My First Century

If any of you have been reading through the comments section the past few days, you've seen that Neil and I were meeting up for a ride. To Stillwater. Well we missed Stillwater. Turns out we were accompanying a mutual friend, Rob, on the first leg of his journey to Grantsburg WI. Instead of Stillwater we went to Marine on the St Croix, which is north of Stillwater. This is where we split from Rob. He kept going north while we went west to Coon Rapids. At the Coon Rapids dam, Neil and Steve (a friend of Neil's) went north and I went south, home. Neil, my odometer read 100.7 miles when I pulled up in front of the house. I did take Theo. Wirth Parkway home to extend my ride a little bit. It was just enough to keep me from having to ride around the block a couple of times to get to my 100 miles. The last 22 miles from the dam were pretty bad. It was a south wind that was blowing on us all morning, so I got to face it from CR to Mpls. I was really groaning up the little hills on the Parkway since my legs had gone all wobbly on me. But I made it. The ONLY reason I was able to finish this ride is that from Marine to Coon Rapids, Neil and Steve pulled me along, meaning I rode in their draft. So thanks, I owe you a beer. All things considered, I'm not feeling to bad. My butt is not sore at all, thanks to my old skool Brooks Saddle. I do have some awesome tan lines (TOYH calls them burn lines) cuz I forgot to put on sunscreen this morning. My legs feel ok, but only if I don't try and walk up and down stairs. I hope these century things get easier (assuming I do more of them).

The Movie Was Ok

So I've been reading and hearing these great reviews for The Simpsons Movie, but I didn't let that get my hopes up. I actually was preparing myself for disappointment, so the bar was set pretty low for me. It was ok. Maybe I missed something, or a lot of things, but there were only a few laugh out loud moments. Look for the scene with the bar, the church and the dome. Best part of the movie. What was missing for me? Well, there were no intersecting plot lines that make some of the teevee episodes memorable. Also, it would have been nice to see more Mr. Burns, Smithers, Apu, Wiggum, etc. The old standby characters were pretty much absent. 3rd, although there were some good verbal gags that made me chuckle, There was nothing that really set me off, like my current favorite from the teevee show. Picture the Simpson family sitting on the couch watching the teevee.

Homer: "I'm bored with this Tarzan movie."

Lisa: "Dad, this is a documentary on the homeless."

Priceless.
I'm sure I'll see it again, and maybe it'll be funnier the second time around. Maybe I should set my expectations even lower. Maybe I was sitting too close to the screen. Maybe it was the 8 year old boys sitting behind me and next to me exclaiming "God! I don't like that," and "Jesus Christ, that's stupid" while watching the previews with their parents. This was in Edina folks, not some ghetto or hillbilly theater. Call me a prude, but frankly I don't think God or Jesus Christ cares what your snotty-nose kid's opinions are. I sure don't.

If anyone wants to flame me in the comments about my "review," go ahead, I can take it.

In other news, KyKy and The Madster get home from camp today. It'll be good to have them back. We are starting the week-long preparation for Mt Carmel. I hope it isn't hot that week.

The Simpsons

Yep, just booked my tickets for tonight. 'Nika has been nagging me all week to go to this movie, and I am obliging. I suppose I'll have to go again when the older two get back from camp. Maybe I'll make 'em take the train down to Mall-o-America. Oh the sacrifices I'm willing to make for my family.

Last night we got some relief from the heat and humidity we've been suffering through this week. The heat indicies were in the low 100's for the past three days. I biked to work on Tuesday and Wednesday, and while it wasn't miserable, it wasn't pleasant either. On Tuesday as I was making my way through downtown, another biker pulled up behind me and asked who poured the water down my back. Haha. I told him it was me, and we had a nice chat for the next 20 blocks or so. I am convinced that biking does not pose as much of a risk of heat illness as other activities (assuming one keeps well hydrated). When you've got a 15-20 mph breeze coming at you head on, heat tends to dissipate, unlike when your digging ditches.

We got to live like Oma for almost 2 hours this morning. I woke up at 4:00 am an heard a cricket chirping. It took me a while to figure out that the power was off and none of the fans were running to drown out the noise from outside. There was no breeze, man-made or natural. It was very, very quiet until about 6 when our south of the border neighbors get picked up for work. No cell phones, no knocking on doors, not even any yelling. Honk the horn until rider appears. There are some mornings when I'd like to introduce them to a little culture shock and remind them they are no longer in Mexico City. I'm just glad the power went off this morning when it was relatively cool, and not the night before when it was sticky and awful.

Mea Culpa

Ok, Ok, I am now confessing to you all that over the weekend I bought another bike. That's number four for those of you keeping track. The specifics: Redline 925 with a flip-flop fixed/free rear wheel and moustache handlebars. I need to back up a bit.

On Friday, I met with my old college roommate who I discovered on a local bike forum. We met at Bryant Lake Bowl, and we both rode our bikes there. After a wonderful evening of catching up, we headed out the door onto the Greenway, or the bike highway as the girls call it. Kirk asked me if I wanted to try riding his bike. I did. He rides what is called a fixed gear bike. Basically, you cannot coast on this type of bike. If you pedal forward, the rear wheel goes forward. If you pedal backwards, the rear wheel will go backwards. If you try and coast, you will either lock your back wheel up in a skid, or the momentum of the pedals simply keeps your legs moving. Actually, that is how you can slow the bike down, pull back on the pedals and slow your momentum. I rode very slowly for a short distance, but that was enough. I knew I wanted to have this kind of bike, it is lots of fun.

So the next day I went down to a local bike shop and picked up the above bike. The rear wheel has a combination hub on the back. Put the wheel on one way and you have a fixed gear. Flip it (hence flip-flop) and you can ride on a freewheel, which is like every other bike, when you stop pedaling, you can coast. I have been out on it a few times, and it's just fun. Oh, and the moustache bars are just handlebars that are kinda shaped like an "M" except not as pointy. It's amazing how much weight gears add to a bike. This thing feels like a feather compared to the SS Deathstar with gears, a rack (and a pannier when I'm commuting to work). Plus since there are so few parts, cleaning up after a messy ride is very simple. Did I mention it was fun to ride?

In other news KyKy and The Madster are off at church camp this week. KyKy signed up for archery and The Madster for horseback riding for the week. Crikey. It sounds like they're going to camp to prepare for a Crusade. When I went to Shores of St Andrew as a kid, we made crappy art projects, went swimming, ate bad food, played capture the flag, sat through bible studies and campfires, and in my 6th grade year had world-class farting contests in the cabin after lights out. No horses, no bows and arrows. This also leaves 'Nika home alone with mom and dad. She has us all to herself, and believe me, she is going to take advantage of this. She has already asked multiple times if we can go to the opening night of "The Simpsons" movie on Friday. She knows what buttons to push.

TOYH is still slogging through her internship which will thankfully come to an end next week. On the whole it has been a good experience for her and has helped her narrow down what kind of work she would like to pursue after she graduates. But lord have mercy Jesus her schedule has been awful this summer. This was much worse than her taking a year's worth of chemistry in 8 weeks two summers ago. The best part of her internship ending is that the week she is done we are leaving for our yearly trek up to Mt Carmel for our family vacation. Mmmmmm vacation.

Finally Some Good News

Here's the update on TOYH's mom and her breast cancer:

Hi family -- I just got back from my blood work/doctor appointment/chemo day, and wanted to let you know how it all went. There's a lot to tell - all of it positive! If you want medical terms for all this, you can talk to Tacy, who has it all at her fingers' ends -- from me you'll only get lay-woman's descriptions.
First, the breast lump is gone! The Dr. could not feel it at all, so that is the signal for us to decide what to do next. (more of that, anon) My red blood count is at 11.4 -- 12 is what they consider normal, so It's down just a little bit, but not significantly so. Platelets and white count are still fine, so I'm OK to go through more chemo. The most encouraging thing was one of the tests that they run to test liver function. You want a LOW number on this test -- 43 is considered good -- and I started out at 169! This week, my count was 48 -- a VAST improvement, to be sure.
Dr. Cheema (oncologist) said that I should continue the chemo for two more series of three, which would bring me to the last one on September 6th. Then they do a CT scan, to find out what we are still dealing with -- if anything -- in the liver, and after the results of that are in, we decide where to go from there. So, our projected trip to visit Pam and Kent, and the Rowleys, in Wyoming will be on for somewhat after the 6th-- I'll have the CT scan right away, and then we'd have two weeks to go and return.
Dad and I went to the MN zoo yesterday, and I surprised myself by being able to do all the walking, even in the humidity and heat that there was yesterday. By the time we left, I was ready to go home, but then so were Kysa, Maddie, Jess, Emma and Douglas -- to say nothing of Dad himself!
That's it for now -- I have treatments next Thursday and the one after, and then another two weeks without any before embarking on the final series of three. Best love, Mom/Grandma

On the legal front, there is not much to report. I talked to the lawyer representing me and FedEx and to a couple of other lawyers and a law student. The lawsuit is just the natural progression in this unfortunate situation. It came as no surpise to my lawyer and he simply said, "I'll take care of this." Comforting words, I guess. My understanding is that at some point this will go through the discovery phase and I'll have to be deposed by the plaintiff's lawyer. Oh joy. I'm really not to sure about all that needs to take place, so any of you lawyer types out there could maybe fill us in.

Not What I Was Expecting

Today was supposed to be a happy day. On my way home from work the SS Death Star turned over 2000 miles on the odometer. It happened on the Stone Arch Bridge of all places. Very picturesque. I've had the bike since April 13th, so that's 2000 miles in a little over 3 months. TOYH called in "sick" today from the hospital. Abbott was just fine with that. I think the hospital feels bad about TOYH's situation because her mentor is ill and has not been able to fulfill her duties as a mentor to this lowly intern. It was nice to have her home in the midst of all the chaos that is our family schedule these days. Speaking of schedules, 'Nika is at a two day Youth Farm camp. They are at some local vegetable farm, I am assuming run by hippies, doing garden work, going on hikes, playing games. Maddie was at the same camp last week. All summer long these two have been involved in Youth Farm here in the city. It teaches the kids to grow vegetables on little garden plots around the neighborhood, and to eat more healthfully. Plus they do a bunch of other stuff. It's like summer school outside in a garden. Anyway, 'Nika is off at camp by herself, no sisters, no cousins, no neighborhood friends. We've sent the kids off on overnights to various places for years, but I do believe 'Nika is the youngest to venture out on something like this without going with someone from our close-knit friends or family. Who'd of thunk it.

The reason this is not a happy day is that this evening I was served a summons for a complaint filed in Ramsey County Court. For those of you who don't know, when I was at FedEx I was involved in an accident that resulted in a death. The state's investigation concluded that I was not criminally negligent and no criminal charges were filed nor were any citations issued to me. It was ruled an accident. This is a wrongful death civil suit filed in just under the 3 year statute of limitations. I was wondering if this was going to come up again. Well it has. I have no idea what is going to happen, or what the lawyers are going to put me through, but it is something that I was hoping to not have to revisit.

The Miracle Of The Internets

I just got off the phone with an old college roommate of mine, Kirk. We lost track of each other and haven't spoken for years. I keep up on a local bike forum that courses through the internet tubes and I recognized his screen name. It wasn't his full name, but it was enough to make me curious. Unfortunately he was posting about a bike that was stolen from him. He was describing the bike for forum readers to be on the lookout for when he said that the bike had a 23 year old Brooks saddle. Losing a Brooks that old is a tragic thing. If you haven't ridden one, you wouldn't understand. But 23 years ago I sold a bike to my old roommate Kirk that had Brooks on it. I took a chance and sent him a message and, Voila! We're going out to get a drink on Friday night. All because of the internets. Thank you Al Gore. I should mention that I might be meeting another old friend, Neil (who has posted numerous comments on this crappy blog, thank you very much) on Thursday morning for a ride before work. I can't give total credit to the internets for getting us back in touch. My older sister talked with Neil's sister, who in turn emailed me, which led me to email Neil. We ended up riding the Ironman together. Doesn't this just give you the warm fuzzies?

So Today...

After karate, we went to a friend's parents lake home. On Saturdays, The Madster, 'Nika and I hop on the bus and head down to karate. Yeah it's only a 5 mile round trip, but I feel pretty good about leaving the car in the garage for this short trip. It's more about not hopping in the car every time we need to be someplace. Last week we even stopped and did a few errands on the way back from their session. The kids really like karate - liking it so much they want to go 4 times a week. I will gladly take them, but I myself am rather ambivalent about the martial arts in general. I really like the fact that the girls are learning to defend themselves that they are developing coordination, balance and flexibility. But let's face it, it's about hurting someone. Yes, I know, I know it is drilled into their heads that this is ONLY to be used in self defense - but still. And there is also the martial part of it. I guess I would feel a little silly carrying on with the whole military bearing thing - barking "Yes sir," standing at attention, lining up according to rank - unless, of course, I was in the military. But the girls really like karate, so we go.

After karate we headed up to Lindstrom, MN to enjoy the water, boating, fishing, all of that stuff, with friends from church. Well the girls enjoyed all of that. I fell into a conversation with an old freind, S.T., John a student at my alma mater, Luther Seminary and Bernard, an adjunct philosophy instructor at a local college. A 3 hour conversation. It was intense, wide-ranging and a rollicking good time. The Other Younger Half showed up later after she was done rubbing nekkid people.

The downside of being gone all day to the lake was that I missed yet another day of biking. Third day in a row. This is not good.

Stuff Is Going On - I'm Just Not Telling You About It

So......What's happened in the week since my last post? We suffered through two days of heat and humidity over the weekend and were treated to a lightning show on Sunday afternoon the likes of which I haven't seen in a long time. It just so happened that TOYH took the girls out to Shady Oak Beach in Hopkins to go swimming. Before they left at 2:30, it was looking a little dark to the west, so I checked the Weather Service site and there were no storms heading our direction. Everything was to the north. They leave and I go upstairs to read and nap. At 2:45 I look at the weather radar on the teevee. All clear. I doze off and at about 3:20 I woke up with the sky looking a bit ominous. Flip on the teevee. Huge thunderstorm right over Hopkins, heading my way. I call TOYH and find out that they were kicked out of the lake at the first sight of lighting. They were on their way to their cousins place in St Louis Park. I decided to go out on the porch to enjoy the storm heading my way. After a couple of minutes, I'm back in the house. There were lightning strikes all around, a couple of which were close enough set off the neighbor's car alarm. The lightning had subsided enough for me to take the bus church, though it was still raining and my feet got wet. Interestingly enough, the Gospel text was from Luke where Jesus speaks of seeing Satan fall from the sky like lightning. A very appropriate text for this particular day I thought. The cold front that came through offered sweet relief from that awfull heat and stickiness.

The toilet was fixed on Saturday in a record two trips to the hardware store. Not really. I suppose it isn't a record since I bought something that I didn't need to fix the problem and it needs to be returned. 3 trips.

Yesterday I visited my poor little deef sister in the hospital. Last month she went into the U of M Hospital to get a cochlear implant to finally do something about this deefness thing. While on vacation in South Dakota, she developed an infection at the surgical site which turned into cellulitis. She spent 2 days in the hospital in Custer SD after finally seeing a doctor who knew this was serious and should not be treated with oral antibiotics. They get back from vacation and the infection is still there, so it's off to the U of M so the surgeon who worked on her the first time can take care of her. She's fine, but bored out of her skull. She gets massive doses of IV antibiotics every twelve hours. It's strong enough to make her scalp itch when she gets it. In my compassion I told her that the only reason I visited was because I biked to work. With gas at $3.35 a gallon and having to pay for parking, it just wouldn't be worth it if I drove. She appreciated that. She was kind enough to tell me the reason no one comments on my blog is because I don't whine enough. Whining=entertainment=comments. OK, here's my whine. "Nobody comments on my blog anymore."

Of Independence and Toilets

We made our traditional 3 block trek to Powderhorn Park for the 4th of July fireworks. I really, really like going there. Powderhorn is a 65 acre park smack dab in the middle of South Minneapolis. It is a big bowl with a small lake on the south side of park. On the 4th, thousands of people gather with their blankets on the hillsides to enjoy the show. The fireworks themselves are no great shakes. It's a nice display, but the Parks and Recreation Department doesn't bust the budget to put on a teevee worthy spectacle. What I like about it is that it is the one time of the year when lots of different people from around the city gather for one purpose. It's a great big melting pot. Different languages are spoken, there was a drumming group pounding away to one side, people of all ages, races and religions are all togther for one evening to celebrate and watch fireworks. It's the part of America that I'm proud of. Afterwords we adjourn to some long time friends house for root beer floats and more chit-chat. As I was walking home with the girls (TOYH skipped the show because she had to work the next morning) KyKy remarked that it was really smokey outside. It was true. There was a suphurous haze hanging over the neighborhood. It was a sticky night with absolutely no wind so the smoke from the fireworks was going nowhere. It wasn't just the Powderhorn pyrotechnics that was polluting the air. In our neighborhood it seems like everyone and their donkey makes the trip to 'Sconny to stock up on illeagal fireworks, and then they treat us to the amature hour(s) until they run out of crap to blow up. That part of the 4th I could do without. It was a bit different this year though. In the past, we would usually get a good week and a half to two weeks of Independence Day celebrations. The enconomy must be bad or something because people only bought enough to shoot their wad on the 4th. It was pretty quiet in the days leading up to The Day, and very quiet tonight. It was the same for Cinco de Mayo. In years past we'd get plenty of whistling and popping going on, but all was quiet on the Southside front this year.

Earlier in the day we all hopped on our bikes and rode out to St Louis Park to spend the afternoon with TOYH's brother and his family. As she was fixing her hair in the downstairs bathroom, she was dripped on. Sure enough, the ceiling was dripping from the upstairs bathroom. Sigh. This isn't the first problem we've had up there. We've already ripped out and replaced part of the ceiling from a leaky toilet this year. We thought everything was fixed. This time, I was able to isolate problem to the hose leading to the tank. The hose is new and didn't seem to be the problem. Now I know from past experience that when fixing a toilet, one needs to make a minimum of three trips to the hardware store to get the right stuff. I started to work on it after getting home from Test Equipment World Domination Headquarters, but I only had time to make one trip to the store. I pressed my luck and thought I could get by with a new wrench and a gasket. Stupid me. The gasket didn't do the trick. The next trip will be for a new intake valve and float assembly. By the time I get done, we'll probably have a whole new toilet replaced part by part up there. Yipee.

Birthday Weekend Roundup

Let's just say that if you want a low key, nearly non-existant birthday celebration, come to our place. The Other Younger Half's birthday is on June 30th. It just so happened that this year it fell on a Saturday, and on a weekend that TOYH did not have to be stuck at the hospital on her internship. One would think that because of the convenience of having a birthday on the weekend, it would be easy to have a big blow-out. Well not here at the Stocking household! Here's what happened....

KyKy and The Madster spent the week at a "service camp" through church. Youth from the church and youth from the Youth Center that is affiliated with the church went out to do good deeds for the less fortunate folks of Minneapolis. All in all a good thing. The girls spent some time doing some heavy lifting for people who couldn't do it for themselves. The week of service wrapped up with a camping expedition. KyKy and The Madster camped out with their fellow good deed doers on Friday and Saturday night. Since Saturday was TOYH's birthday, they missed that day. Not to be outdone, 'Nika had a birthday party to go to on Saturday afternoon. This was for an old friend (well as old as a friend can get whey you're all of 9 years) who had moved away from Mpls, and has moved back again. So she was tied up for the afternoon. I myself was fretting over the fact that I was 65 miles short of my 600 mile a month goal of biking. Saturday was the last day of the month, so in the morning I left on a journey to Stillwater to make my goal. This was actually o.k. with TOYH because she could spend some time with 'Nika at our favorite greasy breakfast joint, Sunny Side Up Cafe. (The biscuts and gravy are to die for. Eat the whole thing, and you'll spend the rest of the day on the crapper cuz they're so greasy. Is it worth it? Absolutely.) Anyway, all the kids are gone for the afternoon. TOYH and I were waiting for 'Nika to get home from her birthday party, so we could grill up a few brats and have a relaxing evening. Did it work out? No. 'Nika was late and Stupid, a.k.a Grover the dog, ate two of the brats. We watched some movies from Lackluster Video and called it a night.

Sunday turned out a bit better. I went on another morning ride to Eden Prairie to make it an even 100 miles for the weekend. KyKy and The Madster got home from camp about noonish - very, very tired. While everyone was at home, we had a quick clean-up-the-crap around the house session (which is the best present TOYH could ask for), and then we dashed off to Roseville to The Evil Grandmother and Dreadful Man's house for some cake. I was under the impression that it would be just our family there. Not so. Kent and Ann, Jon and Clary and all the kids, plus one extra, were there. It was a typical Kedl get together. The kids were giggling and playing while the adults laughed and jawed at each other. Very nice. On the way home, we stopped at Brainblow Foods to stock up on essentials and get some special birthday treats for TOYH. We picked up some fruit and some meat to throw on the grill. As we left the grocery store, I was refering to myself as "Mighty Hunter," since we were picking up sustenance for our very survival (read: meat that I can grill). I feel I need assert myself, as the only male in the household, as a provider. Interestingly enough, nobody took me seriously as "Mighty Hunter," TYOH just laughed at me, and the girls ignored me. I can't figure that one out. Anyway, we get home, I grill up the meat that we bagged at the grocery store, and we had a pleasant meal in our craptastic back yard. TOYH seemed pleased.

PSSSSSST

It's someone's birthday today.

Take That Mother Nature

When I got home from work/bringing the girls to Karate on Friday, I put the air conditioners in the windows. It was not deathly hot in the house when I did it, so I was actually being "proactive." Hot weather was forecast for today. When I was installing them, I only swore a couple of times and I wasn't completely drenched in sweat when I finished. (See this previous post: http://doyoureallythinkthisisinteresting.blogspot.com/2007/06/feelin-hot-hot-hot.html) Not to be outdone in the thrust and parry that is my battle with her, Mother Nature cooled it off today from the forecast mid 90's to upper 80's, but threw in a strong south wind to torment me on my bike ride home. Curses! So I may not need the air conditioning today like I expected, but I'm sure that day will come this summer, and I'll be ready. I'll call this round a draw.

It's always a crappy weekend when TOYH has to work her 3 shifts at the hospital, and this weekend was no exception. Once again we were kinda spread out. 'Nika spent the last 2 days and nights in Waconia at a friends birthday bash. The older two girls and I went up to visit the EG and DM on Saturday morning. I stayed for a bit and then took off to run some errands. DM brought them back in the afternoon so KyKy could go to a party of a different sort. It sounded like a Latino version of a debutante ball, she'll have to explain it. Sunday morning TOHY and the girls went to visit EG and DM. I took off on a 59 mile bike ride to make up for the lack of riding the past couple of days. We are happy to report that the EG is feeling good, a bit tired though. The big worry was nausea, and so far she hasn't really experienced it. This apparently is a problem early on in chemo, so if she can get the drugs without feeling sick, it's a big, big plus.

The weekend was capped off by a visit from a friend from church, Carol. Some of the women in our little church clique got together last weekend to do one of those mass food prep things where everyone brings a lot of one kind of meal. The meals are then divvied up between participants and each family gets a bunch of ready to eat meals to sock away in the freezer. Well this group made enough for themselves, plus enough for us and a bunch for the EG and DM. We got a ton of food. We hardly had room in the freezer for all of it. Thanks y'all. You're the best. You made what could have been a perfectly craptastic weekend without TOYH a great one, and one that will take a bunch of pressure off of her. We'll have you over for dinner.

Whoopie....100th Post

At least that's what Blogger is telling me we're up to when I sign in. TOYH has now given you a better picture of what is going on with the Evil Grandmother. (I feel you need to know, Dear Reader, that the reason she calls herself the EG is that when the children were younger and spending a lot of time at Grandpa & Grandma's, the EG did not spoil them in the least. She has rules, and she must be obeyed. This is not to say that she doesn't devote any time to them or take them out to buy fun things. She does, and the kids love her dearly for that. She just doesn't fit the stereotype of the grandparent who spoils the grandchildren rotten by indulging their every wish. She's not afraid to say no.) This whole situation has kind of forced its way to the front of our lives, as it should. But the last thing the EG wants us to do is to stop everything and pay attention to her. So we haven't, and I'll give you a bit of a run down.

KyKy is babysitting for two different families a total of 3 days a week. By the end of the summer, I think I'll ask her to pay off the home equity line of credit we've run up in the last couple of years. She should have some money left over.

The Madster and 'Nika are going to be pretty busy this summer. Both of them are participating in Youth Farm (they are growing vegetables, not youth, but the youth are growing while growing vegegables) and karate. They are quite keen on both these activities. They're making new friends outside of the school/church/neighborhood cohort, and soon they'll be able to beat up friends new and old with their karate skillz.

TOYH is trying to fill her internship hours and also rub nekkid people. It's not an easy schedule. Every 14 day pay period she works eight 8 hour shifts. The shifts are from 3pm to 11pm, and she has to work every other Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 8 out of 14 days may sound like a nice break from a 40 hour grind, but when the shift is in the evening, it stinks. It reminds me of my days working in the ER at Fairview Southdale. Shudder.

TOYH's big brother Kent and his two girls are now in town from China. Ann is coming tomorrow. The girls stayed at our place last night. It was a very pleasant evening, well at least it was outside. The electricity was off in the neighborhood from about 7-9:30 last evening. One couldn't have asked for a nicer night to have the power go out. The temperature was very comfortable and it was the longest day of the year. We had daylight for 15 1/2 hours yesterday. When the power went out, bunches of neighbors all left their dead teevees, computers, video games etc. to enjoy the evening outside. Kids were playing up and down the sidewalks and in the yards. We chatted with a few of the neighbors while we were out on the porch. I guess I must really be a city person. I find it strange to be in the house when it so quiet. No fans or refrigerators humming, no music playing no teevee or computer noise. It was comforting to be outside with the noise of the kids and the traffic that never stops. The lights came back on just as it was getting kinda dark. Then we all went back to our electronic gizmos inside.

Here's the scoop...

In the words of Shakespeare (Hamlet I believe...), and oft quoted by my mother, "'Tis true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true." As The Old Man (TOM) said, the Evil Grandmother (EG) has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, with pretty diffuse proliferation into the liver. We had been hoping for a few confined lesions in the liver, but not so. I think the real "Aha" crushing moment of realization for both me and my mom was when we looked at the PET scan and the CAT scan. Her liver was covered with dense areas of proliferation. Not fun to see, but reality has to kick in at some point, and that did it. We're adjusting to the idea of the EG not having a curable diagnosis, but rather having a metastatic disease. My parents' pragmatism and no-nonsense way of approaching life stands in their good stead at this point. They've grasped the severity of the diagnosis but are fully living with the hope of treatment. My dad said that his prayer has been that they would be able to look objectively at this process and find peace in any outcome. They talk openly about the good life they've had, and about the continued quality, albeit different, that they will continue to have. They fully opt for quality over quantity, and are making plans to get the new digital camera for mom, and a hybrid car for continued travel over the USA.

Mom started her chemo yesterday, and we sat with her for the 6 hour process. She's getting a chemo drug for the estrogen+ markers for the primary breast cancer, and Herceptin for the HER2/NEU+ markers. The HER2+ nature of her cancer is what caused the liver metastases and the aggressiveness of the spread. Some good news is that we don't find spread to any other vital organ at this point! The breast tumor will not be removed at this point. It serves as the "canary in the coal mine," and will be the gauge for the chemo treatments. When the tumor is gone, they wll do scans of the liver, etc. to determine the state of the remaining mets. Either more chemo or surgery/ablation may be indicated at that point. As mom says, "It is what it is, and we will deal with it accordingly." Never a more practical word spoken.

The excruciating process of confronting my mother's mortality has, ironically, been a good lesson is living. She is now living with a death sentence. She can live with it for 2 years, or for 20 years. In the end, it's about the living part, not the dying part. Mortality certainly needs to be confronted and outright reckoned with, but it doesn't have to rob us of the life we now have. My parents have been stellar examples of this as they soldier through life, defining the important things of quality, instead of grasping for mere quantity. None of us are guaranteed anything past this moment we have now. Go spend time with your kids. Re-appreciate your spouse and why you loved him/her to begin with. Find quality time with your parents. It's what we have. We are responsible for creating the lives we want to live.

Sorry for the philosophizing... Thanks for all the support and prayers. Mark, let Cheryl know that she is in our prayers as well.

Sigh

Today we found out that The Other (Younger) Half's, mother, The Evil Grandmother, has Stage 4 breast cancer. In short, what that means is that the breast cancer has spread to her liver. This was not unexpected news; the results of the scans and biopsies have been trickling in and were pointing in this direction, but nonetheless, it is a punch in the stomach to all of us. The doctors are going to forego a liver biopsy, and get her onto chemo as soon as possible. It's still all very early in the process, so we don't know what to think, but those initial words are such a shock that we're still trying to take this all in. Thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated, not only for the EG, but for the TOYH as well. Thanks.

We've all got to maintain hope about this situation. Oma is still soldiering on against her cancer and is doing quite well, and Cheryl, my brother-in-law's sister (whom I reported about earlier) is doing much better after initially hearing some rather bleak reports. Anyone who has been in this situation knows that the waiting after the first news is miserable.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

We've had above average temps this week, 90's since Monday and 91 predicted today. I hesitate to call it a heat wave since it's only been in the lower 90's. (To the Georgia contingent of the family: Don't even start. We know how hot it is down there. That's why I didn't call this a heat wave. You poor people go from your air conditioned house in your air conditioned car to your air conditioned office. There would be no "New South" if there were no air conditioning.) This was a good week to have the warm weather, because generally nobody has been home during the heat of the day, except the dogs, and they're in their basement lair. I still haven't stuck the air conditioners in, not because I'm so energy conscious, but because this is my most hated household chore. It involves wrasslin' those things into the windows and stuffing blocks of wood, foam, old socks, duct tape or anything handy around the units to seal them off. It also involves a lot of sweat and cursing. Typically, I wait until it's unbearably hot, like about 95 in the house, before I "install" them. When they're finally in, we usually get the temp inside down to a balmy 88 or 89. So far we haven't met the threshold for really needing them. Even though it's been warm this week, the humidity has been low. At night we open up the windows, turn on the industrial size exhaust fan (thanks Ann & Kent), and cool the house down quite nicely overnight. In the morning we button up the house, and by the time we get home in the evening, it's not too terribly hot in there.

There was a night a few years ago when a transformer in the neighborhood blew and our power went out at bedtime. Pure misery. No air conditioning, no fans, no breeze. It was eerily quiet, except for the sound of sweating while lying in bed. Yes, you could hear yourself sweat. If Oma would ever comment on this trashy blog, she would remind us all that growing up in Iowa where it's hotter and more humid, they had no electricity on the farm until she was 10 or whatever. Ahh the good old days. I must say, her situation comes in handy when the kids start complaining about how hot the house is. "Well you know Oma......."

Biking in this weather has been surprisingly easy. Yeah, I need to drink lots of water, but the cooling effect of the breeze while riding keeps me quite comfortable. In weather like this when I worked at FedEx, I would drink 6 liters of water during my shift and still be dehydrated. Can't say I miss that about working there.

Schoooool's Out For Summer

Thank you Alice Cooper. Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids. It's been a busy couple of days. Monday we were up at Russ and Jill's for dinner. The kids splashed around in the big inflatable pool and in the hot tub too. Why the hot tub when it was 90 degrees, I don't know. KyKy and I were late getting up there because it was the 8th grade trip to Valleyfair. Apparently she passed this grueling school event because she was given her certificate yesterday saying she had passed 8th grade.

So yesterday was the 8th grade "commencement" at school. Talk about bittersweet. The kids are all excited about the end of the school year, but this year is also marking the breakup of the Gang of Four teachers who have been holding down 7th and 8th grades at Emerson for 8 years. Teachers cried. Students cried. Parents cried. It was sad having to watch the end of an era. KyKy gave a short commencement speech, and she and The Other (Younger) Half gave flowers to the Gang of Four. Believe it or not, I actually posted pictures of the end of school year events over on the Picasa page link on the left. Don't get your hopes up. I took the pictures. They're crappy.

Today marks yet another milestone in our family life. I biked to work today. TOHY will bike to work this afternoon, and KyKy biked to her babysitting job. Maybe we can get rid of one of the vehicles.

Family, Family, Family

Sorry about the dearth of posts here Dear Reader, but with the end of the school year for the children and the beginning of The Other (Younger) Half's internship, it's been quite busy. I neglected to write something about The Madster and 'Nika's performances at Festival Latino at school. This was an all day event of performances, eating and kids running 'round doing anything but school work. Each grade worked up some kind of performance related to a Spanish speaking country. The 7th and 8th grade girls (sans KyKy) did some hoochie-koo dance to a Puerto Rican rap song. (Yawn. Although I did notice that the Middle School boys were paying close attention to this particular presentation. They quickly lost interest in the program when the second graders got up to do their thing.) I forget what country The Madster's class was representing, but they danced to a decidedly non-rap tune wearing white blouses and black gauchos. I took some crappy pictures with one of the kid's cameras. Their performance was outside, there were tons of people there and there was a tent-type thing set up in the parking lot to shade the youngsters while they sat watching the program. The pics are sitting on the laptop, just waiting to be viewed by you, as soon as I post them. I had a couple of hours between The Madster and 'Nika's performances, and since I had to move the car or get a parking ticket, I ran to the office to get the nice camera to take pics of 'Nika's play. They re-enacted a Spanish bullfight in all its bloody glory. The narrators described what was going on (in Spanish) and the kids acted it out. 'Nika was the front half of the bull and avoided serious injury by not falling off the stage or getting stabbed by the picadors. The skit was very instructive. The nice thing about it was that it wasn't cleaned up to not be offensive. This is what they do at bullfights: They poke at the bull with sharp things until it is exhausted, then they kill it. KyKy was not involved at all. She played hooky and went to the Science Museum with her cousin and grandpa. I skipped out on the rest of the day's work and brought the kids home early from school. I was relieved to show up to work the next day and find out the world of used test equipment had not collapsed in my absence.

That was Thursday. Friday, TOYH started her official internship on the floor at Abbott, 3pm to 11pm shifts. I biked from work to a bar in NE Minneapolis to go to a gathering of some of my old FedEx co-workers. From there I went home. All the kids were at a neighbor's birthday party, so I went there and we stayed until about 10pm. The younger two stayed overnight at said birthday boy's house with some of the other neighbor kids. KyKy and I went home. She went to bed and I stayed out on the porch with my friend Matthew to wait for TOYH to come home from work. She's taking the bus home, the infamous #5, even though we only live about 7 blocks from the hospital. Frankly, it's not the bus that makes me paranoid, it's her walk from the bus stop to home that has me worried. Two and a half blocks, but you never know. I've finally got her bike set up to ride to work, and I feel much better about her coming home late on her bike than I do about her waiting for and walking from the bus.

Saturday was the big trip up to Cambridge for my nephew's high school graduation open house. Our little Dando, High School Grad. All my sisters and their families were there, (including Jen all the way from Hot 'Lanta, GA), along with a couple of aunts and uncles that I wasn't expecting to see. Dando the absentee child, who the party was for, was even there. As the open house was winding down, Tracy, Jen and I took our families to Opa and Oma's for a couple of hours.

As much fun as it was to see everyone, there was a pall over the celebration. Daniel's aunt Cheryl had just found out that she has ovarian cancer and that it had spread over her abdomen. I'm getting sick and tired of all of this. Oma is still taking chemo for the cancer that they found in her, and the EG just found out she has a malignant tumor in her breast. While things are looking pretty good right now for Oma and the EG, the news of cancer, the waiting for test results, waiting for surgery/biopsy results, and everything else associated with this disease wears a person down.

Yesterday, TOYH, Madster and 'Nika all rode their bikes to church with a caravan of people. We live only about a mile and a half from church, and the other folks live a little bit farther. But if you add up the miles from 5 short round trips from 5 families, you're getting somewhere. In the afternoon, TOYH was off to the hospital again, and I took the kids up to EG and DM's so KyKy could work on tee-shirts she is going to present to her teachers as a thank you gift.

Tonight we are off to Russ and Jill's to meet up with Jen and Francis. Always a good time when the 3 families get together. Tomorrow is KyKy's 8th grade graduation. Will report on both and maybe try and post some pics.

Good News And More School Stuff

Last night The Madster and KyKy went with the Evil Grandmother to the St Paul Camera Club's award banquet. They came home with a couple of plaques. Madster was named "Newcomer of the Year" and brought home a travelling plaque with her name inscribed on it. She had accumulated enough points in the competitions to earn this honor. KyKy came home with a 3rd place finish in digital photography or something. I didn't read the inscription too closely because I was admiring the plaque so much, and everyone was gushing about The Madster's big win. The EG reported that when the kids' names were announced at the banquet for their wins, there were hoots and hollers from the audience. Everyone was pulling for the youngsters apparently. Mad props to the EG for hauling the kids to the club and to the meetings. Mom and Dad are too busy/tired/lazy.

I passed a "milestone" of sorts yesterday too. As best as I can tell, I've passed the 2000 mile mark biking since January 1. I wasn't keeping track in January or February as closely as the rest of the year, but if anything, I underestimated the miles I rode in those first two months. I'm still hoping to reach 5000 by the end of the year.

I'm still steaming about the whole school situation. In today's Strib there is an article about the windfall the Minneapolis School District has for next year. If the money were spread evenly across the district, each school would get about $100,000. I'm pretty sure that would cover the salary of one teacher at our school. Then the school could keep it's current staffing levels in the middle school grades and keep their precious assistant principal and community liaison staffer on the payroll too. I guess it's all water under the bridge now, since it looks like two of the middle school teacher are leaving, tired of the hassle they've been getting from the administration. There are conspiracy theories floating around that admin wants to cripple Emerson, claim they can't meet standards since over-worked staff cannot keep test scores up, close the school down and then open an immersion school on the North Side. It seems far-fetched, but I'm starting to wonder if it isn't true.