Thursday, August 30, 2012
Aug 30,2012
Well. It has been a long time since my last entry. Not because I had nothin to say but maybe because there was too much to say. Today I find myself at the cancer clinic for a routine checkup. The scans are now 6 months apart so today was just a Bloodwork and an X-ray. All things fine says the doc see u in the new year. The last time I checked in was my birthday. It has been a crazy summer. We did a week at anvil again and this year was tougher than most for June and I. But Rhys had a blast and many kids got to know Jesus. I am always amazed at how God works even despite my numerous attempts to mess things up. We also just moved and that's always stressful. Well just looking forward to things slowing down a bit and I can sit back and hang out with friends in our new place. Later.
Friday, July 6, 2012
July 6, 2012. Free day Friday!
Once again it's the one day of the year that makes a cheap man like me happy happy happy.
Let's start off the day with Rhys and I at Denny's. Free breakfast. I paid for a coffee and hashbrowns. Rhys ate all he sausages and I feel healthy as I ordered the turkey bacon. Bill came to $6. And I tipped like I was ballin!
Will update as the day goes on- free day Friday!!!
Off to church kids camp with Rhys. Then free burger at Vera's for lunch and then maybe some Pajo's fish and chips for afternoon snack but not before hitting the mall to get some birthday savings. It's tiring going around getting free stuff. Good thing I got Rhys with me
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11, 2012
Father's day came early this year. Kinda. It was father/daughter weekend with June out of town. I know I spent 9 months with Rhys every day last year but it was different. Being sick gave me a different mindset but I don't ever want to forget how precious these moments with my young daughter is. I am in no position to give any advice to any father out there- but I would recommend every dad to send their wives away for a few days vacation and hang out with your kid one on one. Totally different. It's almost like without June, my parental spidey senses needed to be heightened. I didn't have my wife to shoulder some of the burden. I became more attentive, slept earlier knowing I had to watch her the next day. I carried around snacks, and water and extra clothes and shoes. I'm sure these are things moms do regularly and any mother reading this is going, pffffhhh, watchu want a cookie gil, for taking care of your kid? thats what you suppose to do! Noted but it still was a lot of fun. It did have it's moments. I realize that when i am going out alone with Rhys- I drink less water because I don't want to pee. Maybe this is just father's with daughters. But if i have to pee, i have to find a private bathroom(pref starbucks.) I make rhys stand in the corner so she can't see me go #1. I can't bring her into the guys and have her stare at a bunch of men in front of urinals. Just me? Anyone? Bueller? But I digress. I just wanted to jot down some memories in case i forget in my old age.
Friday- got to pick her up from preschool- she was pretty stoked. All the kids stay after school and play in the playground. Rhys set up a picnic with her friends. I thought I would be smart and bring her snacks. I made the mistake of bringing her a whole box of crackers. So of course she shared with her friends- that's cool. What's not cool is the chubby kid that grabbed about 6 handfuls and 2 minutes later, the box was empty. I couldn't even get mad at him- cuz that probably used to be me ( i was the chubby kid that ate other people's food)
We then went to costco and then hung out at Andis' house for dinner. Rhys ran around Alden for a few hours and we went home. Tired and happy.
Saturday- pancake breakfast- she even knows its Uncle Stevo's recipe from scratch. I am getting good at making shapes of various animals with the batter. Maybe start my own restaurant chain. I will call it Panshapes and Bacon.
12:00- Dance class- or as I call it, Shawshank- I cannot believe what it costs to let our kid dance. I can teach her all that jazz at home with LMFAO pounding in the background. For free!
Spent the afternoon cleaning the house with her helping by not messing it up as I cleaned. Then her friend Maddie came over to play- Maddie and RHys 6 days apart and are great playmates. THey ran around in the playground and then ran around in the house pretending that Maddie's baby brother Conner was a monster. After a full dinner of Udon (her favorite). It was off to bed. Slept to 7:30 and both sat and sun morning comes into our room and goes , "where's momma? In kelowna? I miss her"
Sunday-
Off to church, then June's mom's house for Kimpap (korean sushi) and then off to pick up her school mate and to class birthday party- hawaiian theme. It was good, but I didnt know anyone except for the parents of the birthday girl. So made some new friends and tried to figure out who was related to whom. Big family.
After party- dropped RHys off at my mom's to spend the night. Came home and took a nap, made dinner and did some laundry.
Phew. TIme for bed. Rhys and Gil's weekend adventure is done. Now back to work.
Some photos to highlight the weekend:
Boo and the Aldenator
Child labor- I rewiped, obviously
costco fries- woohoo
booboo and Haribajee(grampa)
about to eat her teddy pancake
Minnie mouse- whaddup
yes those are thought bubbles or drips actually
good thing we didn't name her Anastasia
with momma gone- she needed all her bodyguards before she could sleep, cuz apparently I couldn't protect her.
Friday- got to pick her up from preschool- she was pretty stoked. All the kids stay after school and play in the playground. Rhys set up a picnic with her friends. I thought I would be smart and bring her snacks. I made the mistake of bringing her a whole box of crackers. So of course she shared with her friends- that's cool. What's not cool is the chubby kid that grabbed about 6 handfuls and 2 minutes later, the box was empty. I couldn't even get mad at him- cuz that probably used to be me ( i was the chubby kid that ate other people's food)
We then went to costco and then hung out at Andis' house for dinner. Rhys ran around Alden for a few hours and we went home. Tired and happy.
Saturday- pancake breakfast- she even knows its Uncle Stevo's recipe from scratch. I am getting good at making shapes of various animals with the batter. Maybe start my own restaurant chain. I will call it Panshapes and Bacon.
12:00- Dance class- or as I call it, Shawshank- I cannot believe what it costs to let our kid dance. I can teach her all that jazz at home with LMFAO pounding in the background. For free!
Spent the afternoon cleaning the house with her helping by not messing it up as I cleaned. Then her friend Maddie came over to play- Maddie and RHys 6 days apart and are great playmates. THey ran around in the playground and then ran around in the house pretending that Maddie's baby brother Conner was a monster. After a full dinner of Udon (her favorite). It was off to bed. Slept to 7:30 and both sat and sun morning comes into our room and goes , "where's momma? In kelowna? I miss her"
Sunday-
Off to church, then June's mom's house for Kimpap (korean sushi) and then off to pick up her school mate and to class birthday party- hawaiian theme. It was good, but I didnt know anyone except for the parents of the birthday girl. So made some new friends and tried to figure out who was related to whom. Big family.
After party- dropped RHys off at my mom's to spend the night. Came home and took a nap, made dinner and did some laundry.
Phew. TIme for bed. Rhys and Gil's weekend adventure is done. Now back to work.
Some photos to highlight the weekend:
Child labor- I rewiped, obviously
costco fries- woohoo
booboo and Haribajee(grampa)
about to eat her teddy pancake
Minnie mouse- whaddup
good thing we didn't name her Anastasia
with momma gone- she needed all her bodyguards before she could sleep, cuz apparently I couldn't protect her.
Friday, June 8, 2012
June 8th, 2012
Didn't realize it had been this long. Hmm. I wonder if I am digressing or regressing. No June to proof read. This entry gonna be rough. Long hours at work again, struggling to exercise. This weekend seems like one to recharge. Was hectic for a few weeks. I mean months. 1 year cancer free. 6 years married to June. What a difference a year makes. This weekend I am Mr Mom. Just Rhys and me as June has taken a much needed trip with the ladies up to the Okanagan. I got to observe Rhys in class for 20 mins today. Very interesting. She does know how to be silent. She can put things away. Dr Montessori, you are a genius. What a fun evening just hanging out with the Yu's and then playing princess with my daughter. Can't ask for anything more on a Friday after a long week. Tomorrow- pancakes and dance class- and maybe eat some food that Momma won't let us eat.haha.
My co-worker called me a duck the other day(all who are chinese-cue the laughter) How so you ask? Well, i think I used to be a bit of a spaz, If you ask June, I still am. But apparently, I am now cool and calm on the surface, just like a duck, but underneath the water, the part you can't see. the legs are working like sixty to stay afloat. Which is ironic because I can't swim, still. I guess some things have changed and some still stay the same.
Looking for a worship leader for camp...praying God drops the band right on my lap...
Oh right- we finally found a place to live after 2+ years of looking. Can't wait to have everyone over after we move in August. I finally get my own room...i mean mancave. ah woo, wait for it, hoo
See you all this summer hopefully.
My co-worker called me a duck the other day(all who are chinese-cue the laughter) How so you ask? Well, i think I used to be a bit of a spaz, If you ask June, I still am. But apparently, I am now cool and calm on the surface, just like a duck, but underneath the water, the part you can't see. the legs are working like sixty to stay afloat. Which is ironic because I can't swim, still. I guess some things have changed and some still stay the same.
Looking for a worship leader for camp...praying God drops the band right on my lap...
Oh right- we finally found a place to live after 2+ years of looking. Can't wait to have everyone over after we move in August. I finally get my own room...i mean mancave. ah woo, wait for it, hoo
See you all this summer hopefully.
Friday, May 18, 2012
May 18, 2012
CT scan clear. I was sitting in the doctors office at the cancer clinic reading my bible on my iphone, reading matthew chapter 6-
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry(AC) about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.(AD) Are you not much more valuable than they?(AE) 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life
and my oncologists walks into the room. I say, hi Dr Murray, he says, hello Gilbert, I am looking for a tool for another patient, I will be right with you. 35 minutes later, of not worrying, an intern or a resident walks into the room. This is the conversation
intern- hello gilbert
me- hi
intern- i am DR Craig, i am a resident, so how are you
me- good
intern- thats good, now how have you been feeling
me- tell me what's on the report
intern- what, I er...
me- tell me what is on the report
intern- uh, well, we are still waiting for , see the...
me- am i good or not, was it a clear scan?
intern- we are still waiting for the report, but your bloodwork is good, no raised levels of tumor markers, but we are still waiting for the report
me- so can you go get the report and then we can chat
intern- uh, yeah, i can do that but the scan is clear, nothing unusual on it, just waiting for the actual written report from radiology
me- ok, well thank you, you should tell the patient he is fine first, then you can ask me all the questions you want
intern- yes of course, let me check for the report and i will be back
me- that would be great, why don't you do that
25 more mins...
my regular doc walks in- Gilbert you are fine, things are looking great, you look great, 1 year, congratulations, we won't even need to see you until the end of the summer. ok
me- yup, thanks Doc.
And Scene...haha, never a dull moment
1 year cancer free- Praise God.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry(AC) about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.(AD) Are you not much more valuable than they?(AE) 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life
and my oncologists walks into the room. I say, hi Dr Murray, he says, hello Gilbert, I am looking for a tool for another patient, I will be right with you. 35 minutes later, of not worrying, an intern or a resident walks into the room. This is the conversation
intern- hello gilbert
me- hi
intern- i am DR Craig, i am a resident, so how are you
me- good
intern- thats good, now how have you been feeling
me- tell me what's on the report
intern- what, I er...
me- tell me what is on the report
intern- uh, well, we are still waiting for , see the...
me- am i good or not, was it a clear scan?
intern- we are still waiting for the report, but your bloodwork is good, no raised levels of tumor markers, but we are still waiting for the report
me- so can you go get the report and then we can chat
intern- uh, yeah, i can do that but the scan is clear, nothing unusual on it, just waiting for the actual written report from radiology
me- ok, well thank you, you should tell the patient he is fine first, then you can ask me all the questions you want
intern- yes of course, let me check for the report and i will be back
me- that would be great, why don't you do that
25 more mins...
my regular doc walks in- Gilbert you are fine, things are looking great, you look great, 1 year, congratulations, we won't even need to see you until the end of the summer. ok
me- yup, thanks Doc.
And Scene...haha, never a dull moment
1 year cancer free- Praise God.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
May 17, 2012
Results day- always an interesting one. Good thing is that I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to think or worry about it.
On a side note. Looks like we are finally moving to a slightly bigger place. I have to say- I am a pretty cheap, typical asian but I just spent the best $400 of my life the other day. We found a place we love and in the area we want to live. We made and offer and it got accepted, Then I paid $400 for an inspection on the house. WOW- this guy was the most thorough guy I have ever met. I learned more about the place we bought than humanly possible. It was awesome. Any of you out there buying a place- get an inspection- and call me for my guy. I was so reassured that I was buying a great place after his report, made shelling out the deposit a lot easier.
For those of you who know me, you know I hate to pay retail- for anything.(June's friend Glo calls me Good Deal Gil) I used to say that every person needs to have 2 main hookups in their lives. You have to have a good mechanic and a good travel agent( 2 industries that can really rip you off). I gotta say that I may add 2 more people to that list. We were searching for a new home since before the cancer- it's been a long road and so happy that we finally found something we like after almost 2 years. The other 2 people you must have in your life is a good realtor and mortgage broker. When you are going to shell out that kind of money, you want to be able to sleep at night knowing that there are 2 guys that are working for your best interest. Thank you Sterling Wong and Alex Pang- our realtor and mortgage guy. You guys made it happen. Sterling- you are the Jerry Mcguire of real estate- the silent assassin/pitbull of negotiation. Alex, you got us $$$, which is always nice. Especially at a low interest rate. 2 christian brothers that I would recommend to anyone and everyone because you guys are diligent and have amazing dedication and resolve. And I get to move June into a place she loves where Rhys can grow up in. I am forever grateful. Free cokes all around.
Ok off to work and then doc appt this afternoon. Will post when I get my results later today.
On a side note. Looks like we are finally moving to a slightly bigger place. I have to say- I am a pretty cheap, typical asian but I just spent the best $400 of my life the other day. We found a place we love and in the area we want to live. We made and offer and it got accepted, Then I paid $400 for an inspection on the house. WOW- this guy was the most thorough guy I have ever met. I learned more about the place we bought than humanly possible. It was awesome. Any of you out there buying a place- get an inspection- and call me for my guy. I was so reassured that I was buying a great place after his report, made shelling out the deposit a lot easier.
For those of you who know me, you know I hate to pay retail- for anything.(June's friend Glo calls me Good Deal Gil) I used to say that every person needs to have 2 main hookups in their lives. You have to have a good mechanic and a good travel agent( 2 industries that can really rip you off). I gotta say that I may add 2 more people to that list. We were searching for a new home since before the cancer- it's been a long road and so happy that we finally found something we like after almost 2 years. The other 2 people you must have in your life is a good realtor and mortgage broker. When you are going to shell out that kind of money, you want to be able to sleep at night knowing that there are 2 guys that are working for your best interest. Thank you Sterling Wong and Alex Pang- our realtor and mortgage guy. You guys made it happen. Sterling- you are the Jerry Mcguire of real estate- the silent assassin/pitbull of negotiation. Alex, you got us $$$, which is always nice. Especially at a low interest rate. 2 christian brothers that I would recommend to anyone and everyone because you guys are diligent and have amazing dedication and resolve. And I get to move June into a place she loves where Rhys can grow up in. I am forever grateful. Free cokes all around.
Ok off to work and then doc appt this afternoon. Will post when I get my results later today.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
May 5, 2012
Just your typical Sat morning. Got up. Fired up my laptop and read a few emails. But now I am at life labs getting my routine blood test. I had forgotten about it during the week. I have another Ct scan on the 14th. A year ago today. I was finished my chemo and waiting to see if the treatmen had worked. Seemed so long ago but also seems like just yesterday when I was faced with the uncertainty of a disease that has taken so many. Been very busy lately at work but I continue to see God working around me and I seek his peace in these crazy times. I feel very fortunate to have a job where I have never had a day where I looked at the clock hoping it would go faster. Wondering when it was time to go home. Not once in the last 5 years has that happened. Usually it's looking at the clock wondering where all the time went. I have been in jobs when I was younger that I stared at that clock- Willing it to go faster. Not fun. Well, still waiting for them to call my name and draw about 6 vials of blood. Tumor markers, liver and kidney enzymes, glucose. I will never get use to the needles. But gives me a chance to blog while I wait for my words with fiends, friends to play their words. Enjoy life, enjoy work. Whatever you are doing- enjoy the moment. Living a life of hope or glass half full a lot more fulfilling than going through life on glass half empty mode.
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