Mother's Day came and went along with a box of Sherrie's Berries from Jim. So good I really didn't want to share but broke down and let Renee have one. It was a perfect day. Called my Mom and all my kids called me. What more can a Mom ask for? Renee and Tom visited and we spent time at the pool just floating around, chatting and relaxing. We've finally been taking advantage of the beautiful pool complex on these hot afternoons. Three pools and three spas and no one here!

I am winning the battle with the bunnies. My first flower planting got munched by local wabbits so we set the flower pots on risers and replanted. I now have a lovely setting of cosmos, petunias and allysum...pinks and purples. So there, wabbits!

Yesterday we met Brad at our storage and he loaded up two captains chairs from our old van and four boxes of VHS tapes to go to Renee's yard sale on Saturday. Later he messaged me and asked if he could have the chairs for gaming chairs. Absolutely, says I! Wonder how Naomi likes this new addition to her living room :)...I'm happy! One less thing to worry about.

Tomorrow Laura and Steve will be here from Montana and we will have that rare experience of having all our kids and grandkids around us for a few days. We'll be hanging at Renee and Tom's and then having a family party on Saturday. (Tom we will surely miss you).

Life goes on ....

There are a few things unique to this "beef stew" that make it outrageously good. I think the major one is that each ingredient is browned, sauteed or braised before it is included in the stew. And, well, maybe the 2 cups of red wine make a bit of difference!

Here's the meat and veggies getting ready to be cooked up.

Oh wait! Got to cook the bacon to get some bacon fat...maybe that's the secret ingredient :)

Patting dry the beef before browning in the bacon grease gets it really nice and brown.

The onions and carrots get sauteed in the same pan drippings.

My sous chef patiently peeled 18 tiny white onions and quartered the mushrooms and patted them dry. These get added at the very end after the stew has cooked for several hours.

The sauteed mushrooms and braised onions are yummy on their own.

The carrots and onions along with red wine, beef broth and seasonings simmer bake in the oven for 2-3 hours. We used grass fed beef from Whole Foods. Delicious flavor. It's a little dicey doing all this because I'm working on a 3 burner stove and the microwave (convection and simmer button).

Here's the finished product which is mellowing out as we speak.

This was a great project for the day made much easier with the help of my sous chef...and now I get to eat Beef Bourguinon with him!

When I was twenty (I know, spare me "when I was a kid stories") I didn't expect anything. There were expectations OF ME! I was expected to go to college, expected to get a job, expected to marry some up and coming man, expected to get a home and raise a family. It really never occurred to me or my friends to go another route. Of course there were confusions along the way: what should I major in, marry this guy or that, live here or there. But I kept moving forward and setting goals so that I could live up to the expectations of me.

When I look back, the one thing I wish I had done was to live on my own, in my own apartment. If I'd done that I might have gone down a different fork in the road. I don't know. I would have benefited from and enjoyed the independence.

I'm proud of my twenty-something grand kids who all finished high school, who hustle to get jobs, who keep plugging away to get that college degree, who are living on their own, who are married and raising a family, who are supportive of each other and who know how to have fun without going off the deep end of drugs and alcohol. That's what we expected of them.

Back to the book...it looks like it might be a valuable read for the twenty-somethings. The world today is a different place with many more opportunities and a vastly different culture. I think I was just struck by the thought that young adults are "expecting" things to happen to them, "expecting" that the world owes them a living....not so. My favorite saying..."If it is to be, it's up to me."

We are trying to eat sugar free, low glycemic meals. This is tough, especially when you want to gain weight (Jim, not me). We've struggled with meal planning for several months. There's always the dreaded morning question..."what's for dinner?"

Finally, I realized that Renee and Naomi have the solution. Plan in advance! I got on the computer, opened up a Word document (haven't done that in a long time) and set up a 5-week "table". Then I started plugging in meals we enjoy that fit the requirements. Every week is different and fish is included once a week.

When I presented this to Jim he was delighted! Now we can buy ingredients a couple of days in advance and we can use the crockpot more because we'll have on hand what we need to get started earlier in the day. He was especially pleased that I included his all time favorite, beef bouguignon. With Jim as my sous chef and with advance planning we'll enjoy this delicious dish once a month.

I feel really good about this because I was feeling guilty for not cooking better, healthy meals every day as we try to pack weight onto Jim. Now I won't get that dreaded morning question because it will be posted on the fridge and Jim will have healthy leftovers for lunch, too.

I can see this becoming a "book" of favorite recipes. Also, when I list meatloaf for an entree I really have half a dozen different meatloaf recipes so there's lots of variety.

Click here and maybe you'll see my simple idea: Download file

Here's the family arriving at our spot. This was Evan's second major league game and he got into the cheering and booing. It was pretty hot out in our sunny seats but he was a trooper and joined in the fun 99% of the time. I just noticed there are FOUR generations in this picture! Oh...and do you notice anything different about anyone in this picture? Hmmm? Well I'll tell you more in a few days!

There were 12 of us at the game and we all headed back to Party Central (aka Renee and Tom's house) where Tom cooked up dozens of dogs, brats and burgers! Potato salad and cole slaw along with Naomi's homemade salsa rounded out the menu. Somehow the crowd grew to 25 people!! I asked Renee if people just smelled the food and then dropped in....but it turns out that it's typical of Party Central. Kids bring friends who all feel at home here.

After dinner we gathered round the firepit at the "beach" in the backyard. Little kids played flashlight tag while big kids enjoyed the flames and family time. There's always a bit of a contest to see who will build up the fire. If they let Grandpa loose on it they'd have to call out the fire department. Cowboy margaritas and steaming lattes helped us all relax and enjoy the fun.

We opened gifts around the fire and then had cake and ice cream. Wow...lots of laughs and some surprises!

Next party? Hmmmm...I think that will be May 19th!!!

Lunch at Taco Bell and then on into the rolling coastal hills along I-5. I think that may be my favorite area....where the hills are softly rounded and, as one writer described, look like elephant toes. I just marvel at what must have happened geographically to create all these beautiful scenes.

I know, I should have taken pictures! But to be honest my mind was just rolling around the thought that we are headed home, away from the everyday grind of going to the clinic for treatments. It will just be so nice to be back in the warm surroundings of Hemet, sitting outside reading, maybe planting flowers and ...oh yeah...going to a family baseball birthday outing on Saturday! Life feels good right now! :)

Back in December I thought there was no hope, nothing more the doctor could do. Now, after 3 weeks of alternative treatments, Jim is feeling better, cancer marker is down and the outlook is hopeful. Jim goes home on an oral chemo and several supplements to keep his immune system in top shape. Doctor wants to see us again in 3 months although we'll do blood tests and marker tests in the interim.

So today and tomorrow we'll be relaxing in our suite, watching the stormy weather and enjoying golf on TV. Also we have to eat up our excess food in the refrigerator! :) Life feels good today!

After this round of treatments the doctor will check the cancer markers to see what the impact has been. We have hopes that we'll see good results. One very positive thing is that Jim got a medication to increase his appetite...and it is working. Our dinner at PF Chang's with Renee and Tom last night proved that the appetite is back:)

Our daily routine is getting up earlier than we like and getting over to the clinic for 3 hours of treatment. Although Jim doesn't feel bad after that we just have not had the energy to explore much of the city. Well, the chilly, windy weather hasn't helped either. 30 degrees with 50 mile an hour winds...stay inside!

Visits from son Jim and Renee and Tom have brightened our days. They all get us laughing and that may really be the best medicine. Cards from friends and family arrive just when I need a little mental boost. Laura sent me a care package of her "Mountain Girl" face creams and salves. Delicate lavender and rose scents lift my spirits.

I'm looking forward to getting back to my cozy home with my lounge chair and warm temps so we can sit outside. Hopefully....next weekend!

I have to mention a bit about our second night on the road to Reno. We chose a different spot for our night's stop and picked a small motel that had good reviews. Well, I think they had all their family members write the reviews :) The room was clean but that's about all the good I can say. Two electric outlets for all the stuff we have to plug in, no fitted sheet so the bottom sheet slid all over, noisy heater, cooler that blew the drapes up so we had to secure the drapes with books on the sill, little fridge and micro sitting on a bench, lamp shades tilted and a TV from the dark ages. OK...enough. I could not even take a shower there. We just laughed and said..."you gets what you pays for."

This week at the clinic has been interesting and a bit challenging for me. It is very busy with patients who, like Jim, have exhausted other avenues of treatment and found Dr. Forsythe. We hear lots of good stories and recommendations. We do think we are in the right place but it's been frustrating because the chemo sensitivity test results have not come in yet. Jim has started on the immune boosting and hopefully the targeted chemo will start this week. I think the challenge for me is getting into the swing of being with all the cancer patients and families. I just have not felt like joining in and sharing our story. Oh, well, it will all work out somehow and I'll get my head back on straight.

Looks llike we are in for two weeks of chilly weather....I'll be missing my SoCal home. I've got to get started on a project here to occupy my little brain.

The wonderful family awaited us! They had collected in the Starbuck's parking lot. We hugged, laughed, hugged...and then decided that Tom would drive Jim back and I'd hang out with the kids. After a two hour delay we hit the road again and arrived at our motel about 6:30....and that's a story for another day :)

We'll be staying in a one-bedroom suite with more floor space than our motorhome. Wonder if I'll get spoiled? :)

Today we're trying to complete our list of what to take and what not...and then get it all packed. We have so many gadgets. Guess this will be a time to find out what we can live without!

I have been stressing all week about the weather but now that we can see a clear window ahead I'm getting into the road trip mood. Focus on good health and good outcomes.

Why don't we live closer? Well, it is too darned expensive. To live in our MH in Orange County CA would be $1200 per month and we never found a place where we could get a year lease. So we make do.

Jim saw his oncologist, Dr. V, for a checkup which went well. In fact, Dr. V. is interested in the genetic testing and protocol that Jim will be following in Reno. Next he saw our new "integrated" medicine doctor where he got a heavy duty vitamin infusion and then a treatment for his very sore shoulder.

Every thing went well but this day meant we were up at 6 AM, on the road by 8 and not home until 5 PM. I did manage to find a little fresh Mex restaurant and had my fave fish tacos.

On the way home we stopped at Manassero Farms and picked up a 3 pack of Irvine strawberries. So huge, sweet and delicious. We ended the day with a couple of glasses of wine and Fettucini Alfredo followed up with strawberries and cream. Long day but good :)

On the road for a short trip but not in the MH. We drove from SoCal through the Sierra Nevada to Reno. Why?

Looking back I realize I've not written much at all about our medical issues. Well I haven't written much at ALL! I hate when a blogger just falls off the face of the earth and you never know what happened. I sure can see how that can happen though.

We went to Reno to visit a doctor and clinic where alternative treatments for cancer are offered. We had a long consultation with the doctors and are confident that the targeted chemo and supplements, based on genetic testing, will be beneficial for Jim.

Over the last few years he's had surgery, RFA, chemo, radiation...all the treatments approved by Medicare. Still he has cancer. It is not a pleasant experience to hear the oncologist say that he has nothing else to offer. So we had to move to plan B. In a couple of weeks we will return to the clinic in Reno for three weeks of intensive targeted treatments.

How do I feel about this? Well, I've had a huge black cloud over my head for a long time. After our discussions with the doctors in Reno I feel hope. They assure us that there are treatments out there, unapproved by Medicare, that will impact Jim's cancer. Cure? Maybe not. Manage? Yes.