If there's one symbol of this entire ordeal that I hate the most, it's this contraption, dubbed the Hoyer Lift by the Awesome Nurses, but also known as a Patient Lift:

  In short, it's a crane to lift my wife out of bed.  Not because of her 6'2" frame.  Not primarily for safety reasons.  Because her cancer, which has pinched her spinal cord, has turned her lower body into dead weight which will only move millimeters with the most intense willpower she can muster.  Of all the things she's had to endure, it's this machine that rips my heart out every time I see her forced to use it.  I've been able to deal with every other thing she's had to go through, wheelchair, walker, in home therapy, rearranging the entire house as needed, running my kids all over town so I can spend time with her, bringing our family to the hospital so we can spend time together and help J with his homework, her near hysteria from 2 hour long MRI sessions, the occasional clumsy hospital bed to bed transfers, and emptying the commode, and dealing with her inability to get to the commode as necessary steps to recovery.

  We can spend time at her bedside, laughing and enjoying each other and our witty banter.  Chuckle as we try to remember rules to childhood card games, or trying to compare Word of Warcraft to it's TCG counterpart, or bitching about how even the most excellent hospital food that has been known to man can be replaced the fine cuisine of Taco Bell when you've been in for over 3 months.  Those moments are enjoyable, pleasurable, and they don't seem so bad, even when we're interrupted for blood draws, finger sticks, or medicine time.

  It's the lift I despise most. 

  It may represent my inability to provide that type of mobility for my wife.  It may represent how inadequate our home may be should it be required that we own one of these diabolical machines.

  It does represent the over 300+ days that I haven't been able to sleep side by side with my wife.

  It does represent nearly a year of internal pain, struggle, and the feeling that I may not be able to do what I feel I want to do for all the members of my family.

  I am thankful such a device is around, and would gladly assist my wife in using it an infinite amount of times per day without complaint.  Every movement an act of pure care.

  But I don't have to like the machine.

  Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma.

  I still hate you.

Geek Pen Holder

Floppy disks? What are those? On yeah, you use them to hold writing implements, that's right. Flash drives are something dirty you do with data then, right?

clipped from lifehacker.com Make a Pen Holder Out of Floppy Disks Instead of throwing out those old floppy disks, grab a couple of zip ties and turn them into a roomy, DIY pen holder that pays homage to the old school method of data storage. Do-it-yourselfer completegeek posts the straightforward step-by-step. In short, drill a couple of holes into the disks, fasten them together with zip ties, and trim off extra length with scissors. Easy-peasy, with nifty results! Photo by matthew.shelton.

I Love Paper

About three years ago, I asked for a PDA at work. They were happy to oblige, but I got one that was from 1812. No backlighting, required 3AAA batteries, and did not recharge it's own batteries, you had to get new ones every 2 weeks or so.

I used it for a month and forgot about it. I had gotten it for keeping my calendar with me at all times, but I got annoyed with it.

I liked it because it fit in my pocket, but hated it because it was just a glorified calendar. I would have loved to have taken notes with it in meetings, but it was so 2 minutes ago that I didn't even bother with it.

Since then, I've been stuck on paper. Should have realized it sooner, paper is what got me through college. I got reminded of all this stuff when I read this article, so I thought I'd use their points and make my own comments on it.

* It’s simple
Pen and paper. Available everywhere and fold up for future use. Only you can make it complicated by trying too micromanage every nit picky thing you put in there.
* It’s portable
Sure a cell phone and PDA is portable, but can you sit on it without freaking out about losing 200 bucks? Nope. I like to keep my hands free, and with paper, I can do just that.
* It’s cheap
Could be the Just One Club card, moleskine, a 25 cent notepad, folded piece of paper, or even the PocketMod. Cheap, next to free. I use a moleskine. It's on the upper side of costs, but I've got this dumb thing that says if I pay for something pricey, I really want to use it.
* It’s easy to use
Use it as a journal, calendar, or even have multiple ones for different subjects (I had compositions books for each class. Myself, I have one moleskine calendar and another to chuck everything under the sun in.
* It’s quick
No booting. Get it out, grab pen. Done.
* Less chance of failure
Don't loose it!
* It’s a break from all that technology
I get a good bit of satisfaction from writing. Sure, I think better when I type, but when I write, if feels good to have pen touching the page.

The bummer about it all? You can't search it. However, anything of that importance gets transferred elsewhere. If I get a name or number I need to remember, it goes in the book first, then I go back later and put it into my cell phone. See a movie preview, I'll write the name of the movie down, then request it from the library later.

The cool thing? I date all the entries, so when I go back years from now, I'll remember how pissed off I was at a woman in the Burger King play place who refused to go get her child out of the play equipment after he threw up. "Oh my God! I can't handle this! I need an employee!!!" She ran off, leaving us disgusted parents to clear the area and make sure none of the kids got anywhere near the now quarantined zone.

Black Friday

Edh is right, since I'm up in the middle of the night for twin feedings anyway, the plan is for Blue to be an idiot and try to go save some serious cash.

Due to the girls not being able to go out in a crowd, we're having turkey day at home this year, so I'm getting up whenever the girls wake us up and pick up a paper early Thursday morning.

While Pink and I cook the vittles, we'll browse the ads and see what's on tap. Currently Target's going to be a default since we have some giftcards to use and we'd like to use them against the purchase of a Wii. Pink also wants and ipod dock with a remote so she can jam to her tunes and skip over the songs with potty words in them.w

If anyone is interested, speak now and either laugh at me, or lemme know if someone needs a line buddy, there's a good chance I'll be out there.

Of Pork Chops

They turned out well. Little Blue ate them up after his applesause ("they're too hot Daddy, I'm going to eat my apples first), and Pink loved the crispy bits. I cheated a nuked a can of green beans in the microwave as a side.

I cooked four total, and Little Blue got half of one. "Pink, do you want two or one and a half?" I offer because of her low carb thang, all the protein the better.

"I'll take one and a half honey."

I chow down on two, and she's full after one, so I finish her last half. I chuckled, figuring she would have wolfed them down because she was ravenous by the time we ate.

20 minutes after eating, she was hungry again.

1 pregnant woman + identical twin girls = small tummy