Brain cancer is... Laguna Beach, Celebrating Five Years of GBM Surviving and Thriving ..is one part of life's adventure. Brain cancer is a very big part of our life, for sure.  And it's a part that won't go away.  Ever.  But it is just one part. After a few post-blog weeks of talking with you, Team D members, individually, we came to see that a blog can be a conversation starter.  And that we can listen in addition to talking via the blog. Even though we've stayed in touch with many of you separately, we miss you collectively. The end of this blog felt like a br ..read more

Readers Note:  This post has links back to past posts. We don't interrupt the flow by calling them out.  Look for red text or underscores for hyperlinks if you're interested. Brain cancer is... ...signing off. Above you see Darrell and Andi Guillaume in our spot on the point at Big Bear Lake.   We took the top picture a few days before Darrell was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in 2016.  When we took that shot, we had no idea what was lurking in the left hemisphere of his brain.  We headed down to the Emergency Department, and then we chose that pi ..read more

 Brain cancer is... ...crossing the finish line after dark. For today's stroll, we walked the sun up this morning and then down again tonight.  Check out our finish line, above, after what turned out to be 26.5 miles. Christine!  Where could we put in a request to have a fancy finish line for each of life's goals?  Typically people walk different chunks of the stroll with us, but COVID-19 changed that for this year.  Fortunately Tiana, Alex, and Nova were able to do a solid 4 miles with us. Here we are in the cold this morning:   Tiana pointed out that Nova h ..read more

Darrell here again. Brain cancer is...  ...Nova getting used to G'Pa's fancy bar tending. Another wonderful day with Nova (oh, and Tiana and Alex).  When Nova shows appreciation for drink with a smile or a vocalized "yum" for G'Pa bar-tending, he's willing to make her drinks all day!  Above she enjoying my delicious non-alcoholic "mule."   Wait for her to "Cheers you" and see how it melt you heart. Cheers to appreciating the little things we do for one another, Team D.   Also Big Hits Today The cork table "Finger" Painting Nova decorated our snack bag fo ..read more

Brain cancer is... ...thrilled to share. Today was the day to share our park with Nova B.   Her favorite animal is "duck," and she met her first real ones today.   Here she is spotting a coot.  A tiny bird dork.  Hurrah!   She also used her new collecting bucket to pick up sticks. There were lots of scenes we won't forget, like these: 2.5 girls enjoy the view. We also had a great time with the "Eric Carle-style Painted Paper" project ...and an even better time at the sink after-party. We have one sticky note left for tomorrow: edible fi ..read more

 Brain cancer is...  ...welcoming Nova to vacation planning, Guillaume style. Tiana, Alex, and Nova arrived for a few days of vacation with us last night.  As you see, above, Nova was greeted with a sticky note schedule.   That's how we plan vacations:  Lots of sticky notes with ideas. The notes can be arranged, discarded, or supplemented as the day unfolds.   So far so good!  1.  Fort building?  Good start! 2.  Duplos?  Check out portable wall by G'Pops.  3.  Author study over breakfast: Eric Carle. 4.  Going ..read more

Darrell again supervising. Brain cancer is... ...enjoying  breakfast with LuAnn, ...and lunch with Gordon. Once gain, we had great day with family!  We saw both parents for meals and stimulating conversation about COVID vaccines and the future, politics, money matters, and family histories.   Funny how I can be always right on all topics... We hope you enjoyed some time with family, Team D. And that you were correct on all counts. Today's Bloom  ..read more

Darrell here. Brain cancer is...  ...FaceTiming with our 93-year old dad.  Gordon's kids all gave him an iPhone for Christmas.  He's doing a great job of experimenting and learning. Today he and Gary (also a new iPhoner) were trying new things.  We received our first FaceTime call from Gordon.  The use of video is magic in this time of COVID.  We were all glad to see each other. And we're glad that people keep learning new things. On our walk, we expected to see a groundhog and ask him how his day was.  We found his hole, but not him.   We suppos ..read more

 Darrell is once again supervising today. Brain cancer is...  ...continuing to have fun and smile at the world's beauty. Coming home from errands, we chased the sunset.  Above you see the shot from a local park, Panorama Nature Preserve.  It was worth the chase!   Here are two more views of the sunset: Being a kid herself, Andi bought Nova some Lego "Duplos."  They are the larger version of Lego building blocks, safe for little kids   Below, see Andi thinking big Duplo thoughts. I wonder who will have more fun building with the Duplos, G'Mama ..read more

Brain cancer is... ...done training. We did our final "longer" walk today:  Ten miles.  We saw a couple bird things that surprised even us bird dorks. Here are 11 seconds of an egret scratching its neck on a fence railing.  It makes complete sense, but it's a first for us. YouTube link And here's a tree full of cormorants.  Creepy. When we got home, we each ate six Dove chocolates.  And now, for a week, we play. We hope all your surprises were good ones today. And we hope your day involved play.  And chocolate. Today’s Blooms ..read more