Dad at Jeeping 101

Here are photos of Dad hard at work at "jeeping 101". Tried to upload some of the movies he took, but doesn't seem to work here. He had a great time ... this group is sort of like internet dating, but for Jeepers. There are no meetings, no dues, no officers, - just his kind of group! They all meet online at http://arizonavirtualjeepclub.com (I think) and check out the photo album area.

We've had some some and high wind, but sun is out today. They had great weather for the outdoor workshop, thank goodness. Don't want to be in one of those washes when its raining!

Tamale festival in Phoenix

Sunday Dec 13 we went to Phoenix for the Tamale Festival. There was a Mariachi band and singer, lots of games for kids, Santa, and lots of Mexican food! These photos show the various cooking demonstations. One show a woman making the outer shell for husk tomales. She has a spreader tool in one hand that they use to spred the masa on the corn husk. Then the thicker inner base is laid down and on top of that is the meat filling. It is all rolled up and steamed for the finished tamale. They come in lots of flavors, pork, chicken, beef, red chili, green chili, pineapple too.

The lady with the deep fryer is making empanadas. They are like a Mexican ravioli, a tortilla like disk with a little filling, folded over and deep fried. You can see a woman adding the filling to the mini tortilla. They make a big bowl of the tortilla mixture, pinch off a little ball of it and put it into a regular tortilla press. Out comes the little mini tortilla, and then it is filled, folded over and deep fried.

Here is Santa arriving for the festival. There was a large crowd, lots of kids and families. We got there early enough to pick up tamales (a Christmas tradition for Mexicans and sold everywhere during the season) for the freezer, for Christmas eve dinner and for lunch that day.

Nov pictures

Jeeps lined up at breakfast place. One has to 'fuel' up before a jeep trip into the wilds of Arizona! There were a total of four Jeeps on this trip.














Here is a photo of the Jeepsters on the trail. Roger says road was rougher than this looks, and some of the hills were a challenge...

Above are the views the Jeepers saw from the top of the hills they travelled. Roger said they got to 5000 ft. I did not go along, as the passenger seat is not really comfy seat, tho I may go along another time. I did go along on his first trip out.

No Chemo - Pt 2

Well, I went in for chemo again yesterday - if you remember, the last time they sent me home because my blood counts were too low. This time my blood counts were good, so they got me all set up with some magnesium while the chemo was being made - I'm always low on magnesium; I think it has something to do with avoiding green leafy vegetables.

As soon as they started the first chemo, Gemzar, I started to get really hot and flushed and my left leg started to hurt - it felt like it was swelling up or something. The nurse was still in there - apparently even if epople don't have reactions in the first round they can develop them in the 2nd or 3rd rounds - she said that was especially true of the gemzar. She could se that my face was flushed and immediately stopped the chemo and put me on saline.

Then she called my nurse coordinator to see what they wanted her to do. The coordinater - Heidi/Holly (there are two of them and I can never keep them straight) - said that since it was 5pm and there would be minimal support available in case anything went really wrong, that she should stop the chemo. So, we just finished up some saline and some additional magnesium.

Jess and I kept ourselves entertained by mocking the people on Food Network - if you mimic the hand gestures that Rachel Ray makes you get quite a workout!

I suppose that Heidi/Holly is going to call me on Monday and figure what we're going to do. I'm hoping that I they set it up for next week, since I already told work that I wouldn't be in the office.

I'm going over to Jess's house tomorrow for Dawn's birthday - I got her something she's really going to love, but I can't post it here yet on the off chance that she reads this before the party. And I'm going to do something special with her cake - it's going to be awesome!

That's it for me - I hope to be posting with some good news early in the week!

More Fall activities....

True to my word, here is some more bloggin'......mostly just pictures of everything that's been going in on this fall.


Halloween

We did our normal Halloween routine again - take Max (Ben10...google it if you don't know) down town to trick or treat and then head over to Uncle Ryan & Auntie Jenny's house to hook up with Kyle (Power Ranger). Downtown was pretty neat, especially at the funeral home. They had two people from the local theater group dressed up as Mary Poppins and the chimney sweep guy. They were stationed at the front door and were singing songs from the movie. Quite a treat, not to mention that they were handing out FULL SIZE candy bars!!!


Gynastics

Max started gymnastics after soccer finished. They have it at the old King County fairground exhibit hall, along with wrestling. He goes two nights a week and is having a blast! According to Max, Tae Kwan Do (I have no idea how to spell that and no energy to look it up...) is up next when gymnastics is over.


Soccer

The soccer season is finally over! Max started to enjoy it more and more as the season progressed and he started to get the hang of the games. His coach was great and is planning on keeping all of the boys together for next year.

Max in action on the throw in!

The sidelines were always entertaining, too.

Max: Hey guys, what's up?
Cameron: Nothing, just doing some ballroom dancing to keep
warm, what's up with you?
Colter: Cameron!! Stop trying to lead!!

Max: Let me show you how to lead!


That's all for now, comment away!

Where to start...?

I know it's been a long time since I graced the blogoshpere with my pithy remarks, but I'm almost sure it's worth the wait...

Maris Farms

Back in October, we decided to head out to Maris Farms to get a few pumpkins. They really have this "Harvest Carnival" thing down pat out there. There are all kinds of things to do...and we did most of them (except the actual corn maze....maybe next year!)

Here's Max and Elsie

It's supposed to be a black widow.....

Max loses a tooth....

Well, after a couple of weeks of having a seriously loose tooth - I mean I don't know what was holding this thing in!! - I finally had to take it out.

More to come - Halloween, soccer, gymnastics - I promise!!

Becky fall down and go boom

Yes, it's true - I fell down. See, it's like this - I was running at work in my cape (yes, I have a cape) on Halloween and I fell down. I really biffed my left arm - I couldn't really move it for awhile. I got in x-rayed and they say it's no broken, I just strained something. So I've been taking it easy and trying not to move my arm. It's hard because it's my upper arm and those muscles are always working. I bruised my legs too - it was hard to walk and go up and down stairs for a few days, but they're better too. Yes, I'll stop running - at least I wasn't carrying scissors!

I got my new chemo appointment - it's 11/14 (next friday). My friend Jess is giving me a ride, so I'm all covered there (thanks, Jess!). I talked with the nurses about my new port and they said it's really up to me, that they could have the SCCA surgeon recommend a general surgeon at UW to do it (apparently they do it all the time). But the options aren't that great - something in the middle of my chest, something in my arm that probably won't work, or a dangler. None sound appealing and since it's up to me I said, "No thanks!" As long as they're able to get blood from my arm without having to stick me a billion times, I'm going to stay with the current process. I'll practice my speil to the blood draw people so that it comes out smoothly, "IneedmyportaccessedandIalsoneedablooddrawfrommyarmbecausemyportdoesn'tworkbutitsokayforinfusions.Thanks!"

Anyway - that's what's going on with me. What's going on with you?

Blood Test today!

I'm going in for blood work today - to see if my levels are high enough to get the next round of chemo. Although I'm off the normal schedule, so I don't think they know what they're going to do with me. Wish me lots of Neutrophils!

I just ordered a Wii Fit - I think it will be fun! One of my friends has one and seems to like it. Maybe we should have a Wii party some time.

Before I was supposed to go in to the surgery that didn't happen the week before last, some work friends got me one of the Edible Arrangements - it was so good! Here's a picture:

The fruit was really fresh and yummy - I ate ALL the grapes!

See you guys later - can't wait for Thanksgiving! Let me know what I should bring!

family gathering

these photos are from 'gathering' of the clan at Aunt pat's and at Frankie's Pizza in Enumclaw. We are quite the handsome group! Hope you recognize yourselves. And a
sorry I don't have more photos. We hope you are all having big plans for the Halloween big day. Dad is dying to buy big bags of candy corn, thinking we will be SWAMPED with trick or treaters at the fairgrounds in San Jose.... yeah, that will happen...lol

I keep looking for more blogging from you all! We've been 'reminded' by Becky and she's right!!

hugs
the folks

oh my gosh, what a hassle to get to the 'new' google blogspot. BUT, finally made it and will try to post here instead of individual emails all the time. This is a great tool, IF I have finally figured it out again. So sorry to hear Becky is having such a hard time with the 'politics' of the medical profession! Thanks Becky for keeping us posted and reminding us about the blog. I have some photos to upload from camera and will post soon... unless that process has changed too!..lol I am such a techno nerd! Dad also has asked for lesson on the blog thing so will if I can help him with that today.

We are in hot hot weather, leaving tomorrow. Hugs to all the folks

Blog, blog, blog...

I promise to blog more often.....seriously.

Pics of Halloween, soccer, other stuff to come soon.

No Chemo

Well, I went in Friday (yesterday) for chemo, but my counts were too low so they sent me home. Apparently my neutrophyls (or something) are really low, which explains why I've been feeling so crappy all week. I went to work on Monday, which was really stupid because my vision was way off from the dexamethesone. I left early and have been home ever since. Mainly I just feel tired and weak - the nurses tell me that's typical for Gemzar and Taxo-whatever. They're going to see how I do over the weekend and then I have a blood test scheduled for Wednesday.

My doctor has been out of the country (in Bangkok) so they're going to check with him next week and see what he wants to do about my chemo and about my port.

For those of you who don't know - I was supposed to get a new port last week but got all the way there (thanks for the ride, Jason!), got an IV put in and a gown on only to have the doctor come out and explain two options for the surgery. Neither of which was what the SCCA team had described to me, so I had him call SCCA. Well, the UW doctors didn't want to do it the way the SCCA team thought it should be done, so I was sent home. That was fun.

Anyway, I'll be posting updates about my health and stuff here - so no complaining about not knowing what's going on!

Post your own stuff - we have this blog for a reason!

Going on Vacation!

I'm going down to Lake Las Vegas August 11-15 - I've always wanted to go to this place so I'm finally going. I have some spa treatments booked and am planning some shopping trips to Montelago Village, which is right next door!

at home at the fairgrounds

we're settled in at the fairgrounds and have found a good repair shop for the rv - we hope. Certainly other folks must like them as we can't get appt to have rig looked at until 6/30. Then they will send est. to ins. co. and the paperwork begins. After checking out 3 other places recommended by friends and ins. co., we were happy to find these folks. We've started playing golf with our friends here in Puy so dad is happy. Next big issue is how to change out the filter in my vacumn! no manual of course, so sent email to the mfg. Hope Jason survived his CA bike trip. Really enjoyed Father's Day at Ryan's and dinner with Becky on Thurs. night. Am doing my homework, checking out purse styles to replace my very worn out bag. I went to an expert for advice and she has agreed to take me under her wing and shopping on 7/5... can't wait! hugs to all... ma

My weekend plans - UPDATED

My friend Jess's birthday party is Saturday evening, so I'm going to spend Saturday morning making this cake. I got this great large cupcake pan online so I'm going to attempt it! I'm making chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting! Yum!

That's one big cupcake!

UPDATE:

I made the cupcake and it turned out okay! I baked each part separately (top and bottom) as some customer reviews on the pan said that they baked for different time periods. I didn't find that to be the case - each side took exactly the same amount. I had to do some trimming ot me the two halves fit together correctly and I ended up not trimming the top part enough, so there was a big gap. Oh well - I filled it in with frosting.

It took 1.5 cake mixes, so I made small cupcakes with the remaining batter - it made about 9 cupcakes. I was going to take pictures once I got it to my friend's house, but on the way there the big cupcake fell over - so everything ended up a little doofed up. But it all tasted good and Jess enjoyed having her big cupcake all to herself while the rest of us had normal-sized ones.

It was a great night! If anyone wants to borrow the pan, it's all yours! My friends have now made requests for various shaped cakes for their upcoming birthdays, so I think I've started a trend. I don't know how I'm going to make an Optimus Prime cake...

on the road home

home in the Casper WY truck parking lot. Notice the sky? You can't 'see' the wind! We spent 9 days here, with elect. hookup. Dad arranged to have Rotor Rooter come out one day and pump tanks so we were fine. We even had intermitant wifi and some tv. But believe me, we were happy to leave!
This is a great museum. Tells all about the various groups who went through this part of the country heading west... the Mormoms, those heading to Oregon, the local indian tribes, and the gold seekers. Very well done.

Here's Dad flying in the wind. We were on our way to Independence Rock, where the various wagon trains stopped on the way west. Wind blew 20=50 mph most of the time!
Here I am at the beginning of trail around the Independence Rock there in the background. It is about a mile around. Many pioneers chipped or painted names in to the rock, sort of early graffitti I guess.

We are in St. Regis, MT tonight 6/13/08. Played golf this afternoon at a nice local course. There is an outstanding recall on brake lines we just found out, so Dad wants to get home and get it taken care of, as well as get the damage done from last undone recall taken care of. So maybe home Sunday!

Off to Camp Woodward Tomorrow

Well, it's finally here. I've been dreaming of a chance to go to Woodward for years but the right combination of opportunity and circumstance never collided until now. I'll be driving down (it's in California (you might have to scroll the map to the right) with my friend Mark, his 11 year old son and my buddy Jack (Jack has been coming out to my place to ride since he was 14 - he's 20 now). We'll be there from Sunday the 15th to Saturday the 21st.


Lot's of pics and video when I get back so everyone can see the 35 year old kid on the teeny tiny bicycle!!

New phone and DR stuff

Okay, finally an update from me! Just yesterday I got a new phone - Blackberry Curve! I switched over to T-Mobile, so all those calls that you've been making to me may start costing you some money. :-) However, I did get a data plan, so I'll be able to check my email, instant message, etc from my phone, so now there are tons more ways to contact me.

Concerning treatment, I'm going in on Thursday for another one. But before we do that they're trying to get me in for a TPA drip to see if it will help my port work better (it won't). After last time when trying to get a blood draw took several hours and at least 9 different arm sticks (I still have bruises) we're looking at an alternate plan for dealing with my port. They say I have to get TPA (which I've had before as a bolus) before they can do a dye study (not quite sure what that is), which will probably be required before they do any replacements or other types of ports. They're going to try to schedule the TPA for tomorrow - two hours of sitting around doing nothing. Good thing I have a Kindle!

I'm currently reading The World Without Us, which talks about how long it would take the natural world to remove all traces of human activity and what would happen if humans just stopped existing one day. I've only just started it, but so far it's pretty interesting.

I just finished reading The Host - I thought it was really good. You guys may not like it, but the ladies probably would. It's a different take on alien-human romance.

Trip to the Museum O' Flight....or "Happy Birthday, Aunt Becky!"

It's Becky's fault. "I really don't need any more 'stuff''. If you want to give me something, give me an experience."....well, you asked for it.

We (Candi, Max & me) picked Becky up at around 11:00 for a trip to the Museum of Flight on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The weather was really hot, the place was packed, and Max needed a nap before we even picked her up. But everyone was still up for it...

There were a bunch of WWII era planes on display outside the museum, and you could ride in a B-17 or a fighter - for about $250!! And it sure looked like they were doing some business.


Once inside, we were all blown away by the Grand Gallery. They have so many planes in there, all of them representing a significant era or breakthrough in flight. They also have an extensive space flight area, including a ton of lunar stuff. Max was amped...until he found out that you can't touch ANYTHING! Life is rough when you're four...


There was, however, a kid's area that has actual aircraft with moving control surfaces that the kids can climb in and play on.


They said it was just for kids, but you never know until you try.....


There's even a mostly articulated Blue Angels flight simulator for the kids. The stick moves the plane just like a real one. It kind of gave Max the heebie-jeebies at first, but he got the hang of it.


Candi was particularly interested in the different styles of uniforms that the stewardesses wore throughout the years. That is a fantastic shade of green!



We finished off the museum trip with a short walk over to where the Concorde and Air Force One are on display. Kind of a let down once we got inside them, since everything is plexiglassed off. And the Concorde was not really a luxury liner at all!

We topped it off with lunch at the Claim Jumper, and we all shared a piece of cake that was taller than Max! Good times....good times indeed.

Memorial Day Weekend ( late report )

Yeah, I know, this is a little late. I don't even want to hear about it, so stop it.

Memorial Day weekend saw us at 2 different tournaments. Kevin was playing in the Rainier Challenge, in Puyallup, and Sharon was playing in the Starfire Memorial Day Cup, in Tukwilla. Needless to say, we were busier than a 1 armed paper hanger! Kevin started out with a game Fri. night, against the team he would be on if he played in Enumclaw, MRFC Titans. Kevin's team was able to soundly defeat them with a score of 5 - 1(?). Kevin scored the 2nd goal of the game!

Sat. both kid's were in action, with 8am game in Puyallup and 3:30 and 6:00 game in Tukwilla.  Kevin's team won there game with a score of 2 - 1, on a last second goal. ( about :30 sec. left. ) Sharon's team won there 1st game 3 - 2 and the second game 2 - 0. That would mean that Sun. would be the test to see if  there respective teams could make it to the semi- finals.

Sun. saw Kevin's team win again and secure a spot in the semi- finals on Mon. with a score of 5 - 1. Sharon once again had 2 game s to play. They easily won there 1st game 1-0, which would set-up the 2nd game against the team that was 1st in points in her bracket. The winner of this game would have a easier game in the semi's. Sharon's team came out swinging and had several great oppertunities to score, but couldn't quite get it in the net. The other team, however, couldn't score either. The least amount of goals this team had scored in this tournament was 5, all because of 1 girl that was really big and fast. So Sharon's coach instructed the defense to have one player shadow this girl and the rest of the defense help to shut her down! And they did shut her down, but ended up conceding 1 goal on a pretty lucky play by the other team. This would mean that there advancement to the semi's would come down to percentage points, which they had more than the other teams. They were through to the semi's!!

Mon. again saw me down in Puyallup for Kevin's game, which they won pretty easily, 3 - 0. They would be in the finals at 1:00pm. Meanwhile, Sharon's team ended up having to play the "A" team from her own club! They would put up a good fight, but lose 4-1. Even though they lost, it was a great tournament for them!

Back in Puyallup, kevin's team was preparing to play for 1st place against the team they just barely slipped by in bracket play. It would prove to be a spirited game, but not close. Kevin's team ended up winning 3-0. A great result for the weekend!

So, that was how we spent Memorial Day weekend. 10 games in 4 days. Between both vehicles, we put in about 400 miles. Glad that's over!

And a shout out to Rachael for assisting with Kyle all weekend.

Ryan

P.S.  Sharon played almost the whole weekend with a blister on the outside of her big toe about the size of a dime, And she played several complete games form start to finish!!!!

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!

Right!!!!

P.S.S.  Jason, Candi and Max came down for the final game to watch. I don't know how much Max saw of the game, but Kyle sure was glad to see him!