Jul. 31: Month in summary

Seems like I just wrote my June review, and it’s already time for July’s. I really should blog as much as I think about blogging. That would be a lot more blogging.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• Independence Day was spent with neighbors and we blew shit up. Yay!
• Relay for Life was last weekend. I was there as much as I could be.
• The biggie: Victor’s birthday a couple days ago. He turned old. We joined Sonya and her family over at their parents’ house for a way-fun birthday dinner celebration. I gave Vic a kidney stone to celebrate, because I’m a giver.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

• I guess the kidney stone thing was supposed to go here.
• Also, I didn’t really give Vic my kidney stone, but he was glad it was gone so I could stop whining.
• I didn’t really stop whining.
• I never really stop whining.

Books I read this month:

• I started reading The Light in the Ruins, by Chris Bohjalian. It’s fantastic so far. Dina and I went to his reading/signing at Powell’s a couple weeks ago and he was charming and told such great stories. One of my favorites was about how some bonehead who had self-published a ridiculous novel asked where Bohjalian got “those Oprah stickers” because he wanted to put them on his books to help them sell better.
• Whenever I mean to type “Bohjalian,” I SWEAR, I start to type “Boyardee.”
• I’ve picked up several books to read but haven’t been able to concentrate enough to finish a single one.

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• We saw Despicable Me 2—adorable!
• Identity Thief. It was OK, with a few LOL moments.
• Vic and I have been watching Magnum, P.I. on Netflix, just for kicks. Wow—in 1980, Magnum’s shorts were SHORT.

New recipes or restaurants I tried

• Ranch Chicken Bake. There are tons of recipes out there, but this is the one I used. It was waaaay easy and pretty tasty. Most importantly, Katie and Jack both liked it. We served it with roasted zucchini and carrots. They did not like that part.
• Larks Home Kitchen Cuisine in the Ashland Springs Hotel. Delicious!
• Fancy Water. Jack came up with the name for a plain ol’ pitcher of water that contains slices of oranges, limes, lemons, and cucumbers. Although it isn’t a new recipe, I tried different varieties of citrus this time around. Can’t say it’s better, or even different, but it sure is yummy.

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• Capes! Relay for Life was superhero-themed this year, and I found an etsy artist willing to make us a big huge batch in cancer-fighting colors. I know I will totally wear my cape all the time, just like all the bridesmaid dresses I’ve collected over the years.
• Lots and lots of liquor. And then some more. We have enough for at least 37 parties.
• Materials for several DIY projects around the house—all very creative and mostly fun. Yay!

This month’s disappointments:

• The kidney stone was not a joke; I had another one. Apparently it was in my kidney when the other one made its presence known in June, but the ER doctor failed to mention that. This makes me madder than you can possibly imagine. I passed the stone on Monday and this is what I have to say: I am tired of kidney stones. No more.
• The timing of Relay for Life wasn’t so great this year and I felt like I missed out on so much of it. Total bummer. At least I did all my fundraising beforehand. HUGE thanks of you who donated garage sale items and/or $$ to American Cancer Society!
• I feel like the last part of July was a groggy blur, seeing’s that I was on some heavy-doody drugs. I think it was fun, though. Someone told me so.
• I dropped Katie’s iPod. iPhone Steve to the rescue!
• What’s the deal, Trader Joe’s? They’ve been out of Powerberries for months. Fortunately, they have lots of Roasted Coconut Chips, which I love.

My accomplishments:

• Our Geeks Who Drink trivia team (These Are Not the Answers You’re Looking For) finally took back our first place title. We were in second place again the next week, though. That other smart team is super-smart.
• I decided, for no reason whatsoever, that it was time to redecorate our bedroom. The furniture stayed the same, but I changed up our bedding, window coverings, and small décor. I don’t think Vic has noticed. He actually kinda hates when I make these kinds of changes, but at least this one didn’t involve paint! For me, though, the little touches make a cheery difference in daily life. I gotta do ‘em.
• Mom and I worked on a kitchen project all day today. We completely re-did the chairs—foam, lining, fabric and all—which was a task long overdue. The fabric on them wore out really quickly after we got them. Grrr. I chose a new fabric that goes better with the colors in the kitchen and family room; it’s prettier and sturdier and although it barely looks different in the photos below, you have to trust me when I say it is a HUGE improvement. Here are the before and after photos, both with Lucy Butt Goodness:

• Throughout the entire chair renovation project, there was no bloodshed. This is always worth mentioning when I’ve been using power tools (and yes, in my world, a staple gun is a power tool).
• An accomplishment I share with a couple hundred other people: our Relay for Life event raised almost $62,000 toward curing cancer.

Anything else noteworthy:

Nothing I can think of. Instead, you get sillies:

That’s it for July.

Jun. 30: Month in summary

June is over? ALREADY??? That was fast.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• Jack “graduated” from elementary school. They had a nice little ceremony and party for the kids, and all of us parents stood around wondering where the time went. Seriously, where did it go? Just yesterday they were registering for kindergarten, I know it. Sheesh. I would be wistful at this milestone, but Jack is so excited about going to middle school that it’s hard not to be happy for him as he moves ahead. Here’s a pic of Jack and Mrs. Johnson, Best Teacher Ever. We love her!

• School’s out! We had our annual last day of school party with lots of fab folks joining us for the celebration. One of Jack’s classmates, who showed up with a car-load of other kids we hadn’t invited, certainly left her mark—she clawed the heck out of two kids AND broke Tina’s fence. I think she might secretly be a Hulk. Scary. Besides the antics of Lady Destructo, though, we had a great time.
• Our lovely, brilliant, tender-hearted and talented niece, Julianne, graduated from high school. Although we weren’t able to attend her actual graduation ceremony in Seattle, we went to her party the next weekend. Here’s a picture of Her Highness that I stole from Sonya’s Facebook album:

• After Julianne’s party, we stuck around to spend Father’s Day with family at Sonya’s house, and it made for a very pleasant weekend. We’ve got some nice family, we do.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

• Grad gifts, Father’s Day gifts, birthday gifts, retirement gifts, anniversary gifts… it was a little bit of everything in June.
• I got some very special thank-you gifts for PTO-related doodies. People can be so kind!

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• We saw Monsters University and all four of us loved it.
• Downton Abbey Season 3 is on Amazon Instant Video, finally! I’m re-watching, and Vic is seeing it for the first time.
• We finished watching the 15 episodes of Arrested Development and are totally bummed that it’s over. Again.
• We watched several DVDs: Zero Dark Thirty (intense), Life of Pi (beautiful), The Dark Knight Rises (really, really good), Oz the Great and Powerful (meh), The Avengers (better than I expected).

New recipes or restaurants I tried:

• These cinnamon roll pancakes. We were underwhelmed, possibly because of extremely high expectations. I mean, LOOK at those! They look delicious! They turned out so-so.
• Dina brought Mexican caviar to the last day of school party. I forgot how much I love it. Even with the tomatoes.

This month’s disappointments:

• I had that kidney stone that was pretty much no fun at all.
• I was standing under a long shelf in the garage when it collapsed and I was showered, ouch-ily, with Little People houses and farms, followed by a big storage box of the kids’ keepsakes. I’ve never hated happy memories so much.
• We were planning to go to San Francisco next week, but when I looked into making reservations for lodging and activities, I realized that our dates coincided with the start of the America’s Cup trials being held there. We decided to postpone the trip for a less crowded time, which bummed us all out. We have some good alternatives planned, though, so the week won’t be a waste.

My accomplishments:

• This isn’t my accomplishment, but it was a huge one for Katie: she sang a solo for her school’s talent show. We were so proud of her—I was amazed that she was willing to get up in front of everyone to perform. She did a great job, and although we have the video to prove it, she has forbidden us from posting it anywhere so you’ll just have to trust me.
• Another biggie: today is my last official day as PTO president. Bittersweet.
• We held a garage sale yesterday to raise $$ for our Relay for Life team. I have eleventy bags of clothes to take to a resale shop before I can figure out exactly how much we earned, but thanks to very generous donations of sell-able items from friends and family, it was a worthwhile weekend.
• Preparing for the garage sale meant sorting through our attic, garage, bedroom closets, and big/deep closet downstairs. I was able to clear out HUGE amounts of space and get rid of things I haven’t needed in ages. What a feat! I love to de-clutter and simplify.

Anything else noteworthy:

The funnies I’ve been collecting for you this month:

<shivers>

 

That’s all I got. Happy July!

Jan. 31: Month in summary

Time to summarize January at the Manullangs’ house.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• New Year’s Day. Spent most of it recovering from the night before.  
• Friends’ birthdays. Some involved bacon!

Books I read this month:

• I started and stopped reading Anna Karenina.
• I’ve read three or four books on essential oils and how to use them in place of harmful chemicals in my home. The things I’ve concocted have worked well so far, but I’ve got lots more to try before I can truly be called a witch doctor.
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I’m enjoying it very much.
• I bought, but have not yet read, my pal Lisa Schroeder’s newest young adult novel, Falling for You. Yay, Lisa!

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• I saw Anna Karenina—the new one, with Keira Knightley. It was fine, but a bit too artsy for me. The good thing is that it saved me from wasting any more time reading the novel. The story just was not my thing.
• Grey Gardens—the original documentary from 1975—was an absolute delight. Ca-razy women, those two.
• Sleepwalk with Me, with Mike Birbiglia. Hilarious.
• Team America: World Police. This movie is by the creators of South Park, and just what you’d expect it to be: filthy, somewhat funny, totally inappropriate. The Kim Jong Il impersonation was pretty good though.
• As for TV shows, it’s been all Downton Abbey, all the time! Season 3 started wonderfully, with Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith bickering about customs and countries and class. And then episode 4 just completely ruined the ride.

This month’s disappointments:

• I’ve felt rundown and tired for the last several weeks, so I went into my two year post-treatment tests nervous. Even though I have the results now and there’s little of which to be concerned, I still feel rotten. Pfffft. I don’t know if the time of year, or what.
• My two year post-treatment CT showed a lymph node that has grown since the scan six months ago. This required a PET scan to follow-up, which I had today. Results were mostly good, but I’ll know more after my oncologist gives her interpretation. This blip means I’ll have to have another CT in six months, which is a bummer because I was supposed to be done with CTs and PETs and was hoping to get my port removed. I hate cancer. I hate being afraid that it’s going to come back, and having a good reason to worry that it will, and all the appointments and tests and radioactivity. Ugh.
• I am EXTRA sick as a dog today. I had to take medication on an empty stomach (the PET scan required 6+hours of fasting), and I started antibiotics yesterday for a sinus infection, which are giving me a headache and nausea. I have a terrible cough, which makes my head hurt even more, and now I’m whining and whining and you’re sorry you ever read this.

My accomplishments:

• Lots of school stuff is getting done. We’re planning the carnival for next month.
• I’ve got a trunk-ful of donations to take to Goodwill. That always feels good.
• Katie and I cleaned out her room and we’re still friends.

Anything else noteworthy:

• Debi and I got to spend a day together when she visited Portland with friends a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun catching up while shopping and eating. I like that girl.
• The Relay for Life 2013 kickoff party was last week. This year’s event is July 27-28. Our team name has slightly changed: we’re the Super Hoe-Downs, to go with the superheroes even theme. I’m so excited to wear a cape!

Silly stuff to share:

Bring it, February. I am soooo ready for ya.

Jul. 10: Relay for Life 2012

This past weekend, finally, was Relay for Life. During the months of planning leading up to July 7 and 8, I was eager to participate. Friends and family motivated me further as they registered for our team and asked how they could help with fundraising. My spirits were high; Relay is an event I've really come to enjoy.

If you’ve been involved with Relay before, you know that much of its 24-hour length is a roller coaster of emotions, topped with an exceedingly powerful reminder of the hope we have to find a cure for that asshole of a disease, cancer. It’s exciting to honor the survivors at Relay, and the event planners give us lots of opportunities to celebrate that we’re still here. Caregivers are also given special recognition. The Luminaria ceremony is a touching and solemn time to honor everyone who's ever heard the words "You have cancer," and a time to remember loved ones who lost their fight. Relay truly honors everyone.


I expected that Relay would be as emotional an experience as it’s been in the past two years. But when Relay day actually arrived, I felt detached from the celebration part of it. I mean, I participated in all of the survivor activities and fundraised my ass off, but I could tell I wasn’t all in. It was as though part of my brain had shut off—the part that would have let me break down into a crumpled mess of snotty tears on the track. And I say that it was my brain, not my heart, because my heart is a big idiot that doesn't know when too much is too much.

Apparently this was too much.

I can't share the specifics of WHY it was too much (I'm not even sure what they are), but here's what I know:

• I'm fine, health-wise. Ish. Actually, today I had an 18-month post-treatment scan and it looked good, so there is little to worry about there.
• I'm exhausted from staying up too late for too many nights, stressing over silly stuff, and trying to make everything be perfect. 
• I've slept at least 18 hours a day for the past three days.
• My mom is fabtaculous.
• The part of my brain that shut off was apparently the part that knew when to apply sunscreen. I am very, very ouchy.

The good news is that our little event raised $60,000 for American Cancer Society, and our team was responsible for nearly $4,000 of that. Cancer can sooooo suck it.
 


P.S. Please ignore the straight quotes and apostrophes. I have NOT the energy to fix them.

Jul. 1: June in review

Shoulda posted this yesterday. Oops.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• The last day of school on June 14. From what I remember, it was a good time.
• Mother Mary’s birthday. We took her out for lunch but that’s about it. Bad Jen.
• Father’s Day. I don’t remember how we celebrated. Wow. I’m a terrible daughter and wife.

Gifts I gave and/or received this month:

• End-of-the-school-year parting gifts from friends. Such sweet surprises!
• Mother Mary’s birthday gift was a slightly customized version of this bracelet. I got myself a matching one. The etsy seller has some really fun items—she’s my new favorite. 

Books I read this month:

• Why Moms Are Weird, again, by Pamela Ribon. I so enjoy the way she weaves stories.
• Forget About It, by Caprice Crane. Very light, but cute.
• Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown. A page-turner.
• The Girls’ Guide to Hunting & Fishing, by Melissa Bank. Fun read.

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• Katie and I saw Brave. Loveliness.
• I Redboxed Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Great cast, so-so movie.

New recipes or restaurants I tried:

• The kids and I had breakfast at IKEA. I like some of their regular food, but had never tried their breakfast before. It was delicious. Totally cheap and way yummy.
• I made key lime cake balls. More accurately, they were cookie balls. Or truffles. Yes, truffles sounds better. Key Lime Truffles. Here’s the closest thing to the recipe I ended up using. They were pretty good, but I will definitely add more lime juice next time to cut the crazy-sweetness.

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• We bought two tents for using at Relay for Life this year. I never thought I’d own a tent, since I hate camping so, so, so much, but THANK BUDDHA the North Clackamas Relay isn’t in the wilderness. With air mattresses and my favorite down comforter, I be way cozy, but JUST FOR ONE NIGHT. Then I go back to having a nighttime restroom closer than a half-lap away.
• I bought the supplies for our Lap Beads Relay for Life fundraiser. My fingers are sore from adding jump rings to eleventy billion charms and lobster clasps.
• Floats! I floated! I’ve pre-purchased four more floats; just the idea that I have them available to me at any time is relaxing all by itself. That’s weird, isn’t it?

This month’s disappointments:

• We had to send Oliver away. Sad face.
• June 7, the anniversary of my dad’s death, is always a tough day. It’s been seven years.
• The weather. Ugh. We’ve had a few perfect and gorgeous days, but they’ve been unpredictable, with way, way too much rain and cold.
• Sunshine visited, but then she left again.

My accomplishments:

• My office is in a usable state again! Lucy’s got roaming rights to the entire house now, so I don’t have to be downstairs all the time and that means I’m pretty much living in my office. I like. I like very much. It’s a happy place.
• I made planning calendars all pretty-like. Picture proof to come.
• I lived through the school year. That’s big.

Anything else noteworthy:

• Katie and Jack had their piano recitals—Katie’s fifth, Jack’s third. They’re both doing so well and really enjoy it—though if you ask Jack, he’ll deny it. Katie is starting guitar now, and I’m sooo glad it’s not violin. Early guitar practice, even when the notes are wrong, is much less likely to make my ears bleed than anything as vile as a violin. Vile-lin. THAT’S what it should be called.
• One of Katie’s electives for the last term of sixth grade was Musical Theater. I don’t know why they called it that, because there was nothing musical about it. The class went to a high school play—not a musical, just a regular ol’ play—and their big performance at the end of the term was changed from an evening program to a during-class performance; most parents couldn’t even be there. We took off work to watch, and I was surprised at how unprepared the students were—they didn’t have props or microphones when they needed them, didn’t know their lines, and the whole thing was as though they were doing it for the first time. I don’t expect perfection, but I don’t see what guidance the teacher gave them at all. I was disappointed with what could have been a very fun learning experience for them.
  
  This wasn’t the only meaningless middle school elective, though… my friend’s daughter took a sewing class in which the only project was one of those no-sew fleece pillows. WTF???
• I finally figured out how to get Jack to clean up his room: ground him. Unfortunately, he thought it was kinda cool to be grounded, so it took him a week to clean enough to be set free. Whatever… it’s done. We had to go through his garbage carefully, though. Where Katie keeps every scrap of paper EVER (oh, how I wish I were exaggerating), Jack throws out old yearbooks, pictures, books he wrote in first grade, and clothes. Sheesh.

Here’s to a sunny July! Smell ya later, doods.

Jun. 18: Currently

Listening

…to the bark bark barking of a neighborhood dog THAT ISN’T MINE. This might be a first.

…to the weird weather outside. It’s raining and hailing between brief sunny breaks. The sunny breaks don’t make noise, so it’s really only the rain and hail I can hear. Just thought I should clarify.

Loving

…these pictures of Lucy and Gilly at Bark for Life, a Relay for Life fundraiser we attended last weekend. They had a blast making new friends!

…that Sunshine has been in town for the past few days. She goes home tomorrow, and that means my next post will be from a mental hospital. Pretty sure.

Feeling

…excited and a little anxious about my work friend, Terri, who had a heart transplant yesterday. The surgery went well and her daughters have been great about posting updates to Facebook ever since she got the call Saturday night. They’re planning to take out her breathing tube today and then her real recovery can begin. Yay, Terri!

…like an idiot over one of our Father’s Day gifts for Victor. He recently got a new gas grill, so the kids and I decided his FD gifts would be grill-related. We found fun gadgets and tools, and I was especially excited about the bag of mesquite charcoal… because I’m a moron. Not sure what he’s going to do with that fancy charcoal ON HIS GAS GRILL.

…lonely without my wiggly Ollie.

Wanting

…to apologize to everyone who was in earshot of me at our party last Thursday. I think I was potty-mouthier than I realized. I was also, apparently, quite grabby. I am so very, very sorry to anyone I might have offended and promise to pay for your kids’ psychotherapy and the cost of cleaning my many grimy handprints off your clothes.

Needing

…to work up some motivation to reorganize my office. Not only do I have piles of papers to sort and general clean-up to do, I want to rearrange the furniture to make it a more usable space. It’s actually a very comfy room; I used to spend most of my time in there. When Lucy came to live with us, our upstairs was off limits to her, so I started hanging out in the family room to keep an eye on her. She doesn’t need constant supervision anymore, and I’m ready to move back upstairs… just waiting for that PUSH to get the reorganization project going.

Accomplishing

…more of the tasks toward readying our Relay for Life day-of-Relay fundraising project. Our team is going to sell lanyards and “lap beads,” which will help walkers track the number of laps they walk. When I started planning, I had no idea how many decisions were involved in these crazy things. I’m glad my mom was around this past weekend to help. She and I picked out fun beads to represent each lap and mile:

The lanyards have lobster clasps at the bottom, which can hold these additional charms we’ll have for sale:

All survivors will get one of these for their lanyard:

I’m excited about this fundraiser—I’ve read about lots of other Relays that have done lap beads and they’re crazy-popular. Many Relay teams double their fundraising on the day of Relay with this kind of thing. I just hope we’ll be able to cover our costs.

Enjoying

…Jack’s most recent fascination: making stop-motion videos on the iPad. He and Mack are upstairs right now, setting up another LEGO minifigures movie. It’s a tremendous time-waster, but I gotta admit, it’s pretty amazing to see the finished product.

…relative peace and quiet now that school is out. I like not having anything urgent to complete today—just laundry. Maybe a stab at some of the piles in my office. And a nap? Yes, a nap would be delightful.

sharing silly stuff

Later—