First time in a restaurant in two months

Our friend Mary suggested lunch after taking Peg to her blood draw/analysis... and took her to a great burger place in Granite Bay (Habit).  Not only did Peg have a burger and onion rings, but I was the beneficiary of the four leftover rings.

Here's the straight scoop on onion rings.

If they're crappy, you've gotta eat 'em hot or they'll congeal and turn into inedible goo.  These rings were cool but still incredibly tasty. The mind reels at how good they must have been fresh out of the fryer. Methinks a field trip to Habit is definitely in our future.

Peg's energy is trending in the right direction and her appetite is on the upswing.  We need to work on the exercise part of the program, just managed a short stroll in front of the house tonight.  Living the "box of chocolates" life... you never know what you're going to get.

2,100 calories a day

That's 600 more than the average woman takes in.  It's what Peg has to whomp down to climb back up to her normal weight... a long 15 pounds to go.

Thanks for your many entertaining and fun suggestions on how to do what we're all programmed as adults to avoid.  We're trying not to rely too heavily on dairy, which is the go-to food group for weight gain.  I would hoover down fettucine alfredo all day long, but Peg can't handle large quantities of really fatty stuff.  She paces herself, eating every two hours or so and keeping track of her caloric intake.  She's been very conscientious about keeping well hydrated.

Tomorrow the UPS guy will drop off 24 eight ounce cans of the Mother of All Nutritional Supplements: Rambo.  (Okay, they don't call it Rambo.  I'm a marketing guy, and that's the name I picked for it).  Carnation makes a back-room, CIA clearance-required, stand back and shield your eyes version of their liquid instant breakfast drink: 560 calories in one can.  Booyah.  We're hoping this will reverse the trend of Peg dropping about a pound every few days.

Also tomorrow: our friend Mary takes Peg to the oncologist for a blood draw/analysis; Zoë and her Auntie Jeanette head up to the hills to the Yuba River for a day of swim fun; and I head downtown to take publicity photos of Sacramento's mayor, Kevin Johnson, as he records a video at my friend Bill's production studio.

Every day is absolutely and entirely different.  Looking forward to the structure of Zoë being in school and Peg and I getting a firmer handle on the rhythm of cancer recovery.  We've literally had to reinvent our lives in just 58 days, so once in a while I just have to sit on my ass, stare at the garden, and let it roll over me... and let go.

A core belief of Buddhism is that attachment is the root of all suffering. Not just attachment to things, or people, but to expectations.  Of how things "should" go.  Or what "should" happen next.

I don't belong to any particular religion, including Buddhism, but their approach as I understand it has been immensely helpful to me.  Release is a good thing to do a lot of.  

Being mindful.  Breathing deeply. Taking in simple things.

Pretty amazing what 58 days will do.