June 27, 2013 (Thurs) – The Answer: “Life Got in the Way”

The Question: “Where the Hell Have I Been?”

Good question. Better answer. Life definitely got in the way. And that’s a good thing. Mostly.

Actually it might be more accurate to say life didn’t just get in the way – it took over my life. Wait, can a life take over a life? OK, the drugs must be talking. Essentially my schedule for the past two weeks has been extremely crazy. Often in a good way, but sometimes not so much. But the latter is typical this time of year. The combination of awesome/not-so-awesome events have teamed up to almost (read: almost) make me forget about my little c-issue. Drug side effects, as usual, kept me from having complete amnesia.

It’s funny, my unclecologist says to avoid stress in my life. Yeah, good luck with that. He obviously has never worked for a non-profit in June. That’s like telling a dog in heat not to..er..well, you get the drift. However, the 3-month stress-fest as a result of trying to come up with a balanced work budget for FY14 has come to a close with the board voting unanimous approval this past Tuesday. But this really IS business as usual this time of year with lots of late nights crunching spreadsheets etc. One stressor down. And that was the big one – the rest is small potatoes. And I certainly do not want to come across as a whiner, especially after you hear the positive side of what has been hogging my hours.

Those of you that are FaceBook buds know that we just came back this last weekend from 3+ days at the Resort at Pelikan Hill, courtesy of the generosity of my brother and his wife. Three days with two of my brothers and 3 wives. No, only one was mine. No polygamy in my family. Three days of golf, wonderful dinners, some Rombauer, some more Rombauer, some electric-boat cruising around Lido and Balboa Islands, and, of course, some more Rombauer. Can’t say we killed off all ten bottles in 3 days, but we did some pretty good damage. Heck, my doc wants me to hydrate well so I am just following doctor’s orders. Absolutely great trip. And my handicap that has been sneaking up might actually be heading south. Slightly. But here are some pics from our trip.  Lifestyles of the rich and famous. Felt a bit out of place. Except for my yellow car there. Right. Business better than usual. 🙂

So lately I’ve been getting even more comments from people about how good I look. Ordinarily (BC) that statement might cause one to have difficulty fitting their head through the doorway. However, I interpret these statements as more of a comparison between what people, especially those that have not seen me in a while, expect I might look like versus my current relatively normal appearance. Maybe that recent James Bondish photo from our fundraiser at work had something to do with it. In any case, I appreciate the compliments. Sure beats “hey, you’re not looking nearly as bad as I thought you would.”

I’ve also been given kudos for my positive attitude. Well, here’s a twist on that. The other morning my wife and I were getting ready for our respective jobs, standing in front of our master bathroom single-sink. OK, how many of you still have a master bathroom with only one sink? And are still married? Well, we’ve survived for almost 34 years as single-sinkers. Sorry, digressed. Essentially I was whining in the mirror a little about how the Tarceva is affecting my hair growth, or lack thereof. So my wife says, “just be glad when you won’t have to take that medicine any more.” I looked at her through the mirror reflection in puzzlement. She saw my look and clarified: “You know, when you’re cured.” Now I looked at her incredulously. What planet was she on when our oncologist told us during our first visit that there was no cure for stage IV lung cancer? But no. This was actually my wife out-positiving her positive husband. She’s the one assuming that a cure will be developed in time to work for me. Gotta love her. And I do. So much so that I won’t even mention the 8 out of 9 ping pong games I took from her recently. Oops.

Speaking of side effects, and I often do as you know, I mentioned before that one of the “benefits” of Tarceva is the stifling of hair growth. All hair. So I’ve been saving on haircuts although this chops into the income of my sister-in-law who cuts my hair. Then again, what I pay her means she is sacrificing what amounts to approximately 2-day’s worth of a Starbucks fix every 8 weeks. Another bene is that I don’t have to trim those obnoxious ear hairs that sprout regularly. Oh, come on. If you are a guy over 50, you know whereof I speak. And I won’t even mention nose hairs. Oops again. Guess I just did.

While I’m on a roll about side effects (this is where most of you will bail out), I really need to beef up my monkey food intake. This lack of potassium is playing havoc with random foot cramps in the middle of the night. I find myself jumping up often to put pressure on my foot until it goes away. Until the next one. Kinda like Whack-a-Mole. You knock one down and another pops up to take its place.

Had a great Father’s Day. In the past I’ve tried to use the “but you’re not my mom” excuse to my wife on Mother’s Day if I hadn’t gotten her a gift. Nope. Didn’t fly. So she was on the hook for Father’s Day. Even-Steven. And she came through: a SkyCaddie GPS golf watch. My son gave me golf for two at Maderas – an awesome course. In reality, he gave it to us since he will be joining me. Can’t wait. And my daughter gave me two very nice pens and a mouse pad all inscribed with my blog sign-off. As Jeff Blatnick, the ’84 Olympic wrestler said after winning gold, “I’m a happy dude!”

And speaking of signing off…

Business as usual. Day at a time.