Old School Hydro-Electricity
Originally built in 1923, the Dalby Water Wheel was one of the first hydro-electric plants on Hood Canal.
Running Away
I’m running away for the weekend; leaving Seattle in my wake.
Let’s just pretend that I don’t have 30 pounds of text books packed in my suitcase.
I’m headed off for a weekend of girl talk, yoga, beach combing and chick flicks with my ‘cancer girls,’ as my husband calls them. He always uses the possessive pronoun, your, as in your cancer girls. I’ve started thinking in those terms too: my cancer girls. It’s amazing, the bond you build when you go through a traumatic experience like cancer together. Maybe he’s right. I think, in a way, maybe we do belong to each other. I can’t imagine getting through cancer, or this time post-cancer (it’s never really in the past) without them.
Here’s to girl time.
Hopefully I’ll get my papers written, too.
Reasons I Love Seattle: #4 Amazing Food Trucks
Why is it that food purchased from the side of a truck always seems to taste better? We have some amazing food trucks in Seattle.
Seattle is making a name for itself with it’s foodie culture, but many may not know about the amazing food being served up on wheels around the area. There are, of course, the traditional taco trucks, but keep your eyes peeled for Thai trucks and Pho trucks, as well.
A day like this is heaven – Skillet and Molly Moon‘s Ice Cream food trucks parked right next to each other.
Hello Cholesterol!
And now, from around the interwebs…
Me: As Seen On…
GalTime: The Next Big One: How to be prepared – One of the best ways to help your entire community in time of crisis is to be prepared for that crisis yourself: learn first aid, get certified in CPR, and prepare a disaster kit sufficient to care for your entire household for at least three days. Each person, or family, with their own emergency food, water, and other supplies relieves the stress of support services trying to help those without. In this article, I give some guidelines and pointers for preparing yourself and your family for the next big emergency.
The SITS Girls: Inspire the Best in You – I was one of the leads on the Inspire the Best in You: Letting Go project by the amazing girls at SITS, and my post on Letting Go of the Illusion of Control was highlighted. Thank you so much for this honor.
Awesome People Who Linked to me Recently
(If you do link to me, let me know, most of the time I stumble across these links by accident.)
Studio30+ linked to my post on Letting Go of the Illusion of Control on their Sunday Spotlight.
Awesome stuff I found while I was procrastinating on my homework
Hamster Central: One Month – I’ve been following Jen’s blog for a couple years now. She lives in Tokyo. This quick check-in, one month after the devastating earthquake and tusnami, came with news that the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Cherry blossoms signify the ephemeral qualities of life. Hope Blooms.
Northwest Ladybug: A Beautiful Day on the University of Washington Campus – I truly believe that the UW campus is one of the most beautiful in the world. These photos are a gorgeous illustration. We’re so lucky to live here.
All Adither: Mommy Blogger – Angie struggles with the label “Mommy Blogger.” I struggle with that, too. Sure, I write a lot about my kid these days, I consider parenting her the most important thing of everything I do, so naturally it will bleed in to my writing. But it’s not all there is to me. I also tend to struggle against labels in general, but I understand that, as humans, we like to categorize things. Where do you stand on the label?
Miss Britt: Everything you wanted to know about the big trip – I’ve written about this before, but it has really captured my imagination. Britt and her husband and kids are about to sally forth in a motor home, and explore the country for a year. Every time I think about this, my brain spins. So many questions. How to pay the bills? What about the kids? Here Britt supplies some answers, and even more fodder for my imagination as I ponder what adventure is next for my little family.
Not Martha: a weekend on Guemes Island – This post is actually a couple months old, but I’ve revisited it several times. I’ve been feeling the need to get away lately. To pack up my little family and go somewhere quiet, surrounded by nature – and the water. To hear water lapping against rocks, and birds singing and chattering in the morning. To let go of deadlines and due dates, even if just for a weekend, and sink in to a deep tub, or sink my teeth into a sinfully decadent yet simple dinner. To read a book for pleasure – without taking notes. Sigh. One of these days…
Alaska Railroad Adventure, 1947
My grandparents moved to Alaska in the late 1940s. At that time, the state was very much still a rugged frontier, and everyone had an interesting story to tell. Grandma took notes, and shared them with me, asking me to publish them so the rest of the family could have easy access to these stories.
In this post, my grandparents set out into the wilderness on a train trip through central Alaska in 1947. Along the way, they encounter mountain climbers in the process of making history, and even set up a temporary dental clinic in a bathroom to help locals in need. As usual, these stories are presented in my grandmother’s own words with no editing on my part. I did, however, hunt down a few relevant links and images. You can find more of my family’s stories at McKinley Family.
I probably should have split this into two posts because it’s so long, but I felt like the most fascinating part was the second half. Incidentally, I ended up working on this railroad in 1992. One of these days I’ll have to write up my Alaska Railroad stories as well.
Once again, in her own words, Doris McKinley:
Doris McKinley – adventuring with the Lion’s Club
The only Railroad in Alaska is United States Government owned and runs from Seward, the port of entry, thru Anchorage to Fairbanks, a 471 mile life-line to the interior. It was built many years ago of Government Surplus Materials after the construction of the Panama Canal, and is in dire need of major repairs. The schedules are notoriously slow. If an engineer wants to flirt with a reprimand, a sure way to do it is to bring his train in on time! The speed limit for passenger trains on the straight-away is 25 miles per hour.
Alaska Railroad Map – image credit Alaska Railroad
While awaiting completion of the dental offices in the new Sogn Building, my husband and I took a most interesting trip on the railroad, stopping at Curry, Mt. McKinley Park, and Healy. When we left Anchorage, we left all activity except strictly railroad behind. There are no railroad junctions or highway crossing along the entire route. Just wild hinterland!
As we were passing a rather extended, level, open area I was excited to see a complete rainbow. Both ends touching the ground – we looked but could not find pots of gold!
Several old fishermen boarded the train at Anchorage with all their paraphanalia. Then at various streams 30 to 60 miles out, they signalled the engineer, the train stopped, and they got off. A few days later, when they were ready to return, they would stand by the tracks, flag the train and ride in to Anchorage. – an easy way to get to camp!
Two
There are stairs on the other side of this platform, but she doesn’t care. She does it her way.
Often that means the hard way.
She loves to explore.
she gets exasperated by her dear old mom, with that obnoxious camera
she vacillates between outgoing and shy
and most any problem can be solved by some time in a swing with a dinosaur.
My baby girl turns two today. I guess I can’t call her a baby anymore.
Happy Birthday, Baby. (ok, I’m going to keep calling her baby till she makes me stop, and maybe, accidently, after that, too)
My Chemo Buddy
My favorite chemo buddy, Gem, accompanied me to my Herceptin infusion on Friday.
We also brought along a horse (of course), and some coloring materials.
I made several attempts at taking a picture of us together where I didn’t look stoned or have my eyes closed
no luck.
but this picture just cracks me up – what WAS she looking at? And my chins could be used for counting lessons.
We piled string cheese, cookies, apple juice and magazines together and had a picnic right there on the bed. If you have to get chemo, and hopefully you don’t, a picnic in the middle of the bed is not a bad way to spend the time. (Also, don’t try to take your kid to chemo till you’ve had several rounds of chemo and know what you’re getting in to and how much your child can handle. SCCA, where I get my treatment, provides individual rooms for patients rather than bunching them all into on big room.)
About the Herceptin: If you are confused because several months ago I triumphantly proclaimed that I was done with chemotherapy, that’s understandable. Technically I am done with chemo. Herceptin is actually a biological agent, and (thank goodness) doesn’t have the debilitating side effects of regular chemotherapy. But I still call it chemo, because it’s easier than describing the difference. It’s administered the same way and by the same people as the chemo treatments..
The type of cancer that I have is HER2+, which is an extremely aggressive cancer with a high rate of recurrence. The one good thing about HER2+ cancer is the development of the drug Herceptin, which is able to specifically target the HER2+ flagged cancer cells, meaning there’s no wholesale assault on the body. Herceptin does not leave me nauseous, or fatigued, or cause pain like the other forms of chemo.
The big downside to Herceptin is that it is hard on the heart, so hard that I have to have a MUGA scan every 3 months to measure my heart functions. I just recently re-started the Herceptin after having to take a break because of reduced heart functions. The work of the medical oncologist seems to me as much art as science – a delicate balance combined with trial and error. It’s really amazing what they do.
