Adventures

Jakes and I have been taking some adventures around the area, with cameras.  A couple of Sundays ago, we went to the top of a lighthouse in the township.  I've lived here all my life and have never been up to the top of it.

It was a LONG climb up in circles

The weather was warm and the sun was shining.  I had one camera and Jakes had the other.  I had the long lens and he had one that was auto-focus.  We both ended up with some fabulous shots!

Camera Wars

He got me!

The view from the top was fabulous!  I was able to take 7 different photographs and then I stitched them together in one big panoramic photo.

Looking across the river to Delaware
See!  We are CLOSE!

Going Down....

Jakes learned some tips from me and the guide who was at the top of the lighthouse.  He's going to be a very good photographer.  He keeps bugging me to give him one of the cameras.  Not yet!

In the back is the bridge to Delaware.
The view was fabulous!

Here's my Panoramic Picture.  I'm going to get it printed professionally, framed and hang it in my living room.  I LOVE what I was able to do with it.  I hope you're able to see it from here.

Hi there.

Hi there.  Yes, I'm still here. Sorry for deserting you.  Nothing serious going on, just everything seemed to pile up at once.  Here's a quick run down of things going on:

I have a 20 pound turkey drinking in my fridge for Thursday.  Unfortunately, he's only drinking, not getting drunk.  But he will still taste mighty fine on Thursday!  I have a plan of attack for getting everything done, along with working all day on Wednesday.

Dad and ESM are coming for dinner.  Jakes wants me to pick him up on Thursday morning.  UGH.  That should be interesting, taking about 2 hours out of my day to run to his house.  But I will make it work!

Dad is having the last treatment of this cycle today.  He goes back on Thursday to get his pump removed.   They will also be setting up a scan to see how effective the treatment has been.  I am anxious to know but scared at the same time.  Of course I will be there with them to interpret what is being said for them.

My laptop for work DIED last week.  It was my BABY!  I've had it since 2006.  Its had two hard drives replaced and they finally decided it wasn't worth replacing this hard drive.  It needed a new battery and the hinges were coming apart. So, they ordered me a desktop.  Its got Windows 7 and Office 2013.  I'm having lots of trouble figuring out where everything is!  I am fortunate that the IT department allowed me to be an "Administrator" on this computer.  Most of the computers are locked so people can't download stupid stuff on them.  IT said they trust me.  Personally, I think its because I do troubleshooting in my office for them.  I save them some work.  Whatever, I don't need approval for everything I download, like new versions of Adobe readers that my grant sites require.

Now that I have a computer back, I'm hoping to get back to Blogging!  I've missed you guys!

AZ and I went on a date!  We went to see a double feature of the Hunger Games movies.  We saw the first one and the NEW one!  I loved the new one!  I am trying to take Jakes into going with  me over the Thanksgiving holiday to see it again.  We'll see!


I know that I have a lot to be thankful for this year. There are some days that its hard to remember those things, those days when all the bad stuff walks up in front of you and slaps you in the face.  On Thursday, I will take a few minutes to count my blessings.  I have a lot to be thankful for.


I hope you have wonderful things to be thankful for as well.  Happy Thanksgiving.

The Star of the Farm - This Week

Jakes was features on the Farm's blog this week!  Ms. Jill is just SO proud of Jakes and all he has accomplished.

Check out her post!  She did a fabulous job of singing my son's praises!


http://anythingforhorseandrider.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/you-go-jac/

Prognosis

We don't have any changes to Dad's prognosis as yet.  He gets a couple more treatments before they will scan him and see what affect the treatments have had in shrinking his tumors.

We recently stopped into his Drs office for an appointment that they scheduled.  Doc comes in the room, greets us and says "Why are you here today?"  Ummmmmm cause you said to be here.  UGH!  There was no reason for us to be there.  But Dad and ESM did have some questions to be answered.  Change that, answered by the Dr and translated by me.  sigh.....

Anyway, Doc said that there is considerable liver involvement, which I wasn't aware of before this appointment.  I knew there were some lesions on the liver but didn't realize how large they were. And then there are the tumors in his stomach.

ESM asked for a prognosis from this Doc.  He said we would have to wait until after the scan, which they would do after the next two treatments.  ESM wasn't happy with that answer.  I tried to explain to her, tried to reassure her that everything was fine.  She said she was ok when we left the Drs office.  I could tell she wasn't and it bothered me. I didn't want her to be anymore worried than she already was, I wanted to find a way to explain things to her.  BUT I didn't want to talk about this in front of Daddy, in case ESM wanted to talk about a death sentence for Daddy.

I wanted to explain to ESM that with the information they had on Daddy from his scans and tests, they really couldn't make a prognosis.  Or if they did make a prognosis, it wouldn't be a good one considering how much disease involvement there is.  I wanted to explain to ESM that because they offered treatment that they have hope that they can do something for Daddy, even with all the disease involvement.  I wanted to explain to ESM that once they finished the cycle of treatment and scanned Daddy, they would be able to determine if the treatment was working and would be able to come up with a prognosis based on the success of the treatment.  I wanted to explain to ESM that once they determine the success or failure of the treatment, they would come up with another treatment plan, be it continuing with this one or talking about hospice and comfort.

BUT there was no way I wanted to talk about this in front of Daddy.  I don't know if he wants to know a prognosis or if he already knows that they can't/won't make a prognosis just yet.

 

ESM and I ran into town the other night and I had my chance to chat with her about how things work in the medical community.  When we were done talking I felt better about how she felt.  And I hope she shares with Dad if he's concerned.

 

Until we get a new scan, things are status quo.

After A Day at the Farm - WW

Jakes Gives His ALL!

Jakes took a nap on the way home from the farm this weekend.
He works HARD for the horses and his friends.

Weekend Wrap-up

I had a wonderful weekend with Jakes.  It was busy, as usual, but lots of good things happening.  Dinner together, Wii bowling with the Gparents, snuggles with a movie, time at the farm and a bike ride through a Rails to Trails at the Conowingo Dam.

The end of the trail

Rock climbing to get a better view

Checking the water temperature

Pretty view

I gave Jakes the camera when we got back to the car.  He's got talent but needs practice with the manual lens.  

Jakes kept taking pictures in the car, which is hard to keep steady and focused.

Gorgeous colors!

And this is what happens when you don't stick with your subject matter.
I think its SO neat though!  This one is my wallpaper now.

He loved trying to take pictures in the mirror.  Again, a different lens and a little practice and he'll have a masterpiece!

And the beautiful sunset on the way home.

The next time we go out exploring, Jakes and I will both have a camera for practice.  He's got a good eye for things!