I hate that so many people I know have cancer.  My aunt’s is treatable, not curable.  My dad’s first cousin’s son, Mike, just wrapped up a year of colon cancer treatment to learn he has spots on his lung.  Wanted to share a poignant excerpt from his blog:

Even though on the outside you can be chipper and smiling, it is sometimes merely a wall to keep in check with what’s going on inside. Ever since being diagnosed with cancer (and those of you have been there may have felt the same way) it feels like you’ve been removed from normal life and placed in a parallel one. A world where others live their lives under no threat, while you look on between doctor visits, treatment, surgery and recovery. This new life makes you feel isolated from most everyone, even when you’re surrounded by the love and prayers of so many people. I will tell you that as serious as cancer is, loneliness is worse. Loneliness causes your mind to travel in places where it shouldn’t dwell. It reinforces the differences between you and the cancer free, and just how powerless you really are.

Hope to see you tomorrow night at The Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo for Battle 4 Gadson, a benefit for Waterloo East High School wrestling coach Willie Gadson who has Stage 4 lung cancer.  Saturday, June 30 from 6:30-Midnight–silent auction, appetizers & cash bar, band & dancing  

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

It’s too hot for guests at an outdoor summer party to wear costumes, so for Thomas’ upcoming birthday celebration I decided a little face paint might bring out their inner superhero.  A couple calls later and I tracked down a local artist who manages a comic book store AND works with kids at an arts center.  Oh, he also specializes in face painting characters like Batman or Wolverine.  So he’s booked to show up for the first hour of the party and create works of art on little human canvases.  Of course it occurred to me later they may immediately ruin his work sweating it off, wiping it away or smudging it shoving cupcakes in their mouths.  It will be fun while it lasts!

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

You never know the lengths you’ll go to for a child’s birthday party until you become a parent.  I am currently looking for someone to play Spider-Man…seriously.  I have located a costume in Peoria that can be rented and my parents could pick up.  Now I need a guy with a 40-42 inch chest and 34-36 waist to wear it for an hour and convince Thomas and guests that he’s a real superhero.  Jump around, do some acrobatic moves, pose for pics then high-five the kids and move on to save the world.  No more than an hour of someone’s time for a fee, of course.  The catch, finding a young man who is athletic, kid-friendly and convincing.  So far no takers among my 20-something co-workers.  Mark told me to call the local comic store.  They do know of two guys who dressed as Spider-Man for a special event.  Waiting to hear back from either one.  Meantime, I am looking for Avengers.  Thor, Iron Man or Hulk would be welcome guests instead.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

Charlotte has pointed out to me that instead of asking her or Thomas or Daddy to get something, I should just do it myself.  But doesn’t she get it, that’s partly why we have kids–to eventually train them to help us out.  Isn’t that why farm families traditionally included multiple siblings, to have extra hands around?  Of course I’m kidding but I did encourage them to wear swimsuits and wipe down the kitchen floor this week.  Whatever works.  It can be tough to get command of the troops when they say things so spot on, you can’t deny their level of intelligence is advancing more quickly than a parent can keep up.  “My mom’s a talker,” Dave overheard Charlotte telling a friend on our driveway yesterday as I walked out to talk to a neighbor who stopped the car and rolled down her window to chat.  Hours later as I said goodbye to head back to work she asked me, “Aren’t you going to say bye to P-O-O-C-H?”  Pooch is my longtime term of endearment for her father and she coyly threw that question out to me spelling the nickname for more impact.  It worked.  She’s on to me.  Now get down and scrub the dirt off the tile.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

Fortunately I set my expectations low for the 5K I ran yesterday.  My friend, Dee, who joined me had called a couple days before to say she was really out of shape and planned to walk some of the way.  I told her no problem since, as mentioned, walkers have passed me with my slow jogging pace.  The route started off a little uphill.  I felt my back tightening up–great.  Thankfully it passed and I pressed on pain-free.  Our steady pace allowed us to chat off and on and enjoy seeing all the people encouraging the runners along the way.  At one point we passed a fireman walking in full gear (minus the mask) with a tank on his back.  I thought if he beats me to the finish line I really have let myself go!  Dee only walked maybe three times for a couple minutes then started running again, so I never stopped jogging and was able to stay beside her by adjusting my pace.  Our fastest mile was the last one as that second wind concept really happened.  Rounding the corner to the home stretch, I felt that rush I’ve experienced years ago running races.  You did it.  It’s almost over.  42 minutes isn’t bad for someone who would have been cool with 15-minute miles.  Now on to the pancake breakfast!

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

One day I woke up and couldn’t breathe out of one side of my nose.  Now it happens on a regular basis, often with a throbbing pain on one side of my head.  I assume it’s sinus headaches but have yet to confirm that with a doctor.  My mom was kind enough to buy me a pulsating nasal irrigation system, but I returned it when it proved to be too much of a time commitment.  It had to be cleaned after every use and required distilled water to avoid contamination–like that brain-eating amoeba story that surfaced in the past year linked to Neti pots.  So the most I do to treat it is an extra strength aspirin and a nap.  What works for those of you who know the feeling?

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

When I walked out of the bedroom this morning awakened by two kids unable to play quietly, I passed Daddy who said they drive him nuts.  Understood.  Their wrestling always ends up with someone getting hurt–usually Charlotte.  And they regularly run in their bedrooms slamming the door and locking it to keep the other one out.  Thomas told Charlotte yesterday NO GIRLS ALLOWED in his room as he was playing with a 3-year-old neighbor girl.  Guess she doesn’t count.  We had planned to visit the library once a week but missed last week due to a lack of cooperation.  Some mornings getting them dressed and out the door seems impossible and frankly not worth it when school is not in session.  We’ll fight enough of these battles come August.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

Charlotte asks to play with friends from the time she wakes up until she’s yawning her way through the same request before bed.  The girl is a social butterfly times ten who easily makes friends.  When Thomas was doing a swim lesson at a local pool, he and the instructor were competing for space because Charlotte and some random girl were splashing and playing games around them.  It was like the two had been friends for years.  Within days of a new family moving in two houses down from us Charlotte befriended the two girls who live there and invited them to her birthday party.  This morning she cleaned her room when I told her that had to happen before she could play with anyone.  Nice to have some leverage.  This afternoon after going to the water park with Daddy and Thomas she was invited to swim with a friend from school at her grandparents’ house.  While there, I received a call on my cell from another friend who wanted her to go with him to swim.  Miss Popular, I guess.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

I get a lot of flack from co-workers, family members and close friends for not really knowing more than half the people I’ve accepted as friends on Facebook.  As requests started coming in, it made sense to accept viewers since the social media platform is just one more way to connect with them.  But if the number reaches 5,000 (and it’s getting close) I’ll have to switch to a fan page.  That’s what Mark, the weather guy, did and I am trying to avoid it as it limits interaction with others on the site.  Of course keeping the number down has been made easier thanks to those who post a lot of junk on my page that has led me to block them.  Like those ridiculous quiz questions that are often inappropriate.  Or tagging me on pictures or causes or things for sale without my permission.  Sorry, I am not interested in all the apps for games multiple Facebook friends request me to play every day.  I would rather play with real people, not angry birds.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48

Folding a shirt of Dave’s tonight, it occurred to me that he wore it for our rehearsal dinner nearly seven years ago.  The guy has never fluctuated more than 20 pounds up or down.  I could not squeeze into the dress I wore that night if I tried.  The seams would rip.  Sure I knew if I had kids it would change my body, but I never anticipated closing the 40-pound-gap between my husband and me to the point where I would outweigh him considerably while pregnant!  It happens.  Men have faster metabolisms.  I always come up with excuses.  Thinking about it reminded me of two women I did stories with years ago who both had gastric bypass surgeries and lost huge amounts of weight.  They ended up divorcing the men who had fallen in love with them at their heaviest.  That always made me sad to think, as they described it, when the pounds started dropping the doors started opening–literally–from guys who would never have paid attention to them before.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 48