I've Called in Dead Today

Four years & counting here at TheFunkyCowboy.

Thanks to all of you who come & visit & have been a part of my world daily!

How does it seem that another month has escaped from our clutches and we are once again looking at getting kids ready to head back to school & fall (my favourite time of year) is right around the corner.  Seems like forever since we have updtaed my blog so I guess it is time to get an update completed.

Let us start with the Mum update.  We have since completed her radiation therapy of 20 treatments which meant 20 trips to Saint John & back daily for the treatment.  She has had success with the treatment and a few side effects as well.  She lost the saliva glands on day 1 of the treatment.  She developed a sore throat & diffculty to swallow around treatment 11 and that condition comes and goes daily.  She has not had any other real side effects other then that.  She completed them on July 31 and will have a 3 week break before returning to Chemotherapy treatment to seal all the progress she has made to this point.  Her blood numbers have been better today, almost higher numbers we have seen in almost a year.  She is still strong as ever.  She has been a trooper.

Life with me has been busy as usual.  I have been to London Ontario for 4 days for a square dance convention in which I took part.  It was a hectic schedule of times to deal with but we had a good time.  Mum had also accompanied me on the trip which was a much needed break away for her & for myself.  The crowds were well receiving of us who worked their convention & the laughs we had were amazing.  I could tell of some stories but maybe down the road.

Shortly after returning home from London we resumed treatments and then the weekend after was the NB Highland Games. If you are into a caber toss, kilts & the sounds of bagpipes then this was the weekend for you.  I took off on Friday night & skipped over in the rain to see the tattoo.  It was a good time and to see so many people claiming to be Scottish (even for the weekend) was a treat.  The rain detered no one on Friday night but the sun and heat of the rest of the weekend made for a great weekend to say the least.

All in all life is good with me.  Life has been busy as usual and that part of life rarely changes.  One big change that came into the world was on July 31st, 2008 for those who remember FallenAngel delivered a healthy baby boy weighing in at 9 lbs 11.5 ozs & the family is doing great.  We were there keeping FallenAngel's mother company while she waited for her to come out of recovery that day.  Congrats to FallenAngel's family on the newest addition!

Hope life is treating you all well and I will pop over to visit all of you soon!

Well as usual another great weekend of ATVing took place in another part of the province I have never had the chance to explore before.  We loaded up the bikes Friday and took off to a little place called Shepody NB.  It is on the outskirts of Sussex and what an awesome time we had doing some great trails and allot of fun.  Very few mishaps during our trip of 100 miles in 8 hours.  I unfortunately took great heat over the fact that my bike was overheating a couple of times during the day and was holding up the group.  That is fine I can take the heat - well I could for the most part, 33 degree Celsius with a humidex of 40+ something had to give right?

Other then that not much going on with me.  We have been on our daily trips back and forth to Saint John for Mum to receive her radiation therapy. She is coming through these just like she did with her chemotherapy since January.  She will be taking a break mid treatment to come to London Ontario with me next week and then by August 1st the words every cancer patient loves to hear - remission.

Hope all is well with you and I have been around quietly checking up on most of you and will do so some more over the next few days!

and they are not mine!!!!!!!!

and won't be mine anytime soon!!!!!!!!!

June seemed to be the wedding month of the year for me as I have spent my weekends pretty well attending one for sure the last couple of weekends.  2008 in a whole seems to be a year to be wed for some reason.  That is all right for those who are interested.  I like my single life for now at least :)

June 21, 2008 seen the wedding of my cousin in Moncton.  He and his bride had their wedding out on the wharf at the Yacht Club very nice wedding.  It was a gorgeous day!

This past weekend seen the wedding that some might refer to as it was all about tongues and devil's horns.  Some of the pictures from this heavy metal rocker couple was priceless and what a very simple quaint wedding it was.  Both the bride and groom have been friends of mine and it was an amazing day to witness their special moment.  They truly will live happily ever after!

This weekend we load up the ATV's and head for our annual SummerJam weekend of ATVing in the picturesque area of Sussex and surrounding areas.  It will be a treat to say the least and we are looking forward to it.

As well this past week on July 2nd Mum has begun her daily trip to Saint John each day for her radiation treatments.  Like the chemotherapy treatments she is facing these head on and will not let them beat her down.  She will have 11 in before we head to London Ontario mid month and then will finish the remaining when we get back home on the 20th.  August 1 is the day we are shooting for the most.  The day they announce remission.

Hope all is well with all of you and I have been around quietly lurking but commenting.  When I get back from the weekend I will be around to visit all of you!

Well it was a very sad day today.  It was the end of an era for me when I drove into the dealership and handed the keys over to the Funky Cab and signed my life away for the next 4 years and come out with something new.  This was a sad day and a day of big change as I have never driven anything other then a van since April 2, 1996.  The question of why does a single man drive a van?  Well to get all my gear into it.  With the rising price of gasoline in the country it was time to downsize a little bit anyways.  So now the Funky Cab will become the Funky Rogue.  It is blue and full of power for that little racing 4 cylinder.  It will take some time to get settled into it but we are here for a good ride and we will have it for quite some time.

Ever have one of those weeks where nothing seems to go right to often and you are so busy that you wish a vacation would be nice but even then that really would not do well trust me this morning before I crawled out of bed and got ready to come to work I thought about calling in dead.  Could you hear the voice mail recording now "You have reached the voice mail of TheFunkyCowboy I am sorry I cannot come to the phone as I have called in dead today. If you need immediate assistance please dial 0 now otherwise leave a message after the beep!!!!!!"

Things at work have been hectic as of late with so many out of town projects and not small one's either they seem to be occupying more time then we can offer right now.  I was assured by both of the crews that today would see the finishing of both projects and would see us get back to some kind of normalcy again.  Whatever normal is.

The usual hodge podge of life stuff has been happening around the world with me.  I get up and work every day, I spend my evenings that I have vegging in front of the big screen TV and playing several retarded rounds of golf, the nights I have dance class I go to them and then my weekends have been booked solid.  Someone once told me I was going to have the summer off - wonder what summer they were referring to is maybe the better question?  I have learned to use the word NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO but for some reason it is not working out well for me.  Maybe with a little guidance and teaching I will get it down pat soon.  This weekend will be yet another busy one as my week has been with dance classes and meetings.  My two least favorite things during a nice sunny weekend. 

On the front with Mum things with her have been going well.  We have seen a boost in her blood counts in some regard in the last couple of weeks. We have platelet counts of 192.  The highest it has been in - well I could not tell you when.  Her other levels are coming up slowly but surely as well.  This break from Chemotherapy since May 27th has been a welcome change.  We see the Dr's again in SJ on the 25th of this month then July 2 we start our several trips to SJ for radiation therapy.  The time will fly by and before we know it she will be in the home stretch and on the real road to recovery.

Other then that not many things have been going on as of late.  The great flood of 08 seems like a distant memory now to some of us until we take a drive down the highway and see even after almost a month now the piles of rubble and debris that people have thrown out as loss from the flood.  The clean up effort will take a very long time to get that all looked after.

Other then that not much new to report.  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and I will be around to visit all of you soon.

Remember this As you slide down the bannister of life may the splinters be pointing in your favor.