Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
To Karl
Hello, my friend. It's 3 in the morning and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd write you a letter like so many of us have been doing these past couple of days. You'll be happy to know that I'm staying with Vanessa and Brad right now so I don't have to drive back and forth to and from the county, so I'm actually writing this on Vanessa's computer. Jen and Dereck are here too but will be heading back to the 'Ville later this morning to take care of business.
Oh my, where to begin. I was in the beer garden with my parents at my town fair when Brad called me with the news. I think I screamed a little and freaked him out more than he already was - sorry about that. After we left the fair and I made a bunch of phone calls, it was good talk about you with my folks. I realized that you never did get up to stay in the cabin at my parents' farm or see one of my dad's auctions. I know they would have loved to have you.
I can't begin to tell you what you mean to me, and I hope you know that. I realized long ago that the people that I am friends with today are all my friends because they were friends of yours first or an extension of those friends. BJ said the same thing at our roast Saturday night that Jen mentioned we had in your honor, and I think most of the other people there that evening were nodding their heads in agreement.
Do you know that I truly think you saved my life? I know we've shared the story of how we became friends with so many people, but I really hope you understand how profound that act of kindness you bestowed upon me was. I was in such a bad place after my divorce the October before you started working at the hotel. We became quick friends once you started working there - it was easy, you were such a likeable guy. When you asked me to go with you and some other friends to the drive-in at Macon (Out to Sea and George of the Jungle were playing) I must admit I was kind of taken aback at first - was this guy on the up-and-up? But by some miracle you had decided that I was worthy of a place in that big heart of yours. And then you kept asking me to join you and your friends for nights out on the town and I soon discovered a world that had previously been unknown to me in that small college town.
And then we became roommates with some other roommates thrown in for fun. I was finally at a place where I could make some decent decisions for myself and I decided to go back to school. I mentioned to my mom on Friday how much you got a kick out of the fact that she gave you a bottle of Jack as a thank you for taking such good care of her little girl. You had become the big brother I never had - I guess three years of living together will do that. I remember when I was moving down to STL after graduation (in that pouring rain, oh!) and how hard it was to leave you, even though I knew you would be close behind. I'm so happy we lived in the same town all of these years.
I never saw you so happy as you have been these past three years though, and for that I will always, always be grateful to Jes. She was the piece that you needed to complete you and I'm so happy you didn't mess it up. I remember you asking me about a month after dating her if I thought it was too soon for you to propose, and I think I told you that if you felt that it was the right time then it was the right time. What I didn't tell you was I knew she was the one for you pretty much from the start because I'd never seen you that smitten before.
And then you became a father, which you had always wanted to be so badly. I saw how that little boy made you a better man with each and every day. I only hope that I can remember every single story about you to tell him, but I guarantee you that he will know how wonderful his father was.
I can't believe that you had to leave us so soon! We are all so devastated by your loss and we don't understand it, but we will get through this somehow. I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you but I'm so glad I did it. I love you and miss you more than words can say. There will never be another like you.
Oh my, where to begin. I was in the beer garden with my parents at my town fair when Brad called me with the news. I think I screamed a little and freaked him out more than he already was - sorry about that. After we left the fair and I made a bunch of phone calls, it was good talk about you with my folks. I realized that you never did get up to stay in the cabin at my parents' farm or see one of my dad's auctions. I know they would have loved to have you.
I can't begin to tell you what you mean to me, and I hope you know that. I realized long ago that the people that I am friends with today are all my friends because they were friends of yours first or an extension of those friends. BJ said the same thing at our roast Saturday night that Jen mentioned we had in your honor, and I think most of the other people there that evening were nodding their heads in agreement.
Do you know that I truly think you saved my life? I know we've shared the story of how we became friends with so many people, but I really hope you understand how profound that act of kindness you bestowed upon me was. I was in such a bad place after my divorce the October before you started working at the hotel. We became quick friends once you started working there - it was easy, you were such a likeable guy. When you asked me to go with you and some other friends to the drive-in at Macon (Out to Sea and George of the Jungle were playing) I must admit I was kind of taken aback at first - was this guy on the up-and-up? But by some miracle you had decided that I was worthy of a place in that big heart of yours. And then you kept asking me to join you and your friends for nights out on the town and I soon discovered a world that had previously been unknown to me in that small college town.
And then we became roommates with some other roommates thrown in for fun. I was finally at a place where I could make some decent decisions for myself and I decided to go back to school. I mentioned to my mom on Friday how much you got a kick out of the fact that she gave you a bottle of Jack as a thank you for taking such good care of her little girl. You had become the big brother I never had - I guess three years of living together will do that. I remember when I was moving down to STL after graduation (in that pouring rain, oh!) and how hard it was to leave you, even though I knew you would be close behind. I'm so happy we lived in the same town all of these years.
I never saw you so happy as you have been these past three years though, and for that I will always, always be grateful to Jes. She was the piece that you needed to complete you and I'm so happy you didn't mess it up. I remember you asking me about a month after dating her if I thought it was too soon for you to propose, and I think I told you that if you felt that it was the right time then it was the right time. What I didn't tell you was I knew she was the one for you pretty much from the start because I'd never seen you that smitten before.
And then you became a father, which you had always wanted to be so badly. I saw how that little boy made you a better man with each and every day. I only hope that I can remember every single story about you to tell him, but I guarantee you that he will know how wonderful his father was.
I can't believe that you had to leave us so soon! We are all so devastated by your loss and we don't understand it, but we will get through this somehow. I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you but I'm so glad I did it. I love you and miss you more than words can say. There will never be another like you.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Love Song for Obama
Since he still hasn't announced his VP choice, how about this?
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
Friday, August 01, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
For fans of Joss Whedon
If you haven't heard about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, where have you been? Act I is up here though the site's been so busy I haven't been able to get the page to load. So, I downloaded it on iTunes! High-freakin-larious! Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion are superb - highly recommended!
And for those of you fans of NPH (and of Les Miz) who want a taste of what to expect, check out this clip of the cast of How I Met Your Mother on The Megan Mullally Show.
And for those of you fans of NPH (and of Les Miz) who want a taste of what to expect, check out this clip of the cast of How I Met Your Mother on The Megan Mullally Show.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
All the news that's fit to print!
I'm totally and completely in love with this song.
In other news, I'm completely healed with three small scars as the only evidence of my surgery. Saw Madelaine Albright speak. The Giants won the Super Bowl and Obama won Missouri. Erica's back in town - yea! The godson is as cute as ever. Brother and SIL are moving to Colorado soon and may now get to start that family they want. "O" at the Bellagio is absolutely amazing - see Cirque du Soleil if you get the chance. Jet lag is a bitch but traveling is fun. And all hell is breaking loose at work - since the first of the year I somehow acquired two new bosses and the work of another entire person. Been working many, many hours as a result. Good thing I still love my job.
More later when I have time to breathe.
In other news, I'm completely healed with three small scars as the only evidence of my surgery. Saw Madelaine Albright speak. The Giants won the Super Bowl and Obama won Missouri. Erica's back in town - yea! The godson is as cute as ever. Brother and SIL are moving to Colorado soon and may now get to start that family they want. "O" at the Bellagio is absolutely amazing - see Cirque du Soleil if you get the chance. Jet lag is a bitch but traveling is fun. And all hell is breaking loose at work - since the first of the year I somehow acquired two new bosses and the work of another entire person. Been working many, many hours as a result. Good thing I still love my job.
More later when I have time to breathe.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Starting the year with a bang
So yes, I'm aware that I haven't posted in a long while. It seems so silly for me to be posting anything when there's nothing really going on in my life. Most of my excitement seems to stem from my enjoyment of my loved ones' life events, such as spending time with my Godson and hearing tales of the goings-on of my friends. And now that something has happened to me I feel a need to post about it, but I'd almost rather have a series of little events happen than something as major as this.
The holidays were good. Mizzou played some good football. Parties were attended. And then, 2008 came in with a wallop. I was all set to go back to work on the 2nd when I woke up that morning to some stomach cramps. I figured it had something to do with the pizza I ate the day before while watching bowl games even though I wasn't feeling nauseous or dehydrated. So I called in sick and fully intended on going in on Thursday.
Thursday morning came and I still was feeling crummy. By this point I figured if I had food poisoning that the cramps should have been gone, but I figured I'd give them a little more time to clear out. I went back to bed hoping when I woke that they'd have passed, but when I woke at around 2:30 p.m. I still had them. By this point I decided that if the cramps hadn't let up by Friday morning then I'd go see my doctor. Maybe I had something a little more serious like E.Coli or something.
That evening I was laying in bed and poking around on my stomach and noticed one little place on my right side that was causing some sharp pain when I pressed on it. Yep, I figured I definitely needed to see the doctor now to rule out appendicitis, but I was sure I didn't have it. All of the people I knew who had ever had it had experienced horrible pain in their sides, pain so bad that they couldn't walk. I could walk fine and wasn't even in any serious pain, so I figured I was getting a bit paranoid about it, but I'd find out for sure the next day.
Friday morning came and I called the doctor's office to set up an appointment to come in and see my primary care physician. They didn't have an opening until 11:45, but I went in early to see if they could squeeze me in. Yeah, what a waste of time that was. Anyway, my doc saw me around noon and did some poking and prodding, and she said that I exhibited symptoms of appendicitis but before I went for a CT scan and was exposed to all of that radiation, she wanted to get a urine sample. So I peed in a cup and waited for those results, and, sure enough, the doc said I needed to get a CT scan. I was to go over to the lab right away because it was going to take at least two hours to prep my body for the scan.
The CT lab techs made me drink this vile beverage (that they tried to pass off as Crystal Light lemonade) so my insides would glow on the CT image. I had 16 ounces when I got there, 16 ounces an hour later, and another 8 ounces an hour after that right before I got the scan. I got done with the scan about 4:00 and was forced to stay in the lab until the radiologist read the results and consulted with my PCP. About half an hour later the receptionist in the lab received a phone call and told me that I needed to go to the emergency room. I told her, "Well, I guess I have appendicitis then, huh?" At least she thought I was funny.
The only other time I've seen anyone get into the ER so quickly was when they complained of chest pains. I barely had time to call friends and family with my quickly dying phone before they took me back into the ER. I had to take some blood tests and another urine test before I got a bed. Then my surgeon introduced himself and finally gave me some test results and some answers to my questions. He said that the CT scan indicated that my appendix was inflammed but it was still technically within the normal range. He felt confident enough, though, that waiting would just delay the inevitable and that we should remove the appendix now before it got worse. I agreed, signed the forms, and headed for surgery around 7pm.
I asked Vanessa to get some things from my place for me, because I was not prepared to have surgery when I left the house Friday morning. She was waiting for me when I got out of recovery and spent a little bit of time with me even though visiting hours were over. I tried to sleep the best I could that night but I had to get up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom because I was madly munching on ice chips to get rid of the dry mouth caused by my medication. At around 3 in the morning I woke up to what I thought was me sweating through the sheets, but it turned out there was a leak in one of the connections of my IV. Since I had another IV port in which they could give me pain meds, they decided that I didn't need the saline anymore so they removed it.
Saturday morning my surgeon checked me out and said that I could leave the hospital as soon as I successfully ate lunch. He said that they were able to complete the entire surgery laproscopically and didn't need to open me up, which would significantly help my recovery time. They were able to remove the appendix and he said that "it looked bad," so I guess I made the right decision in going ahead with the surgery. My parents drove down Saturday morning and arrived as Karl, Jes, Elliot and Vanessa were all visiting and I was working on my lunch. They stayed with me until this morning, and I swear my mom made me enough food this weekend to last me a month.
I'm feeling really good considering. I'm really only in pain when I have to flex my stomach muscles to stand up, sit down, cough, blow my nose, etc. Before my parents left we went into my office so I could get my laptop and do some work from home this week. The surgeon said that was fine as long as I didn't drive while on my pain meds, didn't lift anything too heavy, and was able to get plenty of rest.
I really appreciate the well-wishes and those offering to help me out this week, and I'm probably going to take some of you up on the offer. Otherwise I'm planning on taking it easy and getting plenty of sleep. I'm sure I'll be itching to get out of the house when all of this is said and done!
The holidays were good. Mizzou played some good football. Parties were attended. And then, 2008 came in with a wallop. I was all set to go back to work on the 2nd when I woke up that morning to some stomach cramps. I figured it had something to do with the pizza I ate the day before while watching bowl games even though I wasn't feeling nauseous or dehydrated. So I called in sick and fully intended on going in on Thursday.
Thursday morning came and I still was feeling crummy. By this point I figured if I had food poisoning that the cramps should have been gone, but I figured I'd give them a little more time to clear out. I went back to bed hoping when I woke that they'd have passed, but when I woke at around 2:30 p.m. I still had them. By this point I decided that if the cramps hadn't let up by Friday morning then I'd go see my doctor. Maybe I had something a little more serious like E.Coli or something.
That evening I was laying in bed and poking around on my stomach and noticed one little place on my right side that was causing some sharp pain when I pressed on it. Yep, I figured I definitely needed to see the doctor now to rule out appendicitis, but I was sure I didn't have it. All of the people I knew who had ever had it had experienced horrible pain in their sides, pain so bad that they couldn't walk. I could walk fine and wasn't even in any serious pain, so I figured I was getting a bit paranoid about it, but I'd find out for sure the next day.
Friday morning came and I called the doctor's office to set up an appointment to come in and see my primary care physician. They didn't have an opening until 11:45, but I went in early to see if they could squeeze me in. Yeah, what a waste of time that was. Anyway, my doc saw me around noon and did some poking and prodding, and she said that I exhibited symptoms of appendicitis but before I went for a CT scan and was exposed to all of that radiation, she wanted to get a urine sample. So I peed in a cup and waited for those results, and, sure enough, the doc said I needed to get a CT scan. I was to go over to the lab right away because it was going to take at least two hours to prep my body for the scan.
The CT lab techs made me drink this vile beverage (that they tried to pass off as Crystal Light lemonade) so my insides would glow on the CT image. I had 16 ounces when I got there, 16 ounces an hour later, and another 8 ounces an hour after that right before I got the scan. I got done with the scan about 4:00 and was forced to stay in the lab until the radiologist read the results and consulted with my PCP. About half an hour later the receptionist in the lab received a phone call and told me that I needed to go to the emergency room. I told her, "Well, I guess I have appendicitis then, huh?" At least she thought I was funny.
The only other time I've seen anyone get into the ER so quickly was when they complained of chest pains. I barely had time to call friends and family with my quickly dying phone before they took me back into the ER. I had to take some blood tests and another urine test before I got a bed. Then my surgeon introduced himself and finally gave me some test results and some answers to my questions. He said that the CT scan indicated that my appendix was inflammed but it was still technically within the normal range. He felt confident enough, though, that waiting would just delay the inevitable and that we should remove the appendix now before it got worse. I agreed, signed the forms, and headed for surgery around 7pm.
I asked Vanessa to get some things from my place for me, because I was not prepared to have surgery when I left the house Friday morning. She was waiting for me when I got out of recovery and spent a little bit of time with me even though visiting hours were over. I tried to sleep the best I could that night but I had to get up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom because I was madly munching on ice chips to get rid of the dry mouth caused by my medication. At around 3 in the morning I woke up to what I thought was me sweating through the sheets, but it turned out there was a leak in one of the connections of my IV. Since I had another IV port in which they could give me pain meds, they decided that I didn't need the saline anymore so they removed it.
Saturday morning my surgeon checked me out and said that I could leave the hospital as soon as I successfully ate lunch. He said that they were able to complete the entire surgery laproscopically and didn't need to open me up, which would significantly help my recovery time. They were able to remove the appendix and he said that "it looked bad," so I guess I made the right decision in going ahead with the surgery. My parents drove down Saturday morning and arrived as Karl, Jes, Elliot and Vanessa were all visiting and I was working on my lunch. They stayed with me until this morning, and I swear my mom made me enough food this weekend to last me a month.
I'm feeling really good considering. I'm really only in pain when I have to flex my stomach muscles to stand up, sit down, cough, blow my nose, etc. Before my parents left we went into my office so I could get my laptop and do some work from home this week. The surgeon said that was fine as long as I didn't drive while on my pain meds, didn't lift anything too heavy, and was able to get plenty of rest.
I really appreciate the well-wishes and those offering to help me out this week, and I'm probably going to take some of you up on the offer. Otherwise I'm planning on taking it easy and getting plenty of sleep. I'm sure I'll be itching to get out of the house when all of this is said and done!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
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Monday, October 22, 2007
It's almost over
I'm so glad this case is nearly over. The family are good people and deserve some peace finally.
In a related story, wouldn't you just love to grow up in this place? I was just there a few weeks ago, and I must say that I really felt a change in the atmosphere there from when I was a kid. When I tell people stories from home I sometimes feel like others think I'm telling tall tales, but unfortunately they're very true.
In a related story, wouldn't you just love to grow up in this place? I was just there a few weeks ago, and I must say that I really felt a change in the atmosphere there from when I was a kid. When I tell people stories from home I sometimes feel like others think I'm telling tall tales, but unfortunately they're very true.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Introducing Elliot Karlson
He's here! He arrived at 12:46 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces. I don't have a length yet as they're cleaning him up and measuring him right now. It looks like he's going to have red curly hair like his daddy. Both mother and baby are doing excellent.
Edited to add: Length is 20-1/4 inches. His hair now appears to be a wavy strawberry blond.
Edited to add: Length is 20-1/4 inches. His hair now appears to be a wavy strawberry blond.
It's time!
We're at the pushing stage now - and just a few minutes after midnight. Karl came out to inform everyone, and he said he'd seen the head but yet couldn't tell if Elliot had any hair or not. So exciting!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Zero station
We're starting to get into the final stages now and Jes is doing great. I told Karl that 1:33 in the morning is a wonderful time to be born, not that I'm biased or anything. Looks like we'll have an October 14 baby!
7 cm
We're on our way! Apparently the relaxation she's feeling from the Epidural has helped to move things along. I still don't think it will happen before midnight, which is probably a good thing at this point because if she delivers after midnight she'll get to stay an extra day in the hospital. More later.
The calm before the storm
Jes is resting and has decided to try and get some sleep now that her Epidural has kicked in. I don't know if she'll be able to get any shut-eye, but we've all moved to the waiting room so she can get as much rest as she's able to. At last update she was fully effaced and four centimeters dilated. I'll let you know when there's more news.
Closer
They're giving Jes an Epidural right now - maybe we'll have a baby before midnight after all!
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