6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

Some Pictures

A professional photographer, friend of a friend of Son's, took these pictures last week. It really made Mary happy to have pictures taken with each of her children.

There are many photos but since they didn't take them digitally, I'm only going to scan two of my favorites for now. The quality of the originals is much higher than the scans, but this gives you an idea. The first picture is of me and Mary and the second one is us and our four kids.

Since you asked...

Beautiful Wife's name is Mary.

Nothing new to add

Beautiful Wife's condition continues to worsen but she is able to be comfortable through the aid of a multitude of medications.

She's visited with many family members, had special time with each of the children, and continues to set the standard for kindness and love while in the midst of all that she faces.

What can I say...

We got the CT scan results back for my Beautiful Wife on Friday and it was the worst possible news. Hundreds of tumors are growing in both of her lungs and her condition is terminal. There are no treatment options available to her that would statistically increase her life or quality of life...she's going to die.

She knows this and is at peace. She's written letters to each of our children and is dividing up the jewelry from her jewelry box so that each one of them has something of hers when she's gone. She says that it feels like God is sheltering her in his arms and she's not afraid.

Family and friends have gathered close and have come to say goodbye. It could be anytime, or it could be a matter of weeks so time is precious and short.

I have to be strong for everyone here, but honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do without her. I've been with her more than half of my life and she's made me who I am. I know I'll have continue to be strong, for the sakes of the prince and princesses, but she is the love of my life and it hurts...so very much.

Reading books or When you read for your kids.

I like to read. I read a lot of books and always have at least one book going at any given time. Sometimes, I'll read a book because I think one of my kids will like it or because they do like it and want to talk with me about it.

I got a book from the town library the other day called Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer.

It was a fun read and I can tell that it will be right up the alley for Youngest Daughter. It deals with time travel in an unique way and definitely leaves much scope for the imagination.

It is a fairly short book so I was able to read it in short order. That's good news since said princess avoids any books that are the thickness of a school textbook ruling out any of the Harry Potter books.

Out for dinner or Date night.

Good Friend and I have gone out for dinner before and when we go to Portsmouth we can't help but feel like a couple. We usually end up dropping references to our wives just so people know, ya know?

Anyway, we went to 43 Degrees North and it was awesome.

I had a drink called Sazerac that I've never had before since I've never been much of a whisky drinker and that is the main ingredient. I enjoyed some duck spring rolls, an awesome salad, surf & turf which was ostrich and monk fish, and an incredible dessert.

It was nice to get out and be part of the non-cancer world for a while. It must sound selfish, but I needed that break.

We watched the Super Bowl or Who's playing?

None of us in this household are big football fans. I only have games on the TV if we have company over that watches it or if I'm over someone's house and they have it on their TV.

However, we are HUGE Super Bowl fans. We buy special snacks, including IBC Root Beer for the kids and Guinness for Dad, and we watch that game. We pick a team to win, guess on the scores, and enjoy the commercials.

I have to say that I enjoyed the one with Jessica Simpson...I'm not sure what she was selling but I'll have a double portion of it!

Overall, I thought the Super Bowl was somewhat boring and I'm glad that we were able to fast forward through much of the commentary using our TiVo. The half-time show sucked. I'd much rather have something young and hip on there having a wardrobe malfunction than watch the geriatric Rolling Stones wheeze through a couple of songs.

Very busy or What's going on in blog world.

Last week was a busy one for me. I had at least one customer appointment each day and most of them required an hour or two in the car each way. I had work to do before and after those appointments plus all that is required to take care of BW and all of the princesses.

I bought a newly released wine from Four Vines the other day, their Zinfandel/Syrah Port. It had just been shipped to the store that I bought it from and I was there the day after its arrival based on a tip earlier in the week from someone that works at the store. They didn't even have the SKU in their system!

I also got a couple of bottles of Samuel Adams Chocolate Boch for Good Friend since he's not been able to find it in any stores around here.

Made dinner for Dad or Miniature onions.

Youngest Daughter made tacos for dinner last night. One of the bowls contained a small amount of 'onion' which turned out to be a shallot that she found in the crisper. What's even funnier is that she thought she was chopping up some garlic to give it flavor.