Thursday, January 31, 2008

Update on Andy, Update on Me

First, the important guy. Andy. He's doing great. He's doing better than great. He's awesome! He continues to learn to walk. In fact, he's getting pretty good at it. I look for him to be 100% walking by the end of next week. He's eating nonstop. Actually he's turned into quite the little chunker butt. I can't wait to see how much he weighs. He's saying a couple of words like "Uh oh!" and "Hey!" and "Hi!" and "Ow!" But he's really understanding a lot. He can be crawling toward Emma and you tell him to walk to Joey and he will. He definitely knows what "No!" means.

Now me. Still no word from the doctor, I guess I'll have to wait until my appt. on Monday. Which tells me they didn't find anything. Hopefully it's just an ulcer or something. I dunno. Kinda weird. The pain and nausea are getting a bit better.

Make fun of me all you want, but Queensryche is really cool to see live. I saw them in 1995 with Type O Negative. That was probably the best I've ever seen them. But I dunno, they're very good musicians. Go ahead. Tell me I'm stuck in the 90s. The guys at work tell me that all the time, I'm used to it.

Long post later re: economy. I'm too tired to post now, but it's a must-read if you're in any of the lower 4 quintiles. 3 anyway. No. 4. Definitely.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Prolly Not an Ulcer

Yeah, Greg, it could have been the 37 Bud Lights that started the madness. :) But actually it really started whilst eating some Arthur Bryant's BBQ. Go figure.

So I got up this morning in writhing pain and thought about calling in. Then I asked myself, "Why not?" I came up with a few answers that were all BS and decided that no matter what's going on at work I need to take care of myself. Work can wait.

I went to the doctor. Gave some blood and some pee. Gonna give some poo too next time I have to go. I got to feel what it's like to be 50 and the good doctor didn't even buy me any flowers.

It turns out it could be any number of things. While an ulcer is possible, it's not probable since I'm taking Nexium. It could be any number of things but his prime suspects seem to be either appendix or gall bladder. I'm thinking I'm about to have some kind of unnecessary organ removed in the near future.

I've been drifting in and out of sleep all day which tells me my body is trying to heal itself. I'll probably take off tomorrow and continue to heal. We'll see what the lab results look like as well as a gall bladder ultrasound, but hopefully this will go away on its own. If it does, it could have been some intestinal scar tissue or something along those lines.

I'll start treating my stomach with more respect. I told the good doctor that I'm done with 88 - 132 ounces a day of Dew. That's the worst. I'll start keeping an eye on the diet too. I told him I'll make no promises about spicy food but that I'll do my best to cut back. C'mon, I gotta have some fun.

Was a half fun, half agonizing weekend. We went to KC Friday. Greg and I left in the morning Julie showed up later. Greg's wife couldn't join because she was sick. Greg picked up a free room at Harrah's and free tickets to see Queensryche. A fun time was had by all.

We met a lady that reminded me of my grandma, if only she were into blackjack instead of slots. We sat down at a blackjack table at around 1:00pm or so and there was a lady sitting there who looked like she had been there a while. Real nice, tons of money in front of her, having a great time, etc.

She was still there after the show that night.

And guess what? She was STILL THERE at 8:00 the next morning! Not there again, STILL THERE!

*sigh*

We saw Barry, Missey, and the kids. I felt bad because an hour or two into our visit is when my abdominal pain really started. But we had a good time. I can't believe how big my godchildren are getting! They seem to be doing great.

I think that's one of the good things about getting older. When you go for a long time without seeing someone, chances are pretty good you'll walk away saying, "Wow, they're doing great!" As we move from our 20s into our 30s I guess we really start to establish ourselves. I made a comment that I can't believe my oldest godchild is almost 10. Missey said, "Imagine how we feel, we're the parents!" Yeech!

I just don't want to turn 50. And have to go through what I went through today once a year. Yes, I know Greg gets it once a day but I'm not greg. That sucked.

I'm going to go hit the couch again. I feel like something inside my abdomen is about to explode.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

New Ulcer, New Identity

Yeah. A new ulcer. I'm pretty sure. I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow, I think it's time for another endoscopy. It's been bothering me for a couple weeks now yet I continue to throw back the coffee and mountain dew Sat - Thurs and the Killians on Fri. I also continue to eat foods hot enough to kill a man in his 70s. And yes, I continue to put BBQ sauce on everything. Very spicy BBQ sauce. You get the idea.

I think that's coming to an end. I can't imagine myself not eating the heck out of spicy food, chasing it with a Mt. Dew. But oh well. I'm sick of the GI problems.

On a somewhat related note, I've been thinking a lot the last few weeks. Life stages. They happen. In my case every time I change a life stage it seems to start with a bit of an identity issue followed by a traumatic experince followed by a few years of mellowness before the next life stage change. By identity issue I mean I stop being myself.

Anyone who knows me knows that I haven't been me since some time in 2005, thereabouts.

Now a traumatic experience.

Now I'm starting to see the world in a different light.

My new golden rule: Do what you want as long as it doesn't bring harm to another person be it emotionally, physically, psychologically, or otherwise. Yes, that's wide open to interpretation.

In other words, Tim McGraw almost had it right. Kinda like Live Like You Were Dying. But not really. If you live like you're dying you'll probably wind up broke or in jail. Well maybe not you but I would. I'd wind up divorced, jobless, broke, and in prison. :) But seriously from now on I've decided that I'm going to live like I have about 5 years left. Careful enough, yet more open to things.

I'll stop asking "Why?" and start asking "Why not?" If I can't answer the latter, then do it!

Right now I want a chocolate chip cookie. Eating that cookie will bring no harm to anyone else. It won't bother my ulcer. It may add a few pounds but I'm willing to deal with that.

I'm going to go eat that cookie.

Nevermind. There goes my stomach again. I'm going to hit the couch. The pain is unbearable at the moment. Considering an ER trip. But no, it's just an ulcer, I've had them before. I'll drink water and lie on my belly.

Hi Dave! Good to see ya!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Oops! Sorry! Comments Work Now!

Hi all. I apologize for the comments being broken. Greg pointed out to me that you had to login to post. Sorry!

So let's try this again. ROLL CALL! Who followed me over to the new site? You can now post comments without doing the login crap. My bad.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Love Your Children

You never know when you may lose them.

I can't believe how close we came to losing Andy.

I love my baby.

And my big boy.

And my baby girl.

I can't imagine my life without them. I hope to God I won't have to live to bury any of my kids. I'm not sure if I could ever recover from that.

Sorry if I'm hitting a note with some of the readers. I know who you are. I just...

I dunno. Back to work. I have a lot of work to do. Go hug your kids.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Excuse Me????

MORE foodstamps and HIGHER unemployment checks? No! Take care of the productive members of society first! Sure the $800 is a good idea. Dems say it's not enough. Maybe it's not. Maybe $1000? $1200? I dunno. But giving my tax money to people who don't pay taxes is NOT the solution.

Let's get rid of 50% of all welfare! I bet the resuting extremely lowered tax rates will give the economy the boost it needs.

Seriously folks, regardless of your political views, do NOT vote for someone who wants to take your hard-earned money and give it to someone who refuses to get a job in fear they'll lose their welfare. I think you know the candidate(s) to which I am referring.

Keep screwing the middle class, eventually the middle class will screw back and the poor and wealthy will have to fend for themselves.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Look Who's Walking!

Yes, Andy's finally walking! He's also starting to say a word or 2. He'll drop his cup and say "uh oh!"

I love watching him reach milestones again. It's been a while.

yay Andy!

Friday, January 18, 2008

St. Baldrick's

Friends and family,

SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center is truly a magical place. To paraphrase my aunt, there are angels in the rafters at Glennon. St. Baldrick's is a magical organization in and of themselves, by raising money to support pediatric cancer research. Combine the two and you have quite an experience!

On Saturday, March 8 Glennon will be sponsoring a St. Baldrick's event at Helen Fitzgerald's! Have you noticed lately how ratty my hair is starting to look? That's because I haven't touched it in months. I'm letting it grow out until March 8. Why? So that you can pay to see me get it shaved! Your donation to St. Baldrick's will help pay to shave me! Even more important, it will help to fund pediatric cancer research! How wonderful would it be to live in a world where there are no bald kids walking around avoiding playing with other kids so that they won't get an infection that will kill them? How wonderful would it be to live in a world where we won't have to explain to a crying mother that her baby has cancer? How wonderful would it be to live in a world where there is no such thing as chemotherapy? You can do your part in helping us to get there!

Whether you donate $1 or $1000, your help is appreciated! And you get to watch me get shaved! :)

I hope you can help in any way at all. Remember none of this money is going to me. None is going to Andy. It's all going to help fund pediatric cancer research.

Please go here for more information on donating to have my head shaved. My goal is to raise $2500 for St. Baldrick's. We will certainly do our part and your help is appreciated!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Julie or myself at 314-646-1991.

Thank you all for your continued support as the Kelleys bring our life-changing journey to an end (with a positive outcome!).

Finally, please forward this on to anyone you can think of! Your co-workers, your boss, your friends, your family, etc.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Rules Kids Won't Learn in School

I really like this. Pretty good stuff. With #1 being "Life's not fair," #7 slamming "you" for being such an idealist, and of course #6 bashing the boomers, how can I not love it?

Linky baby!

OBTW, Roll call! Who followed me here? Am I just talking to myself? Comment!

One Step Closer!

Andy is now standing up on his own! He'll go from sitting to standing. He still wont' walk. But he's close.

He is continuing to progress very well. We're all very happy with his progress.

No more updates really.

Hey Greg. Bite my ass!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Congrats MoDOT! Congrats St. Louis!

So far so good with the I-64 shutdown. I've had to drive that stretch a few times and I'm pleasantly surprised. I think MoDOT did a great job of planning. And the drivers are adjusting well. Better than I thought. On top of that, they're generally remaining patient. We need to remember that although we're familiar with how 70, 44, 170, and 40 work, not everyone is. We're doing pretty good. Keep it up!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Kanadians

This is why I pick on Kanadians.

Kinda Strange

It's still a bit weird adjusting to the fact that Andy officially doesn't have cancer. My perspective on the world has changed. Not sure how to really react yet. It will take some time.

But it's Friday!

Andy Andy Andy Andy Andy. What a spoiled brat! But we love him anyway. The word I've used is "Rock star." I think Patience one-bettered me. "Diva."

Thursday, January 10, 2008

FP! W00t!

Now that Andy is free of cancer I'm not entirely sure what to do. It's time to freeze his blog and let it go. Although we still have more work to do, that episode is basically over.

But I love the therapeutic factor of putting my thoughts down for the entire world to read and laugh at. I love picking on Greg. I love pissing people off with my dry sense of humor that nobody seems to get except for Greg, my wife, and my dad. Even moreso, I love writing. I always have. Well. No. I hate writing. But I love typing! And I love being creative.

If you don't get the title it means you're not a geek. I won't hold that against you. Ok, actually, I will. No. I won't. I'll be nice.

No, I won't be nice. It's not in my character. I'm going to piss people off. I can guarantee this. I'm not racist or sexist. In fact I have many friends who are of color and/or are women. I have nothing against any religion. In fact I have many friends of all kinds of religions. I have nothing against gays. In fact I have many gay friends. I have nothing against people from Lemay. In fact I have friends in Lemay. I actually have nothing against Kanadians, but I LOVE to pick on them. In fact, I have a few friends who are of Kanadian descent. I have nothing against people from any foreign countries (except France), but believe me if you're not from the US you will get bashed. I have nothing against people who live in California, but trust me if you live in California you will hate me within a year.

Why? Generally it's to be funny or to relieve stress. However, I gotta say that my hatred for California is real and I will pick on you to no end because you're pretentious assholes who think the whole country should be run the way you run your sorry excuse for a state. You singlehandedly destroyed the wonderful city of Tucson with your pretentious ways. Gee thanks.

You still here? Good! I was hoping I wouldn't lose too many of you. I loved reading your comments on Andy's site. Please feel free to comment all you want! Sorry to sound so harsh but when I offend you later, I can point back to this first post as a reminder.

So welcome to the Ramblings of the Kelley Dad! Stay tuned for Andy updates, picking on Kanadians, verbally destroying Greg, and other nonsensical ramblings.

Yeah, I know the template of the website is pretty generic. I'll change it as time goes on. Deal with it.

Hey Greg. You suck. Of on with under behind of.