A long, long LONG wait today!

I had not planned on spending four hours in small rooms waiting to see doctors today.  No I had planned on arriving, giving blood, smiling and saying "how do you do?" "oh what lovely weather we are having, yes" and "great to meet you too, see you next week on the table"

Instead it was a lot of "hey how much longer do I have to wait to see Dr. so and so?" "Could you let him know I've not had anything to eat and I've been here for one, two, three hours now" 

Let's just say I could have written, directed and starred in my own Snickers Diva commercial without the Snickers.  The waiting/frustration was like being at the DMV amplified 50 times.

Cancer characters

Earlier I posted about the Vocabulary Lesson and I said my tumor was moderately differentiated.  Well there are three categories of tumors: poorly, moderately and well.

Poorly differentiated is the aggressive cancer where the cells don't resemble anything anymore... I envision it's like the Tasmanian Devil whirling about in a frenzy inside your body like he did in the Looney Tunes cartoons of my youth.

So that's what that was all about???

Who knew those night sweats and occasional fevers and weight loss were signs that the cancer was lurking in my colon?

I certainly didn't.

When my doctor friend (who is not treating me) started asking me if I had experienced those things I said "yes but..."

Vocabulary Lesson

"invasive moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma"

that's the first pathology results from the biopsy of the tumor in my colon.

Upon further internet research, it has been determined that I am the virtual daughter of Sigourney Weaver's character in Alien and that I have been the host body for the Invasion of the Body Snatchers XXXIII since Before the Land of Time.  Prognosis is relatively good that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will be arriving with their neuralizer (memory eraser) after removing the uninvited and unwanted alien parasite in my colon.  I will be forever marked, stamped and monitored by Big Brother and will have to undergo recurrent extensive examinations on a regular basis.  But I will no longer be a threat to the safety and security of our entire world.  I just wish they were sending John Cusack to save me a la 2012.

And how is your day?

July 18, 2013

I knew he wasn't going to last much longer, but it's still a shock to get that call. You know, the one that starts like this 'we're very sorry to have to tell you but your grandfather has just passed away.'

That's right. At 2 a.m. I got that call.

I am awake now. A little numb. Relieved for him that it's over now. His body was just done even though his brain wasn't. But 97 years is a good run. I hope I make it that long.

As I sit here reflecting about grandpa and why he died now instead of hanging on for another couple of months, one thought comes to mind: he died so I can focus on my own health & not have the stress of taking care of him too. You see, readers, the doctors found a tumor in my colon yesterday.  I will be having surgery in the next few weeks to remove it. I think grandpa gave me a gift in his own way. It's like he has said, "thank you for caring for me and handling my affairs. Now you just focus on doing what it takes to heal from your surgery & knock the cancer out."

I say back to him, "thank you. And I hope you are resting peacefully."

Godspeed, Grandpa.

Sky lanterns, s'mores & sunsets

Well readers our vacation ends tomorrow. It has been great. Three & a half books read (make that 4 out of 5 books brought to the lake!), another 1,000 words written, tan lines just shy of sunburns gotten, bottle of vodka polished off, countless spectacular crashes off the donut/kneeboarding/wakeboard & jet ski, new friends made & old ones rekindled. All in all a great week. Our weather couldn't have been any more beautiful either. Hate that it is coming to an end but, alas, it is. *sigh*.

I have an 8 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow, so I best go for now. Hope you enjoyed relaxing with us.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming Monday.
Peace,
~the Philosopher

Just another post

Pic is from a park in Three Rivers & also of the lake... Can you guess which is which?

Some fun is better left for the kids...

Why I thought it was a good idea to go tubing yesterday, I will never know! I'm paying for it today with extremely sore shoulders, triceps & biceps! I think I will stick to driving the jet skis only!

I doubt my boys are sore though from their successful kneeboarding & wake boarding yesterday. So exciting to see them have so much fun.

(I wonder if there is a Amish massage therapist in this town? Ha ha ha)

I'm making lots of little moans and grunts today but not the fun kind...

Serenity

No need for endless descriptions... But it is simply serene here.

Walk continues

It is really frustrating to post from my phone so I split the pictures up. Here are the rest from our walk.
Enjoy.

Take a walk with me

 

The following pictures are things you would see if you went on a walk with me here at the lake house.  It is extremely humid today; we are expecting a little rain later. Perfect conditions to write & relax.
Enjoy the pictures of our walk together.

2-1 bad guys

As we were leaving the Chicago Fire soccer game (which we lost), the Sage says, "Well that was like watching Shakespeare in the Park with all the acting going on."

He makes me laugh. And because of that, I will forgive him for waking me up at 6:30 a.m. to ask when we were going to ride the jet skis. I reminded him gently that I was on vacation & would get up when I got up. He apologized and crept out of my room.

Other than the too early wake up, it is wonderful to be in Sturgis, Michigan with their lakes, their Amish, their inexpensive tasty food & their expensive gasoline. And apparently the town's Internet has improved -we've got 3G!

All right then, time to go swimming.
More updates later.

To go box

Buffalo pork wings & half price sangria make the Philosopher happy on vacation.

F.I.R.E.

Internet is good in Chicago.

Vacation

Dear readers,
The Philosopher, the Rockstar and the Sage (along with the Sage's best friend) are heading off to Chicago and then the lake house for vacation. We will return in a week. Internet service is sketchy at the lake house so postings will be infrequent. I will try though if something hits me that can't wait & the Internet gods comply simultaneously. However, I plan on reading & doing a lot of writing, swimming & jet skiing, long walks & napping. Below are some pictures from prior trips to the lake. You can see why we go every year.
Until next week then,
~the Philosopher

P.S. The link below is another song by Brandi Carlile that I wanted to share... The message is definitely relevant to me. If you haven't added this singer/songwriter to your music library, then do so without haste. I'm bummed that my vacation occurs at the same time as her concert in my lil' hamlet. But I will see her one day. It's on my bucket list. I will be listening to her over & over at the lake imagining  that I am at the concert too.


Hiding My Heart

I do watercolors

Ever drink Bailey's from a shoe?

Some very dear friends shared this with me the other night and we laughed and laughed... I think the most fun was listening to them do their best Old Gregg impressions... that and a lot of plum wine!

Here is a link to another youtube sensation that I only recently learned about it... courtesy of one night when the Rockstar was chasing down a foul ball at his baseball game... he went running by and said "ain't nobody got time for that" and everyone laughed.  I said "what is he talking about?" and the other parents got their phones out and promptly showed me the following link:
Ain't nobody got time for that

Both of these videos make me smile and laugh out loud!  At least now I know what people are referring to when they say, "ain't nobody got time for that" and "do you love me?"

Enjoy.

On someone's mind?

Did this mean Fox was thinking of me yesterday? Was the Universe giving me a sign? I don't know, really. Could have been a coincidence or it could have been intended...

It was a beautiful night as 40-50,000 people made the arch grounds their chosen location to view the fireworks. As I maneuvered the crowd with my kids in tow vainly searching for four square feet of grass to sit on, I looked up and directly in front of me was a young military man wearing a t-shirt with the name of the location where my Fox is currently residing. I was speechless. The movement of the crowd dictated that I kept on searching for grass. And soon the t-shirt was out of sight.

Second instance was after the fireworks show as we ambled towards the light rail system, I smelled the fragrance of Fox's cologne. It came at me really light, then stronger, then faded away. I looked to see which one of the possible people around me could be wearing it. No way to tell but I was grateful to be smelling that versus the possible smells of trash, sweaty armpits & tired fair goers.

And thirdly, and this made me chuckle inside.... We came upon the light rail station and I noticed the line was getting long but was very orderly... I thought my Fox would be surprised at how nicely the brazen, independence-day-celebrating Americans were forming a civilized queue.

I don't know if he was thinking of me or not, but the Universe was & for that, I am grateful.

Celebrate. Independence.

A little yard work, a little house work, a little shopping, a little pool time before celebrating with fireworks tonight...that's how we roll.

Because we have a beautiful life....