markathbauer

Sunday, December 29, 2024

2024 THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS

Well, 2024. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. (I think I read that somewhere?) Definitely a year to remember … or not! It started out just fine, we thought, till Cooper came down with Diabetic ketoacidosis. He spent 5 days in ICU and slowly came out of the coma, requesting a trip to Hawaii. Full blown Type 1 juvenile diabetes. Geez, not how we wanted to start the year. Then I, who hadn’t driven at night for three years due to the pandemic, freaked out by driving at night in the rain, resulting in double cataract surgery since I was oh so blinded by the glare of traffic lights. Hey, the sky got sooooo blue after the surgery. And I could see to drive at night again! A trip to Palm Desert with Jake, Rylee and Aliette in celebration!

Then, in early April, we trekked down to Texas with family and friends to watch the total eclipse. It was great except for my nagging abdominal pain, and weakness. Tried antibiotics etc while there, didn’t help much. We came home to blood tests and moving the kidney cancer 7.5 year CT checkup from July to early May. Not good results as the CT scan showed stage 4 Pancreatic cancer with mets to liver, lungs, lymph system, abdominal walls etc etc etc. Again, not what we wanted to hear! RAPIDLY got in to see an oncologist at Fred Hutch in Seattle. Tumor markers were quite high and it became obvious this was an aggressive tumor. 3-5 months, they said…a good summer was promised. Chemo was started almost immediately. The first regimen gave me coronary artery spasms, such fun. An ambulance ride, cardiac tests and a fun overnight visit to the UW hospital. They nicely started me on another regimen. This one has been lowering the tumor markers and shrinking the tumors. Yay! Unfortunately, at first it gave me an extremely awful rash which was like having a total 2^nd degree burn inside and out, along with fevers, etc. Mark did some research (thank you for dermatology training!) and found a study that showed massive doses of Vit D might help. It did! After a horrendous summer, chemo became much easier. Tumor markers have now been normal for 7-8 weeks and tumors and mets have shrunk by more than half. It won’t last as this type of CA almost always wins, but it sure looks good from here! We are going to Oahu for a week with Jake Liesl and their families on Jan 5 to celebrate. Cooper and I are quite happy with this trip!

On to other news: Liesl’s family, and especially Coop (age 15) have had quite a learning curve. Cooper now manages his diabetes quite well and joined the high school cross country team. Every race became a personal best. Well done!! He also still plays the viola in the school orchestra and has acted as stage manager for some school plays. Gracie (13.5) has grown into a charming young lady. She continues to be in school plays, plays the trumpet in band, and has absconded with all my bridesmaid’s dresses from the 70s. They are long on her, but my I must have been skinny! Because she is petite! Liesl continues as a therapist for at risk youth and is much in demand by all the local pediatricians. Nathan is in the second and final year of his horticultural and landscape design classes. I hear his next plan is to rearrange (and improve) the Gearheart house grounds! We can’t wait! Despite forest fires, he also completed another segment of the Pacific Crest Trail, the farthest north part in Oregon.

Ian is doing quite well in his law practice. Stressful difficult litigations concerning abuse of his clients. We listened to his opening statement for one big trial this month. Very impressive. For relaxation, he has resumed his music. He usually sends me a new song or cover to listen to as I head north for chemo. He now has a spotify channel (the orphan 40 – 1424 sessions). He has a show in Seattle on April 9 at Conor Byrne pub. Exciting! Candace continues to hold down the home front, but is contemplating becoming a guardian-ad-litem for the court system, representing clients who may not be of legal age or are handicapped in some way. She will be marvelous at this! So proud of this choice if it works. Aidan (almost 18) has been acceepted to numerous US colleges, plus one in England. Can’t wait to see where he ends up, hoping for fun visits in the future. Heh heh. Donovan (16.5) is still acting in plays and highly enjoying his computer programing time. Nya (almost 14) is a beautiful young lady with great grades, soccer and volleyball skills.

Jake has gotten back to triathlete type competitions. He swam the Fat Salmon in Seattle last summer, swimming between the I-5 and 520 bridges in Lake Washington. Mark and Nathan kayaked support for the race. He and Rylee have continued with their extremely competent raising of Aliette with some of her disabilities. They work so hard and Aliette shows the results.
She is the sweetest, kindest toddler and loves the 5 day a week preschool experiences. She has a marvelous woman named Mollie who attends with her as her aide. Mason (almost 18) is still in the chamber choir, plays soccer (his rec team won the state championship) and is still dating Ella. He has been accepted at Wash State U, U of Hawaii, and Oregon State U, and has not yet decided where he will go. He works at an ice cream parlor called The Humble Cow. So - of course - we gave him a cow costume for Christmas. Heh. Kale has become quite the baseball player and is a great student. He is becoming a nice young man. It is so fun to watch our grandkids become people we enjoy spending time with. Paige turns 11 this month and has fallen into the joys of grade school crushes and jewelry. She is a good big sister to Aliette, very patient with her.

So, the insanity of the year has continued. As if we didn’t have enough to do we rediscovered that happiness can indeed be a warm puppy. Jimmy joined our family at 3.5 months just before Thanksgiving. The kids have not yet tried to commit us. (Be warned, children, we are prepared to defend ourselves!!) He is likely the smartest dog we have ever had, meaning … trouble ahead! He watched me open a lever handled door into our guest room and immediately tried to copy me. He now enters any door in our house that opens away from him, letting himself into the bathrooms to destroy the evil TP rolls, letting himself outside, and entering the forbidden laundry room while Lizzie is eating. Lizzie is his grandmother and tolerates him okay. He and Alfie may likely destroy the house with their antics. How did we end up with two rampaging dogs, just like Sancho and Dulcie when we first married! Oh my!! Insanity does rule, but also provides some much appreciated laughs throughout the day. He will be a great dog if he lives that long! He is co-owned by our breeder Joan and she intends to show him. Shine on Stagedoors Diamond Jim!

Not much more to say here, we are hoping the chemo continues to work and I hope to be sending you another letter next year. Happy New Year to all! Yes, I did not get this off on Christmas Day. Maybe next time!

Kathie (75), Mark (75), Jimmy (5 months so far), Alfie (9.5) and Lizzie (12.9)

Saturday, December 28, 2024

three dogs, this is what insanity looks like at 75

Our house is no longer our own

Jimmy looks so sweet and innocent ... NOT!

Aliette calling just before her tonsillectomy on Dec 23

Mark and I and, from the left, Jimmy, Lizzie and Alfie

Jake's family: Rylee with Phoebe. Jake with Aliette, Mason and Paige with Kula, Kale

Nathan, Gracie, Cooper and Liesl

Ian, Nya,Donovan, Candace and Aidan

Jimmy likes to redecorate EVERYTHING

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Ian's family after Kauai zipline adventure. Donovan Nya Candace Ian and Aidan

Setter enrichment. Lizzie and the chickadees feeding station

Mark and his jury duty face

Mark and his other non-jury duty face

Cooper and the new family member Homer

Jake and Aliette

Aliette ready for sunshine

Halloween special with Aliette

Paige and Aliette

The partial bridge race group

Rylee, Mark, Jake Aliette and Cooper

Lizzie glued to me

Again, glue

Jake's Kula staking a claim to a beach chair

Alfie staking a claim to Mark

Aliette and the boardwalk in LA

Nathan Cooper Grace and Liesl on the NW coast hike

Alfie, claiming Mark again

Ganda and Aliette

Our home away from home - Adagio

symbiotic relationship

Still kayaking

Our kids and spouses

Jake Rylee Nate Liesl Candace Ian

our grandkids

L-R Paige Nya Gracie Aidan Cooper Donovan Mason with Aliette and Kale

Jake Liesl and Ian

Jake Liesl Mark Kathie Ian

Guess who

Rylee and Aliette

Rylee Aliette and Jake

Jake's crew

Kale Mason Paige Jake Aliette and Rylee

Liesl's crew

Liesl Cooper Nate Gracie

Liesl and Nate

Paige and Gracie

Ian's crew

Ian Aidan Candace Nya Donovan

Ian and Candace

Aidan Nya and Donovan

MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well well well … here we are again. I swear to get this out before Christmas Day, or at least on Christmas Day, or at least the day after … We shall wee, er. I mean , see. Wee may happen too. We are getting older, you know!

How are all of you? I have been appreciating all the cards and letters wending our way this past few weeks. Some sad news, some good news, even some great news. It is wonderful to touch base again with all of you every year. Keep those missives coming! I know some of you will be shooting off your news around Christmas Day, as we are, though some trickle in around Valentines Day. I applaud that persistence and look forward to hearing from you whenever new arrives! Hee Hee Hee

So, gee, what are we up to? Mark is currently sitting in a jury pool, hoping to have one of Ian’s trials show up on the docket so he can be excused! (Yes your honor, I am acquainted with the plaintiff’s attorney and will have to agree with anything he says. You are EXCUSED!). Wishful thinking.

Ian moved to a new firm sometime in the last couple of years, younger group than his last firm (of course all those lawyers seem young to me now!) but still aggressively plaintiff lawyers trying to right some wrongs. He has had some big cases against abusers, some nationwide. We always are surprised to see/hear his name with connections to national cases (Monsanto etc). When he is not in court, or preparing for court, or traveling to or from depositions for court, he or Candace is traveling to keep track of their kids’ activities. Aidan (16) and Nya (12) are still playing soccer at elevated levels. We don’t go to their tournaments as much as before because they take place in distant places such as San Diego, Arizona, North Carolina. My my my. (Now, I could handle a European trip!) A big difference from when our kids were young when Spokane was usually as far as we traveled for their teams! Donovan (15) is still acting, both at the Puyallup schools (which have an excellent drama program) and the Tacoma community theatre. We have been to a number of his plays; he is especially good at playing the villains from all ages or historical perspective (or fantastical – think Shrek’s Lord Farquaad - performed on his knees) Candace holds the whole house hold together while everyone (including her) heads different directions- and she is deep into making sure the kids excel at school and life. Not sure how she does it all, but built in rest periods help. They are leaving for the sun in Kauai very soon for a much deserved break. She is a terrific planner, including vacations!

Jake and Rylee are deep into raising Aliette (2 ½) in times of covid. Jake still is very very very busy busy busy at work and Rylee likewise busy busy busy with Aliette, who is doing well with lots of encouragement, invested love and energy from both, but Rylee bears much of the burden. I do remember raising three and, watching Rylee and Jake, wonder how we ever managed! Mason (16) is a junior, is still invested in choir and has a serious girlfriend (Hi Ella!). Kale (14) is still invested in baseball baseball baseball and looking forward to high school next year. He won’t talk to me about girlfriends. Hmmmm. Paige (9) is enjoying 4th grade, I think. She is just moving into that age with numerous girlfriends and all that goes with those friendship. Lately her hair has had blue ends, or purple, which suits her! She is a good big sister to Aliette when they get together.

Liesl and Nate have had a busy year. Nate quit his job at Amazon after seven (!) years. Outlasting almost everyone he knew there. He has been recruited for a number of corporate type jobs but has decided he wants out of that world. Hence he is enrolled in a Landscape and Horticulture design course – his true love, other than Liesl of course! You can find him on instagram at “forever_greens_designs” Nate is still walking the Pacific Crest trail with friends, a piece at a time, every summer. He has reached the Columbia River and I think the next year will start into Oregon and/or California. Liesl is still working as a therapist for at risk youth. She now pretty much manages the practice; she has exactly the right temperament and abilities to do so. Wonder how that happened. Cooper (14) is still in accelerated classes, playing the viola and has joined the Puyallup school theatre crowd as a stage manager. Gracie (12) is still playing the trumpet and has also joined the theatre drama groups now that she is in junior high. She usually plays 2-3 parts in the ensemble since she is one of the younger ones in the group. Memorable earlier this fall was when she was a … wait for it … SNOWMOBILE. Rmmm rmmm rmmm Their whole family hiked out to the NW Washington coast for a camping trip this summer and then finished up the season with a run across the Astoria bridge with Jake, Rylee, Aliette (stroller!) and Mark. I stayed home as we were leaving the next day for Kauai and I needed to get the house and dogs organized. Riiiigghht! Sadly, we may have to disown their family as they recently acquired a cat (Homer) to join their two chocolate labs (Odysseus and Olivia). Traitorous.

Mark and I have had our typical scatterbrained year, at least for me. Organizing our travel has gotten harder with a clingy wonderful dog (Lizzie 11 ½) who sticks to me like dried library paste, and Alfie (8 ½) our crazy, never obedient (unless cheese whiz or other treats are involved) beast. We did manage a couple of trips, though, after having pinned down at least 2 reliable sitters who will spend the day on the couch with the dogs. (Hi Dana!). In March, we took the first flight into Bermuda we could arrange. The island was just opening up so there were few tourists and locals were happy (?) to welcome us. Lots and lots of STRONG warm wind and fun exploring. No snorkeling. It was March, you know! We had to get there through NYC as that was the only place with regular flights. Saw a couple of great plays (& Juliet and Moulin Rouge); loved the music from both as we were well acquainted with the tunes. We also visited some places we hadn’t been before. We came home and signed up for the Paramount Broadway musical subscription for this year - Dropped the 5th Avenue Theatre subscription for this year. They didn’t have any plays we liked, or we had already seen them. The 5th is struggling this year; we are not helping by leaving, though our Charitable trust did give them a big amount for the Rising Stars, the young theatre group there. In NYC we visited the ground zero museums, rode the fast elevator to the top of the new WTC for lunch and ate at all the Italian restaurants we could find within a three block radius of our hotel. Oink. Tony’s may have beat out our favorite Carmines which has become too too too touristy. Once home, we also hauled Adagio, our T@B trailer to Hells Canyon for a week of camping over July 4th with the Frankie Kinnaman family, Mark’s best friend from his grade school Pendleton years. Lovely warm spot with lots of good friend chats and boating time on the Snake river. We also attempted to haul Adagio and the dogs to British Columbia for 10 days. Three days in, the fires exploded from 24 in the province upon arrival to over 250. Two of our reserved campsites burned and the third air quality index read “you will die if you breathe here”. This gave credence to the border guard on our way in who asked if we had the fire app. “Yes, sir”. We gave up on Day 3, fled home, rapidly emptied the trailer into the car, and left for Gearhart. Trusty beach house still provides us with lots of Rest and Recreation.

The final big thing we did this year, as in every year for the past 8, was work on giving away the Dawkins Charitable Trust which we were blessed (?) with in 2015. This has been an incredible and rewarding experience for 8 years, giving to between 35 and 40 entities each year. The gifts go to mostly local charities which benefit youth, the environment and animals. Before they get their check at our December luncheon, they have to go find 3 other entities with which they can collaborate. The result has been a tight local non-profit community with land trusts working with education groups working with animal rescue, working with homeless youth, working with …. And on and on and on. We have also sponsored the local community foundation “Give Local” week each December. The first year they raised about $200,000, and this year it was $1 million. We are really proud of these groups, three or four of which have reached national recognition for what they do and how they do it – written up in the New York Times, Washington Post and National Geographic. One even has a PBS documentary – look up “Whale Dog” - Eba. Can you tell we are proud of this?! We figure we have one more full year left and then will pass the remainder on to the Community Foundation to fund Give Local for the next decade or … something similar.

Well, I am sure you have more than had enough of this bring and brag. It seems I have trouble repeating myself on an annual basis. Again, we look forward to hearing from you! Or come visit!

Yada Yada Yada

And Ho Ho Ho

Happy Holidays everyone!

Kathie and Mark