 |
| From USA tour |
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Friends of the Fliegen
Note: This is a work in progress. Additional friends to be added. Also, note, these only include US friends. Thirdly, note, there are many friends for whom I lack a photo. With apologies. It is a very big task to compile "Friends of the Fliegen".Jim and Diane O'Brien (and Megan and Katie), Tim Beeker, Don Solosan, Marianna Hunt, Marge Dapore, Sam and Renee Dapore-Schwartz, Andy and Brittany Hunt, Todd Hunt, Linda Rice, Sandra Love, Earl and Louise Sloniker, Steve Herminghausen and Georgia Blum, Stephen and Sharon Newell, Mizzie Misko, Xan and Chris Sprouse, David Zecchini, Sharon and Jeff Stahlman, Barbara Revard, Andrew Penry, Sarah Rhodebeck Kreis, Johnda Kapteina (and Melissa), Timothy Rice, Steve and Mary Rice (and Renee and Edward), Steven Brey, Debby Miller, Diane Ray, Meg Morrison, Robert and Gina Saunders, Elaine Fagan, Martha and Maggie Fagan, Carroll Hunt and Karen Schindler, M. Heather Hartley, Robyn Thompson, Blanche Ostrander, Liz and Bob Byers, Nancy Decker, Marcia Decker, Leigh Davis and Richard Rynes, Christine and Nina Good, Ken and Gail Spontelli, Steve Hunt, Abby Holmes (and Alex and Olivia), Dixie Wehrkamp.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
This is the plan
Once again I am in the position of trying to (quickly but thoroughly - or at least to my satisfaction) record the past while (at least being open to, should anything happen!) documenting the now. Oh, and probably worrying about the future.
So, here is the plan. I'm going to do it like I did our last US trip with highlights - heavy on the photos - though resizing them to smaller files is pretty time consuming in and of itself. This is in contrast to a "day by day" approach like I did in NZ.
I took 765 photos on our American tour. I promise I won't make you review them all.
BTW, if you are anxious to see photographs, I have already started publishing daily photos from the trip on my photoblog. You can see that here (Looking @).
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Many thanks!
 |
| From USA tour |
Friday, March 09, 2012
Coming to a town near you!
 |
| From Singles 2012 |
OK, yeah, I'm slow getting this published. There's still time to buy your ticket! Happy smiling faces NOT guaranteed...
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Confession from a terrible mother
 |
| From Singles 2012 |
The pear.
It was meant for you, my dear.
But, when I peeled it, I had a taste. It was the sweetest and most juicy pear I'd ever found. I ate that quarter.
And, then I ate the next.
The other half...
I put in the fridge and gave to your Daddy.
Someday, maybe, you'll understand. Someday, maybe, you'll see it was out of my hands. It was Eve. It was the Serpent.
It was Phil Collins.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
What's with all this love?
 |
| From Singles 2012 |
You may or may not remember that for my birthday, Kevin gave me 50 of my favorite dark chocolate (with mint!) chocolate bars and in each he had, like a fortune cookie, a little slip of paper on which was written one of 50 reasons (in no particular order) he loves me.
Isn't that beautiful?!
So, to honor him, I thought I'd post each one with some sort of image. Originally, I wanted to post each "reason" on the day we opened the chocolate bar. But, things get in the way, even of such a simple idea. So, I tend to accumulate a few and then type them all up. Sometimes, it then takes days to weeks to months to find the photograph.
What I like most about this project is that I could have written almost all of the same reasons for Kevin.
"My wife. I think I'll keep him."
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
50 Reasons I Love You #13
 |
| From Singles 2009 |
You understand the importance of choosing the right airline for an international flight.
50 Reasons I Love You #22
 |
| From Singles 2012 |
You want to be a flying red horse. (Or, at least, you once did.)
(Note - this is not my photograph. Thank you to: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=flying+red+horse+logo&hl=en&sa=X&rls=com.microsoft:en-au&biw=1920&bih=883&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=s-qoYIsOGcqITM:&imgrefurl=http://homepage.mac.com/credmond/iblog/C880906225/E384194819/index.html&docid=We7xuFDUN4bOBM&imgurl=http://homepage.mac.com/credmond/iblog/C880906225/E384194819/Media/FlyingRedHorse.jpg&w=500&h=489&ei=9JUWT_WeAYHgmAW6rPzKAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=490&vpy=2&dur=5578&hovh=222&hovw=227&tx=136&ty=119&sig=110693804874043938459&page=1&tbnh=125&tbnw=128&start=0&ndsp=54&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
50 Reasons I Love You #29
 |
| From Zuperfliegen 2011 |
You totally rolled with the name Zuperfliegen Baadasssss and helped me to make it "real". (And the world is more fun and interesting beause of it.)
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Bone scans (and cancer)
Note: This blog entry should have been written in JULY. The causes of my delay are many and for the hope of actually getting this DONE before next July, I shall not bother with listing them.
If you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you know that Kevin was diagnosed last July with prostate cancer. (And, if you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you must have been wondering why six months have gone by without the fact of that cancer appearing in my blog. Again, the reasons are legion.) Finally, if you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you are probably expecting I'll open my soul to examine what this cancer means to him and to me and to Zupe. But,
you'd be wrong.
It might happen one day. That day isn't today.
Today the topic is nuclear medicine, scintigraphy, bone scans.
And horse pee.
After Kevin "failed" his forth or fifth PSA test, though just barely, his urologist recommended a biopsy. The biopsy was positive for cancer. Widespread cancer. Widespread but rather private cancer.
The next step was to look for evidence that the cancer was adventurous and had set up camp in areas outside the prostate - in particular, in his bones. I went with Kevin to his biopsy appointment - though not into the surgery to view the biopsy process. I did not go with Kevin to not watch the bone scan.
I didn't need to. I used to do, or at least assist in the doing of, bone scans.
I was the bucket girl.
We weren't looking for cancer in bones. We were just looking for increased "activity" in bone suggestive of inflammation or damage. In horses. The process would be the same. An intravenous injection of a radioactive nucleotide (something like the bone cell equivalent of a case of radioactive Big Macs) is made and then an hour or so later a series of "magic photos' are taken of the bones looking to see if those nucleotides are congregating. They should spread themselves out evenly (to feed the masses), but if a localized area of bone is particularly "hungry" because there is an injury that is inflamed or it is harboring a tumor, then those microscopic radioactive Big Macs will be absorbed at a greater rate. (If you are confused and you want to understand the process, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_medicine.)
Did I mention the process involves making an intravenous injection of a radioactive substance? That means into the blood. And, where does the blood go? It goes everywhere. Including the kidneys. And, then the bladder. And, then potentially the floor.
Which is why you need a bucket girl.
Yes. For a summer I "caught" radioactive horse urine.
Boy, do I know how to have fun!
So, I didn't go with Kevin. I didn't get to meet his bucket girl. Though, maybe they just asked him not to pee on the floor. He's pretty good about that.
(And, if you are not a reader of Kevin's blog, or someone who knows Kevin, or someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then I should tell you here that the scan was negative. There was no evidence that the cancer had spread into the bone. This is very, very, very good news.)
If you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you know that Kevin was diagnosed last July with prostate cancer. (And, if you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you must have been wondering why six months have gone by without the fact of that cancer appearing in my blog. Again, the reasons are legion.) Finally, if you are a reader of Kevin's blog or you know Kevin or you know someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then you are probably expecting I'll open my soul to examine what this cancer means to him and to me and to Zupe. But,
you'd be wrong.
It might happen one day. That day isn't today.
Today the topic is nuclear medicine, scintigraphy, bone scans.
And horse pee.
After Kevin "failed" his forth or fifth PSA test, though just barely, his urologist recommended a biopsy. The biopsy was positive for cancer. Widespread cancer. Widespread but rather private cancer.
The next step was to look for evidence that the cancer was adventurous and had set up camp in areas outside the prostate - in particular, in his bones. I went with Kevin to his biopsy appointment - though not into the surgery to view the biopsy process. I did not go with Kevin to not watch the bone scan.
I didn't need to. I used to do, or at least assist in the doing of, bone scans.
I was the bucket girl.
We weren't looking for cancer in bones. We were just looking for increased "activity" in bone suggestive of inflammation or damage. In horses. The process would be the same. An intravenous injection of a radioactive nucleotide (something like the bone cell equivalent of a case of radioactive Big Macs) is made and then an hour or so later a series of "magic photos' are taken of the bones looking to see if those nucleotides are congregating. They should spread themselves out evenly (to feed the masses), but if a localized area of bone is particularly "hungry" because there is an injury that is inflamed or it is harboring a tumor, then those microscopic radioactive Big Macs will be absorbed at a greater rate. (If you are confused and you want to understand the process, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_medicine.)
Did I mention the process involves making an intravenous injection of a radioactive substance? That means into the blood. And, where does the blood go? It goes everywhere. Including the kidneys. And, then the bladder. And, then potentially the floor.
Which is why you need a bucket girl.
Yes. For a summer I "caught" radioactive horse urine.
Boy, do I know how to have fun!
So, I didn't go with Kevin. I didn't get to meet his bucket girl. Though, maybe they just asked him not to pee on the floor. He's pretty good about that.
(And, if you are not a reader of Kevin's blog, or someone who knows Kevin, or someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Kevin, then I should tell you here that the scan was negative. There was no evidence that the cancer had spread into the bone. This is very, very, very good news.)
With sincere apologies to the creator of Aptimil's leveler
Zupe's having issues with his skin. Eczema. From what I can glean, it is a description of a lesion - like "missing right arm" - without relation to any single or often even identifiable cause. By that I mean, you could be missing your right arm because you had a birth defect or an accident with a circular saw or a velociraptor. With eczema there seems to be a genetic predisposition with reactions to external stimuli (chemicals, dry air, irritating surfaces) and/or internal stimuli (i.e. food allergies). And so, in an effort to address the "cause", we have changed bath soaps (if changed means eliminated), laundry detergents (OMG that's another story!), pajamas, and diet.
The goal of his new diet is to eliminate exposure to cows' milk proteins. That means I am not eating any more yogurt or cheese or butter or drinking any milk or MILK SHAKES! And, Zupe is drinking a formula made from hydrolyzed milk proteins...sort of like Zelda.
Anyway, our new formula - Pepti-Junior - still by Aptimil but now requiring a prescription to buy - does not include a built in leveler.
Wow.
And, boy do I miss it! Now, we have to keep a butter knife around to "level off" the scoop. This is a pretty sizable sacrifice for us. We only have 4 (FOUR) such knives in total! (We used to have five but I foolishly lost one when I took a banana cream pie to a party - a party at which said pie was only tasted by ONE PERSON! Ah! What is wrong with this country?!)
On a more positive note - actually two more positive notes. (I think that is enough to be a positive chord!)
Note one - the Pepti-Junior scoop IS flat on the bottom, so when I want to set a filled scoop down, and for the life of me I can't remember why I'd want to do it, but I have done it, none-the-less, it doesn't fall over and spill out 23% of its contents. Yay.
Note two - his skin is much better. He still has a few patches - really he always has a small patch or two - but that is pretty, pretty, pretty good. He's not scratching at himself and I am not covering him in steroids daily any more.
 |
| From Zuperfliegen |
dreaming of dreaming
 |
| From July travel - mostly OHIO |
dreaming I was back in HS, again. This time, like most times, it was nearing the end of the year and I had missed a lot of classes. Maybe I had missed every meeting of some of my classes and, of course, I needed to pass these classes to graduate. I remember thinking, "It was so much more fun the first time I went to high school when I had friends here."
Then, as I was stressing I had a moment of clarity. "Wait. This is a dream. "I have completed high school. I have graduated."
And then I began a review of all my schools. I have completed high school. I have completed college. I have completed graduate school and vet school.
But, have I graduated yet from elementary school?
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
