Gail and I went to see her nephrologist yesterday. Her creatinine is now up to 3.5. It was 3.2 a month ago.

(Normal is .8 to 1.4, according to some website).

Her kidney doctor keeps asking her if she is still working full time. I have talked with her about maybe cutting back five hours a week, and she is sort of interested in it. But I think her job is really important to her sense of self, and I don't think she'll willingly cut back on it until she has to.

Sometimes I think I am more tired than she is...

Gail and I agreed last night that it looks like things are going really well. Getting on the transplant list four years ago was the best thing we could have done. And contacting the Transplant Center a couple of months ago was really good.
We are taking two gambles. One is not to have the fistula installed for dialysis, with the gamble that she can get the transplant before her kidney's get too bad. And the other is not to have the angiogram. That one I'm not as worried about. I don't think she has any heart disease that they wouldn't have detected by now (there is no reason for me to be so sure of that, but there it is). I am more worried about the dialysis...

She got her packet of material from the Transplant Center yesterday. It said we should plan to be at UCSF within 4 hours of when we are called. That is shorter than I thought, so we are thinking harder about how available we are by phone etc.

There was no binder...just a folder with papers in it. I'll have to go get us another binder! That at least will be fun.

Dinah, Nina, Joanne (SpiderWoman!)

Dinah, Nina, Joanne (SpiderWoman!)
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

We had our 2006 Spooktacular last night. I wore many a boa and auctioned off many a good thing. We had a really good time. I sure ws tired afterwards, though...

Gail and Dinah

Gail and Dinah
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

We had a lovely Madrigal Dinner tonight. The food was fabulous and it was fun seeing everyone dressed up in their renaissance finery!

The Peace of Wild Things

DSC_9755
Originally uploaded by Big Sur Studio.

Ensemble Monterey, Cantiamo, and Con Brio premiered Imant Raminsh's new composition on May 14, 2006. That's me with the flowers on the left! It was a great piece and a great experience!

This photo is by Tom Birmingham from Big Sur Arts, a gifted photographer from Big Sur. He also took our wedding pictures a couple of years ago. I highly encourage you to visit his site for more great photos.

Izzy 2

Izzy 2
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

We are broken hearted and miss her dreadfully

Izzy

Izzy
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

My little Swedish Valhund died yesterday, after more than 16 years.

EMCOJazz

EMCOJazz
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

Cheryl, Jennie, Sonya, Kathy, and I sang Bei Mir Bist du Shoen at the intermission of the Ensemble Monterey concert on April Fools Day! We had such a good time singing those close harmonies. What a treat!

Teacher and Poet

Teacher and Poet
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

Susan Gorsky is an English teacher at Cabrillo College and other colleges in the area. A singer in Cantiamo, she talked with Mr. Marcus about his poetry and the other poems in the commissioned work.

It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the poems that we have been living with for these months.

Musician and Poet

Musician and Poet
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

Cantiamo Cabrillo and Ensemble Monterey have commissioned a piece of choral music from Imant Raminsh, a Canadian composer. The piece, entitled "the Peace of Wild Things," is a setting of poems by e.e. cummings, Wendel Berry, and Morton Marcus. Mr. Marcus came to rehearsal last week to talk about the poetry of the work. He appeared to be very pleased with the settings of his poems, which he heard for the first time at the rehearsal.

Here he is with Cheryl Anderson, the conductor of Cantiamo.

Snow (Hail?)

Snow (Hail?)
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

On March 11, 2006, Santa Cruz CA experienced very unusual weather. It rained and hailed all night, leaving enough frozen water on the ground to look like hail the next morning. It may not look like much to you, but it was pretty amazing to us!

Bach Around the Clock

Kent and Joanne
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

On Marcvh 25 2006, the Cabrillo College Choral Program presented 12 continuous hours of music by Johann Sebastian Bach! It just doesn't get any better than this. Here Kent and Joanne channel the master himself.


The day included performances of Bach minuets with mandoline, flute sonatas, organ works, piano works, and finished with the performance of the glorious B Minor Mass as the grand finale.

I think he would have been pleased.

Harvey in his hat

Harvey in his hat
Originally uploaded by gr8what.

Dr. Harvey Marshall died last week. Harvey was a musician, whose greatest gift was working with singers. He taught many of us over the years, and he will be greatly missed. Not forgotten, but missed.

More pictures of Harvey are on Flickr, under HarveyMarshall.