My Brave friend Thea



Deb and Thea Christmas 2010

She's as brave as any of the characters we've read about in all the many books we've read in the past ten years since I've known her. Thea was the first person to contact me ten years ago when I put up that poster at Creston Public Library (aka Matilda Gibson) proclaiming that I was starting a book discussion group. She was interested...and better yet, she volunteered to host it! Her hosting gig ended up being permanent - just like our friendship!

My longtime (I'm not saying old) buddy Deb and I had pined for such a group In town. One where we could meet to discuss books with fellow book lovers. When no such group appeared...besides the stuffy sounding group that posted minutes in the local paper, we decided to start our own. We nearly always pick out and order books from an online list of multiple books the state library hosts. Everybody in our group can suggest titles and we usually have a core group of 6 or 8 people participating. Let's not forget Thea's three dogs - Peaches, Lucy and Mitzi. (Oreo, whom I used to call Hydrox, RIP).

Thea moved to Creston to work at the Area Education Agency as a social worker in area schools, a career she retired from in 2010. Last spring she had a bum knee replaced and was rehabbing at a local physical therapy center. She began to notice pain in other areas of her body and the therapist recognized the pain was not a normal part of recovery from this type of surgery. Several doctor's appointments and medical tests later, she was diagnosed with myeloma - cancer of the plasma cells.

Crap! That isn't the way it should go...somebody retires and then gets sick. Thea decided to go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a second opinion. Their diagnosis - multiple myeloma and they discovered a cancerous tumor on one of her kidneys that needed to come out. She had surgery to remove it - the kidney. In the meantime, the myeloma has taken a toll on her bones - causing a great deal of pain. She needed to start treatment to knock the cancer back. Thea started chemo treatments as soon as she could, followed by radiation - which really zapped her!

The cancer has taken its toll on Thea's lifestyle. It has made it hard for her to get around. She lives in a big rambling brick 2 story home, and she's taken some steps to make her home more livable for her and the dogs. A doggy door has been installed for the "girls" so they can access the fenced in back yard all on their own. Her house has been arranged so that she can get around with her walker.

It can't be easy, facing that f'ing disease. And Thea does not have relatives in town - though her brother lives in Harlan. She's fortunate that since she's such a swell lady, she's developed a great network friends here in town. Still...it has to be hard. She has to have some hard times. Down times.

I've been to see her a few times - to take food and to help around the house a bit. During those times, Thea has been a champ - what an attitude!
As brave as
1,000 White Women
who have lived in
The Red Tent
and Angry Housewives Eating BonBons
(all books we have read and loved)
So all of you out there- in prayer and good thoughts land - please break out the good stuff for my brave pal Thea. She deserves the best!

Bustin' with "Proud"

Rock Star Coaches (from Texas game) Below - Rhoads, above - the Burnhams

It's a never-ending roller-coaster ride. Being a fan of the ISU Cyclones, I mean. I know - I've chosen to get on that ride. I could be a casual fan - enjoying the victories and ignoring the other stuff - but oh, not me. I'm the type that invests heavily (emotionally, and..in recent years $) in the Alma Mater sports teams. Mostly football. I spent only four years at Iowa State University, but those years have shaped my life forever somehow. I'm in the cult.

As a Cyclone fan I've seen and felt my share of heartache from athletic losses - especially in football. I've written about it in past blogs. It's like the Cyclones are Charlie Brown - believing somehow, again and again that Lucy will really leave that football out there for us to kick this time. But each time, she whips it away at the last second - laughing cruelly. We fall on our asses, embarrassed, defeated yet again.

We've had some memorable wins through the years. A few. In college I was there when ISU defeated Nebraska at our stadium. It was the fall of 1976 - Dexter Green, baby! Back then I was really more in it for the fun. They didn't care when we took glass bottles of liquor into the stadium. Sometimes the game became a backdrop to mixology! I remember another exciting game vs. Kansas (OT?) in the 90s where ISU prevailed by kicking a field goal. It was very cold and a streaker blessed the event. There wasn't much to see...

Vicki, me, Sal, and Jane - in our ISU Cowboy hats - Iowa game 1979

The ISU vs. Iowa has become a great rivalry game. This year's Triple OT win was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen in person. Our victory over the Hawks during the brief Chizek tenure was memorable too - Shaggy field goal winning, thanks to Diana and I using our special lucky finger clutch. I gave up my ticket to Jud, when he was still in high school, the year the Clones beat the Hawks when they were ranked #10.

Paul and I have season tickets you know, and haven't missed a home game for quite a while! It took all week to decide whether or not we were going. Arguments for not going to the game. Someone Paul worked with was retiring, and Paul was in charge of collecting the guy's laptop and other equipment - so he had to work late yesterday. Plus Paul has not gotten to hunt much this fall, due to our busy social/football schedule. He was concerned a late night might cut into hunting time.

Our tailgating mates were not available for this game. Why going to a game without them would be like making a lemondrop without lemons. Diana had major surgery, taking the backbone McKim family out of the mix. Higgins chose to head to their Lake of the Ozarks home, and McFees couldn't make it. . I also admit I wasn't overly enthusiastic about watching the Cyclones get their asses kicked by #2 Oklahoma State. In the past few years, the Cowboys have had our number. I couldn't see how could we possibly compete with #2.

But...on the plus side of attending the game, my friend Christine was going to be running on the field with the team! Her buddy from Texas successfully bid on some auction package and that was the prize, along with sideline passes. And our pal Hauser from Minnesota was going to be "in the house" for the first time all year.

Ultimately we decided not to go to the game.

Damn, Damn, Damn! What a dumb decision - in hindsight. Bobbie and Jeff came over for wings and a chicken casserole Bobbie made. I enjoyed one nice lemondrop martini before I managed to spill the leftovers from the shaker on the floor. (can you say sticky?). The game looked marvy on the TV and I thought we were hanging in there pretty well, despite not taking advantage of some early miscues by OSU. But that ending was one for the ages.

The early missed field goal - memories of ISU's bowl game miss vs. Alabama. Our boy AJ Klein was a complete stud! Leonard Johnson finally backed up all his trash talking. Our frosh QB made some mistakes, but had nerves of steel. Tip by Iowa boy Knott in OT and interception by Benton (another trash talker). Jeff Woody ran like a man on a mission for the end zone to score a touch down - Clones know better than to rely on a field goal. ISU 37- OSU 31. I love our coaches! The defensive plan was stellar. Paul and I jumped up and hugged - hopping up and down in unison!

scene from last night - crazy!

I wanted so much to be there to drink it in - just like after the Iowa win. The crowd rushed the field and players raised red helmets skyward! That atmosphere is addictive. It was wonderful that ESPN continued to carry the feed long after the game ended. Sweet Caroline played, then Celebrate Good Times, as they interviewed Coach Rhoads and talked about the game.

This morning on ESPN Gameday, they showed a replay of Coach Rhoad's post game lockeroom speech. Some say he's overused the "so proud" phrase. Check out the video: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100342216168020
Not me. What else can you say? Others say OSU was flat. It may have been a perfect storm - but the Cyclones had the perfect boat to ride the storm out!

Far left - AJ Klein, our hero! (his parents tailgate near us) 

Dance fever

I got a Wii for Mee for my birthday. I'd been considering the purchase for quite some time, and the price had dropped over time - so I finally pulled the trigger. Paul had even said if was okay - like I needed his permission.

We usually do consult with each other on big purchases. But through the years, as we got a little bigger cushion in our bank account, that limit went up a bit. Nintendo Wii used to cost around $300 I think - but I got mine, complete with the Mario Cart game for less than $150.

Then I worked a deal with my 'lil buddy Krissy to purchase her Wii Fit game. It has a balance board that you stand on for most of the exercises, plus the disk you put into the video machine. Last weekend I finally had a chance to try the thing out - fun and good exercise for someone like me who has allowed myself to get woefully out of shape. Now I only wish I had one here AND at Joanie's place.

I programed a "Mii" into the system to represent me in some of the games. It weighs me and figures my BMI too. There are four areas to work on.

•  Yoga
• Strength
• Balance
• Aerobic

I got up this a.m. and did yoga for 15 minutes followed by some other stuff. Then later this morning, during a break from work I broke out Dance 3 where I worked up a sweat dancing to Dynamite and some Apache song. I suck, but it was fun and got my heart going. I'm going to be in tip top shape in no time at this rate!

My friend Deb purchased the XBox 3D for exercise - can't wait to hear how she likes it. It's more $$ - but you don't have to hold the controller, which would be nice. Watch out - the oldsters are taking over gaming!

I clicked my heels together

And said, "there's no place like home" and magically, I appeared in my comfy chair in my living room! No...not really. I drove my car - my trusty Subaru - which is like a comfy pair of ruby red slippers.

Today I was itching to get out of town - back to Creston. It's been a long stretch of work - since late September when I organized our first Environmental Management System (EMS)Audit through this week, after completing six audits and now the workshop. I'm beat! As I said in my blog of a couple days ago - the workshop went well...it finished up yesterday with a half day. The evaluations were good. Yay!

Continental - a drink from the bar sounded enticing, but I held back!

When the workshop finished up yesterday, I went to luncheon at the Continental - on Locust at about 4th in the East Village with Laura and Christine. We talked mostly shop. I had a nice blackened chicken sannie. After that, Laura had to catch a flight back to Dallas.

I spent the afternoon figuring out how to update information on the EMS website. Then I heard from my honey PGG, that he was in town having work done on his car. We decided to meet at HuHot for supper. That place is good! You fill a bowl with raw meats, fish, crab, veggies and noodles. Then you pick a group of sauces to dump over the top and take it to an open griddle for men to grill for you. There is white rice to eat with it back at your table. Yum!

After supper we took a walk around Sports Authority, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without. All too soon it was time for Paul to head back to Creston. I went to Joan's to watch TV. My shoulders were so tight from a week of stress! Guess I'll need to contact my friendly masseuse Chris soon to get the kinks worked out. But for now - tomorrow, I get to work at home. I like that perk of my job!

Yowza got thru that!

Participants eagerly await information

I was in charge of a workshop/conference for work today. I was kinda stressed about it. Because I'm a control freak. It was for the Environmental Management System (EMS) program that I'm lead worker on. It was at the Botanical Center and around 30 people attended.

Laura - consultant, presides

Laura, our consultant from Dallas and I worked together on the content of the workshop. She put together the PowerPoints and the training materials, so she's been stressed too. Laura arranged for a guy from EPA in Washington, who is an EMS expert, to talk after lunchtime. He sat in on our morning sessions and was very complimentary of our program. ;>)

I introduce our speaker

Pat Boddy

I also lined up a couple speakers for the workshop, including Pat Boddy, former DNR Deputy Director. I put together some materials in preparation for the speakers - especially Pat who talked about setting good goals. Because in EMS, the participants - in this case, Solid Waste Agencies, set annual environmental goals to help them meet the requirement of continuous improvement to be in the program.

Goal-setting assistance could help each of us! Who couldn't use help figuring out just what we're really trying to get at!?!

It was a little confusing for some of the participants. But the basic idea is to get at - what is your REAL purpose for a goal you are setting? Here is an example that we had to work through.

A solid waste agency sets a goal of hosting 500 people in their educational center in 2011. Is that a good goal? It's measurable. But what does that number tell us? Not much really. What we talked about today is what the real goal should be. What is that agency was trying to accomplish by bringing people into the ed center? Mostly likely education about the facility services - recycling/disposal etc.

So a better goal might be behavior change after facility tour. To measure this, the facility could poll users to find out how they knew about the services.

It's like the difference between losing weight to fit into your jeans, and eating healthy for your lifestyle. Your goals need to be beyond the quick fix number. It's kind of a hard thing to wrap your mind around...

Jim Horne US EPA talks EMS

Anyway - I'm back at it tomorrow morning! Can you tell - I love this stuff!

Tomorrow will be a smaller group. Next year we'll be doing this conference again -  I'm already planning how I might do it better! Control freak!

Diana (I call her Dee)

It was the size of a kiwi. According to Donnie, the tumor on Diana (I call her Dee) McKim's carotid artery in her neck was the size of the fuzzy fruit - and was likely pressing on her blood vessel.

It's called a carotid body tumor. They found it after Diana complained about having a dry mouth. Our local surgeon removed one of her salivary glands (you have several so that's no big deal), thinking that was the culprit - and that's when he saw the damn thing. But he didn't dare touch it, as it is so close to the carotid, the tongue and some other important stuff like the vocal chords. These tumors are usually hereditary and benign. But they gotta come out if they're pressing on significant stuff.

Diana has a wonderful voice - pure and true, alto. She and Gwen Buck often sing duets at weddings. And who could discount the duet she and I do (she carries me) on the Star Spangled Banner at each and every Cyclone game! Plus...she was one of my backup singers along with Joan (my roomie) and Bobbie for Monster Mash, during my 52nd birthday celebration in Earlham. We sang karaoke at a little bar on main street. I don't think they'll ever forget us. I drank all their red zinfandel, never to drink that wine again...

I'm glad Diana went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for her surgery. It is where they needed to be. I'm praying my friend Dee Dee will recover quickly. She is supposed to be 2 days in Critical Care then a day or two on the regular floor was the information I last heard. I'm sure they'll take it a day at a time - making sure infection doesn't happen.  

I am just so glad and relieved that this tricky surgery went okay - I was really worried. Diana and Don are such good people and good friends. I want Dee to be home so I can make her a lemon drop martini (once the doc says it's okay - I wouldn't want to waste the precious nectar if it trickled out of her sutures...haha little joke Dee). Donnie can mix his own BV and Diet Squirt...

Cyclone fans  (Me, Marilyn Conover with Dee on right) adore linebacker JJ Klein

Oh yeah, and Go Cyclones - win one of your three remaining football games against a top-ranked football team so we can go to a bowl game with McKims! (one can dream!)

Bolder update

Bolder with Bud, Pablo and Lemondrop...last summer

It has been a while since I reported the awful news that my beloved bro-in-law Brian Lefebvre, whom everyone calls Bolder or Boldie has prostate cancer - a particularly aggressive type damn it! He had surgery back in late July to remove his prostate. Then it was discovered that the cancer had spread, so further treatment was called for.

But Bolder had to heal from surgery - and dealt with some complications like infection. So he wasn't able to start chemo until October. He just had his second round of the powerful chemical cocktail Taxotere (he'd prefer scotch), and will have two more chemo sessions - December 1st and 22nd with the drug Jevtana. My sis Cindo say the good news is that his PSA is still really low and his white blood cell count is looking good.

Here is an update in Cindo's words. "Thanks for checking in with us. Oldie Moldie Boldie has now become Balding Boldie. He has lost most of the hair on top of his head but still has a ring around the lower part (kinda like Friar Tuck). I asked if he wanted his friend Eric to shave it off and he said no. It's amazing how well he takes the chemo. He's a little tired but hasn't felt sick at all even after two sessions. Bolder and I are so thankful for our friends and family and that there are drugs to find the horrible disease called cancer! Love you all!"

After Chemo, Boldie will be starting radiation treatment. Amy, Jud, Paul and I will be in Vail celebrating Christmas with the Lefebvres. Can't wait to hug them and son Colby who is working in Vail Valley managing a local eatery.

The Bullock and Lefebvre families appreciate all your good thoughts and prayers for one the the best and most tender-hearted guys in the whole world - Brian Lefebvre.