Friday Five

1. I assume this is not the ideal way to train for your goal race?

Admittedly, this week was pretty tricky, so I am kiiiiiind of giving myself a pass, but COME ON, me. I could have ran last night, but instead I invited my cousin over to play. Maybe I'll run tonight, but I doubt it. I will, pinky swear, run this weekend, but I have no idea if I can run 20 miles like I'm supposed to. I KNOW Eugene is going to be twenty-SIX-point-something, which is more than 20, so it would REALLY be ideal to be able to run at least 20? Bah. I have really, really sucked this time around.

2. Gabby was released from the hospital yesterday! Her fever broke overnight Tuesday/Wednesday, and her antibiotics ran their course, and she was set freeeeeeee, after enjoying some hospital food.


mmmmm. bacon.

3. Last time we were here (when she was diagnosed in 2011), we were in the old hospital. Since then, they've completed the oncology floor of a new tower, which is NICE. Not that I'm hoping anyone has a chance to see it, but I'm just saying. CHOC really did a phenomenal job on the new digs. There's a child life playroom, staffed by volunteers throughout the day, where you can drop off the kid for a bit, and go grab some starbucks in the lobby, or... hit the gym. There are treadmills! Okay, ONE treadmill, but still! Had I known, I might have ran Tuesday. (But probably not). Gab was pretty excited to walk down to the gym. Or to walk, in general. She was getting antsy.

that's a treadmill up there!

Plus, all of the rooms now are singles - no more screechy roommates. Sweet.

I kept getting lost in the new tower, and I was pretty grateful for that. I like that I don't know where things are, because I'm not there frequently enough.

4. In case you're wondering, I DO, in fact, feel like a giant asshole for being all "Man, that was SO easy, no hospital stays for us!". I clearly spoke too soon. Since her port removal is still on hold (her ANC is still kind of low, so she's being pretty closely monitored, and will be back for blood check on Monday), I will promptly shut my face about anything concerning recovery and/or end of treatment. Obviously, it's just not quite over.

5. The difference in Gabby since her first visit is ASTONISHING. Last time, she was rude, and wouldn't talk to anyone, and was generally withdrawn and angry. She wouldn't have anything to do with the playroom, or the volunteers. This time, she was all buggy to go to the playroom, and talked to everyone who came in the room.

It's definitely crossed my mind before that her personality seems different. Even before the diagnosis, she was pretty shy and quiet in pre-school. She is the exact opposite of shy and quiet now.

I am really curious how much is drug-induced, if any, and how much was just borne from necessity for her to deal with everything happening to her. It's an intruiging, but really sad, concept.

And, really, I think that's one of the worst parts, for me, is managing the "what-if's" that come to mind. Who would she be, if the last 2+ years hadn't happened?

I guess it doesn't really matter, but I'm curious sometimes.

I know I'm behind on the Team Gab Virtual Race Giveaways - I meant to do them this week, but ran out of time, but I will work on them this weekend!

But in the meantime, I am still fundraising for Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and would appreciate any donations you might want to give, link HERE.

"Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late"

I hear summer is over.

I mean, Orange County seems confused, because we hit some stupid record highs yesterday, at 113 degrees. But, supposedly, summer is done and autumn is here.

My 30 Goals of Summer didn't quite get completely accomplished, but... c'est la vie.

To recap...

I didn't gym as consistently as I thought I might, but I did more often than I normally would have.

Still not vegetarian. Not at all.

Kids hate hiking. Well, not HATE, but... they certainly don't love it yet. And forcing them out did not make it any better, so I ditched this goal entirely.

Camped once, and it was magical. I couldn't squeeze in a second trip, with H's new job, but we have one planned for October.

I do not bring my lunch to work 4 days a week. Well, mostly I do, but sometimes I don't. I may have been using up a billion teeny leftover gift card ends to buy frozen things from Target because I'm too lazy/tired/frantic in the morning to make lunch. It's possible.

We managed to check books OUT of the library, and... this is key... BRING THEM BACK! I know, it's a foreign concept to me, but it seems to work!

Kids don't cook. They were not interested, in the slightest, and I didn't push it. But I like to cook, so it works out.

I rambled in this post about why I do not care for OAMC or bulk cooking.

The farmer's market was a cornucopia of rad new ingredients this summer - dragon fruit, lemon verbena... I bought and used it all! And then didn't blog it, because... lazy.

Sadly, I think The Cousins only made it over once or twice all summer. Which is a bummer, but we're all so busy. Maybe things will slow down over the fall.

Baby is in big girl pre-school, and so far is liking it!

No 'Poo did not make it to kidlets, which I discussed here... I'm still on the bandwagon, but really taking it to that level is more committment than I can take on right now.

Alas, there was also no gardening. My budget just wasn't there with The H not working for part of the summer. I have plans, though, I swear it.

We did visit new parks all summer! June - O'Neill Regional Park (yuck). July - Yosemite (rad). August - Eaton Falls (also rad). There were a few others, that I've not blogged, and really, compared to Yosemite, I think I'd be doing them an injustice. Yosemite wrecked the rest of my summer, really. And, also, I've been meaning to add a tab up there under my bloggy title for hiking blogs, but haven't figured out how, nor have I really had the inclination to research it any further than looking for a pre-built widget. See also: lazy.

Resume is updated and awesome. And ready for when I decide I am going to snap. I can see this, on the horizon.

I'm drinking coffee right now. It's from the office, though, and free, so there's one point for Heather, zero Starbucks.

Vacation hours available: 98. Oops?

Facebook friends have been dropping like flies. I deleted everyone I had hidden. I got nasty messages from some, which did not make me like you any more than I did previously, so... thanks for confirming that.

We're discussing registering for the Dana Point Turkey Trot, 10K. It's looking rough, but... I guess it could happen?

I USE SUNSCREEN! I did the last few times I went hiking, at least.

Closet is still a wreck. I was looking for the second half of Baby's bathing suit last night, and opened the closet, and quickly closed it back up. Scary stuff.

All of our outdoor gear is neatly stored in tubs, in our storage area. It's so rad!

Shoes... Well. I have a bag, full of shoes AND clothes that I haven't touched in months. Okay, so to be honest, it's stuff that the H dug out of the closet that I never unpacked from when we moved. A year ago. So, it's cleared out, but hasn't actually LEFT my house yet, which is kind of the point... Half win?

Kids- bedtime was 9:30 or early all summer. I don't play around with quiet time.

Judginess has served me well, and I'm not quite ready to be rid of it. I am trying to be less vocal about my judginess, but... I can't help it. I judge. And I'm almost never wrong. People ought just suck less.

The biggest accomplishment of my summer... by far... was bread baking. It was magical. I made a crusty artisnal loaf, sandwich bread, pizza dough, pita bread. It was all magical and I think I've eaten more bread in the last 3 months than I've eaten ever in my life. And I really like bread.


So. There it is. Successes and failures. I'm posting a new list for Fall/Winter. Separately. Because this is already really long.