First, fly the aircraft

Well the whirlwind that is my life has subsided to the point that I actually have a moment to commit a few thoughts to the blog.

Last Thursday, The Randy & Dave Show entertained at the United Way ‘Kickoff to the Kickoff’ event. Saturday night we also had the opportunity to perform at Car Tunes on Main in Findlay. Those things combined with the ‘joy’ of being on-call at work has left me pretty tired today (and I suppose the disease and lack of caffeine contribute to that as well). I think it’s nothing a few good naps can’t fix.

One day last week I was chatting with my friend Naubinway Jeff (http://naubinwaynook.blogspot.com) the other day and the topic of my recent diagnosis came up. He asked ‘how I was doing’ in dealing with my diagnosis. I told him (truthfully) that it truly didn’t affect my outlook on things. I likened it to what pilots are taught to hold as their primary thought in mind; “First, fly the aircraft”. The idea is simple. A pilot has ONE responsibility; keep the aircraft under control. Don’t allow distractions to take your focus off the primary objective. I live life the same way. I plan to keep on living and not allow ‘distractions’ to keep me from it.

Summer is starting to wind down here on the farm. The gardens are looking pretty tired, but the vineyard is beginning to get ready for harvest. I still have a lot of work to do in the vineyard (surgery wasn’t in my plans). Maybe I’ll schedule a “Guys Play Date” to finish everything up. I can’t tell you how lucky I am to have such a great group of guys that love to come and help (no matter how hot and dirty the work is).

Tomorrow I go for all my pre-surgical testing. That should prove to make for a very unexciting day of poking and prodding.

Check back soon (and often),

Dave and (the perpetually patient Princess) Julie

The Next Big Thing

So yesterday I posted a tweet in frustration (which also updated my Facebook status). And like grandma said “Hindsight is always 20/20.” I wish I would have timed it better. What I said was:

I hate #thatawkwardmoment when people first try to talk to you after they find out you're a cancer patient. I'm going to be FINE people!!!

The tweet was my reaction to the look of pity and awkward silence I was getting at work and it went pretty much unnoticed (as I expected). The Facebook update was a different story. I got FLAMED for not providing enough information,not telling people personally, etc. And while they may be right, I can only do so much with 140 characters. So I apologize to those who feel ‘cheated’ and I’ll do what I can to fill in all the details here.

Last Tuesday one of my myriad of physicians discovered two (yes, 2) tumors in my bladder. His first comment was “You’re damn lucky; we almost never find them this early”. I asked him in 9 out of 10 cases what “them” was. He replied “9 out of 10 times it’s bladder cancer”. By the tone of his voice I’m of the belief that 10 out of 10 times it’s cancer, but that’s not what I asked him. Very clever, those doctors. So as of that moment I know what it’s like to be a cancer patient. The doc was quick to point out that with this type of cancer I won’t need radiation or chemotherapy (unless it’s spread beyond these tumors). They’ll remove these tumors surgically and after some recovery time, I’ll be good as new. As of right now my surgery is scheduled for the morning of August 30th. I’ll be ‘laid up’ for a few weeks and on ‘light duty’ until sometime around mid-October. I’ll get re-checked every 3 months for two years and every 6 months for 3 years after that for re-growth. If they stay gone all that time, I’ll be deemed cancer-free.

Until then, I'm still me. I love to laugh and joke around. Don't be awkward (or I might make you pull my finger). Life's too short not to have fun!

I’ve decided to start updating the blog to keep everyone up to speed on what is happening (and how quickly I’m recovering).

Check back soon (and often),

Dave and (the soon to be reluctant nurse Princess) Julie

Stuck on Step #2

I used to believe that I had life all figured out. As I saw life, it was a pretty straight forward three step process:

Step #1 - Observe and determine what needs to be done.
Step #2 - Do it.
Step #3 - Reap the benefits.

I guess maybe that philosphy might be accurate, but I think I need to add some detail to some steps. For instance, at the moment I seem to be stuck at step two. But I think that's nothing new. I think I've been stuck at step two for quite some time. Most people can probably identify with me here. For example, as difficult as losing weight may be, it's a piece of cake (note sweet food reference) compared to keeping the weight off. I know of some people who can truthfully say they've lost TONS of weight over several years. Of course as soon as they've lost the weight, they seem to find it again. The best goals in the world won't help a person who for whatever reason refuses to move toward that goal AT THIS MOMENT.

Take me for example. I know what I need to do in order to lose weight, have a super marriage, get rich, etc. I just seem to refuse to do it AT THIS MOMENT.

This causes me to wonder. Why do I not do what I 'want' to do? Do I not want it bad enough? Do I truly NOT want it at all? Am I just plain lazy?

I think maybe I'm just undiciplined. Which begs the question "How does one develop self-discipline?"

Stick around as I try to figure this one out.

Check back soon (and often),

Dave and (The Princess) Julie

Now What....

One week ago today I graduated from the University of Findlay. If you were a fan of the TV show "The Wonder Years" then you remember the character Kevin's observation on life "Life never goes quite the way you have it planned". Once again, I'm living proof of that. This degree is, and has always been, considered a waypoint on the educational portion of my journey through life. Unfortunately, having reached that waypoint I find that I'm "out of fuel" (that being money) to continue my educational journey for the time being.
So I find myself with a decision to make. What should I do with my life while I wait to assemble the financial resources to continue on to graduate school? Borrowing an idea from the folks in Real Estate, I'm looking for the "highest and best use" of my time and my life. I have a few ideas I'd like to share (and have your comments on)

1. Take better care of this body I've been loaned. - In the course of only taking two semesters off over the the last five years, I've really let my health go. I spent too much time living on fast food, heavy metal 'motivational' music, and MASSIVE amounts of caffeine.
2. Get my financial house in order. - Like my physical health, while I was running 'helter skelter' through classes (and the rest of life) I only payed the absolute minimum of attention to finances, reducing debt, budgeting, planning, saving, etc. In short, I created a mess. Now I need to clean it up.
3. Spend appropriate time on the vineyard and developing landscaping here on the farm. - I can't thank my mom and dad enough for the hours they've spent in the vineyard while I was reading, writing, researching, or just collapsed in exhaustion.
4. Practice what I preach!
Early in my blogging history I said I wanted to focus on living a 'balanced' life. What I have done over the past few years is the absolute OPPOSITE of that. I need to bring my focus back to my Family, my Faith, and my Friends.
And I have to thank The Princess beyond all. A lesser woman would have 'bailed out' to save herself. The Princess has been my biggest supporter, cheerleader and 'cattle prodder' when necessary. I can't thank her enough.
One of my goals in regaining balance is to blog more often. I hope you'll all continue to stick with me through "Mi Vida Loca".

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (The Perpetually Patient Princess) Julie

Reboot

Ten Rules for Being Human
by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”

4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.

6. “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”

7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Vacation Day 1 (aka So far, so good.)

We made the first leg of the journey with no problems. The blind guy even drove part of the way. We’re presently camped at the same campground I stayed at with my parents when I was a child.
This place brings back lots and lots of memories. We’re only a few spaces away from the campsite where I recall watching news footage of hurricane Camille (now I’m dating myself). It’s amazing the stuff you remember from your youth. We made a sightseeing trip to the Interlochen Center for the Arts and then had dinner at a Mongolian Grill. After dinner we shopped at the biggest darn Meijer superstore I’ve ever seen. I think I’ve been in auto assembly plants that were smaller than this building. We found everything that was on our list (which is unusual in itself). And have now returned to the camper for the evening.

Tomorrow is to be a day that includes touring a farm I read about in “County Living” magazine that I plan to get ideas from. I’m sure that we’ll also visit our share of vineyards and wineries (as is our custom). The Princess is always fun when she’s ‘pickled’ before lunch.

Well, I better start getting ready for tomorrow.

Check back soon (and often)

Dave and (the soon to be pickled Princess) Julie

The Cure.

As obvious as it may seem, I’ve just realized that the cure for not getting something accomplished is JUST DOING IT! Hence, here I am back at the blog. Summer semester is over for me now so hopefully life will calm down to a ‘dull roar’ for a while (yeah right) so I can keep up with the blogging Joneses.

This season is doing well for the vineyard. Now if we can keep the ‘critters’ out of the fruit, we should have a decent harvest. We got the barn roof fixed last month (only two years overdue) so hopefully we’ve delayed some decay for a while. I still have potential plans for it so I don’t want it falling down around us. A pile of barn would only detract from the beauty of scenes like this.

I’m also happy to report that now a year post-op, the Princess is finally getting ahead of everything and says she is starting to feel like ‘her old self’ again. She still has a few kinks to work out, but I think she’s well on her way to wholeness. She even reports losing weight. That is an accomplishment to be applauded! I seem to be stuck at between 20 and 25 pounds lost.
I’d like to wax philosophic, but I’m to ‘burnt out’ right at the moment so I’ll sign off until a time hopefully in the near future.

Check back soon (and often),
Dave and (the slowly healing and shrinking Princess) Julie