Still Life Saturday

A local author and creative genius, who I admire very much, challenged several people on twitter to participate in Still Life Saturday. Basically, the idea was to take photos throughout your day on Saturday, documenting the things you did, even if they were the mundane. The following is my Still Life Saturday for August 28:

It all started with me leaving Jason's at 8 am to head home to meet the A/C repairman. I waited...and waited...and waited...and watched the clock for several hours:



Once the repairman was gone and my A/C was still not fixed, Jase suggested making the day better by grabbing lunch from one of my favorite places in the world. If you're from Edmond, you may recognize this menu:



After lunch, we decided to take the wave runners out to the lake to test drive them before we head to Grand for vacation next week. As a precaution, my awesome and mechanically inclined guy added some fuel stabilizer:



Ahhh...waiting to unload:



Saying goodbye to the lake after playing:



Tess was happy for us to come home:



And Tanner was content to play with his favorite toy -- a bottle pilfered from the recycling bin:



Are my photos great? Nope...partially because I took them with my cell phone, rather than my actual camera. No matter, though -- I still think this was a great idea and it's one that I'm eager to repeat in the very near future...and maybe that's because it helped me realize that even they typical weekends can be spicy, flavorful, and absolutely awesome!

I Wanna Be a Billionaire...

One of my current favorite songs is Billionaire, sung by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars. I liked this song long before I ever actually truly listened to the lyrics, simply because of the music and the beat, but after I actually contemplated the song, I grew to love it even more. One line, in particular, has really made me think: “…and last but not least, grant somebody their last wish.”

Yesterday, as Jase and I were driving home from Lake Thunderbird (more on that in a later post), this song came on the radio. Once it was over, I turned to him and asked if he knew why there wasn’t an organization, similar to Make-A-Wish, for granting adult wishes. He and I both agreed it was a great idea.

Make-A-Wish is an absolutely fantastic organization and their work to grant the wishes of children with terminal illnesses is amazing. In fact, I’ve got a friend whose son was granted a wish after he overcame Stage IV cancer, which was diagnosed when he was just four months old. I whole-heartedly support their efforts.

But, I can’t help but feel that it would be nice to do something for adults who also are facing the fight of their lives. So, when we got home, I started doing some research regarding adult wishes and I came across a website for the Dream Foundation, www.dreamfoundation.org. From the research I’ve done, it appears to be a foundation that grants the wishes of adults who have terminal diseases. What an awesome mission!

At this point in my life, I’m not a rich person. I still believe that this is an incredibly worthwhile endeavor and any charitable contributions that I can afford to make are going to go to this group. And, maybe, if I’m ever a billionaire, I can take a line or two from this awesome song and grant some wishes to people who deserve them!

Sucker Punched

Within the past few weeks, I know at least three people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Happily, one is expected to have a good outcome. Another has a slightly less bright future, but still has some hope. And the third? Well, the third has me feeling like I've been sucker punched.

When I saw my phone flashing with a text alert this evening, I instinctively knew that the message wasn't going to hold good news. I had no idea that I'd learn that a man I've known for the last ten years has been diagnosed with terminal, Stage IV, liver cancer that's totally inoperable. He's got six months to live.

I'm just sick to my stomach. I can't even put into words how shocked I am right now. I've lost friends and family to cancer before, but for some reason, this has just hit me hard and I can't really pinpoint why.

I think part of it is because he's such a happy, friendly, kind, loving, and outgoing guy. I met him and his partner when I took my first professional job out of college -- and we immediately became friends. I haven't seen either of these guys much in the past six years, due to my various moves, but we always exchange Christmas cards. I have a picture of the three of us that sits on a table in my living room -- and they have the same picture of us up at work. Every time I look at it, I smile.

From what I've been told, he's remaining very positive about his situation. He doesn't want everyone to know because he doesn't want people going out of their way and making a big deal over him. In fact, he's such a trouper that he's been given pain medication and he's planning on continuing to work until he absolutely can no longer handle it. But I cannot imagine what he's really feeling inside.

I'll eventually get my head wrapped around this and quit feeling so shocked. I want so badly to call my friends, but I want to wait until I'm in a better mindframe. Hopefully I'll be able to call them this weekend.

Side note: I realize that this is somewhat long and rambling and I'm very sorry. I just need to get this off my chest.