So...whats for dinner?

Hi all....little Ava Sofia was born yesterday morning while we were on the first leg of our trip down here.....7 lbs. 12 oz., 20 inches long. By the time I was holding her in my arms last evening she found her thumb and put it to good use....then promptly eliminated the first batch of meconium from her tiny body. Always forget how doll-like those infant diapers are. I'm here with my Ipad, so pictures will have to wait.

DDIL is doing great....her energy kniws no bounds. She's an OB/gyn at the hospital where she delivered, so no surprises for her there. Am trying to convince her to remain there for one more night before facing reality at home with big brother. She physically feels great and has that loyalty to numero uno. He was asleep by the time we got to the house, so I'm dying to see him this AM (can you tell?) DH and I got a kick out of how low key this birth of the second child has been....and since we are both second children, understand our place!



Apple, love the sound of your dessert!



Michelle, kudos to you for getting your mom settled so quickly and thoroughly. Hopefully, she will adjust well soon, and you will all appreciate the new setting. Well earned time for you in your recliner!



The crew here (while we didn't plan on it, Persian hospitality required us to stay at the house) has a large mound of very ripe gorgeous Jersey peaches they picked on Sunday at a local farm. I know how quickly they will go bad....so today I am charged with baking peach something....maybe many somethings. Do I feel like buying canning jars and making preserves? Hmmmmm.

We had a variety of Persian dishes waiting for us when we got to the house last night, and I can never remember their names...one is a stew with pomegranate and walnuts and chicken, a favorite of mine.



Little DGS is not up yet, so maybe I'll take a catnap.....

Thanks for all of your well wishes.

Lacey:  Congratulations on the new DGD!  They are so special!  I love mine so much and miss them terribly.

Michelle:   I just love reading all the things that you are doing...making some really good memories.  Again, my heart aches for you with the progression and I pray that it can be stopped in it's tracks.  Sending you healing prayers!

Eric:  Sorry about your DW's issues with rads...I guess some react more than others.  The good news is...it passes, and she has a wonderful support system in her DH!

Carole:  Love hearing about your adventures and you are so "right on" about living in the NOW.  There is a great book that deals with that exact issue and it's worth reading..."The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle.

Debbie:  Hope your DH is doing better and your DD is holding his own.

I know I've forgotten many, but I took a break from the site for a couple of days and will be gone again for another several days as I travel over to visit some friends.  It's overwhelming when you come back on to see how many posts have been made.

I'm alone right now, so my cooking skills have gone rapidly downhill..lol!  Surviving on salads and soups...lol!

Have a great day everyone! 

Wow, you have a busy day linedup Michelle! Good luck and don't o too much. Chicken tacos sound great. KAARA, I too am alone quite a bit. (Most of the week, DH is usually only home on weekends) I do hat Michelle does too,go.o the deli where they make real good food and buy am entree once in a while. There are also some Greek style restaurants around that have turkey dinners. Etc, when I need a real meal. They are also pretty cheap. And serve enough for the next days lunch as well. much love.

I'm back from my labs and shopping.  I was going to go to my mom's and put on the mattress pad, but it can wait until tomorrow afternoon.  I need to throw my sheets in the washer - one bed is enough for today.  I have more than one set, but I bought bamboo sheets a few weeks ago and... oh my, they are so cool and comfy that they go from washer to dryer to back on the bed.

This afternoon I am going to take a closer look at all the clinical trials that my onc team mentioned in their emails to each other.  I want to look at the pros and cons, document it on my blog so I don't have to look them up again, then think about which direction I might prefer.  I actually wouldn't mind hair loss again, but I need to consider things like oral over IV (I'd need a port) frequency of treatments, can I do it locally or do I need to go to Boston for treatment, etc.  And I guess we'll have a crowd at my appointment.  My daughter and my DH are coming along.  It's great to have extra "ears" to hear everything.

DH decided that he wants traditional ground beef tacos, so that's what it will be.  It's a little easier for me and it will be a quick fix.  Why is it so hard to find a ripe avocado around here?  They were all like rocks, except for one package of four.  The produce manager opened the bag and gave me one, but it may have the opposite problem...ever cut into one and have it be all brown?  Yeah, not pretty!

Peach ice cream is a brilliant suggestion, Eric!

congrats Lacey to you and yours.

Luv.... good luck with all your research.

Take care all xxx

Hey Deb, missing even one day makes it hard to catch up! I don't think anyone will hold it against you! LOL

I like the idea of bamboo sheets. I really like 450-500 sheets and am willing to pay for those, so I will check out the bamboo ones, thanks for the suggestion!

Carole - bamboo sheets...much like soft rayon. 

Looks like leftover chili today. DH is taking his 90 year old mother to see a new doctor and he won't be home.

Left over Lazagna

We get pick up Saturday at 4:00PM

((((Michelle))))

((((EVERYONE)))

What...nobody on this thread for 18 hours?  That's got to be a record quiet time!

I saw my local MO today and bottom line is she's deferring to my MO at Dana Farber in Boston.  So off we go on Friday for a 3 p.m. appointment.  We'll turn it into a fun evening by meeting our friends from Milton at the Russian restaurant we discovered last time we went to DF.  She asked me what I would prefer to do and I told her I was most interested in the clinical trial involving MK-2206:

http://www.dana-farber.org/research/clinical-trials/clinical-trial.aspx?tid=2410

Then I asked her what she'd prefer if I didn't do a clinical trial and she said either carboplatin with gemzar or Ixempra alone.  So we'll see what Dr. Chen has to say, and find out which trial I might qualify for.  I have to keep in mind our trip to Hawaii in October.  A clinical trial might not give me much flexibility for when I have to show up for treatment; however, a trial that uses an oral drug (like MK-2206) would probably work around the trip.

We are having pizza for supper tonight.  I bought the fixins yesterday but I didn't tell DH so he'll be happy, even if it means he's doing the cooking. 

Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday and The Chew is showing some of her famous recipes and has some guests who were inspired by her.  Very nice!  In her honor, here is a link to her French onion soup, which we just love; and oh, it's a labor of love!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/french-onion-soup-recipe/index.html

OOPS. I thought my chemo brain was getting better. Um, no. I yelled at DH for putting the tupperware.lid in the microwave and melting it. Um, no, he says. I put it on the stove top and the burner was on! omg, I cooked made the chili that day, about 4 hours before he git home and reheated it. So the burner was on for 4 hours without anything on it. I could have burned the house down. It had a real small flame that is hard to see in daylight, so I didn't notice it, and he didn't either. But I should have turned the stove.off when I was done cooking. Arrggghhh! How stupid. So glad only lost a tupperware lid and not anything else. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Have to get onto this site,   I too love to cook...you women are all so interesting....love it.

So it was homecoming day here in NJ for little Ava Sofia. She already owns the household.....a testament to WEAK POWER!! I just hope DDIL and DS1 get some sleep tonight.....since DDIL is nursing and hasn't produced enough to pump yet, no one else can help her out right now and Ava exerts her lusty screams every hour or so to be fed.



So I was initially stunned at the homecoming scene. In addition to DDIL's parents, DH and I, (which I felt was more than enough)there was a crew of family members from near and far. Ava's great grandmother (80 years old and barely mobile, but VERY determined) called to say she was heading to the train to NYC (from Western Mass) and would need a ride to NJ by 9:30AM. And that she got! Then DDIL's brother and wife and two pre-school boys drove up from central PA. Then....my DH's brother and wife called to ask if they could drop by with Ava's gift since they live about an hour away, and that way they would see us since we were in town. Well, I was a bit frantic about such an onslaught of people populating the house as DDIL adjusts at home with a newborn, albeit her second. I should have saved myself the worry..... .she was fine with it....and obviously used to it in her culture.

Bottom line, we all enjoyed a busy, loud afternoon/evening and a great Persian kebab meal with both chicken and beef, summer squash, mushrooms, peppers, tomato and onion.....baby lettuce salad, Jersey corn, and saffron rice.....all very tasty!

DDIL's dad and brother prepared the kebabs and cooked them outside in a torrential thunderstorm (why does this feel too familiar!), I prepped the salad and had made peach/blueberry pie. DDIL's mother made her signature saffron rice sprinkled with cranberries. My DH taught the others how to microwave corn on the cob. It was such a nice casual team effort, that everyone enjoyed.....especially 80 year old DGGM who proudly sat at the head of the table! By later this evening she had her photo with all four of her great grandchildren displayed on her Facebook page. I so admire that woman...even tho I cannot always understand her strong Farsi accent.



Michelle, I hope Friday's meeting with Dr. Chen goes well and is definitive for you....and may the most "convenient" of the trials be selected for you and be the most effective!! Want you to have a great Hawaii trip.



Tazzy...glad to see you steppin' out!

Carrie, I never thought I was the type to buy girlie dresses....but had obviously not been tested given no daughters or nieces! I went into a kids' resale shop to get a couple of handmade puppets for our grandson (consolation gift for being dispaced), and just happened to see two beautiful satin dresses (Ava is going to a wedding with her parents in October) AND a Patriots cheerleading outfit.. .what were the chances I'd buy a baby outfit that DS1would love!



Moon, don't feel badly, my DH almost blew up our house by neglecting to turn the gas jet off all the way while making his then famous lobster paella for Christmas. As we finished opening gifts, I noticed the smell of gas and did we get all the windows and doors opened fast. It was scary....and no chemo brain involved....so, again, don't feel badly.



I think I just made up for the 18 hour lapse.....G'nite

Carol- Is the slow cooker different than the crock pot? I always thought they were the same or maybe that is also a pressure cooker?

Carrie- My dad seems to be doing ok he is staying pretty positive. His PET scan is tomorrow so next week he will probably find out which they are going to do.

Kay- Your salmon dish sounds yummy! Is it ok to still call you that? Let me know and I will change it.

Michelle- I echo what the others said, you are in good hands and sounds like you have a great team that is going to do the very best for you. How is your mom doing in her new place? ((((hugs))))

Welcome Isabelle, yes we can be pretty interresting and a little wacky sometimes too lol!

Bedo- Thanks that is sweet of you to say. Hope you get your computer working soon, we miss you when you don't show up to dinner. .

Tazzy- Have a great time out tonight, amazing what a few beers will do when you are not feeling your best.

Lacey- Sounds like a real feast and a huge houseload of people. Hope we can see some pictures of her.

Moon- Had to laugh at your story we have all had our kitchen mishaps here. LOL! It also reminded me of the time I was taking care of my daughter when she was going through chemo, I decided to make some bread and wanted a quick rise so i put it in the oven at 200% wasn't long before the whole house  started smelling of plastic, I don't know what I was thinking when I put it in the oven in a plastic bowl. The plastic melted all over the oven and dough was everywhere. It took hours to clean it not to mention everyone had to leave the house b/c the smell was so disqusting. And she was the one going through chemo, not me. So don't feel stupid lol!

Debbie, isn't peanut butter the "solution" for working gum out of your hair? And then many washes, I'm sure! Good luck! (((((HUGS))))) for your dad and you.