Medical Update: I began chemotherapy a week ago and was to continue today, but because my blood counts were low, treatment is postponed until next week. I haven't gained any weight yet, but I also haven't lost any more weight. Thank you for everyone's advice on how to gain weight and stop diarrhea. I doubt there is any advice I have not yet heard so please spare me any more advice. I am in communication with five medical doctors, a chiropractor, a naturopath, a dietician, and the nursing staffs of all the above. So with my friends I would rather enjoy other topics of conversation and play. I had fun last night dancing with my Wild Rose Garland team. We are planning our first performance for May Day, beginning before dawn in the rose gardens at Washington Park and continuing possibly into the evening.

Today was such a beautiful day, amid several gray days. After yoga, I went on a refreshing walk in the sun around Council Crest Park and neighborhood. Hopefully, we will have more such days this week. Last weekend, Ben and I drove to Gig Harbor, stopping first in Tacoma to see the Chihuly glass art installed in the federal court house in old Union Station. You can see in the photos below the scale and beauty of Chihuly's art. Gig Harbor is a picturesque and friendly town built in the 1800s  up steep hillsides above an inlet off Puget Sound. Ben delivered engines to a dealer who lives in the area for display at the Seattle Boat Show, which we will attend next week. Ben took the photo of me at Point Defiance.

Hope you all are finding some sunshine to warm up your winter days. All around us are signs of spring. The budding shrubs and bulbs inspire hope. I find this anticipation of spring quite pleasurable. I don't mind the wait.

Medical update: The start of chemotherapy has been postponed again to next week, 1/20. I am a little anxious about this but trust the doctor's judgement on this. Hopefully I can get started soon, because I just purchased airline tickets for Ben and me to visit David and Pia in Boulder near the end of April. I am likely to be getting the infusions on Wednesday afternoons, at Providence eastside. If anyone is available and interested in helping me by being a driver to take me to an appointment (probably around noon) or take me home from an appointment (about 3 hours later), please email me: psenders@comcast.net. This was so helpful last fall and provided an opportunity for me to visit with friends and family.

Generally I feel good. I have added a tap dance class to my weekly schedule, and English Country Garland dancing practice begins again in one week. We had our Garland reunion potluck last night. Nearly all of our 9 dancers and 3 main musicians attended. With 3 un- or under-employed and 2 in some stage of cancer treatment, we were a bit sober, but ever so grateful to have each other's friendship and support. It will be fun to start dancing again.

In the next few weeks, Ben and I will spend time in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and Seattle. Send me your suggestions for interesting restaurants, sights, and activities.

This month in yoga we are focusing on grace and being grateful. At this point in my life, I am deeply grateful for each of my family members and friends, most especially Ben. I am grateful to be able to breathe deeply, eat, walk, dance, and sing. I am grateful for the birds that visit our feeders and chirp, and often squabble, in the trees at dawn. Often after a yoga class, I walk uphill into Washington Park. Right now on a path between two tennis courts, you can find a kind of viburnum in bloom that smells like the promise of spring. May the signs of the coming spring bring you hope as they do me.

No new pictures, but I thought you might enjoy this one of our 'kids' on Christmas morning.

Life is not about praying for the storm to end.

Life is about learning to dance in the rain.

- Author unknown

My friend and yoga teacher, Bill, shared this saying with me recently. It rings a chord with me on many levels, and is certainly accessible to those of us living in the Pacific northwest. To enjoy life here and to live this life to the fullest, you certainly need to embrace all weather. What a fine metaphor for life.

I have been living the leisurely life of a retiree, slowed down a bit by my current medical issues, which at this point are primarily needing to be close to a bathroom and to food. I go to the MAC for yoga, hot showers, and coffee with friends, several times a week, and walk as often as I can, yes, in the rain at times. I have found that there really is quite a lot of light outside even on a cloudy day, and that it feels much better to be outside in a light drizzle than to be inside wishing the sun were out. Much of the day, I am preparing food, eating food, or thinking about what I will eat next. I eat an enormous amount of food, and I have been able to stop my weight descent around 100#, I hope. Ben's work has been sparse, which has allowed him a lot of free time to hang out with me, walking, having coffee in bakeries, planning our next short trips, learning about dog training, planning the bathroom project, and watching movies. In a few weeks, we are driving to Gig Harbor and Tacoma, see some Chihuly glass and Point Defiance Park (I think that's the one). The next weekend we will spend in Seattle, all for the boat show being held in Seattle at the end of this month. Thanks to the generosity of Stanley the main US. distributor of Beta Marine engines, we have fine accommodations in Seattle so we plan to take the train up. I will explore Seattle on foot, and read, knit, and nap in the hotel, until Ben can leave the show and play with me.

Medical update: Unfortunately, my oncologist didn't think it wise to start my chemo sessions today. Maybe next week.