A couple of days ago I heard about a very worthwhile project on Meg's space.  She is helping spread the word on helping to make blankets for a cancer camp for kids. I thought "I can do that.  I know how to crochet.  I have lots of leftover yarn."  So I began.  I' don't have a lot of time, but it doesn't really take a lot of time.  I crochet a "round" a couple of times a day.  When I get a few made I'll ship them off to The Eclectic Life lady who is organizing this. 

So I left out 3 balls of yarn and a half-finished granny square while I went to town today.  When I came home it looked like a gigantic spider had weaved a web around the legs of a table.  There was also a single strand leading upstairs where I found what was left of my granny square.  I have no idea where my hook is.

Naughty kitty. 

I was late for work today because I was busy taking close up photos of my eyeball.

I can hear what you're thinking.  "What?"

I have a very logical explanation.  My good friend, The Great Pretender, hosts a fun game on her space about once a week. It a good way for all of her friends to get to know each other.  The first week we all took a photo of our hand and sent it in.  Then we had to try to match the hand with the blogger.  It was a lot of fun, so has become something of a tradition on her space.  Other guessing games included a photo of the interior of our fridge, the contents of our purse, and a photo of our feet.  Did you know if you paint a guys toenails they look very much like a womans?

Last week GP gave me the honor of naming the next game.  My mind started racing with all the possibilities.  The very first thing that popped into my head was to submit a photo of your eyeball!  I thought they might find this a little weird, but GP loved the idea, so the game is on.  Submit your eyeball pic to her by the weekend to be included in the game.

The REASON that I immediately thought of an eyeball is because of a little thing we did at our house a few weeks back. 

It was a Sunday afternoon, and my kids and I were relaxing and talking.  We were getting a little goofy, and Lisa got out her phone.  She started taking really close photos of various parts of the body.  Then she would show them to us and we had to guess what they were.  The poor quality of the photos only made the game more fun.  Let's see how you do:

If you can't get this one, I'm a little worried about you.

Yes, this is an eyeball, and the inspiration for my game suggestion. (In case any of you think this is my eyeball, and all you have to do is match it up on Monday on GP's game, you are sorely mistaken.  This is Abby's eyeball!)

                       This one is also pretty obvious.

                      Abby's ear. 

This is the last easy one you get.

Abby was very brave to let Lisa take a photo up the nostril.

Do you think you know what these three are?

If you guessed.........

Nose (from top)                               Elbow                                             and Knuckles

you are correct!                 Here's a few more:

These are....

ankle                                              belly button                                    and.......a dimple  (we have lots of dimples in our family)

Three more easy ones:

Obviously they are.....

eyebrow                                        eyelashes                                     and thumbnail.

I've saved the best for last:  You get BONUS POINTS for this.

Don't get grossed out now.

Know what it is?

think outside the box.....

If

you guessed

THE INSIDE OF A DOG"S EAR  You are correct!  You win the game.  Oh, and here's his mouth, just for fun.

I never really understood people who seemed to think they were the greatest thing to hit the Earth since sliced bread.  I guess that's because for my entire life I have struggled with having a positive self image.  Maybe I'm a bit jealous about others self confidence, but sometimes I get pretty annoyed. Every time I think about some people, I'm reminded of my favorite one-liner about narcissism.....

      "............but enough about me, what do YOU think of me."

I DO know some people like that.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I've been musing a bit about my Dad and some of the humor that we've enjoyed, (yes enjoyed) even through all this past year with the health problems. 

Some excerpts from a  couple of my reports to the family:

"The doc asked about how Dad felt after his transfusions and Dad said “Great!”  The Doctor said, “That’s because you received the blood of a 20 year old marathoner”.  I started to laugh and said, “That must be why, when I called Dad on the day after his transfusions to ask how he felt, he said, ‘Great, I’ve been chasing your Mother around the house”. The Doctor then said, “hmm, maybe this time I’ll give you the blood of a 40 year old Catholic priest. That should stop the chasing.” Dad said that from what he’s been hearing that wasn’t necessarily true.  Doctor D--- said, “that’s true, but at least you shouldn’t be chasing your wife!”

"We did have a little bit of excitement when we were first walking back to the exam room.  Mom noticed that Dad’s shirt was on inside out.  We hurried into the room and Dad peeled off his shirt so he could hurry and put it back on before the doctor got in (HA!).  He got the shirt a bit tangled and was trying to squeeze his head through the sleeve.  Mom was laughing so hard she had a hard time helping him.  Anyway, we got him dressed and sat down and then we waited…..and waited……..and waited."

"Dad was amazed that he hadn't lost any hair with the chemo.  We teased him that chemo only kills fast growing cells, and his peach fuzz hasn't grown for years."

How can you have a good time when you are in such a grim situation? 

I don't think your character changes just because your health does.  Dad has always done his best to have a great time.  A couple of stories that I heard showed that not only was he pretty spunky, he was also pretty naughty!

When he was in high school he and his cousin went to watch their high school boys play a basketball game.  This, by itself, totally surprised me. Dad is not what you call a sports fan.  But then, I heard what those two did during the game.  Oh bad! They were NAUGHTY!!!  They were throwing little BB's out on the floor!  No one caught them, but they had to stop the game and clean it up before someone went ice skating (figuratively speaking).

Another time he and this cousin partner-in-crime heard that some girls (his girl?) were having a slumber party.  They decided to go eavesdrop outside the window to hear about how wonderful he was.  What they heard was not exactly what they were expecting.  Um, let's just say that the romance didn't go anywhere after that. 

It's always fun to hear these stories.  And it helps me live my own life and not be afraid to laugh during sometimes unlaughable situations.

It was late September when my dad was diagnosed with Large Cell Lymphoma. The prognosis was pretty good. A nurse friend of mine, who had this type of cancer said that if you’re going to get cancer, this was the one to get. Dad was to have a set number of chemo cycles and then another scan to see how the growths were behaving, (or misbehaving). He breezed through a couple of cycles and then his blood counts just plummeted. The counts dropped dramatically. Chemo was postponed, and then postponed again. A half cycle of chemo was finally given and the blood counts sank even lower.

It was very disheartening to not be able to fight the cancer because of low blood counts. A bone marrow biopsy revealed that Dad had a totally unrelated disorder called myelodysplasia. As one nurse put it “his bone marrow is just old and tired, and can’t do it’s work anymore”. The doctor went ahead with the scan to check the cancer and delighted us all with the news of “total remission.”

As awesome as that news was, it was tempered with the realization that Dad would not survive unless something was done about his blood. He had to have blood transfusions and platelet transfusions about every 5 days. To date he has had over 40 units. His platelet count to be normal needed to be between 140 and 440. His count has been as low as 2. Anything under 10 is very dangerous with the chance of spontaneous bleeding extremely high. Platelets cause clotting, so any scratch could be fatal. A bump on the head could be catastrophic. Dad has been having another regime of chemo designed to help “jump-start” his bone marrow. It has a 20% chance of being successful.

The odds don’t sound great, but in Dad’s case I think it’s working. Just in the last couple of weeks we’ve been seeing more bounce in his step, more spunk in his spirit, and his humor hasn’t waned in the slightest.

Two weeks ago I accompanied my parents to their doctor appointment. We went back to the exam room and waited quite a spell. While we were waiting Dad wanted to wow us with his knowledge and said to Mom and me that he knew what the central line thing in his chest was really called. He said it was called a “vascular access …….ummm, uh, …..”.  Then he got out his wallet and pulled out a cheat sheet, looked at it and said, “It’s a vascular access catheter”.  Mom and I were teasing him about his cheating and then Mom noticed that he had the word “vascular” printed in ink on the palm of his hand!  He got caught!  Two cheat sheets!  He just looked sheepish and said he didn’t want to look like he wasn’t tracking very well. I think he’s been doing remarkably well. As I watched the nurse in the hospital change the emptied bag from blood to platelets my Dad, the retired chicken farmer country boy, held lines, squeezed tubes, and reminded the nurse of proper procedures. It was amazing to see.

Another visit to the chemo room revealed even more of his character. Mom and I were following along behind him.  He was kind of jauntily striding along swinging his cane back and forth, but never touching the cane to the floor.  We got a big kick out of that as just a few short weeks ago he could hardly walk with a walker.  Then when he got to the treatment room and saw all of his beloved nurses he actually did a little jig which they all appreciated greatly.

They say that your attitude and thoughts can have a great impact on the outcome of a disease you may be fighting. I think that may be the key to what I perceive is happening with my Dad. Only time will tell whether or not this treatment is actually working. We might not know until the end of the summer. But even if it’s not, I think my Dad has shown that you can still have a great life, even if………

You are as happy as you make up your mind to be. (Abraham Lincoln)

I'm not real smart, when it comes to all things computer related.

So, when I suddenly start having problems posting to my space, visiting my friend's spaces, or even visiting my own space
I wonder "how did I mess up this time?"

I e-mailed spaces and asked for their
all-knowing
all-wise
all-things-computer-genius help

I receive a long e-mail sympathizing with my plight.
They understand.
They can help.

I am given step by step instructions.
Click here
Clear that
Click there
Reset this

I follow each step carefully
and then,
with rapt anticipation
I click to open my space.

I cannot.

I e-mail my
all-knowing
all-wise
all-things-computer-genius helpers
and tell them that it still isn't working.

I receive another e-mail sympathizing with my plight.
They understand.
They regret they cannot help.

You see, there is a major problem that they are in the middle of trying to fix. It may yet take a couple of weeks.  Until then I may lose previously posted blogs and photos.  They are so sorry, but this is happening to a lot of people.

Why didn't they just tell me that to begin with.

So,
if you are unable to visit me
I understand.

If I haven't visited you for a while
I'm sorry.
I hope to soon.

And if you aren't even able to read this because this is
one of those blogs to mysteriously disappear
I wouldn't be surprised.

When I had surgery two and a half years ago I was told to take it easy afterward.  It was a hysterectomy.  They were able to do without cutting me open, and warned me that even though I wouldn't have a lot of pain, it would take about 6 weeks to feel back to normal.  They were right.  I actually only hurt for about 2 days.  The danger was, because I was feeling no pain, I wanted to get up and work: do laundry, wash dishes, do yard work, go back to my job.  I soon learned that I would run into a wall. A wall of tiredness so profound that I found it difficult to even make it to my bed. I decided to take it slower. Let myself heal.  It was a good move.  6 weeks later I was feeling fine.

This past winter/spring's activities have had the same effect on me as the surgery.  I keep hitting a wall. It's reminiscent of the time I had CFIDS. I don't want to do anything.  I don't want to draw, or watch movies, or DO anything.  I sometimes feel like I just want to make it to my bed.  I think I need to let myself heal.  I think I need to just take things slow, build my reserves back up, recover.  Maybe in about a month I will feel back to myself. 

I think that would be a good move.

I went into serious depression when they discontinued Diet Vanilla Coke. I hated what they replaced it with, Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke (can you say cough syrup?) and finally settled for Diet Vanilla Pepsi even though it was sub-par. (There is a definite formaldehyde aftertaste.) At least Pepsi didn't betray me by getting me hooked on their pop and then discontinuing it. But wait, they DID discontinued Diet Vanilla Pepsi.  It got harder and harder to find until I discovered that I liked Diet Carmel and Cream Pepsi Jazz almost as well.  Then I heard they are bringing back Diet Vanilla Coke in the form of Vanilla Coke Zero. What joy! I eagerly waited, so full of anticipation at enjoying the taste I remembered and LOVED!

I just bought my first one and took a sip.
Not the same.
Not the same at all.
I don't think I even like it. No vanilla flavor.  It almost tastes like bland regular Coke.

And, I heard they are now discontinuing Carmel and Cream Pepsi Jazz.

They are playing with me.

The whole thing is seriously making me consider going back to drinking plain old H-2-O.

Guessing which leg was Tyler's at the bridal shower.

Photo's taken on the wedding day:

Photos from the reception:  We decorated ourselves.  We rented most of the decorations but spent hours and hours putting it all up and taking it all down.

We even put together the cake  and placed the roses on top.  There was a few minutes of panic when, one hour before the photographer arrived, Mike brought me the cake in boxes.  We had NO idea how to put it together and so we called the store to find out what to do.  The cake person had gone home for the day.  We didn't panic, just calmly pondered for a few minutes before figuring it out.  The roses were pretty easy to plop on. Phew!   In one corner we showed a slide show with photos of Lisa and Tyler from the time they were babies until the wedding.  In another corner we had a string quartet playing.  We had the lights turned down low and there were tiny twinkly lights on 9 trees and under all the tables that showed through the white tablecloths.  It looked very classy and beautiful. Lisa really knew how to plan a wedding.

A few candid photos before the reception started:

I wonder what Tyler is thinking with that expression. David and Nathan 

  Yea, I know my grandson is pretty cute.

Andy

Mike, Joni, and Andy

  Joni and Andy (trying to duck out of the picture)

These were just a few non-professional shots that I had my daughter, Abby, take before the reception got started.  We are getting the professional photos next week and will have full copyrights, so I will post the GOOD photos later.   

Last night we had Lisa's bridal shower.  There was one game that we did that was a lot of fun. At the end of the shower we had Tyler and a friend of his named Matt come.  We told Lisa that she was going to be blindfolded and then we were going to have her feel Tyler's leg and then Matt's leg to see if she could pick out Tyler.  She was horrified, and said she didn't want to grope Matt's leg.  We put the blindfold on and then Tyler pulled up one pant leg and Lisa, VERY tentatively reached out to touch the leg.  As soon as her hand touched the leg she stopped.  There was no feeling up and down the leg what-so-ever.  When she pulled her hands back then we told her to feel the next leg. 

Tyler pulled up his other pant leg and stuck it out for her to feel.  Lisa, thinking one or the other was Matt, again reached out VERY tentatively and froze as soon as her hands touched the leg.  After, what seemed like a long time, she said she wanted to feel the first one again.  So, Tyler pulled up his first pant leg and stuck it out there.  Finally, Lisa guessed the first leg, took her blindfold off and was so relieved to see that both legs belonged to the same guy.  We were all laughing our heads off.  It was pretty fun.

At my friend Lisa's request (blogging buddy, not daughter), I am posting a picture of the bouquet I made for the bridal photos.  (The photos turned out great!  I can't wait to share them after tomorrow.)

Cheers.

Monday-

Going with my Dad to his dr. appointment.  This is the week of his chemo.  (He does 3 weeks off, 1 week on.)  We hope to actually visit with the dr. todayl.

Photo shoot  for Lisa in wedding dress. Weather permitting it will be outside in the gardens. The forecast says afternoon thundershowers, so we're holding our breath.

Tuesday -

Trip to Idaho Falls to buy food and catering supplies for the reception. No we are not having it catered. WAY to much money.  We have learned how to do things the cheap way. (Still nice, just inexpensive.)

Wednesday -

Bridal Shower at my house. We had to wait until most of Lisa's friends arrived in town for the wedding.  It's kind of a last minute thing, but it should be low-key and fun.  I just have to have my house clean and food ready.  Joni is doing the shower.

Thursday -

Special pre-wedding ceremony in the afternoon, then to my house for an informal get-together with both sides of the family.

Friday -

WEDDING!!!    The wedding is in the morning, a luncheon in the afternoon, and then we (sans the bride and groom) are decorating the wedding reception hall.

Saturday-

Finish decorating in time to go watch Joni play a basketball game at noon.  Show up for photos at 5:00 and have the reception from 6-8. 

Nothing like spreading things out.  I hope this will make things a little less hectic and frantic rather than doing it all in one day. Not that I had any say in the matter.  This is the way Lisa and Tyler wanted it, and that's just fine with me.  I'm along for the ride and hopefully to give support and guidance to Lisa when she needs it. (Like an hour ago when she showed up in my office looking very distraught and worn out.  I was able to talk her into going home and having a nap.)

So, other than that, all I have going on this week is to finish making the scrapbook pages, get my yard and house in shape, and, oh yea, we are also going to be finishing the tiling in my basement.

I may be posting a little this week, but if not, you know where I'll be.

Cheers!

My son Andy watched the movie Mothman Prophecies about a year ago.  It totally freaked him out.  Ever since then he refuses to go outside after dark by himself.  If it starts to get close to dusk and he needs something out of the car he begs one of us to go with him. I know what the problem is, but can't resist giving him a hard time, so I ask why he wants me to go with him.

He just looks at me and says, "Mothman" in a tone that conveys "duh, are you kidding me?, there's a freaking scary killer out there!"  He'll then go on to describe how you can tell Mothman is there by the two red eyes that are almost visible 10 feet off the ground up in the tree. I asked him once why he was so afraid of the Mothman.  He said it was because the movie was based on a true story.  I told him that probably there was a bridge somewhere that collapsed with a bunch of people on it and that was the only true part of the whole thing, but he didn't buy it.

Last June we went to Cincinnati to watch Lisa graduate from CCM with her Masters.  It was a great trip, but when we got home Andy was looking at the map one day and let out a very high-pitched squeal.  I didn't know a 16 year old, 6 foot 2 inch, 200 pound boy could make a sound that high.  I looked over his shoulder at the map of Ohio.  All he could do was point at Cincinnatti and then drag his finger a few inches to the right and point at Point Pleasant, the town where the scary events in the movie took place.

Andy endures a lot of kidding at our house because of this. My daughter Abby's boyfriend was over one day when the subject of Mothman came up.  The boyfriend was a little skeptical of how scary could a Mothman be.  Then he rented it on his own and watched it.  He was totally freaked out.  He had his cousin watch it, and He was also scared out of his skin.  Now, whenever those guys get together they feed off each other's Mothman fears.

I find all this very interesting in light of recent developments.  Andy is going to take over for David in his night watering job.  David, my oldest son, has been watering all the parks in town from about 9 pm to 4 am 5 nights a week.  The job is very easy.  As David put it, "you get paid to stay awake, not really work." Andy is very excited that he will earn such "easy money".  I'm just waiting for the first time Andy does the job solo.  How is he going to handle being in the middle of a dark park, trees all around, all by himself.  Or, maybe he won't be by himself, maybe Mothman will be there.  I'm just not so sure he will be able to handle it. 

Although, for Andy, money can be a powerful motivator.  He already has an investment portfolio that he adds $100 a month to.  If anything can break him of his Mothman fears it would be a love for the almighty dollar.

We shall see.

Why have a pet?

They tear things up, both inside and outside your house.

They eat and roll in disgusting things, sometimes they eat the same things they roll in.

They leave hair everywhere,  dig in your plants leaving potting soil on your new carpet, use your new furniture as scratching posts,  drink out of the toilet, and slobber on you. 

They get hit by cars if they venture out on the road, come home bloody if they get in a fight, and run up your vet bills.

So, why have a pet? 

Some days I ask myself these very questions.  Like yesterday.  I got up in the morning and went out to the living room to check out the window.  I noticed a pillow placed oddly on the couch and went to move it back to its place.  When I picked it up I saw at once why one of my kid's had placed it there.  My dog, Oscar, had worked a small hole into the sofa seat and had pulled out a bunch of stuffing.  It's a good thing he was outside at the precise moment I saw this as I probably would have killed him.

I groused about the cons of pet ownership on and off all day.  I also had a kink in my neck that caused me a lot of discomfort and put me in a testy mood.  When I went to bed last night Mr. Burns, resident tom cat, jumped up on my bed and padded right up to my head.  As if he knew the cause of my pain he began to knead with both paws directly on top of the tightened muscles in my neck, purring contentedly the entire time.   I slept well and woke up without pain.

Pets can lower your blood pressure, play with your kids, teach them to care for another living being, and bring comic relief to your sometimes stressful life.  They can also be a friend, unconditionally adore you, and save your life.

We once had a springer spaniel which we named Winston.  He was a great family dog and lived about 15 years before we had to put him down.  I'll never forget one thing he did for us.  It was a warm summer night and we were sleeping with our bedroom window open.  Winston was out on the deck.  I was awakened at 3 in the morning by his sudden barking.  My husband yelled out the window for him to be quiet.   He stopped barking and then I heard, very quietly, "its okay doggy"

My eyes snapped wide open and I immediately began pummelling my husband to get his attention.  I was able to convey to him what I had just heard and he yelled out, "YOU GET OUT OF HERE, I HAVE A GUN and I"M CALLING THE POLICE!"

We did call and they came out to investigate.  They found where the intruder had run across our yard and into the neighbor's yard where he was most likely tripped by a rope that was stretched between two trees. Good. They didn't find him.  Bad. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night after that.  Especially when we discovered that all 5 of our outside doors were unlocked.  Security is a little tighter around here now.  I hate to think what might have happened if Winston hadn't alerted us.

Oscar did have one good moment.  It was one morning when I discovered a shrew in my house.  I am NOT a normal person when there is a furry little rodent running around my house.  I go beserk.  I hate mice!  A shrew is just a mean mouse.  I was alone and knew I had to take care of this myself.  I managed to corner the little bugger in a bedroom and even though I was hyperventilating and palpitating in the extreme I did my dangdest to catch that critter. The entire time Oscar was just outside the door, barking his head off. The shrew was darting around the room and I was screaming and crying and doing my best to keep both feet simultaneously airborne, and finally I was able to trap him under a garbage can. I was a wreck, crying and sweating, and shaking.  I opened the door and went to my own room where I threw myself on the bed. Oscar immediate quit barking and jumped up beside me.  He whimpered and licked, and tried his little doggy best to console me. 

I guess the pros outweigh the cons. 

This abstract is done with acrylics on a thin wood panel.  It has many transparent layers built up. Some of the layers are done in paint mixed with texture medium which makes the piece texturally thick, a little like impasto. I love looking at this piece, not something I can say about a lot of things I do.  I can continually find new paths for my eyes to follow.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." ~ Goethe

I just spoke with David, the student whose little 18 month old girl had her fingers tangle up in a treadmill yesterday.  He said that 2 fingers on each hand were pretty ripped up, but that nothing was broken and they should all heal up pretty well.  They will have to do a skin graft on one of the fingers, but the prognosis is good.  He knows they were very lucky.

I was so relieved to hear the good news that I wanted to share it with you.