A New Tradition?

Ok...so I’ve never been one to really celebrate New Year’s. I’d even go so far to admit to you all that I’ve only been awake at the stroke of midnight maybe 10 or 12 times in my life and none of those times have actually occurred in the recent past. I did actually go to a party last year but I was home and in bed snoring by 10. Now that I am building a new life for myself I thought it might be fun to see how other people celebrate the new year and maybe find a new tradition of my own. I did a quick search on Google (have I mentioned I totally heart Google?) and this is what I found according to www.gadlings.com:

South America - in countries like Brazil and Bolivia, it's what's inside that counts. Residents in cities such as Sao Paulo and La Paz ring in the New Year by donning brightly colored underpants. Those who choose red are hoping for an amorous year ahead, those with yellow wish for money. I guess this begs the question of how you tell who is wearing what color underwear. Perhaps that is best left unanswered...

So what do you think it means if I wear these?

Denmark - as if the effects of plentiful New Year's alcohol were not disorienting enough, many Danish revelers leap off chairs at the stroke of midnight, hoping to banish bad spirits in the year ahead.

Nope...no way...nada...we know what happens when I stand on chairs: http://wingsaway.blogspot.com/2008/05/dont-shake-wobbly-chair.html

Philippines - New Year's celebrations in places like Manila tend to be circular; Filipinos focus on all things round, consuming "round" fruits such as grapes and wearing clothing with round shapes like polka dots. The spherical theme is meant to remind celebrants of the "round" shape of coins and prosperity.

These are round, right?

Spain - at the stroke of 12, Spaniards begin to consume 12 grapes, attempting to eat the whole bunch by the time the clock stops chiming.

I could so do that! Having a big mouth is good for something I always say!!

(Nope..that's not me..I just thought that was a hilarious picture. How much you wanna bet this poor girl is wishing she would have never taken that trip to the vineyard?)

Belarus - the new year in Belarus is all about getting hitched. Unmarried women compete at games of skill and chance to determine who will tie the knot in the coming months. One game involves setting piles of corn and a rooster before the potential brides-to-be whichever pile the bird chooses apparently picks the lucky lady.

Uh, I think I'll pass on letting some crazed rooster peck stuff in front of me.

(Yes...I did meet this rooster and take his picture. He was nuts!! Scared the feathers right off me - well...if I would have been wearing feathers, that totally would have happened.)

Once I really think things through I think I’ll stick with my old stand-by of trying to stay up to see the ball drop in NYC while attempting to figure out how old Dick Clark really is. He’s still on, right? I told you it’s been a while.

Tiny Theater Thursday - Saturday Edition

I heard this group on the radio today. They are amazing and I just had to post this for you all. Enjoy and Merry Christmas everyone!

What a difference!

So...remember the backyard from the video of Peanut? Well....this is what it looks like today! Ugh!!!

SwimBoy has the 4WD pickup truck so he's ventured out to work but I'm staying home and working at the kitchen table. Luckily I have more than enough work with me to keep me busy!!

I also have some sewing projects to work on when my office work is done so I doubt I'll get bored being stuck inside. But...this better not last much longer or I will have to bundle up like the kid in The Christmas Story and find my way to the coffee shop - I am missing my chai something awful!

Peanut and the Big Stick

While cleaning up the leaves before the snow starts to fly, Peanut found a big stick and he and SwimBoy had a good time!

A Sad Goodbye

At 12:45 pm yesterday CarGuy lost his battle with Leukemia. SwimBoy and I were right there with him and he was in his own home as he wished. He fought a hard battle against this insidious disease suffering through many rounds of chemo, a bone marrow transplant, and additional chemo when the cancer returned. He will be missed but never forgotten.

He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us,
more potent, nay, more present than the living man.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Tiny Theater Thursday

This is an awesome video! This guy is really talented and it's amazing how he filmed the video. This must have taken a lot of time!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gTqc5U8lx4

Unfortunately I am having issues with youtube lately and the embed codes are not working so you'll have to click the link to go see the video. It's worth it though...I promise!!

Tiny Theater Thursdays

SwimBoy turned me on to this - it's pretty cool!

Tiny Theater Thursday

A friend shared this with me -- this would be so humiliating!!

A funny thing happened on the way to the art show...

This weekend I went to this big sculpture show. Amazing pieces and really nice people (well, mostly). Ok…I gotta deviate and tell you about the mean lady. I have a friend who is totally into art but he couldn’t come to the show so I planned to take lots of pictures of the pieces and e-mail them to him. So, I’m walking around with my so professional looking Kodak Easyshare Point and Shoot camera from Wal-mart. I’m snapping pictures and the artists seem so pleased that someone likes their stuff enough to take a picture of it. I came to this one display of these strange little figurines doing yoga poses. I actually thought it was kind of creepy but intriguing at the same time. I snapped a quick picture and the artist said to me, “you should ask before you take a picture.” I apologized and asked her if she would like me to delete the picture. She said she did and that she is tired of people stealing her ideas. I thought to myself not only am I not stealing your ideas but I can’t imagine who would want to. And…if I had money to spend here, it would not be on your creepy little lumps. My girlfriend, Bee, was with me and she was appalled at how the woman acted. But don’t worry we verbally berated her to each other the rest of the afternoon – I’m sure her life will be deeply saddened that she can’t count us as fans of her work! ;-)

So back to the subject of this post…if I were normal, I would be showing you my favorite pieces but come on, admit it, we all know I am not exactly normal. I could show you art that inspires you and makes you want to be a better person. I could even show you works that bring back memories of a special time. But, instead, here is what you get…



Yep…that is a tooth whitening stand. I know, I said the same thing. Exactly who goes to an art show to get their teeth whitened? And this wasn’t just your run of the mill put this nasty gel stuff on your teeth for 20 minutes kind of place. This place had the chairs and the lights and everything. Maybe I’m just weird but sitting in a chair with my lips stretched in an unnatural way and a bright blue light shining in my face is not something I plan to do in full view of the public. I’m just sayin’….

Flying Birds

Well…one of the times a mother hates to see has come my way. SwimBoy has now moved out on his own. He rented a small 2 bedroom apartment in a 1939 home that has been converted into a tri-plex. He applied last week and needed me to co-sign for him. He was a nervous wreck the whole weekend but I kept reassuring him that there would not be a problem. He started packing his things over the weekend and moving them into the garage. It was so sad to see the little gifts he would leave in front of my bedroom door as he was cleaning things out. Just a few of the treasures he left me were certificates he received in swimming in middle school, a painting he did in 5th grade, and his cub scout shirts. I told him I would hang on to those things for him and that when he wanted them back just to let me know. All that is left in his room now is a tub of legos which I’m actually surprised he didn’t take with him. Everyone needs a tub of legos…right?

The call came on Monday that he got the apartment and that he could get his keys on Tuesday afternoon. See…I told him so but don’t worry I didn’t say it. By the time I made it over to his apartment on Tuesday evening around 6 he had all his things moved in and was putting them away. I remember when I first moved away from home. Everything I owned fit in my little 1972 Toyota Corolla with some room to spare even! Sometimes it seems like that was just yesterday and other times (like today) it feels like it was hundreds of years ago. I can still remember the excitement I felt at flexing my wings and going off on my great adventure.

But back to SwimBoy….it’s a cute little apartment with arched doorways and curved ceilings. The appliances are a little dated but given his propensity to cook that won’t be much of a problem. Although…he showed me his wish list last night and it included a cook book on it! All you other moms out there know which cook book he needs and I’m going to go pick up that little red and white checked gem at Barnes & Noble for him. He has blinds on all his windows but he’s asked me to help him put some curtains up. I’m so glad that he’s asking me for my help. I think it will be fun to watch his style emerge. I’ve already noticed that he seems to like black furniture. He painted his dresser and bookcase black before he moved and purchased a black futon for his living room from his new neighbor.

So far the hardest part has been seeing his room empty. This is the first time in over 19 years there hasn’t been a bed for him in my home. He was always pretty quiet in the house so sometimes it was hard to tell if he was there so it’s not noise I am missing. I have to admit I am looking forward to the decrease in dirty dishes and not finding his stinky socks all over the place. I figure my grocery bill will go down a bit too and that will definitely be a welcome side effect! But overall I will miss him more than I will welcome these little perks.

You spend so much of your life nurturing your small child and trying to give him what he needs in order to be a fully functioning member of society. It’s sort of hard to turn that off when your job is done. However, I refuse to become that mother who continues to meddle in their child’s life after they set out on their own. I will not be just stopping by (he only lives about 2 miles away now) and I will not be calling him everyday to see what he’s doing. It will be a struggle to cut those strings but cut I must. Does anyone have some handy-dandy, non-painful, ever-sharp, user-friendly apron string scissors just lying around that I could borrow? I’d be ever so appreciative and would remain your best friend forever!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Yet another reason not to kayak on the ocean...as if I needed another one. Aren't boats supposed to come with a karaoke bar, 3 pools, and a casino?

Tiny Theater Thursday

Ok...now don't have a heart attack on me but yes, this is truly a Tiny Theater Thursday! Enjoy!

Long time no blog

Hi all! I'm so sorry I've been MIA. Things have been crazy and like I said before I've been writing but just not anything that is fit for human consumption. Hopefully I will soon emerge from this place and begin doing stupid things that I come and tell you all about or find fun little videos for you to watch or tell you about a product that you just can't live without or maybe just come over to tell you how much I love you all -- which I do by the way!! In the meantime, thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. I really do cherish them. Please be praying for me today as I file the legal papers with the court to begin my new life. I know without a doubt that I am doing the right thing but that doesn't make it any easier.

Big hugs to you all!!

Times they are a-changing

I’m sure you all thought I fell off the face of the earth. Well…not exactly but my world has changed a bit. I’m not sure how to put this so I’m just going to say it simply – CarGuy and I are separated. It’s been a long time coming and I think it will be best for both of us. I’ll admit the timing was pretty horrible but when things like this happen you cannot control much about it. We are still in the same house but as soon as he doesn’t require my help with his health care then we will work on other arrangements. Until then, it is what it is – that’s my new mantra. We are living pretty separately right now but I’m there to help him with the few things he still needs help with and I take him down to Denver for his appointments twice a week. He’s doing really well – at his last bone marrow biopsy he was showing 100% donor cells and no cancer is present. They are starting to wean him off some of his medications and he’s doing well at every phase of that. He hits that magic day 100 on July 12th so hopefully by the end of the summer he will be able to be totally on his own.

I have been writing quite a bit of stuff during this time but none of it has been fit for public consumption. Maybe someday I can walk back down that road but for now I’d rather live in today and just post about things that I find make me happy. Like…my garden! I know, you all live for my annual garden posts. This year it will be a little less crazy since I only put in cherry tomatoes, cukes, cantaloupes, watermelon, and pumpkins. That means that there won’t be much activity in the garden until a little later this summer. I do need to get out there and take some pictures for you though and I’ll do that this weekend. I will also get my hiney out on the net and dig up some fun videos for you for Tiny Theater Thursday. I’ve really been a slacker! Forgive me?

Tiny Theater Thursday

I don’t think I even need to introduce this commercial – I’d love to hear your thoughts on who you think will be buying this product.

Still...

CarGuy is still in the hospital and getting extremely grouchy about it. I'm doing my best at biting my tongue but sometimes it's too hard and emotions come spilling out. I think I've been in tears a couple times today due to his outbursts at me. I know he wants out of the hospital -- he's not really in any pain so I can't even blame it on that. I try to keep that in mind but being the overly sensitive type I can be makes it hard to hold it together. I think we need to have some basic niceties met even when we aren't where we want to be.

So...my plan tonight after I get back to the apartment? I'm gonna crack open a fuzzy navel wine cooler and then kick some Wii boxing butt!!! Nothing better than beating the heck out of cyber opponents who have no actual arms. Does anyone else find it disturbing that those folks at Nintendo couldn't find it in their programming skills to give these creatures some arms? The WiiFit is even creepier because the trainers never move their lips. Sort of like having a ventriloquist on the screen. Yep...they can give my little Mii an eerily similar curvy shape like mine while they tell me I'm obese but they can't let my trainer actually open his mouth. And I think I heard the little "measuring" person giggle at me when I stepped on the board -- how rude! Anyone have the address where I can file a harassment complaint against my video game?

So...in closing...I don't think I want much! My husband to try and treat me like a person, my boxing opponents to have arms, and my trainer to move his lips. Common courtesy people, common courtesy! Now...where is that drink I ordered?!? Nurse!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Horribly bad puns...please forgive me!

Scenes from a Hospital Bathroom

As you know CarGuy is back in the hospital and while I'm not having to sleep on the floor in his room this time around (thank goodness!!) I do have to use the community bathroom. While I have an aversion to public restrooms in general, I am glad that the bathroom is right across from his room rather than out 2 doors and down the hall and around the corner like the last time we were here. I'm sure I was 12 degrees of entertaining to the staff around here before with my sprinting at Olympic speed to the bathroom all the time. I can move pretty darn fast sometimes!

Why am I telling you all this about a bathroom? Well...something struck me as funny in there today. Oh, come on now, stop looking at me like that, those who either know me IRL or have been reading this blog for any length of time know that I see the world a little oddly and have no trouble sharing my musings with anyone who will listen (or read). So...come along with me...if I go into TMI territory, see that little red x up in the top right hand corner of your monitor? Just click it, go take a cold shower with lye soap, get yourself some hypnosis therapy, and you will soon forget what I shared with you (or maybe you won't). ;-)

I should probably tell you first and foremost that I am a voracious reader. I read a lot and I will read anything and everything that crosses my path! When I was a kid I drove my parents crazy because I had to read, out loud mind you, every sign, bumper sticker, reader board, etc. that I saw. Yes...I HAD to do it, not I WANTED to do it, I HAD to do it. It's an illness - I need therapy - I know this. TMI warning ahead -- when I am in the bathroom I have to read stuff. I will look for things to read even if it's the naughties that are written on the bathroom walls -- although sometimes those are pretty darn engaging! Well anyway...in this particular bathroom there's really not much to look at but there is a can of disinfecting spray. So...I grab the can and am happily going along reading everything on the can -- yes, I did say happily -- it does make me happy to read stuff like this.

While I'm reading I'm thinking to myself that it really does amaze me that you have to tell people they should not spray this kind of stuff in their eyes and that it's not meant for internal human consumption. Who are these morons anyway? Oh, wait, I think they are the same ones who sue McDonald's when they spill their coffee on themselves and it burns them -- uh, clue one, it's coffee!! Carry on...

But...this particular can was even funnier than that. This one told you that you must don goggles or a face shield when using this product. Huh?!?!? We are talking about a household product that is supposed to make your life more pleasant by dissipating obnoxious smells and killing germs in order to keep you healthy...right? In fact, this product actually touts that it should be in nurseries -- it's been a while but I think that's where you store your babies. Those little wiggly creatures who are entirely dependent on adults to ensure their safety. Now...I am supposed to spray this spray in their living environment but I better put on a face shield first?

Oh, but, wait...that's not all!! The can also directs you that you must clean up any "gross filth" before using this product. *snicker* In my mind I see filth that has grown to the 144th power, has sprouted arms and legs, and is crawling toward this little June Cleaverish woman trying to spray it into submission -- wearing her face shield of course! Yes...you could say I've been watching way too much SciFi Channel!

I want to know what team of lawyers or industrial hygienists were involved in drafting up that packaging. I bet they are just loads of fun at parties!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

This weeks video was brought to my attention by Happy Hour Sue -- you don't know her? OMG -- you have to go visit her!! She is irreverent, funny, and the girl seriously changed my life. No, really, if you only knew -- she changed my life!

Late Line Special Report - Snuggies: Warm, Comfortable, Deadly? - watch more funny videos

CarGuy Update

Can you guess what this picture means? It means that CarGuy is back in the hospital. They told us that was a distinct possibility when he was discharged and they were right. We went to clinic this morning for a regular visit and his chemistry panel, that tells them how his internal organs are doing, showed some abnormalities in his kidney function and that coupled with his increased tummy issues over the last few days made the doctors mind up. He wanted to be better safe than sorry and he was going to be out of town so he wanted CarGuy closely monitored while he was gone. Have I mentioned that I totally *heart* his doctor!! And it's more than the accent but I still love hearing him talk! I know, I know, there's something seriously wrong with me but it's still entertaining to watch me make a fool of myself just to get him talking! I sure hope he never stumbles across my blog and figures out that I lust after his voice -- not good!! And if any of my IRL friends that I trust enough to give them my blog info tell him I WILL hunt you down and do something awful to you -- like make you sit and look at all my pictures from my childhood or something just as painful. Believe me...I will do it...don't push me...I'm a woman on the edge, man!!

CarGuy will have an endoscopy (ugh, ick, choke) tomorrow to see if he is developing some graft versus host disease in his gut. I spent several hours tonight helping him get the humungo jug of required liquid down his gullet so he would be ready for the test tomorrow. And what do you think he did to me (yes, of course it's all about me -- that's a given) after about 1/2 of it was in? He deposited it all in the lovely porcelain appliance in the bathroom -- oh, well, good intentions and all that jazz. The nurse said not to worry about it too much -- he tried.

His mouth sores are still causing him some real discomfort and now that he's in the hospital they can give him some strong painkillers. He will welcome the relief and maybe he can actually get some good meals in (and he's really fun to watch when he's all drugged up). He really hasn't been able to eat very well with those darn things in residence! Besides they make him really grouchy and I just don't have the angelic patience for that kind of behavior -- I know, gasp, can you believe it? I know you all thought I was superwoman but, guess what? Nope...no superpowers here!

CarGuy will be in the hospital for 2-3 days but thankfully I can return to the apartment each evening to sleep in a real bed rather than an air mattress on the floor complete with gloves and gown PJs! It's the small things in life that get me excited anymore!! So, you won't have to hear me bitching about it this time around. Aren't you relieved?!?

On another subject...when I got back to the apartment this afternoon to grab some stuff for CarGuy to take back to the hospital I walked in with one of the non-profit administrators for the apartments. She told me to come in to the office because someone dropped off some protein shake thingys she wanted me to take and what should I spy in fridge along with those nutritious cans? Beer!!! OMG!!!! Alcohol!!!! Just what Nurse Rene ordered!! It was Coors but beggars can't be choosers and it was heavenly to get back to the apartment tonight and pour that cold beverage in a tall glass. I sat back and enjoyed it immensely!! I may have to stop by that office more often! Here's to the wonderful person who put that in the fridge!!

CarGuy is storing nuts!!

Well...today was a little exciting. CarGuy's cheeks and lymph nodes in his neck are swelling a bit -- he looks sort of like a chipmunk storing nuts. He has the doctors stumped a little but they think it might be some kind of infection since his blood counts have dropped which would indicate his body is trying to fight something. He was also running a fever this afternoon which is pretty indicative (ooooo....those are those big nursey type words I'm learning) of an infection. They put him back on one of his anti-virals, took a bunch of blood and tissue samples, and he had a CT scan of the area today. We are waiting to hear back from the cancer center on the results of all these tests. I'm expecting they will add a new antibiotic to his drug cocktail. Understandably he's really tired today and not feeling too chipper -- as you can imagine he is not laughing 1/2 as much as I am at my nut references -- I think he actually rolled his eyes at me when I showed him the picture above. I know, I know, I should be caring and sensitive to his plight -- but, really, if you saw it for yourself, I dare you not to make nut references! You won't be able to do it!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Ok...this is mesmerizing and creepy at the same time. I actually cringed during part of it but I couldn't stop watching it!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Too cool!!!

Update on CarGuy and a new do!

Day +19 - 81 to go until we can go home!!! Woohoo!!!! (but who's really counting?) Well...CarGuy for one and me for two and maybe SwimBoy since he might be starting to get pretty hungry without mom home to cook for him.

Things have been going well. CarGuy's counts continue to be very low so he's pretty isolated and quite fatigued. At the clinic visit today his platelets came up from 15 on Monday to 29 today so that's a good move. The rest of his counts are continuing to bottom out which is to be expected. For those keeping track here are the other numbers:

WBC - .7
HgB - 10.7
HCT - 30.7
ANC - 400

These are his lowest numbers yet but they said the fact that the platelets came back up the way they have is an indication that the donor cells are starting to get down to business. That's a good thing too because they don't want me on their case!!

I had a fun afternoon this week! A local cosmetology college donated an afternoon of pampering for all the caregivers at the apartments where we are staying. We had a ball and I really got to bond with the other caregivers which was really nice. There's nothing like connecting with other women who are going through the same things. My stylist was more than AWESOME!! She gave me my first ever professional color and my first ever highlight. She gave me an amazing haircut that is gorgeous and then I had a very relaxing mani and pedi. We were all treated like queens and it was such a wonderful diversion. I can't imagine a better way to relieve the stress of what we are all going through. CarGuy took this picture of my new do -- I've really gotta teach him how to make sure the camera takes off 20 pounds and gives me that fresh from the beach glow -- he really doesn't have that down yet. Oh, well, the hair looks awesome...right? See that white kitchen behind me? You can safely eat off any surface in that kitchen and I'm darned proud of that accomplishment!!
Really not much else to report -- mouth sores are getting better and he still gets his mag infusion everyday. Nurse Rene is continuing to earn her pay -- oh, wait, Nurse Rene is not getting paid -- can I see the manager please? Really...what is this? Some modern day legal slavery? How can the authorities allow this to continue?!? Oh, what's that you say? Oh, yeah, riiight, that's marriage. I thought I recognized this state I'm in!! Ok...never mind the crazy woman with the syringes...back to work all...

Motorus Interruptus

So the story of where I’ve lived is pretty varied but I’ve never really lived in a city. I’ve lived in suburbs of big cities and little cities, in apartments big and small, houses of all kinds of conditions, and even spent my teen years living in the country outside a town of about 800 people. Well…now that we are in the transplant house we are in the city.

Before we got here I thought a lot about what living in the city, albeit for only 3 months, would be like. I thought about parking and safety. I thought about the noise – and believe me, it’s constant noise; cars, people, sirens, and helicopters. The apartment is very well insulated so it really doesn’t cause a problem with sleeping but if you open the windows or balcony door you can no longer hear the radio or TV.

But one thing I’d never really thought about was how people who live in the city do their grocery shopping. Not only am I thinking about it now but I’m doing it. From what I can tell about 75% of the people who shop at the Kroger here walk to the store, another 15% take the city bus (which will drop you off and pick you up right at the front door – too cool – yep, I’m easily entertained), and then the remaining 10% drive. I’m in the remaining 10% since I’m normally a suburb dweller and we can’t possibly walk anywhere except to that stupid community mail cube since the postman not only does not ring twice in our neighborhood but he will not even come to your door. Oh, my, I think I’m repressing some rage here so I better get back to my original point.

Anyway…here are some other things I’ve noticed about city grocery shopping. There are 16 of those self-check kiosks because rarely is anyone buying more than they can carry. I counted 8 regular check out lines but I’ve never seen more than 2 of them open at any one time. The store is also really compacted – just like the people around here all the goods are on top of each other. I’ve also noticed that they don’t carry the variety of items like there are at my normal suburbia store. But here’s the biggest challenge I’ve had to get used to:
Yep…shopping cart wheels. You’d think something so small couldn’t cause you such problems. Well…you’d be wrong there! These are evil wheels and purposely so. If you get too close to the perimeter of the parking lot, the wheels lock. The first (and only) time this happened to me I had no idea what was going on. I pushed and pulled and looked to see if I was stuck in a pothole. Finally the cart guy saw me and came by with this little handheld remote control thingy, pushed a button, and I was on my way to my car. Can you just imagine the pride this guy takes in his job – saving women through the use of a remote control! He explained to me that their shopping carts kept going missing so the company installed these special locks on the carts so they can’t leave the lot and I got a little too close to the invisible line.

That got my little sick and twisted mind thinking about other uses for this technology. The first thing that came to my mind is that I could attach something similar to CarGuy’s ankles and whenever he got too close to the speed shop it would disable his walking ability and he’d be unable to enter this den of iniquity and spend our life savings on another 3,000 horsepower, 5,000 cubic inch, flashy piece of mechanized bling. I’ve been working through how this would work and I’m thinking something along the lines of the Petrificus Totalus curse used in the Harry Potter world. Anyone wanna’ be my financial backer? I’m gonna’ make a fortune with this idea...right Nevell?

Tiny Theater Thursday

Tiny Theater Thursday - Easter Edition

A bit long but definitely worth it! The last 2 1/2 minutes are credits. I love this song by Nicole Nordeman. I picked up the accompaniment music a couple years ago and hope to be able to perform it at my church some year.

Easter is very special in our family this year. CarGuy has been given a new beginning thanks to a total stranger. It gives the whole concept of renewal a whole new meaning! Thanks for all your good wishes and prayers -- they mean the world to us!!

The transplant is happening!!

The cells are finally being infused!! It's pretty anti-climatic as we expected. Hopefully we won't have any excitement during the 3-4 hours this may take. They gave CarGuy some pre-meds that will make him sleepy so I'm expecting he will sleep through the process. The cells are in an IV bag that looks like the bag from a blood transfusion. The doctor brought them in a beer cooler which was hilarious.

The hubby's blood type will change (eventually) from A+ to O+ since his donor is O+. Now he and I will have the same blood type!! He really will be perfect now!! ;-) Again...there will be no living with him! I did ask the doctor if this was the cleaning and cooking DNA that I ordered and he said it was. I'm going to hold him to that -- I hope he knows that!!

On a serious note...this has been a long road and we feel so blessed that we have had so many people praying for us and caring for us through these past 8 months. We are especially grateful to our donor and we sincerely hope we will have a chance to meet him when the 2 year waiting period is over. He has given us a gift that none will ever exceed. His generosity to do this for a stranger is overwhelming us!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

How NOT to use a car wash

You knew it was only a matter of time before I provided you with another life lesson. Today I will demonstrate the absolutely incorrect way to use a car wash.

First you run around like crazy picking up specialty magazines for your husband while he's in the hospital, drive around an unfamiliar area looking for a Wallyworld, fill your car with gas, and then go on the hunt for an automatic car wash. Oh, yea, could you do all of that in about an hour please?

Ok...so now that you have your assignment let me show you how not to do it. I had everything planned perfectly so that I used my time efficiently. No backtracking for this girl! My plans were going great until I got to the car wash part. I put my money in the cash thingy and pull in when the light turns green. I made sure the windows and the sunroof were completely closed and put the car in neutral when the red light came on. While the car wash is doing it's gyrations I decided it would be a good use of my time to reorganize the bags from Wallyworld so I didn't take anything unnecessary into the hospital. You have to multi-task in order to live my life lately! I pulled everything up into the passenger seat and moved my purse to the console. I soon noticed the car wash was louder than it was when I originally pulled in. I looked up just in time to notice that my purse had put the passenger window all the way down!! OMG!! Guess what? The harder you push the button does not correlate into the faster the window goes up. This is what I looked like a few seconds later:
Luckily I had towels in the trunk and I was able to get everything fairly dried off. CarGuy's magazines had an enjoyable ride back to the hospital on the heated seat and I cranked up the heater in the car to try and blowdry my hair. I ended up pulling the front part up with a clip which I'm sure was awfully attractive. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing a white shirt!! That's a look that most 40-something women just shouldn't take part in.

And that is how NOT to use a car wash!

A funny thing happened on the way to the hospital...

Well...today CarGuy went into the hospital to get ready for his transplant. The weather for the drive did not cooperate in the least but that's another post for another day. What I saw when we stopped to get a bottle of water (which in no way came close to sating CarGuy's mega-addiction to the Diet Coke he was not allowed to have this morning) really caused me to question the redneck status of my little town and thus has proven to be sufficient blog fodder. On our way otu of town we stopped at a local Conoco that I normally don't go to and I was thoroughly suprised by this specialty vending machine sitting just outside the front door. I asked CarGuy to snap a pic for me just knowing I would have to share this with you all. Unfortunately it's not the greatest pic but I think you'll get the idea of what this lovely piece of machinery dispenses.
Huh? Is it just too much work to go inside this 24 hour gas station and pluck your container of bait out of a nasty cooler? How redneck is your town if you have one of these? Have you ever used one of these?

BTW...CarGuy is doing fine. He has a bit of a headache from the lack of Diet Coke and his magnesium is a little low so he's getting an infusion now. The room is really nice but the only complaint I have is that until this certain test comes back negative I have to wear a gown and rubber gloves while I'm in his room. Typing with rubber gloves is interesting.

Quick Baby Fix!

Of babies, bone marrow, and slacking

I am such a slacker around here!! I have so many updates that I don’t even know where to start but let’s start with the most fun one. My new niece was born on March 3rd and we got a chance to take a quick trip to see her before CarGuy’s transplant. She is an absolute doll and it was so hard to leave her when we left for home. I’ve decided to call her Darling on my blog because it sort of relates to her name and she is so definitely a darling child!! She doesn’t like to be contained and her arms and legs are in near constant movement when she’s not sleeping. I can’t really figure out if she looks more like BeeGee or Pepper so I’m going to take the easy way out and say she’s a good mix of both. Poor BeeGee has had nothing but problems since Darling was born. She came down with a nasty infection in her abdomen from the c-section which required another stay in the hospital and then a few days before we got there for a visit she passed a gallstone so she was in the hospital again. Once this infection gets taken care of she will need to go in and have her gallbladder removed. I feel so bad for her – this is not how your first baby is supposed to go!!

Now…on to CarGuy – his transplant was delayed yet again but we have a date set in stone, aka - don’t change this date or you will face the wrath of the insane caregiver kind of date. He goes in the hospital on March 30th with his transplant occurring on April 3rd. The trip to see Darling was a great diversion but now that we are back home he is getting nervous. I don’t blame him but really don’t know how to help his situation much more. I could wisk him away again for another short trip but I need to get some things done at home before we leave and wisking tends to interfere with those chores. I think this is maybe one thing I need to let go of and just let him deal with it. I’m a meddler, uh, I mean fixer so that’s really hard for me.

I’m looking forward to having more time to blog about all the crazy and bizarre things I’ve noticed. My family used to warn me not to blog about something stupid they did but I’ve been such a blog-slacker lately that they haven’t even felt the need to give me those warnings they know I won’t listen to. I’ve had lots of fodder to choose from but just haven’t had the time or motivation to get them down in print. Gosh…I need to get my priorities straight!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Ok...honey this is for you!!



Thanks for finding this Jim!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

I love stupid criminals!!

Bone Marrow Donors Needed!

I read an article today about this little 6 year old girl in New York (http://oneforjasmina.com/) who needs a bone marrow transplant.

Read the full article at: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/03/03/2009-03-03_little_girl_fighting_rare_and_deadly_leu.html.

AOL had a poll on their site about this story and they were asking if you were a registered bone marrow donor and of the nearly 70,000 people who had taken the poll only 15% of the folks answered yes. That breaks my heart more than you can even imagine! It is such a simple thing to do and the actual donation does not require any surgery or cost the donor anything. I know that I’m probably way too close to this situation since my husband will be getting his bone marrow transplant in just a couple weeks, to even be able to look at this girl’s situation in a neutral way but it’s my blog and I’ll be as biased as I want to be here!!

This story really brought home the fact that there are so many people out there who will never be able to find a marrow match. It is estimated that only 2 of every 10 people who search the registry will find a suitable donor. That means that out of every 100 people with these hideous illnesses that 80 of them will die before given another chance at life. That is so unacceptable to me! Go to http://www.marrow.org/ and learn how easy it is to get signed up…please. The matching is very dependent on your racial and ethnic background so this sweet little girl is going to have a hard time finding a donor. The African-American community is not very well represented on the registry. It looks like several prominent celebrities are helping out with this little girl and I hope it causes a huge swell of sign ups among among all backgrounds!

Before I leave this topic I just have to share this one last thing. I was reading some of the discussions going on below the article and I was appalled at the responses some of these people had to this story. This one in particular made my blood boil:

I would help her being an African American male, but the government screws you so much with the high taxes they make me pay and the bills. I just don't feel like helping anyone but myself right now. If I was rich like Paul Pierce. I would do something like help people like this little girl. I feel like this; let the government help her, that's where our hard earn money goes anyway.

What is happening to our country when people will put their anger with the government ahead of saving the life of a precious child?!? This is not about money and all the money in the world will not find a marrow match when the people are not on the registry! There is some controversy over who originally said, "If not you, then who, and if not now, then when." I don't really care who said it first but I am saying it now -- people are dying everyday because they need a bone marrow transplant and cannot find a donor. You could be the one that could save someone else's life so get out there today and get on the registry!

Can someone help me get off this soapbox now? I would hate to fall and crack my head open.

Tiny Theater Thursday

This one starts out a little slow but definitely makes up for it later!

I live with a model!

Ok...so we have a date for CarGuy's transplant...he goes in to the hospital on March 16th and will get his transplant around the 20th. But that's not why I'm here blogging. To get ready for the transplant he had to get another bone marrow biopsy. For those of you not familiar with that process it is H.I.D.E.O.U.S!!! You have to lay on your stomach on a table and then they expose your hiney for all the world to see. They then numb up the area and proceed to drill into the hipbone and take a piece of the bone and about 6cc's of fluid out of the bone. It nearly kills me everytime I witness it. Poor CarGuy had to have it done on both sides this time and he chose not to have any sedation! I think his mother dropped him on his head one too many times as a child!! I would not only have full sedation but they better have a margarita ready for me when I come to.

So...anyway...while the PA is doing the procedure she is talking to him and asking him nebulous little questions. I think she's just trying to keep his mind off things. She asks him the basic "so what do you do for a living" question. Leave it to CarGuy to come up with the most hilarious answer it appears she has ever heard. He calmly says "I'm a butt model." She had to stop the procedure so she could compose herself. Sometimes the guy absolutely kills me!

BTW...he just came in while I was writing this so I told him that this was totally anonymous and that no one would know who he is. So...if you know me IRL, please don't ask for him to demo his modeling abilities. First he would break all my fingers so I could never blog again but then he would probably give you exactly what you asked for and, believe me, you would not like it and would most likely have nightmares for weeks on end!!! Oh, gosh, definitely do NOT tell him I just said that.

Tiny Theater Thursday

This is the coolest thing ever! I so want a car like this!!!

Transplant-a-go-go

Great news!! We have a perfect 10/10 bone marrow donor for CarGuy!! The donor is international so that means the cells will get couriered to Denver and CarGuy will have them infused within 72 hours of their collection. I’m hoping this international connection will not only give him the cooking DNA I am so hoping for but maybe he’ll start talking with a really cool accent too! (CarGuy thinks I’m a total crack up too so go ahead and laugh at my lame sense of humor -- besides...it's not all my doing...Hannah is the one who mentioned the accent and I thought it was really funny...but then again maybe that was because she said it in this really weird Russian/British/Irish/Unknown accent of her own making..ok, so maybe you had to be there...moving on...)

The donor has been given 3 dates to pick from – March 4, 6, or 9 – to make his donation and then CarGuy will need to go into the hospital 5 days before that for his pre-treatment conditioning which consists of high dose chemo and full body radiation. That would put us inpatient starting sometime between February 27th and March 3rd. We have to go to Denver early next week for our consent meeting and some last minute blood work and then the real fun begins!

So…everyone gather their slates and chalk because starting next week we will begin our Transplant 101 classes! I plan to walk everyone through the process as we go along and hopefully by the end you will all be ready to get your doctorates and begin your new careers! ;-)

Tiny Theater Thursday

I won't tell anyone you laughed at this if you promise not to tell anyone I did either...

Tiny Theater Thursday

This guy is too funny! I would suggest going potty before you watch this video!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

My youth pastor turned me on to this video. He said it left him speechless. Me..well..it made me spew milk out my nose! Enjoy..but I recommend you stop drinking before you watch.

Tiny Theater Thursday

We saw this movie on Friday and it was AWESOME!! (and I'm not just saying that because Brendan Fraser is in it but that sure didn't hurt any!)

Tiny Theater Thursday

We've really been getting into Superstars of Dance at our house - which is kind of weird since none of us can really dance all that well and dancing really isn't something any of us aspire to. I can't even really tell you how we started watching it but this duet from Russia absolutely amazed me this week and I'm dying to know how they did it...enjoy! (sorry the video isn't a better quality but it's the only one I could find)

My freakin' awesome trip!!

I should be sharing these kinds of pictures with you this week: (Do I have some awesome Photoshop skills or what?!?!?)

In case you can't tell that's me at an archeological dig in the Honduras,

cave tubing in Belize, peeking out at you from a Mayan Ruin in Mexico,

and lounging on a hammock on the beach in Cozumel

But, alas, cancer had another idea for us. I’m telling you though that as soon as CarGuy is better he will be making up this trip! I joke that I’m going to haul him to every Amish quilt shop and tea house between here and New York! But, really, he most assuredly will have to endure a few things that I’ve really wanted to do. I’m not above using guilt to get my way...let me assure you of that! So…in the future be prepared to hear about the wonderful weekend we spent at that adorable bed and breakfast in the Swiss Alps, the absolutely priceless time we had backpacking with Llamas in Tibet (do they have Llamas in Tibet?), our latest archeological find (and subsequent run from the authorities) in Egypt, how I nearly drowned while snorkeling off the coast of Belize (please, there’s no way I could do all these things without causing some sort of self injury or destruction along the way!), and our search for a summer home in Monaco. (hehehe…wait until I tell CarGuy about this stuff I’m planning – that’ll make him agree to the Amish field trip even faster and will also ensure that he will pretend to actually enjoy himself!!)

Ok…so back in the real world we are getting closer and closer to the hubster’s transplant and things are starting to get exciting! He has lots of procedures this week. We will be at the hospital and the cancer center nearly all day on Thursday and Friday. They will be testing all his bodily functions so they can tell him how absolutely healthy he is. They need to get baseline functioning on all his organs so if anything starts to act up during transplant, they will know if it’s being caused by some part of the treatment or was a pre-existing condition. I just know that once they tell him how perfect he is there will be no living with him! I’ll have to remind him that he’s not quite so perfect – that little bone marrow issue, you know? Oh, but wait, they are going to kill that off and put new in. Oh, man, he really is going to be hard to live with! ;-) Nothing like having medical evidence that you are a pristine example of God’s handiwork – ugh!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Something about this is just kind of creepy but intriguing at the same time! I'm not exactly sure that's how our bodies are supposed to move. I sure know mine doesn't even come close!!

Tiny Theater Thursday

Special new year's edition -- everyone have a great 2009! We are hoping for a cure this year and if I happen to lose 20 or 60 pounds, well...I'll take that too!!