pre-port fun

My head cheer leader and all around wingman Susan lined up a great day for us today, in prep for heading into some more body abuse tomorrow.

First, we managed to catch up with Ross over  video-Skype (our son who lives in Eindhoven, The Netherlands). It's so nice to have the video so we can all see each other. He definitely got a hoot out of my haircut. He's also recently got a hair cut so Susan was excited to see that her hair is now longer than his (which has not always been the case). Heard some new music that he and Maruja have been developing. Awesome stuff! Hopefully they will find a way to get their music published and will have great success - sure sounded good to our (totally objective) ears.

Then up to the Jane for some spring skiing. No traffic (yeah!), easy parking (even at 10:30),  no lift lines, sunny skies and warm (46F at the base). The snow was old and not awesome but certainly ski-able. We then had a nice lunch at the Club Car restaurant. I've been skiing the Jane for about 15 years and have never actually had lunch at the restaurant so that was a first for us. Here's a pic of me enjoying a post lunch stretch:

After another few runs we headed back home (again, no traffic. Boy, I'm sold on mid-week skiing!!!)

Then, a little appliance high. As part of our move to eat vegan Susan bought a pressurized rice cooker which showed up today:

Making rice at our altitude is always a bit of a crap-shoot and this rice turned out super-yummy. And then the tofu stir-fry with ginger, beans, carrots, mushrooms, celery and hoisin sauce. Fantastic!!!

We really enjoy these pal-around days. Getting outside, being active and being with Susan really energizes me so this was a great prep for what lies ahead. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to continue to have these types of days as I go through my treatment, albeit probably with a reduced activity level.

Nothing to eat or drink after midnight tonight and I won't get hooked up to an IV until about noon tomorrow. So it will be a dry, long morning! If all goes according to plan this will be the last surgery I'll have as part of getting through this illness. Fingers crossed!