Happy Independence Day!

 Tomorrow (well, today because it's technically after midnight) is the 4th of July.  We don't normally do much on the 4th, sometimes a BBQ at my Dad's house but we haven't gone to see fireworks in years.  We're kind of thankful for that because it's not like we're missing some huge tradition we had.  Owen and I are going to pick up some fireworks and light them off in the cul-de-sac.  Owen is thrilled because Dave officially passed the torch to him this year to be the one to light them off.  Last year he got a taste of it (with supervision of course) but now he's 13 and can handle it... still with supervision but we trust him a lot more to be responsible.  David said he thought he could get up in the chair and go outside to watch the fireworks.  He doesn't want to stay up too long because he has chemo the next day which means he'll be in the chair two days in a row... again.  He only gets in the chair once every couple of weeks but once a month it seems like he's in it two days in a row for some reason.  

Since it's the 3rd (4th) this would be right in the middle of when he'd be taking the Temodar.  He's glad to not be sick like he was a month ago. That was awful, I'm thankful for that too! As for his other meds the addition of the continuous morphine has really been helpful.  He is still uncomfortable a little bit in the neck and shoulder area but not nearly as bad as it was and he's sleeping a lot better at night with not having to wake him up to take meds at 5 am.  He still has to be moved in the middle of the night but if I'm just turning him he has to be less awake than he does if he has to swallow something that tastes nasty and then drink water with it.  It's less maintenance and he likes that. (So do I)  Of course tonight he's getting a migraine and I can't find the migraine meds.  He hasn't had to take them for months and I have moved things around so many times since then I have no idea where they could have gone.  Hopefully he can sleep it off and be alright.

Owen has been SOOOO super awesome lately. So helpful and fun.  I hope this trend continues! I took him to get his braces adjusted today.  They repositioned 5 of the brackets on the bottom teeth and put in a lighter wire.  I have no idea what that does but I guess it's supposed to not have as much pull or something.  He also gets to go without rubber bands for the next 5 weeks.  Lucky dog. His teeth have moved so fast and his teeth were only sore when he first got them on.  He must have a high pain tolerance. 

I got my hair did yesterday! I've always been such a wuss about color but I splurged and just went for it.  My girl did a weave (the color technique not the extensions) and used a crimson red, it's so dark red that it's almost fuschia-y/purple.  I LOVE IT!  Too bad reds fade so quickly. I washed it today then noticed the bottom of the tub is pink and then when I was drying it my hands turned all pink.  DUDE!  I don't even have to do my nails because they're pink now! (I kid... kind of) I haven't taken a picture of my hair yet.  It's hard to see the color inside and the sun has yet to come out since I had it done.  Boo... Ah, summer in oregon... 60s and overcast.  LOL



David wrote this entry into his journal just before Thanksgiving in 1985.  It's about thanksgiving but given the content we thought it was mighty patriotic and fit with the Independence Day theme.

"I'm Grateful For
I'm grateful for turkeys and gravy with cranberry sauce and dressing and nice, thin, melt in your mouth slices of tender, juicy,  turkey, rolls with jam, honey and butter.  I'm grateful for clothes, clean air (which I don't have) cool summers, nice hiking up canyons, good ski resorts.  I'm grateful for a warm house. I'm grateful for the right to vote. I'm grateful for being able to go to school. I'm grateful for being able to choose which religion to join. I'm grateful for long strait freeways. I'm grateful for cars. I'm grateful for ways of fast transportation and I'm grateful for living in a free country."

(I'd like to note that he doesn't even really like cranberry sauce, but it's cute that he was thankful for it.  Also a lot of his entries have to do with food.  Those food details are the ones that remind me most of Owen.  )

In light (get it? light?) of the holiday I wanted to share this happy family memory. This is a video of Jesse from 2010 at a 4th of July BBQ.  He wasn't pleased that we were starting to light off fireworks before it actually got dark and he told me his solution.  It cracked me up so I grabbed the camera and asked him to explain it again.  I smile every time I see it.