Updates...

Snoopy dancing idea courtesy of Tuli :)

I let out a proverbial HUGE sigh of relief earlier today. My dad can take a break from chemo; the scan showed nothing new! Actually, I guess nothing lit up besides his sternum -which was something that showed up in the very beginning as well, but the oncologist we saw at large midwestern university said she wasn't convinced it was anything since he'd just had heart stents placed. So we'll take it!!!

And in other good news, we CLOSE ON OUR OLD HOUSE Friday afternoon!!!!!!

I'm celebrating this weekend. Celebrating EVERYTHING.

Thanks for all your thoughts...I'm not sure it's possible to convey how much they are/were appreciated! *Hugs*

WW - My craftiness knows no bounds

Not a very good picture, but this is the shrinky dink luggage tag I made for my kiddo's backpack. The picture is a stamp that I colored in with permanent markers, and the template was printed off the shrinky dink website. Not bad, considering it was my first foray into these things!

How is it possible

that I have been on this earth for thirty*mmphh* years and have JUST NOW found out the sheer wonder and awesomeness of Shrinky Dinks? OMG, they are sooooo cool. For the record, I did want them as a kid, but thought for some reason that you needed to have an oven with a window, otherwise they would not work. We did not have a windowed oven in our harvest gold range while I was growing up. And admittedly, after watching it through my oven window this evening, it would not have been nearly as satisfying.

Nervousness

So husband is taking Molly with him this week when he works out of town, so she can see her grandparents. Normally, this is pretty okay with me, although it's getting harder and harder the older she gets - I miss her TONS.

This week? I'm nervous.

I'm always a little on edge the weeks that my dad gets results of his quarterly PET scans. Up to this point, the results have been positive, meaning that the damn cancer is being beaten back. The reason I'm extra nervous this time is because he's only been getting one of the chemo meds - the platinum based stuff has been stopped for now, because his creatinine levels have been slightly higher than they should be. This means his kidneys haven't been as productive as they should be; which is actually pretty normal for someone of his age. But it also means that it's not good to further tax his kidneys with the platinum meds.

So the fact that he's only had one type of med coupled with the fact his kidney counts haven't been great make me scared. Scared that his body is starting to say "enough". And I'm scared that, without the platinum, the damn c will move.

On the plus side, he's happy his hair has started to grow back, and he seems to feel pretty good.

Keep fingers crossed for us.

On another positive note, we have a tentative date for closing on our old house. Next Monday. We are just waiting for a verdict from the second mortgage lender.

Haiku Friday - Getting Political

Is it wrong of me
to feel insulted because
McCain chose Palin?

Just my opinion
but where is she coming from?
Don't mean Alaska.

I can't vote for them
simply because she's female-
won't fix the problem.

Tired of seeing
her face on every newsstand;
pitbull joke STUPID.

And is it just me,
or does Palin resemble
Megan Mullally?

If they make it to
Washington, it will just be
more of the same.

Monday morning randomness

• I am so. glad. the rain is OVER. Three days of constant rain - and I literally did not see it stop once over the last two days - is too damn much.
• It is not easy to entertain a three year old when it is raining for that many days straight. Over the weekend. How do you people with more than one kid do it?!? Unless they entertain each other...
• I am also glad I don't live along the Gulf Coast. Yep. Hurricanes and Big Bugs were the deal breaker for me.
• I hope the aftermath of Ike is better than Katrina and that cleanup is faster.
• As much as I love Chicago, I'm also glad I don't live there right now. Ick.
• I swear I'm filing for divorce if I have to unball my husband's socks one more time.
• My husband is, well, to put it bluntly, a p-i-g pig.
• I decided to try out my new Sonicare UV Sanitizer on our toothbrushes. I took the brush head off my toothbrush, and it was fine save for a little bit of dried paste gunk. My husband's? Well, the man can't brush his teeth without slobbering all down the handle of his toothbrush, and when I took the brush head off? OMG. I thought I was going to vomit. I can't even describe what I saw. I made him come up and clean it out himself. He acted like it was no big deal. Sometimes I really hate him.
• Another thing I hate? The hand lotion/nail buffer people who accost you from their mall kiosk. I think I mentioned this before, which shows you just how much I can't stand them.
• Why did I have to choose to live in a town that has absolutely NO OTHER option for phone service except their rinky dink local phone company? I mean, I think I may be living in the last part of the US that does not have Gigondous Phone Company as an option. This town has a state university in it! And for internet? I have a whopping two choices. TV? Yep, basically two choices, unless I go back to Direct TV. I just might. I hate Charter.
• I really don't feel like working this week. But I'd probably get bored staying home too.
• I really want this house thing to be OVER. We've been trying to get in touch with the bank that holds the equity line to see what they say, but the ONLY APPARENT PERSON WHO DEALS WITH THESE SALES was out of town. AGAIN. How, might I ask, does a huge bank that is merging with an even bigger bank in a very large midwest town have only ONE PERSON on this type of thing? What a load of crap.

Here's hoping I get happier soon. Thanks for reading -

Haiku Friday - Redemption

Husband bought for me

A digital camera

Replacing what's lost

********

Redeeming himself,

he wanted an SLR.

Expensive - I'd flip!

Milestones

1 year ago, I was settling into my new home and job.
5 years ago, I was a new Master's graduate.
10 years ago, I was a newlywed.
15 years ago, it became legal for me to have an alcoholic beverage.
20 years ago, I got my driver's license (holy crap).
30 years ago, I was just starting first grade.

No offense to the rest of you who share these milestones, but

HOLY SH*T. I AM OLD.

(7 years ago, I was sleeping in on a day off when I found out about the unspeakable acts of violence being committed on our country. I will always think of those people and families that were forever changed that day. Doesn't that really include all of us?)

WW - Favorite Places

For other people, exotic locales are the only places they'll vacation.

For me, there's nothing I love more than crossing the five mile long Mighty Mac (did you see the Dirty Jobs episode?) to go to the Upper Peninsula.

Grrrr....

Husband LOST THE CAMERA. With the pictures from our very awesome spots at the Huey Lewis concert!

He's sleeping outside tonight. Asshat.

Eye Candy Monday

I thought maybe this would be a good day to start off with a little eye candy...don't we all need a pick-me-up on a Monday morning? This, ladies, is my new boyfriend:

This is Matt, the "go-to-guy" (aka handyman) on Clean House, which is my new show obsession. He has a goofy sense of humor (*sigh*), can fix things, has big muscles and a crooked smile (with good teeth), and is SMART. The guy actually has an M.D., but left during his internship to pursue acting (okay, so smart might be a matter of opinion).

H.O.T.

From the mouth of babe...

Last weekend at a craft fair, we bought Molly one of those little balloon yo-yos that have a string made of a rubber band. Last night, she brought it to me and asked, "Mommy, can you make this yo?"

Embarrassing Moment Thursday

I love me a good embarrassing moment story. My husband has several (that I bring up to him repeatedly), which I will certainly share in the future. I'd like to say I'm perfect, but, well, I know that's complete and utter BS.


This is one of my stories that inevitably gets brought up when I'm with my childhood friends.


As a teenager, I was blessed with facial skin that was pretty clear. I rarely had pimples. But oh, when I did get one, it was usually a monster. And this one was the mother of monstrous pimples. This was a ZIT. And a zit that was in a most unfortunate place - the crevice right beside my nose...you know the area. Yep. Touch it, and your eyes water like Niagara Falls. This one was so big, my friend's mom actually said, "Honey, that thing needs a name."


She dubbed it Regina, and Regina lives on in infamy.


I tried my best to hide Regina from view. Concealer really didn't do much, it only caked on the surface and further accentuated the large, forming head. But since nobody really ever commented on it (besides my wonderful and supportive girlfriends), I started to think that it wasn't that awful. I mean, it hurt like a bitch, but maybe it wasn't that visible since it was in the crevice of my nose. I just wanted her to develop a damn HEAD already so I could pop her!


So one day I'm sitting in choir. A lull comes up in the room as we were (supposed to be) studying our parts for whatever. I felt a sneeze coming on and tried to stifle it, but instead of stifling it, I managed to loudly project the air out through my lips, which made a really huge buzzing noise (anyone who plays a brass instrument probably knows this noise).


From the back of the room, I hear, "it popped!". Then, laughter, as the room openly mocked my zit. Ouch. It was mainly good natured ribbing, but I was still mortified.

So there you have it. Regina. The bitch that dug just a little bit more into my teenage self-esteem. Enjoy your laughter at my expense!

WW - Dopey snaps!

Apparently, Dopey got damn sick and tired of Sneezy's incessant sneezing.

Another image from our trip to Storybook Gardens...

Reason #5,609 that I don't live on the Gulf Coast

NO HURRICANES.

I'm not sure whether to be pissed for the people that evacuated or what. I mean, after what happened with Katrina, why would you want to take the chance? Wouldn't you rather "the authorities" made you leave than run the risk of dealing with major flooding again?

And do these people pay more for their homeowner's insurance? I have to say that they probably should...if you choose to live in an area that's below sea level, you should pay higher premiums. Sorry if you happen to run into my blog and don't agree, but that's the reason I live in my upper midwest state. I used to pay more than double what I pay now, simply because I used to live in the same county in which Detroit was also in. Even though my old neighborhood was perfectly safe, with very little crime, both my car and my home insurance were insanely expensive.

And speaking of that home, the bank has accepted the potential buyer's offer, and the buyer has agreed to wait for all the paperwork b.s. to be taken care of. We just need to find out if they've contacted the holder of the equity loan yet and if they'll let some money go for the buyer's closing costs (which he asked us to pick up). I feel like we need a lawyer, but I don't want to pay a bazillion dollars just to get some advice! I can't tell you how many times I've given advice to people once they find out I'm a speech pathologist...for free! So any lawyers out there want to trade advice - got a late talking kid or one with articulation issues? ;-)