the T spot

Congratulations Graduates

2008-10-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Allen and his fellow 2008 Local 32 Pipefitter Graduates:

We are so proud of all of you.

Pipefitter Apprentice of the Year went to Joe Jackson, a classmate who passed away in May (details in 5/16 post).

The banquet this year was bittersweet; Joe weighed heavily on everyone's mind, but there was a nice balance of celebration and tributes.

Dana was remarkably composed and looked great (pictured). My heart goes out to her...words cannot describe...seriously, I can't find any.

Our Russian Friends

2008-09-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

Below are some pictures from an event we hosted last Sunday, welcoming our Russian friends Sasha and Alexander from St. Petersburg. Through Bill Lincoln and his organization CRI (conflict resolution institute) we get to meet and entertain some of the most fascinating and interesting people (check out my post a few months ago when we entertained the Vice President of Afghanistan in our home).
We had a wonderful evening, with beautiful weather and great friends. Through the amazing translating skills of Gregory, we were able to talk U.S. politics, gain insight regarding the invasion of Georgia by Russia and their feelings about Putin's leadership.
I cannot emphasize enough how beautifully Gregory translated, and at the end of the evening I was shocked to find out that he had not traveled with Sasha and Alexander, but that he lives here in the city and through a mutual friend was recommended to accompany them for translation services during their stay.
The ease with which he blended the conversation left me amazed that only one day after meeting each other, everyone was able to enjoy so many seamless conversations on such a variety of topics. I look forward to getting to know Gregory in the future, and hope that he becomes a part of our extended network of friends who visit regularly.
Sasha and Alexander came bearing gifts, including the requisite bottle of vodka which was enjoyed by all (and disappeared all too quickly) and a shirt for me which is pictured below.
Their openness, immense capacity for joy and fascinating tales from their homeland entertained us well into the night.
I look forward to their return this week, before departing back to Russia next Tuesday, and am so very excited to be hosting them for dinner again this weekend. No doubt I will have more pictures to post after that : )

Front yard conversations

Sasha, Kathi and Laura

Alexander, Sasha, Kathi & Laura

Alexander (in foreground) and Sasha

Alexander and Sasha

Gregory

Congratulations Corky!

2008-09-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

My Uncle Corky, one of Rick's older brothers, has been honored at Texas Tech university for his dedication to that institution for over 40 years.

Jacob has fond memories of attending Texas Tech football games with his Grandma & Grandpa and Corky. We're so happy for Corky!

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Excerpted from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal-Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Mitchell:

Red Raiders Football Notebook

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Sunday, September 14, 2008
Story last updated at 9/14/2008 - 4:06 am

Oglesby honored

Texas Tech's newly renovated weight room in the Athletic Training Center was renamed in a ceremony Saturday for a soon-to-be 40-year athletic department employee. The weight-training area was christened the Gerald "Corky" Oglesby Strength and Conditioning Center.

Oglesby is a former Tech men's assistant basketball coach and head track and field coach.

The renovation was funded with a contribution from Tech supporters Terry and Lynda Fuller.

Here's a pic of Jacob in Lubbock with Grandpa Oglesby, Uncle Chris, Aunt Pearly, Cousin Tyler and Uncle Corky from a few years ago.

Ike

2008-09-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our Texas Bryant family-hunker down and stay safe everyone...very relieved to hear our Houston contingent has evacuated to BaBa's house in College Station. Still facing threats from severe winds, torrential rains and tornadoes so again, stay safe and we'll be keeping an eye on the news reports and anxiously awaiting word after the storm passes.
We love you all:

Allen, Tanya, Jacob & Austin...

Soccer n Stuff

2008-09-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

More pictures; Jacob had his first soccer game today-he had a great time, but was winded VERY early on! Made me realize how much more exercise he needs : )
We have games every Sunday through November; hope some of you local yokels can join us sometime.
Also added a cool picture of a hummingbird feeding on one of the flowers in the front yard; I can't believe I actually got this shot!
The boys have their first full days of school tomorrow, Jacob starting 3rd grade and Austin starting 1st. I think they're happy to be going back, but not nearly as happy as I am!

Jacob's first game-September 7, 2008

Allen, soccer dad!

'Ribbit

Charmander

Their new "piggy" banks

Seafair 08

2008-09-05T09:07:00.001-07:00

Better late than never (?) Here are some pictures from our Seafair party in early August:

Old People and 'puters

2008-07-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail today from my Uncle, writing on behalf of my dear Grandmother, who is attempting to crawl into the computer age (or should I say 'puter age?). Since she doesn't know how to look stuff up on the internet, I'm not too worried that she'll read this and be mad at me!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All,

This is Conan.

The matriarch of this family gets some e-mailage and she does like the communication.

However, some of the senders are forgetting that she's OLD. She has no 'puter skills to speak of. She has no idea that there is such a thing as an attachment and doesn't know to look for one. If she does see one, she has no idea what to do with such an animal. She can get frustrated with the 'puter, you know the old 'hit any key' syndrome can come up and we all know she's good with a hammer.

Please send only direct communication to her. No forwards, no attachments, no links, no U-Tubes, no mass mailings. Realize she's more than 80 years old and the horse she grew up with as her main transportation had no USB ports.

She loves to hear from y'all, she just needs your understanding and help.

My name is Mel Nasr and I approve this message.

Jason's Story

2008-07-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Stephanie-we all love you, and are so sorry for your loss...

Excerpted from NPR below:

A Soldier's View

A sampling of the photographs taken by Cpl. Jason Bogar while on his three tours of duty:

Enlarge

Morning Edition, July 22, 2008 · When Cpl. Jason Bogar was killed in action July 13 in Afghanistan, he left behind a family in Seattle — and a wide-ranging record of his tours of duty. Bogar took numerous photos and videos of his work and of the families he met in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bogar, who was 25, had already served one tour in Iraq when he was first deployed to Afghanistan. On Sunday, July 13, about 200 Taliban fighters breached a remote NATO compound in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Nine U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack, the deadliest assault on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years.

That day, Bogar's family was notified that he'd been killed in action. Soon after, they flipped through photos he'd sent home from his three tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most of the images aren't of Bogar. They're portraits of Afghan children, many of them with eyes rimmed black with kohl that stare right into yours. In others, women peer suspiciously through jewel-colored headscarves. A baby clutches a fistful of his mother's pleated burqa in his dimpled fist.

"This is the razor wire that they would put around the encampment, and then two women in their burqas, almost like blue ghosts," Bogar's father, Michael Bogar, says of one picture.

"As he talked to my ex-wife, he said that he felt like sometimes he would see the women there and think it seemed like they were in bondage."

The elder Bogar, an interdenominational minister, says that his son was always artistic but that he was also unfocused and got into trouble as a teenager.

Jason Bogar enlisted when he was 17. He went to basic training right before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He discovered photography during his first tour in Baghdad in 2003. After he got home, he volunteered twice to go to Afghanistan.

"There's an e-mail here, it's the second-to-the-last one he sent, from June 1, 2008," Michael Bogar says.

Reading from it, he quotes his son: " 'I really feel this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Some of the guys call me an idealist. But I do respect and want to help the little good that's left amongst this culture.' "

Stephanie Bell was a sort of stepmom to Jason Bogar — she was his dad's partner for five years. She says Bogar expanded from still photography to videography, even wearing a helmet-cam on his patrols. He showed them videos of what war really looked like.

"One thing that sticks in my mind was his joy of showing his work. And kind of just the joy in being able to create something beautiful and also say something at the same time and explain his work and have it seen."

Bell says that as serious as Bogar was about the military and his art, he could still act like a rambunctious kid.

"He would jump up behind me and scare me," she says, "and I would get upset when he would do that. And then, you know, you can't stay mad at him for very long. He would have me in laughter in a few seconds."

Before Bogar's last deployment, his father had been reading about what was happening in Afghanistan and how the Taliban were regaining strength in Pakistan. They talked about it in the backyard right before he left.

"And I gave him a big hug and said, 'Jason, I don't want you to go,' and started weeping. And he kind of looked at me a little bit frightened ... and he said, 'You OK?' And I said, 'No, I'm not OK.'

"I said, 'I'm really, really, really sad.' And he smiled and he said, 'Well, I guess that's a good thing,' and gave me this beautiful smile, like, 'That means you love me, doesn't it, Dad?' And it's like, yeah. Yeah."

Michael Bogar says Jason had started to enroll in art school. He wanted to travel the world, capturing stories of the cultures he encountered through film.

Solidarity

2008-07-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Sprinkler Fitters Local 699 are on strike: local businesses really know how to show their solidarity!

July 4th Festivities

2008-07-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

The boys and I spent the long weekend over in Eastern Washington at Sun Lakes State Park. We had a great time, the weather was fantastic and we made the most of it!
On the 4th we drove into Coulee City and went to the Grand Coulee Dam-at night they have a laser show on the side of the dam and for the holiday they shot fireworks off the dam itself. It was amazing-although Austin was less than impressed; he fell asleep halfway through the laser show and slept all through the fireworks : )

Hope everyone had a fun, festive time!

School, Kids, Summer, Birthdays n Stuff

2008-06-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Jacob and Austin's year-end school event and Austin's 7th birthday lego goodies.

A Stitch in Time

2008-06-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we don't seem to be able to keep ourselves out of the emergency room lately; yesterday Jacob had a mishap at school which resulted in five stitches to his chin.

He's doing ok, he was pretty scared at first, but he was ultimately very brave and a major trooper.

I give credit to Swedish hospital staff, who are always so patient and kind to my boys, who are by now frequent customers. They always take the time to make sure my boys are comfortable with what's about to happen and there are never any surprises.

Jacob is supposed to get the stitches removed in 6 days, which means that he'll be in Washington DC with Grandma and Grandpa, so that should be interesting!

Three more days of school left-how does it go by so fast?!

Piggies Part Deux

2008-05-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is footage of Austin's part in the play

Three Little Pigs

2008-05-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures and footage of Jacob and Austin's performances in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

2008-05-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Mixed news to report this week: Things are good with Jacob, he appears to be healing well and is in good spirits. He's having a bit of difficulty with bright lights, so the sunshine this week has been less than welcome for him, although I'm quite enjoying finally having some spring weather!

Allen and Jacob went Halibut fishing earlier this week up in Neah Bay. They had a less than stellar time, the weather was horrific with 10 foot seas and they both spent the entire day throwing up on the boat. They didn't even get a chance to pick up a fishing pole, so needless to say they didn't come home with any halibut. Others on the boat caught ling cod and shared with those who were ill, so it was nice they at least came home with something!

Through all of that Jacob was a real trooper. Allen said that 10 minutes after departing from the dock Jacob said he wanted to go home! Mind you he'd had surgery just 5 days before, so he already wasn't in the best of spirits. Add getting seasick on top of that and he was one miserable kid. Despite all of that, when Allen told him that they were stuck for the duration, he took it like a champ.

There's only a few weeks left of school for Austin, Jacob AND Allen. Of the three, Allen is by far the most eager, with only 8 classes to go before graduating and "turning out" as a journeyman. It's been a very long road for him, as most of you know, and I think it's really going to be a boost for him to finish this. I haven't figured out how to celebrate this occasion yet, but at the moment it's a little bittersweet, so I think I have some time to decide.

I say bittersweet because one of his classmates, Joe Jackson, died in a motorcycle accident on Monday. This kid was just 28 years old, and like Allen, just a few classes away from graduating.
He was married just last year, and since he hadn't graduated yet, wasn't vested in the Union. It's my understanding that they are going to turn him out, so at least his widow can receive some sort of pension/benefits. We'll be attending a memorial service on Saturday.

I cannot even begin to imagine what his wife and family are going through; it has made me really aware of how fragile life is. I remember reading about couples who survived 9/11 and now make sure they don't go a single day without telling their spouse they love them because they know that truly at any moment their lives could be ripped apart. To think of kissing your husband or wife in the morning and having no idea that it's the last time you'll ever see them.

I've noticed that we've been nicer to each other this week, making sure to say we love one another and acknowledging how lucky we are to have each other. I try with all my might not to think about how close I was to the same fate. Truly, had I ignored my symptoms a few months longer, I may not have survived my battle with cancer. We don't ever talk about that, I think mostly because we don't want to acknowledge "what could have been". It's much better to think about how it did turn out...

Geez, happy friday, I guess!

Jacob's THE MAN!

2008-05-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

We made it through Jacob's surgery with flying colors
Cute photos of Momentous? occasion
: )

Jacob Bryant May 7, 2007

Congratulations Tracy & Adam!

2008-05-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Baby Girl Ellis Olivia Gottschlich
Father		Adam Gottschlich
Mother		Tracy Gottschlich
DOB		05/03/2008
Time		3:03 AM
Weight		7 lbs 10 oz
Length		21.00 in

Who Was That?

2008-04-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

These are some photos taken at the Oglesby/Bryant house last night, April 24, 2008 of a reception we held for the Second Vice President of Afghanistan, Karim Khalili.
Through the Conflict Resolution Institute (www.CRI.cc) and the Afghanistan National Institute for Peace and Justice we were honored to have such a remarkable figure in our home.

I will be posting a video of his comments to the group, as well as a Q&A session he held with us on You Tube or similar as soon as possible.
Should anyone care to have hard copies of any of these pictures, and/or full video, please feel free to send me an e-mail at: tbryant@subversiveoutfitters.com or use the link indicated on this blog.

This was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience, and I think I can speak for all who attended that this was an evening to remember.

Seeing Eye to Eye

2008-04-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give everybody an update regarding Jacob. Allen, Jacob and I visited an Opthalmologic Surgeon yesterday and we decided that Jacob will undergo eye surgery to remove a growth that has been on his left eyeball for more than a year now. This will take place on May 7th.

There's not much/any risk of the growth being malignant, but the surgeon will have it biopsied just in case.

The surgery should be pretty straightforward; it will be outpatient and only take about 30 minutes. The surgeon is the Chief of Opthalmology (and a Professor) over at Children's Hospital, so we're very comfortable with his expertise. They do have to put him under, as it's not possible to do laser surgery, but there's no way he'd stay still for laser surgery anyway!

Recovery should be quick; he'll probably miss a few days of school and he'll have an eye cover for a week or so, but that's about the extent of it.

We appreciate everyone's positive thoughts and are confident that this will be easy breezy : )

Weekend in Portland

2008-03-24T10:04:00.001-07:00

The Bryant family at Morton's Steakhouse in Portland, Oregon

We spent the weekend with the boys in Portland and took them to Morton's for Jacob's birthday which he absolutely loved! His eyes were as big as saucers when the waiter brought him a plate of steak. Many thanks to Ross & Kyle for introducing us to Morton's; hands down the best steak we've ever had.
While we were there we got to see Obama (again!) and were very surprised that Bill Richardson was there as well. It was a great experience for all, we tell the boys that they're witnessing history, regardless of whether he wins.
Below are a few more pictures of our visit...

Hey Mr. Secret Service Man, what's in the briefcase?

Jacob and Austin Pictures

2008-03-15T13:27:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of Jacob and Austin-
I had this shirt made for Austin from some pictures I took while I was campaigning in Texas.

Jacob's birthday cake-the character on top is "Charmander" from Pokemon. Grandpa made this by hand!

Jacob got a Game Cube from the Everett Nasr's: it was the obvious hit of the party!

Austin and Jacob with Alex. Austin is super sick in this picture-dual ear infection, sinus infection and bronchitis. Gotta love winter!

Obamamania in Austin

2008-03-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic experience I had in Austin, TX. I know there were many of you who were disappointed by the primary outcome on March 4th, but I had already prepared myself for H.C. to win all four contests, and was steeling myself for her to have big wins in each. Considering there were 2 million early ballots cast in Texas, I didn't feel like my campaigning efforts would have made much of an impact in the ballot portion of the primary. Instead, I focused on the caucus precincts, and delivering as many delegates as possible within the precinct I was working.
In that sense, I was successful...after knocking on doors, posting signs, handing out flyer's and answering questions regarding the caucus process, we delivered the precinct two to one for Obama.
I think it also helps that I'm not a Hillary hater; as much as I'd like to see Obama win-for a myriad of reasons-I will be perfectly happy to vote for her, should she get the nomination. I also feel that she's going to be under tremendous pressure to select him as her VP if it comes down to it. Although I'm not too optimistic about him accepting if given the offer. It's so hard to say right now, I think they've both been focusing so much on why each thinks that they should be the nominee, it's hard to imagine yourself having to take 2nd place, and neither wants to admit they'd be willing to do so.
Anyway, I had a great time; I hooked up with another woman from Seattle, Laura, who happens to be a friend and colleague of my mom's and we ended up having a great time. We worked when we needed to, and played when we could. I think I gained about 10 pounds from all of the beer I drank while I was down there and came home with the always embarrassing shoulder/sunglasses sunburn. I also have to give a huge shout out to Chris & Pearly Oglesby who so graciously hosted me in there home. Not only that, they took me to all of the wonderful spots in Austin like Jovita's, the Broken Spoke, the Spider House, they took me to Texas Roller Derby and to the requisite music festival. They walked me around town, around the UT campus and tirelessly answered my endless questions about where to go, what to do and how to get there!

Included here are a bunch of pictures from around town. Having a son named Austin, of course I had to take a picture of everything that said "Austin" on it (which, not surprisingly, there was a lot of!)

Travelin' Light

2008-02-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

Jacob on the ferris wheel upon ascent:

It's been quite a busy month around here; the boys and I managed to make it through mid-winter break without too much conflict. We had some fun at the Seattle Center, and we took our young friend Emma with us to visit the EMP (Experience Music Project)-the kids were not exactly enthralled but it was fun to get them out of the house and away from the tv, nonetheless. Here they are at the front of the monorail:

The end of the month will find me down in Austin, TX-to volunteer with the Obama campaign and get out the vote for their March 4th primary. I'll be staying with Chris & Pearly, who have graciously agreed to put me up for the week, and a BIG thank you must go out to my parents who not only financed the trip, but made it possible to leave my boys (big and small) at home as well. Props to Allen too, who I know would love to be able to come down with me, but must stay behind to earn the money that allows me to live this life of luxury I have become accustomed to. HA! No really, he has to work and help with the boys and although I know he's jealous he's not getting to go, he's also been really encouraging and happy for me to get the opportunity to do this. He's a hell of a guy, I tell ya.

I'm really looking forward to being a part of something truly larger than myself, and a phenomenon that I may never again experience in my lifetime. It should be a lot of fun, and I've promised to blog about it while I'm down there, as well as take tons of pictures.

I'll return March 5th and be looking forward to my m.i.l.'s arrival on the 6th, then it's Jacob's 9th YES 9th birthday on the 7th. It should be great fun for him to be able to celebrate his birthday with both grandma's!

Here's a cute shot of Austin wearing his coveted spongebob boxers and snow boots combo : )

Red States, Blue States

2008-02-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I have always been politically involved; as far back as I can remember my mom dragged me to rallies, marches, protests, picket lines, etc. I would go with her to caucus and to vote. Back then they had a kids area at the polling station where I could vote too-for something like my favorite dessert, or kind of pizza. Reflecting on that now, I think that gave me a sense of being involved, and maybe an inevitability to vote as an adult. It never occurred to me that some people didn't vote. I was taught that it was not just my right, but my responsibility to participate in our democracy, and further, if I didn't I had no right to complain about the outcome.

Of course as a kid I didn't realize the significance of these lessons. Now that I have children I am eager to demonstrate to my boys how important it is to make your vote count and your voice heard. And that sometimes you have the opportunity to witness history in the making, even if you are not old enough to appreciate what you're seeing at the moment.

Which is why I had them play hooky from school Friday to attend a Barack Obama rally and listen to him speak. Regardless of whether he wins the nomination or even the presidency, I believe my boys will always remember that day. It was a truly amazing experience.

Obama spoke at Key Arena-where the Seattle Sonics basketball team play, and concerts are regularly held. There are just over 17,000 seats there, the Mayor allowed more than 18,000 people in, and had to turn away 3,000 people. It was electric, the crowd was pumped up and it was just as loud as any rock concert I've attended.

Obama was very eloquent, positive, and directly addressed many issues that his opponents on both sides of the aisle have brought up as a reason not to vote for him, especially his message of hope. He said he didn't believe that hope is defined as wishful or whimsical thinking, more that it is a mindset that you can make things better for the country, that we're not stuck in this inevitability of failure and futility. That we, as citizens can rise up and say we're not going to live in fear, that we're not willing to erode our personal rights and the constitution to protect ourselves from those who "hate us for our freedom" or some other Roveian bullshit we've been fed these past 7 years.

Rick says we are in the midst of a paradigm shift, and I see our nation's youth as a major factor. Finally someone is discussing issues that are relevant to them, who has a positive vision of their future. These potential voters are clinging to that one word-Hope. Hope that Obama will be their voice, a reason to be proud of their country, inspire them to give back to their communities, engender an enthusiasm for politics because they are seeing firsthand what being involved can do, and are confident they can do it again.

Saturday we took them to caucus; it was a crazy, crowded affair but it felt really good to be involved and to participate. I've never seen so many people at a caucus and when they asked everyone whether this was their first, I was amazed at how many people raised their hands (including my husband!). I took pride in being able to say I had done this before.

Photo Op

2008-01-31T09:10:00.000-08:00

'Tis the time of year for school pictures; the boys will be having them taken tomorrow (Friday) and we should have them the following week. Please let me know if you would like one, they have all kinds of fun stuff this year with photo magnets, photo stickers as well as the standard portraits. I always wind up buying too much, but I hate to not have them if I need them.

We're gearing up for the Super Bowl this weekend, and my cousin Lauren turns 18 next week so we're going to her party on Saturday. It's hard to believe she's 18, I still remember her as my little flower girl who admonished me as I was walking down the aisle, "don't step on the rose petals!"
Embarrassing for her I'm sure, but it's still one of my fondest memories and I know I'll never forget it. She was only 3 when she first met Allen, she looked him over, turned to me and said, "so this is the guy you're gonna marry?"

That means Allen and I have been together for almost 15 years! Yowza!

Jacob will be turning 9 and I'm racking my brain to think of something for his birthday this year. Last year was pretty out of hand with his whole class of kids, especially since they're so much older and more rambunctious. I'm thinking of boys only (oh yeah, that'll be less rambunctious!) or maybe he can invite 9 kids. I feel bad thinking about doing that though, we have always had a huge party with the whole class at some cool location; golf range, indoor soccer, aquarium. It's always around tax time, so we can usually afford to do something a little over the top, but I just don't know if we can handle that may kids anymore. The weather's always iffy, so doing it at a park doesn't seem logical...hmmm
Thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?

Woah, heavy man!

2008-01-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

It's almost time for our February caucus. It's been such an interesting election season so far; I feel like this is a historical time, we are at such a crossroads and I am on one hand eager to participate, and on the other hand scared that no matter who gets elected there will be no real change. In Washington we moved our caucus up to February 9th, and it looks like this year we may impact the outcome of the Democratic nomination. I don't have a clear favorite as I have in years past, and I find it fascinating that the Republicans appear to be in the fractured position the Democrats always seem to be; they used to have one issue to rally around; gay marriage, abortion etc. and this year they all seem to be divided along religious lines which is always a divisive issue. You have a Mormon, a Baptist Minister, and a "Moderate" (oh, and Saint Rudy of 9/11) and I have a hard time envisioning their followers rallying for anyone outside their belief system. It's amazing to me that religion allegedly brings people together, but historically more people have been killed over faith than any other issue. Heck, look at what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I read an article in Vanity Fair last month by Sebastian Unger who was embedded with a unit in Afghanistan and one of his larger observations was how divided Afghanistan is; village by village belief systems are so different. Each sect has their own dialect which makes it virtually impossible for troops to find translators, or to create allies. All of these sects are wrestling each other for control of key areas, Afghani opium production provides 93% of the world's supply, and we're in the middle, allegedly looking for Osama Bin Laden, while our President makes an arms sale to the Saudis who are busy exchanging weapons to the Afghans for opium and the Pakistanis are exchanging weapons for Afghan timber (!), all to get the Americans out so they can continue to fight each other for territorial control.

It's just insane that domestically we're talking about illegal immigration, tax rebates and whether Hillary Clinton gave LBJ more credit for the civil rights movement than Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now we're back to; "It's the economy, stupid" and nobody is saying that if we weren't spending trillions of dollars at war that maybe there would be a real solution to bail out these sub-prime mortgages that have contributed so heavily to our economic decline. Nobody will talk about the fanatical dictator we call our President and the fact that he started his own "holy war" and that in his case, God is oil, or at least oil is the Holy Grail.

And what are we going to do for these men and women when they finally come home, limbs blown off, suffering from post-traumatic-stress-disorder and we have spent all of our money overseas and have nothing left to provide medical care, psychiatric care, housing, jobs or anything else that they so deserve? The VA put out a statistic that we have 200,000 homeless vets living on our streets (from all wars, not just current). Bill O'Reilly had the balls to go on tv and laugh this statistic off, saying "show me a homeless veteran and I'll find him a place to sleep tonight, there are no homeless vets." It's just so cruel that someone can accuse others of "not supporting the troops" but when it comes right down to providing the necessities once these soldiers come home they are ignored, or put in sub-par VA hospitals with peeling walls and rat infested rooms. Not enough medicine, not enough doctors, not enough mental health professionals, no housing assistance, employment transition, what kind of fucked up priorities do we have that we lionize these men and women while they serve and treat them like garbage, or worse like O'Reilly, treat them as if they are invisible after they come home? Who is really supporting these troops?

I wish I had any answers, but it always seems like I have more questions than anything. I want to see the candidates talking about this issue, because once we do come to our senses and bring these brave soldiers home we are going to have an epidemic on our hands and we need a leader who can provide some answers, not just a sound bite for the 5:00 news. I don't know who can best address these issues at this point, I just know the Republicans have had 8 years to fuck this all up and unfortunately, our Democratic leaders in the House and Senate haven't shown the backbone to push these issues either. "Throw the bums out" was a rallying cry at one point and I think it applies once again. It's as if they are so beholden to special interests, on both sides of the aisle, that they are so insulated in their wealthy enclaves that rescuing the middle class, let alone the lower class is beyond their scope of capabilities. I know there is so much fear of a "socialist" government that we are overlooking the fact that the top 3% control so much that we are more an oligarchical society than anything. Really, which is worse?

Blurg

2008-01-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I stole that from Tina Fey on 30 Rock but that's my word of the week and it sums up how I've been feeling lately. I haven't even had the energy to write my blog, let alone think I had anything "worthy" to say. I don't know if I'm just vitamin deprived, getting off the pain meds or what, but I feel so lethargic this week. I called the doctor about it and she told me that I had major surgery through minor incisions and that I should still be "pampering myself". I don't know that lazing around in bed and watching tv all day constitutes pampering but it's all I can do to get the kids out the door in the morning.
I feel bad bitching about it, considering if I were in a position where I HAD to work that I would definitely be back to work by now and there are so many out there who don't have the luxury of lazing around in bed, eating bon bon's and watching soaps : ) All right, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit, but I am getting tired of being winded from walking halfway up the steps, and I'm not THAT fat!
I don't understand how I was feeling better last week than this week. Ok, the percocet probably had a lot to do with my feeling good, and having the narcotic withdrawl headache all this week hasn't helped either.
Kids are good, Austin had a horrible case of hives last week. We're not sure if it was from food or environment, but I changed just about everything he was eating and switched laundry soap too, so after 4 days of him having unbelievable welts all over his body he's finally stopped itching! He was a sight to behold though...he had no fewer than 100 welts all over his body, literally from head to toe and he was MISERABLE. Glad for that to be over.
Wah wah wah, time to stop bitching and go be a mom...

Slayed

2008-01-07T20:26:00.001-08:00

Oh my how easy it is for an innocent child to destroy you! Austin looked up at me tonight and said, "mom, why are you so fat?".
Ugh, dagger through the heart.
Then to pile it on, Jacob says, "yeah mom, you look pregnant, you're not pregnant are you?"
Aaack!

Tonight I started exercising again... : )

Update

2008-01-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that I am recovering well; not quite up to snuff but certainly on the mend. My belly looks disgusting; I have this ugly purple bruise-she went straight through my belly button and my tummy is all swollen. I'm almost off the pain meds, which should make my doctor happy. I went to see her on Thursday to make sure I was healing since I was still having so much pain and not sleeping. She doled out muscle relaxers and reluctantly gave me more Percocet which she said she really didn't want to give me-but did...

I felt well enough to do a little shopping over the weekend. I got to pick up my new wedding ring, which is just gorgeous. Allen drove me downtown to buy me some new pants-depressing to buy maternity pants and not be pregnant! Everything I have has a tight waistband and I just can't have any pressure on my belly at this point. I had been living in Allen's sweatpants, so I found some maternity jeans that were on sale so I could at least be comfortable and presentable. They were super cheap so I didn't feel too bad about spending the money, more just self conscious about being so big now. I've never weighed so much before, so I'm hoping after I get better I can start a rigorous workout routine so I'll be bikini ready when we go to Mexico this spring.

I also did some baby clothes shopping for Baby Girl Gottschlich-my friends Tracy & Adam found out last week that they are having a girl. I'm so excited to be able to shop for a baby girl! I've never gotten to shop for girl baby clothes before and oh my god do they have some cute stuff. I am so excited for them, and I'm glad they are having a girl-I think they will both dote on her and I can totally see her being a "daddy's girl". Her brother and his girlfriend just had a baby boy, so it will be nice for their mom to have one of each. I know none of my 3 brothers will have kids, and I know my mom wishes she had a little granddaughter. She loves my boys so much, but I know it's not the same.

I've added a picture of our latest wild kingdom adventure-one of our kitties ran away about a month ago and we've been leaving food on the porch hoping he'll come back around. The other night our other two cats were freaking out at the front door and we were sure Harpo kitty was on the porch, so imagine my surprise when I opened the door and there was a gigantic raccoon eating out of the dish! He looked up at me, put out his paw and pulled the dish of food toward his body and kept right on eating. Little devil : )

Oh, and Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Can't type anymore but I wanted to attach this great newspaper clipping found in this last week Seattle Times NW life section; where they do a "rant and "rave" segment which I don't generally read because I feel like there's enough bitching in my own life, I don't need to hear someone else's complaints too! This was a rave though, and for those of you who don't know both Jacob & Austin attend The Lake and Park School located on the top floor of the Mt. Baker Presbyterian Church.

Bravo indeed!

T

Back Home

2008-01-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

So here I am in my bed; propped up on all sides with pillows, an ice pack on my belly, a heating pad on my back and finding it almost impossible to write! It's as if I'm in a remedial typing class as I've so far had to re-write almost every word. Apparently I am not operating on all four cylinders yet and it's too frustrating to write, since I have so much to say. I'll save the bulk of it for later, but want to say now thank you to everyone who has been so supportive.
I got to come home around noon yesterday and had a surprising about of zip but with the meds I am finding it almost impossible to spell and focus on the screen, so I will close for now with the message to you all that it went very well, very quickly and she only had to perform the minimal amount she had hoped.
Oh, and of course I got some lovely souvenir photographs-bummer my cards have already been mailed, maybe next year I can send some revolting picture of what endometriosis looks like! Mmm
Why do doctors think you want that crap? People like my sick dad, who watched his knee surgery. Sicko!

Ok, officially too frustrating now, more later, promise.

T

Jitterbug

2007-12-30T11:05:00.000-08:00

I keep telling myself I'm not scared, but as surgery looms I find myself more and more nervous. It's nerve wracking more than anything. I've gotten everything in order in anticipation of coming home, got my spare room cleaned up, stocked up on magazines and made sure I have all of the comforts I'll want and not have to seek out. I packed a bag just in case I have to spend the night in the hospital; if I prepare to have to stay overnight I'll get to go home that day. I got my prescriptions; Percocet so at least I'll have good drugs when I come home. I took my new wedding ring in to get sized on Friday-I hate being without it, but I can't wear it to the hospital anyway and I'll be happy to have it back next week. It's a little something to look forward to.

I can't have solid food after 6am today-I got up at 5:30 this morning to eat so I didn't go 36 hours without food. My sweet mom made me jello, which counts as a clear liquid and I can have coffee with no cream. After midnight I'm not allowed to have anything by mouth, except for a Valium which I will be taking before heading to the hospital. I'll get up at 5 tomorrow to be at the hospital by 6.

Our TV in the spare room broke the other night, so we have the little 19 inch we kept in the kids' room to watch video's which seems SO SMALL! That wasn't exactly the greatest timing-we can't afford to buy a new one, especially one that Allen wants to have. Allen took it over to the repair shop and paid $45 bucks to determine whether it's worth fixing. At least I got the spare TV to work, it would have been brutal to have to convalesce without a TV (yeah, I'm spoiled!)

At the moment I'm watching the Seahawks try to piss away their last regular season game-yelling at the tiny TV screen is great distraction!

I got all of my thank you cards ready to send out; I am really impressed with how they turned out. I made collage photos of the gifts the kids received, as well as a few family pictures. They turned out so well. It seems so rare that you have an idea of how something is going to turn out and it exceeds your expectations! You crafty girls will know what I'm talking about.
Not only did it turn out how I had hoped, it was as easy as I hoped, which NEVER seems to happen! Maybe the Gods thought it was my turn after having so much shitty luck lately : )
I sent collage cards to others too, mostly people that had sent holiday cards and I never reciprocated. At least I got something out by New Year's, right?

Wish me luck everyone, we'll see how long it takes for me to feel like updating my post, but my goal is to let everyone know how it went a day or two after I get home. The doc seems to think that I should only have a few days of recovery, that although I'll have some pain from the stitches, my major pain should be over with the removal of the cysts. The only variable is if they get in there and have to do more than expected. If that's the case I'll get even better drugs anyway so I'm not too worried about that!

Happy New Year everyone-here's to no surgeries in 2008!

Holiday Highlights & Pictures

2007-12-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

Peppermint Bark

Harry Potter Jawbreaker

We had a very nice Christmas Eve; very chaotic but most of us enjoy the chaos. All of the family were there and as you will see by the photos-TONS of gifts!
Christmas Day we actually had some snow and it was the first "white Christmas" I've ever had! It didn't stick to much but the grass, but it sure was pretty while it lasted.

My quote of the week is from Austin-when I was preparing milk and cookies for Santa he said, "mom, I think Santa would prefer to have chocolate milk instead" It was SO cute!

I had great gifts; Allen bought me a new wedding ring, I got Bose earplugs in my stocking and a trip to Mexico!

My parents got the 6 of us a trip to Mexico this spring. We were planning on going to Hawaii for spring break, but they got a great deal to Mexico so they've paid for the 4 of
us to go too!

Below are presents the boys got-the big stack of cards is just one of two stacks of Pokemon cards-the boys have discovered them and "Santa" brought them tons! Austin got an Aquaraiders set; Jacob got a big Exoforce set; Austin got a Harry Potter cloak, glasses and wand; Jacob and Austin both got a talking, moving R2D2; one of their teachers, Jordan brought over gifts for them, the photo is of Jacob with a package of Pokemon cards and the bow on his forehead!

This is Rick and Lauren, they look so sweet together! Also below is a picture of me which I think is actually decent and of Max of Max & Ruby who is wearing a button blanket that Austin made at school.

This is just a sampling of the plethora of great goodies we had to eat; we had trays of cookies, candies and other baked goods as well as a smoked turkey, we roasted a ham and had our traditional Christmas eve dinner: Clam Chowder and Rolls. We all agreed this was the best batch of chowder my mom has made.

It's over-thank God it's over!

2007-12-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

I would have to say the biggest highlight is that it's over! Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the holidays but so much effort goes into just one (or two) days that it's always such a letdown. Tracy over at Simply Blissful wrote on her blog today about the letdown. I totally agree, but mine always happens on Christmas Day. When I was a kid we always went to my dad's family's house which was never fun. Now that I'm an adult with kids, I prefer to spend the day assembling the various toys the boys get and let them hang out and play with their goodies. My mom & stepdad always take the other kids to dinner and a movie-I know we're always welcome too, but it's kind of nice to have the house to ourselves after the chaos of the prior evening. For some reason we always have some sort of argument or frustrating period on Christmas day. Last night we tried to go out to dinner at Shanghai Garden and it was complete chaos. Every table was filled and there must have been 50 people waiting. We obviously waited too long to feed the kids so they were beyond cranky, so I ended up ordering food to go and by the time we got home with the food all four of us were moody shits. Once our bellies were filled we were ok, but I hate it when all four of us get worked into a frenzy like that.
Anyway, I'm glad it's over! I'll use another post to show some holiday pictures. We have some really great pictures I'm eager to share...

Holiday Happenings

2007-12-19T22:27:00.001-08:00

I was inspired by my friend Tracy at simplyblissful to post some of my own holiday decorations. This is the Christmas Card she sent out this year. It is nothing short of amazing. It's the most beautiful holiday card I've seen and would definitely buy this if I saw it in a store.

This Santa workshop is my hands-down favorite holiday piece-it just speaks to me and makes me happy just looking at it.

The milk and cookie set is my most recent purchase, it is so adorable I couldn't pass it up; having 8 and 6 year old boys we always set out milk and cookies on Christmas Eve and a carrot for the Reindeer. Allen eats half of the cookie, drinks the milk and takes a bite out of the carrot after the boys have gone to bed.

This is Austin's gingerbread house that he made at school. A broken toe couldn't deter him from creating this gem. I think it's absolutely stunning. Note the symmetry with his designs. You can't see it in this photo, but he even made a back door! He is so linear with everything in life and it's interesting how it manifests.

I almost feel guilty for not being as effusive about Jacob's gingerbread house-don't get me wrong, it's great too, but things always come so easy for Jacob it's nice to see Austin shine once in a while.

This is our holiday train-I think it's so cute, we have so many ceramic pieces that came from, unbelievably, the gift shop at Swedish Hospital! They have the best stuff, I swear we must have 50 pieces of various holiday items from there. I always go a few days after each holiday from Valentines all the way to Christmas and rummage through the clearance shelves.

Our little village is set up upstairs with the kids tree. The boys get their own little tree on the 2nd floor landing to decorate with non-breakable toys and color lights. This year the boys "made" snow with Grandma to spread around the village.

I love these cutie pitchers and our reindeer has been with us for about 10 years

Gingerbread Houses

He Broke!

2007-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

This is Austin-broken yet again! It appears that he broke his pinky toe at school today. This kid has been broken so many times I'm losing count. Poor guy...
I like the black and white shot, it conveys his sadness so well.

Kid Pics

2007-12-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Austin one of my two cute kids-

Austin is in his grandma's robe, and there's nothing like grandmas fuzzy robe to help you feel better when you have the "throw ups"-
the other is him next to his vast collection of Lego's. I don't think I can count that high to guess how many Lego's they have. All I know is that there are Lego's in every crevice in this house and many of them are strategically placed so the adults step on them in the middle of the night.

Carrot Top

2007-12-14T17:25:00.001-08:00

Last night Jacob proudly told his Grandma that he finished all of his carrots at dinner...a few hours later after something fell under the island in the kitchen we discovered that Jacob had hidden his carrot rounds under the island instead of eating them. The picture is of Alex, our girl kitty who discovered one of the carrot rounds and played with it in the kitchen for quite a while!

buy one-get one free

2007-12-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

One would think that 5 surgeries in 3 years would be a lot-but hell, I had a coupon: buy four surgeries and get the fifth one free!

Bum-diddly-ummer

2007-12-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

I went to my va-jay-jay doctor yesterday and she told me that my cysts are not going away on their own, and considering the amount of pain I am always in and my cancer history she wants to remove the three cysts and my left ovary. Thankfully my right ovary can perform double duty and I will be spared hormone therapy at 33!
On one hand I am bummed out, but on the other hand I don't know how much longer I could have lived with the pain I am in. I'm either hurting, or I'm wacked out on vicodin, which makes me really moody and also makes it difficult to sleep. It's a sign something is wrong with you when your doctor prescribes you 80-yes 80 full strength vicodin (with a refill!).
I think I would have left her office even more upset if she had suggested we keep waiting. At least this way I can look forward to some kind of resolution.
Having had so many surgeries at least I'm not scared. It's a little like flying to me, sure bad things can happen, but how many are performed a day vs how many complications. It's not like I'm worried about my doctor performing surgery on my foot by accident or something like that! She is such a fantastic doctor, and a very accomplished surgeon. Plus there's no point in being scared of dying on the operating table, if I die I'm not going to know it! I worry for my family's sake, but I'm not personally scared of it.
She hopes to go in laparascopically, but said she won't know until she gets in there, and there's the possibility of having open surgery. That would be a bummer because I really do have a nice belly, even with the colon surgery scar. She's optimistic it will be day surgery, but again there are so many variables she can't really say for sure. I figure I'll pack a bag to stay in the hospital and that way I'll go home that day. If I'm not prepared to stay, I'll have to for sure!
Well, I think that's about enough news for now, time to go do the mom thing...

Picture This!

2007-12-10T14:56:00.001-08:00

10 things I love about my boys

2007-12-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

1. Morning "snuggles" from Austin
2. Their curiosity ("mom, why do you wear your underwear up your butt?")
3. Their complete surrender to my affection when they're sick
4. The enthusiasm they both have for school each and every morning
5. How excited they get when I bring them home even the slightest trinket for them as a gift.
6. Their willingness to take risks without being swayed by the physical or emotional consequence.
7. When Austin curls up in my lap and whispers in my ear, "you're the best mom ever"
8. Their fantastic sense of humor, and their ability to recognize sarcasm and very subtle humor.
9. Their intense love of family that extends to family friends, who are all Aunties and Uncles to them-and they never question whether those are blood relatives, even though many are different ethnicities.
10. Allen told me to write "that we don't have to change their diapers anymore!". I had to add it, although it's not something about their character, so I guess there have to be 11!
11. Their acceptance of the world as it is at face value. When we explain the reason for something in life, they completely accept the answer.

Which begs for much responsibility on my part, to be truthful about things, and not just give them the easy answer...

Comments on "my list"

2007-12-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

I am surprised at how much thought I had to put in to make that list. I thought the things would just flow from my tongue. How could you not immediately think of 10 things about your kids that make you happy? My lesson here is that I need to start enjoying my time with them more, and thinking about the positive things in life, instead of being constantly frustrated, angry and wishing things were different, better, etc. My life really is fulfilling, if only I would allow myself to be happy about what "is" and not what "could be".
Things have been really tough over the last several years, and I feel like my illnesses have somewhat created a wedge between me and my children and me and Allen as well. I feel as if I missed so much of their young, formative years being in the hospital so much, having to lie down all of the time instead of going to the park or playing games. There's almost a disconnect and I feel very sad and guilty about that. It's also put a strain on my marriage, we've both gone through of our share of crap these last few years, and always have come out stronger for it, but I still fear that one of these days Allen is going to tire of dealing with my endless string of problems. When we met I wasn't "damaged goods", and now I feel as if I am a fractured shell of the person he met. Maybe it's more of me being tired of dealing with my problems and if I'm tired of it, how tired of it is he, having to sit on the sidelines and watch my health deteriorate?

I guess I woke up on the "pity" side of the bed this morning...

More Pictures

2007-12-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

See what hiring non-union workers gets you?

Ford Tough?

Fill 'er up

Yeah, this exit will be fine...

Look at all that beer! (Olympia brewery in background)

For the last time, will you please quit parking your shipping containers on my car?

Doing my part

2007-12-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I followed through and dropped off a whole truckload of stuff to help the flood victims in my neighboring county. It felt really good, and was heartening to have to wait in line to have to drop stuff off, being so many people doing the same thing.
When I got home and watched the news, they said they had enough stuff to fill up 7, yes SEVEN moving trucks full of stuff, and that doesn't include the cash/gift cards etc. they got. I stopped by Home Depot and bought 8-$25 gift cards as well. I figure those people are going to need so much to rebuild, as none of them have flood insurance, I imagine.

Insurance is such a racket...the rub is if those people lived on the flood plain they wouldn't even qualify to receive flood insurance, and if they didn't live on the flood plain, why have flood insurance? Either way you're screwed...

Anyway, I heard from my Oncologist last night regarding my most recent ultrasound. He said that my cysts were still there, but they haven't grown and don't look any worse. I suppose no changes can mean good news, but it's so depressing to have something wrong with me (especially when it's causing pain) and not be able to do anything about it.

I am a very "take charge" kind of person, and to have to passively sit back and do nothing about this is just horrible. My choices are to be on vicodin all of the time, or just suffer with the pain. I'm getting to the point where the vicodin isn't doing much for me anymore and I'm not sure if I want to move on to something stronger. I'm tired of being so dependent on the drugs to function, but I don't function if I'm not on the drugs. Arrgghh!

I got a refund check and a letter in the mail yesterday for the santa pictures. The photographer sent me a nice letter saying how sorry he was that the santa was so horrible to Jacob, and he asked the manager at the santa shop to refund my money. I also got the pictures in the mail, they are very cute, although I can tell their smiles are pretty forced! I guess they're getting to that age.

I find it strange that I haven't heard from Nordstrom about it. I sent an e-mail last night railing them for not responding, and for leaving the photographer responsible for making things right. For a company that touts its customer service as the reason they're a cut above their competition they're sure showing a lack of it. It's disappointing, especially considering that's where I buy all of my kids shoes-or where I used to buy my kids shoes! Back to The Shoe Zoo, which is really inconvenient. Damn those principles!

This sums it up!

2007-12-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

I-5 Closed to Cars-open for Kayak's though!

Helping Hand & Disaster Pics

2007-12-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today I decided I had to do something to help my fellow citizens in Washington. As you probably have heard, there were massive rainstorms over the weekend which resulted in incredible flooding. I haven't been able to watch the news these past few days without tearing up (wuss!).

The Salvation Army has a drop station and they are accepting donations of many kinds. I don't have much in the way of cash to donate, but as I looked around my house I noticed a ton of things I can part with. Everything from toilet paper to extension cords and of course I have no shortage of kid's clothes!

It feels good to participate and feel like I am helping someone else out, even in just a small way. It's nice to not feel so helpless, and it's funny how much you can get a sense of community from helping out.

I'm definitely not much of a "joiner", but my conscience gets the better of me at times like this and yells at me to get off my sorry butt and just do SOMETHING...

Catching Up

2007-12-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

Okily dokiliy I'm going to start doing this more often...(so she says)...

I live in Seattle, where we have been under siege by torrential rains. Our basement flooded somewhat, but other than a bunch of my husband's work clothes, nothing was ruined. I rescued the power tools and $2000 worth of cherry wood we bought for the trim in our tv room, which we're in the process of remodeling.

On Saturday we had a day of beautiful snow.
This is a picture of our front porch just as it started snowing.
That's what I miss the most about living in Juneau, the first year I lived there (1991) was one of the snowiest winters on record. Imagine my surprise the subsequent years when the weather did not live up to my Alaskan fantasies and just pissed rain for three months straight.
I've only written once before, so a little background: I'm 33, married since 1994 and have two boys who are currently 6 & 8. They are a great deal of work, but I must say I've never done anything quite so rewarding.

When my 6 year old (Austin) spontaneously gives me a hug and tells me, "you're the best mom" my heart swells and I immediately tear up. He's the accident magnet, he's already had two hernia surgeries, stitches in his head twice, on his hand once, and when he was three he fell in the bathtub and broke out his front tooth. Last week he had to have two teeth pulled. He had an abscess and the dentist thought it prudent to go ahead and pull the baby teeth surrounding it. Here's a picture of him at the dentist after they administered the Novocaine, his lip doesn't always look like that!

My 8 year old (Jacob) is the coordinated one, everything seems to come natural to him, which is completely foreign to me, as I can barely put one foot in front of the other without falling down!
He is very musically inclined-he can hear a song once and whistle the tune forever. He remembers everything, and seems to have supersonic hearing, except when I'm asking him to do something. I attribute that to being a guy, selective hearing seems to be an epidemic problem with men!

These are my boys with Santa this year. I called him "Bad Santa" because he said mean things to my 8 year old. I was completely astounded that a Santa would lecture a child about wanting too much for Christmas-especially when he's working at a store that sells $300 children's shoes! I complained to the store, but haven't heard anything back. It wasn't exactly the start to the holidays I was looking for.

I have had some serious medical challenges over the past few years. I've beaten cancer's ass for almost two years now. In 2005 I was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer, a shock to say the least. After surgery and enduring 9 months of chemo, I can say I am cancer free today. I still see my oncologist every three months and have CT scans every six months. I'll have to do that for 5 years, after which I will be considered "cured" if I have no recurrence of cancer. I've got some ovarian cysts at the moment which I am closely monitoring. I keep telling myself it's not cancer, but it's hard for my logical side to win out over my emotional side. I have an ultrasound tomorrow, hopefully it will ease my anxiety.
My best girlfriend Tracy is pregnant, she's the one who lives in Juneau. I miss her very much, but we keep in touch much more now that she's pregnant. I think we've both resolved to communicate more, and not to feel bad when we don't. I miss her, but I don't miss that it was 2 degrees up there today! I'm excited to travel up there again when she has her baby shower. She, like her mom, is very crafty and has a great little fledgling business making custom journals, notebooks, notepads etc. Here's a link to her blog and her products.
http://simplyblissful.etsy.com check it out, they're really sweet.

2007-04-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's to starting something new...my bestest friend Tracy has been blogging (apparently!) since 2006 and encouraged me to read her posts since we don't seem to be able to connect as often as we would like lately. Between marriage and kids, buying houses, careers and the rest of life getting in the way there just doesn't seem like much time to chat anymore. I really miss her, I miss having a girlfriend to come over and offer a shoulder to cry on. She's 909 miles away in Juneau, and I abandoned her to come down here after having my first child. All of my family lives in Seattle and we are all very close. None of them even come close to having a girlfriend down the street though. I don't know why I haven't been able to connect with anyone like her down here; maybe it's me, maybe it's just that our friendship is that unique. Maybe if I put myself out there a little more there would be more opportunities to meet people. But that's the big challenge isn't it, putting myself out there? I don't think this really counts as "getting out there", but hey, maybe it's a start.