Update

Since getting out of the big house life has been a bit more difficult than usual. I have been experiencing a lot of nausea. I am not sure what it is coming from. I am on so many drugs that the side effects all collide or cancel each other out or add up to more than they should. It is pretty crazy. At times the nausea has been so bad that all I can do is sit there and try to keep it together. Blogging has been pretty far from my mind.


Yesterday Robin and Barbara went down to the Folsom pharmacy and picked up a prescription of prilosec an anti-nausea drug. Since I've got that on board I am feeling lots better and am able to eat again. the Chickenhawk and I just came home from breakfast at the Coloma Club. For anyone that knows the Coloma Club, they are rolling their eyes right now or possibly pointing their finger down their throat. But I am here to tell you it was great to have food brought to us, what we asked for when we wanted it and to just sit and talk. The Coloma Club is a yucky place but sometimes it just hits the spot.


Spring has sprung in the Coloma Lotus valley. It is my favorite time of year to be here. Coloma is an incredibly beautiful place. We are in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The elevation at the floor of the valley is only 750 feet but the mountains that create the canyon rise 2000 feet above the valley. Out the window of my family room is a view of Mount Murphy the biggest most prominent hill in the valley. It burned last summer and has been black ever since. Now it has turned green and the south facing flank of it has got California poppies blanketing it. All of the hills have turned the green of fresh new grass. In a few months that grass will dry out and the hills will be a dusky blond but for now it is shimmering emerald green. The buckeyes are all leafing out in a brilliant green and there are lots of trees blossoming in white flowers all over.


The C/H was running on the Monroe ridge trail yesterday the opposite side of the valley from Mt. Murphy. She said the ridge was blanketed with shooting stars.


The day time temperatures are running in the high 60's or low 70's and it has been sunny to partly cloudy. It is absolutely perfect bike riding weather. If you are not doing anything, I suggest you get in your car, drive here and ride your face off. You will not regret it.


My in laws, Charlie and Nancy stopped by yesterday on their way back home to Bend OR. They had taken a short break after being here for the better part of February. They stayed in a local campground in their palatial RV. They did were really great at stepping in and helping to run our house as the Share the Care group was getting on its feet. They figured out the routine beautifully and wrangled the kids really well. They did most of the grocery shopping and tons of house repairs that we couldn't get to. Their help was so incredibly key I really am grateful for that.


My Mom and her hubby Chuck are here now and are getting into the swing of things. My Mom, we call her Granny was a nurse for her whole working life. She just recently retired. She has been really great at taking care of me while I am down and in need. That takes a load off the C/H who has been working so hard and is constantly struggling with burn out.


Speaking of that, I am really struggling to figure out how I can help the C/H with burn out. She is the hardest worker I know. She will keep going and going until she pops. She is a sprinter not a marathoner. She does not have an easy time asking for help or accepting help or even realizing that she needs it. She just gets angry. At everything. I feel so bad about that. I am usually the one who talks her down, tells her that everything is going to be all right but I am not doing a very good job at that right now. I mean when you look at me and here me telling you everything is going to be all right it has got to be kind of a joke really. There is another example of the insults of cancer, another thing that I have to come to terms with. I cant take care of my spouse the way I used to. It is so fucked.


We are in the second week of Share the Care and it is really working well. At the initial meeting that we had, I mentioned that there were about 100 people that had expressed interest in helping out in various ways. Our coordinator Adrienne has scheduled weekly captains for the next several months. The job of the captains is to schedule the weeks' events; meals, rides to the doctor, kids to and from school etc. As a result there are still about 90 volunteers that have yet to be called on. If you are one of those folks, rest assured, we want your help it is just a matter of getting to calling on people to get them scheduled. We really truly appreciate all the help and offers of help. Please be patient with our process.

I understand that there will be a work party weekend coming up on the 28th or 29th. Stay tuned for more info about that.

So, all in all, I am feeling better than I have for the last few days which I can say were the worst so far. I am catching up with phone calls and stuff that I need to do like taxes and selling my truck. I feel like I have fallen out of touch with a lot of folks that are very important to me but I know you all understand that I am doing what I can while taking care of myself first. I have been dreaming lots about what I am going to do and where I am going to go when I am done with this. I really want to go sailing, somewhere tropical, with the kids. I want to go to Disney land with the girls. I want to form a community assitance group called Loco Care to take care of people in the community that need help. I am dreaming of doing something big on the bike, not sure yet but possibly RAAM with a Velo Loco team possibly 2010.