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06/24/2002 :: 4:34 p.m.

Oh My! Is It Almost July Already?

Man! Time flies when your having fun.

Lesse now, what all has happened since May 13?

Well, Ganache has been getting used to life here in the big city. The apartment has been deftly updated with her touches and I have to say that it is far superior than the way I had it. Not huge changes, mind you, but enough that it makes the place much easier to relax in. It's the type of place we both can call home.

A big shocker at the end of May. My dad had a heart attack. He's doing just fine these days thanks to modern, Western medicine, but they had to restart his heart at least five times during the angioplasty. By the time I drove to Cedar Rapids, he was up in the ICU and looked exactly the same as he did on Memorial Day weekend. It just so happened that his heart attack coincided with my parents 31st wedding anniversary. I think they probably got the best gift of all that day... more life together.

So Dad's doing great. He's on meds to keep his circulatory system up and running smoothly. They'll be doing tests later on to see how well his heart has healed. To be honest, he was the last person I would have guessed would have had a heart attack. He essentially eats the "cardiac" diet. He eats very little red meat, he'd rather have more veggies than meat in the first place and he eats more fiber than you could imagine. But I think he was slated by genetics to have elevated "bad" cholesterol and he also isn't able to get out and exercise like most people because of his multiple sclerosis. Hence the clogged right coronary artery. The physical therapists have him on an exercise regimen of wheeling his chair around the mall. He'll start out at 7 minutes a day and work up to 20 minutes a day. They want to get that blood pumping.

I'm glad my dad is doing so well. He could have died. It's weird to think about your parents dying. At least for me. People's parents di all the time, but you never think it's going to happen to you. I'm glad my family dodged the bullet this time, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

It's also weird to have the cardiologist turn to you and say, "...and you should probably have your cholesterol checked as well." I just turned 30 this year, so he said I don't have to worry about blocked arteries yet. But the doctor said that it was better to know sooner than later. So I'm going to schedule a blood screening soon.

As far as big news goes, that's about it. Ganache and I are getting used to our lives together, and even though we're not married yet, we're well on the way. Just this morning, I reserved the park lodge where we are going to be married and also where we'll have the reception. All for under $400! The park system in Linn County, Iowa is a beautiful thing. You can see the lodge here.

All in all, it's been an interesting month and this next month will be just about as busy.

We'll be driving to Minneapolis this weekend to meet a couple of Ganache's friends for a fun-filled weekend at the Mall of America. It will be nice to take a little vacation out of state. Then they'll be coming here to Milwaukee in late July to go camping with us. I'm looking forward to that. I haven't been camping for a long time. Actual tent camping! None of that pansy-ass RV camping shit.

We'll be back in Iowa for my dad's 62nd birthday on the 4th of July weekend and Ganache's good friend will be here the weekend after that.

Sometime at the end of July, we'll have an empty weekend slot to collapse and relax a bit.

Not that having friends over isn't relaxing, but not having anything to do for a whole weekend is becoming a rarity around here.

And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Besides, we'll have plenty of chances to sit on our behinds come winter...

Later.

:: Five Former Bitter Blabs ::

Oh My! Is It Almost July Already? - 06/24/2002
At Long Last - 05/13/2002
Flaming Fondue Flatulence! - 04/17/2002
Pins and Needles - 04/05/2002
I Turned 30 And It Was OK. - 03/18/2002