Yesterday was our 50th Anniversary party for my parents at our church. I think we done good. I say we, but frankly they, the 'Rents, did quite a lot of it. Dad prepared his power point slide show, which went over very well. Mom handled ordering the cake and getting party supplies. So I mean the global "we".
Some of dad's sisters and their families came up from Southern Illinois, and two of mom's sisters were there. Although one of them got the time wrong and came a little late, but better than never, and they got there in time for cake! :) Either way, I know it meant a lot to both mom and dad to have them come.
The sisters and I had fun going and picking up the cake, flowers, balloons, and other last minute accoutrement! I think the woman in the floral department at Schnucks was very entertained by our sisterly bickering. Although I was morally outraged by the price of those flowers!
Anyway, a grand time was had by most, if not all, and I'm very happy for mom and dad.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Week-end Wrap Up
Ok, so this has been a busy week, too. Let's hit the highlights.
First, it occurs to me that I never mentioned what happened at my dad's oncologist appointment a couple of weeks ago. Although, since I haven't been whining about it, the astute reader would correctly guess that it went very well. Without going into gorey details, the doctor said that dad's cancer seems to be very slow growing and he should be around to bother us for a long time, and will probably die of something else before the cancer gets him. We all found that very reassuring and I, personally, have done my ostrich impression and put the whole ugly cancer thing behind me. And dad? Well, he's back to being he usual odd self (see pic).
This week I did have another minor medical emergency though. My walking hairball, Sophie, came down with a real hairball. She does this about every 8-10 months, so it's not as scary as it was in the beginning. But she doesn't eat, gets ever so slighty bitchy at her brother when he wants to play, and hurls up frequently. So I recognize the signs. But we're in the middle of trial prep at work, and I couldn't take off to take her to the vet, so my wonderful parents came and picked up their grandcat and took her for me. Their other grandcat, 40-Watt, was slightly bewildered by what was going on, but he was happy to have her back. He's got a stomach of cast iron, so he doesn't have to make semi-frequent trips to the vet for tummy issues. All in all, though, I think he's jealous. After I capture Soph and trap her in the carrier to force down the medicine and then let her escape, he actually hops up into the carrier and looks at me with a "My Turn!?" expression on his face.
I finally finished one of the two pillows I promised to knit for my mother this week. It looks lovely, and has the requisite amount of cat hairs in it to make it from me and the kids. I'd knitted some pillows for my fiend Jennifer as a wedding present last year and I knitted one for the family reunion auction we have every Fourth of July. Mom said she was going to bid on my pillow, and I told her if she didn't win it, I'd knit her one of her own. So she took that as license not to bid on my pillow because I'd already told her I'd knit her one and she could pick the color of the yarn this way! Humpf! Lucky for her, the pillow had other bidders or I'd have been upset. :) Anyway, I have the first (I'm knitting a pair) done and will give it to her at their anniversary party Sunday. I told dad that I thought I'd be able to get one done, but probably not the second, and he gave the expected reaction of "oh, you don't have to get us anything.." Which was beside the point, I've been knitting the pillow, this way it gets to qualify as a anniversary pillow, too! :) Although what mom and dad don't know is that Ho, Ha, and I have gone together and gotten them a digital picture frame and Haley has spent the good part of the past 3 months scanning entire photo albums so as to put tons of pics on the frame so we can just plug it in and have mom and dad enjoy! (I can put this in the blog here, because to my knowledge, mom and dad have yet to discover my ramblings online, and if they discover it after Sunday it won't matter!)
Finally, I just registered to walk in the Walk for Juvenile Diabetes at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana in May. Anyone who would like to support me can go to http://walk.jdrf.org/ and search for me - I'm on Team Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn in Indiana.
And no, speaking of walking.. I haven't walked after work this week. It's been either raining or too cold, or I had to get a haircut after work. I'll resume next week. I promise. Oh, and I found my headphones for my mp3 player this week! So now I have no reason NOT to!... other than I'm just lazy.
First, it occurs to me that I never mentioned what happened at my dad's oncologist appointment a couple of weeks ago. Although, since I haven't been whining about it, the astute reader would correctly guess that it went very well. Without going into gorey details, the doctor said that dad's cancer seems to be very slow growing and he should be around to bother us for a long time, and will probably die of something else before the cancer gets him. We all found that very reassuring and I, personally, have done my ostrich impression and put the whole ugly cancer thing behind me. And dad? Well, he's back to being he usual odd self (see pic).This week I did have another minor medical emergency though. My walking hairball, Sophie, came down with a real hairball. She does this about every 8-10 months, so it's not as scary as it was in the beginning. But she doesn't eat, gets ever so slighty bitchy at her brother when he wants to play, and hurls up frequently. So I recognize the signs. But we're in the middle of trial prep at work, and I couldn't take off to take her to the vet, so my wonderful parents came and picked up their grandcat and took her for me. Their other grandcat, 40-Watt, was slightly bewildered by what was going on, but he was happy to have her back. He's got a stomach of cast iron, so he doesn't have to make semi-frequent trips to the vet for tummy issues. All in all, though, I think he's jealous. After I capture Soph and trap her in the carrier to force down the medicine and then let her escape, he actually hops up into the carrier and looks at me with a "My Turn!?" expression on his face.
I finally finished one of the two pillows I promised to knit for my mother this week. It looks lovely, and has the requisite amount of cat hairs in it to make it from me and the kids. I'd knitted some pillows for my fiend Jennifer as a wedding present last year and I knitted one for the family reunion auction we have every Fourth of July. Mom said she was going to bid on my pillow, and I told her if she didn't win it, I'd knit her one of her own. So she took that as license not to bid on my pillow because I'd already told her I'd knit her one and she could pick the color of the yarn this way! Humpf! Lucky for her, the pillow had other bidders or I'd have been upset. :) Anyway, I have the first (I'm knitting a pair) done and will give it to her at their anniversary party Sunday. I told dad that I thought I'd be able to get one done, but probably not the second, and he gave the expected reaction of "oh, you don't have to get us anything.." Which was beside the point, I've been knitting the pillow, this way it gets to qualify as a anniversary pillow, too! :) Although what mom and dad don't know is that Ho, Ha, and I have gone together and gotten them a digital picture frame and Haley has spent the good part of the past 3 months scanning entire photo albums so as to put tons of pics on the frame so we can just plug it in and have mom and dad enjoy! (I can put this in the blog here, because to my knowledge, mom and dad have yet to discover my ramblings online, and if they discover it after Sunday it won't matter!)
Finally, I just registered to walk in the Walk for Juvenile Diabetes at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana in May. Anyone who would like to support me can go to http://walk.jdrf.org/ and search for me - I'm on Team Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn in Indiana.And no, speaking of walking.. I haven't walked after work this week. It's been either raining or too cold, or I had to get a haircut after work. I'll resume next week. I promise. Oh, and I found my headphones for my mp3 player this week! So now I have no reason NOT to!... other than I'm just lazy.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Anniversary Notice
Webkinz Anonymous
The following is a repost of a blog entry originally posted on my MySpace account on February 1, 2008.
I have recently become an addict. I'm not ashamed.,. but I am considering joining a help-group, if there is one. Does the name Webkinz mean anything to you!? I got my first Webkinz about a month ago. The charcoal cat. Just one cute little stuffed critter that has the same vaguely lost look in his eyes as my own lovable grey kitty, Gizmo. I entered the Sims-like world of Webkinz on the internet and thought, eh, I don't need this. But then I named my on-line cat Gizmo, after the real-life Gizmo, and I began to feel guilty that I didn't have a similar critter to name after Sophie. But wait! I discovered that they have a black cat! So I got a Sophie.
Again, I can live without it. I am an adult. But I would log on periodically to see if I had mail since my dealer, er.. friend Sarah is also involved in this world, and she promised to mail me something. While I was there, I started to shop for decorations for the cats' rooms. And of course they needed food! And I discovered the game room. At first, it was just a quick game of Cash Cow. Just one was all I needed. But then I discovered Cash Cow 2, and Goober's Lab!
I started logging on the minute I got home from work. I started spending more time with the on-line cats then I spent with the real live ones. I'm a bad pet-mom. The cats, the real ones, started acting up for my attention. They started hanging out with the wrong sort of people. Gizmo started drinking… the water from the fish tank, that is.
Fortunately I realized that my priorities were out of whack and started backing off. But then, I was in the store and a cow caught my eye. He was so cute. I immediately bought him and ran home to my computer. Upon entering his code, I discovered that the cow would be the Pet of the Month for February, so if I waited to enter his code, I could get fun Pet of the Month bonuses. So I told myself I could wait. I was able to wait, but in the meantime, I had to pacify the hunger with a frog. The froggy is so cute hopping around his lily-pad decorated bedroom. I named her Freida.
Finally the big day came. This morning, Feb 1st. I logged on and entered the cow code, I named him Moontgomery. He's adorable, don't get me wrong, but even as I was planning on how to decorate his room, my mind was turning to someone else. I couldn't even make it thru the day. Over lunch, I hit the corner store and bought a quick monkey. I don't know what to name him yet, but you know it'll have to be a cute name, I set the bar so high with Moontgomery!
As a payback, I took Sarah, the friend who got me hooked, with me to the store. Now she has a polar bear to go along with her penguin. I even got a small Yorkie dog for my friend Shawna. She hasn't logged on to enter the code, yet, but she's already dreaming crazy dreams of writing the Webkinz people and convincing them to come out with a Shitzu, cause she has a Yorkie and a Shitzu and she'd need one for each.
The sickness goes on. I manage to get thru some days with only a few minutes logged in, to spin the Wheel of WOW or dig for gems in the Curio Shop. But on other days, I'm weak, and I enter the Tournament Section and spend hours trying to win on Quizzy's Word Challenge.
I said I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I'm a little ashamed at my weakness. Anyway, if you know about a support group of people like me who are trying to get off the Webkinz, let me know. I obviously need help.
I have recently become an addict. I'm not ashamed.,. but I am considering joining a help-group, if there is one. Does the name Webkinz mean anything to you!? I got my first Webkinz about a month ago. The charcoal cat. Just one cute little stuffed critter that has the same vaguely lost look in his eyes as my own lovable grey kitty, Gizmo. I entered the Sims-like world of Webkinz on the internet and thought, eh, I don't need this. But then I named my on-line cat Gizmo, after the real-life Gizmo, and I began to feel guilty that I didn't have a similar critter to name after Sophie. But wait! I discovered that they have a black cat! So I got a Sophie.
Again, I can live without it. I am an adult. But I would log on periodically to see if I had mail since my dealer, er.. friend Sarah is also involved in this world, and she promised to mail me something. While I was there, I started to shop for decorations for the cats' rooms. And of course they needed food! And I discovered the game room. At first, it was just a quick game of Cash Cow. Just one was all I needed. But then I discovered Cash Cow 2, and Goober's Lab!
I started logging on the minute I got home from work. I started spending more time with the on-line cats then I spent with the real live ones. I'm a bad pet-mom. The cats, the real ones, started acting up for my attention. They started hanging out with the wrong sort of people. Gizmo started drinking… the water from the fish tank, that is.
Fortunately I realized that my priorities were out of whack and started backing off. But then, I was in the store and a cow caught my eye. He was so cute. I immediately bought him and ran home to my computer. Upon entering his code, I discovered that the cow would be the Pet of the Month for February, so if I waited to enter his code, I could get fun Pet of the Month bonuses. So I told myself I could wait. I was able to wait, but in the meantime, I had to pacify the hunger with a frog. The froggy is so cute hopping around his lily-pad decorated bedroom. I named her Freida.
Finally the big day came. This morning, Feb 1st. I logged on and entered the cow code, I named him Moontgomery. He's adorable, don't get me wrong, but even as I was planning on how to decorate his room, my mind was turning to someone else. I couldn't even make it thru the day. Over lunch, I hit the corner store and bought a quick monkey. I don't know what to name him yet, but you know it'll have to be a cute name, I set the bar so high with Moontgomery!
As a payback, I took Sarah, the friend who got me hooked, with me to the store. Now she has a polar bear to go along with her penguin. I even got a small Yorkie dog for my friend Shawna. She hasn't logged on to enter the code, yet, but she's already dreaming crazy dreams of writing the Webkinz people and convincing them to come out with a Shitzu, cause she has a Yorkie and a Shitzu and she'd need one for each.
The sickness goes on. I manage to get thru some days with only a few minutes logged in, to spin the Wheel of WOW or dig for gems in the Curio Shop. But on other days, I'm weak, and I enter the Tournament Section and spend hours trying to win on Quizzy's Word Challenge.
I said I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I'm a little ashamed at my weakness. Anyway, if you know about a support group of people like me who are trying to get off the Webkinz, let me know. I obviously need help.
Clean Living
It’s Monday again. Last week went by so quickly.. and yet, the actual days seemed to drag by. Odd that.
I am proud to say, though, that I started taking walks after work last week. I walked three of the five nights. (One night it rained, there was even flooding, and I can’t swim, so I didn’t walk that night, and on Friday, the ‘Rent’s came to town we went out to dinner for prime rib… you’d have skipped walking too.) Still, 3 out of 5 weeknights is really all I see myself doing anyway, so I’m proud… and sore. My footies, ankles, knees, and hips were all feeling every step I took by the third night. So this is the beginning of a new week, we’ll have to see what my success rate is this week. On the bright side, I don’t think there’s any rain in the forecast!
Saturday, I worked on cleaning my apartment. Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary party is this coming weekend, and some or all of my nieces will be spending Saturday night at my apartment, so I thought I’d at least attempt to clean up the place. I started with the cats’ bathroom. Yes, the cats have their own bathroom. The litter box is in the bathtub, in an attempt to keep them from tracking litter all over the place. The only problem is that if I have guests, it’s the bathroom they’d use instead of trekking all the way to the back of the house to my bathroom. So I tackled that room first and the bathroom sparkled and smelled of Simple Green, speaking of which, I’d think the cats, with their sensitive noses, wouldn’t like that, but...
Then on to the living room. I’d spent over an hour the previous weekend totally cleaning out and reorganizing the fish tank, so everyone in that venue was happy. Well, and Sophie was too, since she watches the fish tank like it’s a 24/7 reality show. I brushed the area rug in the living room. I brush it because Sophie is long haired and her hair just doesn’t vacuum up. I brushed up enough hair to make a good sized kitten! The good thing about Sophie is that I don’t have to dust with her around, when she shwooshes her tail, it has a feather-duster effect. I keep trying to convince them both that it would be helpful if they’d find gainful employment so as to take some of the burden of keeping them in the style to which they’ve become accustomed off of my shoulders, so dusting is the least she can do.
Meanwhile, my dim bulb, Gizmo, I swear, he was a dog in another life. His favorite thing to do is play fetch with me. He brings me a plastic ring from a gallon of milk and expects me to fling it – he catches it and bats it back at me or he chases it and drops it in my lap. Then he looks at me as though I’M the dim bulb, until I get the hint and pick it up and we do it again. I’m pretty sure there must be an official medical term for his condition, but I love him in spite of it.
So between cleaning my apartment and playing fetch with my dog.. er.. Gizmo, Saturday went by pretty quickly. Sunday, after church, I went to mom and dad’s for Easter dinner. Then dad took a nap while mom and I straightened and dusted their living room. (They need a long haired cat to dust for them!) The preparations for the party are pretty much done, and the house cleaning is pretty much done, so all we have to do is make it through this week and it’ll be party-time!
I am proud to say, though, that I started taking walks after work last week. I walked three of the five nights. (One night it rained, there was even flooding, and I can’t swim, so I didn’t walk that night, and on Friday, the ‘Rent’s came to town we went out to dinner for prime rib… you’d have skipped walking too.) Still, 3 out of 5 weeknights is really all I see myself doing anyway, so I’m proud… and sore. My footies, ankles, knees, and hips were all feeling every step I took by the third night. So this is the beginning of a new week, we’ll have to see what my success rate is this week. On the bright side, I don’t think there’s any rain in the forecast!
Saturday, I worked on cleaning my apartment. Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary party is this coming weekend, and some or all of my nieces will be spending Saturday night at my apartment, so I thought I’d at least attempt to clean up the place. I started with the cats’ bathroom. Yes, the cats have their own bathroom. The litter box is in the bathtub, in an attempt to keep them from tracking litter all over the place. The only problem is that if I have guests, it’s the bathroom they’d use instead of trekking all the way to the back of the house to my bathroom. So I tackled that room first and the bathroom sparkled and smelled of Simple Green, speaking of which, I’d think the cats, with their sensitive noses, wouldn’t like that, but...
Then on to the living room. I’d spent over an hour the previous weekend totally cleaning out and reorganizing the fish tank, so everyone in that venue was happy. Well, and Sophie was too, since she watches the fish tank like it’s a 24/7 reality show. I brushed the area rug in the living room. I brush it because Sophie is long haired and her hair just doesn’t vacuum up. I brushed up enough hair to make a good sized kitten! The good thing about Sophie is that I don’t have to dust with her around, when she shwooshes her tail, it has a feather-duster effect. I keep trying to convince them both that it would be helpful if they’d find gainful employment so as to take some of the burden of keeping them in the style to which they’ve become accustomed off of my shoulders, so dusting is the least she can do.
Meanwhile, my dim bulb, Gizmo, I swear, he was a dog in another life. His favorite thing to do is play fetch with me. He brings me a plastic ring from a gallon of milk and expects me to fling it – he catches it and bats it back at me or he chases it and drops it in my lap. Then he looks at me as though I’M the dim bulb, until I get the hint and pick it up and we do it again. I’m pretty sure there must be an official medical term for his condition, but I love him in spite of it.
So between cleaning my apartment and playing fetch with my dog.. er.. Gizmo, Saturday went by pretty quickly. Sunday, after church, I went to mom and dad’s for Easter dinner. Then dad took a nap while mom and I straightened and dusted their living room. (They need a long haired cat to dust for them!) The preparations for the party are pretty much done, and the house cleaning is pretty much done, so all we have to do is make it through this week and it’ll be party-time!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Friday, yeah!?
I went to bed last night after watching the weather report warning that in the next 30 hours we should get 4-8 inches of snow. Which brings to mind the fact that all throughout last night's episode of Lost, the show was scrunched up into a box while the crawler underneath listed weather warnings. My question is... WHY? The storm wasn't even supposed to hit until after midnight. I think our local ABC affiliate just goes overboard. As for the "enhanced" reairing of last week's episode, forget about it. All the enhancements were UNDER the crawler, so you couldn't even read it. ARGH!
Where was I? Oh, snow.. I'm okay with snow. I think it's beautiful and fun to play in. I don't even mind driving in it, as long as there isn't a foot of ice underneath it. But I woke up to barely a dusting... I know, it's supposed to come OVER the next 30 hours, not over night. However, I like immediate gratification.
Despite the fact that there's almost NO snow outside, every school system in the greater Evansville area has closed. As of right now, there's still very little outside, and the kids would have been home long ago. If I were a parent of human children (as opposed to my feline children) and they'd have made me make alternative arrangements for the kids because of this, I'd be cheesed... (probably a nice sharp Cheddar.)
So I get to work. Steve (Boss #1) is still out until Monday. And Carrie (Boss #2) is generally always out on Fridays. With this week having been unusually frantic, all things considered, I decided to go slow and easy today. All I really had to do was enter new accounts for the collection department into the collection software system. But then that turned out to be the part of the problem... ALL I had to do was enter accounts. So, I'm bored. At 10:16 am, approximately 7 hours after I started work at 8:15 a.m., an email came through from the partners saying that they would be providing pizza for lunch due to the bad weather. The pizza came from Turoni's which is arguably the best non-chain pizza place in Evansville. Since I'm poor, my personal motto is Nunquam renuo solvo victus or 'Never refuse free food.' (Our family's motto is: Nunquam verto down an vicis utor retineo or 'Never miss an opportunity to use the restroom.') Anyway, this gave us something to look forward to. Unfortunately it took another 5 hours and 23 minutes until the pizza arrived at 12:15 pm.
As expected the pizza was primo and the company was mostly made up of lawyers, but the pizza made up for it! :) And I'm proud to say that I did NOT eat so much that I was ill, so I was raring to zoom through the afternoon and get this weekend on the road! That must've been yesterday.. because it STILL is not 5pm. Yes, I'm writing this at work. But I'm BORED and it's been a rough week. I helped one of the attorneys get an emergency filing out the door, but now I'm waiting for 5pm. And we still don't have much more than a healthy dusting of snow out there. There goes my dream of making a snowman in the yard when I got home. Fortunately, since I brought my lunch in today, I can take it home and have it for dinner, so that's taken care of. But speaking of that, I better go get it out of the fridge so I dont' forget it. Later.
Where was I? Oh, snow.. I'm okay with snow. I think it's beautiful and fun to play in. I don't even mind driving in it, as long as there isn't a foot of ice underneath it. But I woke up to barely a dusting... I know, it's supposed to come OVER the next 30 hours, not over night. However, I like immediate gratification.
Despite the fact that there's almost NO snow outside, every school system in the greater Evansville area has closed. As of right now, there's still very little outside, and the kids would have been home long ago. If I were a parent of human children (as opposed to my feline children) and they'd have made me make alternative arrangements for the kids because of this, I'd be cheesed... (probably a nice sharp Cheddar.)
So I get to work. Steve (Boss #1) is still out until Monday. And Carrie (Boss #2) is generally always out on Fridays. With this week having been unusually frantic, all things considered, I decided to go slow and easy today. All I really had to do was enter new accounts for the collection department into the collection software system. But then that turned out to be the part of the problem... ALL I had to do was enter accounts. So, I'm bored. At 10:16 am, approximately 7 hours after I started work at 8:15 a.m., an email came through from the partners saying that they would be providing pizza for lunch due to the bad weather. The pizza came from Turoni's which is arguably the best non-chain pizza place in Evansville. Since I'm poor, my personal motto is Nunquam renuo solvo victus or 'Never refuse free food.' (Our family's motto is: Nunquam verto down an vicis utor retineo or 'Never miss an opportunity to use the restroom.') Anyway, this gave us something to look forward to. Unfortunately it took another 5 hours and 23 minutes until the pizza arrived at 12:15 pm.
As expected the pizza was primo and the company was mostly made up of lawyers, but the pizza made up for it! :) And I'm proud to say that I did NOT eat so much that I was ill, so I was raring to zoom through the afternoon and get this weekend on the road! That must've been yesterday.. because it STILL is not 5pm. Yes, I'm writing this at work. But I'm BORED and it's been a rough week. I helped one of the attorneys get an emergency filing out the door, but now I'm waiting for 5pm. And we still don't have much more than a healthy dusting of snow out there. There goes my dream of making a snowman in the yard when I got home. Fortunately, since I brought my lunch in today, I can take it home and have it for dinner, so that's taken care of. But speaking of that, I better go get it out of the fridge so I dont' forget it. Later.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
But I'm feeling much better now..
The quote in the title has always been one of my favorite lines from John Astin's character on the 1980s sitcom Night Court. His character was a former mental patient who somehow (I can't remember exactly how) turned out to be Judge's father. He would wax on about some weird/strange episode from his past, but then he'd give this googly-eyed grin and say "But I'm feeling much better now."
Anyway, this week has been rough for me... emotionally and otherwise. But I'm feeling much better now. (Imagine googly-eyed grin here.) First there is the return of my father's prostate cancer. I'm fully back in ostrich-mode though. Dad did have an appointment with a chemo doctor for tomorrow afternoon, but there is 3-6 inches of snow in the forecast, so he called and rescheduled it for next Friday. So I have a whole week to ostrich on this thing. Although I do plan on googling and getting a wee bit of info before the appointment in preparation. Also, since the appointment is pushed off, they went ahead and called my sisters last night. I can't say why, but just knowing that they know makes me feel tremendously better. Like a weight off my shoulders. Sigh.. :)
So another crazy thing that's been going on this week is... Steve, my boss, fell off his roof ! I know! When he called in Monday morning and told me he wasn't coming in because he'd been in an accident, I envisioned car accident. But no, he was up on the roof over the weekend (we had BEAUTIFUL weather over the weekend), cutting tree branches and when he went to come back down, somehow he ended up falling into some bushes. Now he really could have been injured a lot worse than he was, but as it is, he fractured his eye socket and had a gash on his forehead. Fortunately his eye is fine, but he's been in some pain this week, and has been taking Lortab. I could tell something was different when he called on Monday and we had the longest phone conversation we've had in the 7 1/2 years I've worked with him. The man is not generally a Chatty Cathy, but on drugs he's been downright effusive! Not that his injuries are in any way funny, but we've had more than one chuckle over it. For example one of the attorneys here asked him if he could help with some roof repairs. Someone else told him that she could recommend a good tree trimmer. He's been at home, high on life and Lortab and I swear the man has kept me busier via the phone and email than he has lately in person!
And I get to leave early today to burn off the time I'd banked in advance to take off to go with dad to his appointment tomorrow, so that's a good thing! I thought about leaving early tomorrow, but it occurred to me that on the off chance that we really do get 3-6 inches of snow and the firm closes early, I'd get screwed out of those extra hours - and we don't want that to happen. Besides, I can go home and prepare the house for tonight's new episode of Lost!!
Anywho, between time, good friends and their prayers, I am in fact feeling much better now.
Anyway, this week has been rough for me... emotionally and otherwise. But I'm feeling much better now. (Imagine googly-eyed grin here.) First there is the return of my father's prostate cancer. I'm fully back in ostrich-mode though. Dad did have an appointment with a chemo doctor for tomorrow afternoon, but there is 3-6 inches of snow in the forecast, so he called and rescheduled it for next Friday. So I have a whole week to ostrich on this thing. Although I do plan on googling and getting a wee bit of info before the appointment in preparation. Also, since the appointment is pushed off, they went ahead and called my sisters last night. I can't say why, but just knowing that they know makes me feel tremendously better. Like a weight off my shoulders. Sigh.. :)
So another crazy thing that's been going on this week is... Steve, my boss, fell off his roof ! I know! When he called in Monday morning and told me he wasn't coming in because he'd been in an accident, I envisioned car accident. But no, he was up on the roof over the weekend (we had BEAUTIFUL weather over the weekend), cutting tree branches and when he went to come back down, somehow he ended up falling into some bushes. Now he really could have been injured a lot worse than he was, but as it is, he fractured his eye socket and had a gash on his forehead. Fortunately his eye is fine, but he's been in some pain this week, and has been taking Lortab. I could tell something was different when he called on Monday and we had the longest phone conversation we've had in the 7 1/2 years I've worked with him. The man is not generally a Chatty Cathy, but on drugs he's been downright effusive! Not that his injuries are in any way funny, but we've had more than one chuckle over it. For example one of the attorneys here asked him if he could help with some roof repairs. Someone else told him that she could recommend a good tree trimmer. He's been at home, high on life and Lortab and I swear the man has kept me busier via the phone and email than he has lately in person!
And I get to leave early today to burn off the time I'd banked in advance to take off to go with dad to his appointment tomorrow, so that's a good thing! I thought about leaving early tomorrow, but it occurred to me that on the off chance that we really do get 3-6 inches of snow and the firm closes early, I'd get screwed out of those extra hours - and we don't want that to happen. Besides, I can go home and prepare the house for tonight's new episode of Lost!!
Anywho, between time, good friends and their prayers, I am in fact feeling much better now.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Glass is Half Full
After writing my posting about Jennifer and her mother’s cancer on Saturday, the next day, Sunday, after church, my parents and I went to lunch. We ate and were sitting there drinking our tea, and dad tells me that the quarterly treatments that he’s been receiving for lo’ these past 10 years or so to keep his prostate cancer at bay are no longer working – his body has become resistant to them, and his PSA level has doubled… from .1 to .2. They have an appointment with a chemo doctor on Friday to outline how to proceed – starting chemo and all that. He said eh wasn’t worried and he didn’t want me to worry, which was ironic because the sermon that morning had been about worrying – in a nutshell, Worry --> bad; Trusting Jesus --> Good. And if I had to list my top ten skills, worrying would be number 1, or at least tied for #1 with my outstanding wit and intellect!
I thought I made myself clear on Saturday when I said that my number one fear was something happening to either of my parents. I told my parents quite some time ago that they were supposed to stay healthy until I was in my 80’s and then we could all go out in a Thelma and Louise car over a cliff type of thing. Didn’t they understand? I’m going to have to deal with this? Much like an ostrich, I had found it very easy to stick my head in the ground and forget that technically, dad had cancer… it was just in a fall back position, lurking for an opportunity to spring back out and bite us on the butt!
I thought I handled it well, I only cried a few tears and we joked a little, and then parted for our homes. I basically cried the whole way. (BTW, crying would also be in my Top Ten.) But then I calmed down. I did some dishes and laundry, sat down and read the paper, worked on the puzzle and didn’t cry too much more until my mother called to see how I was. Sigh. After crying myself to sleep Sunday night, I went to work early on Monday. Don’t know why, just couldn’t sleep anymore, so I thought I’d go in and email some of my prayer peeps for some support. By noon on Monday, I had dad and our family on prayer lists in churches all over Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky! After all, mom and dad asked that I not say anything to my sisters until after the Friday appointment, but they didn’t say I couldn’t tell my peeps. :)
After talking, crying, hugging, and emailing for most of the morning, I had the epiphany that he’s not dead yet. (I know that sounds stupid, but…) I’m generally a glass is half full person with a happy disposition and positive outlook. After about 24 hours of mourning, I decided that I needed to get over it and at least wait until after the Friday appointment to see what we are looking at. I’m going with them to the appointment on Friday. Not that I don’t think they’d pass the info along, but I think it’ll help me, plus I may think of questions that they don’t even consider. Plus, this is my daddy… so if this doctor can’t fix’em, I’ll wanna know why!
That’s where I am now. I had lunch with Jennifer today, for our weekly Wednesday lunch date, and I told her. I was going to wait at least until after Friday, but when I have issues, she’s one of the main people I go to, and I needed her. There were tears, yes. :) But as she said, we can support each other thru this.
I thought I made myself clear on Saturday when I said that my number one fear was something happening to either of my parents. I told my parents quite some time ago that they were supposed to stay healthy until I was in my 80’s and then we could all go out in a Thelma and Louise car over a cliff type of thing. Didn’t they understand? I’m going to have to deal with this? Much like an ostrich, I had found it very easy to stick my head in the ground and forget that technically, dad had cancer… it was just in a fall back position, lurking for an opportunity to spring back out and bite us on the butt!
I thought I handled it well, I only cried a few tears and we joked a little, and then parted for our homes. I basically cried the whole way. (BTW, crying would also be in my Top Ten.) But then I calmed down. I did some dishes and laundry, sat down and read the paper, worked on the puzzle and didn’t cry too much more until my mother called to see how I was. Sigh. After crying myself to sleep Sunday night, I went to work early on Monday. Don’t know why, just couldn’t sleep anymore, so I thought I’d go in and email some of my prayer peeps for some support. By noon on Monday, I had dad and our family on prayer lists in churches all over Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky! After all, mom and dad asked that I not say anything to my sisters until after the Friday appointment, but they didn’t say I couldn’t tell my peeps. :)
After talking, crying, hugging, and emailing for most of the morning, I had the epiphany that he’s not dead yet. (I know that sounds stupid, but…) I’m generally a glass is half full person with a happy disposition and positive outlook. After about 24 hours of mourning, I decided that I needed to get over it and at least wait until after the Friday appointment to see what we are looking at. I’m going with them to the appointment on Friday. Not that I don’t think they’d pass the info along, but I think it’ll help me, plus I may think of questions that they don’t even consider. Plus, this is my daddy… so if this doctor can’t fix’em, I’ll wanna know why!
That’s where I am now. I had lunch with Jennifer today, for our weekly Wednesday lunch date, and I told her. I was going to wait at least until after Friday, but when I have issues, she’s one of the main people I go to, and I needed her. There were tears, yes. :) But as she said, we can support each other thru this.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sickness bites
It's Saturday morning. It's a relatively beautiful day in Evansville. The sun is out, and at the moment, it's 49 degrees out. Since we've had some rough ice storms over the past couple of weeks, I'll take sunny and 49 anyday! I'm currently working at my apartment, trying to rustle the herd of dustbunnies out the door, do laundry, and other general cleaning. Buy my mind is elsewhere, as it has been for most of the latter part of the week.
My best friend, Jennifer has had some bad news. Her mother has been sick for the past .. oh.. since August, with growths in her brain. They've run tests and done biopsies and no one's really been able to figure out what it was. But in the past couple of weeks, they've been down to Vanderbilt in Nashville, and had a slew of tests, including another biopsy. This past week, they went back to Nashville for test results and to find out what the doctors plan to do about it. Turns out that she has a gliobastoma and it is stage 4. They are getting her set up to begin both chemo and radiation for the next six weeks. Understandably, Jennifer is a basket case. And for a while there, so was I.
I'm not trying to be selfish and make this about me, because I know it isn't. But it hits severely close to home. My greatest fear in life isn't my own death, but having to go thru the death of either or (God forbid) both of my parents. So while I'm doing my best to be there and be supportive of Jen, I'm scared to death for myself. Jennifer is my sisters' age and her parents are the same age as my parents or maybe even a little younger. My dad isn't in good health with a heart condition and diabetes. And while mom is relatively healthy, you never know. It's mostly my fear of being alone. That and while I called Jennifer my best friend, my truly best friend is my mother. There is very little that happens in my life that I don't immediately think… oh, I've got to tell mom! Ok, I'm almost 40 years old and I'm afraid of becoming an orphan. And ok, I have two sisters, who I love and who love me. But it's not the same. They have husbands and children and lives of their own. When you say the word "family" to them, they think of that family first. When you say "family" to me, it's my parents and (rather pathetically,) my cats. I know I'm always welcome to join my sisters up in Indy, but still, it just isn't the same.
Fortunately, I'm on my precious pink pills and am able to keep relatively sane in my little stew of anxiety. It's only when things are really hit home to me that it percolates up. So here I am, trying to do my best for Jennifer, knowing that she needs me, and trying to get control of myself. I thought that maybe writing down my feelings would help, and I suppose it has.
I know that God is in control and that He has a plan. I can't imagine what good can come out of this situation, for Jennifer and the rest of her family, but maybe I'm not supposed to know. I'm supposed to just trust Him. And I suppose that that's what I need to try to pass on to Jennifer.
Meanwhile, please pray for them. Thanks.
My best friend, Jennifer has had some bad news. Her mother has been sick for the past .. oh.. since August, with growths in her brain. They've run tests and done biopsies and no one's really been able to figure out what it was. But in the past couple of weeks, they've been down to Vanderbilt in Nashville, and had a slew of tests, including another biopsy. This past week, they went back to Nashville for test results and to find out what the doctors plan to do about it. Turns out that she has a gliobastoma and it is stage 4. They are getting her set up to begin both chemo and radiation for the next six weeks. Understandably, Jennifer is a basket case. And for a while there, so was I.
I'm not trying to be selfish and make this about me, because I know it isn't. But it hits severely close to home. My greatest fear in life isn't my own death, but having to go thru the death of either or (God forbid) both of my parents. So while I'm doing my best to be there and be supportive of Jen, I'm scared to death for myself. Jennifer is my sisters' age and her parents are the same age as my parents or maybe even a little younger. My dad isn't in good health with a heart condition and diabetes. And while mom is relatively healthy, you never know. It's mostly my fear of being alone. That and while I called Jennifer my best friend, my truly best friend is my mother. There is very little that happens in my life that I don't immediately think… oh, I've got to tell mom! Ok, I'm almost 40 years old and I'm afraid of becoming an orphan. And ok, I have two sisters, who I love and who love me. But it's not the same. They have husbands and children and lives of their own. When you say the word "family" to them, they think of that family first. When you say "family" to me, it's my parents and (rather pathetically,) my cats. I know I'm always welcome to join my sisters up in Indy, but still, it just isn't the same.
Fortunately, I'm on my precious pink pills and am able to keep relatively sane in my little stew of anxiety. It's only when things are really hit home to me that it percolates up. So here I am, trying to do my best for Jennifer, knowing that she needs me, and trying to get control of myself. I thought that maybe writing down my feelings would help, and I suppose it has.
I know that God is in control and that He has a plan. I can't imagine what good can come out of this situation, for Jennifer and the rest of her family, but maybe I'm not supposed to know. I'm supposed to just trust Him. And I suppose that that's what I need to try to pass on to Jennifer.
Meanwhile, please pray for them. Thanks.
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