One More Angel In Heaven

My friend Kim's son passed away on Tuesday. Just typing those words makes me horribly sad. He was 11. He had a rare brain tumor/cancer and had received the diagnosis more than a year ago. It was uncertain that he would battle on this long, but fight he did.

Hope is what his family and friends did. It has been a huge reminder to me that no matter how bleak a situation may appear, one must never give up hope. We must do all we can to diligently work hard to change a diagnosis, a situation, a matter. Move heaven and earth. Do all we can to make it happen. We can't let anyone build a fence around us.

And the story doesn't end there .... about two years ago Kim battled a bout with breast cancer and within the last 10 days was in surgery for colon cancer and reportedly went back into surgery on Tuesday.

Your thoughts and prayers for Kim, her husband Ken, their son Caleb, and their three sons Jacob, Seth and Luke, are cherished.

Give your loved one an extra hug in Caleb's memory.

Talented

Pleased to congratulate Kristin Chenoweth and Holly Hunter on Emmy nominations. Kristin, best supporting actress for a comedy series, for the now-cancelled "Pushing Daisies," and Holly, best actress for a drama series, for "Saving Grace." They are two of my favorite actresses and those are two of my favorite shows. Kristin and Holly also were nominated last year. Neither won. We'll see if their fortunes will change this year. It's an honor to be nominated, I'm sure.

Just the other day I watched the season two finale for "Saving Grace." The episode was powerfully powerful. Very gripping and emotional .... especially for someone like me who has strong feelings regarding the death penalty. Holly's performances throughout season two were very good. The episode titled "A Survivor Lives Here" was the best. My two cents.

Hard to imagine that season three is well in its throngs. Too bad I don't have cable.

I never saw the final three episodes of "Pushing Daisies." I'll have to be sure to get the DVDs. I wonder how it ends. There's rumors it could be made into a feature film to wrap up all the loose ends. I'll keep you posted.

Random Thoughts On July 19, 2009

I'm really beginning to tire of the Michael Jackson news. Admittedly, it is a freakishly interesting story. But it probably really is time to let the man rest in peace. Sadly, I know only more and more "breaking updates" are likely.

Gasoline was around $2.11-2.10 on Sunday.

Mowed the lawn, trimmed tree limbs and did other outdoor stuff all day Sunday. The entire weekend, starting on Friday, had incredibly awesome weather. Right around 80 degrees or less. I think I heard Kansas City had record lows. Considering Mom told me it was around 110 in Oklahoma the other day, I should be glad about KC's summer.

I really wanted to see Kansas City's Tom Watson win The Open Championship ...... aka the British Golf Open. He came close and had it within his grasp. It was sad to watch him lose, but I guess I am glad the tie-breaker round wasn't even close. I got excited thinking about how good I might be at my game when I'm 59. And I'm not talking about golf, but am talking about life.

The National Golf Course he designed is a stone's throw from Rolling Acres Memorial Gardens.

Looks like my favorite orange body soap by Zest is no longer available. About a year ago noticed I couldn't find it at Target anymore. Then saw at my Price Chopper grocery store that it was on sale and labeled "discontinued item." Darn. Now I might have to use blue or green bars. For whatever reason I always felt cleaner and more smell-goody clean when using orange soap.

As hinted above, trimmed the shrubs. I cut them super short all with maximum Christmas-light decorating in mind. After mentioning that to MMcB she replied, "It is good to have goals." That made me laugh.

Got to finish folding clothes and then will hit the hay.

Random Thoughts On July 14, 2009

Sorry for my absence.

Gasoline is sitting right around $2.19. I predict under a two bucks in August, but back up by Labor Day.

It sure has been hot. I've been worried about my homies in Oklahoma. Temperatures have shot well over 100 every day. I was down there a couple weeks ago and that day alone the temp guage in the car hit 106.

Received a Guam quarter the other day. So now I have a Puerto Rico and Guam. I haven't checked yet but I bet there will be a U.S. Virgin Islands and District of Columbia.

Gabby is doing great. Our two-year anniversary is quickly approaching.

Today is the anniversay of my former company dying. I guess it is my one-year anniversary with the new company. The year and the day was a mixed bag. It feels it has been mostly an uphill battle, but I think successess might be around the corner. We'll see. Nonetheless, it has been a battle.

Hope you are doing well.