My bro Michael

My brother Michael has cancer. Prostate cancer. He said I could blog about it, so here I am, but what do I say now?

Yes the last blog entry was also a medical issue, and I really wanted to avoid getting stuck in that rut. You know, old people comparing their scars or Grandma keeping her gall stones in a jar. I surely hope my writing here is different by just giving a little info (not TMI), a little background, a little prayer.

The few people who I know have read some postings here already know that Dad died from prostate cancer over four years ago. But it is also highly treatable, and we know more men who are survivors than not. And the scans came back showing it has not spread, yeah! Still, it gives us pause. He will be in town mid-March for pre-treatment visits at OHSU, then back in April for treatment.

I know he will be okay, but it's just not fair, you know? He is such a hard worker, and he made a big change a year ago to completely leave the construction industry. Easy choice, since the industry tanked and it had taken a big physical toll on him. He fell into nursing care as a CNA, and I can see he would be just a great personality to gently move people through their daily needs in the facility.

More importantly, he married Julie Ann 18 months ago, and adopted Logan. Logan needs both of these great parents in his life, so Michael will do what he needs to do against this latest challenge.

There you have it. A little info, a little background, a little prayer.

Surgery coming up (not me)

Mike will have knee replacement surgery March 16.

You kinda get a clue when you're in the x-ray room with the technician, and as the first picture comes up he says to you, "That knee's really shot, isn't it." I know he is not supposed to say that, but it was pretty obvious to me anyway. I should have asked if they could e-mail a copy and I would have posted it. Amazing to see the September picture with normal spacing through the joint compared to yesterday where the interior side is totally mashed down, bone on bone.

There will be four various pre-op appointments next week and one the week after. There was another message on the machine today which I think was taken care of. Lots of paperwork, plus all the leave stuff for my work (I expect to be off work for two full weeks, plus intermittent time after that for physical therapy appointments).

Hey, speaking of PT: at Mike's last appointment, before this came up and canceled future appts, we found out that the parents of his therapist live behind us and down about four houses. Small world. I guess after you see someone twice a week for three months you're going to find some connections.

We're not worried about the surgery. SW Washington Medical reportedly has one of the lowest possible infection rates.

I'm going to go watch some Olympics and try not to think about those poor knees being punished up in the other Vancouver!

Fun calorie app

Update on the Droid phone: yes we've kept them. So now I'm trying to get the most out of mine.

Today's inspiration: I saw a woman at work who has lost a lot of weight (also a bicyclist), and remembered she was talking a year ago about an app she download (back in the old iPhone days) to track calories. So I went out and found a Droid app that is loads of fun, easy, and I've only started to use it.

Number one cool thing: bar code scanner. If I have a package (box, can, bottle, whatever), the phone can scan and analyze the bar code and return ALL of the nutrition information. So at work I scanned my Quaker chewy bar, and it knew 90 calories, 1.5 fat, 1g protein, etc. Even that it was 2 Weight Watcher's points. Then I just touch an icon to add it to my food diary. Of all the foods I've scanned so far, only one was a problem: my lite yogurt scanned only as low-fat, so it said something like 175 calories when it's really 80. Easy to fix, though.

Second cool thing: restaurant look-ups. A specific drawback I found, though, is it can be limited. I looked up Chevy's (had lunch there last week), but it only brought up four menu items.

Other quick look-ups include brand names, store brands, or just food name ("banana"). And I can save meals, like if I often have chai tea and banana and cereal for breakfast, then I can easily bring that up as a group. Or building a particular sandwich or a homemade dinner dish.

Anyway, I'm having fun with food!

Another cascade!

Fairly simple project this time:

1. Install a grab bar in the master bathroom
2. Replace the toilet paper holder (also MBR); style was okay, but it will be much better to have a "hook" rather than the traditional style. Also, placement was way off (forward a foot too far!). And because the holder was being moved, I had to fill the old screw spots, re-texture, and spot paint.

3. Install the old MBR paper holder in the guest bath. Previous one in the guest bath was probably the cheapest one available, pseudo-chrome, and the crossbar was a mis-matched gold color!

4. Install a towel ring for Mike's side of our master sinks.

5. Because Mike's new ring is a slightly different style than mine, install a matching one on my side, and move the previous one to the guest bath (yes, it had the same cheap style as the previous paper holder...)

6. Move the previous guest bath towel ring to the utility room.

Ta-da.

While I'm at it: weird lists and cascades

Have you ever made a shopping list and then reflected on some of the odd combinations? Well I made a mental list yesterday of everything to put in the car for the trip to BandN8's, and here it is:
1. Hubby, which also meant his bag for after PT appointment, wheelchair, and walker
2. Small cooler with turkey soup stock
3. Chainsaw with bucket of stuff (wedges, engine oil)
4. Laptop (with tax software)
5. Granddaughter and her stuff

Forgot one thing, sorry Mom and Brooke. When we were at Mom's last week, she had a ball cap for Nate, so I offered to give it to them. But oops, it is still on the dining table. So I think a goal for today is cleaning off that table. And the cascade effect means: install the blu-ray player (sitting on that table since the day after Thanksgiving); re-texture and paint the wall section behind the china cabinet so I can take items off the table and put them back on the cabinet; figure out which of the new phones receipts and accessory boxes to keep - and where to put them.

You know how it goes.

When I take out the older DVD player, I get to figure out where to put it. Maybe hook it up the smaller TV? Or should it replace the VCR/DVD player in the trailer? Or go in the pile of electronics in a spare room? Ooh, maybe I should get on Craigslist and get rid of said pile. Anybody still need to record onto tape?

And texture/paint. As long as I'm at it, I should retexture a small spot around the corner in the kitchen. The previous owners did a smooth-ish patch there, no texture but did re-paint. And of course it's a different color than the dining area (but luckily we have the paint). And as long as I'm at it with that color, the paint around the kitchen door to outside could use just a couple of hits where they overpainted from the white frame.

And while I'm at it in the dining area, I noticed yesterday that the entry table has one Christmas thing that didn't get boxed up and into the storage loft in the garage. And while I'm at it with the entry table, we have a bunch of loose pictures there. I really should scan them and get a digital frame.

Oh, yeah, and I should copy various pictures onto my new-ish 1.5 terabyte backup drive.

Whoa Julie, back to the dining area first. I've also been wanting to take down the light fixture and spray paint over the '80's gold look (odd since this house was built in '95), plus it needs a longer chain so I can put up a ceiling hook and position the lighting over the center of the table. And one of these days re-cover the seat cushions.

Guess I better get at it! Oh, I'm on vacation today if you're wondering why I'm planning all this.

Mayo or Miracle Whip?

Since my most-commented post had to do with food (remember B.S.?), I thought I would try another.

Are you a mayonnaise person, or Miracle Whip?

I am mayo. Not slathering, dripping, slopping amounts -- see Bill III for a fan of that much goo. But definitely mayo over Miracle Whip. So much that years ago when I ordered a tuna sandwich and found it was made with Mwhip, I only ate half.

Mike on the other hand is a Mwhip guy. Oh, yes, he is also the one who likes the old B.S. Need I say more?

Maybe next time we can discuss mac 'n cheese: homemade or Kraft?

Trance of the Internet Fairies

Note: the title is a take off on "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies"

Short version: M goes on the computer to find the address of a backyard neighbor. An hour later, he is sidetracked looking at overhead pictures of the neighborhood. I go on the computer and take, oh, maybe 65 seconds to get the site address and the owner's name and mailing address (it's a rental).

TV Shows

B3 thought I should blog about how I watch "The Bachelor." Really, let's not. I've gotten sucked into it the same as some people watch, oh let's say NASCAR or WWF. Admit it, it is all about waiting for the big wreck, not for any spiritual enlightenment.

Do I like some lightweight shows? Sure. Ugly Betty for one. Quirky. It doesn't make anyone, even Betty Suarez, the hero. Everyone has flaws and problems, whether rich or poor, beautiful or not. One criticism for ABC: seriously, you had to move it to 10pm Wednesday? Seriously? I'm watching it through Hulu now. I can't stay up until 11:00.

Some other favs: Numb3rs. Bones. Sort-of Grey's Anatomy. NCIS (who doesn't love Abby). There must be something else I'm forgetting right now.

I'm not into any of the reality shows. Not desperate housewives or 2-1/2 men or most of what's on the air these days. That's probably good, so I can blog, do laundry, paperwork, crossword/sudoku, little house projects, watch Mike nap into the evening, like right now...

Anyone want to make a case for some must-see show?