10/30 - Early Christmas?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other night there was an orchestra concert at the High School
for son #1. Afterwards, we all headed to Wendy’s for Frosties.
When we left, there was a small Italian Restaurant next door that
had a big sign right in front of our van that said, “Tired of
Burgers? Try Us!” It was a new little place (really little) called
Little Italy or something. I told my sweet wife that we needed to
try it on our next date night.

She reminded me that there was a new Ribs place by Smith’s that we
wanted to try first. So, last week was the rib place, and Friday
night was Little Italy. I think I like the Italian place better.
Not that the rib place was bad, it just seemed... well... regular
I suppose. Anyway, the Italian place only had 12 tables or so, and
there were only 4 full tables. (Which doesn’t bode well for first
impressions). But, I think it’s still pretty new. We joked that
the music playing must have been from some stereotypical Italian
music CD. We had heard all but 1 or 2 songs. But, after awhile it
blended in with the atmosphere, which I thought was really great.

Then, the food was really good too. It took several minutes for
the pre-dinner bread to come out, but it was hot and (of course,
Italian) tasted wonderful. We finished the small loaf, and when
our dinner came, my sweet wife asked for more. “Oh, just a second,
we’ll throw another one in the oven.” So, that’s why it takes a
few minutes for the bread. The salad was just your average iceberg
lettuce fair, and not very impressive, but the house dressing
tasted homemade and was very garlicy. Wonderful stuff.

Anyway, both of our spaghetti’s were great. And next time I’d like
to try the pizza. Although I’m sure it wasn’t good for my
triglycerides, I’d still give it a 4½ out of 5 date night stars.

Little Italy Pizzeria & Ristorante
9284 S. 700 E.
Sandy UT 84070
(801)255-0363
Dominic Galati

Also on Friday, we got a call from Primary Children’s Hospital.
(Why does my heart drop ever time they call. Ug...) But this time
it was good news. They said, “We have a very generous donor who
would like to give you a pair of tickets to the Hanna Montana
concert tomorrow.” Well, Yeah... Of course son #4 would love to
go! So son #4 and I did. We got to sit in a suite with about 15
other kids. The suite had all of the goodies; food, and lots of
it. Hot dogs and big chicken nuggets for the kids, and shrimp for
me. Boy, I love shrimp! They also brought ice cream and brownies.
There was a TV, bathroom, kitchen sink, and drinks galore. It was
awesome. Son #4 and I had a great time! David Vankomen, owner and
CEO of Vankomen Media was the generous donor. He seemed like a
really nice guy too! Anyway, here are some pictures with captions.




Here's a couple of pictures just before the concert. I've never met
any of these folks before. That in itself was interesting.
David's the one in blue.




Here are a couple of shots from stage right. We saw backstage too, and
that was cool. Son #4's favorite thing to say when people ask him about
the concert is, "They even had fireworks... Inside!" The 2nd photo is one
of the Jonas Brothers. Good music. Really loud.


We got there several minutes late, and when I tried to get son #4
to go to his seat in the front, it was already dark. He couldn't
see the stairs very well, and refused to go any further than the
protective table (that fed him all concert long). He does not like
new things that he can't see well. (Hiking, dark stairs, etc.)


At son #4's last IEP, they talked about using a monocular for him, along with
his white cane and braille studies. They suggested we try them out at
concerts and sporting events. So, I brought along some binoculars. He seemed
to do pretty well with them.


Here you see ketchup and blue M&M juice on his face. Matches the ear plugs I'd say.


This little girl and son #4 were the only ones who were dancing. Her mom
seemed to really have a good time too. I asked son #4 why he was dancing
so hard, and he said, "Hanna told me to!"

45 minutes after this girl's mom told me her daughter had type I dibetes,
I brought down the tray of brownies and offered everyone some. I felt
like such a putz when she said, "Um, no thanks. She can't have any."
D'oh!

Then, just before the concert started, David handed out a gift
bag to each of the kids. Each bag had a Nintendo DS game system,
with ‘Brain Age 2’ and another game inside. I thought, wow! Are
you kidding? It was really nice. But, I immediately thought of
sons #1, #2, and #3, and thought how they might be jealous.
(Especially son #3 who seems to think life is unfair to him, and
such a blessing for son #4. I can see his point, with the brain
tumor/youngest son/”profoundly socially adept” thing going on,
it's easy to miss some things with the other boys. But, I
digress...)

So, on the way home I asked son #4 if he wouldn’t mind sharing
his new treasure with his brothers. Without hesitation he said,
“Sure dad” Almost as if to say it rolling his eyes, ‘like there
would be any doubt dad...’ He is a good kid.

So, last night for family night we carved pumpkins (I think mine
is the best this year) and wrote thank you notes to Mr. Vankomen.

Life is good...

Enjoy Today’s Jokes!
Marty

p.s. Reading over this issue of the JOTD, and the last couple of
ones, I’ve noticed I’ve written a lot about food. (Wendy’s
frosties, ribs, Italian food, shrimp, etc.) I guess it shows I’m
more appreciative of the stuff anymore. Last August I got serious
about a diet. As of this morning, I’ve shed 25 pounds. I love it
when people who know me, and don’t know I’m on a diet say, “have
you lost weight?” It gives me a thrill! But, I’ve really tried to
keep it hush hush. I suppose it’s because I guess I’m embarrassed
about my weight. Anyway, one of my ‘treats’ I told myself I’d give
myself at 25 pounds, was that I would tell my JOTD readers. So,
the next time you see me, give me an ‘atta boy, but don’t give
up now...’ message.

=-=-=-


<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

A man walks into an ice cream shop and asks, "I'd like two scoops
of chocolate ice cream, please." The girl behind the counter
replied, "I'm sorry, sir, but we're out of chocolate." "In that
case," the man continued, "I'll have two scoops of chocolate ice
cream." "We're out of chocolate," the girl repeated. "Then just
give me one scoop," he insists. Frustrated, the girl says, "Sir,
will you spell 'van,' as in 'vanilla?'" "V-A- N." "Now spell
'straw,' as in 'strawberry.'" "S-T-R-A-W." "Now," the girl asked,
"spell 'stink,' as in chocolate." The man hesitates. "There's no
stink in chocolate." "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"
she screams.

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

"What is that sound?" a woman asked at our nature center. "It's
the frogs trilling for a mate," Patti, the naturalist, explained.
"We have a pair in the science room. But since they've been
together for so long, they no longer sing to each other."
The woman nodded sympathetically, "The trill is gone."

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

Two female privates are ordered to paint the general's office.
They are warned not to get paint on their uniforms. So they lock
the door, strip off their clothes and get to work. An hour later,
there's a knock at the door. "Who is it?" they ask. "Blind man."
Thinking nothing of it, the privates open the door. "Hi," says the
man. "Where do you want the blinds?"

10/23 - Another day trying not to think about ~it~.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, we’re just back from a financial seminar dinner. You know, one
of those... “come-to-a-fancy-dinner-and-learn-about-our-company-
and-let-us-invest-your-money-for-you-of-course-we’ll-take-just-a-
little-bit-of-coin-from-you-too” dinners. Well, when they asked, I
was feeling rich, and hungry, and when they mentioned Carvers
Steak and Chop house, I jumped at the chance. Only, the invitation
said, “geared for ages 55 and above”. So, I was feeling just a
little guilty when I called to make reservations. When I asked
about the 55 year old requirement, she said, “No Problem!” So, I
felt better about going, but, I think I was the youngest one in
the room. But, that’s ok, I still think I can swim with the big
fish and hold my own.

Anyway, son #4 called just as we were being served prime rib and
said, “Mom, I’m hungry!” (son #1 was making dinner just then) and
added, “and you ~never~ eat dinner with us!” Which tugged at both
of our heart strings. But considering we eat dinner with them at
least 5 times a week (And more like 6 nights a week [or 7 times if
we miss ‘date night’ together]) I didn’t feel guilty too long,
especially with a 10 oz slab of prime rib on my plate!



Anyway, I’m trying to keep busy and keep my mind on other things.
I keep telling myself, he’s either got tumors or he doesn’t, and
there’s not a thing you can do about it, so get over it. So, I
try, and on with life we go.

I’m finally getting caught up on my blog reading. A couple of my
favorites that I need to link in my blog are – Scary stuff, all
that fire in California!

The Musings of a Space Nerd

THE GREAT GLADDEN FAMILY

Melody’s Doodles

Enjoy Today’s Jokes!
Marty

=-=-=-

Reader Comments;
Marty's jotd on a Friday???? Well, I guess it helps to make up
for all the days you missed. And thanks for the jokes again.
It's been so long I forgot what I sent you. Well, I guess it
doesn't have to be very long for that (I'll say it before you
can) Love, #1 Mom

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

A disappointed soft drink salesman returned from his Middle East
assignment. His boss asked, "Why weren't you successful with the
Arabs?"

The salesman explained, "When I got posted in the Middle East, I
was very sure to make a good sales pitch as our product was
virtually unknown there. I didn't know to speak Arabic, so I
planned to convey the message through 3 posters. My first poster
was a man crawling through the hot desert sand, totally exhausted
and panting. Second, the man is drinking our soft drink and third,
our man is now totally refreshed. Then these posters were pasted
all over the place"

"That should have worked," said the boss.

The salesman replied, "Well, not only did I not speak Arabic but I
didn't realize that Arabs read from right to left."

~Wanda D.

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

When Mary was pregnant, her 5 year old, Billy, was utterly amazed,
and a little bit disbelieving, that his sister was growing in his
mom's tummy. So one day when the baby was especially active, she
sked Billy to place his tiny hands on her tummy to feel the baby
kick. But when he did, the baby was suddenly still. "Oh, Billy,
she must have decided to take a nap," shrugged Mary.

"A nap?" Billy marveled. "You mean there's a bed in there too?"

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

I did my nurse's training at a hospital in Liverpool, England. My
fellow students and I had little money for meals, so we ate the
awful food provided at the hospital complex. We often took our
breaks in the kitchen, and sometimes kindly visitors would give us
some of the treats they had brought for patients. One night a
woman brought a pork pie to the kitchen and said to me, "Would you
eat this up, love?" Delighted at the offer, another student and I
devoured every crumb. Soon our benefactor returned, however, and
asked, "Is me 'usband's pie 'ot yet, dearie?"

10/19 - Can I go too?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, October 19, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, let’s get back to a little bit of normalcy here. Yes, there
are jokes at the end Uncle B...

The Candlelighters Childhood cancer foundation “...provides
information and awareness for children and adolescents with cancer
and their families, to advocate for their needs, and to support
research so every child survives and leads a long and healthy
life.” (They also throw cool parties and give away neat stuff!)
Yesterday I got an email that Hale Center Theater had some extra
tickets for a play, and gave a block of them to Candlelighters.
And, they had 6 of them for us.

Tonight we saw a play that I’d never heard of before called, “Once
on this Island”. An interesting play loosely based on ‘The Little
Mermaid’; After a car crash on the ‘poor’ side of the island, a
girl heals the ‘rich’ car driver. They fall in love, but she’s a
peasant, he’s a rich aristocrat. Yadda Yadda...




My sweet wife really liked it. But, for 4 boys, and a family
outing, I’ll only give it 1½ boys out of 4. For a date night,
probably a 2. It was done in a Caribbean style, and some of the
lines were hard to understand. Twords the end, son #4 fell asleep on
my sweet wife’s lap. Son’s #1, 2, and 3 sat in front of us. Son’s
#2 and 3 (as usual) were poking and aggravating each other. I said to
son #2, “Do you want to go and sit in the van for the rest of the
play?” Son #4 perked up and said, “Can I go too?”

I think we’ll wait for a comedy next time.

Enjoy Today’s Jokes!
Marty

p.s. My Chicago Cousin is in town for the weekend. Wendy is the
CEO and founder of eMomsAtHome.com and is speaking at a conference
in Salt Lake. I haven’t seen her in years. Lots of catching up to
do this weekend!

=-=-=-
Reader Comments;

Lots and LOTS of well wishers and comments. Too many to mention,
and way to many to respond to each one. Let me just say “Thanks!”
to everyone who wrote in with support.

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

A couple lived near the ocean and used to walk the beach a lot.
One summer they noticed a girl who was at the beach pretty much
every day. She wasn't unusual, nor was the travel bag she carried,
except for one thing; she would approach people who were sitting
on the beach, glance around furtively, then speak to them.
Generally the people would respond negatively and she would wander
off, but occasionally someone would nod and there would be a quick
exchange of money and something she carried in her bag.
The couple assumed she was selling drugs, and debated calling the
cops, but since they didn't know for sure they just continued to
watch her. After a couple of weeks the wife said, "Honey, have you
ever noticed that she only goes up to people with boom boxes and
other electronic devices?"
He hadn't, and said so.
Then she said, "Tomorrow I want you to get a towel and our big
radio and go lie out on the beach. Then we can find out what she's
really doing."
Well, the plan went off without a hitch and the wife was almost
hopping up and down with anticipation when she saw the girl talk
to her husband and then leave. The man walked up the beach and
met his wife at the road.
Well, is she selling drugs?" she asked excitedly.
"No, she's not," he said, enjoying this probably more than he
should have.
"Well, what is it, then? What does she do?" his wife fairly
shrieked.
The man grinned and said, "Her name is Sally, and she's a
battery salesperson"
"Batteries?" cried the wife.
"Yes," he replied.
She sells C cells by the seashore.


<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>


A man who just died is delivered to the mortuary wearing an
expensive, expertly tailored black suit. The mortician asks the
deceased's wife how she would like the body dressed. He points out
that the man does look good in the black suit he is already
wearing. The widow, however, says that she always thought her
husband looked his best in blue, and that she wants him in a
blue suit. She gives the mortician a blank check and says, "I
don't care what it costs, but please have my husband in a blue
suit for the viewing." The woman returns the next day for the
wake. To her delight, she finds her husband dressed in a gorgeous
blue suit with a subtle chalk stripe; the suit fits him perfectly.
She says to the mortician, "Whatever this cost, I'm very
satisfied. You did an excellent job and I'm very grateful. How
much did you spend?" To her astonishment, the mortician presents
her with the blank check. He says, "There's no charge." "No,
really, I must compensate you for the cost of that exquisite
blue suit!" she says. "Honestly, ma'am," the mortician says, "It
cost nothing". You see, a deceased gentleman of about your
husband's size was brought in shortly after you left yesterday,
and he was wearing an attractive blue suit. I asked his wife if
she minded him going to his grave wearing a black suit instead,
and she said it made no difference as long as he looked nice.
"So I switched the heads"


<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

I must send my thanks to whomever sent me the one about rat poop
in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel
with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, I now have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same
reason.

I am still waiting to receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates is
sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels
Looking out for me.

I no longer eat KFC because the chickens they use are actually
horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like
a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to numerous emails, I have learned that my prayers only get
answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends within five
minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can
remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch
the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm
pumping gas.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup water in the
microwave anymore, because it will blow up in my face...
disfiguring me for life.

I will never check the coin return on pay phones because I could
be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with
a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since the delivery
guys are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will hack into my
phone line for which I will get a phone bill with calls to
Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African
spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it
bites my butt.

And thanks to all the great advice, I can't ever pick up the five-
dollar bill I find in the parking lot because it probably was
placed there by a predator waiting underneath a car to grab my
leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 100,000 people in the
next 60 minutes, you will have 10 years of bad luck and go
straight to hell when you die.

I know this because it actually happened to a friend of my next-
door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's
beautician...

~My #1 mom

10/17 - C'mon Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Driving to Brain Tumor clinic today was not pleasant. I had this butterfly feeling in the pit of my stomach that came ‘this close’ to making me toss my cookies. This ‘what if’ stuff is for the birds!

The oncologist said that the 2 spots are in "the exact same place" that they have been since the post surgery MRI, and that's what we saw on the images. (Kind of what I thought) They were only 2 and 3mm in size, (not the 5mm I thought the radiologist said). I think the radiologist only looked at one ‘relevant prior’ which is the last MRI he had. He didn’t look at all of the prior studies. I think, if he had, he’d have seen the 2 spots come and go. The oncologist also said that sometimes the radiologists don’t put in everything they see. (IE: Dr. Hedlin didn’t put in anything in his reports about the 2 spots, I guess because they were really small.)

However, (isn’t there always a ‘however...’) on Monday’s MRI the gadolinium contrast made the spots appear 'brighter', which our oncologist said should mean bad news. But, she's seen a lot of times that the timing of the contrast vs. timing of the MRI will make things look worse than they really are. She said, "We're pretty sure it's nothing, but can’t promise you anything." She told us to, “...have a good holiday season” and that they’d like to see us in about 2 months instead of 4 months, “just to make sure.”

Hopefully we’ve dodged a bullet. But, now we have to hold our breath again for 8 10 weeks. Everything else seems normal. Relatively speaking that is...

On another sad note, our pet parakeet Kiki died last night. He just got too old and he finally gave in to whatever was ailing him for the past several months. We had a nice little ceremony in the back yard, complete with tears and appropriately, the season’s first snow.
Marty

10/16 - Brain Tumor Roulette - When your number comes up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bad news folks. I really thought we were heading for the 5 year mark with clean scans all the way. We thought that after son #4’s brain tumor, we’d just have to hold our breath for 5 years (where something like 90% of kids who live that long with no recurrence survive cancer free) We’ve been kind of reeling for the last 24 hours, but a trip to the temple this morning calmed us down a bit, and put things in prospective.

Yesterday, when the radiologist called us into his office, ‘to show us some things’ rather than just coming out to the recovery room and saying, “everything’s fine, go home”, we knew there was a problem.

He showed us two spots on the MRI that he called, “areas that are very worrisome.” He said the two spots measured 5mm each (just less than 2 tenths of an inch). He also said that no doctor would operate on something that small, but suggested that we not wait 4 month until the next MRI.



Here’s what I’m hoping. I think it was at least a year ago, Dr. Hedlin, a radiologist, told us that there were 2 areas of concern, and that they would watch them. He said they looked like they could be scar tissue. I’m hoping that these are the same things he saw, and they were caught ‘just right’ by an MRI slice (one MRI image is a ‘slice’ of tissue, and several slices make up the whole study.)

Maybe it’s just denial, maybe it’s false hope, but it’s what we have. We’ve got brain tumor clinic tomorrow, and may find out more...

More on the brain tumor roulette on your kids life.

Marty

10/15 - Today's the day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, October 15, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is MRI day at the hospital. I hate MRI days. My co-worker had a dentist appointment that he wouldn’t change, so I had to go in to work. Luckily my boss is great and let me take a ‘long’ lunch, and take calls from the hospital

When son #4 was in the lab to get his IV and blood drawn, the nurse on the IV team got a call to do an IV in the NICU. Son #4 looked up and said, “You can go ahead, I’ll wait.” No such luck. So, son #4 already has his ‘poke’ and we’re sitting in the MRI waiting room, the one we always get, listening to the baby in the next room scream her head off while they put in her IV. Sometimes the IV team just doesn’t get it. One time they poked son #4 6 times before they got his MRI in. We now know to get him to drink as much liquids as possible before he gets ‘poked’. It makes the vessels get bigger.

When the nurse practitioner came in, she looked like a pretty stern lady; all business. I thought to myself, I’ll give her about 60 seconds before son #4 says something that makes her smile. She said, “So is this your first MRI, or have you been here before?” We all just rolled our eyes and said, “Lots of times...” When she looked at son #4, she said, “Oh, so you’re a doctor?” (He’s wearing his new scrubs) And he replied matter of factly, “Um, No, I’m not really a doctor; I’m just a kid who’s wearing scrubs.” Bingo, 49 seconds. Almost a record.

This is about our 5th or 6th MRI, so we know the ropes. Where the bathrooms are, where to sit, what to do while he’s in his MRI. We always go to the cafeteria right after son #4 falls asleep. They’re always closed between 10-11, so we grab a cold sandwich. Now, our next step is to get a radiologist to read the MRI and tell us everything is fine.

More later.

Enjoy today’s jokes!
Marty

10/8 - Family Rat Sailing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, October 08, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ratatouille; (IPA:[rætə’tui,-‘twi]; French pronunciation:
[ʁata’tuj]) - a southern French dish of vegetables cooked
together. Usually included are diced onion, sautéed in oil,
eggplant, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, flavored with
oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil.

Ratatouille is also a pretty good movie. (Especially at the dollar
theater, with half price family night tickets on Monday.) Ok, I
have to admit, my sweet wife and I, and my #1 mom saw it in San
Francisco, in a hotel room when we went there last month. I
thought the boys would enjoy it. Oh, you didn’t know about my San
Francisco trip? Sorry. We went to see my 90 year old Great Uncle,
my 100 year old 1st cousin twice removed (both on my mom’s side),
and a 4th cousin once removed, on my dad’s side. [For those of you
wondering, my Great Great Great Great Grandparents, and her Great
Great Great Grandparents were the same. Peter [marty’s-last-name]
was born in 1782 in New Jersey. Yes, the internet is great for
finding lost cousins...] Anyway, I digress. The movie was really
good, and I give it a four out of four sons rating.

Ok, here’s the really cool thing about the internet and finding a
cousin you never knew you had; They are the nicest people! (And
look like us in a distant sort of way...) We had lunch with
Barbara, her sister, and Barbara’s husband. They were the nicest
people you could hope to meet. And, to boot, they took us sailing
on San Francisco Bay in their sail boat! Here’s several pictures.


"MeMe" The 30 foot sailing boat


Marty Sailing out of the Harbor


Barbara (Cousin #197?)


Captain Norm (The nicest guy ever!)


Joyce (Cousin #198?)


My Sweet wife, Me, and My #1 mom. The day after, all a bit Sun burned.

Last week I even got a nice card telling ~US~ how much they
enjoyed our visit. So I feel terribly guilty, I haven’t even
written them since we got back. [note to self: write that thank
you card!] Cool people. But, then again, they are blood!

Funny stuff; Son #1, #2, and #3 didn’t have school today. Son #4
did. (4 boys in 4 different schools in two different districts
makes for an interesting schedule!) Son #1 convinced my sweet wife
to take them to Best Buy, where they had some software on sale for
$10. When they got there, my sweet wife jokingly said, “I dunno,
it’s rated teen...” Son #1 turned into a 6 year old, “But
Moooommm...” She grinned and teased, “I don’t think you’re old
enough.” Then he said, “Let me see the box.” He looked at it for a
second, and then licked the front of it. “There, now I have to buy
it.” Hmm... wasn’t that on a car commercial about 6 months ago?
Enjoy Today’s Jokes!
Marty

=-=-=-
Reader Comments;

Hi Marty!
I've missed you. I wish you and your family all the best. #4's MRI
will be fine.
Love always, Lillian
Have a good day
=-=-
Glad to see you posting again. I was afraid that yahoogroups might
have had my email in bouncing status or something.
--kh
=-=-
Welcome back! It is good to see you writing again...
Angel

10/7 - Fart Jar and Conference Guilt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday, October 07, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Son #4 finally lost another tooth. This is yet another great
milestone, considering all of the radiation the sent through his
noggin. Then, at the dinner table he let one rip, and 4 accusing
fingers pointed at him and yelled, “It wasn’t me!” Of course mom
just shook her head. So, he had to pay the 25¢ penalty.

He was watching a movie tonight and said, “Dad, you know that
25¢ I put in the fart jar?” (He got $1.50 from the tooth fairy)
I said, “Yeah”. He said, “Well mom gave me another quarter for
it.” “What?!” I said, “How are you going to learn not to fart at
the table if mom gives you a quarter when you have to pay?”

Mom came running out of her (new) art room. “No... He didn’t
tell you that he had to do an extra choir and ‘earn’ a quarter.”

“Oh, I forgot that” he said.

So goes fun stuff at our house. I keep thinking, ‘that would be
something to put on the JOTD.” And then I’ve just gotten out of
the habit so bad, that I haven’t done it.

Today was General Conference. Elder Eyring gave a good talk this
morning, and I know he was talking to me when he spoke of an
experience he had and said, “I’m not giving you these
experiences for yourself, write them down.” ...record them for
your children, in the future. So, at least today, I’m writing
again.

I know both moms and my sweet wife have asked when I was going
to start the JOTD again. Maybe today...

I can’t believe it’s been 4 months since son #4’s last MRI. A
week from tomorrow is his next one. Wish us luck!

Enjoy today.
Marty