Sunny news from Florida

We talked to John last night and the heart tumor is stable and appears to be shrinking. John will take another round of the chemo he has been on next week. His blood counts were good this week too. He sounded good last night and although not looking forward to another round of chemo he realizes this is what is helping his body. The oncologist suggested he actually try to start getting up and around a little more. It was apparent last week being with him at home, that his body is beginning to show the signs of chemotherapy and inactivity. While we know we are a long way from beating the beast melanoma, at least we are in the fight. Go John, go!! Team Stanford....and countless others are fighting this one with you.

As I said this is news from Florida as Steve and I are in Fort Myers. I am trying to get some Christmas shopping done as well as spending some time walking off the Thanksgiving excesses. Mike is the man of the house in Perrysburg, where Steve is sure there are wild parties every night. If you are in the neighborhood check it out.

Thanks everyone for all the good thoughts and prayers. We all really appreciate the support from friends and family. We couldn't do it without you.

Sunny Florida

Greeting from florida today. The weather here is beautiful and after getting our first snow on Monday night, leaving Detroit and 37 degree weather behind was nice. I am off to get some Christmas shopping done at all of the new stores here. Hopefully I can do alot of walking too since that Thanksgiving feast still seems to be hanging on my hips.

So much to do so little time

I was so excited to be able to display some of our pictures on the slideshow but I am still trying to get all the kinks out. Obviously I have a better selection of pictures than I started with but now I can't seem to get them oriented correctly in the slideshow. This weekend is not the time to be fiddling with blogs details because we are enjoying John, Jesi, and AJ's company. Especially AJ's antics. He is a real toddler now with a personality of his own. Next week Steve and I will be in Florida for business so maybe after trying to get some Christmas shopping done I will continue this blog learning curve.

Monday John has MRI of body at the James, and Wednesday is his appointment with Dr. Kendra, his oncologist. Pray, think good thoughts, rub your rabbit foot. He has been amazing around the house for the holiday. Generally feeling pretty good partially due to getting 4 units of blood last Thursday and Friday. The heart tumor is still the major issue but he also has a great deal of back pain. He will decide after Wednesdays appointment if we will continue this chemo or not.

I will try to update as I hear things from them.

Brine results

I promised to post about our first brined turkey and the results were great. We followed the Alton Brown roast turkey recipe from the food network which calls for brining the turkey then roasting it at 500 for 30 minutes. It cooks another 2-3 hours at 350. It was very tasty and one of the most moist turkeys we have ever had. We will definitely brine again. The other point Alton makes, is to not stuff the turkey because it takes too long to cook then and dries the turkey meat. I made our traditional sausage stuffing in the oven with lots of added turkey broth (from a can) and it was hard to tell the difference from the stuffing we always used to have from the bird cavity. So Alton Brown gets a thumbs up for next year or maybe even Christmas. Here is a picture of Steve getting ready to carve and Janet finishing up the rutabaga.

Thanksgiving 1984

In working out some of the details of this blog this picture came across my desk today. It was taken in 1984 just weeks after Mike was born. (that is Janet and Mike) Who knew Mike would grow into the successfull young man he is. Who knew Janet would marry such a wonderful man as Jan and have 2 beautiful sons, Tim and Andrew. Life is full of good surprises.

Happy Thanksgiving

We greeted this morning with cold temperatures and sunshine. The rain yesterday did not turn to snow overnight as they had suggested it might. Steve and I started the normal Thanksgiving Day process of him peeling apples and potatoes and rutabaga while I get everything else going. The parade is on TV and we keep commenting on how cold it was in New York 13 years ago when we were there for Mike's 10th birthday trip. John is with us today but Jesi and AJ will be spending it with her relatives in Tecumsah. They will be back here tomorrrow. Janet, Jan and Tim and Andrew will join us for dinner as well as our good friends the Chandlers. Just finished talking to Mom and Dad in Florida and the weather there sounds nice. Jessica is celebrating this year in LA with Ben's parents from Boston. Her first big Thanksgiving meal on her own, although I am sure Ben's mom will be very helpful. Good luck Jessica! We will be thinking of you and missing you.

Let me take a moment in closing and remember to say "Thank you" for all that we have. Life is full of twists and turns but today I am thankful to have friends and family around me and know there are others near and far thinking of us. Happy Thanksgiving!

The day before Turkey

The new way of cooking turkey this year will be to brine it first. That basically means the turkey will sit in salty seasoned liquid for over 12 hours before it cooks. Steve has been watching Alton Brown and after tasting a turkey cooked this way he decided we should try it too. Keep reading for the results tomorrow or Friday.

Tuesdays are for ???

Trying to add elements to this blog to make it more interesting before I start making it available to others. I am working on the layout and format and need to post to start achieving an archive. Bear with me as you might be reading through this initial uninteresting info. Todays thought of the day is from a friend. " We all entered this world crying while the world rejoiced. Let us live our lives such that when we die we rejoice while the rest of the world cries."

November 19

Today is monday november 19 and I am starting this blog to keep everyone informed about the comings and goings of our family. We are giving Thanks this week of Thanksgiving to have family and friends with us at our home in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Week of Thanks

Today is Monday November 19, 2007. It is the week of Thanksgiving and we will remember to give thanks for all that we have. We are especially thankful to have John and Jesi and AJ with us this week.