This newsletter is mostly about our Henry, "Monsieur Henri," who just turned 4.  He is our miracle boy, having made it through two bone marrow transplants.  All that seems in the distant past.  Now he is just a regular kid who is wild about fire engines and, well, fire engines.

 

We make dinners to go Monday through Friday.

 

Call 252-1500 by noon or so and then come pick up your dinners between 3 and 7, when we close. Add a salad for 3.25 or bread for 1.25.

 

Monday, July 2  Chicken Marbella with Herbed Basmati Rice  7.95

 

Tuesday, July 3  Special 4th Chicken, Zesty green Beans, Red-skinned Potato Salad  8.95  (Get extra for your 4th picnic).

 

Wednesday, July 4th We'll be shooting off fireworks all day (and we'll be closed.)

 

Thursday, July 5  BBQ Spareribs with Braised Kale and Squash 9.25 (GF)

 

Casserole of the week:

 

Wednesday, July 4th

We'll be closed. 

 

Lasagna: 

 

Friday, July 6

Spinach, Prosciutto, and Roasted Garlic Lasagna

Whole: 45  Half: 22.50

 

The other day Henry visited the shop prior to attending a cooking class.  As his antsiness took over I introduced him to the self-portrait feature of my phone.  Off he went!!! 

 

Nothing like it.

First the good news:

Thanks to your amazing generosity and support, I am one of the top fundraisers for the Livestrong Team on RAGBRAI, the big bike ride across Iowa that I have been training for. As such, I have been invited to a “very special, inspirational weekend with Lance Armstrong” in Austin, Texas in October. There are four levels of fundraisers who are being invited and I am at the next to the highest level! Whee! And because I am that level, I will get to ride my bike with Lance himself in a special ride. I’ll also get to ride in two other rides that weekend, not to mention getting to meet some highly inspirational folks from around the United States and the world. Thank you!!!

 

Now the challenging news:

In a recent scan of my body, some additional suspicious spots have revealed themselves. The recommendation from my doctors is that I do another round of chemotherapy. This treatment is going to start this week and will continue for the next number of months. Needless to say, I am quite disappointed by this turn. I’d much rather have continued on the “no evidence of disease” track. But I am already working hard to believe that this new treatment will take care of – eliminate – these new spots and any others lurking undetected. Rogue cells. Wash them away and carry on. Fingers crossed.

 

Since I am starting this treatment immediately it looks like I will not be riding my bike across Iowa after all. Riding in a multiple day ride, in significant heat, is hard. And having chemotherapy treatments is very hard. Doing both is, well, more than seems sensible to me. The weeks in between treatments are meant to be restful, time to let my body rebuild and regroup and get ready. Riding for 500 miles, while fun (for me) under normal circumstances, is not restful. And committing to treatment means committing to doing every thing possible to help it work: like resting during the off weeks. I have not quite decided to not ride, but it is looking like that is what I’ll decide.

 

Along those lines, if you have donated to Livestrong in support of my ride across Iowa and feel like your donation is only good if I actually ride, please forgive me for not riding. I have contacted a couple of you and no one has indicated that it matters that I ride. As a matter of fact, I now believe in Livestrong more than ever and want to thank you for helping me and others who are in this difficult place. And if you have not donated, I would ask you to seriously consider making a donation to ensure that more people dealing with cancer can be helped. 100% of the money raised goes to cancer support services at Livestrong.

 

These past couple of weeks have been tricky for me as you might imagine. Quite the emotional roller coaster. But, after having a very open correspondence with my ride mentor at Livestrong about riding or not riding, at his suggestion I contacted the Livestrong Navigation Services for some personal help. Livestrong offers all kinds of assistance, including counseling for people who are dealing with cancer. Like me. Everyone I have talked with there has been so nice and so well-trained and so empathic and so, well, amazing. They have connected me with a special counselor who will help me through this time. Eight sessions of counseling. All free to me (thanks to funders like you.) I’m very impressed with Livestrong. Very. The more I learn, the more drawn I feel to promoting Livestrong and telling people about how much good they do for so many people. Like me.

 

So – here’s my request from you if, that is, you now feel as twisted up as I do and wonder what you can do. The very best thing you can do for me is to just believe, right along with me, that this treatment will do what needs to be done, ridding me of these remaining or yet-to-be seen spots and leaving me to carry on, cancer free. I am working very hard to believe. If you want to give me anything, this is the best thing you can do. Believe with me.