July 2008

The big news this month was our birthday bash for Deb! She turned the big 3-0 in grand style! We rented a house in New Buffalo, MI and ended with 10 of us total in attendance. Most of the crowd arrived on Thursday (7/24) and we even got a chance to check out some wineries (Round Barn and Tabor Hill) after the beach on Friday. We spent the Saturday at the beach and spend the evenings playing corn-hole, ladder-ball, bocce, euchre, beer pong, poker, catchphrase and a few other games. We grilled out every night and ate well and probably drank a little beer! The beach was wonderful and everyone was pretty tired by the end of the weekend. Along with the great weekend, Deb received a digital camera, a cool tripod, a pair of pants and a nice shirt for her birthday.

This month also included the 17th Annual Carroll/Wahman “Beach-mo” event. Every year, we head up to St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, MI for a nice weekend of rest and relaxation! We were able to coordinate this event with the extended July 4th weekend this year which allowed for a little extra time to hang out. Everyone was in attendance this year and the weather cooperated with 2 great days at the beach. A few late nights of euchre and board-games along with spending the entire day in the sun really had mostly everyone tired by the end of the weekend!

I am not the best person to ask about how Dad is doing, but I would say he is doing OK. He appears to be getting a little more tired with each chemo cycle. The good news is that his blood levels have done better since his last blood transfusion, which is great since it means one less trip to the hospital. He had a doctor’s appointment and Beth was able to attend. From what we have gathered, everything appears to be progressing well and the doctor was encouraged by Dad’s progress with the medicine and chemo therapy. Pete, Laura and Claire came for a visit in mid-July to attend a wedding and this allowed for Deb and I do a few hours of babysitting. I’d say we learned a lot, but basically all we got out of it is that if she cried thenchange her diaper…and if that didn’t work, feed her and she seemed to be happy! Beth came for a nice visit the week of Deb’s birthday and we were able to go to an Indians game with her before we left for Michigan.

We attended a wedding for Angie Biggs on July 12th. Angie is one of Deb’s first friends when she moved to Indy and one of the reasons Deb and I met (the guy that introduced Deb and I was a boyfriend of Angie Biggs a few years ago). It was a nice ceremony and it was one of the first wedding receptions I can remember when I was the sober driver for Deb!

We have also been trying to enjoy some time by our pool at our condo complex and do some small projects around the condo. We are looking at possibly buying a new TV for this football season. I finally broke-in my bike helmet and biking gloves I got for Christmas at a biking trail here in Indy. I had a great time and it is definitely challenging…that thing wore me out for a few days! That is just about it for the month of July!