Woohoo! It's going to be in the 70s!

No, no, no, not the 1970s. Lord knows I had enough of the Bee Gees and disco the first time around.

It's going to be over 70-degrees today here in Marietta, and not a cloud in the sky.

I should take a walk. I'd love to take a bike ride but my balance isn't there yet to pull that off (fun chemo side-effect).

But I have to still clear the yard of dead stuff, and debris, left over from last season. But I'll be happy to do that. I'll be happy just to be outside.

Part of living in a city or a town is that there really is no place to go with all the yard waste. The borough gives out these big paper bags and collects yard waste every other week, but at a cost. We have to purchase stickers to place on the bags.

The bags are super tough and withstand the elements fairly well. But the bags are made to safely decompose back into the earth with all the contents too. At least it's very environmentally friendly.

My Dad always had a barrel which he burned trash in, everything that would burn. There was a brush pile too. With seven acres out in the country he could get away with that, and with seven acres he had a lot more branches and leaves and miscellaneous plants to deal with also.

I still have a brown thumb and kill about 50-percent of the plants that I plant. Everything that was here when we bought the house is thriving...well except the grass. The lawn recedes a little bit more every year.

As much as I would love a nice lawn, with all of our trees and all of the nice shade in our yard, I'm thinking about just conceding to nature and planning plantings in tune with the surroundings. You just can't fight Mother Nature.

From the dirt everything arises, and back to the dirt everything will eventually return.

I should get the hammock out today. If I get a little tired working in the yard, I can just take a little nap in the hammock, falling alseep watching the birds hit the feeder.

My Dad was doing well again yesterday, more of the same, according to my Mom. That, of course, is welcome and good news.

I'm feeling a little stronger myself today. The pain of the day is located below the right shoulder blade. After a day of yardwork I might earn a couple sore spots by tomorrow. But that's all part of growing older too, or so I'm told.

You Never Know

One thing I've learned on my cancer and chemotherapy journey is that I never know what kind of day I'm going to have until that morning when I wake up.

It's completely random. One day I'll feel good and be full of energy. The next day I can barely get my butt out of the La-Z-Boy.

It makes planning impossible. I try my best to be organized and keep up with a schedule. I think I do pretty well with getting things done, all things condsidered. I just never know whether I'm going to feel good while doing what I've planned, or feel lousy.

Today was one of those feeling lousy days. I felt lousy pretty much from the time I woke up. It's a typical feeling lousy day. I'm incredibly fatiqued, both physically and mentally. And my stomach is riding the rollercoaster, feeling lousy and quenching any appetite I might typically have.

Cancer and chemotherapy are crazy. Along with the feeling different everyday aspect, I seem to have a different spot on the body, anywhere from head to toe, that will be sore everyday. Everyday it is a different spot on the body. It can be the side of my head. It can be the sole of my foot. Today it was my left calf.

(shrugging shoulders)

To top things off this morning my eyes went "wonka" for about an hour this morning. It happens occasionally, primarily right after I get out of the shower. When my eyes go "wonka" everything is blurred and my eyes become very light-sensitive.

Just another one of the benefits of cancer and chemo.

No matter how poor I felt today, there were things I just had to get done with Barb. We skipped our planned trips to the butcher and the grocery store yesterday because the weather was so miserable. Today it just had to get done no matter what.

Fortunately Barb bought me a sweet stick (a stick of smoked sweet bologna) at Groff's and that boosted my energy enough to get through the grocery store. The store was full of insane people as usual. But we made it through with out too much trauma.

Barb had a sweet stick too.

We had a local guy in to plan his install of central air in this old house. I try to work with local folks as much as humanly possible. I really do believe in the village concept and want to support that concept. And when you're working with someone local, you know that they want to keep up their local image.

The central air is just plan necessary. I can't do the five or six window air conditioners anymore, or beg someone else to do it for me. Plus the window units are noisey and unproductive, freezing one area while missing others. The central air should be more efficient on electric costs as well.

We'll see. Work will start in two-weeks. We'll roll the dice and see how I'm feeling by then, could be great, could be lousy. 'Ya never know.

Looking Good, Feeling Better

Barb and I took a rainy trip over to Lebanon yesterday to visit my Mom and Dad at Spang Crest. We took the elevator to the second floor and one step out the door - BAM - there they were, my Dad in a wheelchair and my Mom standing just behind him.

My Dad looked good. The reports are that he is doing well. He sure looked better than the last time Barb and I saw him.

All the tubes are gone. He's eating real, solid food. He's not feeling any pain. He's smiling. With help from the nurses he's getting into the wheelchair. Without help from anyone he's wheeling himself up and down the hallways.

I have to rely on reports because every question I asked him yesterday he looked to my Mom for the answer.

I asked him "How do you feel?" Now that's a tough question to turn over to someone else. But I understand, he's still a little shell-shocked from this whole experience.

This has been very tough on my parents. But with grace they're both enduring and tredging forward with strength and conviction no matter how slow the pace may seem at times. They are strong people that I admire greatly, although I'm sure they'd be the first to deny that.

It's another rainy, drizzly, cold, raw Spring day in Marietta. But there are three days of sunshine in the forecast. Yardwork here I come.

Now What?

I really wanted to get out in the yard yesterday. I don't know why. I guess I feel Spring coming on. The trees are budding. The flowers are sprouting. The birds are swirling from tree to tree in the backyard.

But it was too darn cold. Cold enough to get the nose running after 10 minutes working outside. It was a bright, sun-shiney day. But too cold.

Today is going to be wet, damp, rainy and cold. Tomorrow will be more of the same. It looks like Thursday will be the day for me to get out there and clean up the yard.

Barb and I are going to take advantage of the rain to travel. We're off to visit with my Dad today. We've gotten up and down reports. From eating well to not eating well, from feeling pain to feeling no pain, from being in good spirits to feeling low, the reports have really run the gamut.

If we have time after visiting with my Dad, Barb and I are going to hit some furniture stores.

I already have my line prepared for when the salesperson attacks us.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," I'll answer with a big smile. "I'm looking for a great deal."

It will take awhile to convince the salesperson that I am serious and I am willing to walk out empty handed before we're shown the best bargains. But it's worth it. I'm pretty darn happy with the big, overstuffed club chair we found for cheap.

An old friend passed away yesterday - Harry Kalas, the long-time announcer for the Phillies. Of course I have never even met Harry, but he sure seems like a long-time friend nonetheless.

I know that he wasn't looking too good as of late. Even last year I was wondering if it was time to retire. But then I knew that Harry loved what he did so much that he would probably never retire. I assumed he would pass away at the ballpark someday. That's exactly what happened yesterday.

I listened to Harry my entire life. Growing up I would fall asleep many, many summer nights to Harry and Richie Ashburn calling the Phillies' games on the radio. We've lost a handful of great announcers in recent years. But in my opinion none was as great as Harry.

"IT'S OUTTA' HERE! MICHAEL JACK SCHMIDT WITH A TOWERING HOME RUN!"

He is Risen

We celebrated Easter here in Marietta yesterday surrounded by lots of family. Barb and I enjoyed it tremendously. We hope everyone else did as well.

We celebrate Easter in Marietta because we have the ham connection, incredible smokey goodness.

We also celebrated with the greatest gift of all, His only son and the promise of eternal life and forgiveness of our sins.

Our hearts and minds were with those who could not join us. I know that it did not seem right with my father not in attendance. He did celebrate Easter at Spang Crest in Lebanon where he is rehabilitating. I know we both thought of a couple grandmothers we're used to having with us as well.

One side-effect I enjoy, is the fact that hosting Easter forces us into a Spring cleaning. It's still an old, eccentric house. But the painting is done. The curtains are hung. The house is looking spiffy and clean.

Now I just have to get out in the yard.

I have such a "brown" thumb.

Oops

I would like to apologize to everyone who reads the blog. I don't know what I was thinking.

As soon as I put Google's ads up on my blog yesterday I had regrets. That's not what this blog is for, it's not true to the original intent.

This blog is strictly for family and friends, to keep everyone updated on my continued fight against cancer. It's not meant to be a commercial enterprise.

Possibly the blog could have co-existed with the ads had the ads been more tasteful. But since they were all ads for lawyers looking for clients, they definitely had to go.

My sincere apologies to everyone. I don't know what I was thinking.

I do find Google's technique here intriquing. Once you sign up for their advertising program they "crawl" your site and then match advertisers to your subject matter. Since my blog is so often health related, my blog received ads from lawyers looking for people who felt they were mistreated by the health care system. I do not feel comfortable being an advertising vehicle for greedy attorneys though.

If I blogged about cars my blog would apparently get advertisements relating to cars. If I blogged about the salt marsh harvest mouse my blog would apparently get advertisments on pest control.

I may start a second blog, just for story telling, and that may be suitable for this new Google venture.

But it's not for this blog. I have no intention on capitalizing on my struggles. For those who happened to see the ads in the brief hour that they were posted, please accept my apologies.

Quick Notes

It was great to see my cousin Lynn yesterday. We met for breakfast at a little diner just north of Marietta. A big thank you to Lynn for taking time out to get together with us.

Lynn was up from Florida to visit her grandkids. I still have a hard time picturing Lynn as a grandma. But time keeps creeping away on us.

We do miss seeing all of our family and friends in Florida.

After hashbrowns and a slice of breakfast ham, I took a nap. Lately it seems like I'm on an every other day schedule. One-day I have good energy, the next day I just want to sleep.

Barb's parents came to the rescue yesterday and took Barb for Easter dinner groceries while I napped.

It is official. The Easter ham from Groff's the butcher is in the house.

Can't you smell it?

Barb's Mom told me that they should sell little smoked hams for people to hang in their kitchens, or anywhere throughout their homes. It smells so good! Just wait until we fill the house with the smell of cooking it slowly for seven-hours on Sunday.

We are planning an Easter get-together with at least 15 family members planning to join us. Barb and I are really looking forward to having everyone together.

It seems like every project I start lately balloons into much more than I originally intended. I'm sure you know what I mean. We've all been there.

One of those projects was working to change the layout of the blog. Since Google took over this blog they've begun offering bloggers the chance to earn a little bit of cash by allowing ads on their blogs - as you may notice.

I don't know how all of this is going to work out. It may not work out at all. I already don't like the way it looks. But we'll see.

I'm thinking of changing the overall layout of the blog so the ads don't look so awkward. But there it goes again - another "simple" project that is ballooning into something more.

Google does not reveal how much money my blog may earn, if any. I believe that I might earn a couple cents everytime someone clicks on an ad. Soooooo...I guess when you exit the blog if you click on an ad before you go somewhere else, great. If not, then that works to.

Like I said I don't even know if this will work out. It's something for me to play with the next couple months and then I'll reevaluate it.

Off to the oncologist today, and I have to get my list of questions together for discussion.