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Brain cancer is... ...back in Carlsbad.  We spent the night in Murrieta and had a misty morning walk. Beth and Geoff met us and drove down with us to Carlsbad.  We spent the gift card from Team D (in our adventure book from 2016–so sweet!) at Karl Strauss while we watched football.  Whatever, Tom Brady. Then we checked into our place for the girls to discuss retirement: Others watched football.  Thank you Saints.  Here's the view from Deck Two. To end the day, we headed--as we did the last time we were here ( click here for the post if you have any interest in "last times") to the Chart House for dinner. While we were gone, the Evening Team checked in and told us to... ...relax.  Done. Happy Carlsbad Sunday, Team D.!

Brain cancer is... ...doing what big people do. Allison, above, enjoyed her Grandma Barb’s 60th Birthday Party.  As did we all.  Allison was just so darn cute at it!  Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Brain cancer is...  ...ending Friday with the Mayfields. Today was an action packed day. It included the dermatologist freezing a spot on Darrell's scalp into a painful wound. Owie.  We also did seven miles at the park. Look how the geese lined up. We have video, too, of widgeons making squeaky toy noises, but we respect Geoff's low bird tolerance and thus send said video only by request.    We changed arrays, and we had other adventures.  Friday ended with a dinner date at Lazy Dog with with Lennie and Christine. The only challenging thing about dinner is that we knew we'd sit in Greg's section, so we prepped for Greg's Yemen quiz.    If we passed the quiz on Yemeni current events, it was only at the C level.  Things are not good in Yemen. What was good is that we were with friends...again...at Lazy Dog, which we call the Dawg. Is the Dawg with the Mayfields a habit?  Maybe so.  The best sort of habit. Happy Friday!  Happy good ...

Brain cancer is... ...ready for January's MRI scan. You see the bandage on Darrell's forearm (above), right?  He's strong arming cancer. Oh.  Bad pun.  Sorry. Cancer eradication month currently comes to our house every three months.  January:  You're up.   We kick off each cancer month with Darrell's blood test, which proves him able to have the routine MRI scan, occurring later in the month. When phlebotomist Ken prepared to draw blood early this morning, he said, "I recognize this arm!"  We love that quote:  "I recognize this arm!"  Ken has been sticking Darrell's arm for nearly three years. How many people can say that they have a three-year relationship with a phlebotomist?  Sweet. We left Ken and picked up the traditional Dew (the first in 13 hours) by 7:15 this morning. We know you know that the stakes are high with the results of each of Darrell's MRI scans. The cancer tumor status is unknown without a MRI scan, a scan interprete...

Brain cancer is... ...such a thinker! For every three miles we walk, each of us usually drinks one can of water, carried in Andi's pack.  (Above see the water and the pack.) The full cans fit easily into the pack.  We take home the empties for recycling.  Somehow the empties are more difficult to fit into the pack than the full ones.  Maybe because they are so much lighter, they don't sink as easily to the bottom? Our problem with empty cans is exacerbated with increased mileage, as we attempt to fit more cans into the same pack. Darrell recently developed a life hack that we share here, because we love you. Did you know that one property of metals is that they are malleable ?  In this context, malleability is "the ability to withstand hammering and the ability to be made into thin sheets known as foils." Here's how Darrell harnesses the malleability property of metals to make our packing during walks so much easier: Click here for the alternate YouTube link...

Brain cancer is...  ...off loading responsibilities. Our Tuesday:  A Play in One Act Setting:  Office, Computer Station Two Darrell:  Hey, Andi!  People left some comments on the blog. Andi:  Great!  You can go ahead and respond. Darrell:  (Waves hand.) No.  You have more time now. Darrell exits, through kitchen. Andi:  (Belly laughs.) Fade to black. Back to Our Project List Speaking of having more time, we are enjoying getting back to our list and tackling projects.  You know the projects.  Not the ones you dread.  The ones you added to the list because they make you happy, and their completion brings great satisfaction.  And, yes, the ones you foolishly thought you could accomplish during the semester.  Those projects. We are on Project Number Three already.   Today we'd like to showcase our first project, The Wedding Bouquet Preservation Project. When Tiana and Alex married in June 2014, we eagerly took o...

Brain cancer is...  ...back on track with Date Night. We haven't had our traditional regular date night with Gail and Melanie since September.  Although we've had other good gatherings, Date Night is not optional.  We spent some time appreciating 2018 and catching up on life's adventures. Thanks for making it happen, Gail and Melanie. Onward!