August 2008

We spent the first weekend of August up at Lake Wawasee in northern Indiana with some friends from our flag football league (Liz, Jeff, Diane, Brandon and Chris). The weather was perfect and we had a great time playing Jenga (when Keith had to jump off the pier at one point), playing Trivial Pursuit and Gender Wars (guys lost both times), and some late night euchre battles (when Brandon and Keith lost and had to do a bunch of funny things the next day, including getting the beer and the “truffle shuffle”).

We spent the next 2 weekends in Indy. We enjoyed the pool and tried to catch up from a busy summer. We were also preparing for some busy times coming up in late August and early September. We attended a few birthday parties for Meg Miles and the Nondorf boys, and took a tour of the new Lucas Oil Stadium (new home of the Colts).

Dad is doing well but seems more fatigued as more and more cycles go on. The news from the doctor is good as he seems to be doing well with the chemo and other medication he is on. In September, we should know when his bone morrow transplant will be (Nov, Dec or possibly Jan). Mom appears to be doing well, having the ability to make it to some chemo appointments and all doctor appointments.

We attended Tim Benck’s wedding in late August. Tim is a good friend of mine from my first day in college. We ended up in the same fraternity and have stayed in touch ever since. The wedding was in Chicago and we stayed at Joe and Ali Rago’s house on Friday night and the guys (Matt, Jason, Joe and I) stayed up until 3AM playing caps. The wedding was outside, which made it a little uncomfortable with a tuxedo on, but we were happy to get inside to the AC once the ceremony was over! Apparently, we were a little thirsty and instead of drinking water, we consumed some “adult beverages” and by the end of the night we were having a great time! Somehow, during the song “Shout!” (one of my favorites) I ended up on the ground being spun around by everyone!

For Labor Day weekend, we took off and headed to Davis, WV for Anna’s 60th Birthday party. It was a great weekend and the party never ended. We arrived on Thursday evening and by that time, several people have already arrived and the party had officially kicked off. Too many people were there to mention everyone, but it was great to see so many people that we had only seen a few times since the wedding. A huge “circus” like tent was put up in the backyard in Davis to help in case it rained and with all the decorations, it was really a great party. Deb and I broke away for a few hours to go on a mountain bike ride (a group went hiking and some others stayed at the house). Well, I decided I was ready for the X Games and tried to get over a big rock…and the rock decided that I didn’t need my back tire anymore (popped it!). We had to walk a few miles back to the town. The next day we went rafting and the water was low so we rafted on “duckies” (which are one-man kayaks, but look more like inflatable canoes). This made it a lot more fun, except for Deb fell out once and banged her knees on a rock. She was OK, but nevertheless, we were ready to go back to the Davis house by that point!

That’s all for this month…see you in September!