What are you doing for fun??

Virginia  - the reunion sounds great!

Glenna - I'm from South Dakota and have never been to North Dakota either.  

Enjoy!

Thank goodness you didn't change your avatar. I'm easily confused

Vadre, what I was told was that anyone searching my name on the Internet could find me here.  Many of my posts are very private and meant only for my BCO friends.  I have shared personal details about my cancer, my emotional state, adult children, my husband, etc., that I don't particularly want to be "out there."  I think first name would be okay if you have a common first name.  My name just isn't all that common plus I had the initial of my last name as part of my user name.  I didn't change the avatar, and never will.  It is in memory of Zoh, a dear friend I met on BCO who passed several years ago.  She sent me that cake for my birthday and it was all made of flowers.  The most beautiful cake I had ever seen.  I still miss her and think of her fondly when I see that avatar!!  Hugs, G (as in Gator Gal and sshhh ... Glenna)

‼️🇺🇸 Happy 4th of July ‼️

Here in the USA, July 4th is a H U G E  celebration. It's our Nation's Birthday and we tend to go all-out when we observe it!  

So, on this Forum which is about having fun, I ask you to share what you do to celebrate the 4th (or your similar National Celebration)? Do you have special traditions, foods or people that make the day special for you?

I've already told you about my Annual Family Reunion. It usually happens over the weekend if the 4th but this year there were complications. That's how we celebrate. We get together for two to four days of laughing, loving, story telling etc. We always have fire works, swimming, board games or puzzles. The group ranges from four year olds to eighty year olds. We have a couple of family favorite foods beyond the normal picnic fare: a dip of Cream Cheese & Chives has to be consumed in large quantities and mu Aunt is famous for her own version of Nuts-n-Bolts Which is addictive!  She makes several pounds every year. This year she couldn't attend BUT she mailed three pounds, at the cost  of $40 so that we wouldn't fuss at her!!  I think this is my happiest weekend every year. My family is so important to me and their presence in the lives of my children gives me confidence that they will be OK when I'm gone. It's an amazing & great thing!!

🎉Happy 4th to 🎈you & yours

Glenna,

I didn't know the story behind your avatar. I remember when Zoh passed away. It was the first death of a stage IV sister that hit me hard. What a lovely tribute to her.

Caryn

GatorGal, I am touched by the story of your avatar, too.  What a lovely way to remember Zoh.

Vadre, soo love the photo of your son & nephews!  Totally adorable and also one you'll be able to repeat every few years to see how they grow.

Over the years, we've often gone to a 4th of July picnic at my sister's or my stepson, wife & their two small children visit, but none of that this year (stepson coming in next weekend, sister has other plans).  So DH and I are heading to a big flea market in our area today.  We haven't been able to go there in quite some time so we look forward to it. Then we'll make green beans (from DH's garden) and ham for dinner, tomorrow I'll make ribs.

I'm not one to brag about life in a small river town, but tomorrow, this place will have a fireworks display and they are best fireworks this side of the Mississippi.  Seriously. They're set off in the high school stadium (which is packed with people), coordinated to music and it's one of the most entertaining nights of the year in the Ohio Valley.  A sister of mine, an extremely critical perfectionist, commented that they're the best fireworks she's ever seen, even better than the ones she saw at two different Olympics! Weather looks to be good, too, so happy about that.

Vadre, great picture from your reunion!   🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸  I've been so busy lately, with wedding and out of town guests, that today, the 4th of July, I find myself with no plans.  We saw a great fireworks display recently at a bowie baysox game (an Orioles minor league team) so that will have to do for this year!  Right now I'm sitting on my back patio watching wildlife, camera and binoculars in hand.  Just got some great shots of a couple of deer eating my bushes.  One with antlers.  Way cool.  Earlier saw two pileated woodpeckers (the woody woodpecker kind) and got a couple of pictures.  Waiting for them to come back so I can zoom in a little better.  It is a beautiful morning after a bad storm last night.  Cool temperature and light breezes.  Have work I could be doing inside but it's just too nice out here.  Tomorrow my oldest son and his family are coming over for maryland crabs, corn on the cob, and other fixings!  May incorporate some 4th of July celebrating. Love the idea of red solo cups with a hole in the bottom for little ones to hold the sparklers and want to try that out!   Zoh was a very special BCO friend to ALL OF US that were active at the time.  I still have her tribute threads marked as my favorites and go back now and then for a read.  We have lost so many wonderful women to this insidious disease.  I am hanging around for a cure!  My Pollyanna side thinks it's just around the corner!!

Sounds like some fun things are happening for the 4th. I live in San Jose and both the city and the state of CA are just coming out of tough financial times. So, for the first time in quite a few years there is a festival in San Jose and fireworks tonight. I just got back from...The Bacon Festival!  Lots of food trucks selling every type of food you can imagine, enhanced by bacon. Vendors selling other stuff like bacon scented candles etc, as well as live music. I had a bacon shrimp taco and warm bacon bread pudding with vanilla bean custard style ice cream and blueberry sauce . Insanely rich, delicious and worth every calorie or cancer encouraging ingredient. Do you know why it was worth it? Because I had fun and it made me happy and I believe that fights cancer! Tomorrow we are going to the Alameda County Fair. Rides, hooray and county fair food. Another opportunity for fun.

On a less fun note, this Thursday will be almost 3 weeks since I started Femara. While my joint pain is much improved, fatigue and sweating (yuck) have increased. I hope this doesn't last long.

Caryn

vadre,

I was reluctant to switch to Femara, because I was still NED  on Arimidex, but the joint pain had increased to the point where I felt it was becoming intolerable. Let's hope Femara is equally effective in keeping progression at bay.

Caryn

I don't get to travel but fortunately there is plenty to do in my area. Friday the weather here was wonderful so hubby and I wen to Bear Mountain for some hiking. The Appalachian trail goes through this park. Parts of the trail are too much for me to handle now. Here are a couple of pics.

We did see 2 bears (in the zoo) and a couple of deer along the road. Also got a nice pic of a swan

chutzpah. beautiful photos!  I am a big fan of doing things where you live; oftentimes people overlook those simple pleasures. They are often really all around us.

Oh I love joanquilts! She wrote an article about finding a cure for bc once and at the end she said, Wouldn't it be nice if, like polio, the next generation would be able to say "remember breast cancer? Yeah, me neither." That has always stood out in my mind. Glad you had a good time.

I did something very interesting today. With a group of 5 others, we did a room escape game. You are locked in a room for one hour. The room contains furniture, pictures etc. and you have to find clues that eventually give you the combination to a lock that allows you to escape from the room. The clues were varied as were the skill sets needed to find them, so team work and people with a variety of talents (mental) was the key to success. Did we do it in under an hour? Yes! I don't know how long this game site has been in business but we were told that only about 10% of the teams that try it succeed. I had never heard of such a "game" but apparently they started out as video games and then someone had the idea to do them live. They do let you out of the room after an hour if your team doesn't solve it

Caryn

I'm back from my two week vacation in Kure beach, nc and Hilton head, sc. What a nice break from reality and time spent with dear family! Here is a picture from my bedroom balcony at Kure.

And I can't remember if I shared a picture from St. John, back in May. Here is one of the water and one of my happy place

KJones - Wow!  Looks fantastic!