The best Christmas gift!

Tim got me an EXCELLENT gift this Christmas - a lovely Tiffany lamp with a sulphur-crested cockatoo on it! It looks fantastic in our bedroom...

Making our way home...

After spending a great night at a nice country hotel in Armidale, NSW, we headed out, past the weirdly named Mother of Ducks Lagoon (no birds, unfortunately!) out to Castle Liqueurs for a quick pit stop, then through Cunningham's Gap for a short hike in the forest. The cats were very glad to see us when we finally made it home...

Sydney Shopping!

We had a fantastic time the next day sampling the shopping in Paddington, a hip and chic suburb of Sydney. There, on Oxford Street, we found the Paddington Markets where Tim had waffles and I had the BEST ice cream sandwich from a cool guy from Minnesota who runs Pat & Stick's Homemade Ice Cream Company. I then got some great shoes at Zomp Shoes, and Tim got some nice shirts from David Lawrence. We then headed out over the Harbour Bridge to the Hunter Valley wine country, stopping for some gourmet feta near the Blue Tongue Brewery. Finally, we did NOT stay at the Abe Lincoln motel...

A great day in Sydney

Today we had a fantastic day - first we saw the Diana exhibit at the Pwerhouse museum, which was great. The wedding dress was really worth seeing - the train was 35 feet long! Afterwards we had great dim sum at a Chinese place downtown, then walked around the shops in the center of town. I bought some great yarn at a craft shop and we browsed the new outlet of the NY Metropolitan museum! Then we had a great dinner at a Moroccan restaurant right on Darling Harbor. Fantastic!

Off to Sydney!

Today we are off to drive to Sydney to see the Diana exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. According to the website, "Highlights include Diana’s royal wedding gown, jewellery and outfits by major international designers. Also on display are childhood letters, home movies and family memorabilia."

Christmas Antics!

We have had an excellent Christmas! First, we had Christmas Eve diner with our friends Justin and Elissa, with excellent shrimp and Elissa's homemade chocolate truffles. Christmas we celebrated with our friends Roger and Karen Remington - they put together a very all-American dinner with turkey, stuffing and excellent blueberry pie! Then for Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) we went over to our friends Cindy and Jeff's, where unfortunately the pool party was rained out, but the food as always was excellent, especially the various cakes and pies... The cats as usual had fun with their Christmas toys, and Denali predictably liked her ball best!

Botanical Gardens

Today we went to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens to get an idea of types of plants we might want to get for parts of our garden. We are planning on planting screening hedges between our house and our neighbor's house, as well as some ground cover plants in the front and out the back, under our bedroom.

Exercising

Today George Sofronoff, son of my friend Kate Sofronoff and a personal trainer, came over and showed me how to best use our home gym equipment. Zamboni was taking careful notes and plans on being a good coach himself...

Wasps!

We have had a series of paper wasps outside our house. Unfortunately they decided to build there nests right above my hammock, so Tim sprayed the nests this evening...

Doc's News is Good!

Today I checked in with Kirk, who was very happy with the results of all of the tests. The blood tests showed everything completely normal, and the post-radiation treatment CT scan showed that the tumor had shrunk from over 120 millimeters to just 13 millimeters. Moreover, while the CT scan before radiation treatment began showed the lump as 16mm, this 3mm loss was not significant (in fact, it could just represent an artifact of the scan slice being taken at a slightly different angle. So Kirk was pleased (he also liked the hot chocolate I brought him from San Francisco...)

Bicycle Riding!

Today went for a bike ride for the first time in a LONG time (many thanks to Peter who helped us to get the bike in shape while he was here visiting).

Zamboni as Art!

Today we finally got around to hanging up a great present from my friend Peter Baum - a chalk original of a cat that looks remarkably like Zamboni... Even Zamboni thinks the resemblance is striking!

Another Post Cancer Dinner!

This evening we went to a great restaurant, Eve's on the River, with another group of friends to continue the celebration of the end of my treatments... We were a large group and had lots of excellent wine and food... and I again had the duck!

Yoga, Massages and Rolfing

I have noticed that my back is really stiff, after all of the treatments and inactivity and especially the recent flurry of airplane travel... So I have started doing a lot of stretches and some yoga positions every morning, which is really helping with my flexibility. (Zamboni is acting as my yoga teacher...) I have also been going for Rolfing treatments at the local day spa, Rainesforest, where I also get back massages about every two weeks. Rolfing basically involves manipulatng the soft tissues (muscles, connecting tissues) in a systematic manner to help with spinal realignment and posture. I find it has been very useful and Tim has noticed a big difference in my posture and flexibility.

A birding day trip...

Today we took a birding trip to the Lockyer Valley, about 45 minutes west of us. We had thought we might see some interesting birds as it has been raining a bit more recently. We didn't see any rarities but we did see a family of Black Swans, a Forest Kingfisher and a group of Pink Eared Ducks.

CT Scan

Today I had a CT scan with contrast done, to check the size of the tumor. They are hoping for a minimal change in the size of the lump since the last scan (which was done right before I started the radiation treatment). This would indicate that there were few active cancer cells for the radiation to kill, hence little to no change in the size of the lump. It is always possible there were microscopic cells for the radiation to kill, and this is why it was so critical to undergo the radiation treatment. But these would not be reflected in a change on the CT scan...

The plane above is one of Qantas' new initiatives to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research in Australia.

The Cats Unpack their Presents!

The cats were very excited when I finally got around to unpacking, to find some great catnip treats...

Post Cancer Treatment Celebration Dinner

Tim and I and a few friends celebrated the ending of my treatments for Hodgkin's at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant in St Lucia, called Amphora. I had the duck, as usual... It was a really special evening!

Off to Adelaide

After getting in yesterday around 1pm, and falling asleep at 2pm, I was up at 6am today to fly to Adelaide for a series of grant meetings. The meetings were in the Qantas club lounge of Adelaide airport... Was weird to just never leave the airport and fly back. After coming from LA, I really felt as if I'd been in airports for DAYS!...

Back Home in Australia!

Back home to Australia at last.... It is always great to see the headlands around Sydney from the air right before we land... And when we take off there are always good shots of the Opera House and the Harbor!


...And then it is great to see Brisbane from the air as we head in to the airport - I know I'll see Tim and the cats soon!

Last Day in LA

My last day in LA was filled with good food (HUGE French Toast, tiny but nice pumpkin pie) and that pre-Christmas excess (giant snowglobes!?!). It will be nice to get back to Australia, but it's always hard to leave the States...

Meetings, Shopping in LA

Today was a full day, with meetings starting at 7:30am! However, Bronwyn and I did manage to sneak away for some mid-afternoon shopping at the Beverly Center, at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and at the LA Farmer's Market....