Well thats an ixnay.

So much for going to the Griz game tomorrow morning. Mom I took dad in for radiation and his normal Friday follow up appointments at the hospital this afternoon and he ended up being admitted for the next 5-10 days. The game plan is to keep him there until he stabilizes and hopefully quits losing weight. Maybe even gain a few pounds in the process. So instead of going to the game I'm going to try and bring it to him. Most of the UM games are broadcast over the Internet and the hospital has high speed wireless. So I'm going to take advantage of it and make sure dad sees his Griz kick some hiney tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers. We're all pretty worried about him right now. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Go Griz!

In the Tummy of the Grizzly Bear.... GO GRIZ!

It has been an excruciating 3 years since I've been in the awe striking presence of the University of Montana Grizzly football team. I tell you those are a long 3 years. But by tomorrow that will have all changed. Yes thats right. I'm going to go watch our Grizzlies kick some serious UNC butt tomorrow up in Greeley. Dad has been talking about this game pretty much non-stop since the beginning of football season when he found out the Griz were going to playing down here in Colorado. He has been looking forward to this game all through his treatment and told me that no matter what he was going to go to it. So we himmed and hawed about how to make the event as comfortable as we could with dad being such a hurting unit these days. Thankfully Brenda works in a Nursing home and therefore got us both a sporty wheelchair and handicap decal that we can use over the weekend so that at least dad will be warm and cozy in that rather than on the cold aluminium bleachers of the stadium. I'm seriously thinking I should decorate the wheelchair this afternoon with appropriate maroon and silver streamers. I figure if he has to ride in the thing he should be doing it in style. Don't you think? Lucky for me I was down in Colorado at the right time to go as well. So we'll have two huge Griz fans at least cheering our little lungs out at the game. Mom's coming too and she of course gets excited but its not quite the same as the annoying loudness my dad and I share at the games. I'll be sure to fill in the details of our extravaganza tomorrow at some point. FIRST DOWN .... MONTANA!!!!

Just another day in paradise.

I realized today that I had been very neglectful of my blogger page over the last few days. I've constantly been checking Kati's page to see what she is up to (as usual) but just didn't seem to have the mood strike me to write. And in all honesty I still don't feel up to it but what the heck I have nothing else going on at the moment.

Mornings are slow here at the Hancock Bungalo. Thats not to say they aren't nice but it seems like a far cry from hiking the vast terrain of the Cabinet Wilderness by 5 in the morning. I still can't seem to sleep in past about 5 but I guess thats a good thing since I have to get back to it in less than a week. Typically I wake up and the house is absolutely silent. Mark isn't even up yet rummbling around. So what do I do... lay in bed, wide awake, staring at the umbrella that has been decorated to look like a hawaiian hut over my nieces bed. Sometimes I plug the little lights that Rebecca has carefully wrapped around the underside of it and sometimes I don't. Its a quiet and reflective time for me. I find myself having a very frank and humbling conversation with God at thesetimes of the day. Once I hear Rachel's alarm go off in the room next to mine, I start getting with the program. This usually means getting up and listening to all my joints and bones creak and crack a bit. There certainly are days that I feel much older than my 25 years. I blame it on those years of competitive sports and now beating my body against the landscape I love so much. I have a cacophony of sounds from my knees, ankles, back and neck as anyone who has been my roommate can testify to. Mark, Rachel, and Brenda are the first to go out into the world while Rebecca's school doesn't start until an hour later so she and I get to do breakfast together. Its pretty nice having our own little time together. Once she is gone the house is again so very silent. Mom and dad take their sweet time coming upstairs in the mornings though when they finally are up and about Dad and I break out the coffee as I've mentioned in a previous post.

After morning rituals are done, or as dad would say, the 3 S's. We head down to the hospital for Dad's radiation treatments. The treatments themselves really don't take very long, maybe 15 minutes at most but for dad they are excruciating. A few years ago he broke his back and he's had trouble laying on hard surfaces ever since. Most of the time he goes in pretty chipper but by the time he is done we can see how tired he is. It definately takes a lot out of him. But the good news is that Dad is down to 4 more treatments and we're definately having a countdown. There is hope and light at the end of this tunnel. I keep teasing dad about the hair he has coming back... his normally silver fringe of hair is actually darker than it was before he started the whole ordeal. I keep telling him that he's going to have less grey hair than I do by the time everything is said and done. Thank god for dye.

By the time we get back from the hospital and picking up prescriptions and what not, the girls are back from school and our evenings of cooking dinner, the girls going to swim practice,helping out with homework, and watching the normal barage of politcal commentary on Fox News ensues. I must say that I'm really sick of all the hype about the upcoming election. It seems like for the past 3 years that is all that has been on the news. Its not like its honest reporting either. Both sides are skewed so much that its more of a comedy routine than actual news. Thats me on my high horse there if you cant tell. I do get a kick out of watching Fox News with Dad though. He keeps getting so fired up whenver something about Obama is discussed. Can we say that I come from a conservative republican family or what? I like it though because its nice to see dad get worked up about it, its almost as if he saves up his remaining energy just for that purpose in the evening.

So thats my days down here in Denver. Its nothing really exciting but I have to admit that I'vc enjoyed my time with my folks and family. The time has gone by so very fast and its not exactly fair. But I'm sure there will be days in the near future that I come back down to see everyone again.

Coffeeeeeee!

Why is it that something so cheap and easy to produce tastes so fan-fricking-tastic? I'm just talking about plain ol add some cream and sugar if you want coffee. For the last several months I've been trying to cut down on my coffee consumption and switched to herbal teas. But I felt like there was something missing in my life. Sad but true. So one of the first things I did when getting down here to Denver was buying some coffee since my sister hates the stuff. I know I know... talk about blasphemy. I've been enjoying my black brew ever since. Dad has been drinking about half a cup with me every morning when he gets up. We just sit in Brenda's family room and chit chat about a little bit of everything. I think its one of the few times during the day that he feels halfway normal. Mornings were my time with dad. Having breakfast together and talking about what was going on in our lives. So the coffee drinking is pretty significant, especially since he is actually able to drink coffee again after 13 months of not having a drop of the liquid life force.

I have to say that yesterday was one of the best days my dad has had since I've been down here. Eating was still an issue when it came to plain foods but he was more his normal self. Joking around, giving my nieces a hard time about boys, and even sitting on the front porch and bsing with the mail man who was walking his route. We sat out there together talking and enjoying the fall evening with me slipping dad a chocolate chip cookie every once in a while. When Brenda came home from work we were still out there and she contributed to the fun by breaking out a bag of candy corn. Even after all that sugar in the afternoon his blood sugar levels were good and he kept it all down. Thankfully he only has another 8 more radiation treatments to go and then he'll have to wait a few weeks to find out when they will do surgery. Hopefully that will mark the end of this whole cancer thing for him.

Hope everyone's week is going well. Love and miss you all.

Everyone Came out on Top

Well so far this weekend has been grand in terms of football wins. All the teams I was cheering for (note: I have no voice now) won yesterday and Friday night. Gators, Huskies, and Griz all reigned supreme on the gridiron. Just as it should be.

As some of you know, when Brenda and I get together we happen to embibe just a wee bit. After everything was said and done with Rachels hair, makeup, and dress, she and Dusty scedadled to the dance and Brenda and I popped open a bottle of her favorite chardaney to go with Cheesy Potato Bacon soup from Safeway. I must say with the bread and soup it was a perfect wine. Two bottles and a shot of blueberry vodka later, Brenda was snoozing away happily in the big overstuffed chair while Rebecca and I were still up and watching the movie Harold.

After the movie ended I was still wide awake so I gave Mace a call to find out if he was feeling better. A nasty flu bug has inundated Trout Creek and it finally made its way to Mace and the rest of his family. Guess I got out of Trout Creek at the perfect time to avoid that plague. Thankfully Mace sounded 10 times better than he had the day before. I know he was miserable and its absolutely no fun being sick like that when you are alone. He's still a pretty weak and dehydrated but I'm sure by this evening most of that will have been resolved as well. At least thats my hope anyway.

Welp I need to go finish getting ready for church. Hope everyone else's weekend is going well too. Check you on the flipside.

Today Go Gators Tomorrow Go Huskies and Griz!

I am being inducted into the multi-team cheering hall of fame this weekend. Rachel, my oldest niece is having her high school's football homecoming day tonight. I have been invited to come along and hang out with her friends at the game and cheer my lungs out for her poor little Stanley Lake Gators. Apparently they don't have much of a football team but how can you not go to your own school homecoming right. The dance is tomorrow night though and I get to do Rachie's hair for it. Thats pretty darn cool. She has a fabulous purple dress that her boyfriend Dusty is going to go head over heals for. I tell you I'm glad he is an upright and decent guy because I'd hate to be the one to beat up my niece's boyfriend for being a jerk... and I would if that was the case. They actually make a really sweet couple and I'm excited to be getting a change to get to know him better and see them interact so well.
As for tomorrow I'll be in the stands of Platte Canyon High School up in Bailey cheering on the team that Mark has been coaching for years now. I've only been able to see a few scrimages over the years and it will be nice to see Mark's Huskies kicking butt. So far they are undefeated this season and hopefully tomorrow will just be a continuation of that trend. Now while I may be sitting in the Husky stands and wearing blue and black war paint with the girls but my heart is also going to be with my fellow Griz fans as they play Eastern Washington on Saturday. So yeah... thats my weekend so far. Mom and Dad headed up to Cheyenne today to spend the night and get some simple house stuff done. If I hadn't already promised Rachel I'd do her hair I'd have gone up with them but I'd made the prior committment and I want to hold those kind of promises. I think its good for them to have some time to themselves too and they'll be back by tomorrow afternoon so I'm not horribly worried about not going with them. But since the weather is turning south even as I'm writting this, keep them in your prayers for the return trip tomorrow. Have a great weekend all.

I Hate Circadian Rhythms

I swear to God I had every intention of taking advantage of sleeping in on this trip but my internal clock is making that rather difficult. I woke up only 18 minutes later than my alarm at home would have gone off. I guess small progress is still progress but waking up at 4:48 rather than 4:30 doesn't seem like much consolation. I have to say though Becca gave up her bed for me and it was fabulous. So much better than sleeping on the hidabed in the living room. Not that I would have really minded that either but its nice to not be sleeping in the middle of the common areas of the house and having a little peace and quiet to myself. Just so you know... my nieces are just the coolest kids in the world. I love that we are so close and that we can always have fun together. It was nice sitting with them both this morning before they headed off to school and goofed around together. No matter how old any of us get we'll always be silly together. Its also nice to see what beautiful and considerate young ladies they are both becoming. They are showing some more serious and introspective sides and have such a good relationship with each other even when they are both in pissy moods. I know by family relation they are my nieces but I swear they are more like my little sisters. Its a nice relationship.

That's it for now... I need to get some work done. Woo hoo for writing grants on elk winter habitat restoration.

ps...Even after Kati reminded me to take my camera with me to Denver I somehow managed to forget it... forgot my razor too but that's another story. My Bad!!! So much for taking cool pictures while I'm here. I guess you'll just have to deal with pictureless posts or just some representative pictures of Denver like the one from last night that I kyped from the internet. So sorry... its a bummer. But I will get Brenda to take pictures of Rachel's homecoming and email them to me so I can post them later.

Mile High City

I made it to Denver safe and sound. All flights went off without a glitch for a change. I already miss Mace like crazy, but I am glad I am down here. I can already tell that this is going to be a good visit. Have a good night all and God Bless.
Tracy

Short and Sweet

I should have more time during the next three weeks to get some posting in since work wont be getting in my way. I'm flying down to Denver today and wont be back until the 27th of October. So keep me in your prayers while I travel and please more than anything keep my dad in your prayers because he's having a rough time with his treatments right now. Love you all!

Tracy