It's like sympathy shaving, only goofier

Looks as if I am going to have to share my father of the year award.

Jay, an old friend from my summers in Henderson Harbor, saw the picture of me looking like a dork on the kiddy-ride. Convinced he could out-dork me, Jay sent along this image of himself on a similar ride with his two sons (left and right of Jay).


After laughing my ass of at the picture a few times, I am starting to think maybe Jay did win - but it's probably just the camera angle.

Thanks for the laughs Jay :-) And to any other parents who think they can out-dork Jay and I, feel free to send me your picture.

The things a father does

We were at Tivoli. Anna really, really, really wanted to go on this kiddy ride. She didn't want to go alone. Emily was off doing something else. What's a father to do?


I think I should get some kind of father of the year prize or something. Especially considering Anna looks to be bored out of her mind, while the camera caught me with a big, stupid smile on my face.

Gray day fun

We had a cold, blustery day this Sunday so we stayed home and played around with making our own stop-motion video. It was pretty fun.

Rod heads home

Rod got over his jet lag pretty quickly, and we had a fantastic 10 days with him. One of the most enjoyable things for me was to see how much the girls LOVE their Uncle. And he sure does put up with a lot of "love" from them.

But it looked like they formed a mutual understanding pretty quickly - Rod accepted that they would treat him like a Jungle Gym any chance they got, and they understood that when he pinched, hit or tripped them, it meant "I like you too".

We all drove Rod out to the airport yesterday to say goodbye, and after checking in, we went to a cafe where the girls had one last hour to maul Uncle Roddy.

Below is a picture from the last hour.


I think it captures Anna and Emily perfectly. Though I am sure they were equally sad, they both react very different to their emotions. Emily was playful and finding things to laugh about, and Anna was sort of an emotional train wreck.

Officially, Anna was devastated because I scolded her for walking on the chairs in the cafe. However, I have been scolding Anna for walking on furniture for years, and I can tell you this is the first time I have gotten any response other than a happy-go-lucky, "Opps...Sorry!"

For the record, I miss Rod too. He is great brother and a fantastic person. (And now that I've said flattering things about him, I think I'll see if I can find another silly picture or two to post in order to even it out a bit)

Health note (6)

I have been in vacation mode the last few weeks, taking full advantage of my return to normal health. I feel great, and have almost no remaining side-effects from the cancer or the treatment.

My toes still feel a bit sleepy -my big toe nail is actually in the process of falling off as a result of jamming it back in May (I'd post a picture but it really only looks silly, and not at all cool like Brian's thumb).

The other lingering side effect I was dealing with was with the lungs, which are basically back to normal. I can run and play and exercise without any trouble. If I take a deep, deep breath, there is still a slight burn, but I feel confident that will go away in time. And even if it doesn't it is something I can easily live with.

I think I'll post my daily photo video soon, since I have forgotten to take picture for the last 2 weeks. I'm happy to report that I look like myself again (no chemo curls, but a lot of grey).

The radiation burn on my chest has faded and is almost gone. My chest hair is thinner where I had radiation.

In August, I'll have a PET scan (we get the results August 28th), which will tell us whether the cancer is in remission or not. I fully expect that it is (as do the doctors, who have said as much). But I have to admit I have moments of fear as we get closer to the PET scan.

I read a while ago that one of the toughest moments for some cancer patients can be when the treatment stops. I don't fell this way, but I can imagine why some people do. Even though the treatment sucks, it is very comforting to be doing something, to be fighting the cancer. When the treatment is over, you just kind of wait, and hope, and worry that it might be sneaking up on you again now that you've held your fire.

But it's not. 99% of the time, I am not worrying, I feel great, and I feel totally confident that I am cancer free.

The ladies are back

The girls arrived home from their fabulous two and a half week adventure in the States. They were escorted by their Super-Uncle Rod. It sounds like the flight was problem free. Emily and Anna watched the same movie two times in a row, and of course neither one of them slept a wink (and neither did poor Rod). They arrived happy and raring to go though, and we are thrilled to have them back.

The expectant mother waits.


Rod, Anna and Emily.


The girls said they were absolutely, no way, not even close to being tired. They bounced off the walls (and on the trampoline) for about 3 hours, at which point, despite there protests, we forced them to lie down. Emily crashed after about 4 minutes, Anna was snoring 20 seconds after her head hit the pillow.


I'm not sure how long it took Rod to pass-out, but I'll swear he sprang bolt upright about a millisecond after the camera made that little beep it makes right before it snaps a picture. I don't think I've ever seen someone go from sleep to action so quickly in my life - the guy must have some serious "fight-flight" instincts. He would have scared me if he didn't look so damn cute. You can see what I mean in the picture below (you can't see it but he is actually moving really, really fast when the picture is taken).

Anna breaks rule number five

We gave the girls a few rules before we sent them off to the States. They were told to behave themselves, eat politely, no passing gas, no growing, and we specifically told Anna she was not supposed to loose any teeth.

I have heard from my parents that they are doing fairly well at the first two, they seem to have completely forgotten the third, not sure about the fourth (we'll measure them when they get back). As for the fifth... Anna yanked out not one, but TWO teeth yesterday. Below is little Miss Toothless showing me her proud smile. You look great Anna Banana!

Fred

Just heard about this kid from Luke. Pretty friggin' funny actually (or maybe I just miss my kids)

Check out Fred. His videos have had over 45 million views!!

Waterboarding

I imagine I am not the only one who has wondered what exactly waterboarding is. Well, Christopher Hitchens decided to give it a try. There is a video here and his article about it in Vanity Fair.

Apparently Hitchens used to be in the camp that argued waterboarding is not torture. If so, he has certainly changed his mind.