December 25, 2009

Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas party
We were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn’t know what to think of him until he sang
Felis Navidad, Felis Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay
Who talks all about AA
Chain smoking while the stereo plays Noel, Noel
The First Noel

Carve the Turkey
Turn the ball game on
It’s margaritas when the eggnog’s gone
Send somebody to the Quickpak Store
We need some ice and an extension chord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rites
A box of Pampers, Marlboro Lights
Halelluja everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can’t remember how I’m kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night

Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
It’s Bloody Mary’s
Cause We All Want One!
Send somebody to the Stop ‘N Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprites
A box of Midols, some Salem Lights
Halelluja, everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the Family

Felis Navidad!

–Robert Earl Keen

Merry Christmas everyone!

December 24, 2009

“We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice.”
– Jean Sheppard, A Christmas Story

Merry Christmas everyone.  Thank you for all the holiday wishes.  I hope the holidays find you safe and healthy with friends and family.  Be sure to watch A Christmas Story, aka the greatest Christmas movie of all time, tonight and tomorrow on TBS.

December 22, 2009

We got a butt load of snow Friday and Saturday.  It set a single day record and shut down the Federal Government yesterday.  The total in my yard was 20″.  Some places got 2 feet.  It’s going to be a white Christmas, for a while.  It supposed to rain on Christmas Day and that will melt most of the snow.  The snow is still clogging up roads and causing trouble in the area, but my street is clear and I can get to the doctor’s.  It just takes a long time.  So with all this snow needless to say I didn’t do much over the weekend.  I walked my 2 miles each day on the treadmill, which I hate doing.  It’s really boring.  Then I spent the rest of the days reading about triathlons, reading about Henry Kissinger, and playing guitar.  Yesterday Dad and I went to the lake to get a bunch of things that I needed, clothes, winter stuff, my Guitar Hero game, gun and ammo, etc.  You know, the essentials.  That took all day due to lots of traffic on the highways and icy back roads to the lake, and snow of varying degrees of depth in the driveway.  I was bad and didn’t walk yesterday after hauling all that stuff up and down stairs and through the snow.

Today I went to the doctors for a quick check up.  My white count dropped from the 11.4 it was last week to 2.8.  A big drop, but not a big deal.  The doctor wasn’t overly concerned about it and I did not get any Neupogen.  As long as it stays above 2, I’m happy.  I got a new pill to take because the CMV level is creeping back up.  What a pain in the ass.  At least it’s a pill and not an IV and pump to carry around all the freaking time.  After slogging our way up to the doctor, which took forever due to the snow removal and tons of people driving, and slogging back (again taking forever), Mom and I went to the grocery store to get what we needed for Christmas dinner.  I then walked.  I had to walk on the treadmill again today, but I put a small DVD player on the treadmill and watched 24.  That helped entertain me.  Without it, I’m just staring at a blank wall for 40 minutes.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner.  I then had a snack and played guitar for a while.  I am learning my chords and getting much better at the transitions.  I am also learning to play (not just pick) my first song.  If I can get the strumming pattern right, I’ll have it down, except for the solos.  But I’m trying to learn them too.  Sorry for taking so long to update.

December 18, 2009

I walked 2 miles yesterday and again today.  I felt strong during my walk.  The pace was moderate and the route relatively flat, but the fact that I did it twice and felt good both times is a good sign.  I unpacked all of my stuff yesterday and put it all away.  I also read for a while and played guitar.  I am getting better at my chords and have learned a total of 6 so far.  I have also learned to pick though a couple of songs.  I can pick though “Money,” “I Walk the Line,” “Wish You Were Here,” and several other songs.

Today, after my walk, I went to the store with my Mom to finish my Christmas shopping.  We are preparing for a winter storm here, so we also went to the grocery store.  They’re calling for about 10″ of snow.  Unfortunately all of my winter stuff is at the lake.  With the storm arriving, I can’t go all the way down there and get it.  I should be able to get it in a couple of days.  Nothing else to report at the moment.

December 16, 2009

I arrived back here in VA yesterday afternoon.  The drive from Durham was uneventful.  Fipp and I drove together and then she spent the night here before continuing on to her house in New Jersey. 

Today I met with my doctor who will follow me while I am here in VA.  He is in Tyson’s Corner, which is a 20 minute-3 hour drive depending on traffic.  He is part of a small practice that has about 50 BMT patients in various stages of recovery.  He was very personable, chatty almost, and knowledgeable, both traits I like in a doctor.  We did a medical history and drew blood.  My white count was 11.3, which is above the high-end of normal.  I suspect it is artificially high due to the Neupogen shot I received on Monday.  It should drop between now and my appointment next week, but hopefully not too much.  I also suspect that my counts were artificially lower at Duke due to the fact that all my blood was drawn from a central line of some sort.  The main problem with this is the central line also has fluids like saline and heparin injected into them after each use, so some of those fluids could have gotten into my blood samples and watered down the results.  This isn’t an indictment of Duke or anything, but rather just an unfortunate and perhaps overlooked effect of a central line on blood results.

After the trip to the doctor’s, Mom and I ran some errands.  I then ate dinner and watched Good Bye Lenin.  It is a German film about the last days of the GDR and one man’s attempt to preserve the illusion of the GDR for his dying mother.  It was an excellent movie and it reminded me of how much I enjoy contemporary German cinema.