June 2008

Deb went to Washington D.C. for the National Race for the Cure on June 7th. This was an opportunity for her to see several of her aunts and uncles along with her family for a weekend. She left on a Friday morning and spent the day with Aunt Barbs. Randy, Anna and Julie joined the party early for the Race the next morning. On Saturday evening, a large group went to a Washington Nationals game. What a great park- who would have thought there would be enough room for a stadium in downtown DC. Sunday, she drove with her parents to Charleston to spend the week with her parents. She helped power-wash the house, go through several childhood memoir boxes, helped get the deck ready to paint, and simply enjoyed hanging out with her parents.

Dad is doing OK. He has his ups (feeling great some days) and downs (fever, chills and shortness of breath) and is getting used to not really knowing how he will be feeling a few hours from now. As you can guess, that can be pretty frustrating but he and mom are trying to adapt the best they can. As I write this memoir, he has accomplished one cycle of the chemo treatment and starts the second cycle tomorrow. He seems a little more tired and at times anxious about whatever the next appointment/treatment is coming. Overall, some of the tears have been replaced with a little laughter. He really doesn’t like too much attention, so I guess I should stop writing about him for this month!

Deb and I went to Chicago to visit Jeremy and Erin Anderson during the middle of June. We arrived on a Friday evening and we had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Having a lot to catch up on, Jeremy and I were up until 1:30AM. Deb and I went to the Cubs game (vs. White Sox) the next day with Joe and Ali Rago. We got a chance to hang out with them and have a few Old Styles (draft beer served at Wrigley). After the game, Jeremy, Erin, Deb and I went to a nice steak dinner followed by an improv comedy show. The show was very similar to “Whose Line is it Anyways?” but the subject matter was based on current events. It was very entertaining and also impressive at the same time. After a nice brunch on Sunday morning, we left and were back in Indy by the afternoon.

While we have been in town, we have enjoyed going to the Rathskeller, hanging out by the pool on the weekends when the weather permits, and finishing the flag football season with another championship! Laura (and Claire) and Beth came to town for a quick visit on opposite weekends. Deb went to her friend Angie’s pink and pearls themed bachelorette party and did some wine tasting around Indy. We look forward to seeing my family again at Lake Michigan over July 4th weekend.

May was a very difficult month. Even though we had fun on a few trips, we have received some news regarding my dad’s health. He has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a cancer of the plasma cells. He is going to start chemotherapy on June 2nd with a bone morrow transplant coming sometime in the fall/winter. This news has hit our family pretty hard and we are trying to be as up-beat as possible. It appears that there will be several treatments going on for the next year or so and we should have a better idea as we move along how well he is doing. We appreciate the support and prayers of all our family and friends. As we received this news, we were fortunate enough to get a chance to see Beth, Pete, Laura and Claire for a few days before heading off to San Francisco.

May started out with a fun trip to New York with Randy, Anna and Julie. We went to Shan Wade’s wedding and made an extended weekend out of it. We all arrived on Thursday and went to a Yankee’s baseball game. It rained during the game, but it was great to see Yankee Stadium. Friday we went to Good Morning America (yeah, I held a pink sign on national television) and also went to the Statue of Liberty. Friday night we went to see “Chicago” on Broadway and then ended the night at ESPN-zone for a beer. On Saturday we went to do some window shopping and then went to the wedding. Now, I’ve never been to a black-tie wedding, but I’ve worn several tuxes at weddings. Apparently, when you put that tux on, you feel like you can do whatever you want…and this includes dancing with the mother of the groom and playing the “air guitar” around the dance-floor. I guess I should also note here that I got one of the waiters to give me a bottle of wine to take back to our room…which Randy, Anna and I finished off around 2AM!
Deb and I were also fortunate enough to take a trip to San Francisco in May. We arrived on a Sunday and went to a baseball game between the Giants and the White Sox. Brad and Jenn showed us a nice day and we had a great Italian dinner in North Beach. I had a training seminar the Monday and Tuesday we were there, so Deb had a massage and also got a hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli square. On Tuesday, which was also our second anniversary, we went to Scoma’s (seafood) for dinner and had drinks at the Top of the Marc (great panoramic views of the city during sunset). On Wednesday, we went to Alcatraz and rode bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and had lunch across the bay in Sausalito. After taking a ferry back and see Coit Tower, we were ready to relax. Thursday we rented a car and drove to Napa Valley. We tasted at 4 wineries (Sterling, Peju, Plumpjacks, and Black Stallion). We enjoyed a nice dinner at Mustards and were off to Sonoma the next day. Again, we went to 4 wineries (Cline, Ledson, Chateau St. Jean, and Sebastiani). We had dinner at A Girl and a Fig and were ready to head back to San Fran and not taste any wine for a few weeks! On the way back to SF, we stopped by Muir Woods and did a quick 3 mile hike. Those had to be some of the oldest trees in the world! We spent our last day with Brad and Jenn, who showed us around to Haight and Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, the Pacific Ocean, and the Mission District.

So as you can see, May was a very busy month with a lot going on. We are ready for a few weekends of Indiana and relaxing with family and friends.