Home sweet Home

Surgery has come and gone. Hard to believe it was a week ago today. And now...I'm home!

I was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon, sooner than anticipated. The doctor said that since I was able to hold down liquids, keep my temperature under control, and manage the pain, I could go home. What a happy feeling! No more IV machines. No more tubes. No more 4-hour vital checks. No more needles. No more hospital food! I was free to go home!

Previously to the good news about going home, we had more good news from the doctor. The report from the surgery--30 lymph nodes removed and ALL were cancer free! Praise the Lord! We'll take this report as more of God's kindness to us. It appears that with the successful surgery and this positive report, I may have come to the end of the line as far as further cancer treatment.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us. It is humbling to know that there have been many. And prayer works! We are especially grateful to a loving church body, through whom we have experienced and are experiencing God's love and care toward us.

Currently, I'm here on the couch taking it easy. For the next 6 weeks, the doctor says to stay away from strenuous activity (according to Pastor Kirk, that also includes dusting, vacuuming, and sweeping). And no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Ah....It's good to be home.

You pick like a girl

She did it again. She beat me.

For the past few years, my friend Mikey has hosted an online tournament for March Madness as well as the college football bowl games. And each year I've carefully analyzed the matchups, agonized over my picks, and delivered a sheet that has fared...decently. Rather than having Kristen help me with my bracket this year, Kristen and I each made our own picks. And this year...my wife, who knows no other college team than Michigan State, has beaten me twice!

Last night as our brackets came to a grinding halt with victories from Memphis and Kansas (we both had UCLA winning it all), our final scores reflect 259 for her...248 for me. And while she'll finish around 37th and me around 41st (out of 72), that's still four places in front of me. But let's back up to the college bowl pick tournament a couple of months ago. After all was said and done I finished a respectable 14th. Not bad. Where did she finish? Number ONE!!! Yeah, not only did she beat me, she also beat out every other football enthusiast to win the tournament (and Mikey, we're still waiting on that dinner you promised).

But I'm really proud of my Cutie for doing well. It's fun to see her get so excited about games she would otherwise care less about.

So, maybe next year we'll go back to one bracket. And I'll be the one helping her fill it out.


(Yeah Michigan State.)