Just A Humble Word Of Thanks

Howdy folks... Merry Christmas!
I just wanted to take a moment (I'm in Iowa as I write this) and say thanks to all who have sent kind words and prayers up for my sister Terri and our family. I gave her a call to check up on her and she still is a little down (duh Mik, what did you expect?), but is still putting her energy into getting ready for Christmas. She sent me a pic of my baby nephew and I love the little guy but he has HUGE pointy ears. I know he'll grow out of them and it's really no big deal, but I made some elf reference about him and I caught all kinds of flak from Terri. She was saying things like "Oh you didn't just go there did you?" and she was ready for a scrap I could tell. That made me feel better because I knew she wanted to go back to some minor sense of normalcy. Unfortunately, chemo therapy has been part of her new "normal" for quite sometime. But she's dealing with it as best she can... By the way, here's how that little conversation we had ended:

Me: Nice picture, I'm glad they could find some elf, er... ear covers for the little guy
Terri (in a bit of a huff): Oh you just didn't go there did you?
Me: No, I often refer to a 6 month-old baby as 'Yoda' because he reminds me of a 3 thousand year old dwarf simply because he is 'wise' beyond his years... just chock full of wisdom he is...
Terri: (click)

I got a couple of text messages from her later giving me crap like only siblings can... So she is trying to kick it up a notch and keep it going. Who am I to stand in the way? Three thousand year old dwarfs not withstanding...

Bah Humbug

Hey guys,
Just a heads up that I would sure appreciate if you kept my sister Terri in your prayers. She gave me a phone call and was sobbing. It seems that her cancer, which appeared to be held in check for quite some time, has spread to her lungs now. She is just crushed. She was questioning God and why would He let this happen? I wanted to be able to give her an answer. But to be truthful, I didn't have one. Only He knows and has the answers. But that is not a very comforting answer for her right now. She's hurting right now. The type of chemo that they treat the lungs with, well, she's allergic to it. Last time they tried it, she ended up in the hospital because it dang near killed her. I can tell you one thing: it makes you treasure and appreciate Christmas a whole lot more...

Mik- Miktoria?

I've got to tell you... sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself. I spent Friday down with the gal pal. I went down for a church dedication. I gotta tell ya, it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g... I couldn't believe how incredible those people were who helped build a church for people that don't know Christ. I sat there in complete awe of these people. They had a great time of fellowship and wished I could've stayed there forever with my gal pal... I love that girl, I tell ya... But duty called and I had to hit the road to drive back up north because I had to be in Grand Rapids, Michigan the next afternoon to broadcast a hockey game. So right after the dedication that night, being a little sleep deprived, I headed up I-75 and stopped for a little shuteye (and in Cincinnati, for the only food that matters... SKYLINE CHILI). So anyway, I get to Grand Rapids on Saturday afternoon and check into the hotel. I expect my hotel key to be like it always is when I'm on the road. My name is usually written on the envelope and the key is inside of it. Well, apparently, someone got the message all screwed up. I ended up getting an envelope from the lady behind the service desk with MISS G... written on it. WHOA BOY... er girl... Uh, I think maybe the moustache and beard were the giveaways.... I didn't think that she was optometry deficient but I'm guessing if she couldn't figure out that I was a guy, then if she's not married, then she could date just about anyone! She wasn't wearing glasses. Geez, I don't know if I should feel bad for her, or insulted that she thought that I was a woman. The guys on the hockey team had a field day with that little nugget of misinformation. It didn't bother me in the least and by the time we headed to the arena for the game, I was making fun of myself over it. It felt like a bizarre "Bosom Buddies" episode... only without Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari...