child of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Jim actually bought me the book a few months ago in anticipation of this day!)

We bought 4 pounds of chuck roast and cut it in 2" pieces. Then it must be patted dry and browned in bacon grease. Carrots and onions are then sauteed, added to the beef and doused with red wine and bullion. I have a wonderful feature on my microwave called the simmer button which cooks meat dishes at just the right temp (around 300) to produce a perfectly tender dish.

While that cooked Jim peeled a dozen tiny onions which I then braised along with a pound of mushrooms. Those are added to the beef mix at the end. I couldn't have done this without my sous chef who cut, chopped and cleaned up.

He has pronounced it absolutely delicious!!! Yesss:)

Posted by Joan at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today Jim has completed 25% of the radiation treatments! We survived the week with all it's fun and games and the daily 140 mile round trip. Jim doesn't seem to be feeling any side effects so that is great.

We have been going to the Cancer Center at Hoag Hospital for 3 years and I've always wanted to take pictures of the unusual trees surrounding the Center. In my effort to notice and appreciate the small beauties of life I finally took the pictures.

Here's a close up look at the bark.

I think these might be some kind of cypress tree but I'll have to do research. They sure are beautiful. I would so much like to tear off some of the bark but I can hear the park rangers in my ear....leave everything as you find it.

This evening, after a few sips of wine and a few moments of relaxation Jim whomped up some Capallini Pomodoro and we watched Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven...where justice triumphs for just about everyone.

Posted by Joan at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got up about 6:30 and walked around the end of the bed and ....squish! Oh you cannot imagine the words I said. One is not supposed to feel water in the carpet at the end of one's bed !!!!

Went into the bathroom to find the floor soaking wet, water running down the front of the cabinet and the filter water faucet running at about 1/4 speed. So I turned it off and woke up Jim. What else can I do?

He went in the bathroom and downloaded the under sink cabinet and could find no lead. What the hey?! Then I recalled that the faucet had been running.

When he turned on the filter faucet part way the water stream hit the sink edge and ran onto the counter....and thusly dripped into the cabinet through the "holey" grout around the sink, ran down the cabinet and leaked onto the floor!

Now this could only have been going on for a couple of hours. I'm the culprit! I'm the one who was up about 4:30 doing my thing in the bathroom and didn't turn off the faucet all the way

This is NOT how you want to start your morning. Especially after yesterday morning.

We soaked up a LOT of water with towels, microfibers and those absorbent thingys on the TV ads. It's still drying. Maybe by tomorrow night we can put all the stuff away :)

Posted by Joan at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I woke up at 6 AM to the funny sounds of birds marching across the motorhome roof and that made me smile. No black cloud :) I decided to get up early and enjoy a bit of coolness before the 100 degree day set in.

Jim joined me, made the coffee and stepped outside to open up the car to keep it cool. Oops...his remote key fob didn't work. So he changed the battery...no joy. Here, use mine, says I. No joy. Geez, must be the autolocks on the car. Ooops...NO, it's THE CAR. Dead as a door nail.

Then he tried the key fob again and it worked. And now the car started. OK...what in the H is going on here. So my blood pressure is rising, my stomach is churning, we have to leave in 4 hours and the car is flaky.

Ahhh..a loose battery connection. Well fixing that took over an hour and a visit to the auto mechanic. Bottom line is that there is aluminum foil wrapped around the thingy coming out of the battery so that the screw can be tightened down...or something like that. And I'm not feeling secure that the solution is the right fix but then who am I to know :)

But we drove to Corona, met Renee who drove her Dad to the Cancer Center while I did the laundry at son Jim's. Not only did Renee drive, she brought us yummy Sloppy Joes for dinner.

I guess after the 100 mile uneventful drive all is well with the car. And all is well for us at the end of the day. I leave you then with this lovely rose bouquet; 5 huge roses at the end of one stem. Pic taken at Renee's on Father's Day.

Posted by Joan at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If I don't blog today I might not blog for another 3 months. Like many days, I woke up this morning with the big black cloud over my head. As I sat up I was pretty sure I'd puke so I made my way to the bathroom very slowly. After a few gags the stress passed by and I started the daily routine.

What? Where's that calm, happy Joan? Well, let me say that the main reason I haven't been writing is because I've been feeling very "down" and just not wanting to burden anyone with it. Can't find the words to write happiness. So I'll get it out of my system here and then get over it.

Today it took me until 4 pm, sitting at the Cancer Center waiting for Jim before the cloud lifted and I said to myself, "Self, it is what it is! Get over it."

You know, once you hear the words, "you have cancer," your life is absolutely never the same. You can't hide from it or deny it, much as you might try. We heard those words 7 years ago. Unbelievable. And for both of us to have cancer....incredible.

Mostly I don't look back. We've survived surgeries, chemos, and radiations. My black cloud is named "future". If I'm not careful I can go there for hours and think up all kinds of nasty scenarios. I have to force myself to "stay in the moment" and repeat my mantra...."Right here, right now I am safe and secure."

Then I force myself to read, crochet and play Scrabble on Facebook. Anything to focus my brain on positive and soothing thoughts. All I really want to do is close my eyes and escape. But there is no escape except to get through it, what ever it may be.

Ok...so now I've written it down and maybe that will be cathartic. Maybe the cloud won't be so black tomorrow. Maybe I'll pull a smile out from somewhere and maybe I'll find something clever to write about :)

Posted by Joan at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

No better day than Fathers' Day to jump back into the blog. Here are the Dads we honored yesterday:

Tom, Brad, Jim and Jim!

I really enjoy the family time. Guess I need the positive energy and support. We also celebrated Jim's birthday with a pineapple upside down cake. He'd been yearning for that since we saw an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown. Next on his food request list is Beef Bourginon ala Julia Child. Maybe next week :) He lost his taster during chemo but that is back now. Hooray!

We are into a 5 week radiation treatment regimen for Jim which means a 140 mile round trip into Orange County. That takes about 5 hours out of the middle of the day. Sort of like a job! The kids are helping out with some driving and meals so that will ease the "pain" a bit.

We've been enjoying an unusually cool spring but looks like this week we'll be in the 90's. Turn on the AC! We've actually had the furnace on in the morning up until now.

Several of you have nudged me to get back on track blogging. Thanks for your encouragement, friends.

Posted by Joan at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)