Happy Birthday to ME!!

Friday I turn 37. The last two years I have been dealing with treatment from leukemia. HERE IS TO AN UNEVENTFUL 37th year. God please make this year normal like everyone else.

Tracey is taking me on a little out of town trip this weekend where we are staying in a B and B and relaxing. NO KIDS! We are going to really enjoy ourselves. We got the confirmation today so we are ready to go. I love the town where we are going so I look forward to visiting again.

HHHAAAPPPYYY BIRHTDAY TOOOOO MMMMMEEEEEEEE

Set To Return To Work

I got good news from the doctor today. I am physically cleared to return to work to at least a part time basis. I think for a while I am going to have to limit my time to 4 or 5 hours. After that I am toast. But I will take 4 hours. Whoohoo! Official start back date is May 27th!

Daddy Is Coming Home

So I have not been able to be at work regularly since October. Well today for the first time I was at my campus for most of the day 8:00 to about 2:15. I showed up early because we had a pep rally for the kids testing next week and we had 3 interviews lined up for teaching positions and I agreed to sit in on those. The three interviews were spread out so I had a lot of time on my hands.

The problem I had today is that everywhere I went I felt like I was in the way. People were moving and shaking and getting things done. That's what I like about my job is that there is always something happening. It's just that today they were doing it like I was not even there. No one even asked me what I thought. They just did it.

Which is good I suppose. Everyone made the decision I would have made and I realize how much goes on that I don't even know about ....they just do it. I tried hanging out in the front office, the lounge, and the secretary office. The secretary and I shot the breeze for about an hour but she has a ton of stuff to do so I excused myself. For the most part I just went to my office, cleared out my email, and cruised the Internet in between interviews. Finally towards the end of the day my assistant principal asked me for some advice on how to handle a sticky situation with a parent. After I gave her my options she was getting up to leave and I was gathering my things she paused at my door and she said, "It is really going to be great to have you back. Take care."

As I walked out to the parking lot I looked back at my building I found myself thinking. "Daddy is almost home girl." As I got into the car a smile came across my face. Daddy is almost home.

I GOT GAS DO U ?

Every day I hear it mentioned at least 5 times on the radio about the prise of gas. This does not include what you read about in the papers or hear on your local news. In my neighborhood gas has been going for $3.49 a gallon for a couple of days. Well last week a new gas station opened up and they opened up at 3.39 a gallon and have been holding steady. It even made the gas station across the street drop its prices. They dropped their price of gas 14 cents in one day. Both stations have a line to get gas. I stopped by the new establishment yesterday and got gas and went in for a coke. Very nice husband and wife team own it. I will be back.

I know everyone is all up in arms about the price of gas but if you really want to be mad figure out how much your spending per gallon on your Starbucks coffee. Now THAT figure is large.

I Was THIS CLOSE!!!

Well my wife had finally agreed to give the movie FIRST BLOOD with Sylvester Stallone "a chance." She would sit down with me and watch it as long as she could. DEAL....I will take it. I will give you that the second and third installments of the series were okay to fair. But FIRST BLOOD was a blockbuster. It is a great story and the movie is well done.

Tracey had some work to do so I thought that would be perfect. She could work while the movie is going. Here it...see it...get the gist if you will. As it turns out her work is pretty detailed and it would not work out. The movie would be too distracting. Seeing what she is doing I admit you need to pay attention.

maybe another night

Power Mowing

I live in a neighborhood that is about 25 years old take a couple of years. The houses sit on 1/4 acre lots for the most part. There are a few that are a bit bigger. Friday's and Saturday's from 8-7 you can hear the lawn mowers and blowers going all over the neighborhood. I would say it's about 50-50 on who does their own lawn. Anyway, there is a guy in our neighborhood that pulls out the full size riding lawn mower to do his yard. I am talking the type of mower you use when you are mowing ACRES of grass. He has one of the smaller yards and a circle driveway. He spends more time turning than moving. The funny thing is after about 4 swipes he is done and the blower is going. He might be smart one after all.

Medical Update

Well I went to the doctor yesterday and my counts are looking really good. I have had a little hick up with some high blood sugar levels. This is due to medication and the doctors are changing some things up to prevent the spikes in the blood sugar levels but they say for someone who had an unrelated donor I am doing great so if they say it it must be true.

Also, I got my NEOSTAR pulled from my chest today. YES!! Regular showers are only 24 hours away.

Motorcycle Decision

Okay, here are my thoughts on purchasing a motorcycle. YES I am going to get a motorcycle. I will however, wait because the time is not right.

In two to three years the timing will be right. The reasons.

• I will be further out of treatment from my transplant. Thus I will be stronger. The doctor did tell me that it will take 15 to 24 months to recuperate from transplant.
• At the moment if I were injured it would be very hard for my body to fight off anything much less heal properly.
• Kids are too young and can't ride it with me.

Money wise in three years I can go in and pay cash for it.

I have the bike picked out and the dealer I talked to said the bike has not changed in 10 years so I should be good.

The way I look at is when I get the all clear from cancer (3 years in remission) then I will celebrate by joining my local motorcycle gang! Perfect!!!

My Luck at Drive Thru's Strikes Again

The other night we were catching dinner late. So we decided to go to a local "royal" hamburger joint and we went through the drive through. My wife was diving so I though we were safe. WRONG.

Here was our order.

• Two Hamburgers with mustard instead of mayo.
• On one of the hamburgers please put cheese on the hamburger.

Their response?

You want fries and a drink to make it a combo

• No

Their Response

You want one burger with mayo and cheese and what else?

• My wife repeated. NO and then repeated our order.

Their Response

Do you want cheese on both hamburgers.

At this point I start to laugh and I am beginning to think that this person must be clinically retarded.

• NNNNOOOOOO my wife says and says the order again.

Their response- And no fries?

• Forget it thank you. and we drive on.

But I cannot resist. I have to go in.

I go in and sure enough there is a guy sitting there and he knows I am looking for him and he has this look on his face like please don't hurt me. So I tone it down a bit and I just ask a simple question.

What the hell is wrong with your drive through? Was my exact words.

All of the people just kept apologizing. Thanks for the apologies but again. What is wrong? Can u not hear us or what? We gave you our order 4 times. All I got was sorry.

Good gosh!

Magic Trash

One thing I struggled with as a young teacher was getting the kids to pick up after themselves at the end of a school day. They would do some but their attitude was..."That's the custodians job." I informed them that they were wrong the custodian was not their maid. So I invented MAGIC TRASH. What I would do at the end of the day is I would pick something on the floor that would be magic. I had my tables grouped in tables. I would tell my tables to pick up magic trash and which ever table got the magic trash got 5 tally points. I will explain later how I used tally points. Let's just say the kids would do anything for tally points. Anyway, off they would go. I swear sometimes when they were done you did not need to vacuum.

So how can you use this concept with your kids at home? More to come.

Show Me The Money

For quite some time Tracey and I have been struggling with getting the kids to pick up after themselves. They get something out and when they are done with it down it goes....where ever they happen to be sitting at the moment. They leave their bikes, and scooters out. This causes a lot of stress in the evenings prior to getting ready for bed. The reason is because the kids (80% Jack) gripe about having to do it. He gets tired of having to do it and Tracey and I get tired of the fight so tempers rise, the bell rings, and the fighters go at it. Me or Tracey vs. Jack and Caroline.

So I have been thinking of how to beat this situation. I came up with a system and I did a trial run this afternoon and it worked to PERFECTION. Here is my system.

• Identify an item that has been left out of place.
• Pick up said item and the child puts the item away.
• Child gets a tally point under their name for each item they put away in their proper place.
• Each tally point the kids earn is worth 5 cents.

I tried this out this afternoon and not only did the kids pick up everything of theirs they picked up a couple items of mine and Tracey's and put them up too. They picked up everything and straightened up their play furniture in 10 minutes. The total cost to me 1 dollar per kid.

That is the best 2 bucks I have spent in a long time.

I thought about "Magic Trash" for when I want just one room quickly straightened. I used it in the classroom very effectively but I am still working out how I will use it in the home. When I figure it out I will post it for all to use with their kids.

The Dump Sale

For some time now my recliner has needed to be replaced. It is still good and I do have a plan for it to live out it's retirement but for the day to day operations it needed to be replaced. I heard about a huge sale at The Dump. In case you have not heard of this place it is a HUGE furniture outlet store. I have shopped their in the past but did not find any GREAT deals. They have the cheap stuff that they mark down even cheaper but the high quality stuff usually was about the same as a department store. You did not save huge amounts of money.

Today I found things to be a bit different. I found a leather recliner that was marked down from 799 to 499. The brand I got runs in the 800-900 dollar range so I was happy with it. I am currently sitting in it while I do this blog.

So if you thinking of purchasing furniture I do recommend checking out "The Dump."

No Motorcycle For Me

Well I went and looked at a couple different name brand motorcycles. In each brand of bike I found the three bikes that were the most similar. All of the bikes were within 1000 dollars of one another. The problem is everyone I turn to to talk about the possibility of a purchase in my family seems to not look on the decision as being a wise one. One argument looks at it as it is not a matter of if I get hurt but when. So I will bow out gracefully i guess.

I looked at the scooters while I was there.....um NO!

Scooter or Not to Scooter

I am thinking of purchasing this summer a scooter to buzz around on. Some days I really want to get one and other days I can't make up my mind. I have not even begun to investigate them but just wondering. I did put up my new pole to try and get some insight on if I should. Who knows. Maybe after I investigate it I will change my mind. I did see the other day a guy who was trying to use his scooter as transportation to work. He was on the FREEWAY! He had this thing going full throttle and he was having cars fly past him. His tie was going all crazy in the wind. I thought that was pushing it. I understand trying to save gas but at the price of your safety?!?

Because you watch the WSOP does not mean you know how to play poker.

I have been playing Texas Hold'em for almost 10 years now. Sometimes I make bad decisions but for the most part I would say I am an above average player. I have played in Shreveport, and both casino's in Oklahoma. Most recently I have played at Choctaw probably the most and have gotten to know some of the players. There is one thing I have definitely learned. Don't brag a lot and respect the older guys. They know what they are doing. A while back a guy came up to the table and it was like he thought he was on TV. He wore the following:

• Black hoody- Went way over his head.
• Black Sock Hat
• Sun Glasses
• An MP3 Player- So he could listen to music- loudly. I was on the other end of the table and could hear it.

You could see the look on the older guys faces. They were like look at this getup would ya?

• Anyway, this guy told the table as he was sitting down he got busted out of the tournament on the second hand and he was coming over here to get his money back. That was a HUGE mistake. Don't come up to players you don't know and tell them you are going to whip their butt. The old guys just said, well okay have a seat. Now the whole table has just declared war on this guy and they all are going to go against him and he does not even know it. Dummy
• Then he opens up and is VERY aggressive and talks....A LOT. Mistake number 3. They don't want to hear you until they respect you and that takes time.
• In a matter of 15 minutes he has lost 300 dollars and the old guys are loving it as he is cashing in for more chips.
• I go up against him and I lose the hand. He out drew me. That is poker. I lost about 45 dollars in the whole hand. Then I had to listen to his philosophy on Poker and how I should have bet what to get him out.
• I normally keep my mouth shut so I just said, thank you for the advice.
• About twenty minutes later I got involved in a big pot and "Uni bomber" was involved as well. I flopped a full house and he flopped trips. In the end I ended up getting four of a kind and he had a full house. He went all in with a large sum of money and I called it with one card to go. As it turned out even if he got his four of a kind I still would have beat him. It was a joy to watch his pain as he realized he not only was behind but was drawing dead.

All of the old guys were looking at each other and me and you could read their minds. Maybe that would shut him up and make him leave. He had lost over 700 dollars just on our table. He sat there for a bit as he got more chips and started telling us that he just does this for fun and how the night before he won 5,000 dollars online and he won 10,000 online the night before that. Of course we can't verify any of that because it's online. The very next hand he went all in and lost that. He finally left.

After he left all the guys just started giggling. One of them said, That boy may dress the part I guess but when it comes to this game he does not know his head from his butt. Then the whole table laughed out. I knew I was "in" when one of the guys looked over at me and said, "You hit him the hardest" and another guy said, You are alright."

Doctor Visit Update

I went to the doctor yesterday and got good news. My counts are looking good. They are still off center from normal in many areas but the doctors assure me that with what all my body has been through and the drugs that I am on that it will be quite a while before I look "normal" on the inside. I feel good so that is the important thing. The other good news is that they are going to schedule to have my NEOSTAR port removed from my chest sometime this month. I can't wait for this to happen. This contraption makes taking showers challenging. Also in the good news department I got the okay to return to work at the end of May! This I am VERY thankful for. I am ready to get back to work.

Grandpa Grandson Bonding Time

When I was growing up each summer my dad would spend most of his time building a house for rental property. He would usually break ground June 1st and would be putting the finishing touches on the house right before school started. I got to go with dad every day. As I grew older he began paying me to do things and he paid WELL! I remember one of my jobs being to mow the field where he eventually would be putting some houses. I would mow for SEVERAL hours but at the end of the day he would pay me 25 to 50 bucks depending on the situation. I was RICH! I was 10 years old. What did I have to spend my money on? Music and arcades!

My dad also "employed" grandpa to clean up around the outside and inside of the house as we finished stages of building the house. In the mid to late 80's Grandpa purchased a 1978 Chevy dump truck. It had the regular truck cabin but it had the lifting bed. Grandpa was getting serious about this cleanup job he had. Well any time he had to go to the dump I was his side kick.

I remember one time grandpa must have been in a hurry. I say this because he was changing lanes and passing other cars on the road like we were racing at Daytona. Every now and then another car that he passed would honk at us. A few "hand signals" were waved at us. I looked back and I could see debris flying out of the back of the dump truck and other cars moving to miss the 2 x 4 that just landed in the street.

I looked over to see just how fast grandpa was going. The thing was stuck on ZERO. It did not work. Now you had to approach things easy with grandpa. Sometimes he had a short tolerance for questions. As we were weaving through traffic on our way to the checkered flag I asked grandpa......Um...Grandpa....how do you know how fast you are going? Answer- I just go the speed of traffic!

Now where the traffic was moving that fast I have no idea.

Motorcycles

When I was growing up my dad had a motorcycle. My grandfather had a motorcycle his entire life. He used to tell me stories of how he raced them down Grenville Avenue in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I loved listening to his stories but at the same time I was glad my dad was already around in the 40's. Grandpa always rode Harley Davidson's. My dad seemed partial to Honda's and the Gold Wing's. At one point both of my parents rode Honda's. I look back at it and I still cannot believe my mother had her own motorcycle. I used to LOVE IT when Grandpa would come out or Dad would ride to Grandpa's and we would ride the motorcycles. Well I used to love riding with Dad. Grandpa was always a little scary. He would go through all of his gears it seemed like within 50 yards of the light and I remember just hanging on to the back with a death grip on the motorcycle seat. Grandpa always had that small little seat on his Harley's like the ones you see on bikes from the 40's and 50's. I literally held on to the bar behind me and prayed. Now after we were going it was fun because Grandpa HAULED on that bike. Dad was easy. Sometimes he would take off quickly but you always had a strap to hold onto or I held on to dad. The perfect time of year was from the middle of March to the summer nights. I have some fond memories riding with my dad. In the late 80's dad sold his motorcycle because he became increasingly scared of riding in traffic. He never had to lay a motorcycle down but he did have to take evasive maneuvers a couple of times with my mother on the back of it.

Tony from Tony's Tidbits is about to get a motorcycle and it is a beautiful bike. About 7 years ago I was about to buy a motorcycle. At the time we did not have any kids and our cars were paid for so I was SERIOUSLY thinking about it. We even went out one night and peaked through the windows. About two months later we found out we were expecting and that was the end of motorcycle talk. I think all guys have something in them, however small, that dreams of owning a motorcycle. I might even buy one someday but it will be WAY DOWN the road when my kids are in high school or college. I dream of riding a cruiser. I never have been a fan of the racing bikes or crotch rockets as I like to call them. It will probably be my midlife crisis purchase. Tracey has never road on a motorcycle so it will probably be just me but who knows for sure really. I know my mother would shoot me now if I bought a motorcycle or heaven forbid put one of her grandchildren on it so it is best to leave it alone and live vicariously through TONY. The only thing that bothers me is if you have to lay it down usually the concrete wins in a one on one battle between man and concrete.
Going through all of this medical stuff has taught me life is short so maybe in a 3 or 5 years after my car is paid off. Hmmmm. For now maybe I will just get one of those scooters ro ride around the nieghborhood. BEEP, BEEP!

Spring Cleaning

Today was the OFFICIAL yard spring cleaning day for the JDHTEACH house hold. My son and I went to the men's toy store AKA HOME DEPOT and bought a few needed items. Jack LOVES Home Depot so I had no problem having him travel with me. Upon our return my wife and I began working on the yard. Well she did most of it because I am not aloud to do yard work for another year I think according to my doctor.

My role was purely advisory. I bought a new weed eater and Tracey was wanting some tips on how to use it. Being the VERY SEASONED weed eater myself I helped her with how to best use the weed eater. She also mulched about 8 bags of leaves and then mowed the whole front and back yard. We tried to edge with the weed eater but that was too hard on the little electric weed eater I bought. I pick up my curb edger and the blower tomorrow for getting Spring cleaned so tomorrow night we will put a good edging on the yard and everything will look great.

I walked out a couple of times and sat in one of the lawn chairs and soaked up some sun and watched Tracey. I did have a mask on but I could smell the yard work in the air. Man I miss being able to do my yard sometimes. Of course when it gets hot I probably will not miss it. I will say this though. I love it after I have mowed, edged, and weed eated the yard to go barefooted in the Saint Augustine grass and sit in the yard chair with a cold drink and admire the work. I can't do that for now but next year I am on it. Tracey likes to do the yard work as well and she is a very hard worker. I used to go and go in the yard and I could not tire her out.

Early Retirement

Today at my daughter's soccer game my son saw a friend whom he played against at least twice a season in soccer. In addition the boys went to private kindergarten together at our church. Here is how the conversation went:

Boy's mother: Well hello Jack. How have you been? We have not seen you at soccer games this year.

Jack's Response: Yeah, I have retired from soccer.

I have heard of early retirement but at the age of 7 and hanging up the cleats?!?!?

The Horses Are Ready To Make You Look Stupid....Are You Ready To Look Stupid!

It's official. I am sticking with Texas Hold em'. First, the good stuff. Last night had beautiful weather and the company and food were excellent. As for betting on the horses. Let's put it this way. The only time I won I lost money. Now you are thinking...."How is this possible? Well let me tell you. I went in on a bet that was 10 cents with my dad and his buddy. When we boxed in all the horses we wanted the bet cost each of us 13 dollars. With 3 of us the total bet was 39 dollars. All we needed was one long shot to come in (which had happened in the previous races) and we would win some money. Well when the race was over we won 2 dollars and 97 cents. No not over our 39 dollar bet but $2.97 TOTAL PEOPLE! The rest of the night one horse would screw up my exacta boxes and trifecta's. So I went with smaller bets and would pick one horse. This is when I figured out that I am the true curse to a horse winning a race. I bet on the top jockey (who had won every race he ran previously in the evening which is 5 races) who was working for the top trainer who had won every race he ran this evening. Can't lose right? I bet 5 dollars on him to win. He came in 2nd beaten by a 25-1 shot. I just laughed. The one time I would have won and won about 45 dollars I could not get my bet in because the table next to ours held up the ticket lady for 11 minutes. I know this because I noticed when she got to their table there was 11 minutes to post. I thought I had plenty of time because usually people take MAYBE 3 minutes to place their bets. The next thing I know she is leaving the table and I am getting my money ready to bet and I hear AND THEIR OFF!!! I am thinking DAMMIT!

Bottom line I lost about 34 dollars in betting but had a great time visiting and ate some great food. In betting terms I will call it a push but I certainly know NOTHING about horses....give me Ace, King suited and I KNOW what to do.

The Horses Are Ready. Are You?

Tonight is opening night at Lone Star Park. For the past 4 or 5 years my dad has gotten us seats up in the restaurant up by the buffet. This is one of my favorite father, son bonding times that we get to do together. We usually have someone else from the family and a work friend of my dad's join us.

The funny thing is my dad and is buddy really study up on the horses. They look at the horses winning percentage combined with the jockey and of course the trainer. I on the other use my vast brain power to determine which horse looks the best in his "uniform." This is a complicated formula. Each category gets a number of 1-10. There are three categories. You add the totals and divide by three. For the sake of time I just pick two horses either by color or name. I told you it was complicated. Here is how it works.

1. Name- 1-10
2. Color Combo of horse and his number flag. 1-10
3. Behavior of horse- Is he antsy? 1-10
4. Divide by 3 and the horse with the highest number I bet on. If it's a tie I will box the bet.

Of course this is NOT TRUE but when it comes to predicting how an ANIMAL is going to run I would say this is about as good as any. Occasionally Dad and his buddy will hit on something but we usually all come away with a story of how we ALMOST cashed in.

Tonight I think I will let them do all of the thinking and I will enjoy the good food, the company of friends and the people watching.

Sense and Sensibilitly Is My Wife's Star Wars

As far as I am concerned you can't watch the Star Wars movies enough. The series of movies is just one of the cinimatic masterpieces of all time. When it comes on the TV and I stumble on it and get locked in. Jack is the same way. I have no idea how many times I have seen these movies except the last one. I have seen that one 4 times. I own the musical cd's as well as all of the movies. I even have the FAMILY GUY Star Wars.

I tried about 8 or 9 years ago to be Mr. Romantic and I rented Sense and Sensibility to watch with my wife for an in-house date night. I knew I was in for it when it was a TWO cassette movie. I don't remember what we had for dinner but we cooked something outside and ate it and then cuddled up on the couch for the movie. Tracey was excited I could tell that I was giving this movie a chance. (It would be like how excited I would be if she ever gave the movie RAMBO a chance.) The first Rambo movie is an excellent movie. Rambo II was pretty good and Rambo III was a little out there. All I want is for her to sit down and watch Rambo with me one time...but I digress.

Anyway, S and S had many stars in it that I knew so I was up for the challenge and ready to go. Then the movie started. I remember having a hard time understanding what they were saying. They spoke softly, quickly, and in a THICK English accent. After about 10 questions of what did they just say? and 45 minutes into the movie I could see that I was frustrating Tracey so I shut up. I decided I would just try to figure out what was going on by watching. It id not help. I made it about an hour and a half and I fell asleep on the couch. I got points for trying and I have tried to watch the movie to give it another try but no good. I just check out mentally.

I will say this about Tracey. If S and S is on the TV and she stumbles across it. She is tuned in. Not only that but she does not want to be disturbed while she watches it. Just like me with Star Wars. We have S and S on tape, dvd, and I think we might have the soundtrack. I will say this..the music is great.

The other day I walked into the living area and there is Tracey watching a movie. It is set in England in the time period of S and S but these are totally new people playing the parts. I thought she might be watching Emma...another one of her favorites. She told me. she was watching S and S and that it was a new version.

I just looked at her. It's the same movie! That was when I was informed that there not only was a new version but they changed some stuff up! I understand adding maybe. Like when they added the part in Star Wars where Han Solo was having that coversation with Jabba. That was funny when he stepped on Jabba's tail.

Anyway, put another talley on the board for S and S.

Tracey has Sense and Sensibility and I have Star Wars.

Can we PLEASE watch Rambo ONE TIME?!?!?

Here is my question....what movie is YOUR STAR WARS?

Just Watched No Country for Old Men

Okay I have been WAITING for this movie from Netflix to show up. I finally had a chance to watch it today. I have heard many things about this movie and I was ready.

I must say the movie did not disappoint. All through the movie I was trying to figure out how this was going to end....besides violently. It has been a while since I have seen a movie like this. There is really only one thing that my wife and I are on polar opposites on and it happens to be movies. Usually blockbusters we will go see but due to the content Tracey was out on this one. Tracey, you are glad you sat this one out.

Like I said I REALLY enjoyed the movie. You could see the following during the movie.

• Browlen's Character- was just a hunter who stumbled into some BAD PEOPLE. Give him credit though he was tough.
• Tommy Lee Jone's Character- You could see was tiring of his job as he chased the killer. He was tired of the aftermath scenes and the constant chase. As evidence of his constant refusal from the DEA to revisit a crime scene. I loved his line..."Is there a new dead body out there? No? Then I guess I am good where I am...take another sip of coffee.
• Name escapes me- The Killer- This guy is as cold, efficient, brilliant and as tough as they come. I have heard people say that there has not been a character like this since Hannibal Lector in Silence of the lambs. I think that is a spot on assessment.

The ending I felt I needed to know more about happens. I won't spoil it but it is left open ended. I understand the ending in the book is different. I might have to get the book to find out the difference.

That was an intense 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Would You Go Back?

I have heard a million times this phrase...."I would do anything to go back to high school." This is another common phrase..."If I knew then what I knew now I would love to go back to (high school or college or even childhood)."
I can only speak for me but I can honestly say I do not want to go back a relive any part of my life. Don't get me wrong. I had a wonderful childhood with a loving family and extended family. I loved high school and especially college. I have loved every phase of my life. Bachelorhood...getting married...married no kids = TRAVELING...and having kids. The reason I don't want to go back especially if it is the scenario where "If I knew then..." is I would miss terribly all of my connections now. I love my work family and I would miss my wife and especially my kids terribly. Then there is the whole going to school thing. Like I said I loved high school and college and even grad school but who wants to go back to doing HOMEWORK?!?! Some of you might say, "Well I have to take work home now." Maybe so but you are getting paid now. In high school and college it's just O WELL. Stinks to be you.

Am I alone in this thought? Please leave a comment and let me know because I get the feeling I am a loner on this topic.

Silence and Caroline Don't Mix

Tonight Tracey and I made a discovery. Caroline is physically unable to handle silence for more than one minute. Tonight in the car the kids were in the back seat and getting "lively." This prompted a silence decree from the parents until we traveled the half mile to the house. Jack was okay with it. Caroline on the other hand could NOT keep from making some type of sound for more than a minute.

• First sound- Caroline started talking to Jack- CAROLINE STOP TALKING.
• Second Sound- 15 seconds later- Caroline started whispering to Jack- CAROLINE STOP TALKING. Caroline- I was whispering not talking- CAROLINE STOP MAKING ANY SOUND.
• Third Sound- 8 seconds later- We are almost home- Caroline starts humming. CAROLINE!!!! Caroline- Huh?!?

Silence is golden

Old Fashioned Parenting

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day here in Dallas. Sunny and I would say low 70's. After church Tracey and I told the kids that they could change their clothes into play clothes and go outside to play. We knew that shortly there after our next door neighbors grandson would come out and maybe the boy at the end of the street.
We also told Jack that today no one was aloud to come over to our house and play. He could play with them in our yard or sidewalk but no one was allowed in the house for today. If he got tired and wanted to come in he could but just him.
Why did we do this? We don't like the other kids!?!?! NO....we noticed all they do is sit and play video games. This is fine on rainy days I suppose but today it is OUT THE DOOR.
They played hard for about 2 and half hours. Jack and Caroline both came in for a water break. They were both breathing hard and their faces were red. The cause was a game of tag with the boundaries being three houses long. Finally, Jack came to see if they could please come inside. I told him no and if he wanted to rest he could play his Nintendo DS sitting under the tree with the boys. They finally went in to the neighbors house at hour number 3 outside to go watch a movie. THIS TIME Caroline got to go with them. (Good Job Jack)

This may seem mean by not letting him come inside but I remember when I was a kid on a day like today we were off by 10 in the morning and I did not come home till dinner time. If it was a pretty day and me and my friends were playing Atari or shooting pool my mother would kick us out after about an hour to go outside. I will probably put a time limit on Jack in the future if he wants to come in on pretty days. (30-60 min)

The benefits of keeping them active outside-

• Good Health
• The Kids Eat Well
• Go to bed on time and get good sleep

All because of good "Old Fashioned" parenting

Party Was A Success

The first grade mother's at Jacks school have been getting together once a month for about 3 months now. Tracey offered up our house to host this month and last night was the night. The group of mothers started out to be about 15 people. It has gone down to 4 regulars.

My role in this is that I made sure the house was clean and ready to shine along with making sure their were "food units" in place and ready to go. Thanks to On The Border we had an awesome party platter with just the right amount of food. When the party was going on I kept the kids in the back of the house so the ladies could talk and relax.

I am SO GLAD Tracey has found this group. She really looks forward to it and by us hosting I was able to return one of the gazillion times she has done this for my poker group.

I asked Tracey if the kids and I needed to disappear and she said absolutely not. The kids did great. I told them mommy was having a party and that we needed to play in the back of the house. They were totally fine with it.

The get together lasted from 7 to 10 and the best part of it all the ladies help clean up!!!! I kicked them out of the kitchen but it was nice that they offered. There was not near as much trash left as one of my poker parties.

Jack the Homebody!

Jack has hit a little phase where all he wants to do is stay home with the family. Today my mother had a fun day planned which he knew about all week and was excited about.

• Lunch at Luby's- One of his personal favorites
• Hair Cut- Cool Cuts for Kids
• Movie

He loves all of these things. When it came time to go he just started crying. He is going through a phase where he does not want to leave me. Half of me is glad he just wants to spend time with me.

On the other hand I think it hurts my mothers feelings that he does not want to go after they have talked about it all week.

Sorry Mom.

Finally I Hear Percentages In My FAVOR!!

There are different ways to treat leukemia based on the type of leukemia that you have.

• Chemo Only
• Transplant- You are your own donor
• Transplant- Related Donor
• Transplant- Unrelated Donor - Most risky

My sister, Dana was tested but she was not close enough of a match. I have to hand it to my sister because she absolutely HATES needles or shots and she did not hesitate to get tested to see if she was a match for me. So the first time around I was my own donor. At the time I was told that the chances of beating the leukemia where I was my own donor was 40% to 50%. That kind of stinks I think. If you go through all of this treatment I was hoping to 80% to 90%. Unfortunately with my type of leukemia it is what is.

When the leukemia came out of remission for a cameo appearance back in October I went through the chemo session again with a slightly different regimen of drugs and did an unrelated donor transplant. Again I was told the percentages of this working and the numbers are not good. It is somewhere around 35% to 45%. Again I would have liked to hear some higher numbers but it is what is. I can't change that so let's move on down the road.

I do have some things going FOR me that ups my percentages. My age and physical condition going into treatment plays a huge part. The reason the percentages are so low is that typically the type of leukemia I have shows up in people in their teens and then does not show up until people are in their 50's and 60's. The treatment is pretty rough and what can happen is as people are older their bodies cannot take the treatment. The doctors have to take the people off of chemo because it could kill them. Then what happens is the leukemia gets them.

I have been very fortunate during treatment. I handled all of the chemo very well. Don't get me wrong. I had some low days but overall it went well. The fact that I handled the treatment TWICE is a good sign.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs I have been having some Graf vs. Host pop up. Again, this is where your body is recognizing these foreign cells and is trying to work with them to keep the leukemia from coming back.

YESTERDAY I learned that of the people who have been cured of leukemia 80% to 90% had some graf vs. host.

FINALLY a percentage in my favor.

The Mind is Ready but the Body????

Well I was brave enough to talk to the physicians assistant about getting with my doctor to seriously talk about a date when I can return to work. As it stands right now June 1st is what my doctor is comfortable with. About 6 weeks ago I talked to him about the possibility of going back part time May 1st. That way I could help with shutting down the school for the year and be around the kids and staff before they leave. At the time he said that could be a possibility and if I felt strong enough and they thought I could handle it he would definitely consider it.

Well since then I have had two instances of Graf vs. Host pop up (skin rashes-mouth soars-digestive issues). Nothing major mind you just things you have to deal with going through all of this stuff.

I got the feeling from the physicians assistant today that this probably is NOT going to happen. They did reduce my steroid and she did mention that if everything is going well the next two weeks we can talk about at that time. We shall see. I want to go back badly but at the same time I don't want to risk anything and further delay my return. Right now I am in a hurry up and wait mode.

At this time I give myself about a 30% to 40% chance of returning May 1. Those percentages increase as the days go by and nothing pops up.

Good News From the Doctor

Well I went to the doctor on Friday. Since I have been out of the hospital January 30th I have been going to the clinic 2 times a week. Monday's and Thursday's have been my regular schedule. Typically what happens is they take all of your vitals and run your blood to see if you need anything. I have been very fortunate in that since my release from the hospital I have received NO BLOOD PRODUCTS. That means no blood, platelets, potassium or anything. One day I got fluids because I was dehydrated but that is it.

Well I finally hit the point where they are REDUCING my doctor's visits to once a week. My counts are recovering nicely but they are still out of whack in some areas. This is due to the Graf vs. Host that I have been fighting off the past couple of weeks. The physicians assistant said that while some numbers are out there she is not worried at all. I guess if she is not worried I am not worried.

Energy level is good! I over did the walking yesterday so I woke up about 3:30 and my knees are hurting but other than that I am great!

That's right....the world revolves around YOU!!

Today was doctor visit day. I took the elevator's up and down today because the last two times I used the stairs my knees hurt like the dickens that night.
Now let me tell you about the elevators at UT SOUTHWESTERN. You hit the button. As the doors open if you hit the down button the elevator says real loud. GOING DOWN...remember..as the doors open. If you hit up the same thing happens on you hear REAL LOUDLY .....GOING UP.

Well today I got to the elevator and I hit the down button. Today is Friday so it is pretty busy so the wait for the elevator was longer than usual. A person in a lab coat came and stood by me waiting for the elevator. I don't know if he was a doctor or a nurse or what because I have noticed MANY people wear the white lab coat up there who are not doctors or nurses.

Anyway, the elevator gets to us and the doors open. Loudly you hear GOING DOWN! I get in and hit 1 and "lab coat boy" hits the number 8! Off the elevator goes UP to 8. I just looked over at him and he looked directly ahead like I was not even in the elevator. The problem with going up to 8 is remember it is Friday and it's busy. So on the way down I got to stop at floors 6,5,3,and 2 to get to one.

That was just RUDE!!!

Next time I take the stairs.

JACK!! BUDDY YOU GOTTA LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!!

About two weeks ago Jack and I were going out for some daddy and son bonding. We went to the mall and went to a couple of his favorite stores and then we went to the food court for lunch. He loves all of the options at the food court even thought to this date he has chosen McDonald's EVERY TIME!

Anyway, we had a couple of treasures and we were leaving to go home. As we approached the automated doors Jack was digging in his sack looking at his new treasure. The only problem was he was off to the side...with the NON-MOVING SOLID GLASS. I looked over and all I got out was Buddy when BAM .... Jack walked right into the glass. That was one LOUD bang. I and a few people who were entering the mall at the time were all in ah that Jack was not leveled on the ground. I asked him if he was okay....he stammered....uh, yeah and off we went.

FAST FORWARD TO THIS AFTERNOON- He is riding his bike in the street and his Nanna and I are watching him ride. He was riding towards our house and everything was cool. As he approached our house he began to slow down. It appeared he was getting ready to dismount when something caught his eye and he was looking down. All I got out was J-A-C-K. BAM right into the back of NANNA'S CAR. Of course he fell of the seat and hit the crossbar. Now as a guy I have some SERIOUS SYMPATHY for Jack. I asked if he was okay and through his crying he yelled out....WHO PARKED THIS CAR HERE? Um Nanna did and you knew that because she was dropping you off...was my answer. His retort- WELL CAN YOU MOVE IT PLEASE...AND STOP LAUGHING CUS NOTING IS FUNNY HERE?

It's all in where you sit I guess.

Reality Check For Caroline

Jack is 7 and Caroline is 4. The kids are 2 years and 8 months apart. They are extremely close as siblings. They look after one another, play together, and both swear they are each others best friends. Jack and Caroline both worry that when they grow up they will not get to see each other very often. One night Jack was even a little bummed and when I pressed about it he began to cry. Why? because he said one day Caroline would get married and move away and he would miss her. Tuggggggg on heart strings. So you see...they are close.

The other day was a bit of a slap of reality for Caroline. There were 4 or 5 of Jacks neighborhood friends playing in the front yard. Of course Caroline was right in the middle of it all and since Jack kind of controls the group the others were fine with it.

Well one of the boys asked if the others wanted to go to his house and watch a movie. Off they ran to his house two doors down. The boys whose house it was at told Caroline she could not come because it was for boys only.

Reality Check-- Jack chose to go to watch the movie and told Caroline to go home. She was crushed! She came home crying and my wife asked her what was wrong. "BROTHA LEFT ME FOR HIS FRIENDS" For the first time Jack chose his buddies over his sister.

Caroline got over it pretty fast because she got to go to the store with her daddy. I let her hold the list and when we get an object she loves to cross it off the list with a highlighter. That and a barbie fell into our cart. When Jack got home I talked with him about what happened. I told I understood why he made the decision he did but that the NICE thing would to be not attend the movie is his sister was going to be left behind. He understood where I was coming from.

Little Girls and their Daddy's

Within the last month my wife and I have noticed that Caroline has taken to me more than Tracey. Jack has always been a "mom ma's boy". He loves daddy-son time as he calls it and Caroline loves to spend time with her momma. But when we are together Caroline tends to hang around me if she needs something and Jack always goes to his momma. Example: Crossing the street I will say, Caroline- you need to hold either mine or your mothers hand as we cross the street. 9 times out of 10 she will hold my hand and Jack will go to Tracey.

Which leads me to this question: Why do boy gravitate toward their mothers and girls gravitate towards their daddy's?

A Charlie Brown Moment For Jack

Everyone knows about the bad luck Charlie Brown seems to fall into and the look of defeat on his face after something happens. Well last Sunday Jack had one of these moments. Jack has been taking golf lessons here at the local golf course this Spring and is on their kids golf team. Well Sunday the coach and the team played at a country club in Garland. Jack recently out grew his clubs and he was making the big debut with his new clubs. He had practiced a couple of times and they REALLY made a difference in his shot.

Here he is at the driving range and he is hitting away and doing quite well. On about his third shot he NAILS a beautiful shot...one that I dream of. The ball stops at the 150yrd flag. Jack is just beaming. At the same time the ball takes off SOMETHING is FLYING OFF club at about a 25 degree angle to the right.(no it was not MY BALL) Whatever it was landed about 35 or 40 yards away.

What was it???? THAT WOULD BE THE CLUB HEAD!!! That's right...the brand new driver BROKE.

Charlie Brown Moment- Jack just looked at the club shaft that was still in his hand and dropped his head in sadness and let out a large sigh. As I was walking towards him his head was down and you could see his shoulders shaking. As I got closer he was beginning to cry a little and said, "Now I can't play GGGOOOOOLLLFFFFFFFF."

End result- He borrowed a driver from another kid and Mommy went to the store and got him a new hybrid club (it is a wood that can double as a iron) and Ma'Dana came through with getting a replacement driver from the store. By that evening Jack came out of it with TWO new clubs.

Caroline(isms)

My daughter is 4 and will be five in September. She will attempt to say any word when she talks. She is not afraid to try anything. Here is a conversation she had with my wife and I as we cleaned up from dinner.

Caroline: Mom, can I use your BLACKTOP to practice typing?

Tracey: You want to use mommy's blacktop?

Caroline: Yeah...the black one you use in your lap when you are working in bed.

Tracey: Ohhhh you want to use mommy's LAP...TOP.....

Caroline; YEAH...that is what I said.....maybe I would rather get one of my games and put it in the DISCO DRIVER and play it.

I love that little girl more than anything.

Pay Day

Well I finally got my check from large insurance company. I called them Monday and I was not very nice to the lady on the phone. No cursing or anything I just voiced my frustration in dealing with them. I just pointed out to her all of the little things that they have done to postpone payment as long as possible. I just played it all out. It was uncharacteristic of me because I am usually the very diplomatic one and I think things through very carefully before I speak. That was NOT the case when I was talking to this lady today. At times I was probably an ASS to her but I have had two months of frustration dealing with this company. The company headquarters is in New York and I am in Texas. I was told my check was mailed LAST Monday. After grilling this lady in the morning I went out to my mailbox this afternoon right after the mailman came and THERE WAS MY CHECK!!! I found myself with mixed emotions. I was happy to finally get my check but I felt guilty for grilling her. Like I said earlier this is very not me to do that to someone. Then I thought about why in the world it took my check 6 business days to get to me from New York. I have a sister-in-law that currently lives in New York and she has lived in LA. When she sends us mail it MIGHT take two days to get to us. O well I finally got paid and I will know in the future not to expect anything until the very end of the month.

Am I Falling Apart?

Physically I have always been pretty active. Throughout my life I have either been in athletics or doing something active like softball leagues, basketball leagues, work out at gym or work in the yard. I am not a nut about it but I love to play sports and keep my yard up. In the early summer of 2006 this all changed. I was diagnosed with leukemia and immediately began chemo treatments and eventually a bone marrow transplant. I was in remission for about a year and in October of 2007 the leukemia returned. I have since had a second bone marrow transplant (non related) and am in remission again. During this time there are things you cannot do for 6 months, a year, and two years physically.

Recently I have been feeling really well physically. I have been keeping the house up, cooking dinner, playing with the kids, and making it to all of their sporting events. In addition to that when I go to the doctors I have been taking the stairs instead of the elevator to try to build the strength up in my legs. I have really enjoyed being productive. My wife has been having to do EVERYTHING and in her spare time do her job because I was doing all I could to be awake and not sick.

The problem I am having is weird things are happening that have never happened before. I will be preparing dinner or cutting food up for my kids and I will get violent pains that shoot across my hands. It feels like my hand just cramps up and I can't move my fingers. This has been happening for about two months off and on. I will get leg cramps in the middle of the night that wake me up. Tonight as a matter of fact I got one in my calf and I reached down and I could feel a hard ball on the side of my calf. Finally, my knees...holy cow I don't what is going on there. The other night I was walking to the bathroom and my right knee just went out. The only reason I did not fall down was because I grabbed on to the bed. Temporarily I could put no weight on my knee and Tracey had to help me to the bathroom. After about 10 minutes of throbbing it went away and I was able to walk fine. Tonight both knees are throbbing. I can feel my heartbeat in my knees. Sitting up seems to help so that is why I am up at two thirty in the morning blogging.

I was talking to my dad about this yesterday telling him I was going to talk to the doctors about my medicine because clearly it was messing with my body. All of these symptoms must be side effects of the drugs I am on I thought. My dad pointed out that clearly I was on a lot of medicine but he also pointed out that I am approaching 40 years old (I will be 37 next month) and stuff like what I am dealing with starts happening. Clearly after what my body has been through the past two years (two bone marrow transplants and one operation) I am sure if you did one of those test to see how old your body is physically it has probably aged 10 years in 2.

I am going to have to take a couple of days and just rest and get my legs back. Once that happens I am going to really monitor my physical activity and see where this goes. My best friend in the whole world recently had some health issues and he is doing fine but I have noticed our conversations sometimes tend to go in the direction of what ailment we are dealing with. Then it hit me. I am getting older.

My dad is right. It probably is just time for "stuff" to start happening. I know once I get over all of this I will eventually be able to return to doing some things I used to like my lawn and working out at the club but I think that maybe I might have to officially retire from the recreation basketball and softball leagues and concentrate on improving my golf. THAT I can start playing again in about 5 months.

I might be falling apart a little but I will put this thing back together and move on.