INCREDIBLE!

Wow. I would have to say the work party was a huge huge success!

A huge thank you to Karen, Shannon, Frederick, Alex, Joan, Henk, Elaine, Nancy, and Mike for all of their hard hard work.

The beds were weeded.

The front walk was weeded.

The grass was removed from the bushes near the fire hydrant.

The shrubs on the side of the house were trimmed.

Two new beds were built and an old bed with rotted wood sides had the wood replaced.

Dirt was hauled to fill the beds.

Debris was removed from the raised garden area.

My meditation area was weeded.

Everyone said they enjoyed working with other people - they visited. Two people discovered they knew people in common.

They only ate about half the food I bought, which means we have plenty for dinner.

Wow. It looks great.

Several said they want to come back and work on other projects - one even said to organize another work party.

Wow. I am humbled by all the help.

It is much much appreciated. Thank you everyone! I am so blessed to have so many people willing to help. Thank you!

Reminder: Yard Work Part Tomorrow

We will start working on the yard tomorrow at 11am. As I said, people can come and go throughout the late morning and early afternoon.

I would appreciate knowing who will be here so I can get enough food and drink. And also so we can prioritize what needs to be done first.

Also, please contact me if you need my address. I won't put my address and phone on this post for obvious reasons.

Details for Yard Work Party:

Saturday
June 18, 2011
11am to ?

Tha k you so much for whatever help you can give us!

Yard Party Projects

Dad made a list of things to do in the yard for Saturday. It's a wish list, so if it all doesn't get done, it's okay as every little bit helps! This list is in no particular order:

1) Weeding weeding weeding - all beds
2) Remove moss from roof
3) Clean gutters
4) Weed step area near the raised garden area and lay tarp
5) Build raised beds (we will already have the wood and the dirt and other supplies) - will include removing debris from existing landscape tarp
6) shovel dirt into raised garden beds
7) trim shrubs on east end of house

And, if there are enough people:
8) re-do front walkway - take up stepping stones and bricks, rack gravel, kill weeds, lay new landscape tarp
9) begin painting primer on house where paint has chipped away

If you have your own extra tools, it would be great if you could bring extra shovels, shrub trimmers, smaller trimmers, weeding tools, saws, wheelbarrows, hammers, etc.

Also, I would appreciate if you could tell me if you are coming or not, so I can get a head count in terms of the amount of food I buy for volunteers. Also, we start at 11am; feel free to come and go as you need to! Thank you again!

Yard Work Party Schedued for June 18

One of the moms in Eddie's class really wanted to do something to help me out - like housework or yard work or something.

I have been thinking for several months of trying to organize a work party. Our yard is out of control mostly because of dad's open heart surgery in February. She couldn't get out in the yard to get to weeding. Even now, dad gets out of breath easily after a few minutes of weeding. And as for me, I haven't done any yard work in like three years.

We finally settled on a date. June 18, a week from tomorrow, maybe beginning at 11am (especially if it is warmer).

Dad is preparing a list of things to do. The shrubs on the side of the house need to be trimmed back; garden beds need to be weeded; a new raised garden bed needs to be built; dirt hauled for that new raised garden bed. I'm not sure what else.

I wanted to invite all my local friends to help out. The more hands, the shorter the work! : )

We will have food and snacks for people. And, drink, too! Thanks in advance everyone!

Summer Plans

During my sleepless nights - and after making some decisions about next steps - I have also thought a lot about what I want to do this summer, other than rest and gain strength.

Travel is one thing. We'll rent a place at the coast for a handful of nights. We might stay in a treehouse in southern Oregon. We will go visit my godparents in Omak in August. I may go to Bend to visit Beth sometime. Cathie from high school invited me up to visit her and her mom and stepdad in July. So, the summer seems to have become full of travel plans already.

I have also wanted to do things in my back yard for the past couple of years. I want to make that yard a bit of a haven - maybe a place to meditate and just sit outside and relax in the sunshine during summer. I have either not had money or the time or energy to devote to doing something about it. I want to take care of that issue this summer. Dad wants to create another raised bed. We may start laying out an area to make a deck. We also need to redo the front walk and put down weed control stuff. I also want to work on mosaics to put back there.

I also decided that I want to work on my cancer book - I've thought about it for the past year or more and a couple of friends have wondered. I spent a couple of hours last night thinking about the things I wanted to say.

Next year, while I'm on disability, I would work on my other book manuscript for which I have a contract with OSU Press. It's about King Island and I've already reworked a couple of chapters. I need to update them, though, and that means going to Alaska to interview people. That will be easier if I don't have to worry about my other job duties and after I gain some strength. So that's the chore next year. I mean, it's not a chore as I want to do it. But my head isn't there this summer.

So, there you have it. Seems like a pretty full summer, huh?

Hmmm . . . Kinda Nice to be on Disability!

The last couple of days, the reality of not having to work is starting to set in. I'm starting to think about what I can do. I don't feel much like reading and I've sorta had my fill of TV the last couple of months. So, my head is turning to home projects.

I've had some shadow boxes that I wanted to do mosaics in. So, I might start contemplating potential designs today. Dad has some plans for the yard and I feel like I can spare some brain cells to helping him think that through. And, since I've spent so much time at home and/or in hospitals lately, I haven't been eating out at lunch so have saved up some money. Some of that needs to be set aside for household expenses as I ran out of sick leave and am on disability but I think I will have enough to get stuff for the yard.

I also have a plan for the tumor in my chest. That area has been radiated twice and there's been surgery so the blood and lymph system feeding the tissue is compromised. That means that chemo and the Chinese herbs I take can't make their way very efficiently (or apparently at all) to the area where the tumor is to kill the cancer cells. I decided last night the thing to do was to apply a topical ointment that could kill the cancer and heal the skin. (Cancer retards healing.) So, my plan is to take my Five Mushroom blend (three of the mushrooms have anti-cancer properties) and turmeric (effective against skin cancers) and make a salve or ointment using aloe vera gel. I will soak some drain sponges in the concoction and apply it new every day. That way, I will feel like I'm doing SOMETHING to take care of that damn tumor. We will see what happens and I will keep you posted.

My right arm is less shaky and weak today. That's a good sign. I also feel less shaky on my feet. So I think I'm on the mend - the steroids are apparently helping with the swelling. They just give me some tummy issues but I think it's being taken care of with the acid reducer tabs.

All in all, things are good. It's nice not to have to worry about work!