Silly Acrobat

My birdfeeders are ‘supposedly’ squirrel proof. Maybe that’s why this fellow decided to try for the suet.

Hanging by one claw, he didn’t fall.

He still had to try for the seed. Silly squirrel!

On The Magic Bus

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

After we stopped by the outhouse,

We spent some time gazing at ourselves in the gazing ball.

Played with the dog a little.

Then stopped for lunch.

Had fun flying around Missouri and checking things out.

The duck did not appreciate it when we tried to rest on his back for a while.

So we decided to go home and take a nap.

The hand that helped us fly without getting hurt. He’s a great catcher too! Thanx again Dallas for sending me this fun toy!

Red Wing Shoes. . .for giants?

I have been to Red Wing, Minnesota many times but only this trip did I notice the shoes.

They are spread throughout town, outside different stores.

I imagine they chose shoes, over cows (New Glarus, Wisconsin) and lions (Appleton, Wisconsin) because they are home to Red Wing Shoes.

Although, I don’t understand why they didn’t choose crocks, since they are also home to Red Wing Pottery.

Maybe the crocks would catch the rain and snow.

Bet, you can’t tell which ones were my favorites.

I’m sure there are more yet to be discovered.

World's Biggest Grandfather Clock and Morel Mushroom

Grandfather Clock in Wisconsin.

Morel Mushroom in Missouri.

Secrets of the Soul, hidden in the Heart

Life is a journey, with some smooth roads and some bumpy.

I went to the oncologist yesterday for my six month check-up, this one just involved donating a little blood and getting my lymph nodes felt. All went well except the onc wants another blood draw, he wants me to fast for 10 hours then have the blood taken. If everything looks ok, then that will be the end of it. If not, then he wants pictures.

I don’t mean to be so vague but he wouldn’t tell me a lot more than that. My CEA (colon cancer marker) levels were all fine. They always are. Even when the cancer was raging my blood did not show it. While I was going through chemo my Alk Phos was high, I guess that’s normal, the Alk Phos is one of the liver enzyme. Well, now 5 of my liver enzymes are high, although two of them only at the low end of high. So the onc, feels checking things out are definitely warranted, especially with my CEA history.

I asked him what these higher levels could indicate and he preferred to wait to discuss it if this fasting blood test comes back high. All he would say is that it indicates the liver is inflamed.

But, hey, I feel good, so I’m sure we’ll have good news when it’s all done. I did tell him all about my diet and he told me, “Way to go!”. I know Dennis was concerned that he would tell me to stop that. Especially when the nurse told me that the reason the oncologists like their patients “fluffy” is because then we have some extra to fall back on if the cancer does come back. But the onc was happy for me and agreed with how I’m going about it.

Through all this, I did figure out why I lacked the motivation to get back in shape. Cancer strikes you in ways you don’t always think of. And even when you’re in remission and think you have went back to a normal, well as normal as possible, life, you find remnants of cancer‘s effects. For me, being told I had a 50% shot at being alive in 5 years, didn’t really motivate me to do anything to get my body in better shape. So, stepping up and exercising and watching what I eat is a way I am taking control of my life back away from the cancer.

I have been worried about it coming back - cancer doesn’t fit into my life’s goals (does it anyone’s?). But I really am trying to stop letting the fear of its reappearance keep me from living life to the fullest.

So, while I’m trying really hard to think positively about the results of the next test, and trying to keep my family on this positive side too, you can bet there are worry niggles until we get answers. I’ll keep you guys in the loop.

PS> While I’m horrible about getting on plurk and twitter, I have been trying to be better about facebook, so if you’re there come on over and friend me.

Starfish Macro Monday

Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign Mr Linky. Don't forget to visit each other. :)

Browsing in my grandson’s bedroom, guess what I found!

Birds of a feather

I think Guineas are some the ugliestly adorable birds.

And no, we haven’t had a huge thaw, these are some photos I had forgotten about, taken this past fall.

Beautiful eyes!

This fellow reminds me of an old guy with tufts of hair coming out of his ears.

And I don’t know why but this bird reminds me of my Great-Aunt Zelda.

Silky chickens are so soft and fancy looking but their eggs are fairly small.

Hello Mr Rooster!

And babies are cute no matter the species.

Further proof that Wisconsinites are crazy ;)

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Wonder why all those snowmobiles are parked on the frozen lake. Yes, that is a lake, as far as you can see, clear over to the tree line. And there is a snowmobile path growing straight across the lake.

And honestly, I don’t remember the exact temperature when we were out this day but I know it was frickin’ cold. Probably either near negative or in the negatives.

But this is what brought us out, and all those snowmobilers. Do you know what’s happening yet? Well, a big hole has been cut in the ice, a platform assembled, and that guy is scraping off the forming ice to make sure we have water. He did this several times while we waited. It was freezing quickly!

Soon, people are all lined up to the platform and the crazy people are jumping in that freezing water! Are they nuts? This guy has a cigar in his mouth, can you see it?

Ker-splash!

Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty jumped.

They just got a tiny bit wet. ;)

Don’t you just love the water draining from the tip of his hat? The guy in camo was there to help people back out of the water. And there were two ambulances standing by.

Now here’s some brave girls! I loved their expressions and how they all seemed to be “in it” together.

And some more brave girls! Look at those expressions! That water is cold! Remember it will freeze if not kept moving.

Apparently frogs like freezing water.

There were 144 plungers, and they weren’t entirely nuts. This was an Angel on My Shoulder fundraiser and they raised over $29,000!

They don’t look cold at all, do they?

When it was over, the jumpers went to warming tents and hot tubs. And the snowmobilers went back to the trails.

The snowmobile with the flag is the trail patrol.