The Birthday Boy!

I’m very grateful when birthdays roll around. We get to share good times with good friends, with the bonus that the kids are here from Baltimore to help me celebrate….after showing Victoria a good time in Vegas for her big birthday last weekend. It is hard to avoid the thoughts that come with “diagnostics later this month” but for a few hours every day I’m able to slide them behind a screen and forget about it.

Nate, Billy, Liz and Vickie really DID have a nice time. As it turns out, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” was coined prior to the invention of the digital camera or Facebook networking. Nearly the minute they returned, pictures appeared online. If she was going to share pictures with the world, she at least had to let me look. So bright and fresh. So eager for the next step. Hard for anyone to know that all four of them carry burdens that their Daddy shares, helping to lighten his load, because each of them is so strong for the other.

We’ve had wild weather, right on cue. Snow for Christmas, stopping work and giving extra vacation days. Last night it rained a couple of inches. Not much for many, but we Oregonians prefer ours in little doses over time—not all at once. The holidays have been very relaxing, but also emotional. Nobody loves Christmas quite like I do, yet I worry that I dampen the celebrations of others when they say things like “you look really well” instead of “Merry Christmas.” Sometimes, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to look like. I guess I’m more normal than people ever gave me credit for, and given my other more humorous abnormalities they presume I must have something to show for all the medical intervention I’ve received. I’ve learned to simply say “Thank you” and “Merry Christmas”….to get them back on track!

Another week to go before the last of the targeted infusions. We’ll see how I recover this time, since the last one wasn’t pleasant. Then, we do the diagnostics at the end of the month. Whatever the results, Jillian and I head to Cabo San Lucas for a week in early February to share time with friends and make plans for the future. With the weather we’ve had, it can’t come quickly enough.

And in the meantime, between doctor visits and vacation plans…we need to kick off the year with some good work and solid production with physician clients.

Happy Birthday to YOU…all of YOU look really well, too, and I love smiling at you whenever we get the chance to say hello…