The reading and voting community of The Big "C" rallied to help Meat out. He bet that 33% of a given group's zippers were made at the YKK factory in South Korea. Of those who voted to represent their zippers, we found a 52% YKK population.
Thanks, Korea, for all you do to keep us zipped.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Skywards
For us, the hardest part of parenting is enjoying our children. Not that Gemma and Joshua are hard to enjoy. But it's hard to clear out a little room from all the other important stuff--the focus on their characters, the discipline, the training in the admonition of the Lord, not to mention the running of a household and the bringing home of the bacon. When all of that is going on, it's easy to forget that these are two terrific little people who delight us. And who delight in us, too.
Since the diagnosis, it's been a lot easier for me to enjoy these kids.
One such moment:
Bryan brought home a lot of SWAG from Alabama. (Laura guessed it. Alabama??? Why would missile war fighters gather in Alabama? Aren't the country's principle military space programs concentrated here in the Springs? But, yes, we do have some stuff going on in Huntsville.)
SWAG is Stuff We All Get. I don't know if this is a real term, or just one that Michael invented on The Office, which is where I heard it. But I like it. And I'm going with it.
He was without shame in collecting it. Hit every table every day, and as the tables were hosted by various military hardware manufacturers hoping to get the next rocket booster contract, there was a lot of nice SWAG. Laser pointers. Mini flashlights. A lot of calculators. Pens, pens, pens! One of which is in the shape of a rocket and the body of it has a light-up lava lamp thing going on. Canvass tote bags. Stuff, stuff, stuff.
I asked Bryan if anyone was looking at him askance as he "collected." He said, "Everybody was 'collecting'!"
The best of the SWAG were foam rockets with rubber bands on their tips. We took them outside last night and started launching them. They got some serious air. Gemma loved chasing after them and bringing them back to launch again. Joshua held on to one and was determined to fire it. He couldn't do it because the rubber band is heavy duty, but he tried and tried and tried. Then he switched to a different model of rocket that did not have rubber bands and started throwing them, making explosion noises every time one landed. He's 3. I think I'm proud. . .
After a while, it wasn't enough simply to send them skyward. We started launching the same time to see whose went the highest. Then, yes, you saw this coming, we started launching them at each other. Specifically, Bryan fired at me and Gemma swooped in to pick them up. I told her, "Here, Gemma, it's Mommy's turn."
And she said, "No, I'm on Daddy's side!"
Side? There are sides? And you picked him? Where's the love, Gemma?
I was fired upon many times.
Then I cut her fun short and got to the rockets first. Picked them all up and stowed them in my cargo capri's pockets. I had 4 rounds and a target smiling back at me.
"Give something to shoot at!" I told him, thinking he might assume a spread-eagle kind of pose.
Instead, he turned his back to me, canted his hips, looked over his shoulder, then kissed his fingers before using them to pat his butt.
I lost it. Could hardly fire, I was laughing so hard.
This eventually gave way to simply lying on the grass, the 4 of us, watching Bryan launch the rockets above us.
One of the kids on our cul-de-sac drove by in the midst of our activity. "Drove," even though she's 9, in a plastic, battery operated Cadillac Escalade. Gemma and Josh love to drive with her, too, usually. That evening, Gemma looked at her friend, then looked back to me and said, "This is a lot more fun than driving in a plastic car."
Amen.
Since the diagnosis, it's been a lot easier for me to enjoy these kids.
One such moment:
Bryan brought home a lot of SWAG from Alabama. (Laura guessed it. Alabama??? Why would missile war fighters gather in Alabama? Aren't the country's principle military space programs concentrated here in the Springs? But, yes, we do have some stuff going on in Huntsville.)
SWAG is Stuff We All Get. I don't know if this is a real term, or just one that Michael invented on The Office, which is where I heard it. But I like it. And I'm going with it.
He was without shame in collecting it. Hit every table every day, and as the tables were hosted by various military hardware manufacturers hoping to get the next rocket booster contract, there was a lot of nice SWAG. Laser pointers. Mini flashlights. A lot of calculators. Pens, pens, pens! One of which is in the shape of a rocket and the body of it has a light-up lava lamp thing going on. Canvass tote bags. Stuff, stuff, stuff.
I asked Bryan if anyone was looking at him askance as he "collected." He said, "Everybody was 'collecting'!"
The best of the SWAG were foam rockets with rubber bands on their tips. We took them outside last night and started launching them. They got some serious air. Gemma loved chasing after them and bringing them back to launch again. Joshua held on to one and was determined to fire it. He couldn't do it because the rubber band is heavy duty, but he tried and tried and tried. Then he switched to a different model of rocket that did not have rubber bands and started throwing them, making explosion noises every time one landed. He's 3. I think I'm proud. . .
After a while, it wasn't enough simply to send them skyward. We started launching the same time to see whose went the highest. Then, yes, you saw this coming, we started launching them at each other. Specifically, Bryan fired at me and Gemma swooped in to pick them up. I told her, "Here, Gemma, it's Mommy's turn."
And she said, "No, I'm on Daddy's side!"
Side? There are sides? And you picked him? Where's the love, Gemma?
I was fired upon many times.
Then I cut her fun short and got to the rockets first. Picked them all up and stowed them in my cargo capri's pockets. I had 4 rounds and a target smiling back at me.
"Give something to shoot at!" I told him, thinking he might assume a spread-eagle kind of pose.
Instead, he turned his back to me, canted his hips, looked over his shoulder, then kissed his fingers before using them to pat his butt.
I lost it. Could hardly fire, I was laughing so hard.
This eventually gave way to simply lying on the grass, the 4 of us, watching Bryan launch the rockets above us.
One of the kids on our cul-de-sac drove by in the midst of our activity. "Drove," even though she's 9, in a plastic, battery operated Cadillac Escalade. Gemma and Josh love to drive with her, too, usually. That evening, Gemma looked at her friend, then looked back to me and said, "This is a lot more fun than driving in a plastic car."
Amen.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Votes Have Been Counted!
Whew! I am exhausted. "From what?" you ask. No, not the medicine. No, not from being with the kids this whole week while Bryan has been at a Missile Defense War Fighter's conference. (Would you like to guess which state hosts this conference? Which state could possible be among the hot-bed hubs of missile defense action? You'll never guess.)
No, I'm exhausted from watching those two polls run neck and neck all week long! I couldn't write this post last night because the results were TIED on the TV Theme Song question as of 9:30 my time and I really needed to hit the sack. I woke up to find that a "Yes" vote was cast at the last minute, and so Wyatt, Casper and Felix make it in. Sorry to all of you who felt strongly about the discluding TV theme songs. You should have voted more often.
Laura, sister #1, came up with several in the comments section:
1. Sue (as in A BOY Named Sue - Johnny Cash)
2. Eli's Coming - Three Dog Night
3. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
4. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon
Bryan tried to submit "Sue," and I turned him down, arguing that the whole point of the song is that Sue is a girl's name. But I'm going to accept it from Laura because she's the one who got all fancy and "excelled" the name list to make it alphabetical and yet still so easy for me.
And, as Bryan was not here to contest the point, the name officially counts.
That'll teach him to go to (insert improbable state name here) for a week.
Also of note is that I'm including "Thompson" which can be a first name, and is different from "Thomas," which has given us a few uses of "Tom" or "Tommy." Here, of course, it's referring to a weapon. But we've in the past used references to rats, so what's stopping us?
Sarah came up with one of the funnest songs referenced yet, "10 Rounds with Jose Cuervo,"--a great example of why I listen to country music when in the car. I laugh and laugh at this song (and a lot of the others) and Gemma calls from the back, "What are you laughing at?" and I shout back, over the song, "Country music, Gemma!!!"
Suzanne posted a long list of submissions.
1. Joseph - Under African Skies (Paul Simon)
Of course, "Joe/Joey" is already on the list, but I quote her here because I find it interesting that she thought of this song while being, in fact, under African skies. She just got back from a 3 week jaunt there with Madam Secretary, and I think it's awesome that she spent her free moments trying to improve our list here.
2. Galileo - Galileo (Indigo Girls)
Yeah. That's a guy's name. Why aren't boys named Galileo anymore? Or if not boys, how about dogs?
3. Earl - Goodbye Earl (Dixie Chicks)
4. Richard - Richard Cory (Simon and Garfunkel)
5. Lloyd - So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (Simon and Garfunkel)
6. Rene - Rene and Georgette Magritte After the War (Paul Simon)
7. Jeremy - Jeremy (Pearl Jam)
8. Monty - Monty Got a Raw Deal (REM)
9. Marty - Marty (Rusted Root)
10. Wayne - John Wayne Gacy, Jr (Sufjan Stevens)
Oooh. Wayne! This one also shows up in Springsteen's "Darlington County,"--home of the terrific lyric, "Babe, you're lookin' at two big spenders/The world don't know what me and Wayne might do."
This got me thinking of other Springsteen songs ripe for the Name Game pickin', but wait! Suzanne's not done yet!
11. Romeo - Romeo and Juliet (Indigo Girls, or if you prefer Dire Straits or Romeo had Juliette by Lou Reed)
What do you mean, "if you prefer Dire Straits"? Are you kidding??? Hate to go all Barry on you, but of course all decent human beings prefer the Dire Straits version of that song.
12. Napolean - Waterloo - ABBA
Oh! And Nick kicks himself again as somebody else beats him to the ABBA punch. What a time to be gainfully employed and hard at work, eh Nick?
What a monster list. From just 3 people we have gained 17 names! I don't know what the rest of you are thinking about, but I'm glad these 3 ladies have carried the week.
As for a submission of my own:
Springsteen's "Adam Raise a Cain" - Ka-CHOW. 2 more names. And I've actually met someone named "Cain." This was at the wedding of friend who is an ex-con, and Cain was his best friend in prison. I didn't have the nerve to ask him, "Have you felt in any way cursed by your name?"
So today, we add the following 19 names:
Sue
Eli
Oliver
Roland
Thompson
Jose
Galileo
Earl
Richard
Lloyd
Rene
Jeremy
Monty
Marty
Wayne
Romeo
Napolean
Adam
Cain
I just tried to enter these into the list that Laura set up for me. I followed the directions specifically. I didn't mess around with the cursor, was very careful to put where you said to put it! But I couldn't get the new names to be numbered.
Well, for now, we've got the old list:
Abie
Al (taken as different from Albert, because it might be short for Alan)
Albert
Amadeus
Andy
Anthony
Ben(nie)
Bernie
Bill(y)
Bobby
Buddy
Charles(Charlie)
Chester
Chris
Daniel
Davy
Dean
Eddie
Elvis
Fernando
Frank
Fred
Gene
Gus
Harry
Henry
Jack
Jeremiah
Jessie
Jesus
Jim/James
Joey
John(ny)
Juan
Jude
Julio
Kenneth
Lawrence
Lee
Leroy
Lester
Levon
Louie
Luke
Malcolm
Marciano
Maurice
Michael
Micky
Moses
Paul
Peter
Ricky
Rico
Roy
Stan
Tom(my)
Tony
Vincent
Walter
Whelan
Willie (which comes to 62 names, I'm having a tough time with basic technology today as I couldn't get the numbers to copy. . .)
Plus today's 19, plus the 3 waiting in the wings pending the TV Theme Song poll, for a grand total of. . .
79 names!
We're 79% close to 100. And only 21% away from that mark! I never thought this was possible. Never, never, never.
But now. I mean: 79 names! Now I am certain there must be 21 more out there. Somewhere.
No, I'm exhausted from watching those two polls run neck and neck all week long! I couldn't write this post last night because the results were TIED on the TV Theme Song question as of 9:30 my time and I really needed to hit the sack. I woke up to find that a "Yes" vote was cast at the last minute, and so Wyatt, Casper and Felix make it in. Sorry to all of you who felt strongly about the discluding TV theme songs. You should have voted more often.
Laura, sister #1, came up with several in the comments section:
1. Sue (as in A BOY Named Sue - Johnny Cash)
2. Eli's Coming - Three Dog Night
3. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
4. Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon
Bryan tried to submit "Sue," and I turned him down, arguing that the whole point of the song is that Sue is a girl's name. But I'm going to accept it from Laura because she's the one who got all fancy and "excelled" the name list to make it alphabetical and yet still so easy for me.
And, as Bryan was not here to contest the point, the name officially counts.
That'll teach him to go to (insert improbable state name here) for a week.
Also of note is that I'm including "Thompson" which can be a first name, and is different from "Thomas," which has given us a few uses of "Tom" or "Tommy." Here, of course, it's referring to a weapon. But we've in the past used references to rats, so what's stopping us?
Sarah came up with one of the funnest songs referenced yet, "10 Rounds with Jose Cuervo,"--a great example of why I listen to country music when in the car. I laugh and laugh at this song (and a lot of the others) and Gemma calls from the back, "What are you laughing at?" and I shout back, over the song, "Country music, Gemma!!!"
Suzanne posted a long list of submissions.
1. Joseph - Under African Skies (Paul Simon)
Of course, "Joe/Joey" is already on the list, but I quote her here because I find it interesting that she thought of this song while being, in fact, under African skies. She just got back from a 3 week jaunt there with Madam Secretary, and I think it's awesome that she spent her free moments trying to improve our list here.
2. Galileo - Galileo (Indigo Girls)
Yeah. That's a guy's name. Why aren't boys named Galileo anymore? Or if not boys, how about dogs?
3. Earl - Goodbye Earl (Dixie Chicks)
4. Richard - Richard Cory (Simon and Garfunkel)
5. Lloyd - So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (Simon and Garfunkel)
6. Rene - Rene and Georgette Magritte After the War (Paul Simon)
7. Jeremy - Jeremy (Pearl Jam)
8. Monty - Monty Got a Raw Deal (REM)
9. Marty - Marty (Rusted Root)
10. Wayne - John Wayne Gacy, Jr (Sufjan Stevens)
Oooh. Wayne! This one also shows up in Springsteen's "Darlington County,"--home of the terrific lyric, "Babe, you're lookin' at two big spenders/The world don't know what me and Wayne might do."
This got me thinking of other Springsteen songs ripe for the Name Game pickin', but wait! Suzanne's not done yet!
11. Romeo - Romeo and Juliet (Indigo Girls, or if you prefer Dire Straits or Romeo had Juliette by Lou Reed)
What do you mean, "if you prefer Dire Straits"? Are you kidding??? Hate to go all Barry on you, but of course all decent human beings prefer the Dire Straits version of that song.
12. Napolean - Waterloo - ABBA
Oh! And Nick kicks himself again as somebody else beats him to the ABBA punch. What a time to be gainfully employed and hard at work, eh Nick?
What a monster list. From just 3 people we have gained 17 names! I don't know what the rest of you are thinking about, but I'm glad these 3 ladies have carried the week.
As for a submission of my own:
Springsteen's "Adam Raise a Cain" - Ka-CHOW. 2 more names. And I've actually met someone named "Cain." This was at the wedding of friend who is an ex-con, and Cain was his best friend in prison. I didn't have the nerve to ask him, "Have you felt in any way cursed by your name?"
So today, we add the following 19 names:
Sue
Eli
Oliver
Roland
Thompson
Jose
Galileo
Earl
Richard
Lloyd
Rene
Jeremy
Monty
Marty
Wayne
Romeo
Napolean
Adam
Cain
I just tried to enter these into the list that Laura set up for me. I followed the directions specifically. I didn't mess around with the cursor, was very careful to put where you said to put it! But I couldn't get the new names to be numbered.
Well, for now, we've got the old list:
Abie
Al (taken as different from Albert, because it might be short for Alan)
Albert
Amadeus
Andy
Anthony
Ben(nie)
Bernie
Bill(y)
Bobby
Buddy
Charles(Charlie)
Chester
Chris
Daniel
Davy
Dean
Eddie
Elvis
Fernando
Frank
Fred
Gene
Gus
Harry
Henry
Jack
Jeremiah
Jessie
Jesus
Jim/James
Joey
John(ny)
Juan
Jude
Julio
Kenneth
Lawrence
Lee
Leroy
Lester
Levon
Louie
Luke
Malcolm
Marciano
Maurice
Michael
Micky
Moses
Paul
Peter
Ricky
Rico
Roy
Stan
Tom(my)
Tony
Vincent
Walter
Whelan
Willie (which comes to 62 names, I'm having a tough time with basic technology today as I couldn't get the numbers to copy. . .)
Plus today's 19, plus the 3 waiting in the wings pending the TV Theme Song poll, for a grand total of. . .
79 names!
We're 79% close to 100. And only 21% away from that mark! I never thought this was possible. Never, never, never.
But now. I mean: 79 names! Now I am certain there must be 21 more out there. Somewhere.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Last Day to Vote!
We have two burning questions running hot at the Big "C." Take a look to your left. And then vote!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Thinning
It began last night in the shower. One hand through the hair before I shampooed. Out came many strands. We all lose a few hairs each day, in each shower, right? Tried the other side. Many more strands.
I had the option of waiting a day or two or three more. Maybe even another week. But this afternoon, I shaved it off. This, for several reasons:
1. My hair really hurt. You know that feeling of letting your hair down after it's been pinned up all evening? (Sorry, male readers. You'll have to choose to believe the women in your life on this one.) Your hair is sore after that, right at the root. For a few minutes, at least. My hair was feeling like that all the time.
2. Why delay the inevitable if it means dropping hair all over my house? The Merry Maids came today, and I was mindful that everything had just been vacuumed.
3. It's really annoying to pull out so much hair while in the shower. There it is, in my hand. Can't send it down the drain. So I twist it up so it holds together, then drape it over the shower handle where it awaits being tossed into the trash afterwards. Repeat. Shampoo. Takes at least 6 swipes through to rinse all the soap out, each soap yielding another handful. Twist each one. Drape each one.
It was the longest shower of my life!
I now look like Natalie Portman in V is for Vendetta.
But soon I'll look less like her, and more like someone else. Though without the hat.
Speaking of which, I do have a cute little hat to wear that a friend gave me. And a wig or two. Photos of those are forthcoming, but I need to wait until all my hair is gone lest the natural hairline throw off the whole look.
I'm not too bothered by all this. I've had a few emotional moments--just more grief--but now that the deed is done, I figure, "Eh." The real bummer of it, for me, is that I feel marked as a cancer patient. Just today, I was chatting with a grandmother (whom I'd just met) as we watched our kids play at a park and she was going on and on about the foot problems she'd been having. I thought to myself, "If she knew about me, she'd not be telling me all this. Or maybe she would, but would do so comparatively. As in 'Of course, it's not as bad as what you're dealing with.'"
And I find that I pretty much like not being thought of a breast cancer sojourner by total strangers.
Hey! "Sojourner" as opposed to "warrior"? Hmm. . . )
That's what a wig is for, I suppose.
The other comfort is that it will grow back. Unlike certain other parts recently cut off of my body.
I saved some hair in a little baggie so I can compare color with the new growth. And I asked Gemma what color she thinks that will be. Purple? Blue? She's hoping for pink.
I had the option of waiting a day or two or three more. Maybe even another week. But this afternoon, I shaved it off. This, for several reasons:
1. My hair really hurt. You know that feeling of letting your hair down after it's been pinned up all evening? (Sorry, male readers. You'll have to choose to believe the women in your life on this one.) Your hair is sore after that, right at the root. For a few minutes, at least. My hair was feeling like that all the time.
2. Why delay the inevitable if it means dropping hair all over my house? The Merry Maids came today, and I was mindful that everything had just been vacuumed.
3. It's really annoying to pull out so much hair while in the shower. There it is, in my hand. Can't send it down the drain. So I twist it up so it holds together, then drape it over the shower handle where it awaits being tossed into the trash afterwards. Repeat. Shampoo. Takes at least 6 swipes through to rinse all the soap out, each soap yielding another handful. Twist each one. Drape each one.
It was the longest shower of my life!
I now look like Natalie Portman in V is for Vendetta.
But soon I'll look less like her, and more like someone else. Though without the hat.
Speaking of which, I do have a cute little hat to wear that a friend gave me. And a wig or two. Photos of those are forthcoming, but I need to wait until all my hair is gone lest the natural hairline throw off the whole look.
I'm not too bothered by all this. I've had a few emotional moments--just more grief--but now that the deed is done, I figure, "Eh." The real bummer of it, for me, is that I feel marked as a cancer patient. Just today, I was chatting with a grandmother (whom I'd just met) as we watched our kids play at a park and she was going on and on about the foot problems she'd been having. I thought to myself, "If she knew about me, she'd not be telling me all this. Or maybe she would, but would do so comparatively. As in 'Of course, it's not as bad as what you're dealing with.'"
And I find that I pretty much like not being thought of a breast cancer sojourner by total strangers.
Hey! "Sojourner" as opposed to "warrior"? Hmm. . . )
That's what a wig is for, I suppose.
The other comfort is that it will grow back. Unlike certain other parts recently cut off of my body.
I saved some hair in a little baggie so I can compare color with the new growth. And I asked Gemma what color she thinks that will be. Purple? Blue? She's hoping for pink.
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