Over the holiday break, Granddad held a neighborhood pony party, complete with miniature neighbors and miniature ponies. It was great. During the party, Jakey Crockett and Nathaniel Boone palled around with their buddy Jack and the Beanstalk (this nickname will become apparent later on), climbing trees and fences and ponies. Meanwhile,…
Many years ago, my dear friend Kristen was on an airplane. She’s eagerly looking forward to cracking her big new Harry Potter book for several hours of cross-country magical mayhem when an older gentleman, sitting next to her, decides to chat her up, “Is that one of those books about…
My last three jobs primarily focused on large-scale change initiatives… helping people and organizations to understand, absorb and accept a constant stream of changes, both big and small. We used to talk a lot about “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.” We focused on listening. We emphasized and reemphasized what was important.…
As some of you have noticed, I’ve become significantly more attuned to my surroundings in the last two months. Maybe it’s my mindful meditation practice? Perhaps the real or perceived threat of being in constant and imminent danger? Or it could be La Niña and the weekly excitement of rockslides and…
This past weekend was beautiful, as the majority of our weekends have truly been since we got here. On Saturday, all the boys went fishing with Papa at the end of the furthest pier in Avila. While they were busy drowning bait, I walked almost five miles— starting at the Bob…
Back in high school, two of my friends and I decided we wanted to take a night class at our local community college— some sort of advanced Spanish class that took place after dark. My parents told me no in no uncertain terms. They were certain I would be accosted…
On Tuesday night, James and I headed up to Santa Cruz in preparation for two appointments on Wednesday. The next morning we woke-up, had a cup of tea and some swamp water, and then packed-up for the commute to Palo Alto. As we were waking-up in my parents’ cozy sitting room…
A quick update to let you know I’ll post a more satisfying update on Saturday. Running on fumes this week and am coasting into the weekend via gravity and momentum. James and the boys have another four-day weekend and are off adventuring today. Thank you to everyone for your texts, calls…
Years ago, my dad told me this story where he had two job offers he couldn’t decide between. His indecision led him to wake-up on a Monday morning, get into his car, and start driving without a plan. It was his first day on the job and he needed to…
Not a lot of new updates to provide on the #TeamJames front. That’s the character-building part of this whole situation… getting comfortable with being so excruciatingly uncomfortable… and the waiting. James and I will head-up to meet with the Stanford oncologists on Wednesday. Meanwhile Granddad will come down to hold…