Dad

Some of you know that my Dad has recently been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and many have asked for updates so I thought I would post a quick one here.

Dad was officially diagnosed with adenocarcinoma on February 22nd. He had been steadily losing weight (close to 60 pounds at this point) and was having difficulty swallowing and lots of nausea and pain after eating. Because of his symptoms we were all very worried that the cancer was fairly advanced. However, most of the pain was from an ulcer and as that has been treated he has improved significantly.

We got the update last Friday that his PET scan was negative which means the cancer has not spread anywhere else. The spot he has in his esophagus is stage 1 and very treatable.

Dad will have a consult with the surgeon this week to determine if surgery is too risky. If surgery isn't an option they will do a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.

I am spending the week with Mom and Dad in Spokane and am enjoying my evenings with them. My company has an office in Spokane so I am able to visit without taking time off work.

Just this for now. Mom also sends out regular updates about Dad's status so if any of you want to be added to that list just add a comment to this post and I will send your contact info to Mom.

We're Pregnant.....Sort Of

On the evening of February 11th Darin and I were riding the ferry on the way to Seattle (to celebrate Suzette’s birthday) when we received a phone call from our friend Wanda who has adopted her two darling girls from Abby’s One True Gift Adoption Agency in Iowa. Well, Brenda from Abby’s was speaking with Wanda and mentioned that they had a birth mom expecting twins in June and wondered if anyone in Wanda’s circle of friends might be home study ready and interested. SOOOOO….Wanda called us that night. To abbreviate a somewhat long story – we agreed that we would like to “find out more” and I called Brenda the next morning.

Darin called me from work in the middle of the day on the 12th to tell me he thought we should tell the agency we were interested in moving forward – I agreed. It was so confirming to have him call me and echo my own feelings! That precipitated a week of quickly pulling together all of the necessary paperwork to prove we had a completed home study and fortunately our previous agency (Adoption Advocates International) agreed to do the necessary updates quickly!

On February 20th, we had a facilitated conference call with the birth mother, Tina and it went GREAT. Tina is a warm, loving, friendly and open person. We all agreed to move forward at that time and it was all confirmed by Friday the 22nd of February. As Darin has said: “We’re Pregnant….sort of!”

The babies are due June 20th but Tina actually went in to labor last Thursday and is now on Hospital bed rest. Baby “A” is 2 pounds 1 ounce and Baby “B” is 2 pounds. The good news is that Tina is now 26 weeks along and babies born after 26 weeks and over 2 pounds 3 ounces have a 90% survival rate. Also, Tina has received a full round of steroid treatment which greatly improves the survivability and overall long term well being of the babies. We are talking to Tina at least twice a day now – being in the hospital is really hard for her since she has three young children at home. Fortunately, her parents are able to care for her other children.

Based on the laws in Washington and Alabama, Tina will be able to change her mind until 48 hours after the babies are born. However, at this time, we feel fairly confident that she will go forward with her adoption plan. We are really enjoying our growing relationship with Tina. The most amazing thing is that she seems genuinely excited for us to be parents.

Our families are all VERY VERY excited. Oh, yeah and we found out on Friday that the babies are IDENTICAL GIRLS!!! And, yes, we do have names picked out but you’ll have to wait to hear them until the babies are born.

Ski Weekend!!

One of our New Year’s resolutions was to spend more time with our nieces and nephews so we invited them all on a ski weekend. Five of them were able to join us up at Mt Baker the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of December. We rented a cute log cabin about 20 minutes from the lodge and all arrived Friday evening. Well….actually, Darin, Leah (age 17), Tyson (age 22) and I all arrived Friday evening. Logan (age 19) had to work until 11 PM so Tyler (age 22) and Dallas (age 19) met him and they all drove up together – arriving at the cabin around 2 AM.





In spite of the lack of sleep they were all up by 7:30 AM ready to hit the slopes. Darin and I manned the table in the lodge (I was working on homework for my Psychology class) while the 5 skiers enjoyed the snow and sunshine. I think the photos below pretty much speak for themselves).








After the mountain closed, we headed back to the cabin and ate pasta and LOTS of snacks and watched movies (Tommy Boy and Blast From The Past). Unfortunately, we also had to endure significant amounts of flatulence. Considering these are all my brother’s children, I shouldn’t have been surprised!!

Sunday morning we amazingly were able to get everyone up and out the door in time to get to meeting in Bellingham by 10:30 – including a stop at Starbucks! After meeting we all went to Jeff & Bonnita’s, where Bonnita had made a WONDERFUL lunch of roast beef and her fabulous sour cream potatoes with fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

And, to top it all off the boys "dressed up" in big glasses and hats. Who does Logan remind you of?



We had a great time with Tyler, Tyson, Dallas, Logan & Leah – they are amazing, smart and funny individuals and we love them all SO MUCH. Next time, hopefully the rest of the kids can come along too (even though they are all getting grown up and Anna-Lisa is even married – we will probably always call them kids!!)

Chez Clark

So, Darin and I were trying to figure out constructive ways to use all of this extra time we have now that we don’t have kids and decided to turn our house into a restaurant for an evening. We sent invitations to several couples with young families in our area. “You and your valentine are invited to dine at Chez Clark on February 16th.” Knowing first hand how difficult it is to get out for an evening when you have young children, we also told them that child care would be provided. BUT – we didn’t give any other details.

Imagine their surprise when they arrive at our house on Saturday the 16th to be greeted by a maitre ‘d (our nephew Tyler) “welcome to Chez Clark, do you have a reservation this evening?”

We had removed most of the furniture from our living and dining rooms and replaced it with individual tables for each of the 7 couples that accepted the invitation. Lights were low and tables were set with sparkly glassware, flowers and glowing candles. Tyler sat them at their designated table and then Darin and our dear friend Tom swooped in to wait on the guests. Darin and Tom were dressed in “waiterly” black pants and white shirts and immediately served each couple an appetizer after their children were whisked away downstairs and they were seated at their table.

The Menu
Appetizer: Warm Blue Cheese, Bacon and Garlic Dip served with sliced apples and crackers

Salad: Mixed greens salad served with choice of dressing (blue cheese, ranch, vinaigrette, or honey mustard) and a roll

Entrée Choices: Penne Pasta Con Amore – Penne pasta with chicken topped with fresh basil, tomato and caper sauté then baked with fresh mozzarella and ricotta. Served with fresh grilled asparagus
Or
Roast Beef with red wine and blackberry sauce served with mashed potatoes and fresh grilled asparagus

Dessert: Raspberry trifle or Chocolate Mousse


I started cooking at 7 AM Saturday morning and THANKFULLY, my dear friend Suzette arrived to help in the afternoon. My friend Linda’s hubby got sick and couldn't come for dinner so she also pitched in to help in the kitchen and having the extra hands on deck was a HUGE help!

Our basement – had been turned in to a kids play land complete with Pizza (Cheese & Pepperoni), Chocolate Milk, Juice boxes, sliced apples and apple sauce. Our niece Leah and Tyler’s girlfriend Bria (and Tyler after his maitre‘d duties were completed) took excellent care of the kids and all 14 of them played well together!!


Our guests report that they had a lovely time but I really believe that Darin and I had the most fun. The best part was the stunned looks of surprise when people walked in to the “fancy restaurant”…. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a single picture of the waiters or of me in my chef hat!

Bahamas HERE WE COME!!!

Just in time to fully eradicate the winter doldrums, we are headed to the Bahamas March 26th - 30th. The best part is we don't have to pay for the trip! That's right - it's all expenses paid by good old XO! I was nominated for an eXamples award at work and have been selected as one of the winners. We will be staying at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. We fly out of Seattle at 6AM on the 26th through Atlanta, GA to Nassau, Bahamas. This place is pretty much the fanciest resort Darin and I have ever seen much less been to. My company even provides spending money for us while we are there.

Our passports arrived on Friday so it is all seeming more real now. I have never won anything before, much less a cool trip like this so it all seems a bit like a dream (all except the part about wearing a swimming suit in front of fellow employees....YIKES!).

XO is hosting a welcome reception on Thursday evening and a gala awards dinner on Friday night but otherwise we are free to explore and do whatever we want.

Bonnita's Dad Ted is in the Bahamas now with his sailboat and we are hoping it might work out to connect up with him - it will just depend where he is planning to be during that time.

You can bet we'll be sure to post LOTS of pictures from our adventure!

Caucus

Today Darin and participated in the Democratic Caucus here in Bremerton. It was a first for both of us and a really cool experience. It was especially exciting because Washington's results actually matter in this year’s primary/caucus process (at least for the Democratic Party).

We had the added bonus of meeting a few neighbors including a lady just down the street who we bought a chair from a couple of years ago at a garage sale. She owns an art gallery in Pioneer Square and commutes to Seattle 6 days a week. We pledged to work together to have a neighborhood BBQ this summer!

It was really great to have the opportunity to discuss the election with neighbors and to hear the reasons why people support a particular candidate. Some of you may be surprised to know that I actually didn't give a speech for my candidate - there were several people who did a great job expressing my thoughts so I had an excellent opportunity to sit back, observe and listen. I was alternately amazed by the level of research and careful thought of some compared to the purely emotionally based outbursts of others who tended to crumble when they were asked for specifics to back up their assertion. I really appreciate those who take their civic duty so seriously and carefully weigh the options.

It was also really interesting to see the diversity of the crowd in practically every category: race, gender, age etc. I was particularly impressed with the efforts of many elderly folks to participate. I saw several older folks that could have used their disabilities as an excuse to stay home but there they were actively participating in the process. There were also lots of younger children - who the rules do allow to participate in the conversation - only those who will be under the age of 18 at the time of the November election were unable to place their vote.

We've seen news reports indicating that turnout was at least twice that of 2004 but in our precinct it was closer to 4 times higher. It will be interesting to see the final counts.

We started the process with the pledge of allegiance which was a great reminder to me that we need to celebrate the fact that we do have the opportunity in this country to gather and discuss our opinions freely without fear of recrimination -except for perhaps from a few Republican family members :o)!

So - whoever you plan to vote for in November - VOTE!! It is a great privilege we have to live and participate in a Democracy.

Oh, and by the way - our candidate won by a landslide!! Feminist I may be but I draw the line at voting for Hilary. I am inspired by Obama's message of hope and unity (among other things) and think he has what it takes to eliminate some of the divisiveness that has characterized the last several presidencies.

Resolutions Update

In our first post we shared a list of "resolutions" with the goal of keeping busy through this transition time. Well - it's working...we are DEFINITELY BUSY!!!

Here is an update on how we are progressing:

•Guitar lessons (Jean): I have the names of 3 possible guitar teachers….this takes some tracking down in this town!
•Making wood furniture (Darin): Darin made me a lovely printer stand for my office it is a combined unit with a pull out platform for the paper shredder that nests underneath the printer – VERY cool!! His next project is a "kitchen" for our nieces Caelyn & Carlee and then a desk for my home office (his list keeps growing every time he turns around!!)
•Visit family more often (both of us): Well, so far our plans to visit family outside of Bremerton have been thwarted by the big snow in Eastern, Washington. BUT – we are planning to visit Jeff and Bonnita this Saturday evening; we have managed to visit Aunt Velma several times and are having Todd over to our place this week for his birthday dinner.
•Have more company (both of us): We have a Valentine’s Dinner bash scheduled for February 16th at our place with several of our friends with children. We are cooking the dinner and providing the babysitters – no more details until after the event in case some of the invitees happen to be reading
•Ski adventure with nieces and nephews in February (both of us): This is on the books! We can hardly wait. We rented a great cabin up at Mt Baker and so far Leah, Logan, Tyson, Dallas and Tyler have all accepted. Anna-Lisa and Kyle are on the “maybe” list.
•Volunteer as CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate - Jean): I have mostly completed my CASA training – just one morning of court observation left. As soon as my background information comes back I will be able to start reviewing possible cases for assignment. I am very excited about this opportunity.
•Back to school for Master's Degree in Psychology - first class starts January 8th (Jean): Class is in full swing – I’ll admit, a bit overwhelming. I have a total of 120 pages of “learning journal” to complete before the end of the term (by March 13th)
•Dog Obedience class (Darin and Watson): We start obedience training on Tuesday night this week. We found a trainer (recommended by our Veterinarian) that will come to the house for an hour per week for 5 weeks for a surprisingly reasonable price.
•Keep a journal (Darin): I’ve definitely seen him writing in his journal (gift from Mom & Dad Foster)!
•Join the YMCA with Jean (Darin): Darin joined the Y last Friday and we worked out together on Saturday. Our plan is to meet at the Y 3 – 4 times/week before he gets home and we get busy with chores!
•Create a web photo album (both of us): Still working on this – we have downloaded the shutterfly software and have been working on getting all of our photos organized.
•Organize boxes of photos (both of us): This is still on the “to do” list
•Take a Pilates class (both of us): First class on Thursday this week
•Oh yes, and last but certainly not least ... lots of house and yard projects!!: House: We met with an architect a couple of weeks ago – he is currently working on a proposal for us; Yard: Our friend Lisa is attending landscape design school and will be working on a design for our yard as a school project – LUCKY US!!