Anniversary

August 30th marked Mike's one year anniversary since his leukemia diagnosis. This past year has been a year of uncertainties, struggles, and finally, elation. Thank you for trolling the blog and checking in on our family.

One Vanderbilt story from '07 - While staying down in Nashville visiting Mikey, Sherry managed to make the best homemade vegetable soup using the equivalent to a JiffyPop aluminum pan while cooking on a dorm sized hot plate...all because His Royal Highness felt like having some soup! But that's not a chore...that's LOVE!! We can look back and laugh (and even remember!) some of this stuff now.

Here is a word from Sherry:

One year since Mikey's initial diagnosis and what a year it has been! Sobering days? To be sure. But also days or purpose, action and "getting on with it". And then that most memorable of days when this sweet diagnosis, REMISSION, turned hope into reality! Thank you, Lord, for drawing near and leading the way. And thanks for...Your perfect timing. Medical miracles! Togetherness. Generosity of spirit. And for that wild, wonderful "floozy" we affectionately call Ida Rubicin! Feathers flying. The Blog. And for that irrepressible laughter that somehow eclipsed our tears.

And Mikey, just so ya know, of all of the comments I've received about the blog, this one has to be my very own personal favorite: "No way. Are these people for real??!!" hahahahaha

"Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday...and all is well."

-JESUS SAVES-

Get on with it, Mikey!

All Apologies

I apologize for the infrequent posting of late. I suppose with being on the upswing of cancer (praise the Lord) the need to post daily updates has subsided. Some biggies that should have made their way into the blogosphere however: Mike's back at work! After months of recovery and mounds of paperwork, he's back to the grind. So far...pretty good. Not great, but not terrible either. It's a major adjustment going back to work at any stage in one's life, but post-cancer is a different bird. Assuredly both a blessing and a curse. Another biggie is that Mike had his second every-3-months BMB and all was clear. Assuming his health continues to positively progress, these BMBs will be scheduled further and further apart.

One major facet that most, if not all, cancer survivors face is the threat of relapse and the effect that has on his or her overall mental state. Wake up not feeling well? Chalk it up to a bad nights sleep or has the cancer returned? Lose a few pounds and don't feel much like eating? Virus or has the cancer returned? These are legitimate threats that these survivors face. Moving on can sometimes be crippling. As we continue to pray for Mike's physical health, let's also pray for his mental health. Please pray that his peace of mind is not attacked and that he is able to "get on with it" without the interference of fear and doubt.

Props to the Pops

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Daddies out there!

TNT Marathon

I am not sure when exactly it occurred. Perhaps it was during one of the last snow and ice storms to hit Kentucky a few months ago. Perhaps it was even earlier than that, I don't know. But somewhere along the line I'm pretty sure that I've fallen down and hit my head because I've registered myself for the Chicago Marathon this October (Sunday the 12th at 8 AM CST to be exact but who's counting???). I'm pretty sure that's grounds for suspecting head trauma, right?

Since Mikey's diagnosis with leukemia I have been searching for ways to help, as I am sure many of you have. While many volunteer efforts have been no doubt fulfilling, my dream (delusion?) of running a marathon has come to fruition with the help of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. They help me train and together, we help research and cure leukemia. I can't think of a better win/win situation than that.

TNT is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Since its inception, over 360,000 individuals have helped raise more than $850 million dollars to help blood cancer patients live longer, better lives. In the past 20 years, the survival rate of those living with a blood cancer has more than tripled! Through research and funding, we can help find a cure for this disease.

So get out your pocketbooks!! My personal goal for this fundraiser is $5,000.00. Attached at the bottom is the link to my TNT website where you can donate online quickly and securely. All major credit cards are accepted. You can donate anonymously, conceal your donation amount, make a donation in honor of a certain individual, as well as leave a note of encouragement. Many of you will receive a more formal email/letter/both outlining the donation process, so please be looking for that as well. Please, will you take the next 5 minutes and make a donation to such a great cause?


Thank you for your generosity,
Rachel

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ky/chicago08/rhall

The One That Didn't Get Away

A wise person once said: Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him the whole weekend. Sometimes that's not a bad philosophy! HAHA! Mikey has had some pretty tremendous luck with fishing lately at a little undisclosed "honey hole" location somewhere in the state of Kentucky....and he even has the pictures to prove it. You can call him Mike Dance from now on out. I hear he's looking into joining the Bassmasters tour as an alternative to Dana.

"...AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!!"

Is there anything cooler than the Kentucky Derby??? Sundresses, wide brimmed hats, gigantic sunglasses, GQ suits, mint juleps, "My Old Kentucky Home", sunshine, horses, jockey silks...it's all fabulous! Living in Louisville is especially awesome during Derby time. It's like our own mini Mardi Gras. Preparations and festivities usually begin around the 1st of April and this week's electricity is almost tangible. It is such an awesome time to be a native of Kentucky. This Derby is sure not to disappoint - there is no Tiger Woods, no clear cut winner in this race. All of this year's horses are blue collar, hard working horses. Out there to "Git 'R Done." It will be interesting to see who takes the blanket of roses. Below are the silks and the names of each horse. I want to know - Who are you cheering for? What are your plans for the Derby? How do you pick your horse? Do you have any special traditions/superstitions that you follow each year? We'd love to hear about it!

Row 1: Big Brown, Gayego, Recapturetheglory, Cowboy Cal and Denis of Cork

Row 2: Adriano, Monba, Bob Black Jack, Smooth Air and Z Humor

Row 3: Colonel John, Pyro, Visionaire, Big Truck and Z Fortune

Row 4: Eight Belles, Court Vision, Anak Nakal, Tale of Ekati and Cool Coal Man

Happy Belated Birthday (Yesterday) to Ty Eades also!!

Happy Birthday Melisa!!

Someone else wants to wish you a Happy Birthday too!

Click here to see a hilarious clip of Stuart getting his picture taken. "Look what I can do!"

Spring Cleaning

OK, so I thought the blog needed a little sprucing up. I know I sure get accustomed to seeing something a certain way and when it's different, it kinds of throws me for a loop. I'll try to keep the change minimal. Hope ya'll don't mind the new and improved format.

This week is Spring Break for our boys and we went to Henderson for a few days. We hung out with the fam, ate entirely too much, and just basically enjoyed not having to be anywhere at any particular time. We got to see Mike, Melisa, and Casey too, which is always nice. Casey and "Baby Hooston" had a lot of fun together. I think Casey enjoyed being able to boss Houston around. I was just surprised that Mr. Obstinate would oblige. I think I should bring Casey home with me for a few days. Perhaps he could get Houston to "eat three more bites and then you can get down, put down the ball and get inside...NOW!!, and no, you can't have another drink of water - go to sleep!" Since I haven't been having much luck lately. ((and who says the 2s are terrible???))

Also Happy Belated Birthday to Lane Gross!! Lane turned 1 last Friday and had one of the biggest parties I've ever been to on Saturday! He was so cute and managed all of attention like the Rockstar he is! Other than Garrett drilling Rendy in the ribs, thinking she was Luke, it was a pretty mild event.

Boy I sure could go for a cold drink right about now...

March Crazy Pants

If it were left up to me I'd change the terminology from March Madness to March Crazy Pants. I think it has a much better ring don't you? I mean come on...Siena over Vandy, San Diego over UConn, Western over San Diego, Davidson over anybody, buzzer beaters galore, UK and IU out quicker than they got in - well that's just Crazy Pants I tell ya! (OK so maybe UK and IU aren't so Crazy Pants after all.) Hey Mikey - HMDKSHHRN???? That's text messaging for: How Much Does Kelvin Sampson Hate Himself Right Now? It is one of the best times of the year; it's madness and I LOVE IT!!!

For the record I'm going out on a HUGE limb and saying that I'm going with the Bluff's 2nd finest Psycho T and crew at North Carolina. I know that's a stretch but ya gotta go with the underdog from time to time. :)

Like Josh said this friendly blog just might get a little sticky here soon. So let's hear it, who are you pulling for?

Who's the Man?

In the past 4 days I managed to do 12 loads of laundry, run 4 carpools, find a missing soccer cleat and coordinating shin guard (they were in the car), hit the gym not once but twice thank you very much, attend the Boys State Tournament in Lexington - Go Rockets!, stuff 3 dozen plastic eggs with "treats-stickers and candy are ok, but remember no peanuts!", dye 1 dozen hard boiled eggs...with a 2 year old, attend 2 soccer practices and 1 baseball tryout, get two squirming boys' haircuts, sign a report card, purchase coordinating Easter outfits for a family of 4, stuff the Easter baskets, make a fruit salad and the best deviled eggs you have ever placed in your mouth for brunch, go to church, and finally bake a bunny cake because my mom, who though will never see it, will be happier than both of the kids combined. Afterwards, you can imagine how I was feeling...Why did you say exhausted??? That's why I hit the gym...twice (reread above if necessary.) I was feeling pretty proud and confident. "Oh yeah, I'm the woman, ummhmm," I said to myself as we walked into church services with my freshly coiffed men surrounding me. I was still patting myself on the back as our pastor Kyle Idleman delivered a fabulous Easter message. He was preaching about Jesus, about His anguish in the garden, about His uncomfortable truths He unapologetically delivered, about His heart-wrenching crucifixion, and lastly about His resurrection. Kyle said, "The next time you are feeling high and mighty, try walking out of your own grave." Ouch! Those words convicted my heart like a sword. Here I was proud of my accomplishments, proud of my deeds, and like an idiot, totally lost sight of the cornerstone, the catalyst of Christianity - Jesus' defeat over death. You can imagine how I was feeling now...you're right this time, small and insignificant.

Let's not lose sight of this holiday - it's not about the fabulous dress from Clodhoppers, the seersucker suits, the Honey Baked ham, the pastel eggs, or even the bunny cake, it's the ultimate proof that death is not the final end all of our lives. And if we believe the truth that Jesus walked out of his own grave, we too will walk out of our own graves. But please do not take my word for it, check if out for yourself.

Clear BMB!!!

Mike's bone marrow biopsy came back clear!! Whoo-Hoo!! Thanks again for the kind words, thoughts, and prayers the past few days. He is able to remain a free man for another 3 months, barring any unforeseen complications. Go Mikey! It's your birthday! Gonna party like it's your birthday!

One Down, One To Go

Whew! The bone marrow biopsy (BMB) is over and I am happy to report that Mike felt no pain during the procedure! For those of you that have been following the blog, you know that this procedure has been extremely painful in the past and that Mike's oncologist was in disbelief over any claims as such. She stated that BMBs "just aren't painful" and flat out refused any additional pain medication. Well today the good doc did the procedure herself and Mike felt no pain! Perhaps it was additional experience or additional anesthetic Dr. Z provided, but whatever the case the procedure went better than expected. And I thank you for your thoughts and prayers to get us here. Kinda makes me want to dance a little Irish Jig!

Now we wait (and wait...and wait...) until Tuesday for the results. Of course I will post more then.

Have a great weekend!

Friday

I hope everyone was able to dig out from under their respective snowfall amounts. I think almost everyone in Kentucky saw quite a bit of accumulation. I don't recall ever having a snow like this in March but I guess there is a first time for everything.

I just wanted to get the word out to all of the prayer warriors who take the time to read the blog. Mike will have his first post-remission bone marrow biopsy this Friday. This is a scheduled procedure, falling 3 months since his treatment ended. 3 suggested prayers if you will: 1) please pray that Mike and Melisa's minds are put at ease while they wait (and wait) for both the procedure and the results, 2) please pray that this procedure will be as painless as possible, and of course 3) please pray that no leukemic cells are present. Again, those are just suggestions. I have gotten numerous prayer requests from you all that just simply break my heart and I know that you all will continue to ask where your heart leads. Thank you for that.

Have a nice week!

Happy Birthday Luke Eblen!!

Your Schrute Bucks are in the mail!

Jarrod Morris' father Bud passed away early Monday morning at his home in Henderson after battling a long illness. Bud was a long time employee of Alcoa and was married to Yolanda for 38 years. Jarrod is one of Mike's best friends and he has really been there for him through his battle with cancer. It's never easy to say goodbye to a loved one. Please be thinking of Jarrod, his mom Yolanda, and the rest of his family as they go through this difficult situation.

Go Orange?

As most of you all are aware, #1 plays #2 tonight in the big Tennessee showdown. #1 Memphis takes on #2 UT. Guaranteed to be a good game. I guess we will pull for the Vols as: 1) our favorite resident dentist resides there 2) Lofton hails from the bluegrass and 3) NOBODY can pull off that heinous push pop of a sports coat like Coach Pearl. Besides, my husband takes about as much liking to Calipari as a head cold. I was always worried that he would get into a fist fight with him at Freedom Hall!! HAHA!! So here goes, for what it's worth......GO ORANGE!!!

"If you're skating on thin ice, don't jump up and down." Mike Pace, when asked about the antics of his beloved Hoosiers' hoops coach Kelvin Samson. Here! Here!

Party! Party!

If anyone has been in or around our family for any period of time, it doesn't take very long to realize that we are quite the partying bunch. As a friend of mine said recently, "You all are just a party waiting to happen." Give us any excuse to get together to eat and laugh and we're there!

With Mike's 30th birthday last weekend, we didn't need a hunt for reason to party. We had an actual event to celebrate! So Melisa and crew decided to throw Mikey a surprise party. We didn't know if we could pull it off but then we remembered...he's a man - he's oblivious!! (No offense guys.) So Sunday after church, Mike, Poppy and Bret went back to Bret's house to watch the IU game while we girls got to work decorating and preparing for the party....all while the little ones scrambled around our feet. HUGE thanks to our resident party planner extraordinaire Miss Jodie for providing all the little extras that mean so much! While we were busy getting everything settled, Poppy and Bret had to properly time the ending of the ballgame with the beginning of the party. Bret kept trying to fast forward through commercials, halftime, etc... But Mike wasn't having any of it. More than once he told Bret, "...getting a little antsy aren't ya???" Finally he just said, "Give me the remote!" Anyhow, after giving him some lame excuse about Scott having car trouble in Atkinson Park (*see oblivious note above*), they finally got him there! He was welcomed with a big "Surprise!" by several family and friends. We all had a great time and it was nice to see so many friendly faces and catch up with people we haven't see in a while. Hopefully I can post some pictures soon of the big event.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy 30th Birthday to the One and Only!!!

STEWIE: (After Lois tries to feed him his broccoli "airplane style") "Damn you, Damn the broccoli, and Damn the Wright Brothers."