Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
After our week away, we returned home to our normal routines. Almost normal. I checked my weight for the first time in awhile and was hit with the reality that I had been gaining way too much. It is no mystery about how this happened as we have become bread and sweets fans, in addition to my evening snacking. The good news is that we know how to turn this around: the South Beach Diet. I have used this no-nonsense approach to eating before and lost as much as 60 pounds and, generally, kept it off. The trick, as with any weight-loss program, is to remember the guidance once weight goals have been met. We'll see.
Otherwise, life on Cambridge Avenue was completely regular. Marianne did her art work and socializing with Zumba friends. She also had trips to Kaiser for lab work and ECGs, necessary steps to reestablishing the new chemo-pill regime. Setting this regime is a precursor to new travel, so we want to get it right. As of this writing, things are looking good for being ready by early- to mid-May. We'll see.
As for me, I have added regular exercise to my food control. Walking, Peloton bike rides, and serious gardening have been enough. For socializing, I keep up my visits to neighbor Vern. He is still recovering from a fall a month ago and things are going slowly, expected, I suppose, for a 95-year-old, but we'd all feel better if he could be more active. Otherwise, our only excursion was a walk to the other end of the block for Blain's 50th birthday celebration, complete with a friend's country bluegrass band. Fun, but Marianne and I left early, maybe because we no longer drink and now, can't even eat much. We are getting pretty dull.
Part of my exercise has been gardening. Most of this has been regular, annual fixing of winter overgrowth, especially the bocce court. I don't suppose we get enough use of this field, but unless it gets weeded, flattened, and treated with a new top-coat, it just looks too abandoned. Now that it is fixed, we need to get out there!
My other accomplishment was moving the back-porch plantings to their own garden, this time on a baker's rack on the patio. This made both the patio and the back porch look better. Of course, there are still several more hours of work left to get the yards in shape, but we'll do that bit by bit. And then we will leave on travel and come back to jungles again. Oh well, it's exercise.
We are working in a quick trip over to Monterey for a couple days, mostly to see grand-daughter Ava's lacrosse game on Friday, but we will see local family as well. As a distraction, we also checked out a house that we might rent in a few years, when we feel it is time to transition from being Central Valley homeowners. Meanwhile, we will buy Lottery tickets.
This was our first test of new diet rules in a dining-out environment. The right answer seemed to be fish and salad and we found an appropriate low-key Monterey fish restaurant. For just over $75, we had good-looking but mediocre grilled sea bass. This return to disciplined eating won't be easy.
Back at the hotel, I went for a short walk and was reminded that the Monterey climate is so flower-friendly that even sidewalks feature nice little flower plants. One more reason to question Fresno-desert living.
Now it is Friday, and our planned event was Ava's afternoon lacrosse game, but first we had some family time. (After I woke early, of course, to fill the car and write a diary entry.) Gabby drove down early enough to meet us for lunch at the Red House Cafe, perhaps our favorite breakfast or brunch spot. Traffic delayed her a bit, but we took advantage of the time to cross the street to visit The Bookworks where we found $156 worth of must-haves - four books and a puzzle. Marianne said we could spend a whole day in this small store and I agreed.
Brunch was good, as expected, and Gabby topped off the meal with a Mother's Day gift, since we may not be together for the May event. The plan is to be traveling to Colorado and Maryland by then, assuming Marianne clears the last hurdle concerning her new medication. We're positive.
Next up was a visit with Klari and Jack, just up the hill from the Red House. It was another pleasant visit checking in on the 90-year-olds. Klari's flower gardens were colorful as they generally are. The Monterey climate is perfect for such live decorations.
After the visit, it was time to get to the main event: the Los Gatos versus Robert Lewis Stevens girls lacrosse teams. Family fans (almost) packed the stands.
Freshman Ava is defense at the non-varsity level and watching the improvement in her team was impressive. Having lost to RLS a few weeks ago, the Los Gatos Cats fought back for a last minute win 4 to 3 this time. Congratulations!!
I took lots of pictures and here is a sampling:
After the hard fought victory, it was time for a hearty Italian dinner at Little Napoli, an old-time feeding and watering hole in town. Of course there were pictures.
After a good meal and lots of laughs, it was time to send Gabby and Ava back on the longish drive home. Marianne and I had a short drive back to our Best Western, but Chris, Leisa, and Jessica, their almost-daughter, took the extra time for a beach visit.
Jessica is a German exchange student who joined the Hidas family a couple months ago and we found out that her parents had stumbled on these Trotter.ws diaries a few days ago, only to find their daughter celebrating a different dinner with the Hidas family. These last pictures are for them.
We will return to Fresno Saturday morning and get back in our routine, hopefully to leave that routine as soon as possible.
Stay tuned,
John and Marianne