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Thank you for reading this blog. Maybe you're one who comments, or maybe you quietly visit and go on your way. Either way, I'm grateful for your support. Here's wishing you all the best the holidays has to offer. Happy New Year from the Stearns!
Photos by Courtney Hoffman Photography.
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Our winters may not be white...
... but brown can be just as fun!
Each evening lately, Nia and I have been out biking together. Yesterday we ended up at "our" Gulch for a sunset puddle walk.
How nice to say, "Hey, how deep is that puddle?" instead of "Please don't get your shoes wet!" Gooshy, sticky, slippery mud is play for her.
Shooting it all on my camera is play enough for me.
And just being out there, despite the cold snap we're having.
The illustrations at the start of this post are from Holly Hobbie's Toot & Puddle, a really lovely, simple book about all the fun things to do in the different seasons (whether you're a kid or a piglet) -- and how the seasons are happening opposite one another in the different hemispheres.
Puddle was having mud season. Yay!
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{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single collection of photos - no words - capturing a few moments from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. You can play, too!
Recovered enough from Scarlet Fever to write some gift tags...
First "big" ride on the Trail-a-Bike.
On our way to "Christmas" dinner.
Ristorante Avanti, Santa Cruz
Seabright Beach, Santa Cruz
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One shouldn't eat lemon curd out of the jar. At least not in public.
Thus, sometimes a great recipe comes about simply by the necessity for a (polite) delivery method for a condiment. I'm convinced cooked oatmeal was invented long ago simply to give people a method for the consumption of brown sugar. In this case, Nia and I created some scones to aid in the consumption of the lemon curd I got in my stocking.
The challenge:
The result was delicious! We enjoyed them with the lemon curd as well as with dollops of whip cream.
Be advised they are not very sweet on their own. Nor are they very healthy -- but maybe that goes without saying. You can begin your New Year diet next week. Right now there is lemon curd and egg nog to be consumed.
Almond Cream Cheese Scones (yield 16 small scones)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack in the top third of the oven.
In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups unbleached flour, 2 tsp. baking power, 2 TBSP sugar, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cut 4 TBSP of cold butter into pea-size pieces. Add to flour mixture and work with your hands. Stir in 1/2 cup sliced almonds.
In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup half n' half, 1 large egg, 1 tsp. almond extract, and 1 oz. sour cream. Beat well to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. Add to the mix, 2 oz soft cream cheese, cut into small pieces. Mix together well, but expect there might be dry flour in the bottom of the bowl.
Turn the dough onto a clean surface and kneed the dough about a dozen times. Shape the dough into a large ball and cut it in half. Reshape each half into balls again.
I cook scones on a seasoned pizza stone. You don't have to. This just works well for me. Depending on what you use, you may want to cook the scones on parchment paper to avoid sticking. Place your dough balls on your cooking sheet. Press the balls till they are 1" thick, still round. Next, cut each circle of dough into 8 triangles. Ok to leave the triangles touching one another.
Brush the tops of the circles with egg nog (half n' half would work fine, too, but I liked the subtle nutmeg flavor of the egg nog).
Bake for 17 minutes, until the tops are golden. The middles will still be slightly doughy until they cool. Cool on racks.
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This morning was fairly typical: In the still-dark of the night, my daughter snuggled into bed between my husband and I, and drifted off to warm, cozy, dreamy sleep. I knew she was dreaming because her feet started kicking, like a puppy dreaming of running and playing.
I snuggled next to her and closed my eyes.
Minutes ticked by.
Slowly it dawned on me that I was wide awake. I rolled over & stared at the ceiling.
The digital clock read 4:30a.
Is this normal?
I mean, is this the new normal? My new normal?
I keep waiting for things to "go back to normal." To go back to the way they were before all the cancer treatments. But when I voiced this urgent request, both my dad & my therapist made the same startling suggestion: Maybe now there is a "new normal."
So as I lay there in bed in the wee hours, my gaze drifted out the sliding glass door into the backyard. Although it was still very dark, the backyard was faintly lit from the Christmas Tree lights in the living room. As I watched, a faint silvery shape -- a little animal -- scurried along the top of the fence, disappeared (presumably to climb down the tree, not because of magic), and then reappeared on the ground.
I watched it rooting around on the ground. It was easier to see if I didn't look right at it, but looked slightly passed it.
Suddenly I knew what it was. A baby opossum.
Is this a sign, I wondered? The sign of the new year, both 2013 and my post-cancer year? It is a baby after all. But... it is also an opossum... *shudder!*
OK, Internet, what have you got for me? What is the symbolism of the opossum?
Opossum may be relaying to you that you are to expect the unexpected and be clever in achieving your victory. This could be a victory over a bothersome salesman or a noisy neighbor. In essence, opossum is beckoning you to use your brain, your sense of drama, and -- surprise! -- to leap over some barrier to your progress.
Whoa. The Internet did not disappoint!
The opossum symbolizes "diversion." When all else fails, the opossum plays dead. When the confused rival walks or looks away, the opossum runs to safety. If opossum shows up for you, you are being asked to use strategy in some present situation. Victory is sweet when the victory is one of mental as well as physical prowess. (Source.)
Huh.
OK.
Gonna have to think on that one.... but it sounds promising.
New Normal, here I come!
Thank you, baby opossum.
~~~
PS. Today is my last day of radiation treatments. Woot! While it has only been 6 weeks -- 28 treatments -- I'm so ready for them to be over. My skin is red and sore. Sleeping is difficult because the sheets or my shirt or whatever feels like it is rubbing my skin off. My arm-pit is scabbed. I have a little routine between the Calendula lotion and the Hydrocordizone. And now there is a new one. Silver sulfadiazine. That one I'm supposed to use when my arm pit begins to ooze (my least favorite word!).
I don't mean to sound complain-y.
One big reason I wanted to write about my cancer journey was so people facing this same struggle would know what to expect. So here is my reflection on radiation:
(Photo credit.)
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{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. You can play, too!
Charlie Hunter and drummer Scott Amendola, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz ~ Thanks, Anna!!
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I apologize for the lack of posting in recent days.
We are busy, busy, busy 'round these parts, though.
Today, I'm busy putting finishing touches on some work for a January event, while simultaneously busting some butt on a pair of March events. (For those who don't know me that well, this is totally un-cancer related. This is my other identity. The work-from-home/pay-the-bills part.) I'm also running to and from doctor appointments -- this week I have 7 such appointments (totally cancer remission-related).
Meanwhile, in the back corner of the house, Nia & Joe are busy getting Nia well. She came down with a stomach virus in the wee hours this morning. At press time her current status is "in pjs, in bed, listening to Ragweed, not puking." Joe did me a solid YouOweMe and stayed home to be with her so I could focus on the aforementioned touches-finishing and butt-busting.
Later, we'll be back to holiday elf-ing. You know, the scurry-ing and scuttle-ing that comes from a homemade holiday. (At least, in part.)
Most importantly, we're staying warm. Cozy. And busy.
Hope you all are doing well, too -- in your corners of the world, necks of the woods, and so forth -- with your own year-end scuttle-ing.
Cheers!
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{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. You can play, too!
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Hair.
Yep, there's more of it.
And the topic of my hair keeps coming up in conversation... how much there is, how thick it is, how to style it. This is the hair on my head, of course.
I'm noticing all the other hair that is coming back too. I wish I could have maybe personalized the post-chemo hair order from the Hair Fairy.
Head hair? Check.
Eyelashes? Check, check.
Eyebrows? Ditto.
Arm hair? Well, ok.
Arm pit hair. Hmmm... reluctant check.
Upper lip hair? No. No check. I said no hair on the upper lip! Bad Hair Fairy.
What's that old saying? Beggars can't be choosers?
I'm pretty much still wearing a hat all the time, but people, it turns out, really want to see my head.
And I'm a pleaser.
Even though I don't know how to style it yet. And my head gets cold.
Here it is:
Thank you, Hair Fairy.
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This is a proactive postcard to my Wednesday or Thursday self. My Wednesday or Thursday self may will be all bogged down with radiation, and work, and Christmas shopping. And rain. So, here's a little pick-me-up-in-advance.
Hey, self. 'Sup? Remember this? Remember this blissful, relaxed, precious, sunny, care-free moment? Don't worry. More of these are around the corner. Promise. You just hang in there. xoxo Me
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