Dad’s Surgery

Well my dad is going in for brain surgery in January. It is so weird saying that out loud, “My dad is having brain surgery.” Fortunately, I have a really good support system here. It is comforting to know that if I needed them to, my friends would go with me to sit in the hospital, even though it is in New Mexico, they would go if they could. I wish I could ask my friends to go, but I wouldn’t want to stress my mom out by having people staying at the house during this time. She would feel like she had to entertain them and she doesn’t need that extra stress. I am also fortunate to work for a manager that can empathize with my situation. Her dad didn’t have a brain tumor, but her parents have gone through difficult times and she was able to take time from work to be with them. I talked to her and she has told me to go home and be with my parents. So around my dad’s surgery I am going to be taking a week to be there. I am going to be working after the surgery from New Mexico, but by that time he should be home from the hospital. It looks like my brother is going to be in town for my dad’s surgery too. Well, I say “my brother” but he really isn’t. To make a long story short, he is my god parent’s son. He has always looked out for me no matter where we lived and he is in every aspect except lineage my brother.

Thanksgiving

Well as you all know yesterday was Thanksgiving. I had an awesome day yesterday. I stayed in town this year and spent the day at Josh’s house helping them out and just hanging out. You might be asking, “Why didn’t he go home for the holiday?” Well my answer is really complicated. I had not planned on going home before my dad got sick, and since he is doing really well my family didn’t see any reason to change my plans. Of course that is not saying they didn’t want me, but they understood that I stayed here like planned. I am going back for Christmas, and spending over a week there.

Anyways, there were about 8 people total for dinner, which consisted of a butt load of food. We had turkey, ham, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, sweet potatoes, baked corn, cranberries, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, chocolate eclair cake, and of course wine. I ate myself stupid. It was also a good night as there was a lot of good conversation and I was able to connect with a couple people I don’t normally connect with. All in all it was an awesome Thanksgiving.

God really does answer prayers

Yesterday I had a prayer answered.  My dad has been going through a lot of issues lately, see here.  Yesterday he had an appointment with a neurosurgeon for a consult.  It was some good news.  The doctor spend about an hour with my family answering questions and going over a lot of information.  We got a diagnosis finally, meningioma.  He is very confident that my dad’s case is benign because the borders are not jagged but smooth.  My dad’s tumor is a couple of centimeters in diameter, and this type of tumor usually grows about 1-2 millimeters a year.  Which makes me really wonder how long he has actually had this.  The problems he was having a few months ago are directly related to the tumor.  Apparently the right side of the brain controls the left hemisphere of each of the eyes.  So that is why my dad only lost peripheral vision and not complete vision in one eye.

I am so thankful that it looks like it is benign and not malignant.  I am so thankful.  We are now deciding if we want to wait for another scan in January before we schedule surgery.

Vacation!

Today started my vacation! I am off for the next week! I really needed this vacation. With the stuff that is happening with my dad, church stuff, and just general tiredness, I really am looking forward to doing nothing for a while.

You might be asking yourself, “Well what plan’s does he have for all this time off?” Well let me tell you…NOTHING! That’s right. The only things I know for sure I am doing is church, playing with Gavin and Ava, eating way too much on Thanksgiving, and spending too much money the day after Thanksgiving shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I will probably be doing other things, like playing a little WoW, getting new tires, washing my car, a whole plethora of ideas abound.

Rob Bell Tonight

I went to see Rob Bell tonight.  It was a very interesting talk.  I really enjoyed myself even despite the fact that everyone else wanted In & Out and forgot that I don’t really like their burgers.  I was disappointed that no one in the group wanted to discuss it at all on the drive back.  I was really looking forward to some discussion as I had some questions and I was interested to see other opinions and thoughts, but there wasn’t any.  So it was a rather boring 2 hour drive back to Tucson with nothing to do or say.

Going to see Rob Bell tomorrow

Like I said, I am going to see Rob Bell tomorrow night with a group from church.  I have never been to anything like this, so I have no idea what to expect.  I have downloaded some stuff from iTunes so I will at least know what he sounds like.  I am really excited for this mini road trip.  First it will be an opportunity to get out of Tucson.  Not that I don’t love it here, but it does get a little boring after a while.  Also, I am going to be going with a lot of people from church.  I haven’t really had a chance to hang out with a lot of people from church, so it is quite an opportunity to hang out and chit chat with them.  Another reason I am excited is I am hearing a noted Christian speaker for the first time.  I am really hoping this is the first of many speakers I hear.  I’ll let you all know how it went.

Week from somewhere near Hell

Last week was not such a great week over all. It started off OK, but quickly turned south. Tuesday my manager called me in and told me that someone on my team had come to her and told her that they felt like I was being very short and rude and not nice in a general sort of way. This individual also might have mentioned he didn’t like working in such a hostile environment. Now if you know me, you would know I am a by no means a big guy. I also would rather avoid conflict and am actively trying to become a better communicator and become better at controlling my outward reactions. With all the crap that I have been going through with my dad, it is understandable. Notice I didn’t say that it was alright, just understandable. Anyways, my manager is aware of my personal situation, but the rest of the team is still in the dark. I have done this so I have one place where I am still treated as if everything in the world is normal. Also, I don’t have a real personal connection to many people that I work with.

After that whole fiasco, I had an uncomfortable situation with a friend. I have talked to my friend about it and told them how I felt. That has since been resolved, but it was a wonderful cap to the whole evening. Wednesday was spectacularly uneventful for the most part. Thursday I learned that a friend from church lost his father unexpectedly. I knew there was another friend that would want to know, so I talked to them…or tried to. I told them what happened and when and where the funeral were, but they were not really sure if they should go or not. I totally understand, but it’s not like I would send one of my friends to a funeral of some random person that neither of us knew. That would not be funny and it would be very disrespectful to all parties involved. But this made me think, I know scary ain’t it?  I started thinking about why me and this person are friends.

“I am really not sure” is what I came up with.  It is true that we share some similar interests, but it seems as though we are arguing more times that not.  I think that they are very stuck in their ways, and since I do not think exactly alike, they try to force me to see it their way.  I have a really good time sometimes hanging out and talking about random stuff, but when I try to have a meaningful conversation, it usually degrades into us arguing and eventually into me sitting there silent cause I don’t want to yell.  I know my other friends wonder about the same thing, and I am not sure what to say.

After all that, the weekend was very fun.  I hung out my kids (Gavin and Ava).  They did bring their parents but we had fun any ways.  Don’t you just hate roller coaster weeks?   I am so glad I start my vacation in a couple days.

Interesting Halloween

Well, last night was pretty cool.  I called my good buddy Travis up and asked him what he was doing with his herd, and he said he was going over to Mark & Mischel’s house to trick-or-treat.  Well, since I wasn’t doing anything else, I decided to go over and hang with them.  So it was their herd, plus a couple other families there.  All in all, there were about 20 kids.  It was pretty fun walking around seeing all the kids dressed up.  It was even more exciting seeing what grown adults dressed up as.  On person, who shall remain nameless, went as Wonder Woman.

Kids can be amazing creatures.