What are you doing for fun??

Oh my chemo brain! Dearest Susan, I totally forgot about it, thanks for reminding.. I'll be phoning her the first thing in the morning.. 

hugs

Ebru

teacher911,

Glad you've escaped the rough winter you all had.

I just got back from my cruise and had a wonderful time. How could I not? Beautiful ship, many food choices, room cleaned 2x a day, good ports and the Pacific Ocean out every window. I caught up on all the hit movies I never got around to seeing during movies under the stars ( yep, on the upper deck, giant screen, warm blankets, milk, cookies and popcorn!). Great winery tour in Ensenada, visited their fish market in the pm and had fabulous fresh fish tacos. Toured the Queen Mary in Long Beach, biked in San Diego and enjoyed strolling around Santa Barbara. Back home now, lots of laundry, need to go to my classroom...reality sets in but there's always the next cruise...

sounds awesome caryn.   Welcome home

Let's start with the easiest recipe Susan..  

a waterglass full of lentils (red) as we prefer the soup creamy (if not 3/4 full of a glass) prewashed of course..

1 carrot cut in pieces

1 potato cut in pieces

1 onion cut in pieces

3-4 glasses of water 

a table spoon of rice pre-soaked in water (or bulgur for your preference)

2 table spoons of virgin olive oil (to be added at the end)

a pinch of salt

a pinch of crushed mint (to be added at the end)

just put everything in the pot, boil & using a blender (add more water for the taste of your thickness of soup) 

I don't prefer frying the olive oil, just warm it a bit add the mint and season each soup bowl with it.. 

I'll be back with other ones.. 

hugs & love

Ebru

wow, I am so impressed at what everyone is doing! 

How do you fine the energy to travel and do active, physical things? That is what I miss the most, being physically active, strong, independent. Most days I feel so tired its hard to do much. Usually I try to do one thing/ one goal each day so I am not so worn out and always schedule a nap!

I read a lot (library, Mom's bookcases, my book cases etc), listen to audio books, watch movies (netflicks, borrow from library).  When I can I work on quilting projects. Recently took up swimmimg, meditation and restorative yoga, all of which have been wonderful, low key, low stress.  Of course there is occasional laundry, sweeping and food shopping - all very planned out, spaced out and done over a period of time.

During the past 3 year both my children graduated from university and have moved out on their own. Last year my unfaithful spouse also moved out, so much of the past year + has been spent purging and tossing junk. Very tiring but satisfying and such a lifting of stress.

Well, I wish you all the best, lots of fun, joy, laughter and the best possible health!!

EWB- so sorry to hear your spouce was unfaithful, especially with everything else you have to worry about!

Exbrnxgrl- so glad your cruise was a success!!  And Stagefree- you sound like a cool Mom!

EWB,

Sounds like you stay busy enough.  Spacing it out and resting in between is the key for me.  Sorry about your spouse, but you sound pretty content. Hope that is the case.   Hugs, Glenna

And Cajun queen, Stagefree truly is a great mom!!

It's been difficult for me to have much fun while going through chemo, but it's amazing how much more I appreciate even little things like lunch with my Sunday school class or going shopping for a dress with a friend. This week my son had his bassoon recital and I've been so worried that I wouldn't be able to attend because it was on chemo day 7 and I'm usually just starting to come back to life on day 7. I went to my treatment center that afternoon to get IV fluids in hopes that it would give me the boost I needed, and I'm so glad I did! Earlier in the day, I really didn't think I would be able to make it at all. Then I thought I'd drag myself there and ask his instructor to let Thomas go first and then I could leave after seeing him play. But the fluids really helped a lot, and instead of just "dragging" myself there so my son wouldn't be disappointed, I was able to ENJOY the entire evening! My son performed beautifully!! I was SO proud of him. And I'm so glad I was able to stay to hear all of the students perform. We got to see a wonderful little concert by some very talented young musicians. There's a special kind of joy in seeing your child work hard at something and seeing their pride in their accomplishments.  That was the most fun I've had since I don't know when. :-)

Carolsue - I'm so glad that you were able to attend his recital.  As a former middle school band director, I can tell you that not only does it mean a lot to you & your son but the teacher as well especially if he/she knows what you are going through.  My students were truly "my kids", and I was always so thankful for parents like you.

My AU/NZ trip is only 2 weeks away -- I can't wait….Now for figuring out how to pack everything especially when Australian airlines only allow 15 lbs to be carried on. 

hi all,

This weekend I went to see my son up in college playing in his drumming group called Pulse.  They play on found objects such as buckets, pans, metal rods, etc. It is great to watch these talented kids have so much fun. The whole thing is infectious and has everybody is bopping around and enjoying themselves. Wiped me out but it was certainly worth it!  On a side note, I cannot believe that my twin boys are almost finished with their freshman year in college. It has just zoomed by in the blink of an eye. People have told me the the college years go quickly and now I certainly see what they mean!

Divine,

I can say that climbing the Harbour Bridge was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Given that I've chosen to put most of my extra pennies toward travel all my life and have had some great adventures, this really was spectacular ( and something I'd always dreamed of doing). Would love to catch a rerun of that Modern Family episode.

Caryn

Beautiful flowers and beautiful you, Mrs. M!  Divine indeed!  Thanks for posting this.

We had a short work week last week (Easter Monday and ANZAC Day on Friday), so two long weekends in a row.  Sweet!  And what did I do for fun?  I did virtually nothing.  Did a bit of house work, a bit of shopping, played with the cats, caught up on recorded shows and reading some mysteries, took naps, and it was wonderful.  Blissfully sluggish.  May not sound like fun, but it was wonderful.  I have a fairly high stress job, a long commute, and always have lots to do, so this was great fun!

Ebru, please tell your son we've been to Turkey with DD three times and are still thinking of going back. It's a popular destination for many here in Switzerland.

Thanks for the soup recipe! Question (and sorry if this is a dumb one): do you have to pre-soak the lentils? if so, for how long?

Love the pics, NYC and Mrs. M!

Red Lentils never need soaking, though I highly recommend that you rinse them. They seems to get awfully dusty waiting to be packaged.

*susan* 

Hey gals, I've been on away for a while, but have some really fun news to report.  My sis-in-law submitted our story to a cancer charity that grants "wishes" and we were selected for a vow renewal ceremony.  It was beyond amazing, I can't even tell you how wonderful it was.  The photographer was so incredible - she made us look like movie stars (thanks also to my wig, of course!)  The weather was beautiful, the flowers are in full bloom here in the pacific NW.

There was a local news crew covering the event, here is the link...

and here is a link to the full video of the big day.