Well, it's not going to kill you

I'm still here

Just not feeling like talking.  I've got an appt with the therapist tomorrow hopefully I'll be feeling a bit more chipper after that.

What's for dinner and other household horror stories

I haven't a fricking clue.  Why is dinner always my responsibility?  How did that happen anyway?  Yes I like to cook but not ALL the time.  

"I need some clean underwear or shirts or jeans or ..."  Hello, you know where the washing machine resides.

"where is ... ?"  Most generally it's buried on my ottoman, I'm not exactly a neat and tidy type person,  so I reply it's on my stool.  "I can't find it"  Most generally it's because he stands at the stool and doesn't move anything, it's right in front of his face.  I've come to believe that this is a man thing.  If it's not visible at first glance they cannot find what ever they're looking for.

Yeah so that modification?

Didn't work.  I shall try again.

Modified

Oh yes, changed again.  A bigger font for Connie, new colors for me.

Any other comments or suggestions?

XXOO,

me

How many men does it take to barbeque chicken?

Last night it took 3, sometimes 4.  It was hysterical to watch them, a bunch of little boys playing with fire and barbeque tools.  As Bev said, we should get this on video.  We told them Bobby Flay would be proud.

Last night we hosted FWF.  It a fit a genius I mentioned bbq chicken as a main dish the other night.  Chase volunteered to bbq as he had not bbq'd for 2 entire weeks!  Chase and his bbq are as one.  Turns out Rob and his bbq are one as well.  Larry has decided he may become one with our bbq.

We have a virtually unused bbq as we bought it the year before I was diagnosed because I like, ok love barbequed food, and decided it was time to learn the finer points of grilling.  However when the next bbq season rolled around I was busy having surgery and chemo.  Food of any type was not top most on my mind.

So yesterday Larry moved the que from the spot where it had been, um, abandoned 3 years ago.  Opened it up, cleaned the grills, got a new propane tank and voila it lit on the first try!

Last night we had lovely chicken marinated in soy and beer, grilled to perfection.  We ate outside because the weather has been miserably hot but as luck would have it yesterday was breathtakingly beautiful, well mostly beautiful because the temps were only in the 80's as opposed to the 100's it's been running but we still have lots of smoke from the fires farther north.

We ate, drank and were merry long after darkness fell.  It was one of those beautiful nights that make you realize how much you treasure life and your friends.

Yes I understand that I've been ranting alot lately ...

but I'm an angry breast cancer survivor, bleeding heart liberal and a news junkie.  I'm allowed.

I won't promise not to rant in the future because we all know that a lie and besides if you didn't like the ranting you wouldn't keep coming back.

So I'll keep blogging, maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't, maybe you'll tell your friends, maybe you won't.

It makes me happy and gets stuff out of my head.  Just gear yourselves up because POLITICS, OBAMA, MCCAIN, SHRUB, CARL ROVE, IRAQ, IRAN, GAS PRICES, etc., etc., etc. are not going away any time soon.  And then there's the rest of the world when I get bored with the US.

ZIMBABWE, DARFUR, THE SUDAN, THE MIDDLE EAST, THE RAIN FOREST.   See there's a lot more out there.

Oh Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Another court that does not roll over and play dead for the Bush administration.

I bet you all wish I'd go back to writing about breast cancer : )

Sorry this is me, news junkie, bleeding heart liberal, cancer survivor.  Interestingly I've noticed it's becoming easier to think of myself as a cancer survivor rather than a cancer patient.  I'm sure part of it is having other issues fill my head but I also believe that distance helps.

I do still look in the mirror every day and think you really can tell a difference but now it pretty much stops there.  I try to stop myself from thinking what if it comes back or that I have to visit THAT BUILDING much more frequently than I'd like.  I'm also trying not to think about all the chemicals I put in my body to destroy the cancer and then all the radiation but that is just pointless.  It's done and over with I can't change the past and can't predict the future.

I'm tired of hearing the nation whine about high gas prices...

These are local gas prices.  Higher still than every where else in the nation.  My heart does not bleed for you.  But it does get riled at Bush and Cheney's energy policy (or lack thereof ...)  Fortunately we have a Costco membership.

Monday's low gas prices

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, June 30, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. 
Last Modified: Monday, June 30, 2008 at 2:53 p.m.

Gasoline prices in Santa Rosa on Monday took a dip, remaining below the record high.

The average price for regular was $4.538 a gallon, down about half a cent from Sunday, according to AAA. A year ago, it was $3.227.

The record high was $4.55 set June 19.

The average price for diesel was $5.048, up nearly 3 cents from Sunday. The record high was $5.114 on May 30.

Among the area’s typically low-price gas stations, these prices were reported Monday morning:

--$4.439 at Arco at Hearn and Corby avenues in Santa Rosa.

--$4.459 at Arco at Fourth Street and Brookwood Avenue in Santa Rosa.

--$4.459 at Arco at Fulton and Guerneville roads in Santa Rosa.

--$4.439 at Costco in Rohnert Park.

--$4.439 at Costco in Santa Rosa.

Gasbuddy.com reported that gas was selling for $4.439 at Quik Stop at McMinn Avenue and Sebastopol Road and Roseland Gas Mart on Sebastopol Road near West Avenue in Santa Rosa.

Tweaked again

I had Erin do a final tweak on the banner because a stack of books is so much more me than a tidy bookcase.  We do have several tidy (ish) bookcases but the stack by the bed grows by leaps and bounds.

There are SO many books and just not enough hours in the day.  

And I will be talking about breast cancer again

just not for a few days.  My mind and stress level needs a break.  It's not good to have cancer on the mind 24/7 it makes you a warped human being so I'm staying away from Dr. Google for a time.  Don't worry it's not as if I woke up this morning saying "oh I'll never worry about my breast cancer returning again"  It's more like I woke up this morning after such a lovely evening last night and my mind did not immediately look at my breasts and say "you really CAN tell a difference"

So I'll regale you with our dinner at The Farmhouse Inn.   Oh my goodness!  The menu changes daily.  And the wine list - wow, just wow - 20 pages of wonderful wine selections.  We (well actually me) decided on a lovely Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa.  I chose it for 2 reasons 1) it was realitively inexpensive at $38 a bottle and 2) I've heard that South Africa is an up and coming wine making country. 

 And when I say relatively I mean they had another Sauvignon Blanc for $100.  Their most expensive bottle was $550.  Yes $550 a a 750ml bottle of wine.  French naturally.  Pomerol, Chateau Lafleur, Bordeaux, France 1998.  A merlot no less, the world's most whimpy wine.

LR and I both had cold spring pea soup, yum while Gary had a radichhio salad.  I opted for the pork tenderloin, LR halibut and Gary lamb.  I wish I had thought to bring the menu home as these "descriptions" do not BEGIN to do the meal justice.  For dessert we shared a cheese plate and I had a glass of Niepoort tawny port. Then back we went to Gary's house for decaf, biscotti and more talk.  We covered the family, news, politics, the envirnoment AND religion.  Also books, many, many books because all 3 of us are big readers.  Gary used to be the Director of  the Summer Sessions program at UCB (the dean of summer sessions as it were) so he always has finds to tell us about.  We also planned out next big dinner outing with friend Judah (the ULTIMATE FOODIE) to Chez Panisse in Berkeley.  We're doing it in September as a reward for us having lived through a month with a 16 year old and Gary living through 3 weeks of his grandchildren (13, 12 & & 7) 2 of those weeks without their mother.