USA Shows

The shows on USA have been the entertainment highlight of my summer.  I can't get enough of them.  The quirky character shows all follow a similar formula that just works.  Quirky Main and Supporting Characters + Mystery / Ops + Mini Storylines with Ongoing Storylines in the back drop = USA show.  And I think that if it isn't broken, why fix it?

White Collar: Tied for first place in my heart.  The bromances between Neal & Peter and Neal & Mozzie are just plain awesome.  I love the storylines and seeing what sneaky thing Neal will do this time.  And Neal.  His charisma is hard to beat.  He rocks old 50's style suits and fedoras.

Psych: Tied for first place in my heart as well.  This show is hilarious and it makes me laugh so hard.  The bromance between Sean & Gus is amazing.  Seriously, I want to shrink and sit in one of their make-believe pockets for a day.  It is so dang quirky - after you become familiar with the characters, the jokes just make sense.

Royal Pains: In second place.  Summer escapism at its best.  It's convinced me that somehow I will stuff myself in some socialite's designer suitcase and get to experience the Hamptons.  Otherwise, I have this vision of there being border patrol and turning me away.  I digress.  The two brothers are great together, and the two women are extremely likeable.

Burn Notice: An watchable show.  If it were 45 minutes long, it would be great.  30 minutes would be too short; an hour just kind of drags out a little bit.  Not one I watch religiously, but can easily sit down and watch.

Covert Affairs: The new kid on the block.  It's not bad - the female lead isn't what you would call "the girl next door" - she tries to be, but there is something about her that is just not down to earth.  I guess Sydney Bristow set the bar high on Alias (as did Michael Vartan, lol).  I do, however, think her CIA handler is funny and having him blind adds a nice twist.  I'm looking forward to riding this one out.

In Plain Sight: Haven't tried to watch it and probably won't.  It's just never appealed to me.

NCIS: They show re-runs all the time of NCIS, which is one of our favorite shows.  Perfect!

So there you go.  The TVaholic has three shows (possibly four) two look forward to during the week, all on one station.  Layer that with So You Think You Can Dance, and I don't feel a summer TV lull at all.

P.S. This post is signficantly perkier than the last one, yes? 

Absent from Blogging

I haven't been blogging much lately, because I don't want my blog to turn into the most depressing blog in the world. 

Here are the reasons why I am removed from blogging:

• Dad has now been in the hospital 3 times since the beginning of June
• How he is doing changes hourly.  It's the most nerve-wracking thing in the world
• Radiation and Chemo are absolutely kicking his ass
• He weights around 130 lbs now...at 6'
• I got sick on Sunday and consequently haven't been able to see my family since then.  I would never forgive myself if I got my dad sick(er) and my mom could not handle being sick and caring for him
• My world revolves around my dad's illness...my thoughts, my actions, my dreams.  I've never been so terrified in my life, and I've had a really hard time finding the positive in this situation

Here are a couple good things this week:

• My dad's radiation oncologist said that his tumor is shrinking.  He also gained 3 lbs this week.
• They have been giving him IV fluids a lot, and he has been feeling better
• As a result, I experienced my first positive emotion in over a month
• For the first time, my subconscious dreamed of getting the news that the cancer is all gone.
• I have rainbow chip frosting in my fridge...which I will now go eat a couple spoonfuls of

 BTW, I still am adamant that he will beat this thing and live.  There is no alternative.  I just have to keep telling myself that.

Chemo Card

My cousin Amy sent my dad an awesome card.  The front says, "Chemo Sucks."  The inside says, "But if it sucks the cancer out of you, then 'Yay Chemo!' "

Last night we ended up shaving his head.  The last two weeks, his hair has slowly been coming out in clumps.  It's been pretty depressing for him.  Finally, it was time to just shave the rest off.  I don't think it was liberating for him.  Hopefully it will be better than the clumps.

My dad starts his second roudn of radiation Wednesday, this time on the lung and shoudler.  Thursday he starts his first round of chemo.


Here we go.

Flat Tires and Friendly Ladies

My car hates me this week.  On Monday I had to get a new battery.  Then yesterday, I get a flat tire.  Thanks car.  This after I get you washed, waxed and an oil change?

So, I feel a drag and hear the thump, thump, thump.  I parked in my yoga parking lot and had AAA come to do my spare.  Turns out the VERY next driveway was a tire shop.  Umm...dork.  Of course, they didn't have the tire I needed, so they ordered it.  They said it would be there the next day, and they would call me early this afternoon.  At 1 pm, I call them.  Still not in, but soon.  At 4 pm, I call them.  Not in, but it will be there at 5 pm or 5:15.  Finally, at 5:20 I leave work and just go there.  Still not there.  I think they got the clue that I was not to be trifled with (NOT this month).  They called the place it was coming from and it was still at the location.  What far away and exotic location did it take over 24 hours to come from?  From Keily Boulevard, roughly 6 miles away.  Good thing I brought my book.

As I'm sitting in the waiting area, I sit next to this very loquacious 50-something year old.  Here is what I learned:

• she'd been there since 3:30 waiting (oh god, please don't make me sit here for over 2 hours as well); 
• she had felt something wrong with her car a minute before the alert went off on the dashboard; 
• she didn't want to drive for a moment longer with the alert; 
• she had been in a car accident years ago (shows me scar on arm - it was actually pretty gnarly)
• she was at the doctor's and he referred this tire place for her, which was conveniently down the street;
• she all of a sudden in our conversation started having heart palpitations; 
• she actually was at her heart doctor before, who had run tests and everything checked out ok - nothing showed up as wrong in the tests;
• but something was still wrong.  

I told her that possible it was anxiety?  She seemed like an anxious person.  She asked me what anxiety was.  I should probably mention that all this information was repeated a few times.
 
At this point, here is what happens next:

[Thought pops into Nikki's brain]: "Oh nooooo.....she's actually going to ask me to feel her heart, isn't she?  Oh gosh, why do I have a feeling you're actually going to ask me to do it?"
[Lady]: "Here, can you feel my heart?  My heart's beating really fast.  Put your hand here and feel it."
[Nikki's brain]: "Ahhh!  No lady, I'm not going to put my hand on your boob.  I'm sure you're a nice person and all, and I would feel horrible if something was actually wrong with you, but I'm not gonna feel you up in the tire shop waiting lounge."
[Nikki out loud]: "Umm...noooo, I won't feel your heart."
[Lady]: "No?  But it's beating really fast."(motioning toward boob)
[Nikki out loud]: "I believe you...I really think it might be anxiety."

She was so concerned that she frantically was trying to call someone to come pick her up (after asking if someone from the tire shop could take her home), instead of driving home.  To be honest, she seemed more neurotic to me than sick.  I'm not an expert by an means, but she wasn't exhibiting any signs of anything ill heath-wise.  I sincerely do hope she's okay.

So that's my day.  I finally got out of there at 6:35.  It took until 6:25 for the damn tire to travel six miles, and then they got that tire on in record time.  Good thing, too, because I was prepared to sit in that place until they put my stinking tire on.  I was not going home without my tire.

Those sayings

What are those sayings? We only get what we can handle. All this makes you stronger. Well, right now, life sucks and I am miserable. Radiation therapy is beating my dad up this time around and I feel helpless. I want to make it better. I feel so damn bad for him . Ugh. Not happy. I hate everything right now.

Needed to get that out.

Time to channel Pollyana. Dad's alive and fighting. He went through radiation for a weak before it got brutal. We're going to fight and win. Dammit.

Ode a la Genovese

My cousin Erin sent me this cute text today.  I loved it.  I thought I'd share:

Go, go.  Fight, fight! 
Our Uncle Jim will be alright! 
Cancer, you have tried before...
Jim knocked your ass out the door. 
You have tumors on your side,
but Jim has love that will skin your hide. 
Our Uncle Jim is one in a million. 
Don't mess with us, we're Sicilian!

Not the happiest of posts

I'd like to wake up from this nightmare now, please.  Because somehow we've been stuck in a nightmare from which we cannot wake.  Life is so hard sometimes.

So, we finally have our answers.  Stage IV lung cancer.  There are tumors in his peripheral lung, shoulder, armpit, hip, with some spots in the lymph nodes in the lungs and the fatty tissue of the right arm.  And three spots in the brain.  Stage IV because of the way it has metathesized.  His doctors are being super aggressive.  We got confirmation of the spots in the brain this morning and my dad immediately started radiation on his brain right after.  After we get the brain all fixed, we'll start chemo and then radiation on the rest of the body.

Our spirits are...hmm.  We are fighters.  My dad is a fighter and more importantly, he has the will to fight another battle.  I'm not sure why this amazing man has had to deal with so much shit over the last 7 years.  He doesn't deserve it.  This is pretty bad.  So, we are devastated, heartbroken, angry, unhappy, but remaining positive.  We WILL fight this thing, he WILL beat it and he WILL live, damn it.  There is no alternative option.  So, we're preparing for battle and keeping optimistic.  My dad gets his strength from us...he cannot handle seeing his wife and daughters devastated.  So, we simply are not.  For his sake (and for our sanity as well), optimism is the only option.  It's a horrible scenario, but he already beat pancreatic cancer.  He'll do it again.

Please keep positive thoughts for us and if you pray, please keep my dad in your prayers.  We've had a lot of love over the past few weeks.  It's amazing how much amazing friends rally around to show support and love.  Words of encouragement have made all the difference in the world.  So...thank you.

 

Anti-Depressants

Seeing as I'm a complete and utter wreck lately (and not to mention depressed), I thought I'd look up some funny stories.  I thought I'd post a couple:
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Rolls Royce Loan

A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $7,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan.
So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later, the businessman returns, repays the $7,000 and the interest, which comes to $19.67. The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little confused. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What confuses us is why would you bother to borrow $7,000?"
The businessman replied, "Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for $20 bucks?"

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Cinderella Would Be Shocked

Sure, there are some pretty stupid criminals out there. Yet this excerpt from a Washington Post article proves that not all criminals are dumb – in fact, some are so clever that the Post labeled this article, "The Best Comeback Line Ever"
In summary, the police arrested Patrick Lawrence, a 22-year-old white male, resident of Dacula, GA, in a pumpkin patch at 11:38 p.m. on Friday.
Lawrence will be charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, public indecency, and public intoxication at the Gwinnett County courthouse on Monday.
The suspect explained that as he was passing a pumpkin patch he decided to stop. "You know, a pumpkin is soft and squishy inside, and there was no one around here for miles. At least I thought there wasn't," he stated in a phone interview.
Lawrence went on to say that he pulled over to the side of the road, Picked out a pumpkin that he felt was appropriate to his purposes, cut a hole in it, and proceeded to satisfy his need. "I guess I was just really into it, you know?" he commented with evident embarrassment.
In the process, Lawrence apparently failed to notice a Gwinnett County police car approaching and was unaware of his audience until Officer Brenda Taylor approached him. "It was an unusual situation, that's for sure," said Officer Taylor. "I walked up to (Lawrence) and he's... just working away at this pumpkin."
Taylor went on to describe what happened when she approached Lawrence. "I just went up and said, 'Excuse me sir, but do you realize that you are screwing a pumpkin?' He froze and was clearly very surprised that I was there, and then looked me straight in the face and said, 'A pumpkin? Darn...is it midnight already?"