Orange and Cream Pristine

Daddy has a method of giving gifts and has perfected it over the past years. He puts a lot of thought into it, the process usually goes something like this

1- Is it on Sale?
2- Will it benefit me?
3-How can convince the recipient (usually mom) that they need this gift?

Here are a few examples from years past:

Mom and Daddy were married St. Patrick's Day (for those who are unaware of this beloved Irish holiday it's the 17th of March) 1972. Mom's Birthday is March 20th. As a newly married bride you can imagine her excitement and anticipation waking up on Her birthday to see what her doting new husband had picked out for her. She awoke that morning to a very handsome and thoughtful husband who immediately wished her a Happy Birthday, quickly followed by "I will buy you your present in Tijuana!" So off they went to experience the life and adventure across the border. Daddy loved it he was buying up Leather Jackets, Watches, even ceramic bowls! Then once he realized his new bride was in tears and sniffling, (a sign for "Hello it's MY Birthday") he switched gears and convinced her how awesome it would be if they both had Jackets and Watches and they did to, right up until they crossed back over the border and Mom's watch immediately stopped working!!! If its any consolation though the buttons on both jackets fell off and the bowl was broken when a "blind" man deliberately hit it with his walking stick!

Another great example and mom's favorite (Until this past Christmas morning anyway) was the weed whacker! Let's be honest ladies what girl has not ever wished for a weed whacker for her birthday or Christmas, I know I have, but then again I am afterall My Fathers Daughte! It makes sense to me, and it made sense to Daddy so for her BIrthday one year he did Mom the favor and purchased one for her, on sale of course. "You just might mow the grass one day" he said, "But until then do you mind if I use it?"

Another was the air-popper. She wanted an Orville Redenbacher Hot Air-popper for Christmas one year and Daddy found something better for her, The Presto Popper, it was also on sale.

Last year Daddy had his heart set on a carbonator. I don't know what it's really called because that is what Daddy would call it, "The Carbonator!" Sarah and I stood in Bed Bath and Beyond for at least 45 min and tried to convince him that Mom did NOT think this was as cool as he did, but he had convinced himself that Mom would love it, so he bought it, and she hasn't used it even once since, but Daddy, well he has Carbonated everything from straight up water to chocolate milk and even orange juice!!! He says, "if its liquid I carbonated it!"

So this Christmas lets just say Daddy had some making up to do and although the gift I am about to tell you about has been an ongoing family joke, Daddy has now turned it into a Precious Family Heirloom!  For Mother's Day roughly 30 years ago Daddy bought mom a Golf Bag. Today we would describe this bag as retro, but then it was Orange and Cream Pristine and on sale...so he gave it to her and told her he would buy clubs for Christmas, and she was really excited, years came and went and never a single club, that golf bag has been hanging out in the shed collecting dust and spiders for the past thirty years, until this past Christmas when Daddy finally got her a set of golf clubs. We took them out of the bag they came in and polished up the "Old Clover," making it once again Orange and Cream Prestine! We put the clubs in it and set it out next to her stocking.  Mom came down stairs Christmas Morning with the biggest smile on her face, laughing and then crying, she was so excited and has even been practicing here in the living room with Daddy's Woof-a Golf balls. Christmas was great and Daddy got it right this year!!! It was a Christmas Morning I certainly will never forget and I am sure as soon as its warm enough or Mom can wrap her head around what a Heated Driving range actually is, we will be out hitting balls together, and as Daddy says, "That's What I am Talkin' About!!!"

Chemo Update, Keep Your Eye on the Bell!!!

Daddy has endured 9 Rounds of Chemo and his goals are still the same, get better and ring that bell!!! (They have a bell in the chemo room and anytime you hear it ring someone has just beaten cancer and is leaving their last chemo appointment a survivor as everyone in the office and treatment rooms yell and cheer for you, so Daddy Say's "Keep your eye on the bell")  He has a CT Scan scheduled for the 2nd of January that will give us more definitive information but the Dr. Told him today that he seems to be responding incredibly well. He is not anemic, his white blood cell count is a little low and has been a few times, which means he does not receive his full dose of chemo; Protein will help this so all we have to do now is convince Daddy that eating meat is acceptable, and encouraged!!! He has had a few blood tests that measures his CA19-9 (the tumor marker) and his results are down 1200 points. The Dr. said this is a significant drop and was very encouraging about these results. Daddy and our family believe that the improvement of his health are direct result from the many days of fasting and all the thoughts and prayers given and spoken on his behalf. We are grateful to you all for your love and support and thank you for your continued prayers. Chemo has been a funny thing so far and going into this nearly three months ago we did not know what to expect, but these are some of daddy's memories.

October 17th First Round of Chemo, who knew you would have to take a class before starting chemo? What was that couple in our class fighting about? Why was Theresa Mechling in that video they showed during the Chemo Class? (Theresa Meching grew up down the street from us and works for Utah Cancer Specialists, hence why she was in the video) And lastly I want to go hunting so I better not get sick!!!

October 24th, second round of chemo and I didn't get sick, wonder if this round will be worse, but I really enjoyed myself today because they have food and drinks here, and that port is pretty cool to they just plug me in and let me go!! Also who knew that there were so many different types of Chemo Treatments, I guess you really do get to pick your poison!

October 31st, Great Day for Chemo! Jamie from work even made me an awesome blanket and all I wanted to do was wear my mailman uniform after sitting under it for so long!!!! Its been difficult to accept circumstances sometimes but I met a lady today that inspired me and gave me hope. She has battled five different cancer types over the past 10 years and just had the most amazing attitude. She was someone you wanted to be around and listen to, and here I was feeling sorry for myself and there she was receiving her treatment with a smile, Guess I will be ok being a chemo patient for Halloween after all!!

November 14th, 4th treatment, Second Round, I hope the rash on my face goes away!!! I feel like the worst side effect of chemo is appearing in public as an adolescent teenage boy with zits all over his face, and no control of his gasses!!!
 

November 21

Almost Thanksgiving...Grateful for so many things including faith and family, but still hope this rash goes away on my face!!! Also Dr. Says I need to maintain my weight, but I think I look pretty good, 32's Baby!!!!

Nov 28, I think I need a new shirt, Becky keeps teasing me about wearing the same one to Chemo!!! What she doesn't know is that in a ditch effort to trick the Dr. who keeps harping on me about my weight, I wear one of two shirts so I look the same, I think its working...Also today a lady had a poor reaction to her treatment and blew-up like a balloon, bright red, must have been a UTE Fan!!!

Dec 12th, 7th Chemo Treatment and the people here are so nice it's almost fun to come, not quite but almost!!! Also the rash on my face head and back are clearing up, I guess I finally have surpassed chemo puberty!!!

Dec 19th Last Chemo before Christmas. I think they thought I would be dead by now, but Here I am about to celebrate Christmas, thanks to all of you!!! Maybe I will even have some J E L L O!!!














Dec 26th, 9th round of chemo and Mindie say's "Squish it like a grape!" So I am!!!! Also we saw that fighting couple from our Chemo class today and they are still fighting...3 months later.

...and that's our Chemo Update... Keep your eye on the Bell!!!

Homemade Programs and "The Silver Bullet"

Disclaimer: The Following Story is being shared at the request of my Mother and Father who think its pretty hilarious, and looking back, in a disturbing, but very fitting way, it is!

Oct 31, 2012
Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. I am not sure if its the weather, the candy, Trick or treaters, or Mom's homemade chili but these were all things I was very much looking forward to once again this year; that is until I got home. I walked into a very happy and energetic Daddy, I thought to myself, "Wow Chemo must have been good today, wonder if they gave him the placebo!" But then I caught up with his ramblings and understood what it was he was going on and on about. He was describing to me something I have since dubbed as "The Silver Bullet." Here is the morbid, bizarre twist, to the story, in a very excited tone he was in fact describing to me, the very casket of which he  had just gone and picked out today, the day of all days to do so, Halloween! Now before there are too many mixed emotions here, let me clarify that there is no intent on Daddy using this anytime soon. In fact a discussion was had about not being too excited. And if it makes you feel any better, Mom picked out her casket as well (not a Silver Bullet). Now Mom would also like me to take this opportunity to clarify and make it very clear that she does NOT, in any way, like "The Silver Bullet." at all, she thinks it's ugly! Daddy on the other hand can't stop talking about it, "Becca, it's so shiny and two different tones. It changes colors as you walk past it." I think he may actually believe it is some sort of magic trick or optical illusion. As bizarre as this seems, He was genuinely excited to tell me all about this. They even made me sit down with them and review all the plans, and plot locations. All the arraignments that had been decided, everything that is, except the programs! Now this is where planning becomes something a little outside of my world, and understanding.  Mom was very adamant that the programs be homemade, and seem to have much love put into them. I am not sure what this means, or what the expectation around designing a funeral program is, so at this time I am appointing Sarah to be in charge of creating and printing Mom's Funeral Program, it is way too much pressure for me, Daddy, he doesn't care, you could probably just distribute pictures of "The Silver Bullet" and he would consider that to be stellar. To be Honest, much like what you are probably feeling right now, I was very confused and quite surprised that this conversation was so candidly taking place. I had a difficult time comprehending that we were sitting around the kitchen table discussing this and still listening to Daddy going on and on about how cool it was, shiny, two-toned and again, it changes colors as you pass by it. Finally he took a breath and I ceased the opportunity to ask "on Halloween, really? "They laughed and said  it was the perfect day to do it. Mom explained it was a relief to have things in order, that when life events like this happen it causes you to think about your family and your affairs, she made sure to reinforce her stance on the matter. This was not done because they have given up or are accepting what Mom simply refers to as nothing more than medical statistics, they are not planning on implementing any of the plans made today it was just something that needed to be done. "After all," she said, "I could be hit by a bus tomorrow!" she laughed and Daddy laughed. I guess she is right, she could be, although I doubt she will be, she could be, and as silly as this sounds she really didn't need to explain things to me, I understood it. Simple really, this was something they could go and do together, support each other or they could put it off and at some point, and in no particular order, one of them would have to do it alone, or at least without the other. So that's what they did, hoping for a discount and a good laugh, both of which they got by the way, they went on Halloween, together...sort of eerily Poetic in a way, but they seemed fine about it really, & when I left the room to go and try to make sense of what had just happened Daddy was continuing his rant on The Silver Bullet" and trying to convince Mom that "Double-Stacking" really is not that big of a deal and is much more cost effective, a cause which he has been championing for years and something that, in no certain terms, Mom strongly disagrees with! Don't Worry, Daddy can try all he wants, but they bought 2 plots and there will be homemade programs, and absolutely, no, Double stacking!!!!

Birthday's and Birdies!!!

October 30 2012

Today was Daddy's Birthday and it was awesome!!! Jared and I took him golfing and it was all sorts of fun. A few holes in Daddy asked if I would "Teach Jared a little golf etiquette" Because he kept "stepping in my lines" I very politely said Hell No. It was way to fun to watch Jared walk in circles looking for all of Steve's Pro-V's that he was losing. Jared then putted with a pitching wedge, I guess according to my advice, but I had lost my Pitching wedge and when Jared kept asking me if it was the one with the "P" on it I responded yes, not realizing what he was asking me and he sent a 15 ft. putt sailing right past Daddy and well past the green. Then an amazing thing happened that only the Golf Gods could have aligned, Daddy hit his first Birdie ever!!! He landed his first shot about 10-15 ft from the hole and I took a picture before and after, call it inspiration I guess but he was so happy and so excited. It was a lot of fun and one of the most memorable experiences of my life as I watched that ball roll so perfectly into the hole as Daddy was shouting, "Becca, Becca, Becca, I didn't want you to miss it" and I wouldn't have for the world!!! It was very special. I started jumping and screaming. WE all yelled and cheered and reacted nothing like you should while on a Golf course, but this moment was so much bigger than golf ever could be. This was about Daddy finding a unique moment in time where he didn't have Cancer, he wasn't nauseous or sick, he was simply the Happiest person you could be on any birthday, but especially on this one and it was amazing and something I will treasure for the rest of my life. I could not have asked for anything more perfect to have been given to him that day, I was so very proud of him.

We then went home and all the family was there to celebrate with kids in their costumes. Kailee was right at the front door so she would be the first person Grandpa would see, as she was in fact dressed as a sack of flour! (this was mentioned in a previous blog and was a conversation he and Kailee had about what to be, his suggestion was a sack of flour) He was so excited to see that she had actually done it, way cute, and it made him laugh. We had vampires, and skeletons. We had Panda Bears, Jelly Belly, Devils, Ariel and Cinderella, not too mention also a victim of electrocution. It was so fun to get together and celebrate our Father's birthday. I hope he enjoyed it. I have to say though that the best gift given to him was a wedding band from his sweetheart so that he would know that he would always be her's forever!!!  What a great day and a great break for all of us emotionally. Tomorrow is Halloween and Daddy's third round of Chemo, I told him to dress up as something scary just to freak people out but he said he couldn't do that they are just so sweet to him there. But I hope today gave Daddy a little more fuel to fight, he seemed so happy and I want him to know we are all fighting this together and with all the Love, Hope, Faith and especially the Ghouls around as of late there is no stopping us, we are going to WIN!!! Happy Happy Birthday to our very sweet Father and a little girl's Best Friend and Daddy

Tonka vs Man...A Timeless Tale

10/28

Tonight I went with Daddy to visit  Grandma, she wasn’t home so we drove around Daddy's old stomp in grounds, or as he would call it his "Turf". Daddy is a great story teller and as we drive up and down the streets I can almost hear the flutter of playing cards clothes pinned to the spokes of his tires and see him ducking in and out of ally ways on his bicycle. As we drove past Ernie's house I was reminded of the story when he and Vaughn had tied their front door shut to the tree outside, opened all their car doors and turned the radio up as loud as it would go, then stood by and laughed as they watched Willard, Ernie's Father, try very unsuccessfully to get out of the house, from what I gather he didn't think it was so funny. Then we drove up the street and he showed me Vaughn's house and pointed out the very corner where he learned one of the greatest lessons of his life. He was about six years old and had just met his best buddy Vaughn who was at the end of the street throwing handfuls of rocks at cars. He told Daddy it was "a lot of fun" and he should try it. Now this is where you might think the lesson Daddy actually learned was really about peer pressure, and what not to do when someone tells you to throw rocks at cars, but if that is what you are thinking, you are wrong, but Daddy was "dared" to throw the rocks and in our youth, we all at one time, understood the childhood definition of a "dare" and the code behind breaking it, so Daddy took a handful of rocks and threw it. Besides the obvious damage you can imagine would be caused by the events that ensued it only adds to the story to know that the next car driving up the road happened to be, as Daddy recalls it, a Bright Red convertible. The owner of this convertible was not pleased. Daddy says he was stunned when the car came screeching to a stop and the next thing he knew he was being walked down the lane towards his house by the nap of his neck, where he knew his Father would be waiting for him, and with that thought the reality of the lesson he would actually learn began settling in, " Next Time I am Gunna Run?" You see My Grandfather was what you may call a creative disciplinary. My memory of him is fun, fishing and Chinese checkers but when Daddy talks about growing up that was not always the case. So despite his best efforts to convince himself that telling this man any other house on the street was his, soon enough he was home and immediately sent to his room. He could hear the man detailing what happened and soon Grandpa was in his room asking him to get his favorite toy. Daddy knew something was not right so he trusted his instincts, ignored his beloved Shoveler and pointed to a TONKA truck that he knew was indestructible. Grandpa took Daddy outside and made him pick up a rock as heavy as he could lift and drop it on his Tonka truck, thus sinking in the greatest and most creative lesson of all, the pain involved in the destruction of ones own property, only TONKA lived up to it's name and that truck just would not smash. Grandpa's obsession became less about teaching Daddy a lesson and more about challenging that toys warranty, when that didn't work Grandpa turned to Law Enforcement. After several threats of being arrested and thrown in jail from officer Holdaway, who lived across the street and was obviously not that intimidating to a six year old the lesson, in Daddy's mind, had finally come full circle, not only next time would he run, but he realized that really all he had to do,  was at least run faster than Vaughn! The cuffs were off, poor grandpa I Guess it just wasn't in the cards for him that day or maybe it was and it just took Daddy 57 years to get it, either way throwing rocks is still bad and much like TONKA Daddy is still indestrucible