Watch out for Sally's weapon.

The last post is pictures from yesterday and today. Yesterday morning, I was feeling well and decided to help out the sisters at the Missions of Charity. They really did put me to work. I was the master speedy potato peeler, I was unstoppable. Then I help served the food at the soup kitchen. All the helpers left and the sisters were still finding me work to do. I was in the garden digging holes and putting the vegetable peelings in the ground. One sister asked me when I would be back.(under my breath I said never)What I really said was, I will try to go back the next Saturday I have off. I did enjoy being there. When I came home Sally wasn't feeling well. I decided to go to the Harvest craft fair at Central Park. Sally called me and told me to get home because the outlet mall she wanted to go to was going to close in 3 hours. So I zoomed home to please her. Her goal was to get Zach and Kaity some clothes for the fall. After the first store we went to I wanted to run to the car and fly home. Sally had me go in the dressing room with Zachary to try on pants. Zachary was acting goofy and poking around. Then Sally was complaining about the clothes for Kaity being ugly. Ok I am a guy, I do not really care about clothes. So she told me to go look for clothes for Kaity. Usually she does this and then puts back all the clothes I pick. I was on the other side of the store when I heard Kaity crying. Then I looked up and Sally was holding her, rubbing Kaity's head. I went over there and found out that Sally had accidentally hit Kaity in the head with her purse. So I picked Kaity up and rescued her from Sally's mean bag. This purse is huge, I think it was use to carry a bowling ball in at one time. Sally uses it as a diaper bag. As we went to other stores Sally was getting upset with me because she kept asking me what I liked. My kids look cute in anything. Honestly, I really don't care but being the caring husband I smiled and nodded. Then we went to the Pepperidge Farm store. That's my kind of store. I had no problem picking out what I wanted there. There was at one point on the shopping trip Sally tried hitting me with the purse but I was fast on my feet and moved away. She claims it's all accidents but I wonder. After shopping the kids were tired and hungry. We ended up going to Ihop. Sally got up with Kaity to use the washroom. When she got up her purse swung and nearly clocked me in the melon, but with my cat like reflexes I escaped unscathed Instead she hit two coffee containers off the table next to us. Who needs a weapon when she has her purse with her. Beware and stay away when you see her with it.

This morning we went to 9:30 mass. Then we were invited to a picnic at my friend Dan's church( The Harvest Church of Lowell). We went there and had a good time. Usually our kids are very shy and stay with us. However, immediately a boy named Keith went up to Zach and started talking to him. The next thing I knew Zach was outside with Keith. Kaity was watching all the girls play. They went to take a walk in the woods. One of the ladies invited Kaity to go with. Kaity grabbed her hand and walked away without looking back. We went to eat and yes Sally had her weapon with her. She was getting Kaity's food and I kept watching and waiting to see who Sally would knock over with it. Instead, Kaity's hot dog rolled off the plate and into the veggie tray. Nice job I thought to myself. Here we are meeting people we haven't met before and Sally decides to start a food fight. The food was excellent and the desserts were even better. Kaity found a friend. Her name is Azalea and she is 2 as well. Azalea grabbed Kaity's hand and they took off. hand in hand. It was really cute to watch. Later on, 2 huge bull snakes were found. The kids were amazed by the snake. On the way home Kaity was sad. I think she missed her new friend.

The church Dan belongs to is the Harvest Church. We had a very enjoyable time today. I was glad to finally meet Pastor Brian. He has commented on my blog and better yet he is a Cub's fan. I appreciate all the prayers that he and his church have said for me. Everyone was really friendly and really made me and my family feel at home. You can tell they are a very close knit group. I was afraid I would feel out of place but I didn't at all. Pastor Brian you should be very proud of what you have going at that church.

I really wanted to say how I really appreciate my big sister Dawn. She is the reason I am the wonderful, honest. good looking , athletic, hard working, funny, compassionate, God fearing, sensitive, family orientated,caring, kind, considerate, gentle, passionant, loyal, intriguing, unique, intelligent, articulate, bold, devoted, faithful, ravishing, interesting enjoyable, energetic and just an overall perfect human being. If it wasn't for you I would be just an average Joe. I really appreciate the hard work it took you to mold me. You are truly a special person to devote your time to me. You are truly one in a million. I am lucky to have you as my sister. I am sorry my traits haven't rubbed off on you. Don't give up I am sure you will be there some day I will keep praying until then. Ok Dawn is this good enough for you to be my sister again.

Thanks for visiting my Blog and God Bless.

Everyone says that Zach and I look alike. I really don't see the resemblance.

Another quick post for your reading pleasure.

I want to write a quick blog, but not to long. As mentioned in another blog someone thinks they may run a little to long. So I will write this very quickly so that it won't cause anyone to miss work or maybe there favorite Tv show cause in is so interesting and can't stop reading it. Just remember you could always read the rest later.That is perfectly ok, the content won't change, unless I change it. So I just want to make it clear that this is a quick posting. Just remember your reading content of this blog may be compromised. I will do my best to keep it as interesting as possible but shorter. I know it will be a challenging task to shorten it, but I am up for the challenge. I back down from nothing. Unless Sally is really mad at me ,then I may cower a little. So to make sure this blog is short I will start now. So please bare with the shortness of it.

I finally feel like I should. Wednesday or Thursday was the first day I really felt better without feeling totally exhausted. Monday and Tuesday I went to sleep really early cause I was so tired. I really needed that. The only thing that is bothering me now is the numbness in my hands and feet that may never go away or at least not completely. If I stub my toe it hurts a lot more than if it wasn't numb. You would think it would be the opposite. So I should be fine until my next Chemo , that is on Thursday Oct. 1st. I will get my result of my CT scan that I had on Tuesday then too.

About a week ago I was putting Kaity to bed for the night. I placed her in her bed and I turned around to leave. All of a sudden she started to scream and started to wail like a banshe. I turned to her and said what is wrong , did you get hurt. After I finally pried her mouth away from my neck she was pointing at her bed. I was thinking that there was a bug or something in her bed. I didn't see anything after looking through her covers. She kept pointing in her bed and she finally said "pillllll". Pill I thought to myself. Oh, you mean pillow. I looked at the pillow and didn't see anything that would upset her. After further review of the area, I was, oh you got to be kidding me. I looked at her pillow and Cinderella was looking at us upside down and some of the pillow case wasn't covering her pillow all the way. I went to work right away to fix the crisis at hand. When I was done I put her down and she went right to sleep. She is going to grow up and be very meticulous.

I am going to let you go. I hope you like the short post I just wrote. I will keep trying to keep it a little shorter. I will do the next blog on the 1st of Oct. Thanks for visiting and God Bless.

A quick note the Indiana Ghost Trackers are having a free ghost and history tour on Sunday. It is from 6-7 pm You meet at the Porter county court house in down town Valpo. They are a very knowledgeable group.

Up date

Just a little blog to keep my fans informed. As I wrote previously I had chemo on Thursday and had the pump take out on Saturday. For the most part I was fine. Just very tired and the food has very little or no taste. I am doing better now though.

Today I went for my CT scan. Usually I don't have a problem drinking the barium but today I did. I could barely get it down and hours later I still can't get the taste of it out of my mouth. I will find out the results on October 1st. That is when the next office visit is. They do not give out test results out over the phone. I kind of understand why but now I have to wait.

Today, Sally and I took Kaity to get shoes. When we use to take Michael when he was little he always ran around. He was more interested in playing with the toys then he was with the shoes. The first pair he tried on was usually the ones we bought. Not because we liked them the best but because we couldn't catch him to take them off of him. Kaity on the other hand, is a true shopping queen. She sat their patiently waiting for her turn. She sat there without moving waiting for her shoes. The sales lady brought out at least 15 pairs of shoes for her to try on. Kaity didn't mind trying on shoes. There was a pair of shoes Kaity and Sally liked very much. With the boys you can get away with one pair of shoes. However, some outfits look silly with running shoes for her. So we usually end up having to buy her 2 pairs. I was ready to buy the ones that they liked until Sally asked how much they were. They were only $68. Her shoes usually cost more then mine and they only last 3-4 to months but $68 that's crazy. Plus we still would have had to buy her a pair for outside. Sally is still talking about how she wished we bought them for her.

I also wanted to address a couple of items. Lynn wrote in my guess book today. Not sure if she will be back in the guess book so I wanted to reply to her message. Yes, Dr. Mboama is very good. I like him very much. I couple of patients I have talked to had fired their oncologist and went to him instead. I have not heard of any patients that have complained about him. He is a little hard on his staff but he has always been respectful with me. Sally will come in with a billion questions and he will answer them all without rushing us out. As for his staff, they under staffed. They really need to hire more people. It's hard to get through to then when you call as well. The staff themselves our very nice. They go out of their way to make you as comfortable as possible. Lynn, I hope some day I get to meet your dad at chemo. I am the one that usually wears a Cub shirt and my wife is often in and out of the room. I also feel that Doctor MBoama is a very aggressive Oncologist. He will do is best to make us better. Having the Big "C" isn't a death sentence by any means. Cancer has come a long way in just two short years with all the testing that is going on. You have to be positive no matter how things may look. Your mind frame has a lot to do with the recovery.

I want to mention that this blog is hopefully to inform and to help understand what I and other cancer patients are going through. It's not about my family,although I did want to have a reminder for my kids of how things were with there dear old dad, and I also like to tell the stories. Now that I think more about it,it is more for my kids. Its a way for them to remember me and have the fond memories that I have tried to give them if I do die. I just hope that if anyone may have any questions not to hesitate to ask. Again I want to thank Lynn for making a comment on my guest book and hope you continue to visit my blog. If anyone wants to get ahold of me, you can look me up on Face book. I check this daily as the blog is every few days or so since I don't post daily anymore.

I was told my blog needs to be shorter. I would like to say thank you for your opinion. I really want to hear what people think. I know my blog is lengthy at times. However, there are some weeks when it's just not possible for me to write during the week because of work and not feeling my best. I will try to make them shorter though. How about if I make the print smaller and won't look as long?

"Biggest Looser" is on so I am going to go and watch it and eat my frozen pizza. Take care and God Bless. I will try to post again this weekend.Take care and God Bless.

A rewarding Chemo Session

Today we went to Cosco's for dinner. I ate first cause I was getting weak from the Chemo I had yesterday and having on the pump. Zach was standing under me to catch my crumbs and Kaity waiting patiently by for left overs.

Today I had my chemo and so far I am doing good. It was a very pleasing session, because there was a couple of patience there, who were reminiscing about their past and it was very interesting.We were getting very loud with all the talking and laughter.The doctor was getting a little annoyed so we had to close the doors so we wouldn't distract the other patients and doctors. There are other doctors offices near the Oncology dept.So we can be very distracting sometimes. So we closed the door so the doctor wouldn't make us put our noses against the wall. Actually the chemo room isn't in the ideal location. It's right across the hall from the office rooms. The chemo room it self is small and cramped. There are 8 chemo chairs and only 3 chairs for the visitors. There are just 2 TV's and sometimes I get stuck watching something I have no interest in. It's sad that we are told be quiet. When there is laughter and good conversation it's makes the chemo treatments that much easier. Plus the time flies by. It's nice when the other patients talk. I learn a lot and it's nice to know I am not a lone in this. I guess sometimes my chemo sessions turn into therapy sessions as well. There were two men yesterday that kept talking about how there cancer is a blessing. Which I totally believe there are many blessings that come with cancer. These men have been battling cancer for years. For Rodney it's been a 10 year battle for him. He has a rare form of cancer and very little is known about it. He recently had another surgery because of the cancer. He said when he first found out he was in his late 40's. He gave up his job and started enjoying his life. He rides his bike all over now. In fact he is part of the team that helps establish bike trails in our area. He said even on the days he is not well enough to ride his bike he is riding his bike in his mind. Because of his unique bike I have remember seeing him on the bike paths a couple of times. I look forward to seeing him again. The other gentleman is a Rev. Hayes. This is his second battle with prostate cancer. He also works full time at Inland Steel. During his free time he fixes up bikes and donates them to the children. He also goes on the streets talking to the youth and takes them to Sunday services with him. In August, The Times paper had an article on him about the bikes. It just amazes me to see how happy and strong these men are. Nothing stops them from living their dreams not even cancer. I remember before I was diagnosed with cancer when I hear about someone getting cancer and I would feel sorry for them. Now that it's me, I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. Because of cancer I have been very humbled and blessed. It's hard to explain but there is so much good that came way my way as a result of cancer.

Next week I am scheduled for a CT Scan on Tuesday the 22ND. Prayers, prayers and more prayers are needed for a clean scan results. I will get the results of the test on Oct.1ST on my next Chemo session. The waiting for the results have been the hardest. Even thought you think you are fine in the back of your mind there is the doubt. It drives Sally crazy waiting. I was asked a long time ago by some of you what chemo medications I was taking. I finally remembered to get the info. What I take is Leucovorin a Vitamin, Eloxatin, Avastin and 5-FU/LV all Chemo medication. When I go home with the pump it's more of the 5-FU/LV

I want to apologize if the last blog may have offended anyone. It was mentioned that someone was a little perturbed by the content.If one person has an issue than it needs to be addressed. One person is one to many. I try to write the blogs as tactfully as I can ,but sometimes there may be a mental lapse. In my defense it's a chemo side effect.( just ask Sally about my memory lapses)

Today at Central Park in Griffith was Creepy Crawler night. They had all these plastic bugs and spiders and snakes spread all over the park in different sections for different age groups. Sally was with Zach with the 2Nd and 3rd grade section and I was with Kaity in the pre- Kindergarten section. I was hoping , I mean the kids were hoping that there would be candy to be picked up, but there wasn't, it was all plastic toys, bummer. Then it was time for everyone to start and pick up the Creepy Crawlers. Kaity was like a Dyson Vacuum cleaner. Leaving nothing in her path not picked up. Then there was a problem. Kaity and this other little girl was looking at the same colorful spider that I believe was calling out Kaitys name to be picked up. Kaity then pounced on the spider like a cat on a juicy mouse. This little girl then grabbed the spider out of Kaitys hands.I immediately started to rip my shirt off. This cleared the park out including Sally ,Zack and Micheal who were all there. I think they sensed the anger that was being born. Or maybe it was just the fact that some crazy guy tore off his shirt and was now half naked (not to mention the huge scar I have on my stomach) ready to rumble with a two year old who stold my daughter's snake. Nobody messes with my kids, so I thought I was justified.Then I woke up from my dream and just patted the little thief on the head and sent her on her way, but not before I tripped her. After it was all over Kaity had a half full gallon sized zip lock bag full and Zack had maybe half of what Kaity got. All the participates were given some chips and water after wards. They got the water , Cheeze itz and some other snack, that I am not sure what it was because I was, I mean the kids were bummed out about not having any candy. This was the first time I was able to attend this annual event. It seemed it always fell on a work day. It was a really fun time watching all these kids tackling each other to get this stuff. It was just nice they weren't in my yard doing it for once

There are a few happenings going on in the area. The 26th and 27th at Griffith's Central Park is Harvest Craft Festival and on the same Days it's Rail Road days near the old Train Station in beautiful down town Griffith. The same weekend at the Lake County Fairgrounds is the Covered Bridge Festival. If you are in the mood for some music on the 26th at 2-6pm is concert in the park, featuring Once Rejected,Three Nails Failed and Vindicated. Don't know anything about them, so I may go out and check them out.There is a raffle for a Fender Guitar and Amp package, no purchase necessary, just have to be present.

I have many stories to tell but want to save some for other blogs or the blogs will be very long. I want to thank everyone for visiting my Blog and God Bless you all and think positive thoughts no matter how hard.

Please pray for a 4th grader name Hope that attends the same school as Zach. She was hit by a car yesterday evening on Broad St. She was air lifted last night to a Chicago hospital. She is in critical condition. From what I have heard she wasn't expected to make it through last night.

Chemo Day

Keep Bill in your prayers and thoughts today. He is having chemo this afternoon. Last time was rough on him.
Sally

This stinks!

This is me with the Neighborhood ruffians. Kaity is getting a kick out of her Daddy playing with all the little kids. Little does she know her Daddy is little at heart.

This past week has been very good. At work I was working a Kaizen event all week and felt really good and rested for the most part. I haven't been working very hard at work,because the Kaizen is meetings that deal with what we can do to make positive changes in the plant. Each event deals with a different area of the plant.( This one was Metallizer standard work control) You just use more of your brain.(insert joke here) So things are going good. My next Chemo is on Thursday. I plan to do the next blog on Friday night.

Zachary's school class watched the Obama speech a while back. This was the speech that our President wanted the schools to have there students watch. If Zachary was older I probably wouldn't have sent him to school.Since Zach is only 7 I didn't think he would change his political views cause he probably doesn't have any now. Hopefully someday he will have his own views without being forced to watch a speech. During this speech Mr. President told the kids not to go to school if they are sick. What the heck was he thinking . Now I deal with Zach waking up and stating how his belly is hurting him and can't go to school cause Baack bama said if you are sick you should stay home. I asked Zach what he remembered about The speech.He said that president Bama said don't go to school if you are sick.What else did he say, "Ohhhh I don't know". "Zach didn't you listen to what was said" "Yeah only the important part"." What important part do you mean"? "Don't go to school if you are sick"." Zack go to school".

A few days ago I was running a few errands with Zach and Kaity. Kaity just got done eating some generic type Funyun Chips. I looked at her through the rear view mirror. She had the look of total horror. I asked her if she was OK. She shook her head no so fast I thought it may fall off. Just then she shot a load of vomit mixed with the aroma of onions all over the back seat and herself. For such a little girl she really did me proud with such a heave. Then the smell hit me hard. Doing the chemo I cannot do some smells well. Needless to say I started to hack and hack some more. I looked at Zack and he looked like he was turning blue cause he was holding his breath. I rolled all the windows down to get some fresh air in the car. I again looked at Kaity and asked if she was done with her mighty display of areal puke. I was waiting for a sinister voice to come from her stating TAKE ME TO BUILD A BEAR NOOOOW! But the response I got was in a very low tone was yyyyeeeeeesss. I really felt bad for Zach, I thought he was going to jump out of the car.I was glad that I was on the way home. When we got home Sally met me in the driveway. She immediately took Kaity and gave her a bath.

On Friday I took Kaity on a bike ride. She was on the rear of my bike with the seat My brother gave me. We were riding all over downtown Griffith. At one point I inadvertently sent a special delivery stink bomb to Kaity. I didn't think anything about it until a few minutes later or at least it seemed like a few minutes, I heard her say "Stinky" I looked back at her and she was holding her nose. I was thinking that was a delayed reaction and didn't think it was because of me. I really didn't think it was that bad. So I did what any mature adult would do.I sent her some more love to see if it was a fluke. Again she said "stinky" and was holding her nose. I felt bad for a little while,but than I thought of all the times she had played smell my finger with me. Yes, it was revenge.

Our neighbors little girl Taylor is having surgery on Tuesday for some Stomach problems she is having. So if you can keep her in your thoughts and prayers on Thursday. Thank You!

Thanks for visiting and God Bless

A quick blog?

I want to do a quick blog just to let everyone know how the weekend was at the Fun House. This weekend I had a allot of issues of tiredness and fatigue but, I still was able to have some quality time with Kaity and Zach. I pushed myself a little bit, to be able to have some fun time with the kids. I am sleeping allot better than earlier in the week when I had the pump on. It takes a few days before I am able to have a decent nights sleep. Today I had almost a five hour nap and I feel pretty good.My appetite is getting better. I have a insatiable craving for Centrella Cottage Cheese (Centrella the food supplier of Strack and Van Tils--Strack and Van Tils the official store of Bills Life with Cancer Blog.) You may want to buy stock in Centrella Cottage Cheese.



On Sunday day Zach and I went to some of my Turtle catching stomping grounds. He has been asking me to take him out looking for turtles for awhile. So when I woke up and was just plain lazy until about 1:00 ,Sally mentioned that maybe I should take Zachary out to the woods. I grew up going to the woods with my brother Mike and later with a friend of mine when I was able to go by myself. Zach and I first went to Oxbow park with camera in tow. It is now a preserve. There were trails and little bridges to walk on. We walked all around on the paths of Oxbow Park which is part of the little Calumet River. We were walking on one of the bridges when I noticed a Leopard Frog. Zach come here, look at the frog.He was looking at it in total amazement. Just like if he was at the Zoo. He was looking at it attentively and finally chimed in Daddy should we tickle the Froggy.No Zack ,only Bull Frogs like to be tickled.( read paper towel guy blog) We continued our track when I saw a Great Blue Heron. Zack Look at the big bird. Daddy that is a big birds( only one bird) Will he eat me. No,he won't eat you unless your naughty,Daaad! Then all of a sudden the bird started to take off. Zach had the camera case around his shoulder. Zach quick give me the camera. As I grabbed the camera case to get the camera out I noticed I grabbed air.Dude, didn't you make sure the camera was in the case. Stupid question cause obviously he didn't. No, Daddy I didn't. Oh well what can you do. We continued on our way. The path was overgrown with weeds and such. I wore pants and Zach had on shorts. He was having some trouble walking down the path because of all the sticky weeds their were. He was saying ouch Daddy the the weeds are hurting me. Zach if you didn't forget the camera this wouldn't be happening to you( as I said this to myself). We started to walk briskly down the path and on to another bridge,I spotted what looked like a Great Egret. It was at a fairly long distance so not totally sure if it was an Egret.I should have taken my binoculars so I could have been more sure. They are rare in our area, but are known to be seen on occasion around here. Zach look at that big bird over there. It took awhile to get his attention because he seemed more interested in the baby Grasshoppers hopping all over the place. Daddy will he eat me. Only if you are naughty,Daaaad! We have saw numerous painted turtles though out the day. I took him to one of my favorite spots at a area we called the flats.It changed allot with all the flood prevention development in that area.Then we went to a place I like to call the area behind the tennis courts.( the tennis courts don't exist any more) Zach and I walked up a tall hill to some bike path and walked down a ways. We saw some more turtles and some fish and now hold on to your hats a water pumpimg station. Dad what is thaaat? That is a water pumpimg station,woooooow. Zach are you ready to go home. No Dad, I want to play on the water pumping station.Zach we have to get back and get ready to go to church, if you are good I will take you somewhere better a electrical power station. If you are lucky it will send shock waves through your body with excitement. Ok Dad lets go, I hope he doesn't think I was serious. When we got back to the tall hill Zach decided to run down the hill. Zach you don't want to do that. Zach slow down be careful . Zach really stop you don't want to oooooooohhhhhhh Zack you Ok?(hahahahah) Yes Dad,I will be OKs.I am a big boy, Yes you are. Now lets go home and bandage you up.

I want to tell a story of divine intervention or at least I believe it was.This past week was the celebration of the birthday of Mother Teresa. So at the church of the Missionary of Charities the sisters were having a novena mass for nine days for Mother Teresa. I went to three of the masses but wish I could have been to all but because of my tiredness I wasn't able too. All these masses had a different priest to do the mass.At one of the masses there was going to be a priest that wasn't familiar with the missionary of charities church (St. mark's Church) We were told that the priest was going to be late. We didn't think anything of it. The priest finally got there and the mass was said. After the mass we were all talking and Sister Maria Ignacius said that father got lost and couldn't find the church. She called the Carmelite Monastery to try and give him directions. She talked to another priest Father Ivans trying to get a hold of this priest. Finally Sister Maria Ignacius got a call from Father.She was going to explain to him how to get to us. He asked if the Church was St.Mark's. Sister said yes it was. He said that he was parked in front of the church. So without any help from sister he actually drove to the church without knowing how to get there.

Lemon Zest Fest is this coming weekend in Highlands Main Square(Sept. 11Th and 13Th). This is one of my favorite festivals to go to. I always enjoy myself with the great music there and all the booths. So if you aren't doing anything this coming weekend, I recommend this festival.

Thanks for visiting and God Bless. Until the weekend take care.

Stories from the front

Sorry I didn't post in the middle of the week. Still trying to figure out if anyone is still reading this besides Deb. I worked days this week. I thought I was going back on my rotating shift but they kept me on an 8 hour shift again. I had chemo on Tuesday and went into work afterwards. I am very thankful to be working at a company who is understanding. Most places wouldn't accommodate me. Avery does without making me feel guilty. I was able to make up the hours I missed which is good because I have very little vacation time built up to use. It seems like the chemo treatments are starting to effect me a little bit. I think one reason is that when I was home I was able to sleep it off. I am still functionable but I just don't feel 100%. It was also more of a challenging week because we had to clean out the machine one day. It's hard to understand if you do not work at Avery. The machine has chambers we have to squeeze into it to clean. It's hot and dirty inside there. It's miserable even if you are not sick. The chambers are also dirty with Aluminum Oxide and dirt and Oil, so by the time we are done we are filthy. Well I had my pump in when we had to clean. I could not take a shower until I had the pump removed. That is the worst part. I am going to talk with the nurses and see if I could put the pump in a zip lock bag and take a bath. The tube is long enough it should reach the floor. At least then I would feel better.

I have been keeping notes so I have a lot to talk about. Before, I had trouble thinking what to write. Now, I have the opposite dilemma. I am looking at my notes and I see I have something to write about every member of my family. Of course excluding myself. I guess I will start with youngest to oldest. So Kaity is first. The other day Sally and I took her to Target with us. Usually she talks about the "baby dolls" but that night she kept asking for a "baby sister". At first we thought we heard her wrong but she was very clear. While we were shopping she kept mentioning a baby sister. She was even trying to put baby items in the cart for her baby sister. Sally and I both looked at each other and shook our heads. It was cute at first but we both kind of got nervous as she went on.I quickly changed the subject to something I can relate to better. Kaity want to go get some ice cream,yyyyyyeeeeeeeaaaahhhh. We just got rid of most of the baby items it would just be our luck if Kaity got her wish. So far she has been quiet about a baby sister. Hopefully, she will stay that way.
Monday, when I came home from work, Kaity ran up to the door. Her arms were open big and wide while she ran up to me. She gave me the biggest hug ever and while she was hugging me she said "I Love You". Hugs are rare from her and I never heard her say "I love you" unless she is told that first. I was the happiest dad in the world that day. She has never done that to my wife so that even made it more special to me.
On the day of my chemo we didn't have a sitter for Kaity. Michael watched her until he had to go to school. Sally was with me at chemo for an hour before she left. I slept their for the most part but when ever I woke up this guy from across the room was always looking at me. I hope I wasn't snoring and I hope he wasn't staring at me because he noticed the drool running down my face. At least when Sally is there she will wipe off my drool and wake me up when I start to snore. The chemo session took longer then usual. Sally waited in the waiting room with Kaity for me. She didn't bring any snacks, books or toys with because she didn't think she would have to wait and hour and a half for me. Kaity was asking for me so Sally called my cell phone so my little girl could talk to me. Kaity said "Hi Daddy!" in her cheerful voice. She wasn't yelling but she talked to be heard. A man sitting kiddie corner to them said "Shhh be quiet". At first my wife thought he was joking but realized he wasn't. So she told him Kaity was fine. She wasn't yelling and she wasn't running around. The guy commented that he thought there were no cell phones allowed in the hospital. Sally told him there are no signs posted and that this isn't a hospital and if you don't shut up my musculine husband is going to kick your butt(I added the last part for added effect) Then the guy got up and walked away.
After my chemo we were all hungry and I needed to eat before I went in to work. We went across the street to Edwardo's for lunch. There was a little boy Kaity kept staring at. While she was making google eyes at him she somehow managed to get her straw stuck in her hair. She didn't even realize she had done it. I asked her where did her straw go. She was looking all over for it while Sally and I were laughing at her.

Now I will move on to my little pumpkin Zach. The other day I told him if he didn't pick up his toys from the living room he would be grounded from outside. His reply "No I wouldn't I can still go outside at school during recess". I told him I would call school and tell them to keep him inside if he didn't pick up his toys. With in a blink of an eye his toys were off the floor.
One day on the way home from school Zachary was talking about a kid from school who follows him around all the time and he wants to be Zach's friend. Sally said that was nice. Zachary said he didn't want to be his friend. Sally asked why and Zach said because he is fat. Sally pointed out that Zach isn't slim himself. Zach said "I am not fat" while he pulled up his shirt and attempted to suck his belly in. Then he said " If I were fat I would have fat fingers." Then he pulled out his hand displaying his short little fingers asking "Are my fingers fat?" Sally, Michael and our neighbor Taylor were all in the car laughing at him. He kept asking if his fingers were fat and with some coaxing on Michael's part Taylor said "yes". Zach kept saying my fingers aren't fat as he continued to show them to everyone.
The other day we were coming home from some where. As we were approaching the house Zach asked me to STOP and BACK UP, QUICK because he needed to show us something.I nearly blow out a tire stopping so quickly. I had no idea what it was but he seemed very adamant about showing us something. There were neighbors outside and I didn't want it to look to obvious by backing up so I drove around the block( thinking that I stopped in front of them so obviously didn't set them off ). I slowed down when I got around our block. There is a house on the corner across the street from us. We can see it very well standing on the porch. Zach pointed to that house and said "That's where Elizabeth lives". Ok Zack that is were Elizabeth lives, what did you want to show us that almost made me crash the car. "That is were Elizabeth lives Daddy" 'Thats it, Your grounded boy"! Not sure why he couldn't point to it while we were at home instead of making me drive by it to tell me.

Oh boy! Now I move on to Michael. Well........... We were all in the car (notice how most of these happen in the car) we were talking about Milton Bradly. Michael started talking about cereal. We were a little confused but not as confused at he was as it turns out. Michael thought Milton Bradly was a cereal company. Sally and I laughed at him for awhile before explaining to him that Milton Brady doesn't make cereal.I had to tell him that he was a baseball player for the Cubs and having a very bad year and if he decides to retire can have a career in making board games. He is 18 years old and thinks his parents no nothing and he knows everything except for who Milton Bradly is.

Now on to my dear wife. If you notice with each person it gets smaller. I just didn't want to bore anyone else. Believe you me there is a lot of material to write. I would have to write a book to write about everything. But right now my fingers are getting tired so I will make it short without excluding her completely. During the night my wife often ends up sleeping on the couch. She confessed to me the other day that I have been replaced by the couch. She find the couch more comforting and prefers to cuddle up with it instead of me. Can you believe that? I am very cuddly. A little hairy but, quite cuddly.

As you all know the Sox and the Cubs season is over as far as I am concerned. So now it is go Notre Dame, Bears or Colts!

That is it for this time. When I finally start my normal schedule I should be able to write at least 2 blogs a week. Thanks for visiting and God Bless!

Pictures to go with the latest survey

While you are waiting for my next post....

This was in today's paper. In the picture is my friend Dan who often responds to my post often. Well he was but stopped. If it wasn't for the counter I would think no one is reading my blog except for Deb.

Experts say lawmakers can hear health ralli

September 3, 2009

By Mark Taylor, Post-Tribune correspondent

One question stands out about health care reform rallies, whether pro or con:

Who, if anyone, is listening?

» Click to enlarge image

Vigils for health care reform took place in three Northwest Indiana communities Wednesday. In Highland, James Roseen of Munster, center, argues with Dan Blankenship of Lowell about health care reform during a vigil in support of health care reform at the Highway of Flags Memorial. Similar events took place in Hobart and Valparaiso.
(Scott M. Bort/Post-Tribune)

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Larry Baas, a Valparaiso University professor and chairman of the Department of Political Science, said the public rallies to date seem to have swayed opinion.

"There's no doubt that something's going on out there. Public support for government involvement in health care has dropped," Baas said. "Will these rallies have an impact? There is a tendency for the media to cover the negative and that conveys that there's a swelling of support for the opposition. Misinformation is given legitimacy. It has put Obama on the defensive. It's easy to scare people on such a personal and complex issue as health care."

Ed Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, a Washington-based non-partisan policy education group, said there is a different dynamic at play now. "In 1994 it was pretty clear the Clinton plan would not pass," Howard said. "But Obama has avoided some of Clinton's mistakes. This plan was developed by Congress, not by the president in secret. And Congress is much more invested in this and that helps them to build momentum. This lady ain't dead yet."

Howard said it isn't just who shouts louder at the rallies, though he admits people are hearing the shouting. "If nothing else, these rallies make congressmen read the bill, even though this is more Astroturf lobbying versus grass-roots lobbying."

Carroll Doherty, assistant director of the Washington-based Pew Research Group, said there has been little backlash against the protests attacking health care reform. "The opponents have attracted attention. Are they moving the needle? I think other things are more decisive, such as how concerned people are about the costs. This is a complex and confusing issue for Americans."

Doherty said that a July Pew poll found 39 percent favored health care reform, while 44 percent opposed it. In a Sept. 2 poll that figure changed only slightly, to 38 percent supporting reform and 46 percent opposing it.

"We don't see this greatly affecting overall public opinion," Doherty said, except in one area. "The Tea Party protests bolstered the very strong opposition, which is much more intense than the support for reform."

Marie Eisenstein, assistant professor of political science at IUN, said Congress is paying attention to the rallies.

"Of course they're listening," Eisenstein said. "These public rallies do work. Whoever ends up winning that debate comes down to who will have swayed the majority of public opinion in their favor. Between 10 percent and 20 percent of the population in the middle are willing to listen and House members are paying particular attention because they care about being re-elected."

Richard Rupp, interim head of the History and Political Science Department at Purdue University Calumet, said the pro and con health care reform rallies are a good thing for democracy.

"We are in the midst of the most intense national debate on health care public policy in many, many years and it's healthy for citizens to be engaged in attending events focusing on public policy questions," Rupp said. "But this particular public policy question is complicated, nuanced and terribly important and I hope that rather than shouting at one another we would be striving to be more sober and truly understand the issues rather than simply name call and try to undermine various proposals out there without trying to understand them."

Sam Flint, assistant professor of public affairs at Indiana University Northwest, said the congressional-sponsored health care reform events "were supposed to educate us about health reform and instead educated us on politics. The folks opposed to health reform clobbered the pro health reform forces in August, and Obama needs to return to the drawing boards. This was such a well-orchestrated campaign of misinformation that first went to the elderly, then to veterans and now women to scare them," Flint said.

He said GOP positions have hardened and even moderates are taking a firmer line against reform. "They believe that if they can stop health reform, they can stop Obama and take back the House. Morale is high. This is becoming a titanic battle and the (Tea Party members) are winning and changing more minds than the progressives who want reform."

But Chris Jennings, former senior health policy adviser to President Bill Clinton and founder of Jennings Policy Strategy Team, said today's political and policy climate are different.

"I'm optimistic that Obama can reclaim momentum and here's why. Democrats have had a few hard months with some unfortunate bumps in the road. The good news is that they have three fundamentals going for them that we didn't have in 1993-1994 that will sustain them and get them back on track. They are more unified. Most of the health care special interests fear not having reform more than reform itself, and none want to be blamed as the reason reform efforts failed. And Obama let Congress jump-start the process, so they have a greater stake in it."