My mother-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago. It’s been a struggle with ups and downs. They were very aggressive when the time came for chemotherapy. Of course chemotherapy itself brought along a slew of additional complications but with time, medication, and prayer all of the symptoms have been curtailed.

This past week she underwent a bone marrow aspiration, an extremely painful procedure similar to a bone biopsy useful in diagnosing bone diseases such as leukemia. Lo and behold, her oncologist found no signs of leukemia anywhere! It will be several years before she’s pronounced in remission, but this is the first sign of her victory over cancer. And in this family, cancer victories are extremely rare. So we’ll chalk up another Christmas miracle and thank God for our blessings. They are truly greater than we know.

Closer and closer. And with every passing day preparations get more and more frenetic. We’re foregoing the traditional “Christmas in Louisville” foray in lieu of a hosted Christmas on the homefront. The little guy’s 3 now, and it’s time we started having Christmas at home. He needs to have Santa Claus make deliveries to his house, to play with his new toys in his room. Not have to pack everything up and drive home. Of course, that also means we’ll be Clark W. Grizwalding it with the in-laws on the scene. I had to make a halfway trip to Beaver Dam yesterday to pick up the first load of presents. And as feared we’re still waiting for some shipped presents to arrive, hopeful they’ll make it in time. 11 days til Christmas and already I need a drink. Bring on the egg nog!

Well this morning is starting out smashingly. My head feels like a buoy in a hurricane and the back of my soft palate is on fire! A hot shower cleared out all the gunk and I can breathe, but I still just feel like crud. I wish there wasn’t so much going on at work. Then I might feel better about staying home. But duty calls and I’m off.

Wish me luck.

So a week or so ago, while enjoying my selection for the VIP beta of Tom Clancy’s EndWar (which is shaping up to be an AMAZING game, FYI), the graphics on my 360 started looking a little wonky. Sort of washed out. I rebooted, all good. Next day it happens again. Reboot, all good. I’m thinking something in the beta must be icky. The day after, when I boot the system I get no video out at all. Audio works just fine. (I know ‘cuz I can hear that glorious Xbox startup sound they put in all the commercials. I just can’t see it.) Reboot, all works well. This cycle continues for a few more days, then bang. No video ever. Reboots don’t help. Changing video cables doesn’t help. Crying doesn’t help. Surely the internet will help!

Not so much. A perusal of Xbox’s support site states that while Microsoft extended the 1-year warranty on all Xboxes to 3, they only did so for systems suffering from the infamous “Red Ring of Death.” Me no ringy. Poo. Then, this morning, just for grins I fired up the ol’ 360.

RED RING OF DEEEEAAAAATTTTHHHHH!!!!

This may be the first time in gaming history someone’s actually been happy for the RRoD. My system’s still busted, but at least I know I’ll be playing again soon… in 2 to 3 weeks. :(

Got the new WordPress app installed on my iPhone. Posting this from the gym. The wife and I tied a few on at a wedding reception last night so I’m punishing myself with an extra run on the elliptical. Ooh, that machine is evil!
Also check out the new do. Missy’s doing entirely but I could get used to it.
Also, Dr. Dunn at the Apple… surreal. But it was good times seeing Clarence Dobbins again. Plus, my wife can DANCE!

So the new iPhone 3G arrived today. I had ended up upgrading the wife to the new phone since her account was eligible. The plan was then for me to take her iPhone 1st gen and finally switch our numbers so I had the new phone. AT&T store lady assured me they did that all the time.
True. They do switch numbers all the time. But not between iPhones. Apple has the big brother no-no on iPhone swapping. I think it’s a piece of their ” don’t buy iPhones to unlock and re-sell deal. So Missy’s enjoying her new iPhone 3G and I’m rockin’ last year’s model. But hey, at least I got some kind of iPhone. I’m just glad the whole process is said ad done.
Oh, and the MSU discount doesn’t apply to the iPhone at all, FYI. Just one more thing…

…I hear banjo music.
Today was a fun day. I can’t imagine a much better time than paddling the Elkhorn Creek with your beautiful wife, your best buddy from high school and his wife. 4 people, 2 canoes, and the open air. Yessir. Not much better. Well, maybe if the creek had WATER in it! No rain in 3 weeks had caused the creek to drop from its already low summer state an additional 7 inches last week. That made for a lot of portaging and scraped knees, but it was still a great trip, one we’ll definitely repeat once the water level rises. Even got a couple t-shirts before we left.
Jump on over to the Pictures page for a few pics from the trip. Tomorrow’s adventure: taking Liam to the Newport Aquarium! Stay tuned.